In this episode of The Hero’s Journey, Jared Cheselske shares his path from a military household in San Diego to the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, and eventually the fire service. He recalls serving in Panama on security operations and deploying to Kuwait and Iraq during Desert Storm. After leaving the Army, he completed three different fire academies and spent nearly 30 years on the job in Salt Lake City and San Diego.

Jared talks about the physical and emotional cost of those careers: chronic injuries, sleepless nights, and the loss of close friends. By 2017, the strain had compounded and taken a major toll on his family life. A call from a fellow firefighter led him to get help, and working with a coach gave him tools to restore his sleep, regulate stress, and rebuild his health.

He explains how coaching gave him language to make sense of what he was experiencing, and why he started sharing those tools with others. Jared describes his work today with Sharp Performance coaching first responders. He notes that while his clients come from very different backgrounds, the patterns are strikingly similar, and the same practical tools continue to make the difference.

Chapters

00:00 A Lifesaving Call

01:22 Growing Up in a Military Household

10:43 Deciding to Join the Army

14:05 Boot Camp and Joining the 101st Airborne

20:20 Desert Storm

31:45 Transitioning Out of the Army

33:05 Finding the Fire Service

36:00 Going Through Multiple Fire Academies

37:05 Hitting Rock Bottom

38:46 The Call That Changed Everything

40:50 Finding Coaching

41:41 Sharing Tools That Work

42:55 Building a Support Group for Firefighters

48:22 A New Chapter with Sharp Performance

50:57 Using the Operator Syndrome Framework

52:36 Nonprofit Work in Hawaii

56:40 You’re Not Alone

[spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/1bmnyhUKNNx9gRUK5qOGyH?si=cb93669e2ae24322]

[apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-the-101st-airborne-division-to-firefighter-jared/id1832731879?i=1000724632869]

[youtube:https://youtu.be/qSkRP0HRnlE?si=mwRZ8sAa0V4An17g]