Debra Jarvis

For me, success is peace and harmony in my life. I learned a lot of lessons by not being accepted in the fire service. I learned how to see things from other people's viewpoints, and a lot of people never learn that. So I'm grateful for that experience. I wouldn't change anything, because those challenges taught me how to understand what I don't know I don't know about looking at the world from other people's perspectives. My first mentor, Tom Lorraine, saw potential in me when everyone else was saying I didn't belong in the fire service and that my goal of being a fire chief was not something I would ever achieve. He told me I would, he believed in me, and he helped me. His words helped create a reality that nobody else believed in. I was already using words to create a reality, and he gave me the support of someone who was in the business when nobody else would reach out and mentor. In fact, people were discouraged from mentoring me because it made them unpopular with their peers. I asked him what I could do to pay him back, and he said just do it for a whole lot of other people, so I do. I have many people that I mentor.

My mentor Tom Lorraine told me to just do it for a whole lot of other people. When I asked him what I could do to pay him back for all he had done for me, because I never would have understood all the unwritten rules and I never would have made fire chief were it not for him, he said just do it for a whole lot of other people. So I do. I have many people that I mentor. He also taught me that words create reality, and to use them wisely. His words helped me create a reality that nobody else believed in, and he gave me the support of someone who was in the business when nobody else would reach out and mentor.

I say sit down, and let me tell you what it's really like, and then you make your own decision. I tell them what it was like, and what it still is like, because I still consult with fire departments and law enforcement and churches, and the culture is still very much women don't belong here. If you want to do that, the best places to do that are in a mid-size to smaller fire department. None of the metro fire departments, metro-sized fire departments, are a place that I would recommend for a man or a woman, because the culture is you conform or you are ostracized. I'm honest, and different people have different personalities and different willingnesses to survive. I wouldn't change anything, because I learned a lot of lessons by not being accepted. I learned how to see things from other people's viewpoints, and a lot of people never learn that. So I'm grateful for that experience, and I tell people that. It's a lot more complex than that.