Her Story
About Jessica
Jessica Vera serves in public safety with the fire department in Mesa, Arizona. With 14 years in her current field following prior work in dispatch and satellite communications in the Air Force, her main expertise lies in community risk reduction. She focuses on youth fire setting prevention and intervention as well as fire inspections for educational occupancies. Vera is an instructor at the National Fire Academy, where she teaches youth fire setting prevention and intervention at the bachelor's level, and she holds a multitude of certifications from the academy. Her educational background includes a master's degree in business administration, a bachelor's degree in business management, and an associate degree in emergency management. She belongs to the Arizona Fire Marshals Association, the Arizona Fire Burn and Education Association, and the NFPA. One of her most notable professional achievements is creating a nationally recognized youth fire setting prevention and intervention program. Vera attributes her success to her family upbringing, her husband, her children, and lessons from her grandson about looking forward.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jessica
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mother, my father, my family upbringing, and my husband who pushes me and makes sure that I complete all the goals that I set. My son and my daughter have pushed me even harder. Most importantly, learning from my grandson on how to keep looking at things ahead and stop looking back.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice is a Mark Twain quote: the two most important days of your life are the day that you were born and the day that you fulfill that answer of why you're here.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them to set high goals, to continue achieving them. Know that we all have our downfalls but that doesn't make us the person that we are, that makes us only stronger. The word no is an open door. We should never take it as to stop doing what we love and just continue thriving.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Getting the doors open, getting buy-in, showing our stakeholders our program what it's worth has been one of the biggest challenges, but it's been part of my success because I've learned so much through it, researching, and gaining so much help with the community. I wouldn't be where I am without those challenges and without the stakeholders in the community as a whole and my leadership.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence in everything that I put forward. Everything that I educate on or help others with makes sure that it has all of those qualities and values incorporated into them.
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