Ready to ignite your inner fire?

 In this week's episode of "The Fire Inside Her," get ready to be inspired and empowered! Join us as we celebrate the completion of an incredible second season filled with powerful stories and valuable life lessons. From resilience to authenticity, trauma recovery to boundary-setting, we've covered it all.

Diane and our guests provided knowledge, aiding listeners on a journey for personal growth, resilience, and self-care. Diane also reflects on her own journey through the first two seasons. This season marked her departure from the fire service and the beginning of her career as an entrepreneur.

She highlights the continued lessons as we look to embrace self-care, leadership, and community. Plus, don't miss out on a special free audio on kickstarting your self-care journey. Get ready to light up your life and get great leads on more episodes you need to explore with "The Fire Inside Her."

Diane Schroeder, MA, EFO; is a national speaker, writer, and podcast host who focuses on helping leaders understand and appreciate the value of self-care. As a leader in the male-dominated fire service for over 20 years, Diane knows that practicing self-care enables leaders to find their authentic style, have a work-life balance, and increase productivity. Authentic leaders create healthy, inclusive, and diverse work cultures of belonging. With a master's degree in organizational leadership, Diane combines her wisdom with data to guide leaders down the self-care path. She shares her wisdom with her community through email and her weekly podcast, The Fire Inside Her (www.thefireinsideher.com/podcast).  Diane speaks around the country, is a TEDx speaker, and is currently working on a book about leadership.

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www.thefireinsideher.com 

Diane@Thefireinsideher.com 

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@TheRealFireInHer 

LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com/in/dianeschroeder5/

Are you excited to get a copy of the Self Care Audio download that Diane mentioned?

You can get that HERE –TheFireInsideHer.com/audio

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Welcome to the Fire inside her podcast, a safe space for leadership, self care, and community. I'm your host, Diane Schroeder, and it is my privilege to be your guide on the journey to authenticity.

Hi, friend. I am still processing that we are wrapping up season 2. that there have been 20 episodes of the fire inside her podcast. I -- and beyond grateful for the love and the support that you all have given during these last two seasons. I started this journey on February 8th. And at the time, I was still working full time as a battalion chief in a fire department. I was adapting to living with my partner and transitioning to cohabitation I was working on completing one of the biggest projects professionally, and there was just a lot of moving parts. Since February, I have retired from the fire service and continued doing the podcast and really am in a unique space right now of talking about how important self care is, the value of leadership the incredible community that we all need. And it may seem like it's easy to talk about it, yet it is so hard. And it's really interesting because as I look back on the guests this season. And what I have learned from them, it feels like they have been the medicine that I need to help me get through this current transition that I'm in. And I hope that you have also taken nuggets from each of my guests. So just a little recap. The 1st season, I interviewed my community. I interviewed people that I knew and really wanted to introduce you to my tribe, my village. the 2nd season, I stepped out of my comfort zone. And while I did interview people that I knew personally and professionally, I also had the opportunity to interview people that I didn't know, and it was such a great experience for me. The first guest that we had this season was Chris Prangie Morgan, and she talked a lot about resiliency and trauma recovery And her story is just so heartfelt, and she is such a badass woman. And the one thing that resonates and sticks out for me is, you know, she says no one asks for the hand that they're dealt in life. and you have this incredible opportunity to play that hand. Can't control what you're adult, but you can control how you play the hand. and the importance of healing our trauma and that it's possible, not just our trauma, but we talk a lot about parenting in that episode and the value of helping our kids heal their trauma. Next up was Jeanie Scott. She was my first international guest from London. And, really, it was about harnessing the power of being an introvert. And I am 100% introvert. I'm extroverted introvert. And for a long time, I didn't even acknowledge that I was an introvert. which led to burnout real fast. And what I loved about our conversation is, you know, she really said, You know, being an introvert is a superpower, and I agree with that. And when introverts walk into a room, they may not be loud and talking They're processing. They're reading the energy of the room and trusting their intuition. And that is such valuable advice from episode 12 is to really trust your intuition, which tied nicely into episode 13 with Gabby Ramele. She reads tarot cards and how tarot cards are part of her self care routine and more importantly, how tarot cards have helped her create boundaries in her life. And I believe we all need help with boundaries. I know I do. And it also I was able to introduce to this community about the value of self care routine, and part of that for me is pulling tarot cards every day and pulling Oracle cards and really using them as a guide. And I will tell you just this week, I pulled 2 different oracle cards from two different decks And they both related to the importance of slowing down in self care. And it was very timely because as I'm trying to adjust to not going to the firehouse and working for myself and creating a new routine, I've been trying to do it all, and I haven't taken the time to process my 24 year career in the fire service. Really, my entire life being involved in the fire service and letting that go and making space for my next new adventure. Of course, I had to bring my mom back our conversations, both in season 1 and season 2 episode 14, have been magical. I have learned so much about my mom, and I'm so proud of her. And while we struggled to have a healthy relationship, for a while. We are thriving now. And so much of that is her sharing her story and taking care of herself and what I feel has helped our relationship tremendously from my point of view is that through therapy and work, I have come to accept that my mom and dad did the absolute best they could to raise myself and my brothers with the tools that they had, and they loved us. and they still love us. My mom absolutely loves her family. I spoke with another friend of mine who is actually the partner of a firefighter that I worked with. And her story of being a single mom and moving From England to the United States, going through a divorce, being a single mom, trying to manage working full time and parenting and self care really resonated with me. And I think the most powerful part of that is When things got bumpy in her life, her community really helped her and held her together, and that is so impactful with to me, because Whenever I'm in a bumpy spot, my community does the same thing. They hold me up. And that's Sarah Williams episode 15. My decision to leave the fire service was not an easy decision to make. I really struggled with it because so much of my life, over half my life, involved public safety. And I absolutely loved the people that I worked with. They were incredible. My crew gave me joy every time that I went to work. Yet, I struggled with some cultural issues, some leadership issues, and really my health. And I just had this burning desire to wanna be home with my family and to make all the baseball games and really take time to focus on my son, and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to do that. And it was very good timing to speak with my friend Heather in episode 16 because she has so much wisdom. And I relate to so much of her story, specifically when she reminded me that when I bet on myself I can't go wrong. So while it's really scary to take this leap of to the unknown and not knowing what's gonna be on the other side, of this career change for me, her words of wisdom just soaked into my soul And I've used that mantra since we recorded the episode that if I got on myself, I can't go wrong. It was followed up nicely with a new friend of mine, Cameron Curtis. In our episode, 17, she talks a lot about risk. She talks about, you know, the mantra her life has been never turned anything down. but your coat collar, which she learned from her grandma. And that is really good advice. You know? She is very intentional about taking risks and putting faith that the step will appear, which is something that I believe in, but to apply it has tested my grit and definitely tested my resolve. We also discuss a little bit about toxic work environments and how that can really take a toll on your mental health and definitely forget to take care of yourself when you're in a toxic work or personal relationship. Adding more value to our community and being unapologetically authentic is how Amanda Hess will always be in my mind. She was episode 18, and our conversation about her journey through being severely bullied as a child and then being labeled throughout her life of various, you know, diagnosis and all these things has not stopped her. And it really resonated with me because when I gave my TED Talk almost 2 years ago now, I spoke a lot about labels And, you know, we let people label us, and sometimes we label ourselves because of our conditioning or experiences through life. And it's just all bullshit. You be you, and you add value to the world by being yourself. not trying to be someone else or not trying to be who the world tells you you should be. Our conversation about that is just we laughed a lot. And I love that her coaching style is really through a trauma informed lens, and I think that that's really important. I always love the conversations that I have with my guy. And Josh was kind enough to do another episode. Our sugary, sticky, sweet communication this time about a shared self care resource that we both are committed to, and that is live music and how music in general really is such a big part of our life together, and it was a huge part of our journeys independently before we met each other. We talk about our shows together, and he shares his musical experience. And I share some of mine, and it was just -- a really great conversation to have, and that was episode 19. Then I wanted to talk to someone in the entrepreneurial world now that I'm considered an entrepreneur, and I'm trying to create a business, I think it's important to talk to someone with a different perspective outside of the fire service, outside of my circle, And I met Brittany Miller through an online group that we belong in trying to build our email lists. And her story is fantastic. First of all, I think she's a badass because she has 3 children under the age of four. and she runs her own business. And she manages to take time for herself and just do a lot. She is really delightful and gives some practical tips And I just I really appreciated how she shared her story. And finally, last but definitely not least, I read an article in Fire Engineering that, man, it gave me goosebumps. Every word resonated with me. It made me feel seen and heard. And I'll link the article in the show notes. But the gist of it is, Dina Ali connected mental health to leadership. And she did it in such a way that I felt, man, I've been trying to say this for years, and she did it so articulately and gracefully. And our conversation was really a masterclass in leadership. We had traveled in similar circles in speaking across the country. And actually last fall, we were scheduled to speak at the same conference and at the last minute I had a change of plans and couldn't attend the conference. But I've really appreciated our conversation. She is doing such incredible work for the fire service and being proactive about the conversation around mental health and culture and leadership and focusing on those key components to make any organization thrive.

So those are the lessons that I have learned, the takeaways from season 2, and now -- doing 20 episodes of podcasts. It's been a wild ride, and I look forward to what the next season brings and more lessons learned, don't forget to head on over to the fire inside her dot com slash audio for your free audio about kickstarting your self care, or you can peruse the website. I've got five tips for working with men. And if you're just excited to get weekly emails and see what's going on, consistently for some motivation and wisdom, you can just directly sign up for the email list. Thank you again for your time. And for your support, as this community continues to grow, it's so special. And I just I love you.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to listen to this episode.

Curious on what to do next?

Go ahead and follow wherever you're listening to this podcast so you can get updates each week when new episodes are released. And Head on over to the fire inside her dot com slash audio for a free audio to help you get started on your self care journey. Until next time, remember, you are a badass, and you are not alone.