For this career profile we interviewed the battalion chief of a fire department, Lisa Clinchy. The firehouse lent signs of both family and fraternity- with a weight room, a ping pong table that was purchased from leftover grocery money, and a community room where we were able to eat lunch with the crew. Here’s some of the questions we asked Lisa about her career and about being a firefighter.What’s a common misconception about the job?

How many calls in a 24 hour time period do you receive?

Anywhere from 24-32 calls.

How fast do you respond to a fire?

Let’s put it this way: if you’re in the way, you’re going to get pushed out of the way. We are quick.

What’s the ratio of female firefighters to males?

There are 1700 sworn in firefighters. About 60 of them are women. I’m one of 4 battalion chiefs who is a woman out of 27 chiefs in the Phoenix area. And on any given day, there are 420 firefighters working, with 9 battalion chiefs on duty.

What’s a battalion chief do?

The battalion chief exercises supervision over the fire captains and indirectly over the firefighters. I’ll go out to the really big fires and report a status update to the assistant fire chief. But mainly, just direct, supervise, and manage the operations of this fire department.

Does the state of the economy affect the number of fires reported?

Yes. The number of fires goes up in a bad economy. The reason for that might be arson, we don’t really know. Our job is to put out the fire, not figure out why it happened. But with the number of foreclosures, you can always guess that the easy way out would be to set your house on fire.

What kind of requirements do you need to be a fireman?

Everyone here is an EMT. Emergency Medical Technician. You need to be at least 18 years old. You need your high school diploma or your GED. A college degree is not required, but right now we’re going towards requiring a college degree down the line in the promotions process for battalion chief.

How competitive is it to become a firefighter?

Well, it took me two years to get my foot in the door. It’s a long application process that can last around six months. 2,000-4,000 people apply for a dozen or so spots. So it’s difficult and very competitive. There’s a physical portion, oral interviews- you really have to want to become a firefighter and have that passion.

What’s the best part about being a firefighter?
The people you work with.

What’s the most challenging part about being a firefighter?
The people you work with.

Why?

We’re literally like a family. When I wake up in the morning, I think about coming here and being with everyone here. Just coming here in the morning and cleaning and checking gear. We have one of the guys cook lunch and dinner for everyone, which can be quite an ordeal for 18 guys. We workout together, lift weights, play Xbox, basketball you name it. But we do it all together.

So that’s why it’s enjoyable, because what we do, we do together. But we’re all very different. We all come from different backgrounds. We all have different political views. The toughest time to be a fireman is during an election because everyone has their opinions, and you’re with each other for 24 hours. We live in our stations for 24 hours at a time. Then we’re off for 48 hours, and do it again. So 24 on, 48 off. But with each other all the time. So that’s the challenging part, but also the reason why I love this job.

Plus, being able to help someone out on one of the biggest days of their life. Often the most painful day of their life. Because maybe they lost a house. Or maybe they were in a really bad accident. And you’re there to help someone. So that’s the rewarding part.

How long do fireman stay in their job?

That’s another good part about the job. This isn’t just a job where you try it out and then move on to something else. Firefighters can retire after 20 years. Most don’t. Just because they love it so much, and love the people they work with so much. Like I said, it would be like leaving your family.

Is the label ‘hero’ over-used?

Yeah, it is. Because we’re just doing our job. We’re just doing what we love to do.

What’s the best fireman joke you’ve heard?

Oh, I can’t say that! Not publicly anyway. If you want a good fireman joke, check out this Youtube video. It’s funny stuff.

My name is Miguel Lopez a senior at Peoria High School. I wish to be a police officer some day and was able to participate in the City of Peoria Police Citizen’s Academy. At graduation, I had the privilege of receiving my certificate from the Chief of Police, Larry Ratcliff. I decided that he would be a great person to interview for my Pursue the Passion Interview.

How would you describe your job?

A lot of management, budgeting key rules: Leader (guiding)

What kind of environment do you experience within your company and your job?

Dealing with fighting crime and making the community safe. Mainly dealing with groups of people.

What other departments depend on you to do their work and who do you depend on?

The fire departments, over lapping with them. I work with a lot of the departments in the cities ex: courts, jails, etc.

What are you most proud of about your work?

The police department, the people who work here, promote and train.

What educational background do you need for your job?

Minimum is a college degree, high school diploma (the higher the education = a plus). In the future they will be asking for bachelor’s degrees.

How much do you get paid a year?

$ 43,920 yearly and in 2007 ($78,350)

How many jobs are there?

861,000 police and detectives in 2006 and 79% work for local governments. They work mainly in cities and towns with more than 25,000 people.

Business Name: Peoria Police Department Career Area: Police ChiefContact Name: Larry Ratcliff

Maura Policelli, chief of staff for U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th), has been working on Capitol Hill for twelve years, and seems to have lost none of her passion for public service. “A lot of people are cynical about our government,” says Maura, “but I’m still in awe of our democracy.” Maura continually
appreciates the opportunity to take part in the inner workings of the United States government. Although the pay is hardly equivalent to the private sector, Maura seems perfectly content with where she is. “We’re debating really important issues,” she says, “and making very consequential decisions here.”

Maura hopes the salaries of public servants do not discourage young people from entering the Washington D.C. job force; it is one of the sacrifices made to take part in governing a country as diverse as the United States. “Not many people get to see the inside of our government,” Maura says. “From road maintenance, to the quality of our air, to the quality of our schools, people come here to fight for their passionate views. We care very much about the policies of our country.” Maura says that hard workers, good writers and team players all have the opportunity to advance rather quickly through the Washington ranks.

To see what Rep. Giffords and her staff are doing in Washington, visit: http://giffords.house.gov/

“Wherever you go, there will always be a mixture of people destroying, helping and living mutually with the outdoors.” Ryan Barnes, a United States Park Ranger in the Yellowstone national forest, understands that not everyone was raised with the same appreciation and respect for the outdoors as himself. That is why, after three years of applications, he spends his days roving the basin surrounding Old Faithful, educating, protecting and perhaps just conversing, with those who choose to enjoy the national park.

A self-described “modern-day drifter,” Ryan says, in his North Carolina drawl, “I love the outdoors and I love educating people.” The job is an excellent fit. Ryan gives talks to thousands of spectators, gathered before Old Faithful, warning of the dangers of the wilderness, not intending to scare anyone, but rather to inform the urbanites as to the realistic dangers they may face in the wild. Ryan stresses the importance of conservation, as without conservation, there can be no research. Ryan’s advice, to people who would like to follow his path, is that “if you want to do something, do it. There are no excuses.”

John Powers, founder of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, recognizes the extent to which Earth is in danger. Fear of overwhelming odds, however, does not imbue, in John, the apathy, towards natures, so prevalent in American society. In an age where Green Building has become a talking point in American politics, John is doing, and has done, a lot more than talking. The Alliance’s largest accomplishment, a renovated warehouse built in 1907, lies 18 blocks from the state capitol in downtown Denver, and houses numerous non-profits that share John’s commitment to green business.

The building is a symbol of more than John’s commitment to the environment. It is the permanent home of many non-profits, groups that often notoriously lack the financial stability to inhabit quality office space. In giving these groups a place, and a place to be proud of, John has also inspired a sense of community. This community, or alliance, works to eliminate the concept of special interests, hoping to place a larger scale environmental movement in everyone’s interest. Having been inspired by the strong sense of heritage in European communities, John hopes to instill, in his community, the same reverence for the past, in hopes of inspiring expectation and hope for the future. “You gotta protect this stuff,” John says of Earth’s natural resources, “Not because it’s worth money, but because it lets us live.”

I received an email from Jonna Sotelo, a real estate agent that had come across what we were doing, and referred me to her sister, Nicole, for a possible interview in Chicago. In my exchange with Nicole I learned a few things from our correspondence.

1) She was passionate for making a difference through striving for women’s equality within the Catholic church.

2) At age 28, she recently was coming off a battle with cancer.

3) She graduated from Harvard with a full tuition scholarship.

Needless to say, it was enough to get our attention, and little did I know that this brief description hardly scratched the surface.

Nicole’s passions can be traced to her childhood, where her characteristics and interests originated through education and family. Her father is Chicano, (Mexican-American) and while he was growing up in a minute town in Arizona, he was subject to a lot of discrimination and suffering. She often heard stories about how her grandfather helped to unionize the mines he worked in, and how her father had struggled to make it through education as a minority.

“I would have to say that my passion for justice and struggle came from him,” Nicole proclaims in the Starbucks on North Michigan Avenue where we met.

Nicole’s passion for religion can be accredited to her mother’s deep spirituality, whose faith trickled down and was instilled within her daughter. One of her first experiences that sparked her passion for religion happened in third grade, when a priest came into her class to ask if anyone wanted to be an alter server in the church. Nicole thought to herself that she would love to be an alter server, but the priest chose only boys. It was the first time that she had been discriminated within her faith based on her gender, and the fire inside her was ignited.

When it came time to go to college, Nicole ended up moving from Arizona to Massachusetts to attend Wellesley, an all women’s school with notable alumni including Hilary Rodham Clinton and Madeline Albright. The school has a legacy for women that have pursued their passion, and was the place where Nicole discovered and developed her passions.

Nicole went into the undergraduate program wanting to become a teacher, but after going through some courses she realized that obtaining a little more “life experience” might be in order before devoting herself to the profession. She majored in English literature and Religion, and as graduation approached Nicole was forced to face the inevitable question, “What do I want to do with my life?”

Out of interest, she enrolled in a course called “New Testament Studies,” in which she realized that she loved learning about the New Testament from both a historical and social perspective. The course had such an impact that she decided to double major in English Literature as well as Religion, and Nicole’s passion moved her closer to answering the question.

Once out of school and faced with the heavy burden of paying back student loans, she worked at Bank of America for one year in San Francisco to relieve the financial obligation. The following year she worked at NETWORK, a Catholic Social Justice Lobby, in Washington, D.C.. But her love for education came back and she felt the urge to go to graduate school. Wanting to go to a divinity school, she applied to four schools, and was accepted to all four. Two of those schools (Yale and Harvard) offered full tuition scholarships, and she eventually went with Harvard because of their Women and Religion Center.

She spent three years at Harvard expanding her educational horizons, and upon graduation she started to work on pursuing her passion of addressing the need for justice within the Catholic Church. Additionally, Nicole wanted to fight for women’s equality while helping women that have been abused. She decided to do this in a number of ways, one being in the form of a book that was released in November for Christian women that have been abused in domestic violence situations, and the other was joining the non-profit organization Call to Action.
But there was one minor setback to her desire to make a difference, and that came in the form of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer that had developed on her right leg at the young age of 27. The phone call came when Nicole was about to go down to Mexico, but the doctor told her that she needed to drop everything and have surgery.

If she had gone to Mexico, the cancer could have spread to a lymph node and she could have been facing a death sentence today. Fortunately, the doctors did catch the cancer in time and Nicole started the process of rehabilitating. Because her leg had been in a cast for so long, she even had to learn how to walk again. And this long, unexpected journey all came at a time where she had just graduated from Harvard, was diligently working on a book to address the key issue on the abuse of women, and was looking forward to joining a meaningful non-profit organization dedicated to activating justice in society and within the church.

Regardless of the unfortunate situation, Nicole faced it just like she has facedother topics which society avoids addressing. Topics such as domestic abuse, justice and war and has gone on with her life. She was able to start working for “Call to Action,” a few months later. She wears many hats within the organization including Church Reform Organizer and Media Relations Coordinator. She is also actively involved in a group made up of young adults ages 20-30 who have the common goal of bringing justice not only within the Catholic church, but society as well.
As we neared the end of our interview, almost on cue as she was delivering her last words about letting your voice be known, the song playing at Starbucks coincidentally switched to Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up, Stand Up For Your Rights.” The song was representative of Nicole and all the positive energy and passion she has put into her work.

Here are a few quotes about what Nicole had to say in her mission to make a difference, the importance of using your voice, and passion.

“People that are pursuing their passion is not just a matter of looking at their own gifts, but it is also looking at the suffering of the world, and being motivated to combine those two things together. I think that is what we are all called to do. You have to look at your gifts, look at suffering, and combine the two to make a difference. And when you have a passion, money isn’t the most important thing. It’s about bringing about justice. That’s where the real riches are.”

On her motivation to continue her quest to make a difference in the Catholic Church…

“I believe that if the Catholic Church becomes more just, then it will influence society to become more just themselves.”

On the advice that she gives to students:

“I would tell students that first of all you’re a student, and you have so much opportunity and education open to you in the United States that most people your age only dream about. Probably ninety percent of the world or more never gets past elementary school. So I would say embrace your opportunity for education, and use that time of education as a real time to discern what your gifts truly are. Figure out what you enjoy doing, what am I talented in, and look around to see what touches you the most in the world. Then use those gifts to address what touches you.”

One of the things that Nicole stressed to us in the interview is that everyone has a voice, and encouraged everyone to use that voice to provoke positive change. Nicole is using her voice to address the suffering of women’s equality, rights for gay people, and the awareness of women’s abuse in war. Again, stressing the importance of making your voice heard, she offered a way that this could happen. One way is to call the White House comment line, because they do keep track of the calls coming in. She wanted us to post their number, just in case any of you wanted to voice your opinion. She whipped out her little black book and flipped to the politics page, where she gave us the number to dial. You can reach the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111, and if you want to call the House of Representatives or their Senators, you can dial the Congressional Switchboard 202 224-3121. You can say I’m from Arizona and I want to talk to my senators, and they’ll direct them to you.

PTP Commentary:
This interview opened my eyes up to things that I never would have thought about, and never would voluntarily think about either. Some of this stuff was very heavy, but it was reality. Through Nicole’s passion and suffering to make use of the life she has, despite recognizing the fact that there probably won’t be a drastic change within the church in her lifetime was truly inspiring. As a society, we tend to turn our backs on the important issues that were brought up in this write-up, like abuse and inequality, and some of us don’t even think that this stuff still goes on today.

Nicole started talking about a small success story that happened in the spring of 2006, where one of two bishops in the U.S. still refused to let girls serve as alter servers, even though the Pope allowed women to serve. Groups held vigils outside of a church and staged other actions for years, The bishop finally relinquished and allowed ladies to serve, as alter servers. It’s just small things like women’s equality that you would never think still goes on today.

Phoenix Rowel had a serious problem with alcohol. She had worked for IBM for 17 years in her first real job out of college. She was very successful despite her long nights of drinking, followed up by early morning meetings. For some reason she had no problem fighting off the hangovers and pulling it together at work, but her life was beginning to fall apart.

Desperate for a change, she enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous to try and kick her drinking habit. She left the corporate culture at IBM, and began her long road to recovery and her coincidental discovery of her passion.

When we met with Phoenix, she was five days away from celebrating her 16th year of sobriety, and was on her way out of town to celebrate her 14th year anniversary with her husband. On the muggy Chicago day we agreed to a picnic, but we opted instead to hold our interview the Pursue The Passion headquarters, (Starbucks) to avoid the humid, 93 degree weather. Phoenix brought us homemade ham sandwiches and chips, and over the course of lunch we heard her story of how she uncovered and is pursuing her passion.

After she decided to make the change, she fought the battles of alcoholism through the nurturing guidance of AA, as she went through their infamous 12-step program. It took her a year and half to kick the habit, and eight years after she quit drinking she was given a phone call that would change her life. It was from an AA counselor that wanted her help with a special “project.” The “project” that the counselor referred to was entering a maximum security prison filled with teenage girls, and sharing her experiences with alcoholism to the inmates. She felt that she had to act on this opportunity despite never stepping foot in a prison, so she agreed.

To give a little background information about AA’s history in prisons, AA began to go into prisons in 1942 to help prisoners recognize they had a problem and helped them recover from their addictions so they wouldn’t commit similar alcohol-related crimes. These programs started despite the lack of popularity and opposition from most prison wardens. The facts were undeniable however, as 80% of the people arrested and imprisoned were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the arrest. 80% of these inmates ended up back in prison. AA was called in to address this problem, with the hopes of decreasing the recidivism rate in prisons. It worked.

With the AA program in place, only 20% of the prisoners that went through the program came back to jail after their treatment. After Phoenix spoke with the girls, something in her heart felt that she had found a new cause and a purpose: to give these women hope that alcohol would no longer control their lives.

Over the next six years she was devoted to using the AA program to make a difference by connecting her experiences with alcohol to those of the hardest criminals. But in the third quarter of 2004, Phoenix decided that there needed to be something more. Although the AA meetings were effective for most prisoners, they were not effective for the ones had no desire to quit their alcohol and drug abuse. To address this problem, she started researching community building.

She started by looking at community building within prisons, and what kind of programs were currently being run around the country. With these programs, she began to notice how similar community building programs were to AA. She developed a vision of how the two programs, used together could reduce recidivism in prisons.

Acting on this vision, she began to find many coincidences in her research. She found a person, living two blocks away from her, who specialized in getting ideas like hers off the ground. She began to sense that this is what her life’s work was meant to be; the reason why she had worked at IBM for all those years, why she had fought through the struggles of alcohol, and why she had been exposed to the hardships of prison over the past decade.

In her research, she discovered that San Quentin has a wonderful community building program in place. So, she bought a ticket to see if it was for real. She did the same for a program in Virginia, and then again in New Orleans. She started to assemble different pieces from these programs, and utilized the information to build her vision.

Returning home with a fresh perspective and a new determination to carry out her passion, she took small steps to execute what she thought would be an effective program. She went to Border’s and bought a non-profit book for dummies. She filled out a non-profit application, and found people to sit on her board of directors.

Then it was time to get real with the whole idea. She was told that forming a non-profit would take $200k to get started. To help finance this, she made up her mind that her lifestyle could change in order to help her pursue her dream. She sold her house, and decided to live off the proceeds and social security benefits to help her finance her org.anization.

Currently, Phoenix is still in pursuit of her passion. Her vision for her non-profit, entitled SMILES Behind Bars, consists of improving the literacy and communication skills of prisoners, while also helping them identify their passions in life. She plans on building a private network of employers willing to give rehabilitated prisoners a legitimate shot at employment. This would increase the chances of released inmate finding employment. Currently, just 1 out of every 3 prisoners is able to finds work after their release. Moretime working means less time, available to get in trouble. It seems obvious that such a program would reduce, the recidivism rate of prisoners. This would improve the well-being of the American public in general.

Her advice to anyone willing to listen and take it to heart is:

“Look deep, pray for your heart’s desire, pay attention to what you love, and follow your inner passion.”

Author’s Note:

Phoenix Rowel is a fictitious name to protect the anonymity of a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. I named her “Phoenix” because in the dictionary, “Phoenix” is more than a city in Arizona, it is a mythological character that consumes itself from fire after 500 years, and then renews itself from its ashes. Although the story is not that drastic, she did consume herself with alcohol, and essentially renewed herself from her mistakes. The “Rowel” name was picked at random by opening a dictionary.

I think that this story covers many of the aspects that prevent people from pursuing their passions in life. The first and often times most difficult is discovering this passion. For Phoenix, it did not come until she was 52 years old. What was interesting is that her whole life she had unknowingly been given the skills to pursue this passion.

The next step was to take the leap of faith and actually pursue it, which is another place where people fall out of the picture. Phoenix did what was necessary to execute her dreams by going and getting the experience to build an effective SMILES Behind Bars program, something she could not have done without the knowledge and insight she gained by traveling to places like San Quentin, Virginia, and New Orleans.
Then, there is a financial aspect, where the majority of people forget about passion. People tend to fall into a philosophy that they first have to save enough money, or their kids have to move out of the home, or some event has to occur before they can follow their dreams. But Phoenix saw the significance of her passion and would not accept this “philosophy.” She sold her house to help finance her formation of a non-profit organization. Although it was not a “safe” choice by any standards, especially taking into consideration her age, she felt compelled to take the necessary risk to make it happen. And risk taking is something that people seem to be afraid of. Phoenix Rowel is not one of those people.

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