I started the job when I was 20 years old and had no college education. I know I’m not unique in saying I don’t know what else I would do if I wasn’t in the fire service. The love of the job and the true brotherhood I’ve experienced has pushed me to leave this place better than I found it. I never thought that would mean I would start a business.

My personal experience with opiates after a serious foot surgery led me down a path that brought me to discover CBD. The benefits I got from it drove me to bring it to the mainstream of the U.S. fire service, even if I had no idea how to run a business.

The Birth of Rescue 1 CBD

Owning and operating Rescue 1 CBD has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve done in the fire service. It’s also brought me the most mental anguish, frustration, self-doubt and stress that I’ve ever experienced.

I didn’t know the path I was about to take. I just wanted to bring this incredible compound, CBD, into the hands of firefighters. I figured I could make this successful, I just had to give it 100%, so I became obsessed with this mission.

My strategy was that my obsession would matter more than talent or ability on a long-enough timeline. Everything I was reading about start-ups talked about the “war years” that are necessary in the beginning: Working 16-hour days and putting a strain on every aspect of your life to ensure the success of the mission. Anything less is half-assing it and would assuredly lead to failure. Indeed, this path to success is littered with dead and dying businesses and I came close to becoming a casualty a couple of times.

The Unsustainable Grind and Hard Truths

I had a romanticism of hustle culture, embracing the sacrifice of sleep, relationships and free time for the dedication to “the grind.” But, the grind is unsustainable. The truth is, this sacrifice is necessary most of the time to start something that will change the world. I learned two really hard truths that made me realize this:

  1. If your idea is truly revolutionary, no one else believes it will be true or beneficial. If they believed that, it would have been done already. You’re just crazy enough, naive enough or smart enough to go for it. Which means someone or something will always be fighting you. In my case, I fight against a stigma that’s rooted in generations prior: I fight against beliefs and ideology. I also fight against very thick red tape in laws, social media censoring, internet advertising, even my banking is restricted because I chose to run a CBD company (stories for another read).
  2. Good businesses fail just as much as bad businesses. Great businesses fail, too. The only people who really make it are those who have pure grit. Resilience is the most important aspect of getting through the start-up phase of a business. Because all businesses, good and bad alike, are going to go through seemingly unsolvable problems. Even the most dedicated to their cause can give up or fail to find a solution to these big problems.

The Balancing Act: Firefighting and Entrepreneurship

And for firefighters starting a business, we have an additional layer of complexity. We signed up for a job that requires us to be all-in to do the job properly. Putting in these kinds of hours can have negative consequences on your job. Personally, I slacked in training, in my patience with others, and with difficult citizens.

Besides learning about operating a business, I also had to learn the ins and outs of the hemp industry and ultimately manufacturing these products. For a firefighter from south Florida with no college education, I felt like I was in over my head (because I was). I just immersed myself in books and podcasts about business, finance, economics and personal growth, and cut my time away from everything else.

I think I worked like this out of fear. There were so many unknowns and I had no idea what unexpected issue was looming around the corner like a trap that would sink the entire business. So my paranoia drove me to try to learn and become ready for these curveballs. My fears were occasionally confirmed when I had terrible things happen, like my payment processing company sending me a letter that I was dropped. Overnight, I stopped being able to process credit-card payments. Another time, Instagram removed my account because they suspected me of fraud.These seemingly massive problems in the early days were actually pretty small compared to what I deal with now.

Bottom Line and Advice

If you’re thinking of starting down a similar path to business, I encourage a few things:

  1. Be passionate. Don’t do it just to make money, the struggles you will endure, especially mentally, won’t allow you to sustain just for a buck. Conversely, if you’re truly passionate, money, or the absence of it, won’t make or break you.

  1. Learn to have an “on” and “off” switch. If you’re like me, it’s easy to turn that switch on (this isn’t an article for those that need help being motivated). But turning it off requires a ritual. You need a consistent way of unplugging that part of your brain. If you’re thinking “well, your business is still around so obviously it worked,” my answer would be, Yes, BUT I didn’t need to have the round-the-clock workday. I didn’t need the fear that idle time would be equal to losing at business. Because the truth is, if there’s some unexpected problem coming around the corner, the only way you’re going to deal with it is at that moment. Learning and planning for it is great, but it’s like experience on the fireground versus training for the fireground. 

    Training is important, stay prepared for the worst in business and on the job, but nothing beats experience. Find your off switch by engaging in play. This could be anything that passes the time without you even noticing: video games, playing music, reading, or whatever brings back childhood feelings of playing.

  1. Find people to learn from that you don’t have to pay. Business coaching can be valuable, but in the beginning, learn from someone just because they want to teach you. This can be as simple as following people on YouTube or listening to their podcasts. There’s a lot of good free stuff out there. Take your education in phases: Books and online courses on start-ups should be at the beginning. As you start to grow, start learning about scaling up, finance, etc. You shouldn’t be consuming the kindergarten stuff when you’re in Grade 12. It’s satisfying to go back to material from the early days, but it’s a time-waster.
  1. Don’t forget about the job. The fire service is the reason you’re able to start and chase down this mission you’re on. It’s important to give it your all, and it’s worthy of your attention. If you’re slacking at work, take time off or hire some help with your business.

I commend you on going down this path, I have a few books that really guided me when I started:

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Reis and Jack Trout

Good luck!