In this episode of the Crew First Culture podcast, Jeremy Sanders delves into the significance of organizational culture, particularly within firehouse settings. He emphasizes that culture is an inherent aspect of any organization, shaped by the actions and attitudes of its members, especially the station officers. Jeremy discusses the challenges of fostering a positive culture and the importance of leading by example to instigate meaningful cultural change. He encourages leaders to actively inf...
Mar 25, 2025•14 min•Ep. 204
In this episode, Jeremy Sanders explores the profound nature of compassion and the importance of understanding our own darkness before we can truly support others. He emphasizes that compassion is not about providing answers but about being present with those who are suffering. The conversation delves into the necessity of self-healing and setting boundaries to maintain our own mental health while helping others. Jeremy shares insights from various thinkers, including Pima Chödrön and Carl Jung,...
Mar 21, 2025•12 min•Ep. 203
Leadership Lesson Learned #3 may be a hard sell to some of you out there, but hear me out. I lay out the complexities of leadership expectations and how they can hinder team dynamics. My view of expectations changed forever after a pivotal conversation with Benjamin Martin in Episode 121. If I can't sway you to completely agree I think that you will at least see the importance of simplifying expectations, focusing on cultural goals, and leading by example to foster a more engaged and autonomous ...
Mar 04, 2025•18 min•Ep. 202
Leadership Lesson Learned #2 was an important one for me - sometimes you have taken someone as far as you can take them. This was a challenge for me as a leader because it came down to a moral issue for me that I discuss. I talk about what I learned as far as where we should be placing our time and energy and what happens if we misplace those priorities. I share the story of how this lesson was learned and yes it was definitely learned the hard way so don't listen in and don't make the same mist...
Feb 28, 2025•20 min•Ep. 201
It is such an honor to not only be recording the 200th episode of the podcast but to share the experience with 2 of my closest brothers truly made it special. Please do not miss this conversation in which Marc Maikoski, Nate "Tuna" Gardner, and I dive into authenticity and vulnerability. This was such a great conversation and one that is sure to bring inspiration and hope to anyone who listens. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this ep...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 200
In this episode I am starting a new series titled Leadership Lessons Learned (L3). The content of this series comes from a document that I made for the purposes of sharing some of the lessons that I learned the hard way with young officers. In lesson #1 I talk about the lessons that I learned due to my lack of preparedness to lead grown men and women. I hope you take the time to listen to the mistakes that I made and the lessons that I learned the hard way so that you may not have to make the sa...
Feb 21, 2025•22 min•Ep. 199
I firmly believe that burnout doesn't come from what we do, it happens when we allow life to cause us to forget why we are doing it. This is something that I think is playing a huge roll in the fire service. We have to find our why and once we find it we can't let outside forces cause us to forget it. It has to be about something much larger than ourselves if we want to survive a productive, healthy, and fulfilling career. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know wha...
Feb 12, 2025•23 min•Ep. 198
“For every minute you remain angry, you give up 60 seconds of peace.” Ralph Waldo Emerson I’m like so many of you out there, I’m angry! But anger and negativity are the last things that I want to be consumed with. So how do we fix it? How do we avoid the anger while knowing that we may not be able to remove ourselves from what the source of anger? Listen in as I try to solve this problem for myself and discover some really important things that I can turn my focus to and anchor myself on. Thank ...
Feb 08, 2025•32 min•Ep. 197
So many times we waste great opportunities or are simply just not happy with results because they don’t look like what we are expecting them to look like. We have exactly what we need at any given moment, but if we don’t keep our eyes and mind open we can miss it. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!...
Feb 04, 2025•16 min•Ep. 196
"They tried to bury me but they didn't know that I was a seed." We will never achieve the growth that we were meant to achieve without being buried a few times. Whether those who stand against you like it or not, God is just using them to get us exactly where He knows that we need to be. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!...
Jan 31, 2025•15 min•Ep. 195
There is a big difference between having the desire to achieve something and having the discipline that is required to do what is necessary to achieve it. For the most part, we all know what we should be doing, what we should be eating, how we should be spending our time; but that's the easy part right? When it comes down to making choices and taking the actions that support what we know is where is starts getting difficult. We have to go beyond being satisfied with knowing what is right and hav...
Jan 27, 2025•22 min•Ep. 194
I am excited to share this bonus episode with you all because it was a conversation that I really enjoyed and I feel like there are a lot of people out there that need to hear it. I really appreciate my friend Preston Lyons having me on as a guest to the Relentless Rejects Podcast and giving me a chance to share my heart and my message. I hope you find some value in it. Show Notes: In this episode, Jeremy Sanders discusses his journey with Crew 1st Culture, emphasizing the importance of family, ...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 41 min
I wanted to share some thoughts on a really good quote that comes from Georgia football coach Kirby Smart. Leadership isn't easy and it doesn't come without a cost. A lot to reflect on in this quote, join me for my thoughts. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!...
Nov 26, 2024•19 min•Ep. 193
Lead with your life no matter where life leads you! In this episode I share an experience that I had in which I tried to correct some rumors that were being spread about me. But it only resulted in me reliving some negative feelings that were eating away at me more and more each time I did. I will share with you why I decided to quit talking and just lead with my life. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No mat...
Nov 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 192
Going back into the thought journal I share my thoughts on a very important topic, especially for those of us in public service. That is the question of where am I placing my identity? One of the most important thoughts that I have had in this area is never place your identity in something that can be taken away. Join me as I dig deeper into this thought and share my own personal stories connected to it. “No matter what or where you came from, great things can come from you!” Thank you for liste...
Oct 25, 2024•24 min•Ep. 191
A thought that has recently come to me is how much my focus on adding to myself in order to become better is only half of the equation. It is also important that I subtract some things from my life as well. Join me today as I dig a little deeper into this thought. “No matter what or where you came from, great things can come from you!” Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, g...
Oct 21, 2024•14 min•Ep. 190
It's time to stop making excuses and start making a difference. We were not put here to be stagnant, we were created to do great things. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!
Oct 18, 2024•18 min•Ep. 189
Something that I’ve seen over and over again in my life and the lives of others around me is how destructive a victim mentality can be. I firmly believe that resilience will never be possible if you see yourself as a victim. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!...
Oct 15, 2024•13 min•Ep. 188
It's been quite a while since I have been in a place to release a new episode, so I am so excited to finally be back behind the microphone. I may have been quiet, but I am still in the fight, and I am ready to continue the Crew 1st Culture mission. Join me and let's do some amazing things together! Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!...
Oct 07, 2024•20 min•Ep. 187
Jeremy Sanders has been a firefighter for the City of Edmond in Oklahoma for 21 years and currently serves at the rank of Captain. He lives near Tulsa with his wife Erika who he shares 8 kids with and 1 grandson. In 2020 Jeremy created Crew 1st Culture and the Crew 1st Culture Podcast in which he shares the importance of the pursuit of daily personal growth. This daily growth has helped him to not only become a better firefighter and officer but also a better dad and husband at home. Jeremy's Ar...
Feb 14, 2024•39 min
Jeremy Sanders has been a firefighter for the City of Edmond in Oklahoma for 21 years and currently serves at the rank of Captain. He lives near Tulsa with his wife Erika who he shares 8 kids with and 1 grandson. In 2020 Jeremy created Crew 1st Culture and the Crew 1st Culture Podcast in which he shares the importance of the pursuit of daily personal growth. This daily growth has helped him to not only become a better firefighter and officer but also a better dad and husband at home. Jeremy's Ar...
Feb 14, 2024•31 min
In Episode 25 Ric Jorge and I talk to Jeremy Sanders about a difficult season of life he endured and how he found strength in his weakness. Jeremy shares how his faith helped him continue to move forward and how the adversity he faced refined him into the man God needed him to be. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4m11PUtMLJeuuKpVIibVtj?si=R9O4fyWOTMC9l3GtTgntYQ Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this episode impacted you. No matter wher...
Feb 11, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Today I want to share a few journal entries that I recorded while processing one of the most difficult periods of my life. This is such an important episode because I know there are a lot of people out there that need to hear this. Through journaling, meditation, and prayer I realized that when we stop seeing ourselves as victims of life’s challenges and of those who stand against us, we can finally see the truth. The truth is that those circumstances and those people are merely just a tool that...
Feb 09, 2024•19 min•Ep. 186
In a career that has been so richly described as the embodiment of courage and bravery, are the members of today's fire service living up to that statement or are we just hiding behind empty and hollow facades that look great on the surface and from a distance but upon any closer investigation our true identities would easily be discovered. My thoughts today dig into this question and reveal my very controversial opinion of what is missing. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message ...
Jan 30, 2024•35 min•Ep. 185
Inside all of us is a darkness, a darkness so deep and empty that we are all fearful of it. This doesn’t make us good or bad, it just makes us human. Whether we believe in its existence or not; we are constantly haunted by it. Each negative event and seemingly unsurmountable obstacle we face brings us closer to our darkness; it is always there, ever waiting for that final straw that will bring you face to face with it. There are those that have somehow lived their life avoiding their darkness (o...
Jan 19, 2024•18 min•Ep. 184
Over the years since putting myself in a more public role I have been asked a lot of questions from people but there seems to be an overwhelming theme with the majority of them - "How do you keep moving forward when so many things around you want to hold you back?" This episode I share personal experiences and challenges that I have not only faced in the past but still currently facing. Please join me as we talk about finding inner peace through the effort that we give. Thank you for listening! ...
Jan 12, 2024•31 min•Ep. 183
As we approach the new year, talk of resolutions inevitably begin to take center stage. Today I just wanted to share a few thoughts on what may be a little different perspective on this. Set goals and resolutions all you want but just don’t get so focused on them that you miss something that’s placed in your life of much higher value because it doesn’t look like the goals we set for ourselves. Thank you for listening! Click here to leave a message to let me know what you think & how this epi...
Dec 28, 2023•17 min•Ep. 182
**This is one of the most important episodes I’ve ever released, please listen and share.** Back with me again from Yoga For First Responders are Olivia and Eric to dive deep into the importance of Breath. Using a very helpful tool that they have created to help guide people through different techniques, we look at not only each technique and when they should be used but also explain why. This is an episode that every person needs to hear because our breath is obviously very critical to life. Fo...
Dec 23, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 181
**Update: Sorry everyone but when I uploaded Episode 180, I apparently uploaded the wrong file, so I had to redo the process for Episode 180.** Since when does it make sense that those firefighters who stay engaged, who are constantly sharpening their skills, and who work to make others around them better are considered rogues, outliers, rebels, and misfits? It’s totally backwards, we are measuring ourselves by the same oath that the first firefighters swore to. So, it’s those who are selfish, t...
Dec 20, 2023•27 min•Ep. 180
I’m so happy to have with me today one of my good friends and brothers Nathan Gardner. Known by most as Tuna, he’s a big man with an even bigger heart and one of the most entertaining guys I know. Listen in to this 3 part series as we find out a little more about Tuna and learn some great things about some topics that he’s passionate about. These topics include - morale injury, repeat exposure trauma, leadership, and caring for each other. Of course there are going to be funny stories sprinkled ...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 179
