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Leading is Serving seeks to provide resources and connection for leadership and business development. Particularly focused on the south-side and Indy in general. Tune in as we share the stories of people and companies, not just doing good work, but also having a positive impact on the community.
Chris Wood: [00:00:00] Jason, we have a special guest today. We sure do. Let's chat with him. Chief Pell, thanks for joining us today. We really appreciate you taking the time and sitting down
Jason Kempf: and chat with us.
Jeremy Pell: Absolutely welcome. Thanks. Thanks for inviting me. This is, uh,
kind of humbling.
I don't, I don't do this very often.
Chris Wood: No. Well, we are thankful that you took the time to come and chat with us. So let's, let's start, let's give us a little backstory about you, tell us about you, where you come from, your family. Just give a little heads up about
us, about you.
Jeremy Pell: Most of my family originated in Brazil, Indiana.
Oh, okay. Yeah. And uh, what I remember of my childhood was living in Martinsville. I basically grew up in Martinsville. Okay. Moved to the south side of Indianapolis when I was in high school and graduated from Southport High School. Okay. Hmm. Yep. And pretty young. I started in the fire service really? I actually worked at the Greenwood Schwinn shop.
I don't know if either of you're old enough to remember that on us. 31 by Dairy Queen.
Chris Wood: [00:01:00] I'm a transplant, so I don't remember that. Jason Kempf: Yeah, that's probably before I moved here too.
Jeremy Pell: So yeah, loved it. Very cool. Love, love working in a bike shop. Okay. That's cool. As a, as a teenage kid, I mean, yeah. Yeah. Much better than flipping burgers or Right.
You know, cleaning or got to work on bikes. That sounds like fun. That's cool. Yeah, that's cool. When I was there, I had, one of the guys I worked with was a volunteer firefighter here. Okay. In White River Township. Okay. And he said, Hey, I think you would really like that. And I fell in love. Really? That's cool.
Immediately. That's awesome. Oh, I've been doing this for 33 years now. Okay. Very cool.
Chris Wood: And so, um, have you, so from that point then, moving forward, how long have you been a volunteer? Or how did, how long did you volunteer?
Jeremy Pell: I started at 19 years old. Okay. And back then you couldn't get hired until you were 21.
Okay. So I worked as a volunteer, got hired within a couple years as a full-time firefighter at City of Noblesville. Okay. But I re, I've remained a volunteer, [00:02:00] which is part of my story. I relate differently than other people do because I remember coming in and you did it because, You loved it. Mm-hmm. You didn't show up at the firehouse to train because they were paying you 20 bucks an hour.
Mm-hmm. You showed up for free because you loved doing it. Mm-hmm. Right. Right. And I continued that actually, I've continued it through my whole career, whether it's volunteering with my dogs mm-hmm. As a, as a search and rescue canine handler church. Um, you know, that's just what my family and I do. Mm- hmm.
Jason Kempf: So you show up where you feel like you're bringing value, where you can serve, where you can. You know, things that you just love, that's where you show
Jeremy Pell: up. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, there's no doubt. Well, I would say that what drives me is I'm a huge Andy Stanley fan and okay, he did a [00:03:00] podcast, uh, and it was discovering God's Will, and he said, is the mission's clear?
The options are fewer and the decisions become. Hmm, that's good. And my mission is one day I'm gonna meet God and I want him to look at me and say, well done. My good and faithful servant. Mm-hmm. So if I look at what I do through that lens mm-hmm. Then. Everything else is gonna fall into place, right? I'm gonna support the people around me and my mission in the fire department.
I'm gonna do everything through the lens of does it make them safer? Does it have a positive impact on their life? Does it save a life? Does it save property? No, that, that's just, that's been what has driven the professional side as well as the personal and volunteer side of. The Pell family. Mm-hmm. Right.
My, my sisters are very similar. I have a sister that's 10 years older than me and I have a sister that's 10 years younger than me. Oh, wow. Yeah. And uh, same thing. Uh, I've married to my wonderful wife, Lori, for. [00:04:00] Oh gosh, I better get this right. It'll be 28 years in September. Oh, congrats. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks.
Uh, we have two boys together and they're five years apart. Okay. They're, um, they're 21 and 16. Okay. Okay. And it seems to be the theme through our family. Um, we don't always get it right, but Right. Mm-hmm. You know, we try and we wanna make a difference. Okay. So
Chris Wood: your pass on that service, uh, showing. With that passion for the service, your boys are doing the similar
Jeremy Pell: things.
Yes. Yeah. What we've tried to do as parents is just lay that good foundation. Mm-hmm. Um, I've gotta keep it simple, and if I keep it simple, then again the rest of it will fall into place. Let, let
Chris Wood: me ask you a question. Sure. The, the three things that you just talked about, Andy Stanley talked about, when, when did you come upon those and when, how did that help prior to.
Was there a lot of struggle of [00:05:00] trying to figure out what that looked like for you, trying to figure out how to move forward to what you wanted?
Jeremy Pell: Oh, it was tremendously difficult. Um, there a, a lot of, a lot of chapters in my life that I wish I never would've gone through. I understand it better now mm-hmm.
And can take those lessons mm-hmm. And turn them into something wonderful that can help somebody else. Okay. Um, but yeah, it was really tough. I didn't pick up that lesson until I was back here at White River Fire Department as a fire. And nearly forced to my knees just, you know, really, really tough times and saying, God, you gotta help me out here.
Right. Yeah. Well, why the heck am I here and Right. You know, why would you put me here just to, um, just to fall. Right, right. And just bits and pieces. Good, good mentors. That's awesome. Yeah. [00:06:00] A podcast here or there. Mm- hmm. Uh, reading a book. Mm-hmm. Going to church is just, you know, these little, I, I wish I could give somebody the magic formula.
Right, right. But I can't because it doesn't exist. Mm-hmm. Um, the closest I can come is, um, I can't do this alone and I need. I need help doing it right. From God and the people that he puts in our path. Right. Right. And, and that's just, that's just my story. That's just how I do it. So mentors,
Chris Wood: it sounds like mentors have been a huge thing for you.
And I, I, I'm a huge proponent of mentors. Mm-hmm. Because they, I just think that they help us build who we are and, and the things, especially when you're at your wit's end, I mean, you know, God places people in our lives for different reasons. Right, right, right. How long have you had a.
Jeremy Pell: At least 20 years. But, but here's the, here's the interesting part of it [00:07:00] is if you would've asked me 20 years ago, who is your mentor, I don't
know that I could tell you what a mentor was. Mm-hmm. It's just the fact that there were people in my life that I could pick up the phone and call, or I could walk into Chief Sanford's office mm-hmm.
And say, Brian, I don't know what to do. And he would walk me through it. Uh, one of the things he told me, which was just incredibly impactful, is, um, it was when I was at Warren Township Fire Department, we were merging with the Indianapolis Fire Department. Mm-hmm. And I said, Brian, I don't know what to do.
And he said, well, you know, talk to me about it. And we talked and he said, I can't give you the answer because only you know what the true answer is. I mean, you need to do what's best for yourself and your family, and that's gonna be in your heart. I can give you the pros and cons. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That was mentoring.
Right? That was so much more impactful than [00:08:00] sitting down with a, a journal. With another guy and say, okay, it's time for our mentoring session. Right. It didn't work that way. I, I don't, I'm, I'm struggling now on how to repay that and set that up for other people. So I start by being accessible and open and, you know, Brian taught me to just sit and listen and look somebody in the eye.
Absolutely. And set aside what you're doing. Um, and I guess it comes back to what you originally asked is, I, I, I want to serve through my actions. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Understand the concepts, but not make it this artificial, I'm checking the box. Right. Right. I want do the things that God wants me to do. I want it to be impactful.
I want, I want it to be through my actions and make a difference. Mm-hmm. That's
Jason Kempf: awesome. Absolutely. So you've gone from volunteer to chief in. You said you had been in the fire for 33 years. Yeah. Is that right? Yeah. So tell us a little bit about your role as [00:09:00] chief right now at White River.
Jeremy Pell: Okay. Uh, I wanna go back a little bit to that, cause I think this is very important.
All right. Is I've hit every rank in the fire department. Yes. Oh, well, and I, that's not always the case. Right. Okay. And I think it would be very difficult to do my job as a fire chief, uh, which at its core is I'm serving mm-hmm. The men and women in the department. Mm-hmm. If I didn't understand what they went through.
Right, right. So in my role today, uh, that that's what I do. My, my job is to serve the men and women of that department and give them every single thing they
need so that when, mm-hmm a nine one one call comes in, they can go out with a confidence that they can save that life. And it happens much more often than people realize.
In White River Township, when I started, we did about 650 runs a year. Okay. Last year we did 4,400 runs. Holy smokes. My goodness. Yeah.
Chris Wood: Yeah. And how, how much is, do you have [00:10:00] any idea how much the population has shifted? Like as far as like how many people. Or in what River Township now?
Jeremy Pell: Yeah. I versus then the, now we're redoing our website and, uh, we probably touched it, you know, five to eight years ago and it said 26,000 people and this last census we're up to 52,000.
Holy smoke. Yeah. I, I, you asked me, part of my job, I'm the CEO of an organization. Yeah, yeah. But, uh, of a servant's organization. And we have a multimillion dollar budget. Mm-hmm. We have 52,000 people, 26 square miles. We have 17 or 78 full-time employees, and we've got about another 20 part-time employees.
Uh, you know, it it, it's a, it's a big deal. It's, yeah, it is. It's, it's grown a lot.
Chris Wood: It has. Hmm. Have, and so you've been at this current, this in your current position for.
Jeremy Pell: 14 years. 14 years. Which is unusual for, it's unusual [00:11:00] for a fire chief. Really. We're not subject to the political changes in a fire protection district.
Mm-hmm. Like a city is, you know, a city has a new mayor and they have leadership changes mm-hmm. And new department heads and yeah. I fit much better into this and being a, a more. Merit based, qualified position. Mm-hmm. I was hired through a merit process based on my education and my experience. Okay. Um, I just, I, I fit a lot better in that.
I, I don't want to, Be in politics. Yeah. I know. I have to understand it. Right. But the Jeremy Pell approach is what we're doing today. Right. It's relational. Yeah. If you're an elected official, you're my boss and I respect you and I'm gonna give you everything you need to make a good decision to help our department grow.
Mm-hmm. So I can give the men and women what they need. Right. Right. To to. Make the department well to save a life. That's the bottom line. Yeah. Right. Yeah. What I was gonna tell you, you were asking about the, the department and how I've [00:12:00] seen it change, you know, teeny tiny, just it truly a volunteer fire department.
I was preparing for our budget this year, going into next year, and I looked and where we used to be, little White River Township with 52,000 people. If you just gave us the title of a city, we'd be the 17th largest city in the state of Indiana. Really? Wow. Yes. Hmm. I had not a clue. Yeah. That's part of my job.
Coming back to your question. Yeah. Hey Chief, what's your job? I never wanna lose sight. My job is to serve the people in the department, give them everything they need, but it's also preparing budgets and yeah, talking with the community and. I plan public safety for 52,000 people. I coordinate with the, with the sheriff's department in the Greenwood Police Department.
We've started a canine SAR program. We've started an active shooter response program. That was the the first in Johnson [00:13:00] County. We've brought together all the departments to participate in those programs. We have added a fire based ambulance service with three ambulances and um, hopefully a fourth in the future, Uhhuh, so that we have a hundred percent control of the continuity of care and a hundred percent of the, the insurance payments go back into serving you and your family that are wow.
That's cool, that coordinating with the district board and elected officials, that's what a fire chief does. Now, the, the, it'd be a little transparent here. The conflict for, for Jeremy Pell is, I'd rather be in the firehouse. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I, I, I so desperately want the men and women in the department to know that, but I would really, I'd really much rather have my time and go out and connect with them, that leadership by walking around or even just being back on a [00:14:00] firetruck.
Mm-hmm. I don't think that's where I'm intended to be right now. Right. I think that there's a plan that is much higher than us, right. And parts of it we know, and most of it we don't. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It sure feels like I'm where I'm supposed to be right now. That's awesome. Right.
Jason Kempf: That's cool. Congrats. So in, in that list of programs and things that you've listed, you don't just work with the fire department.
You mentioned earlier, before we hit record, that you're also working with the police department. Tell us a little bit about,
Jeremy Pell: um, your role there. Once you get into public safety, most people just get immersed in it. Mm-hmm. Our careers are not supposed to be our identity, but it, it's really hard when you live in the firehouse and you do this kind of work and it's so emotional.
I thought I would be more effective as a fire. If I understood the law enforcement side of it. Okay. So I applied to Johns County Sheriff's Office. I went through their full reserve Academy, which is about 175 hours. Mm-hmm. And I worked the road. No, I, I work as a, a [00:15:00] regular, uh, reserve road deputy with police
powers, and I chose that route rather than, Having special police powers as a fire investigator, I chose the Okay.
The route to go through Reserve Academy, because that's what would make me more effective. Hmm. And think about, think about the active shooter incidents we've all read about. Mm-hmm. And you know, I started learning about it and realized, wow, none of us can respond to that alone. That's. A injured person that's not a gunshot wound or a stabbing.
This is an incident we have to coordinate. Law enforcement fire, right? EMS 9 1 1. Emergency management reuniting families, right? Man. The only way. That I can do that effectively is if I understand what the police officer needs. Mm-hmm. And we can do what's called unified command. We can [00:16:00] sit in a vehicle or a command van together like the three of us are doing.
Only the conversation is, Hey, where are your officers? Mm-hmm. Do they need a medic with them? Mm-hmm. Can we get into this part of the building and start getting people out? Those are the life-changing decision. In white airport Township that I want to be as effective as I possibly can be. Wow. Wow.
Jason Kempf: So tell us about the active shooter program that you initiated recently.
Jeremy Pell: Yeah. Here, here's the big change is we don't know what we don't know. And now our society wasn't used to dealing that. Israel was, they, they, you know, they were used to terrorist attacks and Right, and active killing incidents. We weren't until. Right. Right. And it's gotten worse since then. Right. And um, there's a really powerful picture.
From Columbine, and it's one of the students that put a sign up that said, [00:17:00] um, I don't even remember what it said, need help now. Mm-hmm. And what happened was is one of those shooting victims was dying and ultimately died because we were doing things the old school way, going in and clearing room by room, and it took hours.
Oh wow. What we do now, And we do that in this community is we have a rescue task force approach to it where we take two police officers and two firefighter medics, and we go into a warm part of the building. So the building's not secured yet, but we know that that incident is in maybe the gymnasium.
Mm-hmm. Right. So we put these police officers and these medics together. And say, we're gonna go in as a. Front guard and rear guard, and we're gonna get out as many victims as we can while the rest of those police officers keep that [00:18:00] threat confined to the gymnasium. Gotcha. That's the game changer. So we're in there in minutes.
Mm-hmm. Rather than hours. Wow. And then we've, we've got a policy that is
consistent with the Sheriff's Office policy and the Greenwood Police. Uh, The Center Grove Police? Correct. We train on a regular basis. We have, uh, individual first aid kits with tourniquets. So the, not the care has changed, but also the response has changed and the working relationship between the agencies have changed.
Mm-hmm. So that we're all using the same terminology.
Chris Wood: Has it been, I mean, I'm just curious cuz you've gone through a lot of training in recognizing that it'd be helpful for you to be aware of their processes, right? Mm-hmm. So then you went through the, and now you're on the backside of it. Have you seen the great benefit of being able to, to bridge those two gaps now?
Because I, I don't know how many people have done that, but I'm just curious with your original [00:19:00] assessment of the situation and now you've done it, what, what kind of. Uh, benefits. Do you think it's truly been that you've been able to look at it from both
Jeremy Pell: perspectives? The the benefits are incredible.
Really. Yeah. And this is one of those things you can't learn from a textbook. You can read it in a textbook, but you won't fully appreciate it. Right. I'll give you an example. We had, um, someone we think you suffered a medical emergency and drove into a. Oh wow. Um, it was year before this, this winter.
Mm-hmm. It was witnessed. We had a crew member in street clothes jump in and try to make a rescue. Oh, wow. The sheriff's department showed up. They're the dive team, they're getting ready. I showed up because it's a coordinated response, and one of the divers looked at me and said, oh, Jeremy, I'm glad to see you.
Hey, will you monitor my radio traffic so that I can get my dive gear on? Because I've got a county unit number. I know the language, right? I know what [00:20:00] they're, look, you know, I know what they're listening for. He could focus solely on doing that, knowing that even though I'm, I'm working as a fire chief this day, right?
I can switch to the law enforcement channel and say, You know, Hey, this unit is getting ready. I'll let you know when he goes in the water. Mm-hmm. I don't you, you can't, you can't just pluck a firefighter and in a half hour teach him how to use the radio. Right. And that be effective. It has to be a coordinated response, huh?
Yeah. Yeah. Now in this community, you guys, you guys will get me going and I won't, I won't be quiet. You're good. You're good. In this community, we've gone even one step closer. And you see it right in front of your eyes when you look right across the right, across the, the playground at the school mm-hmm.
Is the White River Township Fire Department has partnered with Center Grove Schools, center Grove Police and the Sheriff's Department to put two Fire and Bargersville [00:21:00] fire department mm-hmm. To put two fire stations on school campuses. Yeah. Yeah. Now I want, now think about that for a second, is fire stations need to be in population centers.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Good travel corridors. Right. Where do you put schools? Population centers with good travel corridors. That's right. Yeah. That makes all kind of sense. So we've put our fire headquarters in Station 53. Yep. In front of Pleasant Grove. Yep. Yeah. And middle school North. Yep. And recently opened Station 2 54 with Bargersville Fire Department.
Johns County Sheriff's Office has an office there. Mm-hmm. Center Grove Police Department and an ambulance. We've got an engine. Uh, it's a, it's actually a multipurpose. With pumping water, an ambulance, sheriff's department, and police department on the camp, the high school campus. Right. With high school, middle school, elementary school, admin, building.
Yeah. Now that not only improves your response mm-hmm. And has already saved a life. We, we had a, a medical patient, [00:22:00] we were on the scene within, um, about 90 seconds. Wow. Transported them downtown and they walked outta surgery. Or walked outta the hospital after surgery. True. It's true. A hundred percent safe.
But that model also serves as a deterrent because someone that wants to attack a school is a coward. Yeah. And they don't want to do it with a police officer, an ambulance, and a firetruck in the front yard in the front. Right. It's those kind of things that just motivate me incredibly. Right. Are blatantly obvious to me that there's no way I'm doing this on my own.
I can't pull that off. Right. Right. There's no way. Right. God is faithful and honors prayer, the people that, that serve him and serve others. Mm-hmm. And works in ways that we don't understand. I, and I'm just trying to be part of that. Right. I'm just trying to, yeah. Have an open heart and an open mind. Well, and I,
Chris Wood: I, he's definitely given you [00:23:00] a lot of wisdom in the process of you trying to bring this together and in your training as well, and to, to bring that
Jason Kempf: together.
Jeremy Pell: Mm-hmm. Uh, it, it will sound to some people like ridiculousness, but I can tell you, and look you in the eye that many, many years ago I was, I had a very difficult childhood and I, I've had a rough path and I said, God, please. Give me the wisdom that you gave Solomon. Give me the strength you gave David, and gave me the gimme, the peace that you gave Paul.
And I don't ask for much. I just want to be able to serve the people around me and have enough to go to Walmart. And if I wanna buy something, buy something, right? Yeah. I get a kick out of buying a fishing pole or Right. Something to work on the house. That's all I'm asking for God. Right? Yeah. Sitting here talking to you and looking [00:24:00] backwards.
That's exactly what he did. Yeah. That's awesome. He gave me wisdom. He gave me, uh, the ability to lead others and serve others. Mm-hmm. And my family is blessed. Yeah. We, we don't want for anything. Mm-hmm.
Jason Kempf: That's awesome. Yeah. I'm, my mind is boggled by the complexity of coordination that you guys pull off.
Right. Um, you know, as a church we've talked about security policies and some things like that. This is just a small little building, right? Yeah. Not in White River Township. I can't imagine. Yeah. And I can't imagine the, you know, like you're saying, all the different agencies that come together and Yeah, it's clear that God has given you the gifts, the ability to, um, to bring leadership to this.
I mean, and so I, I have one more question for you related to your passion, um, because clearly your passion for what you do has been. Overly abundant in our conversation, but I, I understand that you have an even bigger passion, um, related to your
Jeremy Pell: dogs. Yeah, [00:25:00] yeah. Uh, almost an obsession. Uh, but any, anyone that's in public safety has to have a way to get their mind off things.
Mm-hmm. I live and breathe this. I'm as a fire chief. I'm, I'm always on, right? And I, I go home. I still know that phone's gonna ring, that radio's gonna go off, right? And I have this little, um, my mind is a strange place. I, I have this little matrix decision matrix. Obviously if I'm called, I go, but if there's a firefighter, her, if it, it's a church or school or a fatality, or.
Chris and Jason would look around and say, where's my fire chief? My fire chief should be here. Those are the calls I go on. Right. I make sure I go on those. Mm-hmm. Um, so I need a way to turn off. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that has been through my dogs. I've trained dogs for over 20 years, and it started with, I'm telling my wife, Hey, I'd like to have a dog so [00:26:00] that there's one here in the house mm-hmm.
When I'm on shift 24 hours. Mm-hmm. Just to kind of keep an eye on you. Yeah. And it was a dumpster fire. I made so many mistakes and it worked and I was grateful for it. But, um, I would call my wife at night and she's like, oh, I hate this dog. Since then, we've kind of got it squared away. In the last 10 years I've been, um, I've been working with one of my mentors, Leah Snyder, and have trained search and rescue dogs.
Wow. So that's, that's where we are today, is we've added a canine search and rescue discipline to the White River Township Fire Department. Uh, I've done most of it on my own. Once I adopted Rosie and realized that she really had a good shot at passing the test and becoming certified, I went to the department and I, I went to my board of directors and gave 'em a letter and statistics and resume and said, I would like to do this.
Will you please pay for me to go to a. Cool. And they've paid for two [00:27:00] classes and Rosie came back as a certified land cadaver dog and a crime scene, and we just got back Sunday night from uh, training and certifying her as a water search dog. Oh, cool. That is
Jason Kempf: cool. That is cool. And I
Chris Wood: assume there's a l I mean, like it, you said that in probably about five minutes, but I'm sure that the, the, the class and, and the time that's put into this is like ex, like a l a long amount of time.
Is it not? Oh,
Jeremy Pell: it, it is, it is. I was gonna say, that doesn't sound like a simple thing. So there are different paths to it, and I'll make this brief. You can go buy a. And it's bred to do this. Mm-hmm. And it's trained, and when it's a year to year and a half old, you show up and you go through six weeks training.
So seven, you know, five days a week, 40 hours a week. Right. And you walk out with a certified dog. That's how police departments do it. It's between 15 and $25,000. Oh, wow. Okay. The model we do is we adopt a [00:28:00] dog and there are pets, and we do it in our spare time. We do it as a volunt. Okay. And I've taken that model and seen the potential impact it can make in White River Township.
Oh, wow. So I've taken that passion and I thought it would be a shame to lose to, to waste that passion. And not use it for the department because I was really surprised when I put together the request to take her to school. And the, the classes we've done have been between 45 and, and, and 55 hours in a five day period.
Okay. Okay. You know, pretty intensive. And I looked, and in Johnson County in 20 20, 20 19, we. 24 calls where someone mi went missing in Johnson County alone in one year. Really? Okay. Yes. And I didn't even count the drownings cuz I, my mind wasn't on that. Right. But these are people [00:29:00] that have, Early stages of dementia.
They wander from home or Okay. Or, or just bite pure chance. Get out of the assisted living facility. Kids with autism spectrum. Right. And they wander away.
Mm-hmm. There were 20, 24 of those calls in one year. Okay. 24 calls that we could have taken a dog and put them on that trail and potentially made a difference.
Absolutely. Now many of. Had very good outcomes. Mm-hmm. Some of them didn't. Mm-hmm. But a dog can go out and run a mile and a quarter trail that's anywhere from four to 16 hours old and nail it in 15 minutes, it's over. Right. Right. Why would you not spend, literally, it's just been a couple thousand dollars because I adopted her from the pound.
Somebody tied her to a tree. I did all the basic training myself. I've paid for all the equipment, all the. All the medical care. Right. [00:30:00] And the department's paid for the training. Right. That's awesome. Right now, the, and they're very supportive. That's
Jason Kempf: good. Yeah. And the, and the trauma of the, of, of the person who's wandered off that you're saving so much trauma on their end by ending that quickly.
Yes. I
Jeremy Pell: mean, that's just, yes. And I'm sure you both know in your professions that we're getting smarter about. Our mental health. Yes. Mm-hmm. And one little detail I've learned is kids on the autism spectrum are attracted to water. Oh. And they're also afraid of authority figures. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because it's not what they're used to.
Right. You know, big men in uniforms. Mm-hmm. All right. So what's the traditional. We put big men and women in uniforms with big trucks and cars. Mm- hmm. And all these flashing lights in an area with a child that's scared to death. [00:31:00] Right. And we search until we run outta daylight and then we search a little longer, and then we say, okay, we will get back at it at the morning.
Right. And that child wanders out when all the chaos die down. Mm-hmm. And is attracted to a body of water. Mm-hmm. Not the best model. Right? Right. But it's what we knew, right? Yeah. Right. So what is the right model? Set up a perimeter outside of where that person wandered away. Stage at ponds. We've got plenty of those around here.
Yep. Mm-hmm. Low key. Put a dog on a trail. Kids love dogs, right? Rosie's not a bite dog. Yeah. Rosie will come up with her tail wagging and lick you and look for a treat. Yeah. And. That's where that passion carries over to Mission. That's awesome. We're gonna save, we're gonna save somebody. Absolutely. Right. I don't know when, maybe it's not even me.
Maybe it's the program and it's some young kid mm-hmm. 20 years from now that says I wanna be a dog handler. [00:32:00] Right. Yeah.
Chris Wood: That's awesome,
Jason Kempf: man. That's cool. I, I think there's a little bit of irony there though that, uh, the way you want to. From all that you do is to train a dog to take back into that the exact same.
Jeremy Pell: I told you my mind is a strange place,
Jason Kempf: but I mean, going back to one of the first things you said was, um, where, where you see a need. And your heart and your passion, God has given you gifts and talents to be there. Mm-hmm. That, like you said, I just want to be able to, you know, get my fish and pole at Walmart Yeah.
Out of this. And you know, now you've got a dog that goes out on the water with you and you know, is companion friend and coworker. Yeah. And that's just, that's awesome. It's beautiful. It's huge. Yeah. So, Question for you. Um, you know, cuz a lot of listeners of this podcast are in nonprofits, Uhhuh, you know, from churches to, um, charity organizations to small businesses to, you know, um, large corporations running some, you know, different things.
So, [00:33:00] um, one of the things that I kept hearing is a theme throughout everything you said was, how can I. If I haven't walked in their shoes Right. If I don't know what they're going through. So what, what advice would you give to leaders in whatever area of, of life they lead in, um, in terms of that, of, you know, of just being present in another person's shoes.
How, how would you talk to somebody about that? Jeremy Pell: That is a tough, tough question, Jason Kempf: man. That's
Jeremy Pell: my job. Excellent. You're very good at it. Well, thank you. Thank you. Um, countless books that have been written on this, here's what I think the difference is. I think it's loving other people as you love yourself. Mm-hmm. If you can start. Realize [00:34:00] nothing else in this world really matters unless, I mean, nothing really matters unless you have a, a love for other people.
Mm-hmm. You know, at, at the end of this life, I don't gonna think about the fishing pole, I'm sure to think about my dogs, but, but it's gonna be my wife and my kids. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And men like you and people in the department that I really cherish. And when I'm done, I'm gonna think, wow, I sure hope I did them right.
Mm-hmm. And I'm gonna wanna meet God and have him say, Hey, well done my good and faithful servant. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And if I could get that part right,
then I think I can get the leadership part right. And that's what I would tell the people at the nonprofits. And we get so wrapped up in the books mm-hmm.
And in the budgets and in the policies. And sometimes we do lose the forest for the trees and it just really comes back to taking care of another human [00:35:00] being. Mm-hmm.
Chris Wood: Hmm. That's so well broken down too. Yeah. Um, just the smaller things in life and just recognizing what truly is
Jeremy Pell: important. Yeah. That's awesome.
One, one moment at a time. Mm-hmm. One step at a time is what I'm doing. Beneficial to another person. Mm-hmm. And if I can get that right, I really think the rest of it, yeah. I fall in place for the most part. Yeah. I'll mess it up, but I try to come back and Right. And, and re myself. There's some growth curve there, right?
Yeah. Are you kidding? I don't know that I would call it a curve. How about a cliff? That's awesome. Um, there are times that I very humbly had to look at my, at my fire department, at my brothers and sisters and say, I'm so very [00:36:00] sorry I got this wrong. Mm-hmm. Will you please forgive me? I promise you I will do it better.
Hmm. Right.
Jason Kempf: That's all.
Jeremy Pell: Uh, and that's that. Is not a reflection of me. I just, I, I think it gets to the heart of your question. Mm-hmm. How, how do you lead. I make a mistake and I wanna try to make it right, and I wanna serve people, I wanna, I wanna love people better. Right. And and
Chris Wood: you admitted to it. I mean, you, it's not just, it's not just making the mistake, it's admitting the mistake and then recognizing where it went wrong and then trying to fix it.
Like there's a process there. And what I, I love to hear your heart with that, because there is leaders out there that don't make mistakes and they don't admit it, or they just go on fixing it. They don't take the tall, the pause of, Hey look, I'm sorry I screwed this. I'm gonna make it better. Just know that it is what it is.
Jeremy Pell: Our world teaches us that [00:37:00] the, the strength of a human being is in standing up and being right. Hmm. And we fight, fight and argue to be right. Yeah. Right. And my deep-seated belief is that there is strength and even more. In doing your very best and admitting that you don't know it all and understanding your weaknesses and asking somebody to help you with those
weaknesses for the greater good.
Yes. That's so good. That is strength. It takes a strong man or woman to stand up and say, I just don't know. Yeah. I just don't know what to do. God, will you please gimme a assist here? Yeah. Yeah. Hey. Uh, don't let me mess this up. That's one of my catchphrases in the office. Again, they probably get sick of hearing and I'll walk into somebody's office and say, please don't let me mess this [00:38:00] up.
What do you think? Uh, I don't know. I'm sure I would do that if I was you chief, like, thank you.
Jason Kempf: That's awesome, man. I don't even know how to respond after that.
Chris Wood: My goodness. That was in my mind, that was gold because, And I, I'm, I'm so thankful that we have people like you serving this community who have that mindset because that is something I think that runs at our core, um, of who, who we are and what we're trying to do to serve the people we're serving.
Mm-hmm. And
Jeremy Pell: it's so, well listen, you know, the other thing that has hit me lately, Is that it transcends the issues we're dealing with in society. Yes. So if I can make our little corner of the world better, then again I, you know, I've, I've done what I'm supposed to do. Right. You know, what I'm created to do.
Mm-hmm. And taking that approach [00:39:00] transcends the other issues. The political issues and the social issues and the arguments, and we all read it. We all see it on our phone and on Facebook every single day. I try not to let that be the issue. I try not to be, let that be the focus of my mind. It is some days right.
I get frustrated. Right, right. This is much easier said than it is done. Right. But at the end of the day, you know, It's really not my issue of what your religion is. Mm- hmm. Or your sexual orientation, or your hobbies or your career. My issue is how do I, how do I take care of you? Right. And I just, I'm so incredibly grateful that God created me to serve other people, that I can do that.
And it, uh, I don't, it doesn't matter to me what the person is. Mm-hmm. Or who they are. Right. You know, any of those social issues. [00:40:00] Right? Right. If one of you called 9 1 1, my mission's clear. Absolutely. The options are few. The decisions are easy. We show up and we put our life on the line to protect you.
Mm-hmm. And no newspaper or podcast or political report is gonna change that Right for me. Right,
Jason Kempf: right, right. I. And what a, what a life lesson we could learn from, like you're saying, this is, the mission is clear of the fire department that we are,
we're there to save a life. Mm-hmm. Your options are few. We either respond, we don't respond, we put our life in the line, or we don't.
Um, you know, and so the decision's easy. Yeah. And when we superimpose those issues in people's lives as their identity, That just, it clouds
Jeremy Pell: everything. It real, that is a perfect way. It really does. Of putting it, it clouds it. Yeah. These are, we have good people [00:41:00] in Johnson County, Indiana, and United States of America.
Absolutely. And at times we become very, very clouded. Yes. We live and then we lose, we can picture, you know, a cloudy day. Mm-hmm. Hiking in the woods. And that cloud drops down and the rain falls, and now you don't see a mile in front of you. You see 10 feet in front of you. Mm-hmm. And you're clouded. And where do I go?
And you try to take the right steps, right? Yeah. But they're not focused on the destination. Mm-hmm. And you come off the path because I love that metaphor, because it's so cloudy.
Jason Kempf: Yeah. That looks good. And our identity at. Is, you're a human, you're a person that we can love. Yes. And, and I'm for you. And yeah, man, I absolutely love that.
So, as we think about the fire, our emergency services, um, how can the community [00:42:00] best support you guys?
Jeremy Pell: Well, I'll tell you. I mean, fir first off is, is pray for, pray for our responders. Mm-hmm. It might, again, it might be cliche, but it's tough. Mm-hmm. And there are men and women in our department in Greenwood and Bargersville and the city of Indianapolis that you think about the incredible amount of stress that they've been on.
Yeah. And then you take that stress and you know, add a pandemic to it. But, but these are men and women that. Children who have died mm-hmm. And families, and, you know, parents. Mm-hmm. People that have lost their homes. And, and maybe that's what, maybe that's what keeps me in focus a little bit. And I look and say, wow, [00:43:00] that last night's news wasn't, that probably wasn't that big a deal.
This family's gonna have to figure out where to live. Right. Um, I worry about, I worry about their mental, physical and emotional stress. I listened to, um, a podcast recently and, and the auth, the, the presenter was Craig Rochelle, and he said, we're not tired, we're fatigued. We're not, we're not burned out.
We're just, we're just, we're fatigued. Mm-hmm. It's just, um, call after call after. So I think that's the first. I think prayer and, and spiritual and emotional support
absolutely is the first great step and it is always uplifting to our fire department when we know that people care and appreciate, well, typical.[00:44:00]
You get the complaints, that's the one that picks up the phone. Yeah. Right. New Hope has been really good about just sending a card. We've actually had several churches that have sent a card and said, we're praying for you, um, or a note or cookies, and just to say, Hey, we appreciate what you do. So that's, that's a good next step.
Mm-hmm. And then I, I would say in my, my fire chief role, we are grossly behind a community that has 52,000 people. We still have part-time firefighters. Mm- hmm. We have the same 17 firefighters on duty each day that we had 20 years ago. Oh wow. Yeah. So just a little bit of understanding and the support in trying to grow the department to keep up with a community that has an interstate half a dozen assisted living facilities.
Um, I don't know what we're up to 10, 12 schools. Yeah. Megachurches
[00:45:00]
Jason Kempf: and some of the fastest growing communities in Indiana.
Jeremy Pell: Oh yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So succinctly prayer. Yeah. Love and support, appreciation for the stress and of what we do. Mm-hmm. And just knowing we appreciate it. And then the support out in the community when the men and women in the departments.
We need this, we need this tool, or we need some more people. Mm-hmm. That would, I mean, that would be a dream come true for me. Right. That's awesome. But regardless of what happens myself, but more importantly, the men and women of the White River Township Fire Department, and I can speak for the men and women in the Sheriff's Department and Center Grove Police and all the ones that I serve beside mm-hmm.
Are here for you. Yeah. You pick up the phone, what a, what a magical thing. Mm-hmm. You pick up the. And call and no excuses. People show up, we show up. Right. And we care for you. That's
Chris Wood: awesome. Yeah,
Jason Kempf: that's so true. How [00:46:00] would, um, somebody wants to
show appreciate appreciation to the firehouse or, you know, something like that. How would they contact you guys? How would they catch up with you?
Jeremy Pell: All our contact information is on the website. Okay. Which is, you go, um, it's www.wtf d dot. All right. And you can call the office and you're gonna get one of the things that I. I'm, I'm really happy about what this department is.
We're high speed and progressive.
We're still your, we're still your fire department, right? You can literally, uh, anybody out there listening to this podcast could literally show up at any of our fire stations today. Say, Hey, my kids would like to see a firetruck, and I guarantee you. You will be welcomed with open arms. So you can call Danielle or Tammy and say, Hey, we heard Chief Pell's podcast.
Can we come see the firehouse? Or we would like to bring a note by. How would we do that? And they'll, their response will be, we will be glad to [00:47:00] help you with that. And absolutely you'll bring it by the office and then it'll go from there. We'd coordinate getting it to another fire station. Mm-hmm. Or getting it to one of the officers that would drive it around and say, Hey, look, somebody brought us cookies, or, Hey look, here's a one some.
I apologized to whatever church did this, but they asked, I, it may have been New Hope, asked for our roster and then wrote note cards to every single member and just said, Hey, we're praying for you. And I still have that one sitting on my desk. That's cool. That was, that was, that was a neat thing.
Jason Kempf: That's cool.
Cool. That's cool. Well, chief Pell, thank you. Yes, thank you. Thank you for, thank you. Showing up. And thank you for your passion. Thank you for your service.
Jeremy Pell: Well, thanks for, thanks for doing this and, and I, you know, we're all, we're all blessed, aren't we? We're all fortunate. Absolutely. For
Jason Kempf: absolutely. It's, it's great knowing that, like you said, you pick up the phone and there's nothing that we have to do to convince you guys to be, to have our back.
Right. That you've got it. Before we even pick up that phone, and thank
Jeremy Pell: you. [00:48:00] That's a hundred percent true. And thank you for what you. It is incredible to think what this world would be like if each one of us didn't try to make our little corner of the world nicer. Right, right, right. So you're part of that story.
Yeah.
Jason Kempf: Thanks. Well, and I would assume, I would hope most of the guys at the house will have made it this far through the podcast at some point, right?
Jeremy Pell: I hope
Jason Kempf: so. And so, guys, gals, we just wanna say thank you to you. Yes. Thank you for all you do and, uh, for supporting this man on the other side of the mic. Um, and you guys are amazing in our community and we are grateful.
That is for sure. So Chief Bell, thank you again. Yep, thank you. And, uh, give, give
Jeremy Pell: Rosie a treat for us. Okay? I will. All right. We'll catch y'all. Catch y'all in
Jason Kempf: a minute. Appreciate it.