We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rondell Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Rondell, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I’ve always had a passion for writing. Typically I’d journal my thoughts and write poems from time to time. I still find this to be something that brings me solace in a world surrounded by chaos. While my passion for writing assisted me in some aspects of my life, becoming.a firefighter was something I had been pursing for about 7 years. I had experience working as a Wild land firefighter for about 5 years but the work was seasonal and no agency had seemed to want to bring me on as a full-time employee. At the end of my 5th season working with the Wild land crew, I remember speaking with my crew boss about other route I could go to get on to an agency full-time; asking him questions about what I could do to make myself a stronger candidate. He told me to get my EMT license then apply to structural fire departments. So I did exactly that, but little did I know, the journey to obtaining my EMT license wouldn’t be as smooth as I had thought it would be. I attended an 8-week accelerated EMT program a few months later. My coursework was strong, but I had a mentor that showed me that there was more for me to learn alongside having good grades. He explained and taught me many things about what it takes to be a firefighter and representative of the department, on and off the job. When I finished the course, I had to take my national exam. I didn’t pass the first time I took it. Not the second or third time either. I had felt so discouraged that I considered not even wanting to pursue the career anymore and began sharing my poetry on stage more often than I had before. Several months later, I wrote a poem about my journey towards becoming an EMT and firefighter. When I shared it, I received an immense amount of encouragement from the audience, my friends, and loved ones. But it wasn’t from within. While I appreciated the support, I knew that I had to dig deeper within myself to accomplish my dream. So I retook the 8-week EMT program. My instructor at the time asked why I was there when I had already passed, and I told him I needed to do this to ensure this is what I really want to do. He respected my thought process and I ended up passing at the top of the class. But that meant nothing to me if I didn’t pass my national exam. The following week after scheduling to take it, I remember going with a classmate of mine to take it. We were both nervous, anxious to take the exam, but confident in the information that we knew and know now til this day. When we walked out of the exam room 2 hours later we both felt uncertain if we had passed or not. Several hour later, my classmate called me saying “did you see your score?!?!” I hadn’t, and thought the scores wouldn’t be available to see until the next day, but apparently they posted them the same day. When I logged in to view my score, I PASSED! At that moment I knew I would become a firefighter, and in my heart I thought I would be riding on the LAFD trucks in no time. 3 years later, after applying, interviewing, training, obtaining more certificates, and adding on to my experience I have not yet been hired on to the Los Angeles Fire Department, but I did get hired onto the Memphis Fire Department in 2023! My mentor once said to me, “The best fire department is the one that hires you!” And I truly believe that. I’m happy here in Memphis, and while I do intend to make my way back home, I’m soaking in all the experiences I can while I am here. I couldn’t be more grateful. All I needed was a chance to prove myself, to myself, that I can accomplish this goal. Now that I’ve done it, I’m on to the next accomplishment of bring back the wisdom and skills I have through my writing and experience as a firefighter/EMT to my city and community.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the medical field of my own volition. I had not seen many EMT/Paramedics or Firefighters that are African/American within my community and always found myself in the neighborhood with my mom providing home remedies to the neighbors. It takes an ongoing immense amount of discipline to do what I do. Now that I am hired onto a fire department, it’s similar to trying out for a basketball team – now that I made the team, I want to be on the starting line-up, that’s how I secure my position. Currently, my biggest focus is on securing my job position. Once that’s established, then I can explore the different opportunities for growth the department offers. What I am most proud of is actually stepping out of my comfort zone to be a part of a fire department in an entirely different environment than I anticipated and hoped to be a part of years ago. I think should go without expressing, but as a Firefighter/EMT, my services include providing the community with education on fire prevention, assisting with medical and fire emergencies, and a personal for me is showing other black men (young or older) they can accomplish their dreams as well – no matter what the dream is.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The 5 Agreements The Alchemist
Think and Grow Rich

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @RJTHEPOET
• Facebook: Rondell E Johnson
• Twitter: @YOURJZTRULY