Transcript
Speaker: G'day, I'm Trent Maxwell.
Speaker: And I'm Lee Mason.
Speaker: And we want to welcome you to our Live, Learn, Survive podcast.
Speaker: Since 2018, Lee and I travelled the globe and met face-to-face with over 35,000 children in six countries across three continents.
Speaker: We created a series of award-winning children's books, a global online education program, and are founders of the Live, Learn, Survive charity, all focused on teaching children and young adults life skills that will not only help themselves, but help others too.
Speaker: We're on a mission to spread awareness about fire, water and first aid education to inspire the next generation of first responders.
Speaker: So join us for the next half an hour with some fun, inspiration and kindness and we'll try and learn something too.
Speaker: How are you this week, Lee?
Speaker: Welcome aboard.
Speaker: Maxie, I am good and we have recorded this so I just scheduled all the dates this morning so I'm going to say Happy New Year.
Speaker: Happy New Year, Lee.
Speaker: Happy New Year.
Speaker: I hope your Christmas and New Year was great.
Speaker: Absolutely, because if we've got this right, today is the 3rd of January.
Speaker: So this is when this is going to go out.
Speaker: And last week, you interviewed me.
Speaker: So this week,
Speaker: this week burning the tables this is me it's my time to shine so hopefully i don't uh mumble a jumble because you know when we when we're very sophisticated and planned for this podcast with our notes so me not having much control or seeing i know i obviously see the questions but you know some of my answers so we'll see how we go exactly so they're here the questions are ready and um you know i can't i
Speaker: I'm going to give a very, because we're going to get straight into it.
Speaker: So I'm going to give the briefest of intros.
Speaker: Let's do it.
Speaker: Trent Maxwell, lifeguard, firefighter, author.
Speaker: Charity founder, co-founder and director.
Speaker: Welcome.
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: That's all you can say.
Speaker: That's good.
Speaker: That's good.
Speaker: I was starting to, you know, there has been a few things I've done, but yeah, no, it's a short but sweet intro.
Speaker: I've just gone the headline and I'm going to get straight into it.
Speaker: Question one, lifeguard and firefighter, both at the front end of action in the community,
Speaker: What makes a good first responder?
Speaker: Oh, that's a really good question.
Speaker: So people that are new to the podcast or new to who I am and what we do, you know, I've been a lifeguard for nearly 18 years on a beach, one of the busiest beaches in Australia, if not the world for its size.
Speaker: We get up to 40 to 50,000 people on any given summer's day.
Speaker: And we get all sorts of different things from rescues to first aides to major incidents.
Speaker: We work in a seven to 10 person team and we work from six to seven o'clock at night.
Speaker: And as a firefighter, I've been a firefighter for coming up nine years.
Speaker: Actually, this is on the 3rd of Jan.
Speaker: On the 16th of Jan, we would be nine years as a part of Fire and Rescue New South Wales.
Speaker: And yeah, so I've been doing that for nine years.
Speaker: I work at Bankstown Fire Station, which is one of the busiest rescue fire stations in the state of New South Wales and maybe for Australia as well.
Speaker: But going back to your question,
Speaker: What makes a good first responder?
Speaker: I think a good first responder is someone that is, they love what they do.
Speaker: They're keen.
Speaker: They're always pushing the bar to keep learning and to try new things and to try and be up to date with the training and knowledge and the
Speaker: the guidelines to the job, because we are in a forever changing world where technology is changing, you know, things we used to do 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago is changing.
Speaker: So always innovative, always open to learn new things.
Speaker: You know, in nine years, I've learned so many different things as a firefighter and a lifeguard.
Speaker: So I think it's very important to be open to change.
Speaker: A lot of people don't like change, but being a good first responder, open to change, new practices, and just evolving with the job and being a good mentor for the younger people or the people that have been in the job less than you.
Speaker: They can learn a lot off senior firefighters, especially junior firefighters and junior lifeguards.
Speaker: So to answer your question shortly, what makes a good first responder is someone that cares what they do and they continue to learn and not, you know, not to lose a passion.
Speaker: I think that's really good that you said, you know, about people that don't like change.
Speaker: Like you said,
Speaker: never ever go to work and know what your day's going to look like.
Speaker: And there's some people that go to work and know exactly what their day's going to look like.
Speaker: And I think, you know, if you're a person that is really...
Speaker: hesitant to change, there's nothing wrong with that, but then it may be something like a first responder would be your worst nightmare.
Speaker: When it comes to rescue as well, we're always taught, you know, plan A doesn't work, go to plan B, plan B doesn't work, plan C. So you always need to have maybe six or seven deep things ready to go if things don't go your way.
Speaker: And unfortunately in the jobs that I do as a lifeguard and firefighter, it could be the best day ever.
Speaker: You could be,
Speaker: you know, everything planned, everything to a T and then a job or a call or something will throw you out and you need to adapt to that change.
Speaker: Yeah, excellent.
Speaker: Good.
Speaker: Definitely a good answer there, Maxie.
Speaker: So everyone like you, you're often asked a lot of questions.
Speaker: So, you know, this is me talking to you now.
Speaker: And a lot of people, you know, you get asked the standard questions when you're asked on a podcast.
Speaker: So I've tried to
Speaker: put some different angles on some of the questions.
Speaker: So memorable experience and challenges.
Speaker: What are some of the most challenging circumstances that you've had as your time lifeguarding?
Speaker: So what are the circumstances that find most challenging in the job?
Speaker: To be honestly, it's...
Speaker: It's some of the rescues that you do and some of the situations you find yourself in.
Speaker: You know, it could be the most calmest of days and then all of a sudden you're responding to someone that's fallen off a cliff or you respond to someone that's, you know, drowned spearfishing or it is one of those days where it's a nice day and there is a big swelg up against the rocks.
Speaker: And when you say memorable experiences, you know,
Speaker: Unfortunately, I've been involved in a lot of major jobs and they kind of all blur into one sometimes, but then you have to write down.
Speaker: And I actually have been conscious enough in the last couple of months to try and remember some of the more
Speaker: bigger jobs and write them down.
Speaker: And it doesn't have to be a whole story or a novel about that job.
Speaker: It's just about just a brief paragraph about what it was and just to kind of keep the memory spark alive because being in this job for a long time, you forget about the impact and the things that you've actually done.
Speaker: A classic thing,
Speaker: example is more memorable ones I remember being a part of a resuscitation where a young a 28 year old spear fisherman from around the corner had drowned yeah and I was a key part of the decision on to get him on the back of the the jet ski and bring it back to Bondi for him to work on him even though we knew that he was in the water for a long time
Speaker: I think the initial plan was to leave him on the rocks, but then by the time police rescue got there, the lifeguards that were holding the person on the rocks, you know, it's just dangerous.
Speaker: So I made the call to get him on the back of the jet ski, bring him back to Bondi.
Speaker: We worked on him on the beach.
Speaker: Unfortunately,
Speaker: He did pass, however, we did get some sort of a heart rate or rhythm, irregular rhythm, and they were able to put him on life support and then be able to use some of his organs to be able to provide for other people that are injured and sick.
Speaker: And that's not the first time that's happened to me.
Speaker: Actually, my first...
Speaker: resuscitation, first day as a lifeguard at Bronte Beach.
Speaker: Unfortunately, we had someone fall off a cliff at Bronte and it was my first day at work in Bronte Beach.
Speaker: I was 16 years old.
Speaker: It was back in 2007.
Speaker: And this person had fallen into the water.
Speaker: We rescued him, brought him back to the beach, worked on him, same sort of thing.
Speaker: He was clinically dead, but we had enough rhythm.
Speaker: We shocked him a few times and they kept him alive and they'd be able to donate some of his organs.
Speaker: So even though it's a very traumatic situation, knowing that if someone's lost a family member or a brother or a sister or an uncle or a father, knowing that they can keep giving and we're a part of that link of giving someone an opportunity to thrive and live in the community.
Speaker: Do you know what?
Speaker: That's something after all the conversations, I've never actually thought that when tragically someone even does pass, but that whatever you've all been able to do, be it fire is life got in or whatever, that's bought the time that, you know,
Speaker: then, you know, how incredible that organs can be donated that do then save other lives.
Speaker: Yeah, so it's kind of a bit of a closure thing for us.
Speaker: Yeah, and massively for families too.
Speaker: Yeah, and we've had families come down and say thank you for doing what you're doing.
Speaker: We decided to keep the person living through someone else and it's a beautiful thing knowing that, you know, a little bit of a personal story, I don't want to go into too much detail, but, you know, my mum had some liver troubles when I was really young, like five or six, and I was taught that she needed to have a liver transplant and I remember being a young child knowing how important being on that list and being an organ donor was.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Thankfully, you know, the liver is one of the organs that can kind of heal itself.
Speaker: So her liver did heal itself to some capacity.
Speaker: However, I remember as a child, you know, her having a beeper and then waiting for that new liver to come.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Something that's been instilled with me from the age of five and six.
Speaker: So, yeah, the fact that I can keep doing it in my jobs, it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker: Amazing.
Speaker: Amazing.
Speaker: So, yeah, wow, what an answer, Maxie.
Speaker: We're straight into this, aren't we?
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: Firefighting, so many different parts to the career.
Speaker: What's your favorite part of being the firefighter?
Speaker: I think my favorite part of being a firefighter is working in a team.
Speaker: I know it's a very cliche answer that probably a lot of people do answer across the world that do podcasts about firefighting and lifeguarding.
Speaker: But I think working in a team is so important.
Speaker: I've been very thankful and fortunate that the crews that I've been a part of the last three stations that I've been at, I've kept in touch with every day.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's, it's, I think the team environments are only self-like minded people that are keen to, to do the same thing and grow.
Speaker: I'm very fortunate at working at Bankstown.
Speaker: I work with literally two, three or three of my best mates, which is very,
Speaker: You know, a lot of people work in jobs where they work with friends and, you know, family members and so on.
Speaker: But within the firefighters, you know, it's pretty unique that we're all together, if that makes sense.
Speaker: And you know what?
Speaker: You do go out and, like, literally your lives do depend on each other.
Speaker: You know, you have to have that trust in that team because it's not like, you know, it is the kind of job that your lives do depend on each other.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: And, yeah, I think that's one of the more positive things within the job.
Speaker: And I know that things will change.
Speaker: You know, one of the firefighters is going for a promotion.
Speaker: You know, other firefighters are looking at other things.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know,
Speaker: Nothing lasts forever.
Speaker: I know it sounds, it's a scary thing to think and understand, but everything in life doesn't last forever.
Speaker: So just enjoy the moment, enjoy and reflect a lot on the things that you have done and what you continue to do.
Speaker: And yeah, like I,
Speaker: I think one of the best parts is obviously working the team and with your mates.
Speaker: But at the same time, I think just being a part of the community, knowing you're doing good stuff for the community, you have your good and bad days.
Speaker: And just the, the thought that the thing that gets me fired up is knowing that any given moment when you're on shift or in uniform or in the big red truck, that, um,
Speaker: you know, something could happen and you can be that link between that person surviving or that person's house being saved or, you know, that pet getting rescued in a tree again, cats and trees.
Speaker: You know, it's just a really good thing.
Speaker: You know, you're doing a good thing for the community.
Speaker: So that's definitely a big plus for the job as a firefighter.
Speaker: Excellent.
Speaker: Excellent, Maxie.
Speaker: So you just said, like, you know, a bit of stress with the work, lifeguarding and firefighting, different stresses.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: How do you deal with the stress of those jobs?
Speaker: Good answer.
Speaker: So for a long time and ever since we've known each other, I've always kept busy with doing things, you know, working the three jobs.
Speaker: And I say the third job is being a director of the charity and what we do with Live, Learn, Survive.
Speaker: I'm always trying to keep my mind busy, not trying to escape things, but
Speaker: I'm always trying to keep it busy because sometimes if you don't, if you have A to D like I do, you need to, when you have downtime, you overthink.
Speaker: And I'm sure everyone has a lot of these issues where you overthink and you start to fall into bad habits and stuff like that.
Speaker: So I always constantly try to push myself in different ways.
Speaker: And more so this year, and you know, Liz, I've been training a lot more.
Speaker: I used to train a lot.
Speaker: Now I try and train most days.
Speaker: And if I train most days, it's a, for me, it's a bit of a reset.
Speaker: It's a way for me to exert energy and keep my mind, um, you know, free of all the fuzziness.
Speaker: And, um, you know, I'm very lucky.
Speaker: I train at a gym just down the road for where I live.
Speaker: And the, the schedule, um,
Speaker: works within my lifestyle as a firefighter and a lifeguard and doing the live and survive stuff.
Speaker: So I'm very grateful that I have that to kind of, it's taken me a number of years to be able to do that.
Speaker: But I think one of the things that helps me deal with stress is going to do the 45 minute to 50 minute.
Speaker: 100%.
Speaker: Like, you know, you and running is just like, you know, breathing, you know, it's just like,
Speaker: As long as I've ever known you, it's like a really, when we've been traveling and we've been over, you know, two or three days and you've not had a run, when we've been like, you know, and I'll go, and even up here, even coming up here to, you know, visit me in the office and I'll say to you, bring some old runners, leave some runners, you know, just, it is, it's,
Speaker: And for anybody that doesn't do it, you know, you don't have to be a runner, but just go for work.
Speaker: Get out in nature.
Speaker: Run out on the gym.
Speaker: Look out, look at a few trees.
Speaker: Literally just get in a bit of fresh air and things massively important.
Speaker: Just have good habits again, you know, even little things like making yourself a nice healthy smoothie in the morning for breakfast or, you know, doing 10 minutes of meditation.
Speaker: You know, these things that I try and do and practice each day and it works for me.
Speaker: Yep, exactly, exactly.
Speaker: So would you recommend your careers, would you recommend it to others that they pursue it as a career path?
Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: But just remember the places where I work, you know, it is high-paced.
Speaker: It's, you know, you're going to be dealing with some stressful and some sad and interesting situations.
Speaker: So my advice to anyone that wants to follow these footsteps is it's something that doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker: You need to want it.
Speaker: You need to be willing to put the work in and you are willing to keep learning, to learn, to be keen, be persistent.
Speaker: I understand that there's some good and bad days within the job.
Speaker: And the beauty of lifeguarding and firefighting is no matter who you are, if you put in the skills and the knowledge and the effort, they'll repay tenfold and you'll be able to be a key part of the community as a lifeguard and firefighter.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: And is that like, because that skirts right nicely into the next question.
Speaker: Is that the advice that you would give to like new people, like newbies, like literally starting out in those roles?
Speaker: Is that the advice that you would give to them?
Speaker: Yeah, that would be.
Speaker: And it doesn't matter if you're male or female, you know, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.
Speaker: And I've worked with numerous different people over the years as a lifeguard and a firefighter from all different backgrounds, all different ages, male, female.
Speaker: And one thing in common that I noticed that we all have is that keenness to be able to do good for the community and to be able to, um,
Speaker: to learn.
Speaker: You need to continue learning.
Speaker: If the day you walk out of college or walk out of your lifeguard exam and go, yeah, I know everything.
Speaker: This is it.
Speaker: Feed up.
Speaker: It doesn't work like that.
Speaker: And you've got to get left behind, unfortunately.
Speaker: And then, you know, when you get left behind, sometimes it can be a situation where people get overwhelmed and get a bit bitter and they get a bit upset.
Speaker: But you need to constantly move with the times.
Speaker: You need to be...
Speaker: persistent and keen and continue learning.
Speaker: I know I keep pushing on the learning, but every day is a school day.
Speaker: We say live within Live, Learn, Survive every day.
Speaker: And it's the same in business.
Speaker: It's in the same in anything.
Speaker: The day that you think you know everything, it's literally game over.
Speaker: You know, it is literally, you literally don't.
Speaker: And I guarantee as well, you think you've seen it all and there'll be something that tops it or something that will be very similar to what you've done before, but you've learned from your mistakes or you've learned from how you felt and you do the job either differently or you won't put yourself in a situation that you have in the past.
Speaker: So I'm a big believer in making mistakes to an extent, obviously safely, of course.
Speaker: You don't want people to do too many risks and things.
Speaker: risks to themselves and others but you know if you make a mistake by using the wrong tool or using the wrong piece of equipment to rescue someone you still do the rescue it might be option c and d for the for the plan but you know you know for next time that c and d it doesn't really work so you might work on a and b
Speaker: Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker: And you know what?
Speaker: Mistakes happen every time.
Speaker: I used to say to anybody, I'd say, you know, mistakes happen.
Speaker: Just, you know, if the mistakes are the little ones, brilliant.
Speaker: They're the best.
Speaker: When the mistakes are the big ones, they're a bit more of a problem.
Speaker: But that's just part of life.
Speaker: So excellent answer, Maxi.
Speaker: So your role in public safety, basically you're out there every day keeping the people safe.
Speaker: has evolved and now you've brought this into charity, into Live, Learn, Survive.
Speaker: So what has been the biggest lesson for you moving from doing your job as public safety but then having like that kind of role into a charity?
Speaker: What's been the biggest challenge of that?
Speaker: I think the biggest challenge is there is using the correct terminology.
Speaker: Not everyone understands...
Speaker: the same terms or phrases or way that we do things within the job.
Speaker: So actually trying to convert that into a way for people and kids and teachers and people part of the community can understand, you know, by making it either more easy to understand, always like to use the example of Neil deGrasse Tyson and, and Brian Cox, who are, you know, I love my astro astrology and all that sort of stuff when it comes to astrophysics and, you know,
Speaker: They're the sort of guys, I mean, I'm always trying to learn more about the universe and stuff like that.
Speaker: They're the sort of guys that I lean to because they explain things simpler.
Speaker: So I like to use that as an example where you need to, the whole thing from being a firefighter and a lifeguard to bring into public safety is to make sure that people leave those rooms or those classrooms knowing something that they thought that they knew or didn't know and they can use it in everyday life to be able to survive their worst day.
Speaker: That's so good.
Speaker: And it's so relevant as well.
Speaker: It's very interesting.
Speaker: I was talking to a lady yesterday who was talking about cybersecurity and it was a very similar thing.
Speaker: Very techie, very jargony, very... But every single... She keeps the public safe in that area as we do in Live, Learn, Survive in this area.
Speaker: And it's making it that it's relatable to the normal person that does not know
Speaker: everything that you've studied and learned over years and years and years, you know, how many times do I do you say to you, what, what does that mean, Maxie?
Speaker: And a lot of the stuff I do explain is real life stuff.
Speaker: You know, when I did a school talk a couple of weeks ago, I come off shift and I had a two house fires, a unit fire and a building fire.
Speaker: And I explained to the kids, you know, how fast fire can move and why not even work in smoke alarm.
Speaker: So using real life jobs in my talks makes my job a little bit easier because the reality is I go, this isn't something out of a textbook.
Speaker: This isn't something that I've thought of or scenario.
Speaker: This is real life.
Speaker: And take it with a grain of salt.
Speaker: But know that if you're ever in this situation, this is what you need to do to be able to survive your worst day.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: So that, geez, we're segueing very well today, Maxie.
Speaker: So something that might people, tell us something that people might be surprised to learn about how you prepare for going through.
Speaker: into a school and speaking about the educational stuff.
Speaker: Yeah, I think I always still get nervous, but as I get older and as I am in front, I could be in front of 10 people, I could be in front of a thousand people, a hundred thousand people.
Speaker: Your nerves are always there, but when you know or what you believe in, knowing is going to benefit the people in that room and you talk from experience, that confidence comes by knowing your stuff and being –
Speaker: been in those situations um and you can really people know when you're talking crap and people know if you're just trying to bumble in the way but I might not be the most perfect speaker but I guarantee when I start talking about a story or something where I know my stuff I might not explain it as well as probably I'm thinking or I'm speaking I keep
Speaker: maybe get my words mixed up.
Speaker: However, I do know that there'll be people in that room going way out at the edge of their seat, listening to the story and trying to learn from that.
Speaker: And I think that's something that people don't realise is I'm a big...
Speaker: big on energy within the room as well.
Speaker: So if there's a couple of kids being a bit destructive or there's a couple of kids up the back talking amongst themselves, I try and get them involved some way and somehow.
Speaker: And eye contact's a big thing as well.
Speaker: You know, when you're talking to kids or parents or teachers...
Speaker: by actually, you know, not pointing rudely, but you know, kind of your hand going in the direction of that person or your eyes are on that person when you're actually speaking to that person, they feel like they're a part of the conversation, they feel like they're part of the,
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: The talk.
Speaker: So that's another thing I kind of like to do as well.
Speaker: And I like to move around and walk around.
Speaker: I don't necessarily like to sit or be in the one spot.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I hope that answers your question.
Speaker: No, no, no, 100%.
Speaker: And, like, yeah, I mean, like, you know, it's been, what, years now and, like, now it's like you could, like, do it.
Speaker: with your eyes closed, it's, you know, and you get on a roll of what you're saying and, you know, it's, you know, and I can sometimes tell when you're nervous or you're a bit, but as soon as you start speaking, you're like, you know.
Speaker: That's an example.
Speaker: I'm always nervous for things I haven't done before.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But, you know, that MC thing I did for the Novotel a couple of weeks ago, I was a nurse for that because I knew there was a new set of people.
Speaker: There was people that probably didn't give stuff about lifeguarding or firefighting or who Maxie is or what Live, Learn, Survive is.
Speaker: I was in a completely different gig and I was just nervous on how they were perceived.
Speaker: But to be honest, within the first minute of speaking and just being confident with my notes that I created, I
Speaker: the ice was broken and people were really receptive and want to learn more about my journey and um it's it's a beautiful thing because once you start throwing some real life uh scenarios and real life stories people can either relate to them or they can kind of ask a bit more about it to be able to make sure that they're not a part of um you know the some of the jobs that i've been to brilliant so
Speaker: Next question then, Maxi.
Speaker: What advice do you have for young leaders who want to make a difference, especially in fields like, you know, safety, education, community service?
Speaker: So, you know, you and I met.
Speaker: You were still like, you know, like early, early 20s when we met.
Speaker: What advice would you give to people in that situation?
Speaker: I think the big thing is be a really good listener and, you know,
Speaker: there's people that have been in those shoes in front of you or before you.
Speaker: So if you have a chance to be able to be mentored by someone that's in those roles or in those rooms, listen to what they have to say, watch what they do.
Speaker: And I always like to use this technique is when you're with people that are more mature and more around time for a long, sorry, they've been around for a long time,
Speaker: There's a lot of pros and cons to that and you try and take a lot of the good traits and the positive traits and all that stuff and all the necessarily not negative or bad stuff, but you kind of drop that off and you create your own path as a leader.
Speaker: And then it's a win-win because you're using –
Speaker: past past knowledge and you're keeping that that flame alive and then you're adding your spice to it and then when someone um you know comes after you you know you might not everyone's perfect there might be something that you do that someone else can kind of pick up and notice so it's kind of like this um big wheel of of just observing learning watching and ask questions if things don't understand don't try to
Speaker: If something doesn't make sense to you, don't be scared to ask what it means because once you learn what it means or there's a different way to learn it, you'll never forget it.
Speaker: Yeah, brilliant.
Speaker: And, like, you know, get involved with good people around you that can maybe introduce you to other people or take you on a path of, you know, where you can kind of help because there's so, so many things
Speaker: incredible organizations out there doing amazing stuff um so um no really really great advice um there maxi so what one character trait is essential in friendship and in business
Speaker: I think, again, probably the same as relationships and stuff like that as well is communication.
Speaker: I think so many times, you know, when you face the face of someone, people can read your mannerisms, people can read your face.
Speaker: Sometimes, you know, if a text message or...
Speaker: a phone call, it might be perceived in a different way.
Speaker: So I think for friendships and for, you know, for partners and so on, I think communication is key.
Speaker: And if something doesn't really make sense, again, same, similar to the other question, is kind of get the clarification and knowing what the tone is and just try to, because, you know,
Speaker: You know, all too often, you know, we see it in my job where there'll be certain lifeguards of firefighters that have a communication breakdown and then it's something is innocent or something that's not really that bad but it turns into something when people start overthinking things, people think that they're getting pulled up for things and it's all got to do with the –
Speaker: The body language and stuff like that.
Speaker: What I'm saying is I think communication is the biggest trait I like to think within a partnership or a business or a relationship, just communication and trying to sort it out, not so much there and then, but just try to,
Speaker: You know, because in the fire, it's called straight talk.
Speaker: Like if there's something that's not quite right and nine times out of 10, if it's not right, you know, the gut, as we always say, Lee, you know, your gut feel, your mind or your head and your gut are kind of the same thing.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Just ask those questions subtle and just try and get a bit more clarity and then you'd be able to sort it out there and then.
Speaker: I think it's when you let things fester and that can get dangerous and blow up.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And half of the times, it's like you say, it's the overthinking, it's the reading between the lines, it's the
Speaker: comma that wasn't there it was the spell check that picked something up wrong you know it could be even more things yes using using um you know some people that used ai for different things and stuff like that and you know something might come across a little bit more robotty or something that's not really your personality and you're kind of like is this you know what i'm saying is is a good trait is to have good communication
Speaker: Communication.
Speaker: Excellent, excellent.
Speaker: So let's talk a little bit about Live, Learn, Survive now.
Speaker: What do you think sets Live, Learn, Survive apart from other educational initiatives that are doing a similar kind of thing?
Speaker: Well, the answer to your question, Lee, I'm just going to rip the band-aid straight off.
Speaker: There's not really many other things out there that are doing what we do.
Speaker: When I talk about Live, Learn, Survive, I'm over an umbrella of fire safety, water safety, first aid and some resilience.
Speaker: And the way that we've worked over the last, over 10 years is different to everywhere I've seen thus far.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It doesn't say that someone can't come through and start doing the stuff, but I think I'm a big believer in, you know, when I say slow burn, you kind of got to find your way as it goes and it evolves into this amazing big thing and, you know, 35,000 plus people
Speaker: 35,000 plus people we've spoken to since we started Live, Learn, Survive.
Speaker: We've traveled across the world.
Speaker: You know, five children's books.
Speaker: You know, we've got our programs that are constantly evolving.
Speaker: We've got the online stuff that we do.
Speaker: We've got the podcast that's over 200 plus episodes.
Speaker: I think it's something that doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker: And I believe that something that you are passionate about
Speaker: you know, you're in it for the long haul.
Speaker: And yeah, within Live, Learn, Survive, it's something that's, it's a part of us now.
Speaker: It's not something that's just a phase.
Speaker: It's something that's got to evolve as we get older.
Speaker: It's got to evolve as a legacy and something that we've given back to the community and could always reflect on.
Speaker: And we know hand on heart that what we have done for the community
Speaker: And people in the remote communities, people in the places where they haven't got a voice or they haven't got an opportunity to learn, we know that we get those letters, those emails, those messages on social media.
Speaker: We know that we're doing a good thing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: People that are doing other things within the community, hats off to them.
Speaker: But I think Live and Learn Survive is different to others because we try and cover all bases.
Speaker: And me being a lifeguard and firefighter is a little bit of an added spice to the mix of knowing the education side of things is what we talk about is real life.
Speaker: And, yeah, it's something that we're both very passionate about.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: And I think, you know, it's the – it's like –
Speaker: not just one thing, it's sort of like everything.
Speaker: And I'm a big believer in, you know, it's not just, it's how we communicate with people.
Speaker: Every time they come into contact with something that's around Live and Survive, we work really, really hard to make sure it's a positive experience.
Speaker: And that in itself is something to be proud of without the lessons that may have been, you know, learned and lives saved and all the rest of it.
Speaker: So is there a specific moment or story from the work with Live, Learn, Survive?
Speaker: Everyone always asks you about your funniest thing on Bondi Rescue or things like that.
Speaker: Is there a moment or story from the work at Live, Learn, Survive that reminds you why it is so important and why we do it?
Speaker: Oh, there's hundreds, probably thousands of different things we've been told over the last 10 years.
Speaker: But sorry, the cat's going a bit crazy in the background.
Speaker: Nala has obviously got a very red-hot answer to that question.
Speaker: Thank you, Nala.
Speaker: To be honest, Lee, it's a bit of a difficult question to answer, but I'll try my best to answer it.
Speaker: I think some of the best situations have been when...
Speaker: we've least expected we're going to meet someone or someone's got to come up to us and say a thank you or...
Speaker: do a really nice testimonial or something, whenever you least expect it.
Speaker: You know, it might be somewhere hard to travel to and we're like, what are we doing?
Speaker: You know, for example, Tilba, great example, Central Queensland.
Speaker: You know, we love being at Surratt.
Speaker: It was awesome.
Speaker: It's been, it was a year in the making.
Speaker: You know, we worked with the teams out there to make it happen.
Speaker: And, you know,
Speaker: going out there all worth the journey but then going okay we're going to this place called Tewa but it's an area out of Surat you know dirt road there's only 11 students you know not that is it is it where it's always worth it but I'm saying you know sometimes we kind of that's the difference with the level and survive because with a lot of people that look at the balance sheet and go it's not worth it
Speaker: 11 kids, not worth it.
Speaker: Yeah, 11 kids, you know.
Speaker: And I think, you know, this is some more of a recent story and we've spoken about it on the podcast before, but,
Speaker: Going to that school was an awesome morning.
Speaker: You know, the kids loved it.
Speaker: I could have been in a school in eastern suburbs here in Sydney or a school up in Brisbane or a school in Melbourne in that CBD.
Speaker: You know, we're in this school and that was six, seven hours away from the coast, an hour away from the closest town.
Speaker: And even Surratt as a town, there was only probably maybe a couple hundred people in there.
Speaker: But the more of the story I'm getting to is when we got back home a couple of days later, we got a nice message from one of the people that knew one of the families out there.
Speaker: And out of the 11 kids, I think four of the kids or five of the kids are part of the four or five families went and got working smoke alums for their home.
Speaker: You know, just little things like that.
Speaker: I know it's not as probably as...
Speaker: as juicy as some of the stories or experiences people think but i think the the message is is working smoke alarms do save lives and those kids learn a thing and they've taken back and i'd love to know in 5 10 20 30 50 years time that they're always going to be safe with a working smoke alarm from our talk that we did for an hour yeah because you bet your life it's not just
Speaker: You know what makes me as well?
Speaker: It's not just the kid that went home and asked about checking the smoke alarms.
Speaker: That kid will become a homeowner, may become a teacher, may become a whatever, whatever in the community.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They will never live in a house without a smoke alarm.
Speaker: They will almost, because that lesson will stay with them their whole life.
Speaker: Imagine if they become a principal and then start telling their whole school that story.
Speaker: It'll have that ripple effect of people that will never ever meet us.
Speaker: Well, we hear a lot from people that, you know, get out of their comfort zone to reach out to us, you know, and tell their story.
Speaker: You know, imagine people that don't have the voice and people that don't are a bit nervous to reach out.
Speaker: You know, we still don't know our impact of what we've had with our program.
Speaker: It's probably 20-fold, 50-fold of good stuff that we've done.
Speaker: But, yeah, like obviously meeting kids and families and people along the way the last 10-plus years,
Speaker: you know, I think there's a lot of great experiences and stuff that we've done with Live and Survive and I look forward to continuing that journey to 2025.
Speaker: That'll have to be when we do the big book.
Speaker: I'll put all the stories in it, the stories of it.
Speaker: So we just said we're going to talk about this on the 3rd of January.
Speaker: Major milestone.
Speaker: If we could achieve one major milestone this year, 2025, what would you, Maxie, like it to be and why?
Speaker: So both of us have been very fortunate to be in some rooms this year that are kind of pushing Live and Survive in the right direction to be known across Australia and across the world.
Speaker: I'd like Live and Survive to be a charity that is a relatively new charity still, but it's become into its own and become a bit of a powerhouse where it's one of the major charities that Australia can be
Speaker: learn from and be educated from and obviously get more and more support through the government and through local communities where we can kind of take this to a whole nother level.
Speaker: I'd love for people to, you know, to know more about us and what we do.
Speaker: Yeah, I think for us this year is still getting that message out there.
Speaker: It's been a great journey so far, but, you know, we've still got a little bit to go, but we're just finally getting to our strides now where, you know, everything with the foundations laid, now we just start making the house, making the big building of all the potential that Live, Learn, Survive has got.
Speaker: And that's the thing, like you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker: So when you know it, you've got more, you know, then you can make different decisions and grow.
Speaker: So, you know, it is always going to be a slow burn if you're going to do it right and have something that's got, you know, is sustainable for the future.
Speaker: And if it's sustainable and more kids benefit and then more kids benefit, those kids will become grownups and,
Speaker: Then I have kids of their own and it all ripples along.
Speaker: Like we say, we're just the ones throwing the first stone in the pond.
Speaker: Everyone else is catching the ripples.
Speaker: So you kind of just answered this question, like the long-term vision and how we see it evolving over the next five to ten years.
Speaker: So we've kind of just covered that.
Speaker: So what I'm going to ask you is...
Speaker: On that journey, what keeps you motivated to keep doing it?
Speaker: I think what keeps me motivated is...
Speaker: You have your good and bad days.
Speaker: Let's just start there, Lee.
Speaker: We both know we have our good and bad days.
Speaker: Honestly, there's more good than bad, though.
Speaker: Always.
Speaker: There's more good than bad.
Speaker: Yeah, always.
Speaker: I think I shouldn't have answered the start of that, but it's important to know that it's a hard job.
Speaker: It's something that we've chipped away with for a long time.
Speaker: And what keeps me motivated is knowing the impact that we've had done
Speaker: and what we continue to do and the potential.
Speaker: I think knowing the legacy and the potential and something that, you know, there's a reason why not many people are doing what we're doing.
Speaker: It's because it's hard work and it's something that you need to stick with and you need to earn that respect from the communities and from people to know that, yeah, we might not get it right the first time, 10th time, 20th time, but I guarantee on the 50th time we will.
Speaker: And yeah,
Speaker: And we're not quitters.
Speaker: And I think that's a lesson in itself.
Speaker: It could be anything.
Speaker: You could be selling nuts and bolts for the last 10, 20 years.
Speaker: But I think, tell you what, by the 50th time, you'll be good at selling nuts and bolts.
Speaker: And when I say, you know, this is an analogy, but I mean, when you learn your craft and you learn your trade, you know what works and we know what our programs work.
Speaker: We know.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: that the audience that we get for the podcast, we know that the books are well received.
Speaker: So everything we have done and we built on, we know that it's in the right direction.
Speaker: It's just kind of compounding that and making it more accessible to all different types of people, more people to know about it.
Speaker: And I think in a nutshell,
Speaker: I think it's a big legacy and some, you know, I'm a father now, I've got a daughter, like I want to make sure that she's in a world that, you know, is safe and she knows what to do.
Speaker: And I guarantee she, you know, she will know, you know, bits and pieces and learn along the way.
Speaker: And who knows, something that you can build something for her to be able to continue on and do great for the community.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: there's people around us that can continue that fire and continue that growth.
Speaker: And I think that's something that's exciting.
Speaker: And you don't know what's around the corner.
Speaker: And I think you hit the nail on the head, Maxie, is when you said potential because, you know, we can have been in a place of like, you know, 10 kids and 1,000 kids.
Speaker: And, yeah,
Speaker: There'll be numerous times over the 10 years we've been in the most random of places and we've got out of the car.
Speaker: We've not known who we're going to meet.
Speaker: We're not going to go if we're going to have a great day or a terrible day.
Speaker: But we know that we'll get back in the car and we'll have learned something or we'll have had a great day.
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: There is no whatever.
Speaker: Usually, we've always had a great day.
Speaker: And there will be times that you and I have literally almost been moved to Teals and thought, gone, wow, you know, did not expect that.
Speaker: And then you think, imagine that's a non-event.
Speaker: Imagine if there was a hundred events.
Speaker: I was just getting emotional.
Speaker: I was getting emotional thinking about, you know, what's, you know, what the, it's all about the, you know, the giving back and the legacy and something.
Speaker: If you actually pulled all the videos and all the photos and put it on a big collage and all the things that we've done over the last 10, 12 years, there'll be a lot of people in this world that,
Speaker: that don't know what we've done will be in awe of the random acts of kindness, the giving back.
Speaker: A lot of people don't realise the sacrifices and the stuff that we've done.
Speaker: And we're not looking for the pats on the back.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: We're just saying, you know, it's something that we've continued on.
Speaker: There's a reason why we've continued this long.
Speaker: There's a bigger meaning and there's a bigger thing at the end of this journey for us.
Speaker: And, yeah, it's something, it'll be a waste if it was short-lived.
Speaker: So I'm glad that it's been 10 plus years and we're in the next 10 years.
Speaker: And we're both as crazy as each other, which I think is, you know, so, yeah, potential.
Speaker: We keep going.
Speaker: We keep going.
Speaker: So one life-saving skill you could give to every child in the world in 2025.
Speaker: What's the one number one life-saving lesson or skill you want them to have?
Speaker: I think initially when things go bad is reassurance and knowing to stay calm.
Speaker: I think that is the biggest thing and knowing what to do in an emergency room.
Speaker: It's all well and good if you know CPR or if you know how to get down low and go, go, go and get out of a fire.
Speaker: But I always like to think, you know, when things hit the fan and things aren't going anyone's way, they're always looking to someone that can lead and be the person that's nice and calm and I don't want to say saviour, but someone there that people can rely on and do.
Speaker: be looked after by, I think that is a really good skill to learn is the reassurance and being able to think in stressful situations and be able to execute a rescue or a life-saving situation where you are already thinking five steps ahead within your mind and you know exactly how things are going to pan out.
Speaker: It's a constantly changing world.
Speaker: You need to be very dynamic, just knowing
Speaker: to remain calm, having reassurance, having situational awareness, and be able to have plan A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and just be ready to execute them at any given time.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And that's brilliant, Maxi, because interestingly, what you just said there, when things like, you know, don't go to plan and they hit the fan, if you can be stayed calm and reassuring, people do look for leadership.
Speaker: So, you know, we say with the little ones, creating little superheroes, you know, we've got many teenagers, young people that are going into careers of
Speaker: first responding or that's why they're attracted to live learn survive because of the work that you do but then it's equally about you know they are becoming the leaders in the community it is about leadership it is about you know be even be in business be it even like i'm not a first responder but i'd like to think i'm i can be a mentor for people you know so
Speaker: It is about leadership.
Speaker: So by having that simple skill, you will be the person that people look to and, you know, add value to your community.
Speaker: And what more can you want than that?
Speaker: That's amazing.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: Well, well answered that, Maxie.
Speaker: You started my brain going again.
Speaker: That's all going off.
Speaker: So, all right.
Speaker: Last question then, Maxie.
Speaker: What legacy do you want to leave?
Speaker: I once said to you, you have a platform and a responsibility.
Speaker: You have to use it for good and I'll help you.
Speaker: What legacy do you hope to leave Trent Maxwell for the next generation?
Speaker: I think just be a good person and willing to help anyone.
Speaker: It doesn't matter what their background is, who they are, what they look like.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Just a community or a world where you can help people and just be the best version of yourself.
Speaker: I think that, and I'm constantly working on that, trying to create good habits and be, you know, now a good father.
Speaker: And a good direct co-director and a good firefighter and a good lifeguard.
Speaker: Like everything that I try and do, I try and be the best version of myself and you're constantly learning.
Speaker: I think the legacy-wise is just continue being a good person and where you can give back and surround yourself with people that are on your team and can help you reach your full potential in life.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: That is absolutely a lot.
Speaker: I don't think that you're doing too bad considering what you've already given back and what you've already... I've seen thousands of kids.
Speaker: I've seen thousands of families.
Speaker: We've traveled thousands of miles and seen how you have inspired people.
Speaker: And I meant every minute of it when I said you've got a platform and a responsibility.
Speaker: you really do need to use it and you have and I'm incredibly proud of you and what we've ultimately created.
Speaker: So New Year, Maxie.
Speaker: And a big thanks to you, Leigh, for being a part of the journey as well.
Speaker: You know, you saw a lot of the stuff that I didn't see early days of when I started out.
Speaker: So you've been a big part of that too.
Speaker: So thank you for...
Speaker: for seeing a bit of that light and helping me reach my full potential.
Speaker: So thank you.
Speaker: No, no, no, Maxi, you know what?
Speaker: It's been a pleasure.
Speaker: And also people probably won't realise we didn't just like meet on day one and go, right, let's do this thing and do this business.
Speaker: We actually got to know each other as friends to work out we had the same values, we had the same vision, we actually had the same goal.
Speaker: Because imagine if we'd have jumped in
Speaker: And then six months later down the track would have been like, oh, I can't believe he did that.
Speaker: Now we make decisions and we pretty much know
Speaker: that like we're 99% agreed.
Speaker: We don't agree on everything.
Speaker: No two people ever do in whatever, you know, friendship.
Speaker: It still comes down to communication, as we were saying before, and having that and being able to reach out, you know, we speak most days anyway, but it's just knowing, you know, where we're at and it's a good thing knowing that you've got some people in your corner.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: I guess everyone listening can know.
Speaker: It's very self of people that got you in your corner and,
Speaker: try and help help you reach your potential 3am people that you know if you need them and you call you know that pick up not the people that are there just with you in the good times there are people that are there to just sit in the mud with you as well so um yeah great chat maxi that was absolutely brilliant i'm sure people will um you know have enjoyed hearing a little bit more of maxi's uh thoughts on the world um
Speaker: And, yeah, we hope everybody is having... Sorry, you go.
Speaker: Yeah, no, I was just going to say it's been a pleasure to have a chat.
Speaker: You know, usually we're at the other end of the microphone interviewing people or talking about the good, the bad and the ugly.
Speaker: But, you know, it's been a good chat and hopefully it gives people a little bit of an insight about, you know,
Speaker: what Live, Learn, Survive is, what lifeguarding firefighting is for me and what our future holds for Live, Learn, Survive and us as individuals.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: So we have a board meeting in seven minutes.
Speaker: We better go and do with the serious stuff.
Speaker: And, yeah, we hope everybody that's on holidays is having a great holiday.
Speaker: We hope everyone had a good Christmas and a happy New Year.
Speaker: And we've got another couple of weeks with great, great guests for you.
Speaker: So we hope you'll enjoy them.
Speaker: And we will see you all really, really soon.
Speaker: Really soon.
Speaker: And just adding on to that too, you probably noticed that this week now moving forward, this is out on the 3rd of Jan, you'll see that we've got new shirts and new videos coming out over this month.
Speaker: So yeah, let us know what you think of it all.
Speaker: And we continue to kind of push the bar with Live, Learn, Survive.
Speaker: So if you are one of the people online or on the podcast, you'll see in the social media, you'll see some differences in the way that we do things and we hope you enjoy the new formats.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: All right, everybody.
Speaker: Have a wonderful week.
Speaker: And here's to a fantastic 2025 for all of us.
Speaker: All the best.
Speaker: See you all soon.
Speaker: Happy New Year.
Speaker: Happy New Year.
Speaker: Bye.
