269. "Authenticity" - Eric Hurst

Eric Hurst is living the dream job he hoped for... From his early years of chasing fire trucks and capturing the action for his vlog, he developed relationships and trust within the firefighting community. From there, he began his journey to where he is today, the PIO for the South Metro Fire Rescue Department in Colorado. His passion for documenting the craft has built a solid foundation in which he, along with his team, have created a nontraditional way in which people have come to know their department. Early on, social media in particular was considered to be dangerous for the job. Eric set out to change that perspective and to use social media to the departments benefit. Today, their YouTube page boasts over 187K subscribers along with countless followers on their other social channels. The job of the PIO in todays' times is exciting and Eric and his team are up for the challenge. Promoting the job, their department and more importantly, educating the public about the service they provide within their communities was the upfront goal, however, there is so much more to the influence they now have across their platforms. With the trust of their administration, the PIO team at South Metro is helping shape and build their department while simultaneously providing education and training for not just their community and department, but the world. This 24 hour a day job is a passion for Eric, so much so, that he has created his own personal YouTube page, Eric Hurst, in which he quickly amassed a large following as well as he documents his travels to different departments. This episode is a glimpse to the inside world of Eric and his daily grind as he represents the best of the fire service.