Safety FM with Jay Allen
Danielle Dao
February 23, 2021
Today on The Jay Allen we speak with Danielle Dao. During the conversation Daniel discusses her career, how she got into the profession and some events that have changed everything in here career. Enjoy it all today on The Jay Allen Show! Safety FM would like to thank Air Med Care for being the signature sponsor of this episode!
Today on The Jay Allen we speak with Danielle Dao. During the conversation Daniel discusses her career, how she got into the profession and some events that have changed everything in her career.

Enjoy it all today on The Jay Allen Show!


Safety FM would like to thank Air Med Care for being the signature sponsor of this episode!

Here are some of the links Danielle referenced during the interview!

Volunteer for  
Immune Deficiency Foundation | (primaryimmune.org)
 
Sunshine Education & Research Center (NIOSH Grant)
Sunshine Education & Research Center | USF Health


[00:00:00] :  this is visited in this show is brought to you by Safety FM. Well, hello and welcome to the J. Allen Show. So hopefully everything is good and grant inside of your neck of the woods. So let me tell you what we have planned for today. Today I get to have the lovely opportunity of having a conversation with Danielle Dow. During our conversation. She's gonna tell us a little bit about her career, how she got involved with safety and something that has occurred that changed her life forever. Let's not hold up for too long. Let's get this conversation started with Danielle Dow right here on the jail in Joe J. Eyes streaming. Now on safety FM dot Start off with the simplest question of them all the most difficult in the simplest. How did you get involved inside of this world of safety? Because I think that that's always the most interesting aspect on when we first start off. Because most people don't start off because this is what they're looking Thio. So how did you get into it? Yeah, great. Um, so I definitely didn't even know that safety was a career when I was in college, my undergrad. I was in the health sciences kind of world. Pre med. I was at u C F. I was like, gung ho, I'm gonna be a doctor. And then a lot of things happened during that year age myself. But I decided that wasn't for me. So volunteer at the hospital did a lot of things like that, like, uh, not for me. But I was already three years into the program, so let's go ahead and finish it. So during my last year, I started applying for internships anywhere, anything like I was like, I just need to get a career. I had student loans and, like, All right, we got to do this. So I ended up applying for internships at my current employer. And the only reason I did is because I have the health and safety in it. I have no idea what it was. So you know, So you thought it was health related because it's e even like in the interview. I kind of describe myself as like, I'm really good at microbiology and blood borne pathogens and such like that, and I'm like, Yeah, that's great. I'm sure. So Anyways, the only reason I got hired was because whoever was fitted for that role the week of they decided to back out. So they rummaged. According to the person who hired me, they rummaged through the resumes and said, Oh, this person's from Central Florida and that's where my current player is. And they were like, Hey, you know, not can you fog a mirror? But can you Can you get toe work on Monday like, Yeah, they're like, OK, well, there's some orientation this Saturday. Can Can you show up? Yeah, sure. Okay. I avoid. I was doing I just remember doing Kurt wheels where I was like Okay, Joe, I was so excited. And it was pretty well paying for for what I was doing. I was working retail, American Eagle or racism, but yeah, I know. So that was the start of it. And I just never looked back. So how long ago we talking on this actually taking place? I'm not asking to aid yourself. Of course. This is just a general question. No, I don't know. Hey, So I'm 33 now, and I was 20. Something What it wanted graduated. So that was about 12 years ago. Yeah, so it was. Well, I mean, that's that's a long career trajectory being at the same place for that long. A period of time. So? So the position did it evolve, or how did it? How did it go about Oh, I see What? You okay? Yeah. So I started as an intern. I worked for the industrial hygiene departments, and basically I was in a pump jockey, but I would go and I hang does seminars on folks, and it works in weird hours. But it came with a lot of benefits to because I got to see a lot of behind the scenes kind of stuff. Very work. So that was pretty interesting. And then I fell in love with that side that scientists on it, and then a contract position opened up in the field at the end of my year long internship, and I got the job. Oh, my gosh. And I just Yeah, I never looked back. So and then from there, it just kept evolving. And then I went to construction, and I went and supported operations and then food and beverage. And then anything under the song like it was just all over the place. So although I've only worked one place for about 12 years, I think I've we're almost everything. I don't think there's nucular there. There is really yes. But there is like utilities. There's everything. So I mean, it's one of the larger employers for the area. But let's talk about that from him because it's not quite exactly health that you were looking thio. So as you get into it, how does this change for you? How do you look at this and go? This is not exactly what I wanted. I mean to an extent when you first started off. So how did the love come about? Oh, I see. Yeah. So I think I'm just in love with public health in general. So I think everybody once I found out that this career kind of exists, I said, Hey, everybody deserves to go home with their fingers and toes, all that kind of thing. But I also believe everybody desires deserves to retire happy and healthy. If you're gonna work 30 40 whatever years at a company, you deserve to go hang out with your grandchildren with a full set of lungs and, oh, like that. So, yeah, so it's just public health in general, and I think it's really important. And, you know, we rely on folks frontline workers to do all sorts of things trucking stuff. And if I can help with that, that sounds good. So when you look back now and you know that you started off your career, what you wanted to do medical, it didn't quite end up that way. Do you ever look back and go? I should have continued. Or how do you look at it? Especially now that you've seen a little bit of everything because, as you are aware, this industry of safety is so different in regards of what you can do and accomplishing the different things you can get into. Yeah. Yeah. So I've definitely kind of partnered up with the occupational doctors and nurses and such like that. So I got a little taste of that And how, um, all the different types of tests they do it, I got to hang out with them quite a bit, so But now I'm really happy helping people the way I dio. I think I get to see lots of different industries. Um, at school, I'm not right now. There are some occupational doctors that in my cohort and help them understand. Like, hey, guys, No, These are the people who are, You know, you're gonna be supporting the people who help you do your everyday life, and that helps America run and helps broke around. So if you look at this and now you have these other cohorts and let's be if I could mention the university by name now you're actually going to a university. That's quite a few miles separate. I mean, let's let's talk over, like, 90 miles from where you originally went S O S O U s. A little easier. So yes. So I'm from Orlando, Florida, and the School of the University of South Florida in Tampa. I have this amazing opportunity, Thio. There's a scholarship there which go into detail leader. I wish I knew about it earlier, but yes, So there's a master's of science and public health and occupational exposure sciences, which is a fancy word for industrial hygiene. E don't know why they change the e just go there, but it's a great opportunity. And also within those cohorts there's industrial hygienist. There's, um, occupational safety folks, kind of like health and safety folks. And then there's occupation nurses and doctors to and just public health professionals to create policy and change and stuff like that. So it's a really interesting college to be into and happy to be there. So is there a huge dynamic difference between being at the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida? No pressure, no pressure. I do have a UCF plate on the back of my car, and there's quite some rivalry. So what? I parked my car and make sure that I put the UCF plates away from this. But there's not a lot of folks on campus right now with Kobe, so I only have to go to class once a week for a laboratory that you physically have to touch and feel stuff. So that's why I'm in. Everything else is online, but, yeah, there is a little bit of a change. So as you're doing this, you're now going after your masters. If I understood that correctly So as you're doing this, what is the What's the long term goal? What do you want to accomplish now, just again public health. So I'm just excited about helping people. So yes, industrial hygiene. I think that I had a pretty narrow focus when I first started. Now I'm just about a year into my program. But what? I didn't understand what the breath of different things that I can help with. So I couldn't even go into policy change. I could go into all sorts of interesting things. I still at heart and a nerd, and I really like chemistry. You know what kind of stuff? So I probably, like, stay in the industrial hygiene field, But this definitely opens a lot. James Martin so well, And let's talk about some of those opportunities, because let me talk about for a brief moment on how we originally met. I met you originally had the American Society of Safety Professionals might even been the engineers at the time. Um, in central Florida, where you were the vice chair. So you were the vice chair e s o. With all your free time, you were doing that as well. And then essentially, you got moved to the president position or voted into the president position. Now there's kind of a weird, twisted, weird twist to that story, but also at the same time with the employees that you read at the time you got promoted right close to the same timeline. So you did not step into that position, and I think it's okay. So that's something I've learned now that it was something I could tell myself in my early career. It's okay to say no. I think I did put some time and effort into it. And I think there was a you know, someone was able to backfill Means it wasn't I didn't think I was leaving behind right now. Maybe that person who back filled me is a little upset with me, but I think she did a good job and yeah, so that was a lot of fun. But it was OK to say no. I got an opportunity to go on to a construction site that was definitely a new bound for not just my resume, but, you know, just learning about you know, all this was building roller coaster eso as U s. So as you look at that for a moment, because some people really take a look at that position of the chair Being the president of an organization, that is, of course, e no, it's a huge thing. I mean, some people, that's their whole goal in their career, and you're able to walk away from it. How How did the whole thought process come up? Because I would imagine there has to be some level of pressure at the same time to regard toe. Okay, I got this. I got it. Just It's an elected position, so you get elected into it, and then all of a sudden, Ugo, I want to focus on my career. There's nothing wrong with it. So I just wanna make sure that I'm clear. How did you go through the process of determining that you didn't have enough time? E mean that in a good way? Because that's probably come across the wrong at the same time. No, no, no. So I definitely wanted to branch out in my career. Yes, that was a great opportunity in such like that. But I think that my you know, speaking in front of a room full of people, Perhaps I'm not the best, but maybe I'm a little bit better than construction safety. And that was definitely something that I wanted on my resume that I wanted the experience. So I kind of wait out. What skills would I get from one versus the other? And I said, Hey, construction. I need to get my button there now. E did it. I'm good. It was hot. It was, you know, enriching a learning experience. I'll put it that way, But I'm pretty excited to go back into, like, just industrial hygiene, But those construction jobs, where in employer doesn't open up every day. So that was an opportunity for me to go there. So I wanna make sure I spread my time correctly. So did you have any sleepless nights when you were going through the process? E? Because I'm always interested on the backside because you were pretty bad. Yeah. No, I felt horrible, but, you know, I told myself look like this is a volunteer organization again. E I don't think I left them high and dry, E, but I just I was like, No, this is This is an opportunity for me. So I'd like how you're taking it, because most of the times when I would have that conversation with someone in regards of not doing X, they would go into some kind of deep story. You're just know I'm a decision. I'm I'm content with my decision. That's good, Because because I always say, when people go through that whole What if What if What if Don't go? Yeah, What if trains boof too long in my life? I'm good. Now I'm too old for that s I think so. Then through the process, if you don't mind me talking to your personal life, you get married around the same time. So I e you know what? I even think that it was a whole other factor. I was engaged. I was gonna get married that year. Plus, I knew safety 2020 was coming, so I was like, Look, I'm just not gonna be able to give at the time it deserves so but yeah, I found my prince Charming e. You know, and I mean, that's the great aspects, because you're you're taking a look at it the whole aspect of the career because you're not just looking at one thing of this could drive me toe one thing you're looking at it how the whole aspect occurs. So now you got into construction. How do you feel about the love towards construction? Some people love it. Some people hate it. I mean, it's a combination of both because the heat does, especially being here in Central Florida. It was a little tough, so I, um there was a couple things that happened in my life during that time. Like I'm hearing all sorts of stuff. I love that I can point at structures now in a construction site, and I actually know what it is. Excuse me, but I also got diagnosed with pretty rare disease during that time in the medication that I need Thio for the rest of my life. Now, it was giving me migraines, so I was just incredibly ill again. That was another I'm not providing value. So I politely asked to kind of bow Wow. I said, Look, this isn't the right fit for me. I actually took a step down, so because that was a promotion for me. So when I say look, my health and wellness, who? I got to figure this out and yeah, and so can we talk about that a little bit? Because you you. You had mentioned it prior to us talking. I like. I always tell people I don't like, you know, anything ahead of time because I don't want it to be one of those things that it's like a pre loaded question. Shaq's because I'm really curious because you were referencing something earlier about plasma. So can we talk a little bit about what was going on? Yeah, so it's kind of an invisible illness, so I'm happy to talk it with anybody. I think when I first got diagnosed, I was not that okay, talking about it like what isn't happening today. But in a nutshell. There's a large part of my immune system that it just doesn't exist. So if you've heard of Bubble Boy before, it's not that severe, but it's on that spectrum, So it is a primary immunodeficiency called Common Variable Immunodeficiency C V. I. D. It is not auto immune. It is physically my immune system is broken. So let's say I go get a vaccine so my body will take it and kind of do some stuff with it. But it won't remember what that, um, element or that pathogen is being vaccinated so And that is true for anything in my life. So any cold I've had I can catch this in cold again because I don't have the Munich opulence immunoglobulin g a r m in my body. It it doesn't remember. So, you know, she kinda has dori system. Or like she's like Dorrie. Like what? Everything smudges Indonesia. So what I do is I infused myself with, um donated plasma immuno globulin. So if you've ever donated plasma, I know a lot of people just do it. And it's almost a little taboo because people do it like, Oh, I need to do it to, like, you know, it's a Brahmin as a college student, right? But eso it really saves lives. My life depends on it. I mean, my my quality of life so much better since I've been diagnosed. And since I have the treatment, so s Oh, sorry. Let me back up. So if you've donated plasma, what they do is they take it, they clean it. There's all sorts of stuff that you donate when you donate plasma. But a large part of it is, um, you know, gloms, which is your memory cells. So If you don't need a plasma and you had the flu shots, I would then have the memory cells of a flu shot. So Oh, and everything else do, like, you know, whatever the TV or tuberculosis or anything, anything you've been exposed to before. So I would then gain your immunity. So thanks. That's why really passionate about public health? Please help me. I'm healthy. That's being circle here. It's a very important thing. So is the trigger. When you first find this out, then your migraine. So do you go do you go to get tested because you're getting these migraines and you're not understanding why So, actually it's the medication was getting bookings at first, but s so it was about 10 years ago. Actually, when I first started my career, I got diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia that is an auto immune disease. It has something to do with your memory cells again, where your own immune system was attacking my my red blood. So I was very anemic. Long story got better information all good, But from that point on 10 years ago, I just never got better. A Sfar is like catching colds like I was always that sick kid, and I would use almost every one of my sick days. And I remember some of my leaders looking at me like what is wrong here? Okay, this is this Sounds horrible. I got pinkeye three times in one year, and I was like, What is wrong with me? And I was working with the public. So I was like, meeting with all the kids or something. Like, I thought I washed my hands enough Turns out, wasn't my fault. It's just my body Doesn't Yeah, doesn't have any system. So it took 10 years to get diagnosed, and then after taking it, just got progressively worse. It was the year before I got married. I think I was on 13 antibiotics in one year and my doctor on speed dial. But I just Hey, I need help like another biotic. Let's get Let's do this again. And I just blamed on my allergies the whole time. Um, it was mostly upper respiratory. It wasn't anything like Marsha. Thank God. Ah, lot of people who have this get very, very ill. Unfortunately so, but yeah. So I started taking the medication, which is it's not medication. It's plasma therapy. So like I have confused at home, there's a pump involved. It takes some time out of my day, but again, it's a gift is scary because it's a blood product. So we're raised to know that blood borne pathogens or scary right you don't touch so. But it took a little bit of a journey to figure out that this is a gift. It's clean by the manufacturer. It's all safe and regulated by the FDA, and now I'm to the other side where it's a gift. And if I can talk to anybody about what the disease is, because I'm sure it goes undiagnosed quite a bit, it's pretty rare. It's one out of 50,000, so there's not that many people who have it. But there's still some, and now I actually partner with the manufacturer, and I even talk to doctors about my experience with it and other people who are newly diagnosed. So the manufacturer has, like a little voice to voice program where people will call me and you know, usually when their first diagnosed just scared out of their wits and so was I, and I offer I know a lot of obviously not allowed to offer medical advice, But I can say I know how you feel. This sucks. It's okay to say it sucks, and then we just kind of move forward, and everyone finds from past way all want to make sure that our family is protected in medical emergencies. What many of us don't realize is that health insurance won't always cover the full amount of an emergency medical flight. Even with comprehensive coverage, you could get hit with high deductibles and copays. That's why, on Air Med care, network membership is so important as a member. If in emergency arises, you won't see a bill for air medical transport when flown by an A. M C n provider. Best of all, a membership covers your entire household for his little as $85. Ah, year AM CNN providers are called upon to transport nearly 100,000 patients a year. This is coverage no family should go without. Now, As a J. Allen show listener, you'll get up to a $50 gift card with a new membership. Simply visit air Medicare network dot com slash safety and use the offer code safety. And don't forget to tell them that J. Allen sent you on. We are back on the J. Allen show on safety FSO. When you're first going through this process and everything is going on, I would imagine the level of being scared is extremely high. Are you doing the women the Web? M D search the Google searches You? All of a sudden you're your doctor. You're looking at all this stuff. What's going through the mind of the time I learned with the diagnosis of the hemolytic anemia? Don't get E. I can tell you I did do a little bit, but there's just not a lot of information out there on this. Um, it's a disease, But again, it's It's something I probably inherited in my jeans and then had some type of environmental stressors. It's nothing I did. It's not my fault. It's not anybody else's fault. So my dad took it pretty bad because he's like, you know, my poor jeans gave it to you like relax. I'm still here. Modern medical science. I work a full time career. Yeah, I kind of had to take a step down because I had to figure out how to manage that. But now I'm like, right as rain. So it s frequency of the plasma. You have todo eso the men if I'm getting way too, so you can go ahead and shut up. No, no, no, no. Hey, I'm having to talk about because I think people who donate plasma I also volunteer at plasma centers and I shake their hand like Thank you so much, Thank you. I feel better. And I showed a picture of my dog e so any anyone that I can help understand that it's it's pretty important in plasma donations. They do all sorts of other stuff to keep you keep him, Ophelia. All sorts of stuff, but yes, so the I do it once a week takes me about two plus hours to do it, So there's a large sirens involved. It's not intra muscular, so it's not a vaccine like a Sean. It's subcutaneous. So there's a teeny little needles and I there's a little subset, you know, sub Q set that I set myself up with, and I just park it on the bed and just hang out there for a little while. So it is not too bad. It is a gift. I feel better. And then it zone. About two years since I've been using the, uh, therapy. And I feel so much better eso when you first meet that first connection with the doctor, they tell you exactly what's going on, and you find that you find the peer group. Okay? Yeah. How does that first conversation go? Because all of a sudden somebody sharing something with you that you're not familiar with the doctor knows somewhat about, Of course. But they're saying, Hey, we're recommending this. Yeah, E have, like So there's a couple different eso. I talked to doctors one on one and it could be like it could be folks in California could be throughout the country, right? So Or I can talk to patients one on one again, anonymous professional. I just tell my experience for education, so and of course I just don't wanna somebody up, But yeah, when I was first diagnosed, the doctor was horrible. And so they just it was life changing moment for me, and it was pretty scary, and he quietly walked into the room again. I thought this was all my allergies So I went to an allergist and they tested me for everything. They're like, Oh, you're not allergic to anything but keeping news or good luck. So right, So I got sick again, like, two weeks later and like that pointed to my puffy face and I'm like, this is what keeps happening. Come on, I'm not crazy. And they're like, Oh, yeah, you don't look good. So a bunch of labs And so I was not that person that had to keep going. Two doctors to say something is wrong with me, but luckily so is diagnosed relatively quickly. Once I figured out something wasn't right there And uh, yeah, so he the doctor who diagnosed me came in through basically a brochure off a nonprofit organization who supports folks with primary immunodeficiency is like the one I have threw it on the gurney. He said, Hey, I'm diagnosing you with this chronic condition, you need to have this medication a soon as possible. You may die you If you don't take this, you may die blah. And I was like, That's a very personal Sounds like a great, great approach for sure. Yeah, maybe he literally said Google your disease. I want you to go, and I want you to look at this. And now that that non profit organization does do a really good job, they make all the information really palatable to just the public and such. It was really easy for me to be able to talk about it, but I was in shock. So and then he, like, literally was circling the patient room and was about to leave is like, No, no, no. Help me get my arms around this like it Does this affect if I could have a family? Does this? I mean, I was really want at the time, so I just got married four months before. So this this guilt of the burden that I was gonna put this chronic illness on me and my new husband it was horrible. And then I also grieved the life I thought I was going to have, like I thought I was getting just married is happily ever after. Everything's going right. And then in an instant, I felt like everything changed. So I did reach out to the therapist through my employer assistance program, like it's the free ones or something. and it really helped. So yeah. I mean, I know there's a bit of a taboo for some folks reaching out to the therapist, but if you help, go for it. So I did, and we talked about it, I think, within four sessions we ran out of things to talk about. So s so when you when you look at that now, is that something that you would recommend if somebody was actually coming up with the disease? That also and they have that would would that be the first thing that you would tell them to dio? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So if they But I didn't understand was I was feeling the sense of grief that I didn't I didn't find myself sad, obviously was scared. It took a little while for the insurance to clear the meds. The meds are incredible. So and you don't have to whisper. You could say that. E think it's something around $6000 a month or something without insurance. That's listen, Price. It's obviously there's copay assistance programs and all sorts of interesting things that I could do. But, uh, yes, so that was incredibly scared, but yeah. No, I think a lot of people are afraid to reach out to a therapist. No, My my parents have never, like, taught us to, like, talk about our feelings or anything like that. But it was good to just be able to articulate what was bothering me. Once I was able to identify that, then I was able to just kind of like art. Here's what I'm gonna do. Moving forward. It's going to be better. And then that zero to hero moment was about six months after I started in both therapy. And then I saw on a sheet of paper that the immune system parts that they were looking for skyrocketing, and it was back what was supposed to be and then another six months path. And I realized, Oh my gosh, I haven't even been on the antibiotic this school year. So eso what's the experience? Relationship wise at the time. So you're going through this? You and your husband are going through this journey together. I mean, you're just married. You find this out, and I would imagine he's your support system. How is how is the interaction that just the sweetest s? Oh, my husband, I love him very much. Think he actually works with, not with me, but he works at the same place and a lot of folks know him as being very salty. And he could be very like he's vet. So not a he's was email. He was deployed all sorts of stuff like that. So he knows how Thio He's like, just you gotta keep marching forward. It's going to be okay. Just keep moving forward. So he definitely I know a lot of people say through my rock, but he definitely was a huge piece of support for me, so it was great. So Aziz, looking through this, I mean, I would imagine he's going through the same ah, lot of the emotional experiences at the time. I mean, it's new, you're not sure what's going to happen, and I would, And the assumption he doesn't know what's going to happen either, is that we both were scared. There was a night where we both kind of like way both shed a couple of years. Are you supposed to be about him? Yeah, feelings, You know, there was There was that feeling, and but then you know what it was like, but it wasn't a Pull yourself off your room straps and get up and keep going. It was like, Let's just keep marching forward, step by step And he understood that it was a little bit of my journey. I had to go through these feelings and stuff. So he was cool, calm, collected, and that's all I could ask for. So it is. It s a Z. You're looking at this and now you know how to control it to an extent with the plasma and so on, and you're able to assist other people. Do you get strength from hearing from other people's stories? Oh, my gosh, yes. So another huge turning point in my I feel bad I feel like we're talking about is my disease. But this is true, like I want. It's part of the attorney, and it's part of your career. And here's what. Here's what I like to talk about, and I like talking about safety. But I also like to talk about the reality of things that happened behind the scenes, and I think that sometimes people don't wanna have this conversation because we have to portray this image of X opposed to it being This is really what happened. This is the conversation that the husband and I had it invested in. Public health is if you're healthy, I'm healthy, like literally So you know, it's important for for me it was always important for me to help other people. But now it's very important. So yeah, no, there was part of the patient program Siri's that I'm a part of now. There was someone who was my age, and he was happy and healthy. And he, like, shared at like a program that was there was a health care provider to talk about the meds. I was already on the meds, but then he was there talking, and he was happy, healthy. He's like, Look, you know, it sucks, but you get through it and it's not that big of a deal. And then I think what also kind of was a click in my mind is I have a cousin. She's like 12. I love her. She's adorable. But when she was five years old, she had diagnosed with diabetes so that the juvenile kind right, and she had to put a bunch of needles in her something she was three years old, So I'm like, shaking, Do the architect so scary. But here's Here's the important part about what you're saying as well is that you can still have a normal life. I mean, there is one time a week, 2.5 hours based on what you're saying that things are a little bit different. But as you're looking at it, I mean, it's not like it's changed your life, but it's not changed your life. If that makes sense, I think it's changed it. I'm not gonna say for the better, because I mean, I do feel better, and it kind of stocks a chronic illness, and it is an invisible illness. If you saw me walking on the street, I don't think you would think there's anything wrong with me, so but I have compassion for others now. I think I've always had some compassionate care, but now I truly like all right, maybe that person is going through something, or maybe there's something in their life that they can't share with me. And I understand people are in journeys of all different kinds. Yeah, so I mean and it's been a relatively different journey. I mean, your your journey is much different than a lot of people that I get to speak thio. So as you're looking at this now and you're going back into your career and you're going back to studying and you're going through this and you're going through some other aspect of what's going on with your employer, what are you looking to do next? Oh, so Okay, so I'm currently furloughed from the my place of employment. And my point is a multi billion dollar entertainment company in Central Florida. Um, um uh, you know, it has given me so much. It's given me a career. I found my old in there like, and it has given a lot of joy to say to lots of families throughout. That's not part of their benefit packages. That does not come with just a lot of folks that they're they're sticking another there. It's It's crazy. So but we'll see. I'm currently done for love. Been on furlough since April 2020. Um, I have to prepare both ways, so I'm not sure if they're gonna call me back or if they are. What I can tell you is Right now, I am in that USF master's program and I have a scholarship. It's essentially a full ride, so I mean, it is a full ride. They pay for everything, and it's like eso. If I would have known about this about 10 years ago, I would have knocked it out. It's not easy, and it's not for the faint of heart. But if if anybody is interested, maybe I could give you a link to wear on. You could put shown up or something, but, like, I wish somebody would have told me I'm one of two people, so I don't know what the actual stats are. I think it's, um they could take up to 10 people, but it's fully funded by NIOSH. They you know, the government wants us to help public health, whatever that looks like. There's all different kinds of scholarships they have there, but it is part of the education and research center. So some universities participate in some don't. I am part of the Sunshine Education Research Center. Again, I'm going to send you the link of what that looks like and stuff. But how did you find it? Oh, my gosh. again, like just fell into it. So someone who I work for her daughter and a co worker of mine went through the program and I was like, Wow, that's great. I really wish I you know, I could do that and whatever, but again, I have some student loans that I definitely didn't want attack on any more student loans to that toe what I currently have. And they were kind of coy about like, I don't know why they were coy about, like, how much the cost for and stuff because you do have to apply. You do have to meet some credentials and stuff, but essentially, the folks there urged me. But I just drive over there, go talk to the guy. That's literally what I did. So I just during during work one day I had a reason to go over there. I had to drop off a piece of industrial hygienic equipment that we were donating to them. But well, I was there. I made sure to speak to the program advisor and said, Hey, I would do this. This is great. And Julie, that's yeah, eso after the Masters, are you going for the doctor. Oh, e Oh, I'm not that cool. I don't know. We'll see. I don't know. I mean, this really is, I think my undergrad, And maybe you can also agree with this to like my undergrad. I just did the classes to knock it out, and I just wanted to get out and start working as soon as possible. Now, my graduate studies, I'm picking and choosing what classes I want. And maybe because I'm older to like this semester, I'm like, I'm taking a self paced course study and where I'm going to a bunch of webinars and like, and you can do that if you talk to your advisor and you say, Hey, this is what benefit it's gonna bring me and I'm gonna provide a justification and blah, blah, blah. You could do that. So it's great to see that I'm developing myself, and I do need to prepare. I'm not sure if my employer well, call me back before or after the summer. But during this summer in my program, I do need to get some field experience, is what they call it. So, um, I am looking for internships. If you know any good ones let me know. Ah, lot of them are closed because of co vid this year, so But I'm willing to travel and I but I can really stretch the bounds of all over the place. So I'm looking into insurance. Or, um, I was like, maybe going to get the CDC or something like that. Like, how can I expand myself? But this is the first time I feel like I'm able to groom myself, and I'm able to make mistakes. Oh, did you just say that out loud? You feel so good, It doesn't feel like I'm under incredible pressure to do the I mean, I tried to do the best thing. You know, the right thing every time. But if I make a mistake, I'm student allowed to do that. So dark. So you're not hard on myself like you shouldn't be. Here is an interesting question for you. Would you be willing to actually go into the public sector and have conversations with people having this discussion? I know you're saying that you've done it in a peer group in regards of what's going on with you medically, but letting people know on how they can still have a career. Oh, yeah. No, please. Oh, that's e Wanna make sure I'm sorry. I'm I guess I'm speaking to the microphone like, please, no, Like like, if I could do it like I just always have just a lowly safety professionals what I like to say like and that's there's nothing about that. But, um, but I'm just like a common Joe Schmo, but, um, I just keep going for it. And then, like, just like this scholarship opportunity, all I had to do was ask, and it happened and then like you just I There's so many times in my career that I've learned that all you have to dio is just kind of raise your hand and say, Hey, well, can I Can I join? You can have some fun over there, too. And maybe that's a whole other shepherd discussion, because I think that sometimes people don't realize that. Okay, in regards of sometimes all you really have to do, Perhaps I'm rambling, but you're not. No, no, no, you're not rambling, but it sometimes people tend to forget that is that if you don't ask the question to do X, you don't know that exes of Oh, my gosh. I know. Yeah, like it's like, Come on. So, like, I always, uh I don't know. I've never been quiet. I've never But I would have never gathered that. I've never had a problem picking up the phone and calling somebody. And I think a lot of folks, like, have like, Oh, maybe I should just email them for Earth, and I wanted to know Why don't you take a phone call? Hello? How's it going? How? I need help. Like if you just say, Hey, I need some help. Usually people are like, OK, especially in our career, because people are out there to help other folks. So I've had many mentors that way, and I don't necessarily have one person I look up to. I have a bunch of different mentors, and I'm like, like, this piece out of you. But I don't like that piece out of you. And don't do that, do that, So yeah. Anyway, so it's a zoo. Say a lot of mentors who comes to mind when you when you use that term E. I'm just a lot of interesting co workers that I have and e think the way that my business is set up. We safety are a separate organization, but I'm like a dotted line to whichever line of business or executive that I'm supporting at the time. So sometimes it's not even folks in the safety organization. It's someone working on the front lines. It's somebody who is in the engineering field. And then I get to just kind of see what they do on their side. It gets kind of like, peek over the fence. Yeah, I would say Lots of folks. I can't put my finger on one But it's That's a pretty cool people other. So I'm gonna ask you a strange, strange question book that you would recommend for people to read. They want to get into this career. Oh, jeez. Ah, book. Oh, my God. You could see how to your book. It's perfectly fine. How about driven to distraction? No, there. I mean, obviously there's all these great books out there and such like that only if one comes to mind. No force here in my brain is completely Ah miss right now. But I like I Yeah, I'm sorry. One does not come to mind. Okay? that's perfectly fine. So if people want to know more about you and what's going on working the contact, you Oh, I mean, like, I have a Facebook page. I'm not that My dog is a really cool Facebook page boomer. The Aussie pump very hands. You play around and lived in equipment. I'm sorry. And LinkedIn do you mess around? Yeah, Yeah, I'm on linked in to s. So that's what we'll do. We'll put linked in on on the show notes for people to be able to reach out to you. If you're cool with that, I appreciate you coming on to the ship today. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the host and its guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the company. Examples of analysis discussed within this podcast are only examples. It should not be utilized in the real world as the only solution available as they're based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within this analysis are not reflective of the position of the company. No part of this podcast, maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the creator of the podcast, Jay Allen E. Want more of the J. Allen show, Go to safety FM dot com.