Meet Russ Padfield | Wildland Firefighter & Financial Advisor
We had the good fortune of connecting with Russ Padfield and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Russ, how do you think about risk?
TLDR: Risk is fun! Figure out your biscuit to risk it for, get comfortable mitigating risk, and start piling it on!!!
I’ve been approached by the BBC when my video of an entrapment on the antelope fire went viral, I was nearly kidnapped in Kosovo in 2017, and when I started my last job over zoom I decided not to tell them I would be living in Brazil for a little bit. I have done several X rated canyons and rappelled to the Colorado river with 5 days of food and Intex pool toy to float down the Colorado river. I nearly cut off my finger in the Chiricahuas and did not have health insurance. Some of these decisions were stupid, some of them did not work out, but I have spent the last 8 years assessing, mitigating, and embracing risk. Through this iterative process, I feel like I have learned enough to make an argument about risk taking and encourage everyone to seek out risk using my simple framework. Before I do that, let me tell you a little bit about my backstory.
I grew up in North Texas and as a young kid I was surrounded by many people who never took risks. I saw a lot of deaths as a child and from a young age I recognized that you have limited time in this life. This realization usually surfaces as an inner voice reminding me I want to die and having experienced life to the fullest. I started taking chances in college when I did an agricultural study abroad in Africa. That was a super amazing experience and I ended up getting the travel bug and developed a nasty habit to say “yes” to every fringe and unique opportunity. I have failed and injured myself many times, but I have met some amazing people and been given some amazing opportunities. Over time I have built up my risk muscle and now I really enjoy, seek out, and thrive in risky environments. I would encourage everyone to do the same!
An expert can be defined as someone who has made almost every mistake in a very narrow field. I have decided that risk is my field, and sought out career choices to better understand it. I am a Wildland Firefighter, Financial Advisor, and professional mountain guide. These jobs have given me a very unique perspective on risk. Risk can be financial, thrilling, and dangerous all at the same time. Trust me, risk is an enormous abstract concept to try and dissect. I’ll give you my framework for assessing it: Objectives, Values at risk and Downside potential. If you are someone who is risk averse, my framework will help you get risky and build that over time.
As a wildland firefighter we operate in extremely fragile and dangerous environments. The job requires constant and iterative situational awareness. One wind shift or flare up be disastrous and kill not only you but your crew too. You constantly need to be assessing your situation, determining how precarious it is, and asking yourself if it is worthwhile. How do we determine worthwhile risk? Risk assessment is based on “Operational Objectives” and “Values at Risk”.
In wildland firefighting, these are usually property values and civilian lives, but you can use this concept to determine what your values are and what the risk you should expose yourself to achieve your objectives. For example, when I am in a dangerous situation on the fireline, but failure to do my job will result in loosing the town of Tucson, then in my opinion, the personal risk I am undertaking is rationalized because of the objective. A lot of wildland firefighters took unprecedented risks to save Tucson and Summerhaven during the bighorn fire in 2020.
You may realize that you are risking too much! If we take a look around and we are doing really aggressive and dangerous fire suppression to save a decrepit old mining camp with no historical value in the middle of nowhere, then I might think about refusing risk. In this scenario, my life is really the only value at risk for what objective? Who cares about some shack in BFE Idaho? In closing, you need to understand what values are at risk and if your life objectives rationalize the amount of risk you are taking on.
Determining your life objective:
You need to analyze the risk/reward tradeoff – if you do not have a driving force to work towards, then you will be taking on risk for nothing!
Determining your life objective is not easy… this process is going to be different for everyone. I think the more free time you can create for yourself to do this, the better. I found my life objectives when I quit my finance job at Vanguard to become a wildland firefighter and focus on fostering my hobbies in the off season. I knew that I liked being outside and helping people. I assessed that my income would be seasonal, that I may end up living out of my truck, and that I could die. But I had been working towards a work-life balance and freedom objective for a while. At this point I had developed the financial capacity for seasonal income risk at that time. Then that voice came back and I thought about how I would feel on my death bed if I did not try! This lead me into firefighting and gave me the free time to meet more of the Arizona guide community to which I soon joined the ranks of. Now I have clear objectives: Climb Denali, Sail around the world, and raise some mountain babies.
I remember vividly stewing on that decision for a few months and finally deciding that I would be able to make it happen. I refrained my thought process back to my childhood and recognized that a lot of people died and had some grand idea but never decided to go through it. Knowing myself, my downside potential would be living on my death bed and thinking about what my life would look like if I decided against giving it a shot.
My risk taking has paid off and I am now a financial manager for the firefighting company I began with years ago. I have several guide licenses and can capitalize on my gear acquisitions and still have free time to pursue my passions which are creating synergies with my career. Now I seek out risk because it has helped build my skillset and I will continue to do so. I enjoy scaring the piss out of myself because I know that I have identified all risks and mitigated the ones that I can.
In closing, identify what values you would want to take on risk, maintain constant awareness of your situation with respect to your objectives, and make sure to rationalize risk with downside potential. Risk is FUN so PILE IT ON!
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a licensed financial advisor, canyoneering guide, SPRAT rope access technician, and wildland firefighter.
Getting here was not easy, I have definitely made a lot of sacrifices. I had to spend years discovering what lifestyle I wanted to lead and how to make it work. Getting compensated in the outdoor industry to a point where you can buy a house is a really difficult problem you will face. I have been able to make it work but it required me to give it my everything. I’ve spent a lot of time on the road and living out of a truck to make that work. Making it in the fire industry required me to take a call and leave with a 60L bag with no idea when I would return, my relationship did not survive this stage of my journey. I lucked out with some fantastic fire and guide mentors and would not have made it without them. My financial advisor background allowed me to stay accountable to a very strict budget and make the fire dollars last all winter.
The rewards have been astounding. I now have the skillsets to save money and do really cool things for free because I put in the work. I also have met an amazing array of fantastic people all over the state and western US.
If you are willing to find something that you are willing to commit your time to, decide what you are willing to risk and sacrifice for it, then all you have to do is work hard and hold yourself accountable. If you hit a road block, reassess, and eventually you can get where you are going.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
BIGA in Prescott, AZ is the absolute best restaurant in the state
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Jared Bryant Bob Pettit
Austin Karr
Ryan Dunn
Shawn Modica
Website: j3fireapparatus.com
Instagram: Russell_padfield
Image Credits
Russell Padfield
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