Firefighters are sometimes portrayed as hulking heroes: hauling damsels in misery, braving fiery conditions, and muscling their approach by hazard. It’s a occupation nonetheless overwhelmingly coded as male and constructed round that picture. Nevertheless, one girl in Florida is difficult it head-on, with out dulling a single fringe of herself.
V’asiah Marie, a 27-year-old firefighter primarily based in Tampa, goes viral on-line not only for excelling at her job, however for doing it with intention and magnificence.
At first look, her platform on TikTok reads like that of an elegant way of life creator: clear, minimalist Get-Prepared-With-Mes, softly lit moments along with her husband, inside décor vignettes, and trend and procuring hauls. However peppered by that rigorously curated world are dispatches from probably the most bodily demanding, male-dominated professions there may be—her life as a firefighter.
“You guys all the time ask for extra firefighting content material, so I’m taking you on shift with me in the present day,” she wrote within the caption of a latest submit.
The video opens along with her arriving on the station and scrounging up some breakfast, then unfolds right into a montage: her gearing up on the station, climbing right into a firetruck, racing out on calls, laughing along with her fellow firefighters throughout transient lulls, cooking dinner for the firehouse, washing down their autos, and at last clocking out after a protracted, demanding day.
“This was on Christmas Day, so it was a bit of slower & not as hectic…and subsequent vlog I’ll present a bit of extra context,” she added within the caption.
Her viewers of over 100,000 is captivated. Feedback like “I’d really feel so protected with you” and “feminine firefighters are so badass” pour in with equal components admiration and awe. Her rise additionally coincides with a rising development amongst youthful generations who’re more and more opting out of conventional company careers in favor of trades work and emergency providers, documenting these paths on TikTok and social media in real-time.
Nonetheless, regardless of her rising platform and simple competence, V’asiah has been clear that doubt stays baked into the job—particularly for ladies.
In accordance with the group championing ladies within the area, Ladies in Fireplace, ladies made up roughly 9% of firefighters nationwide in 2020, with the bulk serving in volunteer roles. Of greater than 22,000 hearth chiefs employed within the U.S., solely about 6% are ladies—numbers that underscore simply how male-dominated the sector stays.
“All the things that you simply think about a 6-foot, 200-pound man can do, I can do,” V’asiah instructed Individuals journal in a latest interview. “They don’t reduce the necessities simply because I’m a lady.”
That actuality is precisely why she showcases each side of her life — the soot, sweat, and power of the job coexist with comfortable glam, femininity, and luxurious — and he or she refuses to decide on between them.
“That’s what I really love about my account a lot,” she mentioned. “I simply wish to present ladies that we are able to do each. We’re sweating, we’re working, we’re coaching—however then I come dwelling and I’m absolutely performed up and I do all these girly issues. Why restrict your self?”
