Santa Clara Fire Department’s Beverly Molina has been spotted around town assisting those needing medical attention and working with middle school students in the Fire Department’s Better Together Leadership Program. What some people might not know about Molina is that she is a self-published author of a self-help book called “Brave and Awake – A Story of Authentic Becoming.”
Born in Logan, Utah, Molina moved to Santa Clara with her family when she was five years old. Molina now lives in San Jose.
Published in 2015, Molina’s book is divided into three parts: “Cultivate a Positive Perspective,” “Make Peace with the Past, and Reside in the Present” and “Embrace Your Inner Mystic.”
“‘Embrace your inner mystic’ comes from an Albert Einstein quote about how you can see nothing as a miracle or everything as a miracle,” Molina said. “Firefighters see a lot of bad things happen. It’s important to maintain a positive outlook on your life. Hopefully, this section inspires people to see that how they view their life is a choice.”
Since she was 10 years old, Molina aspired to write a book.
“I was driving to work on my birthday to Station 2 in Santa Clara, and I thought to myself, I should write that book,” Molina said. “I want people to think about doing what makes their heart sing, and that’s why I wrote my book.”
Molina explained her personal journey to finding a career that made her own heart sing.
“I got a job in high tech public relations and was making good money.” Molina said of her first job out of college. “I worked in that industry for five years and became very unhappy. I thought to myself, ‘haven’t I done everything I’m supposed to do?’ I started this exploration of what I wanted to do. I decided this wasn’t what I really wanted to do. I was living out what my parents have told me to do.”
Molina decided she wanted a career that involved service, such as nursing, teaching or being a paramedic. Her mother connected her to a friend whose son was a paramedic and the two talked.
“At the tail end of the conversation, he told me, ‘Beverly, if you want to be a paramedic and aren’t afraid of running into a burning building, you might want to consider being a firefighter,’” Molina said. “So, I called 10 different fire stations and asked firefighters about the nature of their work. By the end of the 10 phone calls, the kindness, enthusiasm and generosity of the firefighters who spoke to me inspired me to be like them. I’m in my 19th year as a firefighter. I did write this book with this theme to follow your heart.”
Looking ahead to 2020, Molina had some good news to share.
“I just became a paramedic,” she said. “Now I’m a firefighter who’s a paramedic, so I’ll be concentrating on that for a bit.
Visit braveandawake.com for more details about Molina and her book.