On The Line And In The Ring: Fighting For Strong Relationships With Chase And Sammy Worthington
Explore the thrilling intersection of firefighting and professional boxing in this captivating episode. On today's show, Chase and Sammy Worthington stop by to talk about what it takes to make a strong, lasting relationship through their personal experiences with a wildfire career and a professional boxing career. Chase Worthington, a Squad Leader on the Folsom Lake Veterans Crew and a US Navy Veteran, brings the perspective of a wildland firefighter. Meanwhile, Sammy "The Heat" Worthington, a renowned professional boxer and UBO women's Super Lightweight World Champion, adds the exhilarating world of boxing to the conversation. Discover how their unique experiences highlight the parallel between pursuing passions in both careers and relationships. Tune in to gain valuable insights into navigating the challenges of these demanding yet fulfilling paths, fighting wildfires on the line and in the ring while loving on each other.
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On The Line And In The Ring: Fighting For Strong Relationships With Chase And Sammy Worthington
This episode is going to be brought to you by Mystery Ranch, built for the mission. If you haven't been rocking a Mystery Ranch fire line pack for your career, that sucks to be you because they are the most comfortable, the most well-built, and the best damn warranty of fire packs out there in the game, hands down. We all know that. They make a ton of other stuff. Not only are they known for their epic fire gear, like the Legendary Hotshot Pack, but they're also known for things like the Talk Box 5,000 for those new 5,000 series radios out there or the women's specific pack designs. Men and women have different shapes. If you want to get stuff that's built for you, you have options with Mystery Ranch.
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The show is also going to be brought to you by our premier coffee sponsor. That is going to be none other than Hotshot Brewing. It's kickass coffee for a kickass because a portion of the proceeds will always go back to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. If you're not into coffee or don't drink coffee, which you're a monster if you don't, they have a ton of other stuff, like all the tools of the trade to get your morning started off right and a ton of wildland firefighter-themed apparel.
If you want to find out more, go over to www.HotshotBrewing.com and check out their full line of kickass coffee, all the tools of the trade to get your morning started off right, and all that kickass wildland firefighter-themed apparel. It's a good cause that they support repping some funds over there for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.
The show is going to be not sponsored by, but supported by, and not even supported by. How do we present this? I'm a huge supporter of theirs. I believe in what they're doing. They don't pay me to do these ads. I believe in their cause. Go over to www.Wildfire-Experience.org and check it out. You may possibly know them as the Smokey Generation.
What did they do? It is a catalog of wildland firefighting stories dating all the way back to the 1940s. It's a digital history lesson from our peers in the field and some of those legendary figures that we call superintendents, Hotshots, operators, and peers. It's all located there at The American Wildfire Experience or the Smokey Generation. They're all linked to each other. Go over there and check it out. While you're at it, check out the Smokey Generation Grant Program they are doing because it is awesome. They're giving away $500 grants to those folks that are telling the story of wildland fire. Time is limited on this one. Bethany, you have a kickass organization out there. Keep it up.
Welcome back to another episode. I hope everybody is doing well. I want to start off by asking, begging for your forgiveness, and giving you an apology there for the lack of episodes that have been coming out. 2024 has been way up and down, like spikes and valleys of activity. That is due to the fact that I have a day job that kicks wholesale ass. We've been having issues with the third-party production team that I've been working with for editing my videos that you see on YouTube and the social media content. We're getting that all cleaned up, and I promise you that there are going to be more episodes coming down the road.
My day job pays the mortgage. The Anchor Point, despite what you may or may not think. Even though this show is sponsored, it pays for the infrastructure and its solvent. However, it does not pay the bills. It keeps itself running, and that's the whole point. It is never designed to make money off this thing.
With that, I'd like to apologize. There'll be more episodes coming out, but during the holiday season, I traditionally have always taken a break. We're getting out of that holiday season and back into the thick of it. Buckle up. We've got a bunch of episodes that have already been recorded and are on deck. We'll have more activity for you all here soon. I got to pay the bills.
My day job kicks ass. I work for the wildfire tech industry for a company called BurnBot. I know that it’s scary. It’s a big tech. It's not big tech, it's productive, and it's solving for X now, not several years in the future I freaking love it. The company that I work for is called BurnBot. I am their business development director, and it kicks wholesale ass. It's a shameless plug for them. No, they do not pay me for any content on the show. However, they do pay me a salary because I work for them. It's been busy. You get the idea.
It is coming up on fundraiser season, and I am pumped because there are some kickass fundraisers on the horizon coming up here soon. First off, we got the vertical drop that's going to be hosted by Silver State Hotshots and Black Mountain Hotshots. It's going to be March 23rd, 2024. Go check them out. We have next up on the list. We got the Hotshot Up Volleyball Tournament. That's going to be on April 6th, 2024. Last but not least, we have the Hotshot Half. That’s going to be on April 20th, 2024. Make sure you go over there and support those.
Speaking of fundraisers, the Hidden Valley Hammer, Cody, talks about an epic fundraiser and one hell of a race, a run, a trail run. I've run up there that trail quite a handful of times over the first course of my fire career. It is brutal. This episode was recorded shortly after the finishing of the race. We all went over to the 395 to do additional fundraising afterward. Cody, thank you so much. This is awesome. Keep doing what you're doing.
Shout out to all the people who kicked wholesale ass on that race. We had some absolute beasts over there. The 10K winner came in under 55 minutes, which is hauling wholesale ass. Shout out to all my homies that were there. Cody, thank you for throwing that fundraiser. It's a hell of an event. I hope everybody can make it in 2025. Thank you.
We've got two special guests on the show. We've got two fighters. One is a firefighter, and one is a professional boxer. We're going to talk all about relationships, what it takes to go the distance, and some tips and tricks that they have learned throughout their relationship that you might be able to pick up on and apply to maybe your relationship, whatever that may look like. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce two good friends, Chase and Sammy Worthington. Welcome to the show.
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Welcome back to another episode. On the show, I've got Chase and Sammy Worthington. What's going on?
Not much. I ran the Hidden Valley Hammer.
Cody is running a good fundraiser over there. That raise is brutal. It's awesome. It was a good turnout in 2024.
We love coming up every year.
We've done it every year. It's one of our favorite times of the year, even though we get crushed every year.
There were some like studs over there. I was blown away by some of the times. People are going over there and practicing the run and the trail to try to shave.
That's what we were talking about. We're like, “A lot of these guys are like Silver State. They are local over here to the area. They're in the elevation. We come over here, and they're smoking us.”
Everybody is ripping up that hill. The men's first-place division winner was sub 55 minutes.
I don't know. I'm too far back.
We didn't see him. We saw him at the start and never again.
This dude is a ghost. He's gone. Shout out to the winners. They're badass. It's a good fundraiser. It’s getting better every year. You guys can't make it to the after-party because we're doing a little break here.
We normally do, but this pushes it back. I got to get back home.
At least it wasn't like going to snow or be shitty and raining. I was looking at the weather.
It was a beautiful day.
It was 80 degrees.
We got sun.
I was looking at the weather, and it was scheduled for rain, snow, and wind. I was like, “Don’t.” We've made it. Tell us about yourselves. You guys do paper, rock, scissors to see whoever goes first.
Getting To Know Chase And Sammy
I have been on fire. This was my sixth season in 2024. I got the squad leader promotion with the Folsom Lake Veterans Crew. I got a degree in Homeland Security that I'm not using. I was in the Navy before all that. I came out in 2018, the first summer of fire. I came on late. I didn't get to do any of the training with the crew. I left for a fire three days later. I have brand new boots. My feet are bleeding all over the place. It’s the Pawnee Fire. I remember it as clear as day. We're spiking out. This is my first experience. I'm texting Samantha. I'm like, “There's no way I can do this.”
He texted, “Pray hard.” I'm like, “What is happening?”
I remember my squad leader walking by. I'm getting my sleeping stuff set up. He's like, “Corn, you better be here in the morning.”
You went there, and you have to explain that next.
If we weren't spiked out on this ridge top in the middle of nowhere, I probably wouldn't have been there in the morning. I woke up, cranked down on my boots the next morning, and didn't have any more problems after that. I don't know what it was, but those first couple of days were torture. I have been in love with it ever since. We got married a few years ago. I brought her out here to California, and we’re living the life now.
You’re surviving an inflation-ridden and expensive cost of living in California.
We love it. We think it's worth it for us.
It's a big country. You guys can move anywhere you want.
I’m a professional boxer. I will go into that in a second, but we can go wherever, which is the beautiful thing of it. It's cool that we were dating when he got into fire. I've been with him on this journey from the beginning. I’m getting that text, all of the crap, and the ugly side. It's been cool how the Lord has brought us closer in that leaning on each other because it's an interesting dynamic to be with a wildland firefighter. I'm sure you feel the same way being with a professional boxer, especially as a female. You don't meet a lot of those.
I started boxing when I was twelve. My brother is four and a half years younger than me. He started boxing because he fell in love with the Rocky movies at six. That is a staple in my household. You have to like the Rocky movies, or you're out. My parents were like, “There's no boxing for kids.” You'll have to hit things around the house.
My dad got connected with our first coach. My dad is a pastor. They met at a pastor's luncheon. It’s random. They were talking about ministries that they did outside of their church, and he mentioned having a boxing gym. My dad was like, “Can I bring my son? He's only six, but he would love to check out the gym.” The coach was like, “He can't start fighting until he is eight, but he can start training now.” My dad was like, “Let's see how it goes. He's six.” Thomas went eighteen rounds on the first day. He’s natural at hitting things if one can be.
He started boxing. I was in and out of the gym, watching him and supporting him. My parents were like, “You're here all the time. Why don't you use it as conditioning for your other sports?” I played conventional sports, like soccer, basketball, and softball. I’m like, “This seems stupid, but we'll try.” We're hitting the air. I'm like, “Why are we doing this? This is stupid.”
Fast forward to when I got into training, and I'm like, “I might try to see if I'm any good at this.” I'm sparring with this guy. I have no other girls in the gym. We're using one hand. I'm like, “This getting hit thing isn't fun, but I can handle it.” I hit him for the first time. His head snapped back, and his eyes got big. “He goes, “Oh shoot.” I've been hooked ever since.
Several years later, I'm a pro. I'm 4 and 0 with three knockouts, and I have a lot of dreams that the Lord has given me and a purpose for why I box. I'm looking forward to stepping into that and what's coming up. We're leaving for Columbia for another fight. We got back a couple of weeks ago. We're going again and leaving in over a week. We'll head out there again. We'll feel like we're going to be bilingual by the end of 2024.
She does a lingo at night. It's like chiming while I'm trying to go to sleep.
Corns And Hotdogs
It's bugging me. What's up with the corn?
I show up late. Everyone has been doing their basic training. Everyone knows each other and the crew. They're all friends now. This new guy shows up. We were at Pine Hill Preserve doing some project cutting and making some piles. I wasn't there, but there were two other guys. They were like, “What's the new guy's name?” They were going through all the C names. It was Dan or Trevor. They were like, “His name is Cornelius.” For some reason, that stuck. They're like, “It's Cornelius.” Cornelius is long. Everyone started calling me Corn. I was like, “Okay.” You don't get a say in your nickname.
There's more to that.
They're earned, too.
From there, it evolved even more because Folsom Lake was type-2 IA. I don't know how common it is. They don't know the different types of resources, but they're always like, “Folsom like hotshots.” Folsom Ranbir Lawley was like, “We're not hotshots. They might call Folsom like hotdogs.” That stuck. The inner crew were like, “We're Folsom like hotdogs. We're going to have fun with it.” They're like, “You're corndog now. You're not even a hotdog. You're corndog.” I was like, “Okay.”
The saga continues. It keeps going.
He gets introduced to people as Corn. Do you know his actual name?
Our first place here in California was a gated neighborhood. I flew home after the crew party in 2020 to get married. I left all my stuff here. We get married. Several days later, we're driving out here. Landon was like, “I'm going to give him a wedding gift.
Please tell me it was a Costco pack of corndogs.
It was a toilet paper.
It was COVID. It was toilet paper. He had a big pack. It's a gated neighborhood. He didn't want to call us and be like, “I'm getting you guys a gift. Let the gate know.”
We were getting married that day.
It was our wedding day. I forgot where I was even going with his story.
He gets to the gate.
They don't let him in. They're like, “You're not on the list. Who's the resident? Who do you know?”
Your Instagram name was Chester.
That threw him off.
It’s not even his name on Instagram.
He told the lady, “Corn.” She turned him around, and we never got the toilet paper.
He drove from Elk Grove all the way to Cool. It's like an hour and a half.
That's a good distance. Cool is not the middle of nowhere, but it's down a lot of windy roads.
It's in the middle of nowhere for Elk 49.
I'd be more bummed about not getting the toilet paper. That was practically a currency back in COVID.
Moving To Sacramento
We are from a city in Kentucky. That's where we're originally from. I'm like, “We're getting married. I don't want to be apart from you.” I visited one time, but I didn't have any knowledge of where I was. I was disoriented. I was like, “This is California.” He's like, “I found this place on Craigslist.” It ended up being fine.
It was the middle of fire season.
I was sure you found it on a fire. The landlord is calling me in Kentucky. I'm like, “That sounds great.” I'm 2,000 miles away, and I'd never been to the place at all. I'd seen pictures, and you had FaceTimed me because you had stayed there a couple of days before you flew back.
It’s just my sleeping bag after a roll.
You had no utensils. They didn't give you utensils when you got takeout.
You’re digging through your pack for an MRE spoon.
We pull up to our neighborhood. I'm like, “This is where we're living now.” Cool have 2,000 people. Lexington has a couple of hundred thousand or under 150,000. There are a lot of people in Lexington. It's a bigger city. I had a major culture shock. There's not even a stoplight in Cool. A week later, we experienced a blackout. My mom was like, “Did he move you to a third-world country?”
No, it's the middle of nowhere.
In California, they experienced blackouts. That was interesting. We were getting the jet bowl out and cooking our MRE and bound meals. I’m like, “What is this life now?” We love it now. I'm adjusted.
We're not there. We're in Folsom now.
I adjusted to Cool, but now, we're in the city.
The big city of Folsom. The suburbs of Sacramento.
We have civilization around us.
There's like an in-out burger. That's nice.
Folsom has so much.
I don't know if I should say it.
We like it, but I don't understand the hype.
We love Chick-fil-A. We need to get it on the way home. That's what we do for all big events. For the anniversary, Valentine's Day, and birthdays, it’s Chick-fil-A.
Secrets To Making A Relationship Work
The reason why I want to do two badly on the show is because you're both fighters. You fight the fire, and you fight people professionally. You fight Mother Nature, and you throw on gloves and beat the shit out of people. It's cool because you guys have a unique relationship. I've been following your two stories for several years since you guys got together. It's a cool evolution to see that.
There are a lot of lessons that could be learned from your guys' relationship, such as how you have to do the whole travel thing because you're all over the place, particularly in the summer, but you guys are still making it work. That's something unique. I couldn't imagine how hard it is, but you guys make it work. What are your secrets?
I have a lot to say. Do you want to go first?
I was going to say we love each other very much.
Love is what keeps us together.
We're best friends. “It is hard, but it's also easy.
It's all about perspective. I've been with him since he started fire. For the first several years of fire, I stay in Kentucky. You're gone in California for several months. We were apart for half of our engagement. I planned the wedding by myself and did all that.
I wanted to help.
He did.
Yeah, but how? You're in the middle of BFE with no cell phone service.
He wasn't the typical man who was like, “You do everything.” He wanted to help, but circumstances. For us, it's viewing the time apart as a time to long for each other more instead of out of sight, out of mind. You're not here. I'm going to focus on what I have going on in front of me. That doesn't negate challenges. It's hard.
One of the main challenges for people on fire and the family that stays home is life doesn't stop when you guys leave. That was one thing that was hard for both of us. It was a challenge that was cool to walk through together. It's all about the perspective of not looking at the challenge as, “I want to get out.” Looking at it as, “How can we get through this together and allow it to bring us closer together?” That was one where I was like, “Chase, I have a routine down. You can't come in and expect me to stop everything.”
That was more of me. I wanted to quit life when you came home. I'm going to call in the work every two weeks. That's not realistic. If he needed something from me emotionally, we had to understand where the other person was in that season. It’s the same thing for you when I'm training for fights. It's not the same by any means, but it can be similar, whereas you're hyper-focused. When you're on a fire, he has time to call. When I'm trying to vent about my day, I'm expecting him to be that emotional support, but it's like, “He's dealt with whatever happened that day.”
She's yelling, “Why aren't you listening?”
That can happen when I'm like, “I need you to be this person for me.” It's the same dynamic with fight camps and stuff. I'm about to fight. I can be a little bit irritable.
It's not that bad. I'm used to it. It's the same thing. I'll come home. It's off-season now. I'm like, “Let's get some ice cream and watch a movie.” She's like, “No.”
It's odd because there's fire season and heat season. My ring name is The Heat. It's my season. The dynamics are similar. It’s not the same by any means, but it can be similar emotionally. It's difficult, but it has brought us together. That sounds cliche, but it has allowed us to grow so much as a couple and individually. It goes back to the fact that we view it as a chance to grow closer together rather than further apart.
View time apart as a chance to grow closer together than further apart.
I'm involved in this support group on Facebook with the fire wives and partners. There'll be times where people will post on the opposite, like, “I don't know if this is for me.” I've said those things before because it's hard. I was like, “Did the Lord create me to do this?” I go back to yes because I chose Chase. I'm going to always choose Chase. He is my person. Hearing those stories about people viewing it as something that can bring you further apart goes back to, “Why did you choose that person in the beginning?” Go back to that. I've always said, even when I struggle, which is a lot missing him, that he's 100% worth it.
You did have a lot to say.
She's the talker.
I feel passionate about this because it can be an issue regardless of my profession. Being with a wildland firefighter is hard. It is not for the weak and faint of heart. It's even different than dating somebody or being married to someone in the military. It can be similar, but it's different than that. The culture is different. I love Chase, but I feel passionate about that because the divorce rate is high. I don't think that it should be. We could have more support in this and conversations like this, where this is not necessarily our secret. This is something that helps us. How can we help you get to this place?
Being with a wildland firefighter is hard. It is not for the weak. It is not for the faint of heart.
We struggle, especially with the dynamic of missing each other for so long. It's not for one deployment. Every year, we deal with it. Fire season always comes back around. The looming fire season can be hard. I have you for however many more months we have, but come January, I'm like, “Fire season is here.” It's going to be here in a few months. Even though I lost him in May and June, it's that constant looming. It has allowed us to cherish the time that we have together more. I tell you that all the time when we're apart. I miss you. My heart aches physically so much, but I am excited to be back with you. It makes our time more special.
The homecomings don't like we're coming back from another two-week assignment. Every single time, we make it a point to come together.
We celebrate that time.
You make the moment intimate, not just sexually intimate. The intimacy of actual true connection is being present at the moment. It is a powerful thing, or else people wouldn't fall in love with each other. We redo that all the time.
A Strong Support System
Not always have we been blessed with people like this, but as of now, we're blessed with people who understand that. I have to cancel because Chase is coming home. Fire season is unpredictable. I can't be like, “You're going to be home on this date.” You never know. Fire season always crushes my hopes and dreams.
Never make plans.
Our friends understand, like, “You need to be with Chase.” If I made any plans apart from Chase, my people were like, “No, you need to go home. I get it.” That's important to have a community. These people are not in fire. I'm not saying that you have to be surrounded by the fire community for your whole life. That's a beautiful thing, but having people who get it. I might not understand because I don't have a loved one in that community, but I get that you need to be with your husband.
It is like any support system at all.
Even our family doesn't get what he does.
They think that you're a smoke jumper or you work for Cal Fire. That's the stereotypical response.
He's on every big fire that's on TV. Does Chase is to chase by that fire? No.
There are 50,000 of us at any given time.
Why isn't he on that fire? They have other resources besides Chase's crew.
It is different. When we were dating, we would say the one goodbye.
I would stay in Kentucky. I know I'm going to see him around October.
Getting married and bringing her out here was awesome for me. We were twenty minutes from the station. I get off work and come home. My wife is there. She can make dinner. We can hang out. For her, I have to say goodbye over and over again. I’m trying to work through that.
I’m getting my hopes up. I’m like, “He's home, but for how long?” I get my hopes up every time. I tell him like, “I'm not going to get my hopes up this time.” They're out.
It's a necessity. We have to be optimistic about it.
That's a good thing. In that group and other fire wives, spouses, and partners that I've talked to, they always say, “It'll get easier.” I always tell them, “I don't want it to get easier. I want to miss him this much every time.” Do I want to be able to maybe deal with it better sometimes and not get emotional? Maybe, but I want to always feel this ache and this missing piece. That was an interesting transition coming out here. I thought it was going to be great. I was like, “I'm going to see him all throughout the fire season.”
I get to come home. I don't have to cook a frozen pizza every night. My wife will cook frozen pizza for me.
I'm like, “I have to cook for two people now when I was cooking for two weeks for one person.” All things that are good and positive. Most of us are creatures of habit and routine. As an athlete, I am, and I need to be. I was like, “You are ruining my routine now.” I couldn't get my footing at all. There’s no traction or momentum. We don't have any family out here. Speaking of the support system, that first season was one of the worst seasons in California. You were gone all the time. I thought we had moved to the apocalypse because it was red.
There are red skies for several months out of the year.
I'm like, “What is happening?” It's been mild in the past several years because it all burned that first year. It was a lot harder than I realized. It was going to be to say bye many times. How do I get into a routine when he's going to come? It's not his fault. That's the dynamic. That was hard. I don't have a formula for how I got past that.
The main thing was the support system. It’s having people around me and building a community. That's when you move anywhere new, specifically when you don't have family, and you don't have your person around often. It is hard. We immediately got plugged in with the church. Now that we're in Folsom, we got plugged in with the church around us. That's been big to have a community in that way, even getting your work community and having those people to be like, “I'm not feeling like being a person. I need you to let me be.” Vice versa, like, “I need people around me. Come, lift me up and get me out of this.” That was huge for me.
Creatures Of Habit
You mentioned something earlier, and that is creatures of habit and how we're stuck to routine and discipline. Both of you don't have a choice. You're as much a creature of habit and have the same discipline that she does, but it's in a different context. You have to rely on knowing where your shit is at all times.
One of the things that used to drive me nuts is something will be missing. It's not putting back tools specifically. It drives me nuts because I'm in work-brain mode. I know where all the critical tools are. I know where the stuff is. I know where my s*** is because I depended on it. It's like you do. It's hard because you, on the other hand, were like, “I've got to do this cut for weight. I got to make this for a diet. It's the same thing but in a different context. How do you guys navigate that one? I have an extra pair of gloves if you guys want.
That's how we navigate.
It works out well. It’s our personalities. I don't want to put you on the spot. I’m being clean and organized. Not that she's not, but I wake up, and I want to make the bed. I want to have a clean house. She's in training camp. She's not worried about any of that stuff.
I get up, brush my teeth, and run or work out.
She needs to prep her meals. She has to be at the gym. She has to be running. All those extra things that she doesn't need to worry about are an extra stressor for her. For me, those things relieve my stress. Those are the habits that I enjoy doing.
You enjoy helping out. You are getting satisfaction out of it by contributing to her success.
This is going to sound old school. I don't mean it, but these are the roles that we play. I cook dinner. I make the meals. I'm not saying all women have to do that, but it's what we are dynamic, and that serves him. It goes back to what you were saying. That's how he serves me and helps me be successful. It’s the same for him. When he gets home from a fire, and he doesn't want to make that frozen pizza, I always make it a point to where we're going to make breakfast. I'm like, “I'm going to do this for you because I haven't gotten a chance to serve and love you in this way.
I fought last August 2023. I was finishing up a training camp in the middle of fire season. That was hard because I was missing that. You don't understand what your partner brings to the table until you don't have it. You know when you're grateful, but you might not be fully aware of it. I was fully aware of last July and August 2023. I was like, “Chase, we are never doing a training camp apart.” We did it by accident, but that's a whole other thing. Life happened. That made me grateful for what Chase does. I still feel that when I'm not in training camp. You almost go through this grieving period when you miss each other. Chase has the distraction of actual fire and work.
You almost go through this grieving period when you miss each other.
He's getting nailed by a tree.
He misses me, but you can't think about it all the time. I think about it all the time. I'm thinking about, “Chase could be here.” When I go and do something fun, I'm like, “It's not as fun as it would be with Chase.” I grieve the memories that we can make together.
Can I say something?
Yes.
No matter how hectic it is out on the line, I will check my phone. If I have enough service, I always send a message like, “I love you.” She knows that I am thinking about her.
That's a huge discipline that you do well. That's something that we hold onto. The whole saying is, “No news is good news.” It still sucks not having news.
It doesn't make it suck any less.
At the end of the day, we usually try to make a phone call, but most of the time, I'm like, “I'm going to bed.”
He has no energy to do that.
I’m trying to do that when I can throughout the day.
People are sleeping. I know that you don't always have service, but it's finding the little pockets of service where you have one bar and it's one text. Even if it's love you, that is enough. I was like, “He's okay. Everything is fine.” That's huge that you do that.
It's usually, “I love you. You are getting my d*** beat. Talk later. This sucks. Good night.”
Putting The Effort
That's a lot of the texts, like, “Send nudes later.” That's another thing. You find ways to still love each other and fulfill that need. When you're out there, you can't fulfill that need. I can't fulfill that need for you. I don't have anybody to fulfill. You can't fulfill that need for me. Even if I'm not comfortable doing that, we make sacrifices for each other in that way. It's not like, “I love you.” It's like, “Whenever I can, I'm going to gift him with this or that.” That's been huge for us.
You're putting it all out there.
This stuff needs to be talked about.
This is normal in human being relationships. Everyone does this stuff. Why aren't we talking about it? Exactly.
That's another thing I feel passionate about. These are risque topics. That's the reason why people fall out of love. I hate when people say that or get complacent. They stop putting forth effort and choosing the other person. It is because we're not talking about these things. These are ways that you can keep the “spark alive” or bring it back because sometimes it dims way down like it's not there. You can always revive that. It's about putting forth the effort.
I feel passionate about it. It’s not because I'm in a relationship like this. Talking to other partners and spouses and seeing what's posted on the Facebook group is heartbreaking because your partner is not putting forth the effort. It can be on the wildland firefighters. Chase puts forth so much effort even when he is tired and has nothing to give. He gives me that last little bit of himself to help me. It's also the partners. We can't play the victim all the time. That's a huge issue and one that I've struggled with. Complaining to Chase like, “You're not being this for me.” I have to take a step back and understand.
You could get that s*** off your chest.
Chase has been great about being patient and letting me vent sometimes, but I also have to be understanding and know that he might not give me back what I'm looking for, like that emotional heart that I'm seeking. I get it off my chest and know he wants to give me that. That's where he is now in his space. It's understanding that’s part of the lifestyle. There are times when Chase is going to give me this part of himself. Sometimes, I'm going to have to bring up that other percentage.
It boils down to being 100%. I say it sometimes. I'm not judging people who say it, but you're my better half. We're both 100% of a person. You're not 100% all the time, but I can give him some of mine. If we were 50% of a person and I go down, I'm at 30%. You have to give me 20%. You're at 30%. When we are two whole people coming together, that's different. I can give him a little bit of myself to build him up. I don't think that boils down to Chase, and I were meant to be. It's not like you were always, from the beginning of time, supposed to be with me. That can be any person. It's about choosing the person that you have chosen to be with and working on yourself.
You're my better half but really we're both a hundred percent of a person.
I always heard, “How have you been married so long? I choose them every day.” You don't think about it. You don't understand it until you get married. You wake up and choose that person every day.
It never stops. We chose each other on October 4th, 2020, when we said, “I do.” We've had the best through the years of our lives. Whenever we hear our friends be like, “Marriage is such hard work,” we're like, “It's easy.” There are still little things where you're upset or annoyed. It goes back to perspective because sometimes people might view those things as hard work for them.
If you boil it down, it's the day-to-day life s***. You're bitching about minor inconveniences of life.
There was one time. It's one of those you can't even remember what you were bickering about, but we look at each other and start busting out laughing.
I don't remember because I took Goose out on a walk. With the little things, I'm like, “I can brush them under the rug. It does not bother me. I'm still going to choose her. Whatever it is, I'm not going to stay mad.”
I'm the emotional one. I hold the grudge.
She is going to hold a grudge and stay mad. I take Goose out on a walk around the apartment complex. I come back in. She happens to be right there at the front door. We made eye contact, and I burst out laughing. I was like, “Why are we mad at each other?”
Why are we bitching about now? What's going on here?
That was the conflict resolution.
It's part of life. Everybody has conflict. Putting in the effort, which is a major underlying factor in your success as a couple, is the amount of effort that you're dedicating to each other. Putting the same amount of effort into your day-to-day stuff, or I love you this or the date night, is equally as important as putting into conflict resolution because you can't put in the effort. What's the point?
What are we doing?
For the little things, I don't worry about. I’ll shrug them off, but the normal, toxic masculinity and not talking about my feelings, she'll force me to talk about my feelings. She gets to talk back to me, and I can listen to her. With that two-way communication, you cannot beat that.
It’s not going into a marriage or a relationship like this and expecting the person to know everything you are thinking and feeling and know how to love you 100% correctly. We did premarital counseling. We went over our expectations. I highly recommend that. He thought it was dumb at first. He was like, “Why are we doing this? We don't have problems.”
We still don't know what our love languages are.
It sounds like the acts of service for both of you outside looking in here.
It’s the words of affirmation. He knows my love languages. We went over premarital counseling, but you're not counseling issues. It's pre-marital counsel. You are counseling issues that could come up. It's like, “What are your expectations that you don't even think about financially? Are you going to have a joint account? Who's going to pay the bills? Are you both going to do finances? What does that look like? Do you want kids?” These are things you would think that you've talked about, but sometimes, you haven't. How are you going to parent? How are you raised? That was something that was eye-opening for both of us.
We'd been together for several years. We'd been together a long time, seemingly dating. We had gotten to know each other fairly well. Going through those expectations, I was like, “That's what you thought.” We're going to go back to sex because that's what I like to talk about. One of the questions was, how often do you think that you are going to have sex per week?
Twice a day.
I put 5 to 6 times a week. Chase was like, “3 to 4.” It wasn't that far off, but it was realistic. That's Chase. I am a visionary. I dream. I'm like, “You're not going to want me every single second of every day.” Looking back, I'm like, “Thank God that you don't want me every single second of every day.” It's interesting things that you think that's what marriage is going to be, but that's not.
She wanted Thanksgiving, Christmas, Labor Day, and Easter for her family.
Expectations And Growth
His family doesn't have holidays. I was like, He'll give people the holidays.” It's about compromise but not expecting your spouse to be what you, in your mind, think a husband or a wife should be, and knowing that they are going to be growing like you are. What marriage has shown me is all the flaws in me, not in Chase. It hasn't highlighted like there are things that I didn't know.
I've learned a lot about Chase, but I've learned for me. I'm like, “I'm not as emotionally intelligent as I thought. I'm a baby sometimes.” You are getting expectations nailed down and being adaptable because expectations are going to change. You are going to change. If you don't change, why are you in this relationship? You're not growing as a person. You're staying stagnant. That's not good.
A big one is the whole growing together while improving together.
We are pushing each other to be better.
If you don't think that, it's not something that you want to be better at, but you know that this is going to make them better. Be that for them.
She doesn't like it when I call her out sometimes. I'll be like, “No, you should do this.” She'll be like, “I need to work on that.”
The main thing was I was emotional. I'm the more emotionally intelligent because I don't talk about my feelings. I've helped him get out of his shell in that regard. He's also helped me realize that just because you're emotional doesn't mean you're emotionally intelligent. Those don't always coincide. A couple of months ago, I was like, “Since when did you get more emotionally intelligent than me?” You pointed something out and was like, “You are not listening.” I was like, “he’s calling me out.”
Both of you have the humility to take what each other is saying to heart and think about it. Not act upon anger, sadness, sorrow, or guilt.
I'm not going to say we're perfect because we do. I don't want people reading to be like, “These people have it down. They're the perfect marriage.”
Even if you do act out, it's being able to reflect internally and be like, “Was that warranted me being emotional or getting upset?” If you go and look inside, you're like, “He was in the wrong.” You go and talk about it. It’s not calling them out. You go and rationally talk it out for the purpose of not being right but for bringing you together. You’re amending what's wrong. There are times when I look internally, I'm like, “No, that was me acting out. That wasn't warranted. I shouldn't have done that.” That's when it goes back to being humble, which you are way better than me.
You're a professional fighter. You don't have to be humble.
Navigating The Fighters Mentality
That's important to point out. Both of your careers are predicated on fighting something to win. The consequences of losing are possibly fatal for you and losing your title for you.
We did see someone die in the ring. I’m not as risky as yours, but the risk is high relative for both, but high in both.
I'm guilty of this. When I take an argument, I've been reflective. If I get into an argument, it doesn't matter who it is. I try not to fight to win. You say some stupid s*** when your sole purpose is to win an argument. It's dumb.
It's interesting because we are, personality-wise, different, but at the same time, because of what you pointed out, the dynamic of our professions, we both are type-A in a way. Our personalities were different, but we both had to be type A. That can make the conflicts interesting sometimes. Even though he is quieter than me, he's still passionate.
We’re arguing about not arguing sometimes. She'll be like, “I want you to yell at me.” I'm like, “Why?”
He's being rational. He's not talking.
I'm not angry. We are having a disagreement. I don't need to raise my voice.
It goes back to, okay, Is this behavior warranted? If you have arguments that are a little bit heated, that's not bad. It's normal and healthy. You need to get those emotions out healthily. It is not to win. It’s to say, “This is how I'm feeling. Let me get this off my chest.” You’re not saying something that's going to hurt, that’s derogatory, or defaming the other person. You're talking about whatever is bothering you.
My parents love each other. I was raised in a house where there were some knockdown drag-outs. My mom had me at 21. I grew up with them. They were kids having a kid. I got to see a lot of altercations, but I always got to see the resolution. It was beautiful. They always made sure that I saw them make amends, resolve conflicts, and restore what was going on. For him, he also saw some arguments, but that turned him off from arguing. It goes back to, like, “Let's talk about how you were raised. What are your expectations for even arguments? Do you want to sweep it under the rung? Do you want to be apart? What are your expectations? Is that what you would think is going to happen?”
It was weird for me when she wanted to fight.
I was like, “No, we need to handle this now.”
You're like, “What the f*** is going on here?”
I had to know that's not the best option, because of what you said before. Am I fighting to win? Sometimes, in the moment, everyone goes through that where it's like, “No, I'm mad.” You need to chill.
Think about what you're about to say and come at it calmly.
My parents probably did that, but looking back, I'm like, “They handled things right then and there all the time. That's not true. They've been married for many years. That's not how you get to many years of marriage all the time. Let's freaking duke it out. You can't be scared of conflict. It’s not that you are scared, but you’re avoiding it.
Someone is going to bring it up because you're a boxer. I'm scared. I don't want to get hit.
I bet you avoid conflict with her all the time.
She does not beat on me. Most of the time, she doesn't. I will put the pad on sometimes and let her see.
It’s only in the context of training. Is there ever any of that?
We traded body shots in the kitchen one time.
I bet alcohol has been involved.
No, we’re just trading body shots.
Sometimes, Chase was like, “Can I take it?”
I can't.
Body shots suck.
Coming from a fighter, they're horrible.
If anyone reading is interested in joining the veteran's crew, you don't want to lose any gear or stupid flips because it could involve some body shots.
He had the option of choosing to either make Chase breakfast or put the body pad on and see how if he could last 30 seconds with me hitting him. He lasted fifteen seconds.
You take a solid body shot because I used to do Muay Thai. I'd get fed knees.
He had the body pad on.
Even with pads, it still sucks.
She lifted off the ground straight up. I'm in the air.
It's a false sense of hope. They still hurt.
When you know you're going to get hit, you have to breathe. If you don't breathe properly when you're getting hit, and even if you're holding pads, you're going to get gassed in a second, or you're going to get injured. If you don't know how to hold the pads right, you may get hit in the face.
It may happen multiple times. There may be have drawn. That might have happened a couple of times with Chase.
I am not a fighter and have never done it.
No one likes getting punched in the face.
She's also too fast. I can't keep up.
Lessons From A Pro Boxer
For holding pads, there's a skill level involved with that. It's an art.
You have to have chemistry with the fighter. When I am doing mitts with other coaches, there are a couple of rounds where we're getting to know one another. You’re not talking, but you're getting to know the distance. What's the timing? People hold pads differently. There's a right and a wrong way to hold pads.
Muay Thai pads go over your entire wrist.
You don't want the pads to be way far on any fighting style. You want it to be a mimic. This is my opponent. You want them to get as close to the face as possible. You can be straight. Some people holding pads will go one-two on different pads. Some people do the one-two on one pad because it's more of a smaller target. You never know.
It fires a southpaw, or the pad hole is a southpaw.
Where do you throw your hook? Do you throw it higher? Are we going to the body? You never know. People call them different names. They’re like, “What is your three-four? What is your five-six? Do you even do a five-six?” That is not for me. That's uppercuts right there. I don't even do numbers. I've been boxing for many years. I know the numbers. Once you get to a certain point that you don't need, you go with feelings, which is why you need to get to know the right person. There's chemistry there. It's a feeling. You know the person and what their combo they're going to throw and want you to throw. It is a lot more difficult than like, “We've been dating for years. You can hold pads.”
It doesn't work like that. It's not even light sparring.
We've sparred, too.
We tried body sparring. We thought that was going to be safe. No, it wasn't.
She started off by letting me hit her.
This was back when we were dating. We were immature and hadn't grown a lot.
She came back. Samantha is heavy-handed.
I've never been hit by myself. I don’t know.
I was like, “I'm good. That's enough.” She's like, “No, I barely hit you.” I was like, “No, you hit me hard. That hurt.” She's like, “No, you're being a p****.”
That is not what I said. You're lying on me.
I find an enjoyment in sparring. Sparring is sparring, except for Captain Heavy Hands over here. It might not be fun with her. Boxing is different. Self-control is important when you're sparring because a good trainer or coach will match your tempo and power. You have to learn how to control yourself and know what the expectations are of your sparring partner or whoever's holding pads for you.
I was laughing because your last fight was my first time in the corner. I didn't do anything. Her coach was like, “Cruise through this first round. Take it easy.” She looks at us dead in the eyes in the middle of the round. She shakes her head. She's like, “Okay.” The next combo, that chick was knocked out.
I did dial it back, but not enough. It's a skill that I'm learning that I need to have. It's about control. It's not about going lighter, coddling your opponent, or carrying them. There's a time to set up things. Not all knockouts come by throwing haymakers the entire time.
Not all knockouts come by just throwing haymakers the entire time.
It could be a mistake, good timing, or good footwork.
If that's all your mentality when you get to somebody that knows what they're doing, and you throw the haymaker, they're going to knock you out. That's not what I was doing. You’re throwing good punches, but they are hard. What if you get with a person who can withstand your power, or they're blocking all your shots, and you've thrown complete power shots the whole time? You've nothing left. I've seen and experienced that. Luckily, I have still won and have been on the winning side, getting knockouts from that. I had 50 amateur fights. I've had a lot of fights to experience a lot of different things going on in the ring because it's all unpredictable, and you try to prepare as much as possible.
Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face, speaking of Tyson.
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
It’s applicable in every single fight. What I'm learning as a pro now is I need some control. I need to set up that punch. In amateur, it was balls to the wall. Yeah. Every round, it's punches and bunches. There would be some stoppages. There are not a lot of knockouts because, as a female, we still wear the headgear. There would be heavier gloves and more padding in the front. As a professional, there are a lot of paddings on the wrist. You can feel everything.
The padding on the wrist is to guard yourself so you don't break your wrist or injure yourself, but not on the knuckles. They're lighter. What are you guys fighting with, 8 or 10-ounce?
Eight-ounce. The heavier weight classes are ten-ounce, but my weight class is eight.
They're tiny on her.
You're a tiny human to begin with. It's not like you're seven feet tall. I was like, “You're going to kill someone.”
In amateur, it is twelve. It was a lot different even than I realized it would because you're going to know. You're bumping up to the pro. It's going to be different challenges, and you're off to learn the different styles because styles make fights and stuff. In amateur, it was like to throw. All I would see was red. I'm like, “I’m going.” As a pro, I have not learned this at all. I’m saying this as I am still struggling from the last fight.
A couple of weeks ago, in one of my sparring sessions, my sparring partner was like, “You were patient.” I'm like, “No one has ever told me that. I receive that entire compliment.” I'm trying to apply that to my fights now. We'll see how these fights are coming up because we've got a couple for the remainder of the year, which is cool.
You have four more fights.
We have three scheduled. Two this month and one in December. We have four schedules, but the fourth one is for January 2025. All are the same cluster of months. That's exciting and wild because I went the entire year without fighting.
There were some issues. We talked about that. Yeah.
That's another thing that you don't think about. In amateur, there was a financial struggle because you had to pay for all the tournaments and the travel. You would get sponsors. You try and raise money. Once you have made Team USA, they will cover most of the expenses. Sometimes, they would only give you a certain amount of per diem per day, which you experience. You still have to pay out of pocket with whatever per diem they give you or whatever.
They would cover a lot of the expenses, but getting to Team USA was a whole thing. The tournaments would be frequent throughout the year. You'd have to know, “This is what I'm budgeting for the year.” You knew these tournaments were on the schedule. I'm going to fight. Sometimes, fights would fall through, but if you go to a tournament, you've got sixteen girls in your weight class because there could be big weight classes.
It’s like a Shark Tank. You have to beat your way through the entire line.
For the Olympic qualifier for the trials, I had to fight five days in a row and weigh in every single day. It was wild. It’s the craziest experience. All that to say, I knew when I was going to fight. As a pro, I have to contact these promoters. Chase is my interim manager. Chase is looking for a female to sign. I am in the market for a manager. I'm still 4-0. I'm still new in my career, and I'm building my team as I build my record.
Chase tries to contact the promoters and the matchmakers. He’s like, “Can we get on the show? What is the fee to get on the show? What is the opponent fee?” There's a fee to get on the cart, for the opponent, and to get there. Are you going to pay me in ticket sales? Will I make any money back? There are many negotiations, and it's wild. I didn't know that there was that corrupt side of boxing on the business side.
A lot of fighters experience it.
I didn't know the magnitude of it. There were slimy people, but you don't know. You don't realize how much greed, and where's the greed? We were talking about that fight that fell through in March 2023. That was one of the things that I had experienced. People are not showing up for fights or not making weight, but to experience it on the pro level when you are expecting, you're holding those people to a higher standard because we are professionals. Why are we not acting like it?
That's like Chase showing up to the base at the beginning of the year as a squatty and being a complete s*** show. You don't do that.
That has been an interesting thing. We've only had one fight on the South American Circuit, but seeing that side of things where these people want to fight. You are going to fight.
It's ticket out in some of those areas. It's no different than Thailand. A lot of people like to go to training camps to become Muay Thai fighters because it is a ticket to somewhere better.
What are you fighting for? It’s not that they're not fighting for money there, but it's money for a reason or to be better for my family, and I would like to give them a better life. It's a lot of greed. It's like, “I'm going to try to get as much money as possible.”
Why can't you not be a buddy f*****? Try that. Let's start there.
I thought that we were fighters, and we wanted to fight. That's been frustrating to experience that. It’s a learning experience because I was like, “This is how it is. This is the profession I've chosen.” I feel joy when I'm fighting, which is so weird to say. When I am beating the dog s*** out of someone, I'm like, “This is where I feel.”
Apparently, Sammy woke up and chose violence.
There are no other words to describe what I do sometimes. When I’m in that space, I feel at home. It's not always me beating the other person up, but it's being in that realm and with another person who you are mutually respecting because it takes guts to even step in the ring. It's such a beautiful experience.
I know that is what I've been called to do. I'm learning because this is what I've chosen, and this is where I find joy. This is what I'm going to have to deal with and learn how to navigate it. You're not going to be okay with it because it still sucks. It's what you have to deal with. There's some BS that you have to navigate. You're going to find that everywhere. It's about learning how to cope with it and grow from the experiences. Back in March 2023, that was horrific. It was horrible.
It's not like you're getting your money back.
I know that it happens even at the bigger levels. I've seen it happen. There's more money at the bigger levels. You might get compensated more. I don't know. We're not there yet, but it still happened. I had to learn. It was a lot harder mentally on me than I even realized because I felt like the sport that I love let me down in that way. I didn't want to go back into a training camp because of, like, “Am I doing this for nothing?”
It was hard to get back into that head space to be okay with going through the grueling weeks it takes to get ready for a fight. It's like, “I need to know that this is a possibility.” That's not why I fight. I fight so I can have a bigger platform to share my story. I feel like we have a beautiful story, and the Lord has given us it. I want to be a good steward of what he's given us. That's why I fight.
I fight because Jesus has given me a talent, not on accident. There's a reason why you are good at what you do. There's a reason why I have this inside of me. I believe that for anyone. We need to be good stewards of what we've been given. That's what I have been given. I want to do that with anything. You have to wade through the crap.
We need to be good stewards of what we've been given.
Relationships Are Give And Receive
There was a fire here locally in the middle of winter. There were a lot of horses, cows, and cattle in the area. We're sitting there mopping up s***. It's cool because you have a support system. You guys both support each other well and make each other's dreams come to reality. You enable each other to be your best humans because there's no such thing as a 50/50 relationship, and even more so. A good friend of mine said, “Relationship is a good one. It's not give and take. It's give and receive. You guys do that for each other.
You made a post after my fight. It was beautiful and made me tear up. It was you explaining how it's scary to watch someone. I don't watch him go into fire, but he watches me go into a fire. I don't view it that way. I'm like, “I'm not scared. It’s not right.” It’s the same thing with him. He's not scared. You are a little nervous sometimes, but you know what you've done to prepare and what you're capable of. It’s the same thing with me. I’m never scared before the fight. It's confidence in what I can do and a respect for what they can do, but knowing that I've prepared enough. After that fight, I got to see that side of things. I was like, “He gets nervous for me.” You see his reaction and response.
It went past the first round finally.
That was my one fight past the first round, which was interesting. I did get hit for the first time.
All I saw was her getting hit.
He watches the fight back. He's like, “You did win.” I'm like, “Yes.”
I knew she won, but after, I was like, “It was closer than I thought it was going to be.” She’s like, “No, it wasn't. I beat the brakes off of her.” I was like, You're the fighter. You think that you won.”
Being protective is going to be hard.
We go back and watch the fight. We're on the couch chilling. She was next to me, and I said, “You beat the brakes off of her.” At that moment, all I saw was her getting hit.
Part of that post was him saying, “Who am I to tell her what she's created to do she can't do? I'm going to be what she needs for me to be the most successful in what she was created to do.” That's Chase. What he embodies in a partner is a literal partnership, my teammate, and who I need him to be. I hope that I can be that for him.
That was such a beautiful post and concept for me to think about. I'm like, “It's a no-brainer. I don't want you to go into fire.” I'm like, “Is it scary for you that I fight?” That's what I've done for most of my life. For me, I'm like, “That's not scary at all.” Knowing that is a part of his life helped me to feel seen because I feel that when he's doing fire all the time. We can lean on each other because we both experience it.
I can't sit ringside where she can see me.
I will never look at Chase in the middle of a fight again unless I end it in the first round because he looks terrified. I was like, “I don't need that in my life.” The other fights, he was like, “You don't look at me after the fight.” They'd both been over in the first round.
It's because you have many fans. You're crowd pleasers. You go to all, shaking hands and kissing babies. I get overlooked sometimes.
It’s not intentional. Chase is the one that I would want to run to initially, but I do get bombarded.
You got photographers, announcers, and the team.
We were close to my hometown.
It's my personality. I'm not going to be like, “That's my wife. Get out of the way.”
He's going to hang back and like, “Let me do the thing.” With that fight, I was like, “I'm going to be intentional about looking for him.”
He looks like he stabbed a kitten in front of him.
He’s distraught. I'm like, “This boy is about to bust out in tears. I'm not going to do that again.” You also learned. I know that you won't react that way.
Put shoes on the other foot.
I don't watch him fight fire. I don't have to watch him fight fire. I see the videos posted when he's made it through. He's like, “Can we show me videos?” You are like, “Yeah, that was sketchy.” I'm like, “I'm glad that you're saying that after.
We could've died.
I've heard that multiple times, but I don't have to see that. He's sitting there watching me go into combat.
It's a frame of reference.
It was interesting because I felt that with my parents, or I'd heard it with my parents. I’m like, “Yeah, it's interesting. That’s my parents. That's different.” My mom gets more nervous with my brother. He started fighting. We both fought alongside each other, which was cool.
Gretchen doesn't get nervous when Samantha fights.
No.
She’s screaming at the top of her lungs on the table.
There is a picture from one of my fights where she's got this mean look.
She's got the neck vein thing going.
She got the neck and the forehead vein. There's a side-by-side that I created of me giving the same look in the ring during that fight. It's so cool, but she would get more nervous when Thomas would fight. I didn't have to experience it so much with my parents, but I did hear it can be nerve-wracking. With Chase, I'm like, “He is my family now. He can experience the same level of anxiety.”
It's a frame of reference. You want to protect your loved ones. It's a wild journey that you guys do, and how you guys empower each other to be each other's best versions of yourselves. That's something special. A lot of people should take note of that and empower whoever they're with to do the same.
Building A Firm Foundation
We both enjoy it because we know the firm foundation that we have in our marriage. You've been watching us grow and how we can be that example for others.
One of the coolest things to me about our relationship is the glow-up and how we have grown so much. If you look at how we got started, it was a whole story, and it's a beautiful love story. We wanted to have fun. It wasn't to find anything serious. We're both in our early twenties. You're about to graduate. You're hot. Let's make out a little bit. Let's not end up married.
Looking back over our relationship, we've even broken up before, and that didn't last long, but we had a clean break. We've gone through a lot of those things. Looking at where we are, it's beautiful, and it is the firm foundation. We keep Jesus at the focus and keep each other's needs and wants. He does this way better than I do, but above our own and keeping each other's consideration instead of like, “This is what I want. I can be more selfish than you, and I apologize, but you're understanding. It is like having that dynamic where it's not me anymore. I know that we haven't had kids yet. You know better than us.
One is a good party. Two is a crowd.
I have a six-year-old little brother now. My parents started over. He's good birth control for us. I see how that can add a whole other level of things. My parents are the same way. Having that firm foundation was a beautiful way of putting it. This is our foundation. It’s our love for one another, but more importantly, it’s our love for God and what he has for us, and pursuing that over our own things, prioritizing what is the main thing, and keeping that the main thing.
It's a good thing, even for the people who don't have faith or are not religious at all. The same values still apply. Don't pour a s**** foundation, or it's going to fall apart.
It's applicable in all areas of life, specifically in relationships. Everything has to house all of it. If you don't have a firm foundation and you're rocky, it's going to crumble.
If you don't have a firm foundation in your relationship, it's going to crumble.
Don't build that house on a slope. There's a rebar in it. Come on. Let's go level that thing out. Let's get it going.
Even if that happens, rebuild. We are such an example of that. We did not build on a firm foundation in the beginning. Our intention was to do that, and we had the heart to do it. We didn't. We rebuilt, and that's okay. That's not something to be ashamed of. Even old houses, what do you have to do? You have to replace the light fixture sometimes, put tile in places, or rip up the carpet.
You don't want asbestos walls or lead paint.
Sometimes, that mold happens. You didn't mean to do it. It happens when something goes on in the climate. It's the same thing with relationships. Life happens. Things come in that you didn't expect. My parents didn't expect to have a six-year-old at this point in their 50s. They had to pivot, but they remodeled that section of their life. It's the same with where we are. We're new. That's okay. That's a beautiful thing. It's cool.
It's like, “Own a home.” When you own a house, it's constant. You're like, “I got to fix that.” We live in California. We wouldn't know. You are building upon those foundations, constantly improving yourselves and empowering each other to be the best humans.
You're never going to be finished. It can be a letdown when you reach a goal. It can be awesome, but what now?
It was like Ben Straw was saying. It's like, “All of your life experiences are like peaks and valleys. Once you summit Everest, what are you going to do next? What's your next peak? You still have to go down.”
After those peaks, you can get caught in the valley for a long time. We’re viewing it in our relationship. This is applicable to any walk of life. You're never going to be done. That's cool. You can always improve yourself. You can change who you are. You can go in a different direction. You're never going to be the same person.
I wouldn't want to be stagnant.
If you're in a job where you're not growing and there's no way to grow or opportunity, why are you in it? When boxing stops being a place of growth for me, I'll hang up the clubs. You're not going to have any purpose or joy in that.
It’s the same thing that would be said about fire.
I got out of fire. I went into the firearms industry. I went back into the prevention side of fire. It keeps reeling me back in. It won't take its hooks out of me.
That's going to be Chase. That helps me. Knowing how much he loves it is cool to see him step into his purpose. As his wife, that is such a beautiful thing for me. I go back to that all the time because I'm like, “You're sweet.” He'll be like, “I don't have to do this if I'm struggling. I can find something else.” I'm like, “I would never ask you to do that. If you decide on your own, I'll support you. No, you love it too much.” I'm not going to ask him not to do what he's created to do. I feel the same way about him.
If any congressional member out there is reading this, which I highly doubt, would you stop putting Band-Aids on this arterial wound? Get your head out of your ass and fix the problem. It’s as simple as that.
There are idiots like me that'll do the job no matter what for the low pay because we like it so much.
It's a hard sell. What concerns me the most about this is folks like you are few and far between. There are a lot of them out there now that aren't in for the paycheck. How do you attract new people? How do you continue that legacy?
There's the retention issue, but it's acquisition. How are you going to sell your crew to someone when they're getting all of these other opportunities that have way better benefits, pay, hours, and schedules?
I’m helping with the hiring. They start asking about the housing and the pay.
Don't ask about that.
You'll find out when you get here.
Come on to the crew, and you'll know.
Show out to Pete Dogic in Folsom.
They also have a nickname for him.
What's the one?
Charlemagne.
The last thing that we should have and, consequently, the first thing that should be a national headline is that there are homeless GWAT veterans living out their trucks working on crews like yours. That's insane to me. They not only served their country in combat but also came back to serve their country as civil servants. Feed the guy or girl, and put them in some housing or decent pay anything. It blows my mind.
When I tell people what some of the guys on the crew do to make it by, they're like, “What?”
You're a firefighter, and you're having to do that.
You’re choosing whether or not you're going to pay your power bill or your truck payment versus eating.
You're a forestry technician. You are a glorified landscaper.
That's a whole other can of worms. I don't want to get anybody in trouble. I could bitch about that on my soapbox all day. We're going to be rolling it up onto the end of the show here. I wanted to end it on a positive note there with your guys' stories and how you support each other. A lot of lessons could be learned from your guys' stories, especially for a lot of people out there who are struggling or thinking about making that commitment, getting married, or starting a new relationship. Even if you're dating, a lot of lessons could be learned.
I hope someone learned something.
I learned some things. This has been awesome.
It's a good opportunity to let other people know that they're not alone. That's the number one thing that comes from all the guests on the show.
Everybody is dealing with things in their own way. I could get on my soapbox. With what we deal with, there are many people that struggle. Knowing you're not alone and there are ways to cope and get help, specifically with relationships. It's doable. Is it easy? No, but it's worth it. That's the main thing.
It’s the pride thing. Remove your ego. It's like that scene from Pulp Fiction. Set the ego and pride aside and be real with each other. At the end of the show, I always like to give you guys the opportunity to give out shout-outs to homies, heroes, and mentors. Who do you got?
Anyone that I've worked with on the crew is a hero and mentor, even if they were subordinates. Being a squad leader now and learning from people below me is cool. I won't name names. They won't like it. Pride and Humility. You know how it is. They know how and who they are.
You're my top, but apart from you, I was talking to the lady that led me to Christ. Her name is Jackie. She poured into me and was a part of me accepting Christ, which is a huge, pivotal transition and transformational part of my life that gave me the sense of purpose that I have and has me where I am as a professional boxer. She's been impactful for me. I talk about my parents. They were impactful. They're still a huge part of my life.
Shout out to my sponsors. FASTer Way to Fat Loss is the nutrition program that I use. I also use them for strength and conditioning. If you have any questions about FASTer Way and you need help with weight loss, it's helped me struggle with an eating disorder. Shout out to Cryolab. They're my place of recovery. If you're in the El Dorado Hills foothills area in Northern California, give us a call or stop by. We got Cryotherapy and Normatec Compression. We've got everything to help you recover. Thank you for always supporting me. That about does it for me.
Where are we going to find you guys on Instagram?
It @Sammy_TheHeat.
I was going to try and do a Bruce Buffer impression, but I'm like, “No, I'm not doing that. I'll probably get sued.
He'll sue you. My Instagram is @C_Worth27.
His name is Chase now.
What was it previously?
It was Chester Whitt Ridge.
When is your next fight? When is it going to come up here?
It’s November 17th, 2024.
Hopefully, we can get some photos for you guys and push that stuff out there.
With the last fight, the venue got flooded, and it was a whole thing. This fight, the show is going to be bigger. The resources are better, and they have more. I hope that it'll be live-streamed. If not, there'll be a video. He's going to record it.
Good luck with your endeavors in Columbia here shortly. Good luck with the next season. Congratulations on the promotion. Chase and Sammy, thank you guys for being on the show.
Thank you.
Thanks for having us.
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Another episode of the show is in the books with my two good friends, Chase and Sammy Worthington. If you want to learn more about the Folsom Lake Veterans Crew in that shameless plug, go to Instagram and check out the Folsom Lake Veterans Crew. If you want to hit up Chase and get some more information about that crew, hit him up. Go hit up and follow Sammy. Her boxing career is on a meteoric rise.
She did a brief stint down in South America and came back. She is now the Woman's UBO Super Lightweight Champion of the World. Shout out to Sammy. Sammy, you've been throwing them hands and crushing it. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for both of you. It's an awesome story. I love when these two people come together. They're supportive of each other, and they are crushing it in life. Keep it up.
For all those who are out there reading this episode, I hope that everybody got something valuable out of it. I hope that they go back and read it again in case something is missed or you catch something new. Shout out to Chase and Sammy Worthington. You guys are awesome, and a way to crush it on the hidden Valley Hammer. It was a while ago, but I still had to take a little break, unfortunately. We had some issues with production and with the back end of producing these episodes, but that's for a later conversation. If you want to know more about it, hit me up in the DMs.
I hope you're ready for the upcoming 2024 wildfire season. I hope that you're in shape and stay insane out there. Thanks once again for tuning in. Special shout out to our sponsors. We got Mystery Ranch purveyors of the finest wildland fire packs in the game and a ton of other load-bearing essentials. If you want to find out more about the Mystery Ranch Backbone Series Scholarships, go over to www.MysteryRanch.com and check them out.
We got Hotshot Brewing, a kickass coffee for a kickass cause. A portion of the proceeds will always go back to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Go over to www.HotshotBrewing.com and find out more. Last but not least, we've got the AWE, AKA the American Wildfire Experience. Go over to www.Wildfire-Experience.org to find out more. Bethany, you have a kickass organization over there. Keep it up as the rest of you. You all know the drill. Stay safe and stay savage.
Important Links
Chase - Facebook
Sammy Worthington - Facebook
@Sammy_TheHeat - Instagram
@C_Worth27 - Instagram
Folsom Lake Veterans Crew - Instagram
About Sammy "The Heat" Worthington
Sammy "The Heat" Worthington is a professional boxer and the UBO women's Super Lightweight World Champion.
Chase Worthington is a wildland firefighter who currently serves on the Folsom Lake Veterans Crew as a Squad Leader, and a US Navy Veteran.
