Matt Wheat: From Lawyer to Firefighter

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Episode 028 of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah talks with Matt Wheat, a single dad who left the law to become a firefighter. Matt spent most of his legal career in various public interest law jobs. While he was still practicing law, Matt started serving as a volunteer firefighter, fell in love with firefighting, and ultimately left legal practice to make it his full-time career.</span></p> <p><strong>In this conversation, Matt shares about:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Being “consumed” by injustice growing up, which led him to law school;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The impact that the recession in the aughts had on his rural legal job market;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Becoming somewhat disenchanted with the legal system as a result of his public interest work;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Feeling like something was missing from his life, which led him to become a volunteer firefighter;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Falling in love with firefighting, and what he loves most about it;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Dealing with his parents’ reaction to his decision to leave the law after they supported him to get there;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The misconceptions non-lawyers have about lawyers’ finances;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why it was worth it to take a paycut to leave, even though he’s a single parent;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why he thinks you should only go to law school if you’re motivated by more than just money;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">and much more! </span></li> </ul> <p><strong>Show Notes:</stro