“First Responding is life magnified. We care for people in the most extraordinary and sometimes tragic moments of their lives. High purpose, tragedy, joy, and the deep and profound relationships that come with doing important work together are experiences that first responders have weekly and sometimes daily. It is transformative; it changes how you see life, work, and love.”
Hersch Wilson is a thirty-year veteran volunteer Firefighter-EMT with the Hondo Fire Department in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. He is also a story-teller, committed to explaining how First Responding can change how we see and experience our own lives. In his “real job” he is a writer, speaker, and consultant. In the past twenty-five years, Hersch has worked extensively with leadership teams from a variety of organizations including Kodak, IBM Japan, Altria, The United States Postal Service, the CIA, Kraft Foods and Baxter Healthcare to name a few. He has co-written three national business best sellers with Larry Wilson, including the awarding winning, “Playing to Win!: Choosing Growth Over Fear in Work and in Life.”
His latest project, based on thirty years as a volunteer firefighter, is helping individuals and organizations see the world as firefighters do and learn how to thrive through traumatic and stressful times.
Hersch attended Colorado College and graduated with a BA in English from the University of Minnesota. Prior to becoming a writer and consultant, Hersch was a dancer and actor. He performed in Canada, Switzerland, and the United States. He has also worked as a flight instructor and commercial pilot.
Finally, he is obsessed with dogs. The Wilsons’ currently have two large Bernese Mountain Dogs, Nellie and Tank, and one rescue terrier-chihuahua named Maisie. He writes a monthly column on dogs for The Santa Fe New Mexican.
He and his wife Laurie have two daughters, Brynne and Sullivan.