Ex-radio host says "making a difference" is best part of becoming firefighter
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“If you’re not changing — you’re choosing.”
That’s what Jonny Staub wants people to take away from his career pivot, which took him from popular radio host to firefighter — an unexpected move to those who know him on and off the air.
Staub is, of course, a familiar name to many in Vancouver: he co-hosted 94.5 Virgin Radio’s (formerly The Beat’s) popular morning show, “Jonny, Holly & Nira” for a decade, alongside Nira Arora and Holly Conway.
Over his time at Bell Media, the London, Ontario, native grew to become an audience favourite — showcasing his personality in interviews with musicians like Ed Sheeran, going head-to-head with “Days of Our Lives” icon Alison Sweeney during a soap opera trivia game and, perhaps most impressively, travelling the world with Rihanna during her unforgettable ‘777 Tour’ — which also took a group of journalists to seven countries in seven days.
Broadcast industry experiencing a dramatic shift
While things couldn’t be more of a success for Jonny personally on-air, there was a change underway behind the scenes.
“For people that don’t know the media landscape, traditional media is in a tough spot,” Staub recalled to Daily Hive, referencing the drastic downsizing across the entire Canadian media industry in recent years.
“It became a really confusing time. I loved the industry when I got in and towards the end of my time I didn’t feel a sense of security or personal longevity. I felt downcast, like, ‘how did I get here?'”
At home, Jonny was also experiencing major changes. His dog became ill, and his marriage ended.
“Here I am, single, my dog died, it’s a pandemic, my job could end any given day… my life felt like the lyrics of a sad country song. Luckily I didn’t drink whiskey and kept my truck parked!”
The silver lining?
“Those pieces and a need for an overhaul got the ball rolling in both my personal and professional life,” he explained.
Outside of his career, the former radio host had a strong interest in philanthropic work — using his platform to advocate for mental health awareness as well as supporting animal rescue organizations. In his work with Thank Dog I Am Out, he helped hundreds of dogs in need find their new homes in British Columbia.
Jonny has had a lifelong passion for working with animals/Darcy Matheson
“I started to think, ‘what do I want to do?’ I value community work and connection,” Jonny explained. Like many in the workforce, he also desired flexibility — something that hosting a daily on-air show didn’t provide.
“I didn’t want prescribed hours for the rest of my life. The morning show had me up at 3:30 am, and I’d be home by 11 — but I was always on-air at the same time. I think a lot of people can agree that [flexibility] is the new way of working.”
Jonny quietly began to think about the next phase of his professional life. While plenty of media professionals find themselves in the communications, real estate, and political sectors, none excited the longtime host enough to pursue next steps.
“By all means, I could have done [any] and I had a slight interest — but I wanted stability and flexibility. Those were my top priority — I wanted to walk into a job where people weren’t getting terminated (for no fault of their own), and wondering, ‘am I going to be next?’ I couldn’t handle that anymore,” he said via video chat.
While Jonny personally knew some firefighters, he realized he didn’t know much about the profession until taking a hiking trip with some pals — one of whom had been working as one for several years.
“He was telling us about his job over the backpacking trip for two days. On the way down the mountain, that’s when it clicked… I started to research it and thought — ‘holy cow, this is what I’m gonna do,’” adding a dramatic, ‘I’m going to be a firefighter — WHAT?” to re-enact his feeling at the time.
While many young boys dream of driving a firetruck when they grow up, Jonny revealed that it wasn’t necessarily a childhood dream of his.
“I wanted to be the person with wicked handwriting who wrote the dialogue in comic books,” he laughed.
Jonny’s partner Jordan was the first to hear about the potential shift from radio host to firefighter over a dinner during the COVID-19 pandemic — and by the end of the meal, wheels were already in motion.
“He’s been my rock.”
Jonny and his partner Jordan/Jonny Staub
“It was July 23 and we were driving home from grabbing pizza on Commercial Drive,” Jonny recalled of the evening. Jordan was immediately supportive, prompting Jonny to enrol online for a fire academy in Texas on his iPhone. “I paid the $7,000 [for the course] right there,” he noted, explaining that six months of online schooling was required before going to do the 12-day in-person training across the border.
“First, I did NFPA 1001 and 1072 certification that allows you to say that you have gone through the bootcamp and training to become a firefighter,” Jonny explained of the process, adding he hit the books for the online component, completing the six-month program in just four. Once that was complete, he was free to enrol in the Texas bootcamp — but due to pandemic border closures, he ended up doing the training closer to home in Surrey by 2021.
Although Jonny had now completed both the online and bootcamp training, he still had to obtain a Class 3 BC Drivers Licence — which he found difficult to get — as well as a First Responder license and, ultimately, his BCEHS Emergency Medical Responder license.
“I hit a few bumps along the way. You should’ve seen me learning about leaf springs and air brakes, how to ventilate a patient and decide what rapid interventions they needed. It required so much focus and determination. There were days when I wanted to give up and go back to what I was already ‘good’ at. It was my ‘humble stumble,’ while I wasn’t successful every time, failure is just life offering you another opportunity to learn. I would drive back out to Surrey, Aldergrove, Vancouver, the Island… whatever it took. Deep down, I knew I could do this. And if I needed to retest, I’d tell my inner saboteur to take a hike and try again,” the Squamish resident confesses.
Impressively, Jonny was still accomplishing parts of this while still hosting his show. By early 2022, however, he let his bosses at Virgin Radio know that he was ready to move on — and his agreed-upon last day was February 17, 2022.
Friends had reservations about career shift
“A lot of people gave me that smile or a grin like ‘Ohhh! Okay!’ — the hesitant ‘okay,’” Jonny remembered, noting that he didn’t think anyone looked at him and thought the idea was necessarily “so smart.”
“No one had any [serious reservations] because I’ve always been really resourceful and successful in anything I’ve put my mind to from a work standpoint. Although my Dad thought I was crazy for leaving a lucrative broadcasting contract for firefighting. I reminded him that he said the same thing when I was 17 going into radio,” he chuckled.
With a year’s worth of savings, Jonny gave himself a significant amount of time to go to interviews and find a job in his new industry. He was hired as a Paid on-Call Firefighter with Squamish Fire Rescue. However, five weeks into training and exactly a year to the date of his final on-air show with Virgin Radio, a full-time offer came from the Surrey Fire Service on February 17, 2023.
Jonny Staub on duty for the Surrey Fire Service/Jonny Staub
As a gay man at the age of his hiring — 43 — Jonny became both the first openly queer male hire with Surrey Fire Services and also the second-oldest person to join his department.
“There were a lot of areas where I could have felt really out of place, not just because of who I am dating but my age. However, that’s also on me to find inner strength and focus on what is important. So far, I have worked with amazing men and women who have treated me like a part of the team. I’m still earning my stripes, but I haven’t felt an awkward hesitation or stigma,” Jonny noted.
May 13th, 2024, officially marks Jonny’s completion as a probationary firefighter. “Your first year on the job is REAL and some departments let people go within that year… you might not move forward. It’s a lot of pressure,” he explains. “There are long days — I’m a rookie and it’s hard. Physically, and more so mentally,” he adds. “But the level that I started with compared to now, it’s amazing how much you learn and grow.”
In Surrey, Jonny and his team now work on an intense 24-hour shift schedule — meaning that they are on call for an entire day. ”You go to work for 24 hours, off for 24, back for another 24, and then you get five days off.” Firefighters don’t just deal with fire calls, either: there are car crashes, medical calls and many other scenarios, meaning Jonny and his team have to wear plenty of different hats day to day.
One aspect of the job he’s already enjoying, however, is the flexibility. “You can do so many things with your schedule — you can travel, or short notice ask a coworker to swap a shift with you for whatever the event — and pay them back at a later date. It’s awesome. You can have a lot of variety. I love this schedule, you can have a life and security.”
Big risk, bigger reward
For Jonny, the most rewarding aspect of the job, however, has been the team and the involvement with the local community. “The best part of my job is working with the public and doing something for somebody on a potentially really bad day for them — and knowing we potentially made a difference, especially when you leave a scene better than what you arrived to.”
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