Series: Speak Your Truth – A Gold Line Truths podcast by Samantha Hawkins

This is part of a series created by Samantha Hawkins, CMCP.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article and series are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities she represents.

Podcast Episode: Do the Thing Anyway
🎙️ Hosted by Samantha Hawkins | Creator of the Gold Line Truths Blog
🔊 Listen Now | 🎧 Available on [Spotify] and [YouTube]

Public safety professionals face daily challenges—but what about the internal ones? In this episode of Exacom’s Speak Your Truth podcast, public safety trainer and blog author Samantha Hawkins invites 911 professionals to push past imposter syndrome and “do the thing” anyway.

Whether you’re a dispatcher, telecommunicator, or director, this 20-minute podcast is your reminder that you are enough—and your story matters.

Key Takeaways:

  • ✅ How self-doubt holds 911 professionals back—and how to fight it

  • ✅ Why your experience matters, no matter how long you’ve been in the seat

  • ✅ How communities like #IAM911 and #911WonderWomen were built by bold ideas

  • ✅ What to do if you’re afraid to speak, present, or get involved

Be bold. Start now. Do the thing anyway.
🔗 [Subscribe to the Podcast] | 📥 [Join the Gold Line Truths Email List]

Listen Now:

📱 Available on:

  • [Spotify]:

  • [YouTube]

Well, hello, my name is Samantha Hawkins.

I’m the creator of the Gold Line Truth Blog series available

on the Online Learning center@excom.com.

I’m also the host of the Speak Your Truth podcast in

partnership with excom.

And today we’re doing something a little bit differently.

I usually, I’d be joined by a friend of mine,

some incredible subject matter expert in the industry,

a leader in the industry.

But this month, I’m just speaking

to you directly from my heart for this episode here.

Now, if you read the blog for this month, it’s called

Do The Thing Anyway.

And if you haven’t read that blog yet, really, why not?

If you haven’t subscribed

to the Gold Lion Truths blog either, make sure you do that

and do check out the blog for this month.

Like I said, it’s called Do The Thing Anyway,

and it talks about a response

that usually comes up in my head as many times

as I have had the opportunity, the privilege of being able

to teach at, uh, academies, workshops, conferences.

And I’ll have someone afterwards that will come to me

and they’ll say, Sam, man, you do so much.

I wish I could do that. I wish I could.

I could be a part of a committee.

I wish I could get on a stage and, and teach a class.

I wish I could have the confidence to do this.

I wish I could finally get started.

I’ve been wanting to do a podcast. I wish I could do this.

And I, sometimes I have, I have literally said to them,

look, let me tell you, I’m not up here doing this thing

because I’m just that special.

I’m not up here doing the thing because of any connections

or because all the right things fell in place for me.

I was just someone who did the thing, stepped out

of my comfort zone, did something

that I had never done before.

And guess what? Don’t always get accepted.

It’s not always a yes,

but every time that I reach out, I step out

and I do the thing.

No matter how scary it is, no matter how brave

or bold I have to be to do it in the first place.

Every time that I step out of my comfort zone

and it pays off in a big way, tells me, Hey,

it was worth it, and I’m probably gonna do the thing

again next time around.

How often do we let our own self doubt

stop us from doing the things, taking the chances,

submitting for that call, for papers, for a conference

that we want to do.

We want to have the audacity to do it,

but sometimes it seems like self-doubt is a nine

to five job all in its own.

We doubt ourselves. We second guess ourselves.

We compare ourselves to others.

We say, well, I couldn’t, I can’t possibly do it

because this person’s doing it.

But, but look at them. They’ve been doing it.

Uh, they’ve done it a half dozen times, a dozen times,

forgetting the fact that everyone started somewhere.

Everyone started somewhere.

Don’t despise the small beginnings.

Truly, you have to start somewhere.

I would encourage you to start right where you are.

Start with what you know. Start with what you can do.

You may not make it yet on the national stage

of a conference, but if your state chapter,

they put out a call for papers.

If you see that regional conference

and they put out a call for papers,

I dare you to do the thing.

Consider the fact that many people in this industry dared

to do something big, to do something great, and we can look

and we can marvel and we can say, oh,

man, it paid off for them.

In a big way. You realize that a community as strong

as nine one Wonder Woman, nine one Wonder Woman, created

by my friend Sarah Weston.

It all started with her

and her friend doing the thing, doing something

that no one had ever done before.

Having the audacity to step out of their comfort zone

and to dare to envision a community

where people in this 9 1 1 industry could realize that, Hey,

this person in Montana

and this person in Georgia, you’re in the same boat.

You might be going through the same issues.

You might be having the same challenges. You are not alone.

And the way was paved

because of bold decisions, brave decisions made

that we have The nine one Wonder Woman Community.

You think about my friend Ricardo Martinez, who dared

to be great and dared to start a movement.

I am 9 1 1. Now.

We all recognize it for what it is in the movement

that it is today, how strong it is, not just in our country,

but uh, across the border.

Whether it’s I am 9, 9, 9, I am 0, 0 0,

how strong that movement has pervaded

and continues to this day.

But it all started with him stepping out of his comfort zone

and doing something big, bold, audacious,

and it paid off self-doubt.

We can let it win all day long, and we can wonder

and only imagine what we might have accomplished,

where our lives could be the journeys,

the professional journeys that our lives could have taken

had we dared to do the thing.

We can sit back and we can imagine and daydream

and wonder all day long, all month long,

all year long, we could decide to do the thing.

Now, sometimes you might step out

and like I said, not everything is going to be a yes.

Not everything is going to pay off.

You may submit for a, a call for papers, for a conference,

and it may not be an acceptance the first time around.

Guess what? There’s a lot of conferences out there,

and there’s a lot of reasons why sometimes a really great

session might not get accepted.

Doesn’t mean end of the world,

doesn’t mean you don’t have a story because you do.

You have a story, you have insights.

You have something to share

and think about the individuals that are just waiting

to be impacted by your life,

by your story, by your insights.

But it’s not gonna happen until you decide

to do the thing, do the thing.

Anyway, I’ve been blessed to be the chair

of the editorial committee, but

before I was even the chair of

that committee, I was a member.

And again, being a part of that committee, I I,

I recently met someone the other other day

after a conference and he said, man,

I didn’t even know Apco had committees.

I didn’t even know there was such a thing

as work groups like Nina has as well.

There is. And he looked at me

and he said, how did you get in that?

I said, brother, nothing special.

I signed up, I signed up one day

and I’ve been a part of an incredible committee

three years now, going on a fourth.

Do the thing.

Don’t overthink why you shouldn’t do it.

Don’t overthink why you don’t belong at

that table in that community,

why you don’t deserve to do the thing.

Don’t overthink that.

Instead, think about, think about what you could accomplish

when you overcome the self-doubt

and you decide to take the chance to apply

for that scholarship that you keep, you keep seeing,

you keep seeing that scholarship.

It could be a continuing education scholarship

to go to a conference.

It could be a scholarship to get that CMCP

to get RPL to get cp.

It could be that workshop.

It could be that conference that you said, you know, I,

I came here all about this conference and,

and every year it, it happens in my state

and I just, I don’t know.

I I, that’s for other people. That’s for folks.

That’s for folks that are newer in this industry.

But that’s for folks that’s been here

longer in this industry.

When in truth, if you’ve been in this industry

for a year, for two weeks,

you have been in 9 1 1, thank you

for your service for the two weeks.

I get that you are still in training,

but it is never too early to begin

to think about your professional development

and where you want to go, that you don’t have to be like me.

And it wasn’t until five years in that I finally got bit

by the bug and realized training was the calling for me.

It could be sooner for you.

I know because I get to meet people all the time.

I met someone recently

and she said, Hey, Sam, I’ve actually,

I just got released out of training.

I just became solo and I already know I wanna be a trainer.

And so I’m seeking out all the training,

all the classes I can take to build towards that.

And on the flip side, I don’t care if you say, well,

I’ve already been in this industry for 15 years.

I’ve been sitting in the seat long enough.

That’s for the new folks. No, it’s never too late

to do big, bold things in your life and your career.

And it’s never too late to share the story

and the insights that you have.

So I challenge you, invest in yourself,

bet on yourself in a big, big way.

And that thing you’ve been thinking about, doing that class,

you’ve been thinking about building, presenting,

even if you present it just within your center, build it.

Do it. Step out. You might pay off in a big way.

Do the thing. Be bold. You are worth it.

You are worth it. Thank you, and you take care.

Exacom is a leading provider of multimedia logging and recording solutions for public safety, government, and other critical sectors. Committed to supporting the heroes behind the scenes, Exacom offers tools and resources to enhance communication, efficiency, and well-being in high-pressure environments.

Want more Gold Line Truths from Samantha Hawkins?

Watch Samantha’s FREE webinar “The Best Leaders are the Best Learners: Why learning doesn’t stop when you reach the top”

Created by Samantha Hawkins

The Learning Center is pleased to give Samantha a platform to share her experiences.

Samantha Hawkins, a certified PSAP Professional and Quality Assurance Evaluator, has been a key figure in public safety communications since 2015. She is highly experienced in training others, reflecting her commitment to sharing her expertise.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article and series are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities she represents.

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