INTERVIEW: MR. SEPTEMBER 2018, DANIEL LEONARDO

Hello Mr. September 2018! Who’s ready to fall head over heels for this one?! Meet Daniel of Platteville/Gilcrest Fire. He’s sultry, steamy and sexy.

Daniel has always wanted to work in a profession that made a positive impact in people’s lives, and firefighting piqued his interest when he saw stories about the fire service. When he was 28, he decided to try it out and from there he fell in love with it. He became a firefighter in 2010 as a volunteer and was fortunate enough to be hired for a career position in 2011. He was promoted to Engineer, his current rank, in 2013.  Prior to becoming a firefighter, he was the operations manager for his family’s dairy farm, where he was born and raised.

Daniel serves on a rural department in Platteville/Gilcrest, which is very different than an urban city department. It’s the greatest job in the world, I get to help people in times of need, interact with the public in a positive manner, and what other career do you get to break down a door or cut a car apart and not get in trouble for it,” Daniel said. His favorite part of his job are the times that he gets to see a kiddo light up and wave as they drive past in the big red fire truck.

Daniel’s favorite memory of being in the calendar was attending the Children’s Hospital Burn Center tour. They had just completed the tour and everyone was getting ready to have lunch with some staff members, when a little boy came running up to him with his arms extended to be picked up. He lifted him up into his arms and noticed that he was a burn survivor. He couldn’t have been more than 4-5 years old and Daniel immediately knew that he was in the right place. 

The question everyone wants to know is how does he stay in calendar shape? His program is a combination of 80% diet and 20% workouts. He eats a lean and clean diet that is filled with veggies, chicken, lean steak, turkey and fish, followed by complex carbs and no processed foods. In the gym, he starts his workout with a 5-10 min cardio warm up. That’s followed with a good weightlifting session that includes 3-4 exercises per muscle group that he is working that day, 3-6 sets of 10-15 reps. He also adds in weights with each set to continue to push himself each day. At least 4 times a week he focuses on his core that follows a similar routine as weights. He always finishes off with 20-40 mins of cardio, keeping his heart rate in the “fat burning” zone.

Who inspires Daniel? “I think the only person I would call a hero to me would be my father. He didn’t finish high school but that didn’t keep him from building a successful business and a highly respected reputation in the dairy industry. He taught me from an early age that a strong work ethic and solid core values are a base for great success in life.”

Why did Daniel try out for the 2018 calendar? “I had been to a Colorado Firefighter Calendar try-out event a few times before, in support of friends that were auditioning, I got to see what an amazing cause the calendar supports, and I wanted to get involved. However, at that time I was overweight and uneducated in a healthy lifestyle. So, I decided to get motivated and use the tryout for the 2018 calendar as my goal to push myself to get into shape. After a year of hard work and dedication, I lost 30 pounds and gained the confidence to get on that stage.”

In closing, we asked Daniel… What is one interesting fact about you that you’d like our fans and followers to know? “I am an avid fisherman and have been to Alaska twice to do just that. On one of my trips I was lucky enough to catch a 240 lb, over 6-foot-long Halibut.”

PAYPAL DONATION

COLORADO GIVES


Please help us continue to improve the lives of burn-injured children with a tax deductible donation. Net proceeds benefit the Children's Hospital Colorado Burn Center and Burn Camps Program.



AMAZON SMILE

Shop at Amazon Smile and Amazon will make a donation to Colorado Firefighter Calendar

 
SHOP NOW


SIGN UP FOR IGNITE, OUR MONTHY NEWSLETTER

 

 

THE COLORADO FIREFIGHTER CALENDAR IS A GROUP EFFORT, AND WITHOUT THE HELP AND SUPPORT OF HUNDREDS OF GREAT PEOPLE, IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE.