Firefighters are typically portrayed as hulking heroes: hauling damsels in distress, braving fiery situations, and muscling their way through danger. It’s a profession still overwhelmingly coded as male and built around that image. However, one woman in Florida is challenging it head-on, without dulling a single edge of herself.
V’asiah Marie, a 27-year-old firefighter based in Tampa, is going viral online not just for excelling at her job, but for doing it with intention and style.
At first glance, her platform on TikTok reads like that of a chic lifestyle creator: clean, minimalist Get-Ready-With-Mes, softly lit moments with her husband, interior décor vignettes, and fashion and shopping hauls. But peppered through that carefully curated world are dispatches from one of the most physically demanding, male-dominated professions there is—her life as a firefighter.
“You guys always ask for more firefighting content, so I’m taking you on shift with me today,” she wrote in the caption of a recent post.
The video opens with her arriving at the station and scrounging up some breakfast, then unfolds into a montage: her gearing up at the station, climbing into a firetruck, racing out on calls, laughing with her fellow firefighters during brief lulls, cooking dinner for the firehouse, washing down their vehicles, and finally clocking out after a long, demanding day.
“This was on Christmas Day, so it was a little slower & not as hectic…and next vlog I’ll provide a little more context,” she added in the caption.
Her audience of over 100,000 is captivated. Comments like “I’d feel so safe with you” and “female firefighters are so badass” pour in with equal parts admiration and awe. Her rise also coincides with a growing trend among younger generations who are increasingly opting out of traditional corporate careers in favor of trades work and emergency services, documenting those paths on TikTok and social media in real-time.
Still, despite her growing platform and undeniable competence, V’asiah has been clear that doubt remains baked into the job—especially for women.
According to the organization championing women in the field, Women in Fire, women made up roughly 9% of firefighters nationwide in 2020, with the majority serving in volunteer roles. Of more than 22,000 fire chiefs employed in the U.S., only about 6% are women—numbers that underscore just how male-dominated the field remains.
“Everything that you imagine a 6-foot, 200-pound man can do, I can do,” V’asiah told People magazine in a recent interview. “They don’t minimize the requirements just because I’m a woman.”
That reality is exactly why she showcases both sides of her life — the soot, sweat, and strength of the job coexist with soft glam, femininity, and luxury — and she refuses to choose between them.
“That’s what I actually love about my account so much,” she said. “I just want to show women that we can do both. We’re sweating, we’re working, we’re training—but then I come home and I’m fully done up and I do all these girly things. Why limit yourself?”
