D50 After Dark Podcast
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HIGHLIGHTS
(1:50) Denise Castile joined Toastmasters in January 2019 and has quickly risen to Program Quality Director.
(3:40) Nine years ago, Denise survived a Widowmaker heart attack while on a business trip in Michigan.
4:49) This experience inspired her to start a business focused on teaching lifesaving skills.
(6:16) Her CPR training business now has contracts with major organizations including the Department of Defense.
(7:27) She describes a heart attack feeling “like an elephant sitting on your chest” and recalls being alone and scared during the experience.
(9:09) Memorable moment when ICU nurses comforted her, saying, “we’ll be your family” when she was crying about being alone.
(16:05) Denise urges everyone to learn CPR, whether through her company at anydaycpr.com or another provider.
SUMMARY
This episode of D50 After Dark features an interview with Denise Castile, the Program Quality Director for District 50 Toastmasters. While the conversation touches on her Toastmasters journey, which began in 2019, the heart of the interview focuses on her powerful personal story and subsequent mission. Nine years ago, Denise survived a Widowmaker heart attack—a typically fatal cardiac event—while on a business trip in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Thanks to the quick action of a colleague named Marie, she survived this harrowing experience, during which she was alone and scared except for the compassionate care of medical staff.
This near-death experience transformed her life’s purpose. About two and a half years after her heart attack, she founded a CPR training business, positioning herself as the “chief lifesaving officer.” What started as a side hustle has grown into a successful enterprise that trains approximately 3,000 people annually and holds contracts with major organizations including the Department of Defense, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and Maxwell Air Force Base.
Through her company, anydaycpr.com, Denise advocates for universal CPR training, emphasizing that these skills are crucial for everyone, not just medical professionals or those in specific occupations. Her personal brush with mortality has become a powerful force for positive change, enabling others to save lives through proper CPR training.
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