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Frederick V. Longmire, an assistant state attorney for the First Judicial Circuit and member of The Florida Bar’s Student Education and Admission to the Bar Committee (SEABC), was a featured guest on criminal prosecutor and close friend, T.H. Williams’ Off the Record interview series podcast.
The intent of the podcast is for the host, a criminal prosecutor, to discuss everything except criminal prosecution. In this hour-long episode, Williams and Longmire discuss personal drive and the importance of setting and achieving personal goals.
Frederick credits much of his personal drive to his humble beginnings. Growing up, he shared a three-bedroom home with his eight siblings, using the garage as a bedroom for himself and his brothers. He recalls his mother creating an expectation in the household that if you wanted different for your future, then an education was the way to achieve it.
“The peer pressure of having siblings and growing up how we grew up, that is what propelled us to be driven and recognize that we wanted more,” says Frederick. “It only takes one person to change the trajectory of one’s life,” states Frederick, and for him it was his mother. He uses the same regimented structure that she instilled in him and his siblings today through his daily routines and goal setting.
His drive and success did not come without letdowns and setbacks. On the podcast he describes the greatest letdown of his life being when he was told he would not be able to commission into the army in college due to a degenerative eye condition. “It’s OK to have those setbacks, to feel letdown, to let yourself have that moment and not pretend that you are not affected by it,” says Frederick. Having to completely change the course of his life, he decided to pursue a degree in criminal justice and later would graduate from Stetson University College of Law.
Mentoring also played an integral role in Frederick’s life, sharing that his two most influential professional role models and mentors are Judges Ross and Marci Goodman. Seeking their advice and exploring the pros and cons before making certain decisions in his professional career is a process, he is accustomed to. Frederick believes that it is important for everyone to experience a mentoring relationship from both the mentor and mentee perspective.
Wrapping up the podcast episode, the two discussed their New Year’s resolutions and the importance of being intentional and prioritizing the goals that you want to achieve. “You have to be very purposeful with what you are doing with your time,” says Frederick. It is important to make your goals objective and measurable, so that you can determine success, and if you do not accomplish the goal you must take the time to reflect as to why. Both Williams and Longmire enjoy taking part in friendly, competitive banter to hold one another accountable in their fitness goals.