Behind The Shield

Carly Wopat is a professional volleyball player, firefighter and one of the fittest women on earth. We discuss her early life, her journey into elite sports, losing her twin sister at 19, navigating grief, strength and condtioning for the tactical athlete, her path into the fire service, the negative impact of sleep deprivation on performance, the GORUCK Games and so much more.

Ben Marciano is the owner of Zone Health and Fitness and the new Mayor of Ocala, FL. We discuss the impact of childhood trauma, his dream to enter law enforcement, his powerful addiction story, rehabilitation through fitness, his work in the YMCA, putting holisitic wellness into gyms, the obesity epidemic, mental health and leadership and much more.

Ben Davis is a Navy SEAL veteran and the Chief Executive of "Veterans Outreach Advocacy Group. We discuss finding adventure sports in his youth, his journey into the military, his perspective on war, his transition story, refinding his love for the outdoors, the genesis of VOAG, the power of community and much more.

Amy Loughlen is a veteran trauma nurse and hypnotherapist who was portrayed in the the Netflix film "A Good Nurse". She had formed a friendship will a fellow nurse Charles Cullen, who unbeknownst to her, would become America's most deadly serial killer. We discuss Amy's early life, her journey into Nursing, the power of healing, her discovery of Cullen's murders, organisational betrayal, the powerful story of how she helped gain his confession, navigating her own mental health, her path into hypnotherapy and so much more.

Bill Mazur and Joe Collins are former law enforcement Chiefs and current members of the Acadia Healthcare team. We discuss their journeys into policing, the challenges facing modern day police officers, leadership, mental health, addiction, their own mental health stories, finding culturally competent clinicians and so much more.

Brooke Bartlett is a Licenced Clinical Psychologist and the founder of the Center for Trauma, Anxiety and Stress. She is als contracted by the Bureau of Land Management as a trauma specialist. In this second conversation we discuss the mental health impact of wildfires, psychotherapy and psychedelics, unpacking Moral Injury, the physiology of anxiety and depression, organisational stress, NuCalm and so much more.

Cole Lyle is a Marine, member of the Mission Roll Call team and the founder of Kaya's K9s. We discuss his journey into the military, his perspective on war, Cole's own powerful mental health story, the healing power of service dogs, advocating for veteran access to the spectrum of mental health tools Washington and so much more.

Nick Ricciotti is a former Law Enforcement Officer and a member of Reps for Responders. We discuss his journey into policing, his perpsective on corrections, his powerful mental health story, addiction, losing his dream career, post traumatic growth, catharsis through fitness and so much more.

Jeremy Donch is a firefighter, entrepreneur and the man behind National Fire Radio. We discuss his firefighting family legacy, tradition, volunteerism, igniting a burning desire to serve, the work life balance struggle, fire service innovation, the power of podcasting and much more.

Ernie Colling is an Army Infantry veteran and founder of the wellness company Transcend. We discuss his early life, his journey into the military, multiple near death experiences, contracting, entrepreneurship, the factors that cause homone imbalance, testosterone replacement therapy, blood work, mental health, The Transcend Foundation, 7x and much more.

Shane Trotter is an Educator, Strength and Conditioning Coach and the author of "Setting the Bar". We discuss Shane's journey into teaching, coaching the youth athlete, the obesity epidemic, physical education in our schools, the impact of social media on our children, creating an environment for them to thrive and so much more.

Jim Poole is Chairman, President and CEO of Solace Lifesciences, Inc., maker of NuCalm® which is a neuroscience technology designed to relieve stress and improve sleep quality without drugs. We discuss growing up in a family of mental health professionals, his journey into neuroscience, homelessness, the neurobiology of mental illness, the science behind NuCalm, how it's used by NASA, Special Operators and Monks, the smartphone technology that has finally made it available to the general public and so much more. Take the time to listen to this episode. I promise you won't be disappointed. And then try NuCalm and begin your own healing journey. https://www.nucalm.com/

Sandy wall is a retired law enforcemet officer, SWAT legend and the author of "The Long Road Home". We discuss his early life, his journey into law enforcement, the war on drugs, the evolution of SWAT, the importance of K9s, school safety, the mental health crisis, catharsis through writing and so much more.

Brandon Evans is a Canadian firefighter and the man behind "Fire to Light". We discuss the journey to India that led him to studying mindfulness under the Dalai Lama, his journey into the fire service, his own powerful mental health story, the power of compassion, meditation, living in Costa Rica, education and much more.

Ken Rideout is a former prison guard, investor and elite endurance athlete. We discuss growing up in Boston, his road into corrections, entering finance, overcoming his opiate addiction, finding running, the genesis of his athletic success, the power of the growth mindset, leadership, discipline, his podcast with Teddy Atlas and so much more.

Dave Sanders joined the police in 2001. He retired in January 2023 having spent his career in London in a variety of posts from foot patrol to public order units, serving the last ten years on Armed Response Vehicles as a team sergeant, operational firearms commander and firearms tactical advisor. In this second conversation, we discuss his personal experience of the Pandemic, fitness in law enforcement, the knife crime epidemic, firearms and the UK, domestic terrorism and so much more.

John Spera and Corey Sutton are both Colorado firefighters and the men behind Respond Wellness. We discuss Corey's journey into professional football, traumatic brain injury, his road into the fire service, sleep deprivation, the tactical athlete, shift work, the healing power of CBD, the genesis of their company and so much more.

Javeno McClean is a former professional cricket player, champion powerlifter and the man behind the J7 Health Centre. We discuss his early life in England, playing cricket in India, his journey into coaching, training the adaptive community, the importance of physical touch, some of the incredible athletes he's coached, seeing humanity in everyone and so much more.

Derek Woodske is a former world champion hammer thrower, revered strength and conditioning coach, and law enforcement officer. We discuss his early life in rural Canada, his journey into athletics, performance vs wellness in young athletes, overcoming injury, studying under Charles Poliquin, the power of sleep, his path into law enforcement, supplementation and so much more.

Alex Jabr is a Paramedic, EMS Coordinator and the woman behind Emergency Resilience. In this second conversation we discuss the impact of loss of life during the pandemic, her PhD on Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy in the Fire Service, Ketamine myths, the successes Ketamine has had in PTSD, her own experience with this therapy and so much more.