Retired state trooper David Hughes shares the heartbreaking story of losing his son to medical errors, advocating for training enhancements in emergency services. The podcast explores the emotional toll of PTSD on soldiers post-service and highlights the importance of parental presence in comforting children during medical procedures. It delves into challenges in critical care transport, medical misinformation, and embracing accountability in the face of tragedy.

A Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu and Special Forces veteran shares his journey from military upbringing to founding a charity. Explore his global experiences, addiction treatment advocacy, transformative power of Jiu Jitsu, and reflections on military impact. Engage in discussions on global issues, Gaza conflict, and support for veterans transitioning out of service.

Eric Tung is is a 16 year Law Enforcement officer and the man behind Blue Grit Wellness.We discuss his family's immigration story, his journey into policing, the emotional cost of officer involved shootings, the power of humility, social media, mentorship, schood safety and so much more. Eric Tung has been a police officer in Washington state for 16 years.  He currently serves as a patrol operations commander in Kent, WA.  He also oversees peer support and wellness programs at his department and collaborates regionally with other police wellness leaders.His experiences and those of his teammates, colleagues and best friends have shaped his focus and desire to guide and mentor in forms that support mental and physical health and resilience.  As an officer, he worked in Patrol, as a Field Trainer, K9 Officer and in the Civil Disturbance Unit (riot response).  After promoting to sergeant, he supervised various patrol squads and was a team leader and trainer in the Civil Disturbance Unit.After working briefly as the supervisor in neighborhood response (community education/chronic problem solving), he undertook the challenge of Recruiting and Hiring for his police department.  With a department of 166 sworn having seen recent vacancies hovering around 25%, he knew it was where he could make the most significant impact for his team's culture, morale, and critical value to the community.Eric has been a long-time member of his department's Peer Support Team, but became the team coordinator following his promotion and loss of his friend and colleague, Diego Moreno. As the coordinator of peer support efforts, Eric is also one of the department's certified Critical Incident Stress Debrief facilitators.  He runs such CISDs for his department as well as other area agencies for such incidents as traumatic calls, officer-involved shootings, and line of duty deaths.  As a fitness trainer for his agency, Eric programs and leads group and individual workouts and coaching.   As a Certified Functional Strength Coach via CFSC, Mike Boyle's system, he delivers practical exercise and fitness content that promotes performance and longevity.In his current role, in addition to the oversight of day-to-day operations, his focus is on building a culture of mentorship and wellness through innovative thinking, intentional effort, modeling, and unparalleled relationship-building. ​Eric became a police officer to help others and challenge himself.  He has been able to continue to grow in his various roles and looks to use Blue Grit to connect with, coach, and mentor not only police officers and first responders, but those looking to enter the career field, and agencies looking to expand and develop in the realms of health, wellness, culture-building, recruitment, and retention.

Pasi Sahlberg is a Finnish author, educator and speaker. He has spent his entire life around education, living in both the US and Australia. We discuss his early life, the Finnish education model, standardised testing, supporting schools in low income areas, the importance of play, mental health in children and much more.Pasi Sahlberg is Finnish educator, teacher, and author. He has worked as a schoolteacher, teacher-educator, academic, and policymaker in Finland, and he has advised schools and education system leaders around the world. He served as a senior education specialist at the World Bank (Washington, DC), lead education specialist at the European Training Foundation (Torino, Italy), director general at the Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture (CIMO), and visiting professor of Practice at Harvard University. He is a recipient of several awards for his lifelong service in education, including the 2012 Education Award (Finland), the 2014 Robert Owen Award (Scotland), the 2016 Lego Prize (Denmark), Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Resident Fellowship in 2017, and Dr Paul Brock Memorial Medal in 2021. In 2013 his book “Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland” won the Grawemeyer Award (U.S.) for an idea that has potential to change the world. His most recent books include "Let the Children Play: How more play will save our schools and help children thrive" (2019, with William Doyle), "Finnish Lessons 3.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland” (2021), and "In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish way to world-class schools" (2021, with Tim Walker). He is currently Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Pasi lives in South Melbourne with his wife and two sons.

Brian Hillard is a 25 year veteran special effects artist and CEO of Metasphere industries.We discuss his early life, his journey into movie make up, zombie auditions, moulage and training, veteran and first responder mental health, using his special effects skillset as therapy for trauma and so much more.

A former trauma survivor turned police officer shares his journey of resilience, from surviving a hostage situation to uncovering family secrets. He also discusses the impacts of drug prohibition, navigating health perspectives, and healing from trauma through counseling and self-care.

Mickey Farrell is a Lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department, a third-generation firefighter with 29 years of experience, the last 23 years being with the FDNY. Also a team instructor at the New York City Fire Academy, founder and author of Top Floor Tactics, and host of A View From the Top Floor Podcast.We discuss his journey into the fire service, his powerful 9/11 story, truck company operations, his thoughts on primary search, lithium ion battery fire, firefighter fitness, cancer and much more.

Eric Potterat, Ph.D. is a Clinical, Performance and Sport Psychologist who is considered one of the leading experts in high performance psychology, performance optimization, decision-making and teamwork under pressure, mental skills training, and individual and organizational resilience. He retired as a Commander in the Navy after 20 years of service, the last 10 of which he served as the Head Psychologist for the US Navy SEALs and was responsible for all the psychological Assessment, Selection, Development, Maintenance and Enhancement programs for all Navy SEALs worldwide.He also worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers as their Director of Specialized Performance Programs for 7 years, where he managed the mental performance optimization programs, the pre-draft talent acquisition and scouting character assessments, player mental performance profiles/development, etc. His experience in sport is wide ranging. He was also with Red Bull North America for 6 years as their High Performance Psychologist, where he developed and managed the mental performance and mental skills optimization programs for over 850 Red Bull athletes worldwide.He has been the performance psychologist on teams that have won the MLB World Series and the FIFA World Cup. For the last 25 years, he has focused his research and practice on teachable and actionable mental performance techniques, stress resilience, character development, selection, neuropsychology, decision-making under stress, mental toughness training, and elite human performance in extreme environments. He is also credited for developing and implementing the Mental Toughness Training Program for the U.S. Navy SEALs and embedding it into their training pipeline, as well as creating the Performance Psychology program for Red Bull High Performance athletes.He has 30 peer-reviewed, professional journal and/or chapter publications, has been featured on national media (History Channel, MSNBC, national magazines, etc.), and has served as a consultant and speaker on human factors, assessment and selection, performance optimization and mental toughness to many organizations including, NASA, Fortune 500 Companies and Executives, the U.S. Olympic Training Center, many law enforcement and government agencies, and numerous professional (NFL, MLB, NBA, etc.) and collegiate sports teams.https://learnedexcellence.com/

1SG (Ret) Matt Eversmann was one of the Army Rangers portrayed in the movie "Black Hawk Down", chronicling the courageous actions of Task Force Ranger, during the Battle of Mogadishu. We discuss the importance of training, setting the bar high, complacency, ownership and much more.First Sergeant (ret) Matt Eversmann personifies the importance of duty, courage and selfless service to succeed when ordinary circumstances become extraordinary challenges.On October 3, 1993, Matt was placed in charge of a group of Army Rangers to lead a daytime raid against an eager enemy militia. His inspiring story of survival was immortalized in the epic film, Black Hawk Down, which recounts the harrowing experience. For his actions on the battlefield he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device.During his remaining time in uniform, he worked at the Army War College, taught at The Johns Hopkins University and finally deployed to Iraq where he lived with the Iraqi Army for 15 months during The Surge. He remained on active duty until May of 2008, when he retired after 20 years of service.His frustration with the typical hiring process for veterans fueled his desire to help others avoid the “veterans predicament” —great servicemen and women overlooked because of the status quo. He and his wife Tori founded Eversmann Advisory in early 2018. Their mission is to connect great veterans with exceptional employers who realize their value.Represented by Keppler Speakers, he is also a published author, The Battle of Mogadishu, and documentarian. His film “Send Me” is in post production. He and Tori live in West Palm Beach, Florida with their daughter and two black labs. Matt is a big fan of his Big Green Egg, travel and is an aspiring surfer.

Mike Jolly is a former College Football player, actor, stuntman, coach and the inventor of "The Iron Neck".We discuss his athletic journey, concussion and youth athletes, neck strength and brain health, acting, professional wrestling, firefighter helmets, aviation, traumatic brain injuries and much more.