Behind The Shield

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.

Buck Brannaman is a a world renowned horseman, author and subject of the documentary "Buck". We discuss his traumatic childhood, the healing power of kindness, mentoring, equine therapy, prisons and much more.For over 30 years, Buck Brannaman has been working with horses and their owners and today is one of the world’s leading practitioners of handling horses based on classical concepts from the California vaquero tradition; working with the horse's nature, using an understanding of how horses think and communicate to train the horse to accept humans and work confidently and responsively with them. One of his stated goals is to make the animal feel safe and secure around humans so that the horse and rider can achieve a true union. Buck travels most of the year doing horsemanship clinics in the United States, Europe and Australia & New Zealand. When not on the road, he lives with his wife Mary and their horses in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Ted Stern is a former law enforcement officer, coach and the co-founder of Fit Responder. We discuss his early life, his journey into policing, training the tactical athlete, fitness standards, his own weight loss story, creating a more resilient workforce, building a business and much more.

Ryan Allen is a veteran firefighter, international rope rescue competitor and member of the Orange County climb team.We discuss his journey into the fire service, California vs Florida training, the recruitment crisis, his path into special operations, some notable water rescues, firefighter fitness, knowledge sharing with international agencies, the nuances of the Orlando Wheel training, The Central Florida Rope Rescue Challenge and much more.

Joel Salatin, 64, calls himself a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer. Others who like him call him the most famous farmer in the world, the high priest of the pasture, and the most eclectic thinker from Virginia since Thomas Jefferson. Those who don’t like him call him a bio-terrorist, Typhoid Mary, charlatan, and starvation advocate.We discuss the devolution of faming, the carcinogens in our food, repairing our farm land through regenerative farming, the obesity and cancer crisis, plant medicine and so much more.

Exploring trauma medicine in Chicago and Gaza, the podcast delves into the impact of poverty in America, the immense civilian death toll in Gaza, and the humanitarian aid mission in Gaza. The discussion also covers the Palestinian American experience, socio-economic challenges in Chicago, and holistic approaches to addiction recovery.