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.