Behind The Shield

Chuck DiChiara has spent 35 years in Law Enforcement with a majority of his time in SWAT. We discuss his journey into policing, fitness standards in SWAT, defensive tactics, police grappling, compassion in Law Enforcement, use of force, school safety, mental health and much more.

Jason Friedman is a veteran firefighter/paramedic whose career spans from New York to Florida. We discuss his journey into the volunteer fire service, his road to paramedicine, some of his career calls, losing his parents, his powerful mental health story, the Shatterproof program, Ketamine therapy and so much more.

Dr João Goulão is Portugal's Director of Addiction Intervention and one of the men who spearheaded the decriminalization of all drug use. In this second conversation we discuss Portugal's pandemic experience, the mental health ripple effect, fighting smuggling, what happens when support and funding are cut, obesity, gender dysphoria and so much more.

Jason Kasper is a former Green Beret and USA Today bestselling author of the Spider Heist, American Mercenary, and Shadow Strike thriller series. In this second conversation we discuss the Afghanistan withdrawal, his fight to rescue his interpreter, the pandemic, the Mlitary Industrial Complex, catharsis through writing, his powerful mental health story, the healing power of psychedlics and so much more.

Courtney Starkey is a Hypnotherapist and the author of "Cornflower". We discuss her turbulent childhood, her pursuit of mental health tools, the journey into hypnotherapy, hypnosis myths, the spiritual realm, alternative realities, healing, high performance and so much more.

Rob Ramirez is a veteran South Florida firefighter, USAR TF2 team member and National Rescue Consultants instructor. We discuss his journey into the fire service, responding to special need patients, entering special operations, Hurricane Katrina, the Parkland attack, the Surfside collapse, Hurricane Ian, firefighter fitness, realism in training, mental health and so much more.

Noah Galloway is an Army Airborne Veteran, amputee, author and altruist. We discuss his father's amputation, Noah's journey into the military, the IED that took his arm and leg in Bagdhad, his powerful physical and mental rehabilitation journey, obstacle racing, his book "Living with no Excuses", his non-profit and so much more.

Al Kavadlo is a strength and conditioning coach, author and one of the leaders in calisthenics training. We discuss his journey into fitness, bodybuilding, his introduction to coaching, the incredible power of bodyweight training, the importance of mobility, training the aging athlete, music and much more.

Lee Jeffries is an accountant and photographer who work spans from the homeless poulation to Metallica. We discuss his journey into accounting, the importance of mentorship, the chance encounter with a homeless woman that began his photography journey, catching a person's soul through film, how he ended up working with one of our generation's greatest bands and so much more.

Steve Gillespie is a retired FDNY Special Operations Firefighter and the man behind "Surviving the Job". We discuss volunteer firefighting as a teen, his journey into the FDNY, training diligence in Special Operations, his harrowing 9/11 story, The "Black Sunday" fire, the Deutsch Bank fire, processesing multiple LODDs, his own mental health story and much more.