Behind The Shield

Jorge Carvajal is a veteran Performance Coach and Tactical Performance Consultant with more than 30 years of experience developing elite athletes and high-performance operators at the highest levels. His background includes training thousands of athletes at the University of Florida, University of Nebraska, and the U.S. Olympic Training Center, along with professionals from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL,...

Dr. Stacy Cecchet, Ph. D., ABPP, is a forensic and operational psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting law enforcement, tactical teams, investigative units, and other high-demand professionals. Her work focuses on behavioral analysis, investigative strategy, offender typologies, interview strategy, human performance under stress, and functional wellness in operational environments...

Nathanael “Nate” Block is a leadership and culture development coach, crisis de-escalation instructor, and public-sector leader committed to helping people and organizations operate with clarity, courage, and purpose. He is the owner of Stewardship Dynamics, where he teaches leadership, communication, and culture development to teams seeking to build healthier, more effective organizations. Nate a...

Dr Kelly Starrett is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, the author of the Supple Leopard books and the co-founder of The Ready State. We discuss the importance of hydration, the power of sleep, the aging athlete, overcoming injury, forging wellness in our schools and so much more. Kelly is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, 3x New York Times bestselling author, and the person behind the movement systems use...

Mitchell Brown is an Air Force Medic veteran, one of the orginal paramedics from Pittsburgh's Freedom House and retired Columbus City Councilman. We discuss how the loss of his mother sent him into medicine, physical and mental trauma in Vietnam, America's first paramedics, the origin of CPR, the opiod crisis, leadership and so much more.

Walt Dix is the IAFF 12th District Vice President and 38 year veteran of the fire service. We discuss joining the fire service in the 1970s, the evolution of fire attack, the firefighter work week, the truth behind the FLSA, mental health, fitness standards, forging journeymen and so much more. Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Walter, a native of South Florida, dedicated his career to...

Liz Carmouche is a Marine Veteran and one of the first professional female fighters in the UFC. We discuss her journey into the military, serving in Iraq, homophobia, transgender athletes, underwater fitness training, mental health, overcoming injuries, service dogs and so much more. A Veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Liz “Girlrilla” Carmouche is an American Mixed Martial Arts fighter cu...

Jeff “Bones” Bonner is a former combat fighter pilot, squadron commander, airline captain, keynote speaker, and creator of The Debrief Advantage™ System. Drawing from decades in high-pressure aviation environments, Jeff teaches leaders and teams how fighter pilots use debriefing, reflection, and intentional adjustment to improve performance, strengthen culture, and grow through adversity. Jeff is...

Jason McCarthy enlisted in the Army after 9/11 because of 9/11 and served in Special Forces in Iraq and the Sahel region of West Africa. In 2007, while visiting Emily in war-torn West Africa, Jason built Emily a “go-ruck” for her to keep in her vehicle and at home, ready to go at all times. This was the origin of what is now GORUCK. Former Central Intelligence Agency case officer, Emily McCarthy,...

Kory Flowers is a 27-year veteran Captain with the Greensboro Police Department. Captain Flowers trains law enforcement officers nationwide on various subversive criminal groups, leadership, tactical communication, and has written articles and conducted podcasts for publications including Police1, Police Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and National Public Radio. H...

Carmen Ordoñez is a TV host, lifestyle expert and the widow of Miami firefighter Fernando Ordonez. We discuss their parents' immigration stories, their romance story, the birth of their son, Fernando's cancer diagnosis, grief, growth, community and so much more. Carmen is a TV Host and on-air lifestyle expert. She was married to City of Miami firefighter, Fernando Ordoñez, who was diagnosed with s...

Tim Mickelson is a professional golfer, caddie and the CEO of Cedar Valve. We discuss growing up in a golfing family, training the youth athlete, midfullness and performance, his brother Tim's success, caddying, learning from the tragic Cedar fire, innovating engine operations and so much more. Tim Mickelson brings over 20 years of experience in both the sports industry and small business. After o...

Nate Morgans is National Guardsman, Tusla Fire Department Deputy Chief and the CEO of the Casey Skudin 343 Fund. We discuss his journey into the military, joining the fire service, combat deployments, his battle with alcoholism, the healing power of Ibogaine, fighting for plant medicine treatment in Oklahoma and so much more. Nate has devoted his life to serving others, both in uniform with the U....

Ryan Scalmanini is a U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and the Director of VA Disability Compliance and Analytics for Veteran Benefits Guide (VBG). In his role, Ryan manages the training and development for VBG’s VA disability claims manager team to ensure they are equipped with the information and resources they need to successfully support the company’s Veteran clients. He is also responsible for end-to-...

Frank Wright was one of the original Marine Raiders who fought on both Guam and Iwo Jima in WWII. We discuss his journey into the Marines, special forces selection, hand to hand combat, facing banzai attacks, his powerful mental health story, writing his book and so much more. "I fought like mad as the Japanese stormed down the hill yelling 'Malians you die, Malians you die.' I emptied my rifle ma...

Joseph Sullivan is the founder of Active911, the emergency response platform trusted daily by first responders across the country for real-time incident coordination. He also founded Alyrica Networks, Nova Dynamics, and Daxbot, where his work focuses on deploying autonomous robotic systems into real-world environments. His background spans communications infrastructure, emergency operations, and r...

Kevin Grange is an award-winning freelance writer with an emphasis on the medical field, adventure and travel. He is a firefighter/paramedic with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS and Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We discuss his journey into Emergency Medicine, grizzly bear attacks, wilderness medicine, homelessness, addiction, mental health, flight medicine and so much more. His latest...

Emily Kaplan is the co-founder of The Broken Science Initiative and MetFix. She is focused on helping coaches and doctors reverse chronic diseases using lifestyle interventions. The BSI is the research arm of the initiative, doing deep dives into how modern peer-review works, or in many cases does not work, looking at how industry influences outcomes and how to evaluate good research versus corrup...

Greg Kelley was a promising high school football player when he was falsely accused of sexual abuse of a child and wrongfully imprisoned. He spent the next six years proving his innocence, three of which were in prison. We discuss his early life, his parent's medical issues that led to him staying with a friend, the outcry, the horrendous cascade of unethical practices in both the investigation an...

Johnathon Ehsani is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he works at the intersection of transportation and public health. His research focuses on teen and novice drivers, distracted driving, older adult mobility, and how people understand and use new technologies like autonomous vehicles. He regularly advises the U.S. Department of Transportation an...

​Louie Disney is a 40-year-old veteran firefighter and EMT based in Colorado, who believes that to be a truly effective first responder, you must be resilient and fully prepared for the demands of the job—both physically and mentally. With over 20 years of fire service experience across Kansas and Colorado—including wildland firefighting—Louie knows firsthand the heavy toll the profession takes. H...

Joel Dudley is the former Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the CEO and Co-Founder of Bevimi. We discuss forging resilience through wrestling, his jouney into computing, Bioinformatics, debunking pandemic myths, exciting innovations in Alzheimer's prevention, the power of sleep, brain health supplementation and so much more. Dr....

Paige Figi spent years trying to find a treatment for her young daughter, Charlotte, who was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome – a serious form of epilepsy – and suffered from frequent seizures. Because none of the traditional pharmaceuticals and treatments were reliable or successful in reducing and helping Charlotte’s life-limiting condition, Paige researched alternative therapies, discovering a ty...

William Branum is a retired Navy SEAL with 26 years of elite military service, leading high-stakes missions around the world, including operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that required presidential approval. From sniper instructor to SEAL Team leader, William forged unshakable leadership under the most extreme conditions on earth. Since hanging up the uniform, William has become a sought-after spe...

Jason Gray has been in the stunt industry for amost four decades working in film, television, commercials and music videos. We discuss his childhood in Iowa, wrestling, the genesis of Orlando's theme parks, live show dangers, sleep deprivation in entertainment, specialisation, The Oscars and so much more. "Growing up a sports-crazed kid (a champion pole vaulter & wrestler)on a farm in Iowa, I...