Behind The Shield

John Wolf is a strength and conditioning coach and the man behind Wolf Pack Coaching and Consulting. We discuss his journey into strength training, kettlebells, mace work, the psychology of coaching, foundation training, his powerful mental health story, growth and much more.

John Womak was seven years old when his mother's intoxicated boyfriend crashed, ejecting John, leaving him with life long scars. He became a police officer and by a twist of fate, headed up his department's DUI division. We discuss his healing form the physical and emotional injuries as a child, his journey into law enforcement, traffic deaths, improving road safety, school education, smart phones...

Gerard Devine is an award-winning Irish poet who lives a life less ordinary. The former carpenter is a full-time firefighter in Dublin City. We discuss his early life, building houses in Ireland and America, hurling, dispatch, mental health, fitness, his poetry and much more. Prior to joining the fire brigade, Gerard spent many years working on the building sites of Dublin, Boston and San Francisc...

Jay Dobyns is a retired 27 year veteran of the ATF agent who spent two years undercover infiltrating the Hell's Angels. We discuss his early life, courage, bullies, the price of service, the Columbine massacre, slapdicks, organizational failure and much more. Jay Dobyns is a retired federal agent having served for twenty-seven years at ATF.He achieved worldwide notoriety as one of history's most d...

Dr Jonathan Edwards is an anesthesiologist and the author of multiple books including "The Revolutionary Ketamine." We discuss the suicide that sent him into medicine, riding motocross, anaesthesiology, his lens on COVID, the healing power of Ketamine, pain, post traumatic growth, first responder and military mental health, percutaneous hydrotomy and much more.

David Hughes is a retired North Carolina State Trooper and father to Drew Hughes, who died after a series of medical errors at only 13 years old. David tells Drew's powerful story to try and educate the medical community and prevent a tragedy like his son's death from occurring again. Do not miss this powerful and tragic story. https://www.doitfordrew.org/

Professor Alan Shebaro earned his Black Belt from Carlos Machado in 2004 and is currently ranked as a 4th degree Black Belt under Professor Chris Haueter. He was 1 of only 4 Black Belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the U.S. Army and is the first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt in Special Forces Regiment. He is also the founder of the Veteran non-profit We Defy Foundation. We discuss his early life, hi...

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 op...

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 s...

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.

Nick Hall was 8 years old when a murderer invaded his family's home. Through a tragic miscommunication, his mother shot by a police sniper after being mistaken for the attacker. Despite this trauma, Nick followed a career in law enforcement, choosing to be part of the solution. We discuss his early life, living through a hostage situation, his journey to overcome trauma, his journey into policing,...

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 o...

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 Ps...

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...

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...

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 Cen...

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 fami...

Thaer Ahmad, MD is a board certified emergency medicine physician in Chicago. Dr. Ahmad is the assistant program director for the emergency medicine residency program at Advocate Christ Medical Center. He also serves as the global health director and medical ethics director for the emergency department at Advocate Christ. Dr. Ahmad is a clinical assistant professor at the university of Illinois at...

Dr Andrew Lock is a world record holding strength athlete, bodybuilding judge and physiotherapist. We discuss his early life in Australia, training the youth athlete, body dysmorphia, the anatomy of shoulder pain, the power of corrective exercise, the evolution of the spine, healing back pain, MMA, the tactical athlete and so much more.

Jim Lydon is a former firefighter, dispatcher, fire chief, city manager and current member of the All American Leadership team. We discuss starting volunteer firefighting at a very young age, the evolution of dispatching, his journey through the ranks, how he overcame losing sight in one eye, his powerful mental health story, his cancer battle, leadership in the fire service and so much more.

Tori Gonzalez was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas when a former student murdered 17 schoolchildren and staff in 2018, including her boyfriend Joaquin Oliver. Anthony Gonzalez is Tori's father and was one of the responding firefighters to the attack. We discuss their early lives, Tori and Joaquin's romance, the aftermath of the massacre, grief, tactical medicine, the media, mental health and...

Tommy Aceto is a former Navy SEAL and a member of the Veteran's Mental Health Leadership Coalition, We discuss his early life, his journey into the Navy, Special Operations, his perspective on war, his transition story, how psychedelic therapy saved his life, the power of plant medicine, Robert Kennedy Jr and so much more.

Jocko Willink is a Retired US Navy SEAL officer, author and co-founder of Echelon Front. We discuss the impact of the pandemic, overcoming fear, efficiency in business, building a resilient population, mental health, the evolution of Echelon Front and much more.