Behind The Shield

Marcy Levy Shankman, Ph. D. is a Leadership Development Professional and the founder of MLS Counsulting. We discuss philanthropy in leadership, the cost savings of investing in your people, moral courage, revolutionising American education, learning from the Amish, non- profits, reigniting the fire service and so much more. Marcy is a leadership development professional with over 20 years of exper...

Datwain "DJ" Shipp is a 13 year fire service veteran and former collegiate athlete. We discuss his journey into football, TBIs in youth athletics, prioritising the firefighter family, CBD and Cannabis, Psychedelics and much more. Episode Sponsor: https://www.carnabunkergear.com/

Pat Byrne is a leader in sleep and fatigue management and the author of Inconvenient Sleep. We discuss his early work in Occupational Health and Safety, the tragedy that led him into sleep research, working with NHL athletes, the pros and cons of wearables, first responder sleep deprivation, AI in medicine and so much more. Pat has changed the way professional sports teams and 24/7 workplaces mana...

Ash Alexander-Cooper is a former specialist military unit commander, combat helicopter pilot, wounded veteran, international athlete, musician, leadership and resilience expert. In this second conversation, we discuss the potential healing and damaging potential of drone technology, his new book Mindful Soldier, forging human performance, growing from childhood trauma, the healing power of altruis...

Lisa Mason is a Canadian CPA who works as a Chief Financial Officer for a healthcare technology company. In 2021, her life was changed forever when her brother Sgt. John R Little, CD died by suicide after serving two tours in Afghanistan. Through her grief journey she co-founded Operation: Talk 2 Me Johnny, a family run non-profit that aims to encourage loud conversations about mental wellness for...

Jason Kubiak is a serving Leading fire fighter with over 27 years in the UK Fire and Rescue Service, having worked across multiple brigades including Buckinghamshire and London Fire Brigade. We discuss his journey into firefighting, mixed martial arts, career calls, the Grenfell fire, his powerful mental health journey, prioritising family, the UK knife crime epidemic and much more. Jason is open...

Dr Rangan Chatterjee is a British physician, author, podcaster and television personality. We discuss his powerful journey into progressive medicine, vitamin D, the importance of sleep, gut health, the four pillars of health, creating healthy habits through small victories and much more. Dr Chatterjee's mission is to empower 100 million people to become the architect of their own health and to hel...

Byron Branch is a veteran law enforcement officer, amputee and fencing paralympian. In this second conversation, we discuss the unlearned lessons from the pandemic, marksmanship in law enforcement, the opioid crisis, homelessness, fitness in policing, wheelchair fencing and so much more. Byron first began fencing in high school. As an indoor sport, fencing worked well for the frigid winters in Ohi...

Dr Nick Detrick is a Physical Therapist, US Air Force Reservist and the founder of Tactical Athlete Performance & Physical Therapy Specialists. We discuss his journey into medicine, injury screening in the tactical professions, rehab, fitness standards, working with elite units, the power of sleep and so much more. Nick has a history working in collegiate athletics as a student athletic traine...

Lieutenant Colonel Chris “Robie” Robishaw is a 33-year veteran of the U.S. Army . He recently retired and started his own consulting firm, Odyssey Special Operations Consulting, where he specializes in support to special operations exercises, military advisory roles in the film industry, and support to benevolent organizations around the world. His career began with an age waiver signed by his par...

Kellon Walch is an elite off road racer and career firefighter. We discuss his journey into extreme sports, overcoming fear, his near death experiences, the Dakar Rally, traumatic brain injury, therapeutic Ketamine, the Vegas terrror attack, the importance of sleep for performance and so much more. Kellon's Accolades: 13 Time Dakar Rally participant first one being Dakar 2005 for Red Bull KTM to p...

Marc Mero was a WWE wrestler, who became a motivational speaker, touring schools around the country. We talk about his early life, career, journey through substance abuse, mental health and his transition to teaching children about bullying and suicide. Marc Mero, who found global fame as Johnny B. Badd in WCW and alongside then-wife Rena ‘Sable’ Mero in World Wrestling Entertainment, played an in...

Jonathan Wilson is a Navy SEAL veteran and the founder and CEO of INVI MindHealth, a mental health tech company whose mission is to save lives by making the invisible, visible. Prior to launching INVI, Jonathan worked at Capital Group and before that he was an equity trader at Goldman Sachs in New York City. Jonathan also co-founded and led the SEAL Future Foundation (SFF), a 501.c.3, in 2012, whi...

Peter Van Dorpe is a retired fire chief of the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District in Illinois. Chief Van Dorpe began his Fire Service career in April of 1980 as a Firefighter on Truck Co. #22 for the City of Chicago Fire Department; where he rose through the ranks including engineer, lieutenant, captain, battalion chief, eventually retiring in October of 2013 as a district chief...

Spencer Thomas is a former football athlete turned stunt performer and John Cena's stunt double. We discuss growing up around athletics, moving to LA, humility on set, his journey into stunts, the mental impact of injury, his connection with the fire service, John's altruism, and so much more.

Patrick Pianezza is a paramedic, actor and the writer of the film Code 3. We discuss his journey into EMS, the volunteer fire service, some career calls, the US healthcare crisis, universal healthcare, screenwriting, bringing his story to the screen and so much more. Patrick was born in central Illinois. He has an associates degree in Biology from Lincoln Land Community College and a certificate o...

Rob Jamieson is a 30 year law enforcement veteran, police officer, Director of the Ontario Provincial Police Association and the author of "In pursuit of Mental Wellness". We discuss his journey in to policing, organised crime, protecting the indigenous populations, the allegations of corruption that almost destroyed his union, rebuilding trust and relationships, mental health and so much more. Af...

Ryan Conley is a 10 year veteran of the fire service, Exercise Physiology graduate and the founder of Carna Bunker Gear. We discuss his journey into powerlifting, training the tactical athlete, firefighter fitness standards, rem0ving carcinogens from our gear, creating a safe bunker gear to train in, the work week and so much more. https://www.carnabunkergear.com/ Episode Sponsor: https://www.leve...

Eddie Wineland is the Former WEC World Champion, UFC fighter and a career firefighter. We discuss his journey into the combat sports, the house fire that almost claimed his brother's life, the fighter's mindset, sleep and performance, mental health and so much more.

Dr. Blaine Lints is an applied physiologist, former Navy SEAL, and former professional triathlete whose research focuses on optimizing cognitive and physical performance in high-stakes operational settings. Blaine's dissertation work examined the physiological and cognitive effects of operational stressors such as thermal strain and physical exertion. His overarching goal is to generate research a...

Jeff Cool is an Air Force Veteran, FDNY Rescue Firefighter and Black Sunday Survivor. We discuss military firefighting, his journey into the FDNY, his haunting 9/11 story, the 178th Street fire, Joey DiBernardo's selfless heroism, Jeff's physical and emotional healing journey, psychedelics, lifesaving bail out systems and so much more. In January 2005, Joey DiBernardo responded to a tenement fire...

Ty Miller started his working career in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment of the French Foreign Legion where, among other things, he used to jump out of airplanes and helicopters. Now, as a new Commercial IFR Helicopter Pilot working at Helijet International, his passion is to fly them. Previous to his flying career, Ty was an executive in the software industry with large and small analytics comp...

Dr Stuart McGill is a world renowned authority on back health. We delve into a host of topics from removing the sit up in the Military's PT test to the correlation between sleep deprivation and musculo-skeletal injury. Dr. Stuart M. McGill is a “distinguished professor emeritus”, University of Waterloo, where he was a professor for 30 years. His laboratory and experimental research clinic investig...

Steve Gowin is an Army Veteran, retired SWAT operator and Crossfit coach. We discuss his journey into the military, horsemanship, fitness in law enforcement, leadership, coaching the youth athlete and so much more. Steve Gowin founded his goal-oriented counseling service, Targeted Motivational Engagement (TME), in 2015. Through TME, Steve has been able to address hundreds of children and adults on...

Doug Orchard is a professional cinematographer, director, editor, and expert researcher with an MLS from Indiana University, Bloomington, and has excellent communication skills (BA English, BYU). He is a global thought leader on Physical Education, Fasting, Sovereign Debt, and responsible CRE Revenue Reserve strategies. In this second conversation, Doug reveals the underhand practices of private e...