The Overwatch Collective Podcast

Joining in person is Mike Mealey, a United States Coast Guard service member, who attempted to die by suicide via shooting himself in the chest. Thankfully, the "special bullet" missed his heart by a 1/16th of an inch... Mikey discusses the stigma amongst our military community, the exhaustion of wearing a mask to hide our emotions while struggling, and the immediate realization that his...

Everyone has a story and not everyone is a first responder. Maddy has that story for us today. During this episode we dive into what its like being fit and healthy when out of nowhere an illness takes her over for quite some time and is rendered incapacitated. As she over comes this and is on the upward side of recovery, she is happy to be back coaching again. We touch basis on what its like to be...

Joining via Zoom is Jared from Oklahoma City, who has been a Police Officer for 8 years and married with two kids. Also, Jared is a United States Marine Corps Veteran, who was injured while preparing for a deployment. He was medically discharged after two years of service.  Throughout the podcast, Jared discusses the stigma and pride amongst our law enforcement community, mental health affects on...

Get a full update on The Overwatch Collective in this episode with Greg and Donna, T.O.C. Board of Directors Members!  In this episode, we discuss our updated therapy stats, challenges with fundraising, haulting accepting financial assistance, Giving Tuesday, and our 4th Annual Fundraiser.  A huge shoutout to our 4th Annual Fundraiser Sponsors: Throttle & Thrive, Brightside Professional Clinic...

Joining via zoom from Ohio is Austin Owens, a Prior U.S. Army Infantryman, who was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in combat while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. Austin joined the U.S. Army at the age of 19 in 2009 and originally wanted to be a K9 Handler, but had to settle with 11Bravo. Austin discusses the lack of mental health awareness training during his time in the Army as they...

Joining via zoom from San Diego, CA, is Kendall Wood, who's been a yoga therapist working with our first responder community for the past five years. Currently, Kendall works along side CAL Fire Firefighters at the training center teaching yoga. Kendall is also married to a CAL Fire Engineer.  Kendall offers 1:1 virtual yoga sessions, in person retreats, conferences, and corporate events. If...

Joining via zoom is Kristofor from the state of Texas! Kristofor is a prior Special Agent w/ U.S. Customs & Boarder Protection where he served honorably for 15 years. Kristofer is currently married with two children.  In this podcast, we talk about a call for service where Kristofor was 10 ft. away from someone who died via a self inflicting GSW, his involvement in the largest telefraud case i...

Joining via zoom is Matt and Shavonne in beautiful Southern California at Throttle & Thrive's Facility, which is a Men's Substance Misuse Facility Exclusively For First Responders and Veterans.  Matt was born in Florida and served as a Fire Fighter for 18 years. Furthermore, Matt was married and has three children and unfortunately his substance misuse was a contributing factor to hi...

Joining via zoom in Southern California is Rob, a retired Police Captain, who honorably served 30 years in the profession. After retirement, Rob obtained his Masters Degree in Social Work and now operates the Unified Wellness Center for our first responder and military community in Southern California.  Throughout Rob's 30 years, he was an F.T.O., Detective investigating ICAC cases, Detective...

Joining via zoom is Dr. Michele Vecchione,  a psychotherapist in Florida, who is a great resource for our first responder and military community. Dr. Vecchione also authored The Compassion Conundrum, a manual that offers resources and tools for our community.  With the experience of traumatic calls for service on a daily basis within our community, we are more open to burnout and compassion fatigu...

Joining via zoom in Colorado is Calico, who was full of energy as she was set up in the garage gym full of challenge coins, flags, patches, and weapons. Full of energy comes a lot of cuss words! Calico applied for the United States Marine Corps, where she hoped to become an Officer after passing Officer Candidate School. Unfortunately, a concussion in June 2015 changed her life and hindered that d...

A fantastic in person podcast with Robyn Sonnier and Mica Salazar Istre while in Lafayette, Loiusiana! Listen in as they discuss their training, experience, and education in working work out military and first responder community. Both are contracted T.O.C. therapists and are actively seeing people in our community through T.O.C.  We talk about the importance of self awareness in realizing when yo...

Joining via zoom in Seattle is Eric Tung a huge mental health advocate, who has been a LEO w/ Kent Police Department for 17 years. A huge congrats to Eric as he was recently promoted to the rank of Commander. Eric held various positions in the podcast such as K9 Officer and recruiting. Blue Grit Wellness started post 2020 after all of the negative energy with law enforcement. Eric hopped on and sh...

Always a pleasure being a guest on other podcasts. This podcast with Roger Sutherland was a special one as it reaches listeners in Australia, U.S.A., and other countries. Roger absolutely crushed it with the editing and clips from the episode.  In this podcast, Greg breaks down how T.O.C. started, the common trends amongst our community regarding mental health, how T.O.C. combats those trends, etc...

Another fantastic in person podcast with Shavonne, but this time was even better as it was recorded in person in the studio, AKA The Garage! Shavonne flew up to Northern CA from Southern CA.  Shavonne talks about Throttle and Thrive briefly as she already discussed it in detail during SZN 6 EP 5. Throughout this episode, Shavonne talks about how her addiction was the best thing that ever happened...

Joining via zoom in Northern California is Jade DeFrates, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been practicing for 18 years! Jade treats complex trauma amongst our first responder community, conducts EMDR and neurofeedback.  Jade discusses the history of EMDR and some of the benefits to starting group EMDR while maintaining confidentiality, which has not been discussed yet on our podcast. Jad...

Joining via zoom is Scott Hill, who breaks down the process of making is simple and easy to get people amongst our TOC community into a home. Greg worked with Scott to get into his home and can vouch for Scott and his wife Lisa. If you're looking to get into a home or just want some advice on planning for that time, you need to contact Scott! Scott Hill, is the Founder of Hill Mortgage, and i...

Joining via zoom is Jessica from the very cold Kansas City, Missouri. Jessica is a retired Police Sgt. who's career was unexpectedly cut short, which like most, she was not prepared for. Jessica started Next Shift and became a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) transition coach in order to help our LEO community be prepared to adapt to life after being an LEO.  In our community, we don't know...

Joining from San Diego via zoom is Dr. Brooke Bartlett, a licensed clinical psychologist with over 10 years of specialized training with first responders, military, and their loved ones, and can work with anyone in California and Florida. Dr. Bartlett is also an accomplished researcher with dozens of scientific contributions examining trauma and stress amongst our community. Also, she has trained...

Joining from Southern California via zoom is Shavonne, the founder of Throttle & Thrive. Through sobriety and AA, Shavonne found peace, healing, and purpose, which led to the idea to create a facility to help our first responders and veterans with substance misuse with the hopes of changing their lives in the right direction.  The facility is located in a beautiful home in  Palos Verdes Estate...

Quick podcast with Austin, who's been a Deputy Sheriff for 8 years, who breaks down the LEO only two gun fundraiser match they will be hosting on Saturday, March 23, 2024.  The fundraiser match will be held at the Kenneth Royal Firearms Range in Elk Grove, CA, starting with the sign ins at 0700 hrs. Listen in as Austin mentions their sponsors for the event, answers questions that fellow LEO&a...

Joining from Southern California via zoom is Jon and Emily, two Co-Founders of Hold The Line Fly Fishing, a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit with the mission of using fly fishing to connect first responders, provide a trip to camp/fish, and calm the effects of Post Traumatic Stress. Jon, a 15 year fire fighter who is currently an engineer & paramedic with a sweet mustache, has been married to Emily, a sch...

Joining via zoom from San Diego, CA, is Megan Zuzevich. Megan is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), EMDR trained, and specializes in Trauma & EMDR. Megan comes from a Law Enforcement family and spent some time working in correctional facilities. Megan discussed the benefits of working with a Coach instead of your traditional therapist, even as a LMFT herself, for the past 6 years...

Joining via zoom from Tampa, Florida, is Lauren Frazier. Lauren spent 8 1/2 years in the United States Air Force (U.S.A.F.) and retired with a diagnoses of PTSD as a Captain. Lauren's husband is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S.A.F. for the past 17 1/2 years.  Lauren has her Masters of Social Work, Dual Certification, 200 Hour Yoga Certification, and 30 Hour Yin Yoga Certification.  Lauren spe...

Joining via Zoom in Ohio is Travis Gribble and Jennifer Cooper from My Arena. Listen in to get an introduction of Travis and Jennifer. Travis was previously on T.O.C.'s podcast (SZN 5 EP 1) and spoke at T.O.C.'s 3rd Annual Fundraiser. Jennifer, a Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor, was Travis's therapist at the beginning of his journey and travels acros...