The Shell and Sam Show

No outline. No filter. Just real life. This week we’re yapping about the chaos of being a wife, mom, and holding it all together while everything feels like it’s falling apart. If you’ve ever hidden in your car for peace or reheated your coffee 5 times… welcome. You’re our people

Behind every badge is a family carrying the weight of the job and sometimes the hero everyone else depends on is the one who needs saving. In this powerful and deeply honest episode of The Shell & Sam Show: Wives Behind the Badge, Shell and Sam sit down with retired firefighter paramedic Matty Fiorenza and his wife Liz to talk about the reality many first responder families face but few talk a...

Episode 8: When the Home Team Needs Support Too
Special Guest: Erika Anderson In this powerful episode, we sit down with Erika Anderson — fire wife, trauma survivor, certified life coach, and Program Director of the 3FTL Home Team. Erika is a fierce advocate for first responder partners and the creator of a safe, supportive community she lovingly calls her “Homies,” where spouses and significant o...

In this episode of The Shell & Sam Show , we sit down with Amy, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 29 years of experience at the Department of Veterans Affairs and a Veterans Crisis Line responder, and her husband Bill, a retired sheriff’s deputy and Marine Corps veteran. Together, they share their journey through PTSD, recovery, faith, and how they launched My Lt Leo to support first resp...

In this episode, we talk about the reality of loving someone whose life runs on adrenaline—and how chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, and constant fear can slowly reshape a marriage. We open up about the loneliness that can exist even when you’re not alone, the communication breakdowns that happen in survival mode, and the emotional distance that builds when both partners are running on empty....

This episode is one many families are living… but don’t always have words for. PTSI doesn’t just affect the responder. It enters the marriage. The home. The kids. The badge doesn’t clock out when they walk through the front door and neither does the weight of what they carry. In this deeply important conversation, we’re talking about mental health without shame. Trauma is an injury — not a weaknes...

Parenting doesn’t pause when they’re on duty—and neither do we. In this episode of Shell Shocked & Sam Spilled , we talk about the invisible labor of first responder families: solo parenting, carrying the mental and emotional load, answering hard questions from our kids, and loving this life while feeling exhausted by it. This isn’t a complaint—it’s honesty. If you’ve ever held it all together...

Behind every badge is a family — and behind that family is a wife carrying more than most people will ever see. In this episode of Shell Shocked & Sam Spilled: The Wives Behind the Badge, we open up about the quiet truths first responder wives often keep buried. The thoughts we feel guilty for having. The resentment, loneliness, anger, and fear we try to hide. The weight of loving someone whos...

When the boots come through the door, the job often comes with them. This podcast is a raw and honest look at life as a first responder’s wife—navigating emotional distance, trauma, love, and resilience. We share the truths that are hard to say out loud, creating space for understanding, connection, and healing. And before you go, don’t forget — we’ll be doing our Sam Spilled / Shell Sips segment,...

Welcome to the very first episode of The Shell and Sam Show . This episode is raw, unfiltered, and honest, so we ask for a little grace as we navigate our first time behind the mic. We are the wives behind the badge, sharing the realities of life alongside first responders—the highs, the challenges, and everything in between. This podcast was created with one simple hope: that at least one first r...