The Things We All Carry

Rob is one of the founders and the CEO of 62 Romeo. Rob is a former Navy seal turned entrepreneur. He served eight years in the Navy and was deployed twice as a Navy seal. His SEAL career ended in retirement due to a back injury. As with any veteran, Rob had a few hidden injuries as well to include PTSD, traumatic brain injury, obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia. In 2017, Rob lost a platoon mate...

 In the world of Instagram and social media, memes are a currency of sort. Some pages, like this week's guest TenEight_Memes, just get it and they thrive. Agree or disagree with what Charlie has to say, his memes are still going to entertain you or they're going to provoke you. And that's exactly how this medium should be used, make 'em think, or make 'em laugh.  In his own words from his website,...

Today's guest is Dr. Jeni Gregory. She is the mental health professional, working with the men and women of Tacoma fire. Dr. Gregory has a PhD in pediatric Traumatology and holds a master's degree in Social Work. She has a list of accomplishments, seemingly a mile long with experience in numerous war torn regions in the world.  Her work has taken her across the globe from the U.S. to Mexico to Kos...

Welcome to episode 45 of The Things We All Carry. Roughly a week before Christmas, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ali Rothrock. Ali has roughly 17 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter. Her story is one of trauma, resilience and an amazing recovery. She's also the founder and CEO of On the Job and Off, a platform dedicated to building resilient first responders.  Ali's the Executive...

The first episode of 2023 finds us in Florida, speaking with Christopher. He's been a deputy sheriff in central Florida for over 20 years. Christopher reached out to me via Instagram and voiced a desire to share his story. He shares his battle with childhood trauma, trauma from his 20 plus years as a deputy, and discusses the methods and routes he's used to facilitate a recovery.  A huge, thanks t...

Our stories are very personal, but the lessons learned are universal. I look forward to bringing you these stories as well as a variety of voices, both inside and outside of our community. During the next few weeks, I will highlight and re-release a few previous episodes. New episodes will return January 11th, and I am beyond grateful for the response this show has received and the support each of...

Our stories are very personal but the lessons learned are universal. I look forward to bringing you these stories as well as a variety of voices, both inside and outside of our community. During the next few weeks, I will highlight and re-release a few previous episodes. New episodes will return January 11th, and I am beyond grateful for the response this show has received and the support each of...

As the year draws to an end I wanted to take time to thank each of you for listening and supporting this endeavor. A simple idea born  of a local tragedy has created a community that now reaches internationally. Someone I never had the chance to meet made an impact on my life when he decided to end his. At that moment I knew someone had to create a platform to expose the traumas, the emotions, and...

Today I'm joined by Mary Koval, a sociologist from the Richmond, Virginia area. I first heard of Mary from her presentation at a fire service diversity conference. That conference was centered around diversity, equality and inclusion within the fire service. Mary and I sat down and discussed issues surrounding women in the fire service, power dynamics and how stereotypical beliefs affect both the...

Back in November. I had the chance to sit down and speak with Ian. Ian is a firefighter here in Virginia. His story begins in Temecula, California, where he lived until he joined the army after 9/11. He served in Iraq as a forward observer attached to an armor battalion out of Fort Hood Texas What this means is that he had the chance to direct fire and hear things go boom a lot. He left the army t...

Jeremy served three tours in Iraq prior to joining the fire service. The situations he was faced with and have overcome are astounding. Jeremy has transformed his negative experiences into something which everyone can benefit from. He is the founder and the face of the resilient rescuer, which highlights overcoming adverse events and traumatic experiences. In relation to first responders and milit...

Today I'm joined by Tyler.   Tyler has been a firefighter for 18 years in Wisconsin, 12 of those years in EMS. He is currently a paramedic and serves as a captain in his department.  Tyler's life has taken twists and turns leading up to where he is now. He reached out to me and shared his story and the article he wrote for a firehouse magazine. His professional and private life became inexorably l...

Scott has been a firefighter for 24 years, as well as a medic, his page and his podcast are dedicated. To continuing and bettering fire traditions and the service as a whole. I first heard of Scott and multiple calls when I read his "50 Rules for the Senior Firefighter". An extensive yet not exhaustive list of rules that can guide a firefighter as he or she progresses into the longevity of a fire...

Today, I'm joined by Stephanie. Stephanie is a firefighter paramedic from my region in Virginia. She has nearly 20 years of service on the job. I first heard from her when she reached out on Instagram to tell me she was using my episodes as a teaching tool.  Her episode speaks volumes about the treatment of females in the fire service and in the world in general. Stephanie's story is at times raw...

This is technically a bonus episode but not an episode…this my interview as a guest on the Five After Midnight Podcast. The show is hosted by Stephanie who happens to be my guest on this weeks episode. I thought I would put this episode out as a prequel of sorts. Stephanie is a local FF/Medic from my neck of the woods in Virginia. She hosts her show for Fire Engineering. Head over to their show an...

Today. I get to introduce my audience to Cody Shea and his brilliant work of art, which is entitled "The Call We Carry"  Cody's a firefighter in the state of Washington and an independent filmmaker. Not just any filmmaker now, but an award-winning filmmaker as he recently won the 2022 best first-time filmmaker award from the California Indies film festival.  Cody set out to make a five minute prom...

Dr. Joel Martin joins me today for discussion on sleep and fitness and the effect of both on the tactical athlete. Dr. Martin is an associate professor of kinesiology at George Mason university. His research is focused on improving the fitness and health of the tactical athlete populations..... firefighters, police, and military.  Side note...This is a rough edit of a show that previously failed t...

My guest on this episode is Mike, he joined me from his home near Buffalo. Mike has a connection to an earlier episode. Shawn, his cousin and godfather, was my guest on episode 11. Mike reached out after that episode and expressed his desire to relay his own story. He discusses his childhood, military and fire experience, his battle with trauma and mental health, and the road to recovery.  This is...

Thank you for joining me for another bonus episode of the things we all carry. Kristie of Sweary Therapy is back with another round of answers, to a few questions that have developed along the way.  Just a reminder of where I first heard of Sweary Therapy and Kristie, a friend, a fellow firefighter, Jim Martin runs the unusual Buddha page and podcast. Kristie was a guest on his show and I stole th...

I had the chance to talk with and learn the story of Jordyn Goddard. Jordyn is a firefighter in the state of Virginia and a former educator. We spent about 90 minutes on the phone. The initial plan was to talk, get comfortable, and learn her story. It took about 30 minutes before I realized this, like Adam’s interview in episode 17, was the show. Jordyn spoke passionately and eloquently about grie...

Today I'm joined by Jess. For those of you who have listened to earlier episodes, just as the wife of Brian from episode eight.  Once Brian's episode was released and she had a chance to listen to the show. A couple of times, Jess reached out to me. She suggested the spouse may be able to add a different light and point of view when it comes to trauma, the effects of trauma on the firefighter.  An...

This week I had my first international guest. Daniel's a 20 year firefighter paramedic from Western He's also the artist and creative genius behind DanSun Photos. Daniel was diagnosed with PTs in 2014 and his art gave him an outlet to express feelings and emotions associated with PTs.  Along the way he decided to share his art and was surprised and heartened by the reaction. We spend an hour or so...

I recently had a phone call and a discussion with Jon from Rescue 1 CBD. Jon is a firefighter in south Florida and the founder and owner of Rescue 1. He is on a mission to, as his bio says,  “ improve our first responders’ sleep, mental health and cut back on the amount of medications required to do those things” Jon and I spend about an hour talking CBD, his company’s purpose, the process they us...

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Dr David Griffin. Many of you will recognize his name as the first in engine driver for the Sofa Superstore Fire that killed 9 firefighters in Charleston SC. Dr Griffin has used his experiences from that day and his entire career for the betterment of the fire service.  The numerous accomplishments he has achieved include a Doctorate of Education in Or...

Today I'm joined by Robbie from Tennessee.  Robbie reached out to me after I put out an initial call for people interested in telling their stories. We played phone tag for a couple of months and we finally got the chance to sit and record.  When I first spoke to Robbie, I found myself confused.  My simple mind assumed if I was speaking to someone from Tennessee, expect a Southern accent. Imagine...