Behind The Shield

Gregory Menvielle is an IT Veteran and co-founder of the mental wellness platform Okaya. We discuss his childhood in France, the evolution of the internet, the global mental health crisis, using AI to proactively assess mental health, forging performance, firefighter health, wearables and so much more.Greg Menvielle is CEO of Okaya (SmartTec Inc.), an AI-powered readiness platform whose AI, Sanora, conducts multimodal check-ins — analyzing voice, facial cues, and language — to generate readiness scores across cognitive, physical, and emotional dimensions. Okaya serves first responders, Department of Defense personnel, and clinical populations, and holds a U.S. Air Forc...

John P. East Jr. is a Critical Care Flight Paramedic and the Co-Founder and Chief of Staff of The Incomologists, a firm focused on protecting the income and families of clinicians, EMS, and fire service professionals. Raised in Homestead, Florida, by a nurse and a firefighter/boat mechanic, John’s childhood was steeped in adventure - exploring the Florida Everglades, fishing, surfing, and life outdoors. Experiences that shaped his work ethic and perspective.John has served in EMS since 2010, with experience spanning Paramedic in rescue units and ER roles, quality assurance, flight medicine, and clinical leadership. Over ti...

Craig Davidson is a Hawaiian lifeguard, waterman and stuntman. We discuss his journey into lifeguarding, rescues and losses, the importance of humility, fitness, entering the stunt world, set safety, rigging and much more.

This is one of the most powerful conversations I've recorded to date! In 1997, police officer Tom Morgan was shot in the head by eighteen year old gang member Jason Samuel. What followed was an incredible journey of post traumatic growth and forgiveness that will move you to tears.We discuss Toms' journey into law enforcement, SWAT operations, his rehabilitation after the shooting, Jason's parole hearing, Tom's wife's powerful mental health story, healing through forgiveness and so much more.Tom began his 50+ year career in public service in 1975 working for a small rural ambulance company in...

Rob Jones lost both legs after an IED explosion whilst serving as an Engineer with the Marines. Refusing to let his injuries define him, Rob became an elite athlete competing as a rower in the Paralympics. Rob's latest adventure saw him completing 31 marathons in 31 days. We talk about adaptive athletics, mental trauma, his charitable ventures and much more.Rob Jones is a retired US Marine, combat leader, and now a leadership instructor and speaker with Echelon Front. He spent five years in the Marine Corps, with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan.As a Combat...

Dr. Pamela Kryskow is the medical lead for the Roots To Thrive Program. She is a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada and the medical chair of the Vancouver Island University Post Graduate Certificate in Psychedelic Medicine assisted Therapy. Pam is also a a clinical instructor at UBC and adjunct professor at VIU.Dr Kryskow is actively involved in research related to psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, front line health care workers and first responders mental wellness. She is co-investigator on the largest microdosing study Microdose.me which is ongoing with 22,000+ enrolled participants.Prior...

Chad Robichaux is a former police office, Recon Marine and the Author of "Saving Aziz". Azizullah Aziz is an Afghani interpreter assigned to Chad as part of a unique JSOC Task Force team.We discuss their respective childhoods, fleeing the Taliban as a young man, Chad's career call as a police officer, some of the heroism from our Afghan allies, the travesty that was the Afghan withdrawal, how Chad's team of veterans liberated thousands of our allies, their powerful mental health stories and much more.Aziz was more than an interpreter for Force Recon Marine...

A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development.Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients chall...

Morgan Englund's life has been nothing short of a wild ride. He first gained widespread recognition as an actor for his portrayal of Dylan Lewis on CBS's Guiding Light. But, his passion for serving others led him to become a firefighter/paramedic for the city of Los Angeles, a role in which he served with distinction.Since leaving the fire department, Morgan has embarked on a new journey, choosing to focus his attention on healing through music, public speaking and sound meditation. Through this work, he hopes to heal himself and others overcome past trauma and the...

Tim Spradlin is the director and EAGALA Certified Equine Specialist for Finally Home Farm, a 501c3 nonprofit charity providing equine therapies to veterans and first responders with emotional wounds near Xenia, Ohio. He and his wife Susan provide support services to wounded warriors at no charge.Tim is retired from a 40 plus year civilian career as a firefighter, paramedic and law enforcement officer. He also served in the US Air Force on active duty in Crash - Fire – Rescue and later retired from the USAF Reserve where he was a SMSgt / First Sergeant with the Security Forces sq...

Jennifer Eskew is a former Virginia State Trooper, a retired ATF Senior Special Agent, Author, and subject matter expert in undercover operations, fire and explosion origin and cause determinations and criminal investigations involving the violent crimes of arson and bombings, armed career criminals, and financial fraud. We discuss her journey into Law Enforcement, joining the ATF, the worldwide cost of tobacco use, the failure of drug prohibition, her powerful mental health story, corporate greed and so much more. Her debut memoir, Becoming Fire—featuring a foreword by Detective Lt. Joe Kenda of Homicide Hunter and American Detective—invi...

Jason Khalipa is a former Crossfit Games champion, author and the founder of NCFIT. We discuss Sandlot Jax, jiujitsu and fitness, his journey into Crossfit, overcoming distractions, training the tactical athlete, his daughter's powerful cancer story and so much more.

Owen McCLung-Sitnam is a veteran helicopter pilot and the founder of Helicopters Without Borders. We discuss his journey into aviation, his father's service, fighting wildfires, wilderness medicine, Canada's First Nations, his non-profit and so much more.Owen McClung-Sitnam is a helicopter captain who holds a commercial and airline transport pilot license in Canada and the USA. Accumulating over 3,000 flying hours, primarily fighting forest fires across Canada and flying air ambulance missions up and down British-Columbia’s coast. His experience instilled in him a passion for the power of community support through aviation. Owen also featured in the To...

For the past 29 years Andrea has worked for the Department of Defense including the Marine Corps, Marine Special Operations Command, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, and at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University of Colorado.She grew up in the south of Chile and in the hills of the Andes mountains. From childhood, she learned the value of traditional medicine through observing her grandparents perform traditional healing rituals. Her knowledge is drawn from traditional educational institutions in the US as well as mentors from the Lakota community and Mexican healers.Andrea...

Rob Moore is a 28 year veteran of the fire service. He retired from Orange County (FL) Fire Rescue at 25 years, after serving early in his career as a volunteer for Osceola County and a firefighter for the Department of Defense - Orlando Navy Base. Throughout his career with Orange County, Rob held the ranks of firefighter, engineer and special ops truck lieutenant. He was a member of the inaugural Orlando Eye climb team, the International Drive bike patrol and was captain of the Orange County Fire Hockey Team.Raised in Central Florida since he was young, Rob...

KEVIN HAZZARD is a journalist, TV writer, and former paramedic. His first book, A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back, was published in 2016. He now writes for film and TV, with work produced by Hulu, CBS, ABC, and Universal. His journalism has been published at 99% Invisible, the Atavist, Men’s Journal, Creative Loafing, Atlanta Magazine, and elsewhere. We discuss his latest book 'No One's Coming', the Ebola crisis, aviation rescues, the men of the Freedom House, medicine on television and so much more.

Wayne Smith is a 29 year veteran of corrections, law enforcement instructor and special team leader. Regina is 22 year veteran of corrections and Sergeant of Marion County Sheriff's Office and Captain for the Florida Department of Corrections. We discuss their journeys into law enforcement, reducing recidivism, gangs, addiction, strength training and so much more.

Dr Eric Goodman is the founder and creator of Foundation Training, a system of movement that facilitates the body’s natural healing ability and quickly improves degenerative movement patterns. He has published 3 books, including his latest, True To Form, which have contributed to health innovation for individuals, communities, and the Yoga world. His incessant curiosity for anatomy, movement, and healing has led him to become one of the most sought out trainers in the world, training prominent media figures and top level athletes, including Olympians as the strength and conditioning coach of the U.S.A. Men’s Wa...

David Shuford is a twenty year veteran of the fire service. He is the Union President for Gainesville Fire Rescue and their Hazmat Training Captain. We discuss becoming a volunteer firefighter at 18 years old, the high level of competition to become a firefighter 10 short years ago, the recruitment and retention crisis, how they made the move to the 42 hour (24/72) work week, the health and financial benefits, the dramtic increase in recruitment and retention they've witnessed, debunking deliberate misinformation from neighbouring agencies and so much more.

Sean Glass is a former SEAL Officer. His tours include combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Eastern Africa. Sean was the Officer in Charge of the final phase of the initial SEAL selection pipeline where he helped select, train and mentor future SEALs. His last tour in the Navy he served as the Officer in Charge of all wartime training for the West Coast SEAL teams.He is a leadership instructor for Echelon Front and is the founder of Primal Beef. A Virginia based, all-natural, all-American, farm-raised beef company.He is a husband and father...