KaLea Lehman is the Executive Director and Founder of the Military Special Operations Family Collaborative (MSOFC). KaLea grew up in rural Missouri and learned to cook as a young child at home and more formally through required home economics classes in high school. She took this homegrown spirit to Washington, D.C., where she’s been a longtime advocate for health education, research, and policy. KaLea earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from George Washington University in 2007, shortly after marrying her husband of nearly 20 years. In 2018, she earned her Master of Education from Vanderbilt University and founded MSOFC to address the SOF wellness challenges that too often get lost in tempo and time or muddled by the unique aspects of the special operations lifestyle. KaLea and her husband have six children. Her favorite pastimes are running with her family and friends and exploring coastal places.
Connect with KaLea on Linkedin.
Dr. Topher Murphy graduated with his PsyD from Regent in 2008 and has served as a Psychologist both in the US Army in the in the Department of Veterans Affairs over the past 9 years.
Joe Stimac is the founder and President of AccuHire Corporation, a company that specializes in selection, engagement, and retention. His clients include notable firmsincluding H&R Block, Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, PeopleSoft, DoD commands, MIT, PWC, Marathon Oil, The White House, and others.
He has trained over 12,000 hiring managers at global firms, elite military commands,universities, and fast-growing startups on how to hire high performers over his 20-yearcareer. He has been a speaker at SIOP, as well as, at national and internationalconferences.
Joe’s passion is research and teaching. According to the Harvard Business Review, twoout of five new CEOs fail in their first 18 months on the job. Joe has identified twenty-nine failure points that can derail C-class leaders. He advises corporate boards on howto target these failure points when selecting CEOs, CFOs, and senior executives. Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kansas. His newest creation is Interview Ready, an online program created from his years of observing where job candidates fail during the job interview. The program helps job seekers understand the job search process from the employer’s perspective, create position-specific interview questions, and practice their interviewing skills to gain the confidence needed to get job offers.
Show notes:
www.InterviewReady.com
www.accuhire.com
Connect with Joe here: Joe@AccuHire.com
Meet Dr. Angus Fletcher. Dr. Fletcher has his PhD from Yale and is the Professor of Story Science at Ohio State's Project Narrative. His research has been called "mind-blowing" by Malcolm Gladwell and "life-changing" by Brene Brown. In 2023, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his work with US Special Operations on training the brain to act smarter in chaos.
He began working with the Army’s Command and General Staff College two years ago, both virtually and by conducting in-person sessions at military bases.
“If you can come up with an original action and you put two actions together, that’s an original plan. And then you start to put a lot of actions together, and that’s an original strategy,” Fletcher said. “We wanted to train up these areas of the brain that allow you to come up with original actions, plans, plus strategies, so that when you’re in an environment that’s a contested space, when someone else is trying to break your plan, you can come up with a new plan that allows you to achieve what it was you wanted to do in the beginning.”
So how does this apply to our new mission after the military? Tune in today.
For nearly 20 years, Cook County Sheriff’s Police Lt. James Draz has served the community through his various roles while working for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. In 2004, soon after graduating from college, he began his career as a Correctional Officer for the Cook County Department of Corrections which is overseen by the Sheriff’s Office. As a Correctional Officer, he worked in several capacities including becoming a member of the Emergency Response Team.
In 2011, he graduated from the Sheriff’s Basic Recruit Police Training Academy to become a full-time sworn police officer and has since worked as a Patrol Officer, Detective, and Training Academy Instructor. He also was a member of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force and helped oversee the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force.
In 2019, Lt. Draz continued to put in countless hours of hard work and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. It was during this time he helped create and build the Sheriff's Police Special Victims Unit (SVU), with a hyper-focus on extremely difficult cases involving sex trafficking, human trafficking, internet crimes against children, missing persons, at-risk youth, and crimes against animals. It was his dedication, passion, and veracity that led him to his current rank as Lieutenant of SVU, where he continues to combat illegal trafficking and child exploitation crimes.
For years, Lt. Draz has worked closely with local and state agencies across Illinois to combat these types of serious crimes. His undercover work for various case assignments even includes posing as an underage child to catch online predators who are lurking in the dark corners of the internet.
In this episode, we deep dive into trafficking and exploitation and what you can do to protect your family. This is a tough topic that everyone, especially those involved with children needs to listen to.
Long before CBS cast Tyler Grey as operator Trent Sawyer on the hit show SEAL Team, he was a real-life Army Ranger sniper turned operator assigned to the US Army’s most secretive counterterrorism special missions unit. He deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he went after high-value targets and endured multiday reconnaissance missions in austere terrain.
His military career changed forever after Grey was seriously wounded in an explosion during a nighttime raid in Sadr City, Iraq. The injuries took him out of the fight and put him in a hospital for months. His post-injury transition wasn't easy, but it led him to be a prominent veterans’ advocate and started him on his new path: acting and producing in Hollywood. As someone who has been there, and done that, Grey provides a lot of value on set, helping to keep everything realistic and authentic.
In our Season 4 opener, Tyler speaks candidly about the challenges he faced during his transition. From chasing adrenaline to confronting grief and the desire for the peace he found in chaos, self-imposed or not. He shares some great advice about creating awareness about what isn't working for you anymore, how Hollywood is getting it right in how they are telling our stories and other ways in which they're missing the target.
Great stuff, let's dive right in!
Show notes:
Find out more about Tyler Grey here.
Here's how to watch SEAL Team.
Stacey Stone. Where do we even begin! She is our lead coach and has worked with thousands of Special Operations family members, whether active, ETSed, or retired, and their significant others. She has helped to redirect struggling relationships with tools that help us during our worst times. She is here to teach us the tools to help us live our next best life without the bad baggage of our past.
For those who are unaware, Stacey is a licensed clinical social worker who provides coaching services for All Secure Foundation. She specializes in relationship issues related but not limited to trauma and the impact of these painful experiences on both the individual and their relationships.
She was fortunate enough to begin working in the field of mental health in 1989, starting her career in an inpatient addictions facility. Thus began the journey of training with trauma, PTS, depression, anxiety, and grief, to name a few.
The most recent training with couples in emotionally focused therapy (EFT) began about 17 years ago that has enabled a plethora of tools, understanding, and an in-depth approach to working with and supporting people and their most valued relationships utilizing a mapping system to guide them along in their journeys.
She was invited to join the All Secure team in 2019, working with military personnel and their significant others facilitating retreats that includes in-depth communication tools utilizing exercises with the training, guidance and support of Stacey, Tom and Jen.
Beginning in 2020, she began coaching individuals and couples, virtually expanding the generous resources that All Secure Foundation has to offer.
To say that it is a deep honor to work with the military, and their loved ones is such an understatement. “It is with complete gratitude that people trust and let me into the most sacred parts of their lives," says Stacey about what she gets to do with us.
Let’s get right to it! Tune in to hear the tools that can help our relationships and lives, too.
Sheriff Dart has revolutionized a system that most people don't even want to look at, let alone get into the trenches of & that is prison reform. Something that hit home for us in SOF is that if a person can be rehabilitated, then you should take that time & effort to do so. "When they're back on the street which version do you want to bump into at target?"
Sheriff Tom Dart has dedicated his career to challenging injustice, fighting the violence plaguing our communities, & bringing new, thoughtful approaches to public service.
After serving as a prosecutor & an IL state legislator, Sheriff Dart was elected by the people of Cook County, & has brought his reformative vision, & his commitment to action, to his role as sheriff. Sheriff Dart has rewritten the book on what a sheriff can accomplish, looking inside & outside of the conventions of LE for nuanced & thoughtful solutions to help people.
Sheriff Dart’s skills in management, accountability, & forward-thinking leadership was critical in the success of the Cook County Jail being released from almost 40 yrs of oversight by the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal consent decree, making it the only large jail to ever complete such a task.
Sheriff Dart has instituted extensive programming at the Cook County Jail, seeking to give individuals in custody, skills that help to stop the revolving door of incarceration. The Sheriff has sought out creative programming within the jail in the areas of art, chess, construction, cooking, gardening, parenting, & literacy, all of which help foster social & emotional growth for individuals in custody while they await trial.
Sheriff Dart also formed the Cook County Sheriff’s Office’s Treatment Response Team to provide support & assistance (available 24/7) for those in the community struggling with substance abuse issues.
Sheriff Dart has been named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine, & a Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine. He & his wife, Patricia, live on Chicago’s South Side & are the proud and dedicated parents of five children.
There's a reason why we saved this one for our season closer! Tune in to understand why.
The growth mindset is important to cultivate as you journey onto the next step following your time in SOF. In this episode with Aaron, he recognizes and owns what he's done in the past, speaks on imposter syndrome, is able to reflect on his growth, and questions Tom on his same path. Aaron also knows he's not on mile 26 of the marathon of life. There's more growth to come.
Aaron Hill served for five years with the 45 Royal Marine Commandos and five years with the 22 SAS (UKSF). From the military, he went into the private security industry for ten years, working generally in high-risk, high-pressure, hostile environments, but also for a premiership football team and a few of their players.
Feeling the need to be closer to home to support his young family, he retrained as a personal trainer and started working in a local gym outside of Barcelona, Spain.
While in the gym, he went from an under-stimulated and frustrated victim to starting to see his real potential and how to be his authentic self. This was thanks to the work of his friend of mine who coached him and lead him to realise that he had a desire to help people and that for many years he had been living with a very narrow view of the world and about himself
He now works as a resilience coach. It helps drive individuals who feel stuck and want to get the best of themselves and find their own version of success and fulfillment. He lives in Barcelona, Spain, with his wife and two kids.
This episode is exceptional and important for you to listen to as you move on to the next step of your life! Tune in now.
Listen Up! Picture this: our podcast audience is a classroom. Imagine Tom asking, "How many of you know someone within SOF or a veteran of SOF that has been diagnosed with cancer?" We can guarantee every hand would shoot up. This is why you need to listen in to this episode with Dennis Downey.
Dennis Downey is a retired Army officer who spent 26 of 29 years on active duty in Special Forces. He served in a variety of assignments with the 10th and 1st Special Forces Groups and had extensive deployments to both Iraq and the Philippines.
Since retirement in 2010, he has led the First In Asia Association which is dedicated to honoring the fallen from the 1st SFG (A). In 2013, after the death of several friends in the 10th SFG (A), he has been heavily involved with assisting Special Forces Soldiers, their family members, and other Special Operations Forces personnel (CA, PSYOP, Ranger, 160th SOAR, NSW, AFSOC) afflicted with cancers.
He has written to the VA in support of numerous SF Soldiers who are battling for recognition of their cancer as service-connected. He has written both the Commanders of USSOCOM and USASOC to provide information on cancer trends and to help raise awareness of cancer within the force and in the veteran and retiree SF populations.
SF and SOF members and their family members fighting cancer or serving as caregivers to someone with cancer can join the SOF Cancer Fighters Facebook Page for support and information.
Let's dive right into this episode!
Honorable Mentions:
TRICARE covers the following cancer screenings as part of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Benefit:
Below are Dennis's best recommendations for websites for cancer information, awareness, and testing programs:
Special Operations Forces support organizations:
Navy SEAL Foundation - A Nation of Support
Diagnostic Testing:
Top five cancer treatment hospitals in the US:
All Secure fam... meet the brilliant and enlightened Virginia Gallagher. She's been adopted into the SOF community for years. Not only because of her heart and relatable story, but our own active duty community has been sending folks to get yoga teacher training done by her, at Hot Asana, for years. This is so that they can teach it at groups and on deployments.
Virginia knows that we are all on our own personal journeys, and she is ready to share a little bit about her yoga journey with us!
Virginia attended her first hot yoga class on August 12, 2007, and fell in love with the mental and physical connection. She began practicing 3 – 6 times a week, shed 40 pounds in 4 months, and was able to discontinue the use of all of her prescription medications. She began to feel healthier and stronger than ever. Convinced of the benefits of yoga, she continued her daily practice and began to deepen her dedication to and knowledge of yoga.
In this episode, we deep dive into the ideology of, "what we heal in ourself we heal in the world." We had a wonderful time speaking with Virginia, and it's no wonder that a significant number of her students are from our community. She gets IT. She gets us. You have to listen in to this one to understand!
Bryce Mahoney is a US Army Special Operations Veteran living in North Carolina. He served in 3rd Ranger Battalion, Joint Security Area Korea, and E. co 51st Long Range Surveillance.
After leaving the military he struggled to find his purpose again. Through trial and error he came to the realization that to provide peace to others you first must be in a place of peace yourself, and that started with relocating to the mountains where he could fulfill his purpose.
He is the owner of Yadkin Valley Adventure, an all-inclusive adventure outfitter whose mission is to remove as many barriers as possible for people to experience the outdoors. He serves as an NC contact for Climbers For Christ and is the Northern Piedmont Board Representative for Carolina Climbers Coalition.
He is an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt. He is married to Charissa and has three children, Parker, Kellen, and Jax. In his free time, he is either climbing rocks with friends, building and repairing trails, or spending time with his family.
Straight from the hot tub in his back yard, here is Bryce. Let’s dive right in!!
Honorable Mentions:
Yadkin Valley Adventure
Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist, frequently requested keynote speaker, award-winning podcast host, and one of the world's leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition, suicide prevention, and close relationships. A Harvard graduate who has become a trusted Doc to our nation’s military warfighters and first responders, she navigates diverse cultures with exceptional agility. She is the author of three best-selling books, WARRIOR: How to Support Those Who Protect Us, BEYOND THE MILITARY: A Leader’s Handbook for Warrior Reintegration, and RELENTLESS COURAGE: Winning the Battle Against Frontline Trauma. As the Chief Psychologist for STELLA, she advances a new model for treating psychological trauma that combines biological and psychological interventions.
Doctor Shauna Springer is an expert in all things PTSI (Post Traumatic Stress Injury) and has spent over a decade working with elite warriors and their families in healing from trauma, no matter the source of it. We are coming in hot with this first episode of 'Listen Up!'
Honorable Mentions:
Connect with Doc Springer on Linkedin
Stella | Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) & Ketamine Therapy Treatment - Stella (stellacenter.com)
Speaking - Doc Shauna Springer
WARRIOR: Doc Springer's Personal Online Guide to Her Work (shaunaspringer.com)
Eric Frohardt is a Navy SEAL combat veteran with nearly 12 years of service to our great nation. While on active duty, he served on various SEAL Teams including the highly revered Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru). Over the course of his career, he deployed numerous times to hot spots around the world including Iraq and Afghanistan.
As a SEAL, Eric was trained in the use of various firearms, explosives, radio and computer communication devices, combat diving, high-altitude parachuting, battlefield medicine, wilderness survival, climbing, mountaineering, hand-to-hand combat, and tactical driving. He was also a sniper! While on active duty he also climbed El Capitan and (2) of the (7) Summits: Denali and Aconcagua.
Eric was medically retired at the beginning of 2010 as a SEAL Operator, Chief after being injured in combat. After leaving the Navy, Eric went on to start an indoor gun range and gun store in Lakewood, CO. He stepped down from the daily operations in order to become the CEO of StrongFirst, a fitness company with nearly 5,000 instructors in over 40-countries. After that, Eric served as the Director of Education and Training for the National Rifle Association where he led and served the over 110,000 NRA Certified Firearms Trainers nationwide. Now, Eric works as the COO of Defy, a performance beverage company with nationwide distribution in over 11,000 stores.
Most importantly, Eric and his wife have been happily married for 20 years and they have 4 kids ranging from 10 to 17 years old. He volunteers for the Navy SEAL Foundation and serves as a committee chair for the Denver-based, “Evening of Tribute.” He is also active in his church and local community. Most of all, he enjoys being a husband and father!
Honorable mentions:
Connect with Eric on Linkedin.
Be part of the Navy SEAL Foundation's “Evening of Tribute” in Denver
Drink Defy
StrongFirst: School of Strength
Born in Chicago and raised in St. Louis, John Stillman was a quiet boy yet found fun in teasing his younger sisters and brother. His love for the Rome plows in Vietnam led him to a career as an operating engineer, where he earned a living running the big equipment on job sites. Now retired, he busies himself helping out with nonprofit veteran’s organizations and tending to the almost one hundred acres he calls home in Missouri. John has been happily married to his wife Rita for fifty- three years and is the father of four children, two daughters and two sons. He still loves his road trips.
Unearthing fifty years of repressed memories with stunning accuracy and raw details, John also wrote a book. It is titled, Jumping from Helicopters, and is a vivid and moving Vietnam memoir that will open your eyes to the realities of what our brave young men witnessed and endured, and why they returned facing a lifetime of often unspoken unrest, persistent nightmares, and forced normalcy.
This is a very special episode with an incredible man and Warrior. Hearing these stories is often rare or told second-hand, so don't miss this episode!
Grab a copy of that book here.
Herb Thompson is a retired Special Forces Team Sergeant and award-winning author of The Transition Mission. He is the only person ever to be the Army’s Drill Sergeant of the Year and earn the Green Beret. Corrie Burton has 20 years of HR Growth Strategy experience and is deeply invested in supporting those transitioning and their spouses. In fact, that’s how she and Herb met! Together, they team up to tackle tough topics to support the military community.
In this episode, Herb and Corrie share part of their journey with all of us. They talk about their paths both individually and on their road together. Transitions (military or otherwise) can be tough, blending families can be tougher, and healing from trauma can be the ultimate test of your relationship, yet having a strong relationship with your forever battle buddy can make that road much easier and the load much lighter.
You'll hear how Herb and Corrie take care of each other and nurture each other; playing hard and loving harder. This couple knows a thing or two about strong bonds and not only how to create them but sustain them!
Subscribe and tune in today!
Honorable Mentions:
Grab a copy of Herb's award-winning book by clicking here.
Dr. Kate Pate is a Ph.D. neurophysiologist and Founder of The Way Back, a company that provides education and coaching services related to military, veteran, and first responder health, often in wilderness settings. Within these communities, she advocates for functional and non-traditional approaches to healing. She is also the Founder and CEO of Coruna Medical, a military-specific medical company that creates innovative solutions for administering medical care in austere environments. Kate serves on the Board of the Psychedelic Medicine Association and is part of the Medical Advisory and Research Team for HunterSeven Foundation as well as the Human Performance Team at SOFlete.
Kate’s doctoral research focused on respiratory neurophysiology, or the brain-breath-body connection, but her postdoctoral research was broader and involved studying the role of redox biology in inflammatory disease processes. The latter included the specific study of traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury, arthritis, and cancer and radiation biology. The topics she’s most passionate about these days include TBI, neuroinflammation, and mental health.
In this episode, you will hear her passion for serving those who serve, and that has led to many innovations in care. She is a leader in the community through her many efforts in research, and coaching, and today she shares with us the science behind Post Traumatic Stress Injury, how it can show up in your life, and ways to begin your healing journey forward, today.
Tune in and share this one with your friends, please. It will change perceptions, provide resources, and get you on the way to the life you deserve to live!
We are BACK! Season 3 is launching with an unfiltered discussion on getting your life together. We can all agree that doing so takes a certain level of honesty and accountability which can be very uncomfortable and extremely challenging. Getting your act together also demands you to be vulnerable with the connections you surround yourself with. Not only at home but within your entire community. Who better to talk about all of this than with Doug Kiesewetter? SFC Kiesewetter is a dad, an avid adventurer, and a dog lover. He’s also a Special Forces Engineer and Weapons Sergeant with the US Army National Guard 20th Special Forces Group and the Chief Content Officer at SOFLETE, a premier group of current and former SOF personnel who have collaborated with non-SOF experts in the fitness industry who have created an app and fitness-based brand surrounding combat athlete programming. Doug has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa.
In this episode, we get the privilege to dive deep into Doug’s very relatable personal life. We talk about his divorce, co-parenting, alternative healing treatments through other organizations like Task Force Dagger Foundation, discussing your faults with your children, asking for forgiveness, and with that forgiveness learning from your mistakes and making sure to not let them happen again. This podcast reminds us all that no matter your rank, your job title, and even your notoriety, sharing your very human experiences with the people in your community will help strengthen the individuals in it, generationally.
You can’t miss this one! Subscribe and Tune in today.
Honorable Mentions to Check Out:
J. Matthew French is a St. Louis-based attorney with Morgan & Morgan and is a fourteen-year veteran of the U.S. Army. Matt served as a combat medic, with nearly ten years in the Special Operations community. Upon leaving the military, he attended Saint Louis University School of Law and now practices law in the areas of personal injury and medical malpractice with an emphasis on catastrophic injuries and wrongful death actions.
Matt is Chief Legal Officer and Advisory Board Member for All Secure Foundation and offers his services to those warriors who need them most. He shares with us an all-too-familiar story of how he too suffered through a hard transition from the military and offers his thoughts on how he turned things around, facilitating growth for his life and family.
Matt's Twitter
Contact Matt via email: MFrench@forthepeople.com
This episode is a little different in that we have not one, but two guests. Today we welcome Marcus and Amber Capone. Over the course of 13 years, Marcus served through multiple combat deployments as a U.S. Navy SEAL until he medically retired in 2013. He and his wife, Amber, thought that life would return to "normal," when in truth, their struggle had just begun. Marcus was experiencing an ever-growing echelon of challenges, including depression, isolation, cognitive impairment, excessive alcohol use, headaches, insomnia, intense mood swings, and impulsivity. Marcus was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress Injury (PTSI). Shocked by this discovery, Amber felt there was more to the story. After learning about the effects of blast waves, concussive, and sub-concussive brain injuries, a broader picture was painted. Marcus’ military career as an explosives expert, combined with his prior years of contact sports, had left him with the seemingly invisible wounds of traumatic brain injury (TBI), a condition that has significant overlap with PTSI, and is often not properly diagnosed. Subsequently, they cofounded Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS) with a mission to end veteran suicide, providing resources, research, and advocacy for U.S. Military Veterans seeking treatment with psychedelic-assisted therapy.
To support their organization and to find out more about VETS, please click here.
Today we're sitting down with basketball Coach Chris Hollender. Coach Hollender has an excellent resume that includes coaching positions at West Point, Evansville, Mississippi State, and the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He then joined MIZZOU, where in his first season the team reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 7 years. Tom says it best in this episode "It seems like everywhere you've gone...that team has improved," which, of course, Chris humbly disagrees with. Chris explains what coaching means to him, and why it is so important in the development of these young men's lives. Often, a coach spends more time with these men than anyone. Inevitably, this builds strong, lasting relationships in which a coach wears many other hats - mentor, counselor, friend, manager, and sometimes a parental figure. You may be surprised to learn that the stress on a coach and their family life mirrors greatly the stress of an Operator and their family. There's a lot to learn from Chris' insight in this episode, so let's dive in!
Check out Chris' Twitter.
Find out more about Just Play here.
Today's guest is retired Navy SEAL, Robert Sweetman. He joined the Navy at 28 years old specifically to become a Navy SEAL, and by 29 had already completed BUDS. He served for 8 years through 2 deployments with SEAL Team 7 and became an instructor at Advanced Training Command. After medically retiring from a back injury, Robert later found he had hidden injuries as well - PTS, TBI, sleep apnea, and insomnia. One of Robert's close friends and platoon mates, Ryan Larkin, was also struggling with PTS, TBI, and issues with sleep. On April 23rd, 2017, Ryan took his own life. In the aftermath of Ryan's death, Robert took it upon himself to understand the nuances of sleep. This ultimately led him to create 62 Romeo. 62 Romeo teaches a four-pillar system that has been incredibly successful in helping veterans and first responders cultivate a healthy and lasting relationship with their sleep. This episode is packed full of information, some of which may surprise you. Get your notepads ready as we dive into sleep with none other than our community's Sleep Scientist, Robert Sweetman.
Find out more at 62Romeo.org
Connect with Robert via email: Rob@62romeo.org
Today's guest is none other than EJ "Scull Crusher" Snyder. EJ fought in the Gulf and Iraq wars, has been a Drill Sergeant, and taught at the Florida Ranger Camp and the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg. He was awarded 2 Bronze Stars, a Legion of Merit, and retired as a Sergeant Major. He has many military accolades, but most of you will recognize him from Naked and Afraid (with 6 completions) or Dual Survival. EJ really lets his personality shine in this episode. Not only does he share some valuable information, he is an absolute joy to listen to. So, as Tom and Jen say, let's dive right in.
EJ's website
Last episode we began the epic journey that is the story of Howard Storm. Today we continue this journey. Get ready for part two of Howard Storm.
Howard's Books - Amazon
This season of All Secure has taken us to a lot of places we didn't expect! This one certainly shocked us. Our next show is with Howard Storm. Storm is a Christian Minister, writer, painter, former Professor, and current Chairman of the Art Department at Northern Kentucky University. While awaiting a surgeon in a hospital in Paris with life-threatening injuries, Howard passed away. The events that unfolded next are shocking and awe-inducing, as he recounts his meeting with demons and how Jesus, Himself, came to his rescue, forever changing his life. When he entered this hospital room, Howard was an atheist. However, he awoke in his hospital bed an adamant Christian, which has shaped his life to this day. This story is absolutely breathtaking, so ready yourself as we dive into part one of Howard Storm.
Grab a copy of Howard Storm's Books on Amazon.
This episode's topic might be tough to listen to for some, but if you come with an open mind, you'll be glad you did. In our society and specifically our long-term relationships, we are often confronted with the question: "Why do couples stop having sex?" That's the wrong question. We should be asking, "why do couples have sex?" Today we're talking sex with Emily Nagoski. EMILY NAGOSKI is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestselling Come As You Are and The Come As You Are Workbook, and coauthor, with her sister, Amelia, of New York Times bestseller Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. She earned an M.S. in counseling and a Ph.D. in health behavior, both from Indiana University, with clinical and research training at the Kinsey Institute. Now she combines sex education and stress education to teach women to live with confidence and joy inside their bodies. She lives in Massachusetts with two dogs, a cat, and a cartoonist.
Resources from the episode:
You can find Emily's podcasts, Ted Talks, and more here.
Magnificent Sex: Lessons from Extraordinary Lovers here.
Here are the best ways to connect with Emily - Buy Come As You Are, second edition by clicking here.
Buy her latest book, Burnout, by clicking here.
Chris VanSant spent more than 20 years in the Army as an Infantryman, Ranger, Green Beret, and Operator in the unit with Tom. He has completed 11 combat deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. Following his honorable service to our great nation, he has used his leadership skills to serve as an Executive within the tactical outdoor product industries. Today, Chris and his incredible wife, Robin, are on a mission to tackle the Seven Summits together. Chris explains why being in nature is so cathartic for him and how these experiences have forged an unbreakable bond between him and his wife.
Connect with Chris VanSant on Linkedin.
To kick off season 2 of All Secure, we are telling a different kind of story than usual. Peter Forcelli is a retired ATF Deputy Assistant Director, former NYPD Homicide Detective, and 9/11 survivor. Peter recounts the harrowing events of that day, how he almost didn't make it out alive, and how many of his friends did not. He shares how this changed him, and his family, and once he accepted help for his PTS, how he was changed once again.
Colonel Stu Farris is an Army Special Forces Officer with over 25 years of service. He has commanded Special Forces units from the operational detachment to the group level and served six tours in Afghanistan leading tactical SF units in combat. As retirement quickly approaches for Stu, he reflects on his time in the military and looks at his service, not through the lens of deployments or personal accolades, but with a human-first mentality. Listen in as he shares with us his tremendous wisdom, insight, and compassion for others in this episode of All Secure.
Today, we have the privilege of talking with retired Army Sergeant Major, former Special Operations, and USMC Veteran Erick Miyares. In this episode, Erick shares some deeply profound moments from his time in and out of the military. You might want to keep a notepad handy for this conversation because he gives real-world strategies regarding the transition to civilian life, family, physical health, mental health, and maintaining strong cognitive ability.
On our show today, we're talking with Special Operations Sergeant Major Jack Stottlemire. He is the owner of Rustick Knives, a one-man shop where he uses his military experience to forge hard-use blades. Jack also gives back with Conflict Forge, where he takes steel from our nation's battlefields (from all over the world) to make functional art. These pieces are then auctioned or sold to benefit veteran charities. He is also the founder of the Veterans Adaptive Motorcycle Program (VAMP). VAMP's mission is to restore the freedom of two wheels on the open road to as many veterans as possible. They accomplish this by facilitating mechanical modifications to motorcycles according to each wounded veteran rider’s unique needs.
Today we're talking with Dr. Alexandra Solomon. Over the last two decades, Dr. Solomon has become one of today’s most trusted voices in the world of relationships, and her work on Relational Self-Awareness has reached millions of people around the world. Dr. Solomon is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Family Institute at Northwestern University, and she is on faculty in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University where she teaches the internationally renowned course, Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101. In addition to writing articles and chapters for leading academic journals and books in the field of marriage and family, she is the author of two bestselling books, Loving Bravely and Taking Sexy Back. Dr. Solomon regularly presents to diverse groups that include the United States Military Academy at West Point and Microsoft, and she is frequently asked to talk about relationships with media outlets like The Today Show, O Magazine, The Atlantic, Vogue, and Scientific American.
Find out more about Dr. Solomon here.
Dr. Solomon's podcast, Reimagining Love : Ten Essential Skills for Navigating Conflict: Part 1
Today we're talking with Sergeant Major Pat McNamara, a retired Special Operator and owner of TMACS Inc. If you follow Pat, you might expect talk about working out in the driveway gym, Basic Dude Stuff, or dad jokes, but the conversation goes much deeper. In this episode, Pat shares for the first time publicly about his struggles with a chronic illness that showed up virtually overnight and how, despite the constant pain this condition has caused for over a year and half, he refuses to give in. Like Pat says, "when you're all out of motivation, you have to rely on discipline. "TMACS Inc. is a tactical training company for which Pat has developed a training methodology that is safe, effective, combat relevant, and encourages a continuous thought process.
Find out more about TMACS Inc. here.
Today we're talking with Phil Sussman, an Army Special Operations Veteran, teacher, photographer, and co-founder of American Yogi. In this episode, Phil dives deep into the mental and physical trauma of being in the military. He doesn't sugarcoat anything and gets to the root of these traumas, their consequences, as well as the steps he's taken to rebuild his life, body, and relationship with his family.American Yogi's goal is to help men and women use yoga as a vehicle for peace, breaking the stigma around men who practice yoga and spreading awareness of its benefits within the veteran community.
To find out more about American Yogi, click here.
In today's episode Tom and Jen discuss their experiences with psychedelic medicine. This has a been a multiyear process full of research, planning, self-discovery, healing and acceptance. There are no magic pills for mental health challenges, but psychedelic therapies offer a unique approach to addressing these issues. How can you safely experience these therapies, what are the risks, how can it change you after the fact, and what is the experience itself like? Today on All Secure, we dive into all of these questions and more.
Today we're talking with former Army Ranger and founder of the Heroic Hearts Project, Jesse Gould. Jesse has spearheaded the research and acceptance of ayahuasca, ibogaine, and other psychedelics as an alternative to pharmaceutical treatments. Heroic Hearts Project has connected countless veterans to psychedelic treatments, partnering with the world's leading psychedelic centers. Jesse is recognized as one of the most influential voices in psychedelics today and has spoken globally about their benefits on mental health.
Check out Heroic Hearts Project here.
Today we're talking with Rick Hogg, a 29 year U.S. Army Special Operations combat veteran with 13 deployments between Iraq and Afghanistan. He has taken this experience, along with his time as a Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat instructor, and used his skills to create a proven methodology service company, Warhogg Tactical Inc.
You can find out more about Warhogg Tactical here.
Today we're talking with SGM Jamey Caldwell, who served seven years with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He spent the next 14 years in a Special Missions Unit that maintained a high operational tempo in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous other countries. He has deployed to combat 14 times and conducted well over 500 missions. Now, Jamey is a professional angler and owner of 1 Minute Out, which offers tactical, rifle, pistol and night vision training.
Check out 1 Minute Out here.