The Things We All Carry

Marshall (Reissue)

In this episode of "The Things We All Carry," Stack reflects on the aftermath of Christmas and the emotions that come with it. Sharing personal experiences, Stackdiscusses the blend of anticipation and letdown that often accompanies the holiday season.Keeping the introduction short due to a recovering voice, Stack reintroduces Marshall, a newly promoted fire captain and a colleague with a unique journey in the fire service. Marshall, a cancer survivor diagnosed at age 19, shares his remarkable story of overcoming aggressive cancer and the subsequent challenge of rediscovering life. The conversation delves into Marshall's survivor's guilt, a constant battle with the fear of cancer recurrence, and the emotional toll of living with uncertainty.Marshall's experiences in the fire service unfold, including the tragic suicide of a crew member named Marcello. Marshall candidly discusses the impact of suicide on the crew and his personal coping mechanisms. The episode further explores Marshall's family life, addressing his son's struggles with ADHD and the adjustments made within the family to provide necessary support and care.Throughout the conversation, Marshall emphasizes the importance of therapy in addressing untreated issues stemming from his experiences in the fire service, cancer diagnosis, and family challenges. The episode offers a compelling and open dialogue on the complexities of life, mental health, and resilience within the context of a demanding profession.Originally released as episode seven, this reissue provides a poignant and insightful glimpse into Marshall's journey, highlighting themes of survival, resilience, and the ongoing pursuit of mental well-being. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Tyler (WI)

This week's episode is from the vault. I'm re releasing episode 37. Tyler is from Wisconsin, he is a firefighter for 18 years and 12 of those he's been in EMS  Tyler is currently a paramedic and a captain in his department.He has one of those stories where the personal is intertwined with the professional. He was married, he was divorced, and then tragedy struck. He shares his story of not only that tragedy, but what he did to overcome the tragedy, and how he's moved forward, and where he is today.  As I said in my initial write up or intro for this show,  it focuses on his life, that fateful day, his recovery, and his message to anyone fighting their own demons. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Bobby - NC

Bobby is out of Raleigh, North Carolina. He joined the fire service as a  part of the junior program in 2008. He turned 18 and he was hired as a career firefighter. He is what you would call your prototypical black cloud. Any, as he said, any fucked up call in the department has happened when he's been on shift.  He's had  numerous traumatic calls. In 2018 he had a brush with death He brushes it off as I spent some time in the hospital kind of thing but he  came close to damn near dying.Between constant work,full time firefighting, part time firefighting, chimney work, construction work, he left no time for family and it took a toll. Then he had this call that just tipped the scales and something snapped. He reached out for help after a suicide attempt. You'll hear in the show where that suicide attempt was and how he was found. He found this program called Shields and Stripes, and he spent a month out in Arizona with this program and he can't say enough good things about it.  They allowed him to find himself. They allowed him to find some of the root causes of what's going on. They allowed him to repair himself, repair his relationship with his family and start down a path of health and happiness basically.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

BiohackerBabes Lauren & Renee

Welcome to Episode 94 of The Things We All Carry. Today, I'm joined by sisters Lauren and Renee.  Lauren and Renee are both nutrition and health coaches and they go by the term of biohackers. You can find them on Instagram under @biohackerbabes.They talk about biohacking, they talk about about health, nutrition, fitness, everything that you can think of that is going to benefit you and change you for the better. They were introduced to this at a young age  and they grew up with this. They were taught this importance of experimentation and individualization. From that individualization and this experimentation they began searching for the edge, for what's going to optimize your health and wellness. Their podcast, The Biohacker Babes, and I quote from their bio "aims to create insight into the body's natural healing abilities, strengthen your intuition and empower you with techniques and modalities to optimize your health and wellness." This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

JordanH - NC

I want to welcome you to episode 93 of The Things We All Carry. It blows my mind that I said 93. I'm creeping up on 100 episodes, and I didn't know where this show was going to go But coming up on 100 episodes is fantastic in my mind.Jordan Hood started as a volunteer firefighter in 2002 in Pennsylvania in a very small volunteer company. He moved on to York PA in 2008, taking a step up to about 600, 700 runs a year. Then he started applying to jobs up and down the East Coast and ended up landing in Prince George's County, Maryland in 2013.  Prince George's is a busy combination system. It's a large system, bordering D. C., and they run a lot, a lot of calls. That's kind of been the theme, each position he's done, he's brought more calls, more trauma, and more stress to his life.He ultimately left Prince George's County for a city job because he's always wanted to be a city firefighter. He's been with Charlotte, North Carolina for over five years now.  Jordan reached out to me when he listened to my episode with Mike Nasti on Tip of the Spear Leadership. Turns out that Jordan rode an engine with Mike in Prince George's County. They had  a fire which they both have spoken about. Jordan gets into that fire towards  the middle of this episode  and how it affected him and how it affected Mike and how they move forward from it. He's done a lot. He's seen a lot. He's been through a lot and he's, he's taken some ownership of everything lately. That's the best part, he's taken some ownership. He's made some changes and he's come out the other end a better person, a better husband, a better father. And a better firefighter and hopefully in the future a better leader because he's looking to move up in the ranks This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

The Angry VikingTherapist

 Today, I have the pleasure of bringing to you a gentleman who goes by the name the Angry Viking Therapist. You can find him under Dr. Trevor Wilkins on Instagram.Dr. Trevor Wilkins is a licensed professional clinical counselor and he lives in Kentucky.  He specializes in symptoms related to trauma, depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder. He works with us, this, this first responder community, the military community, high stress environments. He's been one of us. He was a volunteer firefighter, he was an EMT,  and he was a law enforcement officer for 15 years..... including a good stint with Kentucky State Police.  He had his own s**t go on in his life He switched gears, went back to school, got his master's degree, started his own practice, and then went back to school again and got his doctorate.He is a he's a fascinating individual.  He works in what we call Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.  We get into that a little bit. It's a pioneering form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. It's a little less, I don't know, a little less forgiving in a way.....not as pretty. It forces you to kind of think about your reaction to  antecedents and how you can change your reaction to those....and it would change the outcome quite a bit for you.  As well as working with rational emotive behavior therapy, he's also specializes in EMDR  We've talked about EMDR quite a bit and he, he makes some good points about how he works with the two and how one is more generalized one might be more specific.It was a really good conversation with a fascinating individual. Who I hope to have back on the show and we're going to talk about a few more things because we started to go down a tangent and it's worth exploring.  So you guys  settle in, listen to Dr. Trevor Wilkins, the Angry Viking Therapist. Go enjoy your Thanksgiving.Enjoy your time with family. Enjoy your time with friends. Enjoy some time off from work, hopefully. And get out there and do something for yourselves. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Curtis - KY

Episode 91Curtis reached out to me a while ago. He was in a bad spot and he wanted information. He wanted to know how he could get help if he was in a department that's not union and he wanted to get into the Center of Excellence. He didn't know how to do that and he and I went back and forth. He also went back and forth with the guys from Next Rung who run an amazing program there. If you haven't heard of them, go check them out. They do amazing work. He and I went back and forth and I just off ered some support when I could and, and some guidance when I could. Luckily it worked out for him. He found his way into the Center of Excellence as you'll hear in the show. A little background on Curtis. He's 16 years in the fire service between EMT and actual fire. He sent me a note and he said he thought he could run from the anger. However, it followed him wherever he went.  He had to see he was in trouble and he didn't do that until it was almost too late for him. As a number of my guests have said,  he just hopes that one person could get something out of this show, out of the podcast, out of his story.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

AdamL - OH

Welcome to Episode 90 of The Things We All Carry. This week I sat down with Adam from Ohio. Adam's been in the fire service a little bit over 10 years. He's been active in the union and some of that has kind of come back and bit him in the ass a little bit. He'll tell his side of that story and you kind of figure out why.Adam's a father and a husband. He has an addiction that we haven't covered yet on this show. Food has been his drug of choice  and he finally got to the point where he had to say enough is enough and he had to make some physical changes. He had to make some emotional changes and he had to make some mental changes, strengthen somethings n himself. He's done that and he's made it an amazing transformation, not only. physically but emotionally and mentally as well. He is a strong person and I don't mean that in only a physical sense, but he's a strong person for what he's done for himself and for what he's done for his family.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Stack on Tip of the Spear Leadership

Welcome to Episode 89 of The Things We All Carry. This is a podcast I recorded with Mike Nasti of Tip of the Spear Leadership. He was gracious enough to let me use the recording as a standalone episode for The Things We All Carry. He reached out to me to talk about mental health and how it affects leadership, especially in the fire service. I think you can apply that to leadership in general. So hopefully what you hear  is worthwhile and interesting and you can take away something from it and apply it to your own life. I want to thank Mike for being a friend and being open to having me on the show. And for being the guest on my show a couple of times, I guess this technically makes number three for him.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com

Kevin E - Cali

This week I welcome Kevin Easley.Kevin is out of San Diego City. He's been he's been a firefighter for 30 plus years He's coming to the end of a career. I guess you could say an illustrious career, he's seen a lot of things. He's been through a number of traumatic events. He's had victories and  he's had losses quite frankly.....and he has learned how to deal with both of those.He's learned how to almost remake himself in some ways. He's been a captain on a heavy rescue in San Diego city for the majority of his career. He's a special operations guy through and through and we talked for about two hours. It was one of those conversations where I think we both just got lost in it and we probably could have talked for a little bit longer. But I had taken up enough of his time. Maybe he'll come back on and share some more.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thethingsweallcarry.substack.com