When Vickie first heard the words, “You have stage-four cancer,” she knew she would need to be strong—for Mitch and for their family. Over the next twenty-six months, she balanced her career and home life while navigating an exhausting and unfamiliar world of medical decisions, treatment options, departmental benefits, workers’ compensation challenges, and legal complexities.

Amid uncertainty, emotional strain, and profound disruption of their lives, Vickie stood steadfast beside Mitch, advocating for him and fighting alongside him throughout his battle with cancer. Though that fight ultimately ended in the heartbreaking loss of her life partner, it became the foundation for her purpose.

Today, Vickie is a nationally recognized advocate for law enforcement officers facing cancer. She advises law enforcement agencies nationwide on establishing comprehensive cancer wellness programs—often for the first time—ensuring officers and their families have access to vital information, support, and protection.

Rusty has spent a lifetime in law enforcement, He is also acommitted husband and a proud father.

As he enters the latter years of his career, his goal is tofacilitate change so that law enforcement leaders can learn, grow, and be better than the ones he experienced as a young officer. One of the concepts Rusty believes leaders must address is that some of the problems related to officer wellness stem from how they have been led.

Rusty talks about his career, shares about losing fellow officers, experiencing grief, enduring struggle, the impact he felt while on the receiving end of administrative betrayal., how he rebuilt himself and revived his career.

He also shares how and when he reached out for help, along with the importance and significance of having access to trained peer support. availability

Sergeant Ayman Kafel joins us on the podcast - Ayman is a law enforcement supervisor, military veteran, educator, and writer whose work focuses on leadership, resilience, human behavior, and performance under pressure. With more than two decades of combined experience in law enforcement,tactical operations, and military service, he has built a reputation for calm leadership, disciplined thinking, and the ability to operate effectively in high-stress environments.

Ayman shares his experiences immigrating to America, the challenges his family faced and struggles they endured, he talks about his military service, career in law enforcement, education, writing as a process and an outlet, and how that blends together, informed his perspective, and ignited his curiosities.Ayman's work often explores the intersection of neuroscience, mindset, leadership, stress exposure, and human performance.

This episode is dedicated in memory of Chief Joseph Davis, a man of honor, integrity, and service.

(May 11, 1948 - May 21, 2026).

In this episode we have a conversation with retired Police Chief Russell Jenkins, retired Fire Chief Joe Davis, and retired Police Captain Joe Comperchio. This panel of retired first responders share about their early days on the job, duty trauma, some of the calls that stuck with them, how these careers effect our family members, loss, grief, retirement, and how to prepare for that process.

Mike Peterson returns to the podcast - He is a Veteran, a federal LEO, and a mindfulness expert who also works in the First Responder Mental Health Field. Mike shares his story with raw, unflinching, honesty – he speaks about his own pathway into service, his military deployments, thehardship and loss he and his fellow soldiers endured – how he reacted to those difficult stressors in real time, and the impact those events had on him in the long term. Mike also shares about his career in law enforcement, how eventually he began leaning into the bottle and relying on booze to avoid the mounting pressures, developed discomfort, irritability, and behavior changes often associated with years of service.

Mike explains that he came to recognize a struggle within himself, shares what led him to begin addressing those issues, and how he now helps others to do their own work.

He also talks about mindfulness, and suggests that we all could benefit from learning how to better engage with our thinking brain, from breathing with intention, from applying logic to stressors that want to activate us in ways that causeemotional reactions, rather than critical thought, problem solving, resolution of internal discomfort, and forward movement.

To learn more about Mike check out New England Mindfulness and Performance.

Erin Lynch is a Suicide Loss Survivor. She lost her father Eddie Lynch, a 35 year Boston Firefighter to Suicide in 2014. Erin shares what it was like being raised by a firefighter, she discusses the dynamics of her family, speaks openly about the day that her father passed, the days, weeks, months, and years that followed.

She talks about the initial shock and turmoil, she describes the weight of her grief and how she was impacted by it, and explains how she was able to heal, move forward from that loss, and how she now uses the experience to help others.

Brianna McCarty joins us on the podcast and shares how she was inspired by a family legacy in law enforcement, which led her to pursuing a career in policing where she gained firsthand experience in the realities and challenges of the profession.Brianna not only talks about her career in law enforcement, she talks about the calls she responded to that stayed with her, the ones that impacted her, and caused disruption in her life; personally and professionally. Today Brianna is a certified peer support advocate with a passion for improving mental health awareness within the first responder community. Although her time in law enforcement was cut short, it was deeply impactful and continues to shape her work today. Brianna now focuses on supporting first responders through peer support initiatives, open dialogue, and advocacy efforts aimed at reducing stigma and strengthening resilience. She is also the host of a podcast dedicated to sharing real stories from first responders, as well as a virtual peer support group that provides a space for connection, understanding, and conversation around the unique challenges of the job.

Chief Michael Assad joins the podcast and shares with us about his career in law enforcement and some of the mental health challenges he has faced himself throughout that career. He talks about the importance of prioritizing family, not just for himself but for his officers as well. Chief Assad also explains the specific steps he has taken to implement a culture of wellness within his department, how he incentivizes exercise and fitness, and the importance of being open and responsive to the comments, feedback and suggestions of his department members.