Blue Grit Radio : the podcast to build better police through mindset and wellness

Cold therapy... ice plunges... breathwork. There is a lot of info and content continuing to grow in these fields, but what are the REAL benefits and real potential drawbacks or dangers the IG reels aren't showing? These are worthy modalities to discuss in our quest to keep refining our knowledge and practice to decompress our stress and build our optimal careers and lives!
Enter Adam Boyd, experienced police officer, SWAT team member and detective. Combine that with his background in endurance training, you had a cop's cop that knew stress from both ends: patrol/tactical calls and casework. Adam tells his story in law enforcement and how he came to get trained in strength and conditioning atop his background in endurance sport.
Adam's awareness and health insight went next level when he attended training through Wim Hof- focused on breathwork and cold therapy. We discuss the different factors to consider and why, when, and how one may consider experimenting and trying these methods. Adam answers my questions, and as of this writing, I have dabbled back into cold showers as the weather cools outside! BRRR!
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Adam Boyd is the founder and CEO of Soleful Training. He has over a decade of experience as a police officer, three of which were on a SWAT team and 6 as a Detective. Adam created department wellness challenges and programming, trained their SWAT team, assigned as PT team lead, and revamped the SWAT PT applicant process.
Adam amassed certifications such as NSCA Tactical Facilitator, Leadership Resilience (Harvard Business School), FBINA Comprehensive Resilience Train the Trainer, Wim Hof Level 1, XPT Performance Breathing Coach, and AZ POST Physical Fitness Instructor. He is also an ultra runner and has completed an ultra distance over a dozen times to include two 100 mile runs. Adam's experience allowed him to understand the rigors of the job which prompted him to create a holistic wellness program that focuses on first responders.
Soleful Training's holistic wellness program consists of 4 pillars: physical resilience, mental resilience, social resilience, and purpose. Soleful Training's focus is on changing behavior, not just providing knowledge. Our first responders deserve to have the tools to prevent and assist with the stressors of the job.
You can find Adam on LinkedIn and at:
https://www.solefultraining.com/about

Don’t forget to like, SHARE and subscribe to Blue Grit Radio on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and more! This is the best way you can support this podcast, our message and support in the topics we discuss!
Please help us grow the positive conversations and community by liking, reviewing, and giving us a solid rating to help others find the show. Be well and stay gritty!
You can follow along with the most updated content on IG: @bluegritwellness ! Leave a comment, ask your questions at IG or email me at [email protected] !
We are always talking about police and first responder wellness, how to be a cop, self development, career development, organizational culture and development and so much more! This isn't just to uplift the policing community and profession, but THE Community. Let's do it one conversation at a time!
music credit: Drive by AShamaluevMusic

It was years of hearing about the true servant leader, Andy McCurdy, before I came to meet him. His reputation preceded him in all the great ways. Like his brother, Pat, Andy was also known for leading with compassion, truly being there for his guys, and fostering wellness and peer support throughout the ranks.
When I was starting to find my voice with Blue Grit, one of my officers turned me onto the Leaderist - a police leadership podcast started by Lexi Harris. I thus got to learn about Chief McCurdy- when he was running a contract city for the County- and hear how his passion moved beyond officers, operations, and into the community- truly what this work is all about.
It was years later that we met in response to Deputy Dom Calata’s death.. sadly as many cops do come together in times of loss. He had coordinated a large-scale regional peer support effort- which is just one prime example where apt leadership met devoted purpose.. and that is a lot of what Andy demonstrates.
In our conversation, we talk about his background, career, leading FOR wellness. He opens up about his own personal stressors and struggles with the career and life... and openness truly lacking in police culture from our leaders. His vulnerability is something we can all learn from- as a true leader can help us recognize that it’s okay not to be okay.
I am proud to have him in our region and circles- and to call him a leader and mentor of mine- and to help share his lessons with you.
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Andy McCurdy is currently the Deputy Police Chief for the city of Sumner, WA. Andy comes from a law enforcement family and lives with his wife and three kids in Pierce County, WA.

Andy started his LE career in 1991 in California as a Community Service Officer. Andy moved to Washington and became a Police Officer in 1996. Andy spent 24 years with the King County Sheriff's Office as a Patrol Deputy, Master Police Officer, Special Assault Unit Detective, Patrol Sergeant, Internal Investigations Unit Sergeant, Advanced Training Unit Supervisor, and Chief of Police. Andy also spent more than 15 years as a Peer Support Team member and leader and more than 12 years investigating serious use of force incidents on the Administrative Review Team.

Andy has been teaching locally, regionally, and internationally for more than 20 years in areas including use of force, procedural justice, trauma informed practices, peer support/wellness, and leadership.

Andy currently volunteers as a board member for Code 4 NW, Executive Director of Police Activities League of Sumner, Coach/Director of Badges and Barbells After School Weightlifting Clubs, and as a side walker and on the barn team for Sundance Circle Hippotherapy. Andy and his wife, Demarie, also run a camp for blind and visually impaired children, called Camp Possible.

Don’t forget to like, SHARE and subscribe to Blue Grit Radio on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and more! This is the best way you can support this podcast, our message and support in the topics we discuss!
Please help us grow the positive conversations and community by liking, reviewing, and giving us a solid rating to help others find the show. Be well and stay gritty!
You can follow along with the most updated content on IG: @bluegritwellness ! Leave a comment, ask your questions at IG or email me at [email protected] !
We are always talking about police and first responder wellness, how to be a cop, self development, career development, organizational culture and development and so much more! This isn't just to uplift the policing community and profession, but THE Community. Let's do it one conversation at a time!
music credit: Drive by AShamaluevMusic

I connected with Dr. Gino Collura after being on a shared panel on The Collective (s/o to Shaun and Chance!) I knew when discussing mindset, leadership of self and family, Dr. G BROUGHT it. Throw in the fact that he's a behavioral scientist focusing on brain optimization, I knew more discussion was something not only my brain craved, but something our Grit Nation community would resonate with as well.
In our discussion we cover:
-communication into community
-self mastery
-combative mindset
-habits of successful relationships
-systems thinking for your life
-past patterns, what they mean for human behavior and individuals
-acceptance
-hypervigilance
-identity and EGO
-personal constitutions (I've drafted mine finally!)
- the Johari window and aspects of interplay
-neural agility
Listen and feel your brain light up, careful of potential melting...
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Dr. Gino Collura (Dr. G) is a behavioral scientist and carries a keen expertise in relationship management, communication, resiliency and their combined influence on the brain.

A former anti-kidnapping specialist, Dr. G is regularly sought out by Fortune 500 Companies, Professional Athletes, Law Enforcement, U. S. Special Operations Command as well as the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) to provide training and development that optimizes interactions as well as quality, commitment, and efficiency within and amongst organizations.

@doctor_gino_

https://www.se7enlayers.com/

Don’t forget to like, SHARE and subscribe to Blue Grit Radio on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and more! This is the best way you can support this podcast, our message and support in the topics we discuss!
Please help us grow the positive conversations and community by liking, reviewing, and giving us a solid rating to help others find the show. Be well and stay gritty!
You can follow along with the most updated content on IG: @bluegritwellness ! Leave a comment, ask your questions at IG or email me at [email protected] !
We are always talking about police and first responder wellness, how to be a cop, self development, career development, organizational culture and development and so much more! This isn't just to uplift the policing community and profession, but THE Community. Let's do it one conversation at a time!
music credit: Drive by AShamaluevMusic

You can’t be in the first responder wellness space and not know about James and his work on Behind the Shield (podcast and IG). James has a way of sharing a positive message with a dose of real talk which is very much needed in our lives.
In our conversation we chat about his story and quickly get into all things health and exercise- from diet dogmas to societal health ills. Unhealthy first responder shift dynamics and what we could/would/should do about them. We discuss admin fails and union fails and personal, individual fails when it comes to fitness standards, overtime and workplace limitations, and mindset.
James Geering was born and raised in Bath, England. After being told he was colour blind as a schoolboy, his dreams of becoming a firefighter were shattered. For years he drifted through a spectrum of jobs from lifeguard to stuntman and everything in between. It wasn’t until he emigrated to the US that he challenged the fire service entrance medical, proving his vision was more than effective for the career.
James spent 14 years as a firefighter/paramedic working on both the West and East coasts of America. He began to see the impact of service on his brothers and sisters, losing countless first responders to a host of work related physical and mental health issues. The unending funerals sent him down a new path. In 2016, he started a free podcast called Behind the Shield, which brings the greatest minds in wellness to the first responders, military and civilians of the
world.
The show has since been downloaded 6 Million times internationally. The 950+ guests range from war fighters to farmers, medics to psychologists and everything in between. In 2020, James wrote his first book combining stories from his own career with the wellness lessons he’d learned from his guests. One More Light: Life, Death and Humanity has received incredible reviews worldwide. His second book, “Kinder”, will be released in August.
James is a lifelong martial artist, strength and conditioning coach and Exercise Physiology Major. He is a husband, father and a grateful recipient of the unconditional love from his German Shepherd Ember.
Behind the Shield Website: www.jamesgeering.com
James’ Instagram: @behindtheshield911

Don’t forget to like, SHARE and subscribe to Blue Grit Radio on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and more! This is the best way you can support this podcast, our message and support in the topics we discuss!
Please help us grow the positive conversations and community by liking, reviewing, and giving us a solid rating to help others find the show. Be well and stay gritty!
You can follow along with the most updated content on IG: @bluegritwellness ! Leave a comment, ask your questions at IG or email me at [email protected] !
We are always talking about police and first responder wellness, how to be a cop, self development, career development, organizational culture and development and so much more! This isn't just to uplift the policing community and profession, but THE Community. Let's do it one conversation at a time!
music credit: Drive by AShamaluevMusic

The longer I do this job (and this thing I call life), I realize that although I learn more and more, I also learn that there is more and more that I don’t know. My guest in this episode is someone I’m excited to highlight due to his open-minded humility.

Deputy Chief Bobby Hollis is a leader and personal mentor of mine. Way back when, we were officers at the same time in “our” agency, and through the years, I watched him continue to grow and advance in his career. I’ve worked under his supervision at different points in my career, but came to appreciate his insight and example more as I developed my own professional leadership philosophy and experience.

None of us would accomplish anything of value without guidance and example from others. As you will hear, Bobby is conscientious, thoughtful, curious, open to ideas, and balanced. As many of us in policing know- this is not common in our traditional leadership models, but it ought to be. It is my distinct pleasure to have connected with him and allow others to hear and consider his approach and example.

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Robert (Bobby) Hollis, Deputy Police Chief

Deputy Chief Bobby Hollis has served in law enforcement for 24+ years. He is currently the Deputy Chief of Police for the Lacey Police Department.

In his career, Deputy Chief Hollis has worked numerous assignments. He has worked on DEI initiatives and overseen units such as Emergency Management, Traffic, K-9, and SRO. He has also overseen IT (Information Technology) projects and been the liaison to Valley Communications (dispatch). Deputy Chief Hollis spent significant time as a PIO (Public Information Officer), SWAT officer, Recruiting and Hiring, Field Training Officer (FTO) and as a Collision Investigator.

Bobby has been married to his wonderful bride Cindie for 14 years and are empty nesters with their son now attending college. Deputy Chief Hollis has his Executive master’s degree in public administration (EMPA) and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, both from the University of Washington. You can contact him via his LinkedIn page.

Don’t forget to like, SHARE and subscribe to Blue Grit Radio on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and more! This is the best way you can support this podcast, our message and support in the topics we discuss!
Please help us grow the positive conversations and community by liking, reviewing, and giving us a solid rating to help others find the show. Be well and stay gritty!
You can follow along with the most updated content on IG: @bluegritwellness ! Leave a comment, ask your questions at IG or email me at [email protected] !
We are always talking about police and first responder wellness, how to be a cop, self development, career development, organizational culture and development and so much more! This isn't just to uplift the policing community and profession, but THE Community. Let's do it one conversation at a time!
music credit: Drive by AShamaluevMusic