Ep102 Do the hard Work with Joe Spector

Our guest today, Joe Spector, is a retired firefighter turned podcaster, author, and emotional fitness instructor. After a years of subsequent traumas that led him to the brink of suicide, Joe chose to live, pursue radical wellness, and champion others (particularly in public safety) to do the same.

In 2017, Joe experienced a brain and spinal cord injury, costing him his health, income, and fifteen-year career in public service. 

 

His emotional recovery made him ultra aware that first responders are in deep need of emotional fitness and mental health emergency prevention training as well as tools and a safe space to process their experiences.

Since then, Joe has developed an emotional and mental fitness program for first responders, which he has been invited to share through his brand Grit, Growth, and Gratitude: https://ggg.training. Through the Grit Growth & Gratitude app, video training modules, meditations, and emotional fitness materials, Joe champions other first responders to pursue unbreakable resilience and unshakable happiness, no matter their circumstances.

 

Beyond his advocacy for those in the trauma community, Joe has a vested interest in helping parents equip their children with emotional regulation tools and techniques. As a parent to a daughter with a sensory processing disorder, he is empathetic to the lack of resources and taught-skills available to parents of children struggling with emotional dysregulation and/or special needs..

 

When Joe isn’t publicly speaking, writing, or teaching, he’s out living life to the fullest: taking his bullmastiff, Journey, on morning walks, traveling to Red Rocks to see his favorite bands play, diving into icy cold plunges, meditating with yogis at the local studio, and hanging out with his beloved wife Leslie and their two amazing kids Sophie and Sean.

 

A note from our guest…

 

I got so wrapped up in our conversation the other day that I led people to my Instagram account when you asked where people can find me, but I totally spaced sharing that for public safety the best place to find me is through our resilience training. 

 

It’s comprehensive, evidence-based suicide/addiction/PTSD prevention training through emotional fitness and resilience building. There is an ancillary app so family members and retirees can have free access. There’s printed materials, a 7-day meditation course designed specifically for public safety, and 20 video modules covering emotional processing, normalizing the dialogue, communication and conflict resolution at home, addiction/dependency, and a lot more. This is the bridge for the gap that I was sharing with you regarding no training/on-going assessment for our mental/emotional fitness for duty. I’ve literally never worked harder on or been more proud of anything than this program. 

 

If you want to share any of that in the show notes it would be amazing, and our website has samples of the training, testimonials, statistics, download links for the app (about ⅓ of the training on the app is free) and a contact form so that organizations can get in touch to discuss implementing prevention/resilience training for their people. 

 

It’s relatively new, and we’re still gathering data and improving, but the beta tests and anecdotal success have been so amazing!

If you want to add any of the above and/or check out the website to see what I’m talking about, its: Grit, Growth & Gratitude www.ggg.training and my email address is [e-mail]

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