Brian Knowler has been a police officer for 17 years, working in Patrol, Community Response, Incident Command and Emergency Management, Media Relations, and Legal Services. In 2004 he was the first one on the scene of a fatal collision in which the driver who died was a close friend of Brian's. Brian buried the impact of that night until 2012, when he hit bottom physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually and was finally diagnosed with PTSD from this experience.
He now speaks and writes extensively on topics around psychological health and trauma in the emergency response field, and has been consulted by media outlets across Canada. In March 2016, he published ‘On the Other Side of Broken – One Cop’s Battle With the Demons of PTSD.’ He is a member of the Police Advisory Group of Badge of Life Canada, an organization dedicated to furthering PTSD awareness and advocacy.
Before pursuing policing as a career, Brian went to law school and trained as a lawyer, but never practiced. In 2010, Brian finally decided to make his Call to the Bar, and now his lawyer’s robes, even though they’ve been worn only once, hang in his office, next to his body armour.
Brian’s wife Cathy, a cop’s daughter, is a teacher, and trauma counselor for families and spouses of first responders. She co-wrote a chapter of Brian’s book and is “one of the strongest women” he knows. They have two teenage sons, who still think it’s cool to have a dad who is a cop.
Miles Migliara is a recent Communications graduate from Missouri Southern State University. The son of a retired U.S. Army soldier, Miles grew up on several military bases along the East coast and Midwest. During his medical evaluation for Marine Officer Candidate School, Miles discovered he was genetically induced as a Type 1 Diabetic, therefore ended his pursuit of military service. He is currently the Social Media Director and Head Editor at AMVETS (American Veterans), a leading veteran service organization with over 250,000 active members and numerous posts across the nation. Providing many services to veterans and advocating veteran-related legislation, AMVETS is headquartered in Lanham, MD.
AMVETS, which is also known as American Veterans, is the largest and oldest veterans service organization that is open to and fights for all veterans and their families.
AMVETS Mission Statement: To enhance and safeguard the entitlements for all American Veterans who have served honorably and to improve the quality of life for them, their families, and the communities where they live through leadership, advocacy and services.
On today's episode I talk about another podcast that you should check out called Cigars and Sea Stories. I was asked by Mike to come on the show as a co-host for a series of episodes that will be all coming out in February. The first in the series is already live so make sure you go and check it out.
Charlotte DiBartolomeo is Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Red Kite Project. She earned a Master’s in Conflict Transformation with a specialty in Intercultural Service, Leadership & Management from the School for International Training Graduate Institute in Vermont. She has studied post war development in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and has served as an NGO delegate to the United Nations at the 2003 Economics Conference for Women. Charlotte has been a trainer and facilitator for twenty years working in corporate, government and academic sectors. She has done conflict coaching with managers, developed and instructs curricula for workforce development and transformational leadership, and facilitates dialogue processes within both the public and private sectors.
Sam Stone is the Director of Red Kite Rising, the martial arts healing division dedicated to helping youth and adults resolve traumatic effects of PTSD and developmental trauma. He has written curriculum and instructs programs in the Philadelphia School District and Jane Addams Place, a transitional housing facility in West Philadelphia for women and children.
Red Kite Project assists organizations and their workforce to rise above obstacles to well-being and safety. Red Kite Rising got its start in the shelters of West Philadelphia. Originally, it was created as an intervention for CHOP’s Homeless Health Initiative, to be utilized with the residents at Jane Adams Place, a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence. They would use somatic therapies like yoga, and other processes that were aimed at helping participants to re-embody, and reconnect with their bodies to assist them in living healthier, happier lives. Martial arts and circle processes were a large part of the trainings, and after only a short period of time, fighting in the shelters had stopped among the participants of the program.
RKR was then taken to Chester Arthur Elementary school for an eight-week program before being implemented at the Crefeld School- a 6-12 educational facility located in Chestnut Hill.
A short time after this, RKR would find its way to the Perimeter, and start to work with Veterans of the armed forces. A focus that it continues to hold to this day.