Behind every story is a person willing to be vulnerable, speak honestly, and break the silence. Meet the hosts of Survivor Stories and learn a little about the people creating a space for real conversations about trauma, healing, survival, and hope.

Jarod and Mike met in 2010 while serving as Military Police in the national Guard during Operation Unified Response in Haiti, helping with earthquake relief. They remained friends throughout the years, supporting each other through marriages, childbirths, divorces, moves, more divorces, more marriages, career changes, starting a roofing company together, and finally starting this podcast together.

Through it all, their friendship has lasted – and now they’re bringing that history, honesty, and shared experience to Survivor Stories.

Jarod: Behind the Voice

Jarod is a leader in the Army National Guard currently serving on Active Duty, a Senior logistician, veteran, business owner, father, and advocate for breaking the silence surrounding trauma and mental health. His life and career have been defined by service, leadership, responsibility, and a commitment to taking care of the people around him.

Jarod began his military career in 2004 and has served in a variety of positions throughout his career to include his deployment to Iraq in 2009, Operation Unified Response to Haiti in 2010 and Operation Tiger Triumph to India in 2023. Throughout his military career, Jarod has been recognized with numerous awards and decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal, multiple Army Commendation Medals, and multiple Army Achievement Medals. Outside of his military service, Jarod is an entrepreneur and co-owner of a roofing company with Mike.

Jarod is also a father and has spent much of his adult life navigating the responsibilities of family, marriage, fatherhood, military service, and leadership. Those experiences, both the successes and the failures, have shaped his understanding of what it means to take responsibility for your actions while still allowing yourself the opportunity to grow.

In 2026, Jarod was diagnosed with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), beginning a period of significant self-reflection and healing. Through therapy, Internal Family Systems, journaling, and honest examination of his past experiences, he began exploring how trauma, survival fear, and past relationships had influenced the way he understood himself and interacted with the people closest to him.

That journey eventually became Internal Chain of Command, a platform dedicated to exploring trauma, healing, relationships, accountability, and the person beneath the patterns developed through survival. Jarod believes that sharing difficult experiences openly can help reduce stigma and create opportunities for conversations that many people have spent their lives avoiding.

Through Survivor Stories: Breaking Silence, Changing Stigma, Jarod is expanding that mission beyond his own experiences by providing a platform for survivors, spouses, families, veterans, first responders, and others affected by trauma to tell their stories in their own words.

Above all else, Jarod considers himself a father, friend, teammate, Soldier, and work in progress.

His philosophy continues to evolve, but one principle remains constant:

We are more than what happened to us. We are not broken. And sometimes healing begins when we finally have the courage to slow down, look closer, and understand what is happening inside our own chain of command.

Mike: Behind the Voice

Mike is an Army National Guard Veteran, former law enforcement officer, business owner, coach, and community volunteer whose life has been shaped by service, leadership and a commitment to taking care of people.

After serving as a Military Police officer, Mike continued his career in public service through security and law enforcement, where he received multiple lifesaving awards and recognition for his actions during critical incidents. He later brought that experience into emergency management and volunteer search-and-rescue work, supporting disaster response, training exercises, and community preparedness throughout his State.

Today, Mike is part owner, and operations lead of the roofing company he and Jarod own. He also serves as a wrestling coach, where he mentors young athletes and emphasizes the same values that have guided him throughout his military and public-safety careers: discipline, accountability, resilience, and teamwork.

Mike is also an advocate for veterans, first responders, and their families. His experiences with military service, law enforcement, trauma, leadership, fatherhood, and life after public service have given him a particular interest in creating space for the difficult conversations that previous generations often avoided.

But beyond the titles, uniforms, awards, and accomplishments, Mike considers his most important roles to be husband, father, mentor, and teammate.

His philosophy is simple:

Take care of your people. Lead from the front. Give credit publicly. Accept responsibility when things go wrong. And never ask someone to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself.