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What if the hardest grief in your life isn’t about death, but about change—leaving a team, dropping a title, or stepping away from a community that once defined you? That’s where our conversation with coach and educator Stephanie Simpson begins, and it’s where many first responders secretly live: in the space between who we were and who we’re becoming.

Stephanie shares how her evolution from dancer and teacher to professional coach reshaped her understanding of loss. We dig into why “moving on” often backfires and how “moving forward” honors what mattered while making room for growth. Instead of chasing reasons or culprits, we explore a different order of operations: feel first, then learn. Stephanie offers embodied practices—locating sensations, sculpting feelings, and observing them—to shift from intellectualizing to processing. The result isn’t soft; it’s strategic. Emotions become data you can use under pressure.

We also reframe stress for police, fire, EMS, and dispatch. Stress isn’t the enemy; unmanaged stress is. Stephanie, who teaches stress science to future first responders, explains how too much strain overwhelms and too little erodes purpose, and why internal stressors—perfectionism, shame, the inner critic—often do more damage than any single call. From Inside Out’s portrayal of panic to practical reset routines, we map how to notice, name, and navigate emotions without losing your edge, at work or at home.

If you’ve felt the ache of leaving a role, the pull to find someone to blame, or the pressure to “just get over it,” this conversation offers a more honest path. Subscribe, share this episode with a teammate who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep bringing you tools that actually help.

You can reach Stephanie the following ways: 

Website - www.stephanie-simpson.com   
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniesimpsoncoaching/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stephaniesimpsoncoaching/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/StephanieSimpsonCoaching

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