Next Steps Forward with Dr. Chris Meek

For 21 years, John Larocchia ran toward danger as a New York City firefighter. For more than 20 years, he's also been running toward the microphone. In this episode of Next Steps Forward, the man once voted NYC's Funniest Fireman talks about building a comedy career alongside one of the toughest jobs there is, and about what came next.

John shares how stand-up grew into producing, acting, writing, radio hosting, and keynote speaking. He explains why he started the Laughter Saves Lives Comedy Tour and foundation. He also tells the story of the time an audition call landed him on Match Game, where he won his round and made it to the finals. Along the way, he gets into how humor helps first responders process what they carry, how to start something new without walking away from who you are, and why it's never too late to take the next step forward.

Whether you're planning a career change, looking for your second act, or just need a good laugh, this conversation will leave you smiling and motivated.

About John Larocchia: John Larocchia is the founder and president of the Laughter Saves Lives Foundation, as well as the producer and a regular performer of its Comedy Tour. John has been performing stand-up comedy for over 25 years. He was a New York City firefighter for 21 years, retiring in July 2008. Over the years, John has branched out from stand-up comedy to acting, writing, hosting a radio show, and keynote speaking.

Chris Meek speaks with Shauna "Doc" Springer, one of the world's leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition and suicide prevention, in this installment of Next Steps Forward. A trusted doctor to our nation's military war fighters, Springer will discuss practical, tangible tools for suicide prevention and the importance of trust in the prevention process. A champion for the power of connection, Springer will speak on how methods and results of connection have changed over the past year and how stressor events, like the pandemic, have impacted the mental health of veterans. Springer will also provide powerful insight into her best-selling book Warriors, which explores how society can best support those who have sacrificed so much to protect us. Dr. Springer's knowledge and understanding will lead the audience on a path to discovering trust, purpose and connection - and inspire them to share those same values with others.

Postpartum depression is only part of the picture. New mothers can also face anxiety, trauma, intrusive thoughts, bipolar symptoms, and, in rare cases, psychosis, often long after the six-week checkup. This week on Next Steps Forward, Dr. Chris Meek talks with Kayla O'Connor and Caitlin Merritt, two central Iowa mothers who founded TogetHER after losing people close to them to suicide. Their grassroots organization helps women handle the mental health challenges of motherhood.

Kayla and Caitlin explain what people misunderstand about postpartum mental health and why risk doesn't depend on whether it's a mother's first child. They also discuss the Lindsay Clancy case in Massachusetts and a similar case decades ago in central Iowa, including how to talk about these tragedies without diagnosing anyone from the headlines. They share what mothers find hardest to say out loud, how partners and families can support a mom's identity beyond motherhood, and what they would tell lawmakers to fund next.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is available 24/7 by call or text at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). You can also call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

About Kayla O'Connor and Caitlin Merritt: Kayla O'Connor and Caitlin Merritt are two central Iowa mothers who co-founded TogetHER, a central Iowa grassroots organization to help women navigate the mental health challenges of motherhood, especially postpartum. Kayla O'Connor is a former educator who learned about a former student who died by suicide and was seven months postpartum. Caitlin Merritt is a nutritionist and personal trainer whose neighbor and the mother of her daughter's preschool best both died by suicide.

Athlete mental health is finally in the collective bargaining agreements, the press conferences, and the policy manuals. But has the care caught up with the conversation?

In this Next Steps Forward Symposium, Chris convenes a panel of leaders in the athlete mental health space for an honest assessment of where athlete mental health and sport psychology actually stand at the professional and collegiate levels.

They trace the real progress of the last 15 years and what drove it: collective bargaining agreements, players associations, athlete advocacy, and hard -won institutional buy-in, then turn to the harder questions:

▸ What still stands in the way of real change?

▸ Why is wellbeing so often bolted onto the high-performance environment instead of built into it?

▸ Why do sport organizations keep getting drawn to confident voices and quick fixes that don't help athletes?

▸ Is there even an adequate supply of competent, licensed sport psychologists to meet the demand?

A conversation about moving from awareness to actual care: valuable for athletes, coaches, administrators, parents, and anyone building a high-performance culture.

MEET THE PANEL

Dr. Robin Scholefield — Dr. Robin Scholefield is a licensed clinical psychologist, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, and a longtime leader of culture, wellbeing and sport psychology services within USC Athletics. Olympic bronze medalist (swimming, 1976).

Dr. Tom Golightly — Dr. Tom Golightly is a clinical Sport Psychologist with Intermountain Healthcare assigned to work exclusively with the Real Salt Lake organization, which includes MLS, NWSL, and MLS Next Pro teams. He is also the Mental Wellness and Mental Performance Consultant for the Utah Mammoth.

Grace Shirley — As a member of the University of Wisconsin women's hockey team, Grace Shirley and her teammates won the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championships in 2021 and 2023. While competing for Providence College as a graduate transfer in 2023/2024, Grace pursued a master's degree in counseling to become a licensed mental health counselor. She is currently an academic success coordinator at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts.

Dr. Lani Lawrence — Dr. Nohelani (Lani) Lawrence serves as the Senior Director of Performance Psychology, Wellness & Clinical Services for the New York Giants, where she oversees mental health and crisis services, mental performance development, and pre-draft assessments. In this role, she leads initiatives that support the psychological well-being and performance optimization of players, coaches, and staff across the organization.

Some of the most powerful stories of American service were never told on the battlefield. They were told in prison cells in Hanoi, around kitchen tables in military towns, and in the quiet persistence of families who refused to give up.

This week on Next Steps Forward, Dr. Chris Meek sits down with Taylor Baldwin Kiland, a former U.S. Navy officer, third-generation Navy family member, and military nonfiction author who has written, co-authored, ghostwritten, or edited eighteen books. Raised in Coronado, California, a community shaped by the Vietnam POW experience, Taylor has spent much of her career bringing forgotten chapters of that era to light.

Chris and Taylor discuss the remarkable women behind Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man Is Left Behind, and why their campaign to bring their husbands home still matters to military families today. Taylor shares the six traits of high-performing teams she drew from the POWs' experience in Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton, and how resilience forged in captivity translates to leadership in business and everyday life. She also opens up about her own next step forward: leaving a twenty-year career in marketing communications to become a writer, and her work helping veterans turn their service into books that educate and inspire the next generation of leaders.

Finally, Taylor offers a look at her latest project, Murder of the Jujube Candy Heiress: A Coronado Cold Case, the true story of a 1975 unsolved killing that shook her hometown.

Whether you're a veteran thinking about telling your own story, a leader looking for lessons in resilience, or someone who believes that no one should be left behind, this conversation is for you.

About Taylor Kiland: Taylor has written, co-authored, ghost-written, or edited eighteen books, including three about our nation's Vietnam POWs: Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man is Left Behind, Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teams and Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Thirty Years Later. A former naval officer, the third generation in her family to serve in the Navy, Taylor was raised in Coronado, California, and Alexandria, Virginia. She spent twenty years in the private sector as a marketing communications professional before starting her writing career. She holds a master's degree in marketing communications from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. She now lives in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and their daughter. Taylor's work has been featured in NewYorkTimes.com, WashingtonPost.com, NBC Nightly News, CNN, C-SPAN, International Herald Tribune, Associated Press, Military.com, and Naval Institute's Proceedings, just to name a few.

What does leadership look like in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, big data, and behavioral science?

In this episode of Next Steps Forward, Dr. Chris Meek sits down with Dr. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, a globally recognized expert on AI, decision science, and the future of work. A faculty member at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School, Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio helps leaders navigate the intersection of technology, human behavior, and organizational strategy. Drawing on decades of research and advising Fortune 500 companies, global institutions, and governments, she explains how data and behavioral insights can uncover hidden barriers to performance, improve decision-making, and build more innovative and inclusive organizations.

They explore:

• How AI and big data are reshaping leadership and decision-making

• Why behavioral science is critical for building better organizations

• The real impact of diversity and inclusion on performance

• How leaders can prepare their teams for the rapidly evolving future of work

Dr. Cecchi-Dimeglio is also the author of The Diversity Dividend and Building a Thriving Future: Metaverse and Multiverse, where she offers practical, data-driven strategies to help organizations harness innovation while creating more equitable workplaces. Whether you're a business leader, policymaker, or simply curious about how technology is transforming work and leadership, this conversation offers powerful insights into how organizations, and the people within them, can thrive in the AI era.

What does it take to lead when the stakes are highest? This week on Next Steps Forward, Dr. Chris Meek sits down with retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Milford "Beags" Beagle, Jr., whose distinguished 35-year military career culminated in leading the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and serving as Commanding General of Fort Leavenworth.

Throughout the conversation, General Beagle shares the leadership principles that guided him from platoon leader to three-star general, emphasizing that true leadership begins with character, humility, and a genuine commitment to developing others. Drawing from decades of service, including commanding soldiers in combat, leading one of the Army's premier divisions, and shaping the education of future military leaders, he offers powerful insights into building trust, making difficult decisions under pressure, and fostering resilient, high-performing teams.

LTG Beagle also explores the importance of mentorship, servant leadership, and preparing the next generation to lead with integrity in an increasingly complex world. Whether you're a veteran, business executive, educator, or someone striving to become a better leader, this conversation delivers practical wisdom and timeless lessons on purpose, accountability, and service. Join them for an inspiring discussion with one of America's most respected military leaders as he reflects on a lifetime of service and reminds us that leadership isn't defined by rank, it's defined by the positive impact we have on others.

About LTG Milford H. "Beags" Beagle Jr.: Milford H. "Beags" Beagle Jr. is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General, leadership advisor, and organizational strategist with more than 35 years of experience leading transformation across some of the nation's largest and most complex institutions. He specializes in helping organizations align strategy, people, and execution during periods of rapid change, technological disruption, and operational uncertainty.

As the former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, Beagle led the Army's professional military education, leader development, doctrine, and training integration enterprise, influencing more than 200,000 learners annually and modernization efforts affecting over 1.5 million personnel worldwide. Throughout his career, he helped organizations navigate complex transitions, integrate new capabilities, improve decision-making, and sustain readiness in dynamic environments.

Today, Beagle advises public and private sector organizations on leadership, organizational effectiveness, strategic alignment, and the human dimensions of transformation. His unique combination of operational leadership, enterprise-level integration, and executive advisory experience enables organizations to translate strategy into action while building the clarity and alignment necessary for long-term success.

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, host Chris Meek sits down with retired Master Sergeant Chris Spence, a Green Beret who was among the first Americans on the ground in Afghanistan.

In the weeks after 9/11, Spence deployed with 5th Special Forces Group as part of Operational Detachment Charlie 53, working alongside ODA 595 and Afghan Northern Alliance fighters across some of the most unforgiving mountain terrain on earth. They often traveled by horseback, calling in American air power against Taliban and al-Qaeda positions. A photograph Spence took of his teammates on horseback became one of the defining images of America's response to 9/11, was displayed by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and helped inspire the America's Response Monument, the Horse Soldier statue that stands near the World Trade Center site today.

Spence talks about where he was the morning of the attacks, what it took to build trust with Afghan fighters he had just met, the piece of the World Trade Center his unit carried into the country, and what books and Hollywood got right and wrong about the mission. He also reflects on the 2021 withdrawal, the question of whether it was all worth it, and how he rebuilt a sense of purpose after 25 years in uniform.

It's a conversation about courage, adaptability, and taking the next step forward when the mountain ahead looks impossible to cross.

About Chris Spence: Soon after the terrorist attacks, another chapter of the September 11, 2001 story was already beginning as a small group of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers that included Master Sergeant Christopher Spence were on the ground in Afghanistan. The members of that group, known as Operational Detachment Alpha 595 and Operational Detachment Charlie 53 worked alongside Afghan Northern Alliance fighters across unforgiving mountainous terrain, sometimes on horseback, to help direct devastating American air power against Taliban and al-Qaeda positions. Thanks to a photo taken by Chris, the men became known as the Horse Soldiers and their extraordinary mission would inspire books, a major motion picture and the America's Response Monument. That photo by Sergeant Spence of his fellow soldiers on horseback became one of the iconic images of America's response to 9/11.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Mikaila Cruz arrived at her office on the 95th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower expecting an ordinary Tuesday. After the North Tower was struck, she and her colleagues at Fiduciary Trust Company International were told their building was secure and that they should stay where they were. She left anyway. That decision saved her life.

This week, Mikaila joins host Dr. Chris Meek for a conversation that starts long before that morning. She talks about growing up in Queens with immigrant parents, the values they instilled in her, and the ambition that carried her to Wall Street during the boom years of the 1990s. Then she takes listeners inside the South Tower as the attacks unfolded, down all those flights of stairs, and out into the chaos of Lower Manhattan.

The conversation also turns to everything that came after. Mikaila describes how surviving changed her relationship with fear, which forms of healing proved most useful, and why she eventually chose to speak publicly and co-author the bestselling book Pursuing Your Destiny: How to Overcome Adversity and Achieve Your Dreams. With more than 100 million Americans either born after 9/11 or too young to remember it, she shares what she hopes the history books will say, and what still gives her optimism about the future.

This episode is part of a series marking the 25th observance of the September 11 attacks. To learn more, visit the 9/11 Legacy Foundation at the911legacy.org.

About Mikaila Cruz: Mikaila Cruz is an author, entrepreneur, speaker and 9/11 survivor whose remarkable life story spans cultures, careers and one of the most consequential days in American history. She arrived at her office on the 95th floor of World Trade Center's South Tower expecting an ordinary workday. Instead, she found herself caught in the unfolding terrorist attacks and forced to make decisions that ultimately saved her life. Determined to help others navigate adversity in their own lives, Mikaila transformed her experiences into a message of hope and perseverance, in part as the co-author of the best-selling book, Pursuing Your Destiny: How to Overcome Adversity and Achieve Your Dreams. Today, through speaking, mentoring and business leadership, Mikaila continues to encourage others to move beyond fear, embrace opportunity and pursue lives of meaning and intention.

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, one of the day's most remarkable rescue stories remains one of its least known. This week on Next Steps Forward, Chris Meek is joined by Jessica DuLong, award-winning author, journalist, independent historian, and former chief engineer of the historic New York City fireboat John J. Harvey.

Built in 1931 and retired decades later, the Harvey was being painstakingly restored by a crew of volunteers when the World Trade Center was attacked. With water mains destroyed and hydrants buried beneath rubble, the retired fireboat was called back into service, pumping seawater to Ground Zero for four days and giving firefighters the water they needed to fight fires that otherwise couldn't have been fought. Jessica served as one of the boat's engineers during that mission.

She and Chris trace her unlikely path from writer to maritime engineer, what it took to keep a 1931 vessel running, and what she saw, heard, and felt approaching Lower Manhattan that morning. They also discuss the story at the heart of her acclaimed book, Saved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift, the largest maritime evacuation in history, in which mariners with no orders and no playbook carried nearly half a million people off the island of Manhattan in a matter of hours, surpassing even Dunkirk.

It's a conversation about ingenuity, instinct, and what September 11 revealed about the very best of humanity.

About Jessica DuLong: Jessica DuLong is an award-winning author, journalist, independent historian, and former chief engineer of the historic New York City fireboat, the John J. Harvey. On September 11, 2001, the John J. Harvey, a retired fireboat that volunteers were painstakingly restoring, was called back into service after the attacks on the World Trade Center. With water mains destroyed and hydrants buried beneath rubble, the Harvey pumped seawater to Ground Zero for four days, providing the water firefighters desperately needed to battle fires that otherwise could not have been fought. Jessica served as one of the boat's engineers during that historic mission. Her acclaimed book, Saved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift, tells one of the most remarkable yet least known stories of 9/11.