Nicole Ferry is a 26-year veteran of law enforcement who’s on a mission to help others build resilience by sharing her heart-breaking stories of PTSD, trauma and suicide.  Nicole is best known for her talk “What the Hell? The 3 Things I learned in the worst year of my life.”  

Nicole has spent her life in law enforcement.  She holds a degree in Criminal Justice, she’s been an executive police leader for a railroad, she did an 8-year tour as a Military Police Officer and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA.

I don’t have any direct experience with PTSD, any more than I know what it’s like to get a yellow brick from the FBI or investigate deaths on America’s railways.  But I felt Nicole’s stories in my bones.  I know how it feels to carry the weight of past traumas and the toll that takes on me and the people around me.  I also know the freedom that comes from letting that baggage go.  

This conversation is a bit of a roller coaster.  It’s heavy material but we also laughed a lot, mostly as I tried to relate Nicole’s stories to my only frame of reference - Law & Order, A Few Good Men and bro-cop movies set in Boston.  

Nicole’s brave stories carry a message of resilience and hope.  But most importantly, they’re a reminder of how much we can learn from those with dramatically different experiences from our own.

Takeaways

• Authority figures can have a dramatic impact on how we see ourselves early in life
• You don’t have to be a first responder to have powerful stressors in your job
• Everyone accumulates stress over their lives that will eventually come out in terrible ways if you don’t manage it
• Simple daily practices like journaling, meditation and physical exercise make a huge difference in managing stress and staying mentally healthy
• Tragedy can present you with an opportunity to find your purpose and help others

Connect with Nicole
Website
LinkedIn
Survive First National Gala: Guest Speaker

Listen to Nicole on these podcasts:

Uncharted Journey: Nicole Ferry, Mental Health Champion
Law Enforcement Life Coach / Sometimes Heroes Need Help Podcast: Nicole Ferry

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Connect with Bob Mathers
Website
LinkedIn