As a former army paratrooper and rigger, I furthered my skills by successfully completing the police academy and embarking on a fulfilling career as a full-time police officer. I am proudly serving in the police department of my hometown, where I grew up and attended school. Alongside my law enforcement duties, I have also ventured into various creative endeavors. I have authored five books. Furthermore, I host a captivating weekly live broadcast, Black & Blue, where I engage with my audience and share motivational messages. 

Dr. Tobias Consmüller is the Chief Scientific Officer at Betterguards Technology, overseeing all product validation, regulatory, and scientific affairs. He has a background in mechanical and medical engineering and a Ph.D. in biomechanics and worked for over a decade in the medical device industry, focusing on clinical research and product management. 

Betterguards is a next-generation sports technology company designed to provide athletes with responsive ankle stabilization with a full range of motion. The company's technology protects against sudden ankle twisting or rolling without sacrificing freedom of movement to deliver innovative solutions to protect athletes, thereby enabling customers to enhance performance and reduce the risk of injuries with its intelligent ankle brace.

Dr. James Stoxen, D.C. owns and operates Team Doctors Chiropractic Treatment and Training Center. Team Doctors is one of the first care centers in the world to combine chiropractic care, therapy, active rehabilitation and strength training for world class athletes in a private rehab training center. Dr. Stoxen also provides "house call, care to patients all over the world who wish to be treated in their home, wellness retreat, backstage venue anywhere in the world. Contact us for more information

Dr. Stoxen also has an extensive background in sports medicine. In 2012 Dr. Stoxen was appointed to serve on the prestigious, Global Advisory Board, of The International Sports Hall of Fame. In 2012 he was inducted into the Personal Trainers Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame.

Dr. Stoxen has been the meet and team chiropractor at many national and world championships. He has chaired medical committees for numerous international sports organizations and has been a chiropractor for many national and world championships in many countries. He was a member of the prestigious “Muscle and Fitness” Editorial Advisory Board from 1992 – 2003.

Dr Stoxen is a sought after speaker internationally lecturing on treatment, training and progressive preventive approaches to over 50,000 doctors and scientists at medical CME / ACME accredited medical conferences around the world including China, Japan, UK, Germany, Monaco, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, Australia, Thailand, Mexico, Columbia, South Africa and throughout the United States.

In 2018 he will release his fully referenced 500 page self help book for doctors and patients.... Neck Pain, Back Pain, Shoulder Pain... Could it be Thoracic Outlet Syndrome? Find it on Amazon.com

Eleanor Clift is a columnist for the Daily Beast, an online publication. She writes about politics and policy in Washington, and the partisan clashes that make governing almost impossible. Clift has covered every presidential campaign since 1976 and bring her perspective to analyze the dynamics between an unconventional president and his party, and an opposition party still licking its wounds over its loss in 2016. Clift is best known as a panelist on the syndicated talk show, “The McLaughlin Group,” which ended a 34-year run with the death of the host in 2016. She has appeared as herself in several movies, including “Dave,” “Independence Day,” “Murder at 1600,” “Rising Sun,” and the CBS series, “Murphy Brown.” Clift and her late husband, Tom Brazaitis, who was a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote two books together, “War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics” (Scribner, 1996), and “Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (Scribner, 2000). Madam President is available in paperback (Routledge Press). Clift’s book, “Founding Sisters,” is about the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the vote (John Wiley & Sons, 2003). Her recent book, “Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death and Politics” (Basic Books, 2008) is about the loss of her husband together with an examination of how we deal with death in America. “Selecting a President,” written with Matthew Spieler (Thomas Dunne Books), published in 2012, examines the process that for all its flaws is better than the alternative. Formerly Newsweek’s White House correspondent, Clift also served as congressional and political correspondent for six years. She was a key member of the magazine’s 1992 election team, following the campaign of Bill Clinton from the start to inauguration day. In June 1992 she was named Deputy Washington bureau chief.

As a reporter in Newsweek’s Atlanta bureau, Clift covered Jimmy Carter’s bid for the presidency. She followed Carter to Washington to become Newsweek’s White House correspondent, a position she held until 1985. Clift began her career as a secretary to Newsweek’s National Affairs editor in New York. She was one of the first women at the magazine to move from secretary to reporter. Clift left Newsweek briefly in 1985 to serve as White House correspondent for The Los Angeles Times. She returned to Newsweek the following year to cover the Iran-Contra scandal, which embroiled President Reagan and tarnished his administration. Clift covered every presidential campaign since 1976, and was part of Newsweek’s special project team following the 1984, 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections, each of which resulted in a book. The most recent, “A Long Time Coming,” written by Evan Thomas and based on the Newsweek team’s reporting (Public Affairs, 2009) chronicles the history-making campaign of Barack Obama. Clift lives in Washington, D.C., where she is on the advisory council of the International Women’s Media Foundation, the board of the American News Women’s Club, the Board of Governor’s of the National Hospice Foundation, and the board of Respect Ability, which advocates for people with disabilities.

The early 20th century was unforgiving on many women. Writer Celia Ryker’s grandmother was one such woman who had more than her fair share of a hard life. Ryker has written a powerful, insightful novel (Augusta) based on the exploits and overwhelming challenges her grandmother faced during the Depression.

Raised on a hard-knock farm in Arkansas and married off to the father of one of her classmates at the age of 13, lead-character Augusta was not set up for a life of bliss. Then, abandoned by her second husband in 1920s Detroit, with four children to provide for and only an eighth-grade education, she is forced into a decision that will haunt her forever.

From the author of Walking Home: Trail Stories, Ryker's Augusta is gripping historical fiction based on the true, against-the-odds story of her grandmother, a woman who fled the hardships of the Ozarks at the turn of the 20th century for a new city, and a chance at a better life. She had to confront the kind of poverty that you can almost smell, the kind that is in the background of the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante and The Grapes of Wrath. All three novels tell us that poverty has to do with a lot more than money. Self-worth is measured differently by the poor, so are luxury, duty, comfort, and success. The poor are snared by forces outside their control.

Some readers might find this a heroic story, but there were millions of farm folk like Augusta at the beginning of the 20th century. They did what they needed to do to survive. Men were sheared of their dignity when they lost the farm or lost a job, and couldn’t support their families. Like Augusta’s two husbands, they often turned to alcohol in their shame. The women made do, taking responsibility for the children.

Her particular struggle was common in the early 1900s: Marriage at 13, children born as they came, a move from the farm to the grinding, dirty, dangerous city, and meeting new immigrants who had fled similar hardships.

Details carry the story and are constantly surprising. The reader learns how the first washing machines worked, how unwelcome a hospital birth was after knowing the intimacy and convenience of having your baby at home, and what tenements were like.

Historical novels require strong characters with heart -- and Augusta’s heart shines through a life filled with adversity. Augusta puts her head down and does what must be done to provide for her children. Her unshrinking strength is an inspiration.

Ryker's previous book, Walking Home: Trail Stories, is about more than mud, sweat, and blisters while distance hiking the Long Trail. Reminiscent of Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Ryker's mind wanders as her legs carry her forward, beyond a woodland path, to places and people she thought she had forgotten. Her grandmother's spirit appears on Mount Baker. A lost cousin waits for her at the bottom of every ladder. Her late father's words reverberate among the calls of barred owls. There were days when she didn't see another hiker, but she was never alone. Ryker began writing about a difficult hike and ended up writing about the people who inspired her throughout her life. These are her "trail stories."

“Augusta shows women everywhere that no matter how hard one’s journey is, the key is to keep moving, and to not let one’s past or rough start dictate their life’s outcome,” concludes Ryker.