Feb. 25, 2026
S6 E8 Grit And Growth: How To Thrive In Law Enforcement with Guest Eric Tung
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In this episode, we sit down with Commander Eric Tung, the visionary behind Blue Grit, who’s on a mission to elevate the lives and careers of Law Enforcement Officers. Get ready to delve into the art of resilience—how can we not only strengthen ourselves but also inspire those around us?
We’ll explore the nuances of communication across generational lines, drawing on Eric's two decades of experience in the field. With a sharp focus on vulnerability and self-awareness, he unpacks the concept of “true accountability” in policing, pushing the boundaries of what it means to lead with integrity.
For the newer officers finding their footing, Eric shares invaluable insights on confidence and respect—elements crucial for success in this challenging landscape. Together, we’ll tackle pressing questions around work-life balance: Is it attainable? What does it mean for longevity in a demanding profession?
Join us as Eric shares his wisdom forged through the intense highs and lows of law enforcement, helping to cultivate a proactive mindset, adaptable routines, and a thriving organizational culture. Don’t miss this chance to gain perspective from a true leader in the field!
Now available! Helping the Helpers: A Guide to Supporting First Responder Mental Wellness, our new book that equips you to support the mental wellness of those who serve and protect our communities. https://a.co/d/dm0VS4Q
Thanks to our resource partner, CRACKYL. Download the FREE CRACKYL App: http://crackyl.respondertv.com
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Contact Eric Tung:
Website: http://bluegritwellness.com/
Instagram: @bluegritwellness
Email: bluegritwellness@gmail.com
Contact Responder Resilience:
Phone: +1 844-344-6655
Email: info@respondertv.com
Our website with past episodes and more: https://www.respondertv.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ResponderResilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/responder-resilience-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/responder.tv/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/responderTV/
00:00 - Opening And Core Theme: It Starts With You
00:45 - Show Intro And Guest Background
03:31 - Eric’s Path To Policing And Blue Grit
07:38 - Defining Real-World Resilience And Pride
10:36 - Generational Traits And Communication
14:05 - Career Development To Retain Younger Officers
15:45 - Work-Life Balance As Ongoing Rebalancing
19:15 - Spotting Burnout And Slippery Coping
21:49 - Vulnerability, Storytelling, And Cultural Signals
25:12 - True Accountability And Values In Practice
28:02 - Fairness In Leadership Is Contextual
30:05 - Tracking Tough Calls And Peer Support Networks
33:15 - Modeling Care And Changing The Guard
36:05 - Normalizing Time Off After Critical Incidents
38:05 - Confidence Through Competence And Curiosity
41:01 - Guidance For Recruits: Identity And Values
WEBVTT
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Accountability, leadership, wellness, it all starts with you.
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You can try to do all these things for someone else, but it has to start with you.
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There is a tangible operational need to take care of your people.
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They're your asset, they're your resource.
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In addition to wellness, I think that we have a lot to gain by really highlighting personal, professional, career development.
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I mean, we can't truly be objective just in our own little echo chamber.
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And so are we being effective for our family, for our team?
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Like, how are we showing up?
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But I'm really just trying to help first responders, police, uh, high-drive individuals just live a little bit better.
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Confidence and competence are parallel roads.
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So if you do what you can to be competent, then the confidence will come.
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Welcome to Responder Resilience, along with Dr.
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Stacey Raymond.
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I'm David Dashinger.
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Today we're speaking with Commander Eric Tung, founder of Blue Grit, who's all about helping law enforcement officers perform better and live their best lives.
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We'll explore how to build resilience in ourselves and others and how police leaders can tap into generational traits to boost team communication.
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And for the younger officers out there, we've got key advice on building confidence and earning respect.responderTV.com.
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We invite you to like and subscribe, YouTube, Responder Resilience, Facebook, Responder TV, LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and our website is respondertv.com for past episodes and guest information.
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We'll be right back to speak with Eric after this.
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Ask a first responder who they are, and you're likely to hear I am a police officer.
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I am a firefighter.
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I am a paramedic.
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I am a 911 communications operator.
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Not I do this work, but I do this job.
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Ask a clinician why they work with first responders.
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And they may say, There's no higher quality than helping helpers.
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Join us in shaping a culture where mental health, wellness, and leadership are prioritized, not whispered about.
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Where support is a sign of strength, not failure, and where no one has to carry the weight alone.
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Welcome to Responder Resilience.
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We shine a spotlight on the unseen battles of first responder reality.
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And celebrate the powerful wins that come from the grit of post-traumatic growth.
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We understand the culture, honor the trust, and bring you conversations from the change makers, passionate about helping first responders come home whole.
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With your hosts, retired Lieutenant David Dashinger, Dr.
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Stacy Raymond, and Bonnie Roomeley, LCSW EMT.
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Our guest today is Eric Tung, who created Blue Grit to empower police, first responders, and driven individuals to live and perform better.
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As an active police commander in Washington State, he oversees patrol operations and wellness programs, bringing 18 years of experience to the table.
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Eric draws on intense highs and lows of law enforcement to help others cultivate a grounded mindset, adaptable routines, and a positive organizational culture.
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You can catch his insights on Blue Grit Radio and subscribe to his free newsletter at BluegritWellness.com.
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And you can connect with him on LinkedIn or Instagram at Blue Grit Wellness.
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Eric, warm welcome to Respond Resilience.
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Thank you both so much.
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Yeah, it's an honor to be here.
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So, Eric, I'd like to start out by asking you to tell us about your journey into law enforcement and what inspired you to create Blue Grit.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So my journey into police work was a little later than many.
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I didn't grow up wanting to be a police officer.
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I grew up a bit more traditional to what my parental and cultural expectations were.
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Go to med school, you know, go to law school, that kind of thing.
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But it was really when I was in college, I saw a lot of crime in the Seattle area.
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And I always had this calling toward and this respect and reverence for those that were in the uniform, whether it was armed services, those that gave back, those that paid it forward, or first responders.
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And so it was really midway through college where I did a huge pivot and I just started throwing myself into whatever material I could find.
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I ordered this huge textbook, this manual on uh fire, the fire service and testing and what the what the job entailed.
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A lot of like the textbook material that you might learn in a fire academy or in a trade school.
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I wasn't really able to find a whole lot in policing back then.
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Um and that does kind of inform a lot of what I try to put out in my content and curriculum.
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Um fast forward, I just jumped right into it the spring when I was about to graduate.
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I got hired by my local police department, Western Washington, been with the same department for 18 years now.
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And a lot of why I picked it was because it was it was busy and there's a lot of crime, a lot of activity.
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I wanted to do the real thing.
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Um but really to give a little bit of an overview of how I got to creating Blue Grit, it was not out of a intense long-term awareness of the impact and importance of different wellness factors.
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Each kind of facet, if you want to call it that, or pillar of wellness that we think about was really acquired through me having to develop and cultivate and learn those things sometimes off the hard mistakes.
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So I dove into fitness and nutrition because although I felt I had a knack for more of like the analytical skills, having an academic you know, strength as a kid, uh I really wanted to do like the the boots on the ground, the high pack the high pace stuff, um, fast-paced stuff when I hit the streets.
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So I wanted to go for canine and I was like, well, I have to be the biggest, strongest, fastest, most nimble, durable guy can be to chase down these guys and keep keep up with the German Shepherd and with that that big fella over fences and all that.
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So I went for that.
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I that's a a part of my career that was definitely a highlight.
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Um, but then sleep, like sleep was terrible for for years and years on and off of graves.
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Um and my emotional awareness and my relationships and the importance of peer support, like these things all came.
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Uh I came to recognize how important they were because I needed them.
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And so I participated in peer support for the long uh the majority of my career truly as a peer support member and then later as a co team coordinator.
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Um one huge piece that really informed like why I even kicked off Blue Grit was the loss of my buddy Diego.
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Um Diego was killed in line of duty, and that really highlighted my my desire to to do more and see more and learn more about wellness as it pertains to first responder cultures.
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Um but it was 2020 that many of us can reconcile with and the impact of that, where I was already I was already putting out stuff a little bit about my reflections on the career and personal um personal reflections.
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I was already sharing fitness and nutrition stuff and peer support stuff just through my own little circles.
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And that's where I just wanted to put out something positive.
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Uh it started with simply an Instagram and a blog, Blue Grit Wellness.
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Um, and then from there it's grown over years and years into a podcast and a newsletter, and it's simply uh I mean it you you put it really well when you describe all the things I'm trying to get at, but I'm really just trying to help first responders, police, uh high drive individuals just live a little bit better.
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Sure.
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Yeah, you described a lot there, Eric.
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And uh what is one thing that's sort of front of mind right now that um you won't you see a need to address with Blue Grid in terms of let's just focus on law enforcement, um, in terms of building resilience and and you know, not just throwing it around as a buzzword, but um you know, actual real-world resilience.
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What what does that represent to you?
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Yeah, uh resilience for me is just being able to roll the punches and keep living toward and in the life the way you want it, right?
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The way that you've always imagined, not to think about our careers of how much it took from us, because we hear that a lot, and it's not to disparage that mindset.
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I think it's fair to recognize like you're gonna take losses, you're gonna take hits.
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But if we're honest with ourselves, we all signed up for that.
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No one thought it was gonna be sunshine rainbows.
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However, I like to acknowledge the hits and then highlight the wins.
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And I feel very fortunate, although I've seen a lot of rough things, and some may argue a lot of really terrible things uh befell me or those around me.
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I try, and I think it's very important that we're intentional about focusing on the good, because if we don't focus on it, we don't you know we don't capture it, we lose it.
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Right, and that helps um feed your pride, you know, because I really think that all first responders should have some sense of pride because not everybody's signing up to do that kind of work.
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And so if you if you focus on the wins, then that feeds your pride, and then now you know why you put the uniform on every day.
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Yeah, I love that you highlight pride as a as a good thing.
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Yeah, it we need we should have some pride in moderation.
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You should be proud of the great things you do, you should be proud, proud of the great people around you.
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Um just like ego.
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Like uh there's a lot of socialization, like ego's the enemy and kill the ego.
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It's like, no, you need a healthy amount of ego.
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Right, right.
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But pride is different than ego.
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Ego is tossed around as being self-centered.
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Pride, in my understanding of it, is like really honoring the work that you do and the sacrifice that you make.
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Yeah, I like that.
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By the time a first responder sits across from you, they've likely exhausted every internal resource they have.
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This isn't a routine appointment, it's their 911 call.
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You won't hear sirens, but the urgency is real.
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If you choose to take that call, understand what it means to show up, to stay steady, and to carry the weight of someone who spent a career doing the same for others.
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Be the resource they can count on.
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Order your copy of Helping the Helpers Today on Amazon or for bulk book orders, contact us at info at respondertv.com.
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Closing in on two decades doing this job, and um by this point you probably see uh a couple of different generations still on the job.
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Are there ways that police leaders can kind of leverage those generational traits um in a positive sense to enhance team communication?
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Because I know we all like to communicate in different ways depending on kind of when we were brought up.
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Yeah, yeah, I'm fascinated by this.
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I feel like I'm I'm kind of in the in the middle of all this generational talk.
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Uh I just hit 40 last year, so I'm technically an old millennial, and so I I grapple with some of that.
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At the same time, I grew up with dial up internet in like one phone line.
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And so I feel I feel the older generations too.
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Like we didn't have a computer in my house for most of my childhood.
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Um but all to say, like, I think a couple things are to simplify it, the biggest things.
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One is stay curious because we have such a broad audience, and we understand that from internal and external stakeholders community, but even in our departments, like people grew up drastically different, and so just trying to stay curious, I think, invites us to be open about how we communicate, open about how our communication is received, and getting to know people, seeing, you know, making the connections where you can.
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Um the other piece of that is just recognizing it's easy to kind of be curmogeny of like, oh, kids these days.
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But let's be honest, every generation, and I'm pretty sure there are studies and and historical anecdotes that show this.
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Every generation said that, probably since the dawn of time.
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Like kids these days.
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Right, right.
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But there are some real differences.
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Like what I hear from um police leaders is that they don't want to sign up, they don't want to work, they don't want to be ordered in, they have an attitude, um and that you know, they're they're kind of lazy.
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I feel that in in both ways.
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I see it in both respects.
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I see some of these like quote unquote um yeah, let's say younger adults, and I see how the job wears on them.
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I love that they're emotionally intelligent and they're able to take a beat.
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Yeah, and so it's it's kind of like we're having like two ends of the same conversation because we need the work to be done at the same time.
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We are concerned that this generation informed, they're not gonna stay in the careers as long as our their predecessors, no, but if we want them to stay longer, we have to attune to their their wellness needs.
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Correct.
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No, they're all about they're all about peer support, is what I find, right?
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They're really open to it.
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But um, yeah, if if if the tone doesn't change toward promoting officer wellness and you know, um you know supporting what officers go through, then this generation isn't gonna stay in the career as long as uh, you know, the the leadership now.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I love that you bring that up, Stacy.
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And I guess going to the brass tacks that you're kind of highlighting, in addition to wellness, I think that we have a lot to gain by really highlighting personal, professional, career development.
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And so people are able to wear a lot of hats, they're able to cycle through specialties and continue to build themselves and the agency, right?
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Connect that pride in your mission and message.
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Yeah, that's probably one of the most viable strategies, or else they're gonna feel like a number, they're gonna feel like they're replaceable, and they're gonna leave and force us to replace them.
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Right.
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So, this is the kind of piggybacks on this conversation that we're having.
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Um, but work-life balance.
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So um, that's something that's talked about a lot, and it's um, you know, we find a lot of first responders, a lot of us are personally have done this.
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We just take on the job as it's our our full identity, our full, you know, 24-7 mission in life, um, to the exclusion of a lot of other things, and obviously maybe maybe not a healthy balance.
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So, what are your thoughts on kind of restoring that balance?
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Like how realistic is that, and is that gonna have an impact on longevity for the people we're talking about?
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Yeah, I love that conversation.
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Uh the the identity is so encompassing and so um so concentrated.
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And so I've heard a lot of people kind of poo-poo the the even the phrase of work-life balance.
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I like it as a goal and an orientation point, right?
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So that's like that's the intention and recognizing that in this job and these career types, you are going to find yourself in complete and significant imbalance, but the goal should always to rebalance, right, and re-harmonize that.
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So I think in a day, that's probably unrealistic.
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In a week, I think we can do it, and then after a few weeks of really hard times, and maybe that's critical staffing and lots of mandates, maybe that's uh you know, unrest in your region after a few weeks, couple months, then that's where we need to take the bigger steps of taking the time off that you're given, going on vacation or stayation, and then these different things like talking to a clinician, to a pastor, peer support, those things are gonna reorient us, right?
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Like setting up a coffee date with your college buddy I haven't seen in a year, that's gonna reorient you.
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So it's it's not one thing, but everything's personalized.
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But I do think that we ought to think about how we can restore that um balance in a better way through management.
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Well, Eric, it's so important to restore the balance, but what I'm finding is a lot of officers don't realize that they are out of balance.
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So teaching what what are the signs of being out of balance, off balance.
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Um that's one thing that um the group that I belong to, we we voluntarily go into departments and teach, you know, this is these are the symptoms that you need to look for.
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So Fairfield County trauma response team here in Connecticut, you know, this is what we offer.
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Please fire, dispatch, EMS.
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You know, if they want to learn about it, like this is, you know, this we we will just come for free and and present that to you so you know what to look for.
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And it's eye-opening because they're like, oh, I didn't realize that arguments with my spouse could be a sign that things are wearing thin.
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Yeah, I think that's great.
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It's the adage of the the frog in hot water that is you know, gradually boiling.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, you're just in it.
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And I think that there's so many really slippery uh coping mechanisms that aren't super healthy.
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They're kind of innoculous at first, but then they become so overwhelming.
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Alcohol?
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Alcohol, social media, scrolling, doom scrolling, screen time, yeah, yeah.
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Working overtime, for sure, all these.
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Lack of sleep.
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And just saying, well, everyone else has it, like it's not a big deal.
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Yes, even if everyone else is struggling with sleep, that doesn't mean that you look the other way.
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Yeah.
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I yeah, I found it.
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Uh difficulty staying away from work, difficulty taking time off.
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I've grappled with those things.
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:38.480
And uh a social event with your with your buddies, and you're excited about it two weeks ago, and as it gets closer, you're like, Yeah, I don't really feel it.
00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.000
That's that's something that's worth peeling back and asking yourself why.
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:42.720
Correct.
00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:43.279
Right.
00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:49.599
Isolating isolating is dangerous, especially you know, when we look at the suicide numbers among police.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:18:08.640
So um the next topic really touches upon this idea of um self-awareness, you know, like learning about yourself and being vulnerable enough to admit like I'm this is the job's getting to me, and it's affecting not just me, but you know, um my family.
00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:15.119
So, how how important would you say is vulnerability and self-awareness for a law enforcement officers?
00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:16.480
It's critical.
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.039
I mean, it's of highest importance to answer your question.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:28.960
And I'm all in favor of that, but it's really tough to get alpha males and alpha females to bring down the wall or look over the wall.
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:30.240
Yeah.
00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:36.400
I think uh I think the allegory, you know, like we have these walls, like these really hardened defenses.
00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:36.799
Uh-huh.
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:50.000
Um, but if we're honest with ourselves, all of these different, again, wellness factors, whether it's emotional, spiritual, financial, physical, like we are just we have this foundation that might be rotting and we're not attending to it.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:53.039
So we build up these bigger walls, but we really gotta.
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:59.839
I mean, the bigger your wall builds up, the m uh technically the the stronger your foundation ought to be, or the whole thing's gonna go down.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:01.119
Um, and we see it.
00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:08.160
We and uh even those that want those that might be a little bit more stubborn, we know they exist.
00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.079
They're stereotypes for a reason, right?
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:16.799
These are all archetypes that exist in every single agency organization, regardless of what fire service EMS for sure.
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:17.519
Yeah.
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:29.920
There are those that are never gonna seek help, but if we can get the majority, you know, to be open to it and you know, to look at themselves, right?
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.680
There's always gonna be that subset that's uh that's like, nah, I got this, I got this.
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:44.160
Yeah, what I appreciate is like when you talk about vulnerability, there are a lot of folks that were those types, they absolutely were, until something wasn't working in a significant enough way.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.000
Yeah, and then so they share their stories.
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:58.960
So I hope that because everyone is so different and everyone's so unique that continuing to hear these types of stories for those that are willing to put it out, it might be on a podcast, it might be in a one-on-one, like those stories are impactful, right?
00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:03.759
They socialize the the acceptance and the essentially like the okayness of it.
00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:04.400
Right.
00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:15.599
That's why on our podcasts we have a lot of first responders that are admitting, you know, here's where I was, this is where I was, you know, with alcohol or divorce or and chiefs now too.
00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:23.680
We're starting to see more, you know, chief level people um who are totally open and transparent about their struggles and seeking help.
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:34.079
And uh, and it's that's a big shift too, just to hear someone who's wearing a white shirt say, Hey, I needed help, you know, I'm not ashamed to say it.
00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.480
What a way to signal the actual cultural acceptance from the top.
00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:48.240
It's one thing if if a chief and administrator says, an executive says, Yeah, we value wellness, yes, we want you to use the gym, yes, we want you to use our clinician, right?
00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:51.200
But if they don't use any of those things, it's really hard to believe it.
00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:52.480
Correct, right.
00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:57.039
Not everyone is meant to walk this path, and that's okay.
00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:04.720
But for those who feel the call, for those who read these words and feel not just curiosity, but conviction, know this.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:11.680
By the time a first responder sits across from you, they've likely exhausted every internal resource they have.
00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:15.680
This isn't a routine appointment, it's their 911 call.
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.880
I don't know how much longer I can do this job.
00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.680
You won't hear sirens, but the urgency is real.
00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.359
If you choose to take that call, understand what it means.
00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:32.640
To show up, to stay steady, and to carry the weight of someone who spent a career doing the same for others.
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.960
This is where the work begins.
00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:37.519
Be the resource they can count on.
00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:45.839
Order your copy of Helping the Helpers Today on Amazon, and for bulk orders, email us at info at respondertv.com.
00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:59.759
There's a term true accountability, and I'd love to know what you you know how you look at it in terms of the context of law.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.720
enforcement and does that have a way that it shows up in agencies?
00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:10.799
Yeah, I think with accountability, everything, accountability, leadership, wellness, it all starts with you.
00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.720
You can try to do all these things for someone else, but it has to start with you.
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:22.640
You can you can limp it along, but you know truly if you don't cement that from the start with yourself, then it's all for naught.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:26.480
So when I hear accountability, I think very much the same of ownership and integrity.
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:31.599
It's just doing the best you can with what you have and that might be context and timing dependent.
00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.240
Like we'd all we'd all love to show up at a 10.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:38.400
Some days all we have is an 8.5 and that's going to be pretty dang good.
00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:43.759
So when it goes to accountability, I think it goes to values and mission, like personal mission.
00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:56.559
And I mean that's one thing that I am so adamant about for those that have not considered what their values are and really written them down and found some process to revisit that, maybe quarterly, maybe yearly, maybe monthly.
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