INSTRUCTOR BIOS

Hakim Isler is the nation's premier 

African-American survival expert. He specializes in weapons combat, executive security, disaster psychology, psychological operations, emergency management, disaster mitigation, and more. He has been in martial arts for over 33 years with black belts in Ninjutsu, Kali and Silat. The author of several books and has member on Naked and Afraid, Naked and Afraid XL, Kicking and Screaming, First Man Out, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. 

Suzanne Shires is a North Carolina native herbalist, author, educator and homesteader. She learned to tend gardens and preserve food naturally from ‘mountain folk’ grandparents. Granny-women and country doctors were just a part of life, with old ways to heal from the plants and remedies of Appalachia.  Her homestead and sustainable lifestyle led her to a serious education into herbalism and nutrition.  She teaches others the skills of herbalism and finding nutritional food in times of disaster. 

Jillian-Taylor’s philosophy is rooted in deep ecology, preparedness, and navigating the balance between tactical utility and aesthetic whimsey. After several experiences within the slow-moving gears of conservation nonprofits JT decided to pursue a hands-on, low-tech approach to living an earth-based life.  

Considering a lack of access to quality healthcare and pesticide-free food, JT dove into pursuing foraging, foodways, and herbal medicine, while integrating other general primitive and off-grid skills. Now, nine years after her first bushcraft apprenticeship, she’s a teacher and student of permaculture living, traditional ecological knowledge, & micro-nomadity. 

John Zimmerman comes to the Ready XPO with a wealth of knowledge! John is a former US Army Combat Medic who was deployed to Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm, receiving the Bronze Star Medal for saving six lives in combat. He completed 12 years as a Medical Specialist serving in various roles, including Ambulance Section Leader. He was a NC Paramedic for 3 years employed by the Rowan County EMS in Salisbury, NC & lastly, owned an emergency preparedness store in Fayetteville, NC that opened the day after NC Governor Roy Cooper shut the state down for COVID-19. Due to the nature of that time, the store was not able to remain open & was closed in 2022. His knowledge & expertise in the medical field & emergency preparedness is sought by many in the bushcraft, homesteading & prepper communities, not only for his instruction but also as an on-sight medic. For the Ready XPO, John will be discussing the 5 B’s of First-Aid as well as the Importance of Emergency Preparedness.

Leonidas Bolejack has been studying and practicing naturalist skills from an early age. A member of his high school cross-country and wrestling teams, he is a black belt candidate in Tang Soo Do and also studies Kenpo, Integrated Martial Arts, ninjutsu and Filipino systems. He is the athletic director for Pisgah High School JROTC and worked this year as a Jr. Counselor at Turtle Island Preserve in Boone, NC. Leo has grown up attending Land of the Sky Wilderness School and continues in those programs as junior leader. Through LOTSWild and his dad’s mentoring he carries the Yohna Nugali, or bear claw – a symbol of service oriented warriorship and understanding of Cherokee language, culture, and scout skills. He has shown dedication and perseverance in a support role for elite US Army training courses and is an accomplished percussionist and composer. He enjoys playing in local churches around western North Carolina.

Momma Wendy has been teaching for a couple decades now, including children, arts, crafts, primitive skills, homesteading, herbal medicines and food preservation topics. Her goal is to speed up the learning curve so everyone has the opportunity to become self sufficient and thrive no matter what the rest of the world decides to do.

Bug out vehicles and car kits on a budget .
Come see and learn how we set up our skoolie (converted bus) as our bug-out vehicle and for boondocking/being off-grid on a very small budget. Car kits and what should be in them/How to find safe spaces to live out of your vehicle while traveling.
Soothing Salve Making class; intro to Herbology and how to use it
Intro to herbology.

Focus on herbs that can be found and cultivated in this bio-region. Make medicines that work well in your go bags. Take control of your health! Make and take, everyone goes home with their own salve they made. Cost 25.00
Making Live Culture (with Mother) Fruit Vinegars
Learn traditions, health benefits and uses of vinegars, and how to start your own live culture fruit vinegar at home

Larry Burk, MD, CEHP, is a holistic radiologist, health coach, and Certified Energy Health Practitioner, also certified in acupuncture and medical hypnosis. He was co-founder and former education director of Duke Integrative Medicine. His books are Let Magic Happen: Adventures in Healing with a Holistic Radiologist and Dreams that Can Save Your Life: Early Warning Signs of Cancer and Other Diseases. He has taught Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) workshops around the world for the past 20 years. His protocol for EFT tapping is very effective for overcoming fear, plus the physical symptoms that accompany it. He has a unique mind-body-spirit self-healing approach which combines tapping with color breathing, therapeutic shaking, self-hypnosis, imagery and visualization. His books, blogs, TEDx talks and YouTube videos can be found at www.larryburk.com

Jacks Genega is an avid adventurer and full-time van-lifer teaching wilderness skills across the country. Her journey into outdoor living began when solo hiking across the UK and in Europe while studying with Woodland Ways (UK) leading to the completion of their Northern Forest Year program. She then trained in the US and instructed alongside various leaders in the field and now shares her love of all things bushcraft and survival in hopes to promote a sense of resilience through self-reliance through her own school, Wildcard Wilderness.

Darius Newman, founder and CEO of Prepared Mentality & author of self-published book “The Eye of Clarity: The Keyes to Effective Situational Awareness” saw a need in the community to teach emergency preparedness. Darius is a U.S. Army Vet, graduate of VCU with a B.A. in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness as well as multiple certifications in Emergency Management and First Responder training. Darius teaches emergency preparedness to fill the void where individuals and community's need the basic understanding of how to stay ready & prepared for disasters.

Dagmar has been practicing East Asian medicine (acupuncture, Chinese herbs), and nutrition for 35 years. She
is the author of The Chinese Herbalist’s Handbook which was published in 1994. She served on the NCCAOM Exam Development Committee for the national Chinese herbal certification exam for seven years. She is a former fellow of the Acupuncture & TCM Board of Reproductive Medicine (ABORM)
where she also served as the exam development chair. Since 2014 she incorporated the Banerji-style homeopathy with her patients and has seen remarkable results treating acute conditions. She has practiced functional medicine since 2008 and in 2024 completed her Certified
Functional Medicine Clinician certification from the Kharrazian Institute. She taught Chinese herbal medicine and nutrition as a faculty member at a Chinese medical college for five years, and taught nationally,
internationally, and online. Recently, she taught a four-hour Integrative Nutrition for Optimal Health course
which is available online on demand to help her patients gain clarity on this complex subject.

I spent my years as a young man carving 110 acres of undeveloped land into a farm and homestead, taking full advantage of the local library and learning through trial and error. Along the way I was fortunate enough to discover the thrill of hunting and trapping, along with the satisfaction of raising our own livestock. All while tucked away in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and surrounded by deer, tics, and wild rose bushes. Beginning with deer and our own chickens and hogs, I grew proficient and was regularly called upon to process livestock and wild game by friends and neighbors. As an adult I have had the unique experience to have processed goats while deployed in Afghanistan, rabbits in Siberia, a boar in Beijing, and as of this July approximately 650 hogs and the same in beef, with nearly 2000 deer of the course of my professional butchering career. I am an Eagle Scout, A Marine Corps veteran, and a redneck global adventurer.

Dayton Bournique was raised in the urban and rural homesteading and preparedness atmosphere. For years, he has passionately pursued learning skills from books, YouTube, various instructors, courses, classes, both of my parents and from continual hands-on experience. He is skilled in firecraft, constructing shelters, and just being able to fashion useful items with his own two hands. In 2023, he started instructing classes at different events including, The Old School Survival Bootcamp in Ohio, and The Patriot Homesteaders Conference in Southern Indiana. The classes he teaches include Basic Firecraft, Lock Picking 101, and Bug Out Bags.

Michael Brewer began studying bushcraft and survival in earnest when he was 12 years old during months-long trips in the summers to places like Donner Pass and Pinnacles National Park with his father.  In 1999, Michael joined the US Army as a Psychological Operations specialist where he worked around the world learning about topics like influence operations and psychological operations assessments.  Eight years later, in 2007, Michael joined the US Intelligence Community as a counterterrorism targeting officer, working to extract actionable intelligence from such high value targets as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of , the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.  In 2023, he received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteer Service for his work in disaster and humanitarian relief operations.  His P.A.C.E. program is the result of decades of experience in bushcraft, survival, clandestine operations and military training, and the pure joy of living a life of adventure and stories worth telling.

Spencer 2 Dogs Bolejack operates Land of the Sky Wilderness School in Western North Carolina where he lives with his wife and three kids.  An apprentice of mountain man Eustace Conway in the 1990s, Bolejack holds dan rank in multiple styles of martial arts including Tang Soo Do, Kenpo, IMA (Filipino and jiu jutsu), and a 5th Dan in taijutsu/ninjutsu.  After a rough start at Appalachian State, he gave everything away and moved into the woods for a total of three years, surviving on little and accumulating many of the skills discussed in class.  The 11th generation Carolinian also co-hosted 59 episodes of Discovery’s Hillbilly Blood.  He is also the author of the Appalachian Ninja series; books that examine how foundational skill sets of feudal Japanese warriors are mirrored in the people and culture of the southeastern United States.

John Bradley was introduced to real estate after running his own truck business for 20 years. He quickly understood the importance of owning both land and houses, so he bought his own land and started renovating old army barracks into triplex that he rented to the community. This led him to a quest of wanting to find the best small affordable housing solutions. He settled on container homes and started building them for others as a sustainable, cost-effective form of building. 

Rick Dunlap, the proud proprietor of Bushcraft North Carolina, not only oversees the community as its dedicated Facebook administrator but also brings an impressive 18-year tenure as a certified instructor for the Emergency Care and Safety Institute (ECSI). With expertise in standard first aid, CPR, AED, basic life support (BLS) for healthcare providers, and wilderness first aid, Rick has been a stalwart in promoting safety and well-being.

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In addition to his role as an ECSI instructor, Rick serves as an esteemed instructor for the Old North Council Boy Scouts of America, specializing in health and safety. His commitment extends to his role as a health officer at the Cherokee Scout Reservation, reflecting his dedication to fostering a secure environment.

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Rick's illustrious career includes a remarkable 25-year service as a U.S. Army Sergeant Major, during which he spent a decade as a paratrooper at Fort Bragg, NC, with the 16th Military Police Brigade and the 82nd Airborne Division. As a combat veteran and former drill sergeant, Rick's military experience has shaped his unwavering commitment to excellence and discipline.

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Beyond his military service, Rick is a retired high school teacher in North Carolina. Teaching holds a special place in his heart, viewing it as one of his passions. Rick firmly believes in the power of passing on valuable skills to the younger generation, recognizing that this transfer of knowledge ensures a legacy of competence for generations to come.

Kelso specializes in wilderness skills and bushcraft in the South Eastern United States. Teaching both private and public multiday classes covering a wide variety of skill sets. His classes provide tried and true wilderness skills with a touch of his outside the box thinking.

Working closely with many companies in the outdoor industry,  Kelso not only tests gear in real world scenarios but helps to fine tune and develop trusted gear from urban EDC to the minimal primitive survivalist. Kelso has designed several knives as well as many handforged tools and soft goods.

Grandmaster Johnson is an internationally certified close quarters combat master instructor. He has black belts and instructorships in over 18 different martial arts and combat systems. Grandmaster Johnson is a 7 time martial arts hall of fame inductee and is internationally recognized soke black belt in Yong mu Kwan “special forces” Hapkido-Jujitsu and Black Dragon Kali-Silat. He has a 7th Dan in Hochheim Kemp/Karate/Jujitsu, Pacific Archipelago Combatives, and Filipino combatives. He is a former law enforcement officer and holds a 6th Dan in Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo.

Dr. Dauphine Sisk-Wambles OTD, OTR/L, has provided sensational TimberNook experiences to children in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas including Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Vass and Fort Bragg, NC since 2016. Her interest in child development initially began with a high school elective. She has been providing OT and small group programs in North Carolina since 2006. Becoming a mother solidified her vision to provide engaging outdoor programming for all children. Over the last 25 years she has deepened her understanding of children through a variety of educational and work experiences. Letting them play the "TimberNook Way" has been one of the keys to unlocking a child's developmental potential

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Chief Joseph Riverwind Chief RiverWind is an honorably discharged Army veteran who enlisted during Desert Storm. He served as a Military Police Officer and was part of the top-secret Force XXI Project. His experience includes humanitarian missions and civil unrest scenarios. Chief RiverWind holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from Mercer University, a Master's in Biblical Studies, and is currently pursuing a Master's in Emergency Response. He is a nationally certified NRA Instructor in Rifle, Pistol, and Concealed Carry, as well as a certified Sigma III Survival Instructor. When not educating, he serves locally and internationally as the appointed Peace Chief and Ambassador of the Arawak Taino Tribe of Puerto Rico. Chief RiverWind and his wife, Dr. Laralyn RiverWind, founded the non-profit organization FireKeepers International. This organization preserves Indigenous heritage skills and teaches resiliency and emergency preparedness to communities and families.

Dr. Laralyn RiverWind is a Naturopath and Master Herbalist. Growing up, her father instilled in her a love for traditional indigenous herbal medicine, and her grandfather taught her about gardening and making fire the old way. In addition to her herbal training, she has extensive experience in allopathic healthcare and emergency trauma care, as well as studies in Microbiology, Epidemiology, and Infectious Diseases. When she isn't educating, she represents the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee as an ambassador locally and internationally. Along with her husband, Chief Joseph RiverWind, she founded FireKeepers International, a non-profit that preserves indigenous heritage skills and teaches resiliency and emergency preparedness to communities and families.

Jon and Rachel own a small chicken hatchery in Northwest Florida. They are the co-founders of Gulf Coast Homesteaders Meetup in 2021, 2022 and were Co-hosts of Keepers of the Old Ways homestead event in 2023 both in their local area. Both events focus on teaching others skills related to homesteading and farming.
 

 Jon has worked in corrections for almost 20 years-. Seventeen years at the state prison and seven years at the county jail. He is a rangemaster, firearms instructor and a hand-to-hand combat instructor. He is certified to teach all correctional officer classes. Jon has taught in the corrections academy for new officers/deputies for 10 years.

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Rachel was an EMT and is currently a 911 police dispatcher with her local sheriff’s office. She has been a 911 dispatcher for 14 years. Rachel founded a local ladies group called “Ladies Skill Sharing” in January of 2023 and the group has well over 600 members.She brings in instructors to teach local women in the group homesteading and homemaking skills 1-2 times monthly.

They attend many events each year teaching classes on everything from raising chickens, how to build coops, how to homestead on a budget, getting started providing your own food, learning to be more self-sufficient, seed saving, raising sustainable dual-purpose birds, hatching and raising chicks, making your own compost to biochar. They teach on how to provide for your family and animals without having to solely rely on commercial stores.

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John Galloway has roots in several parts of the U.S. having grown up with missionary parents. From Northern California to North Carolina, John has collected several talents in wilderness and homesteading skills inherited from his father and also native to all regions where he was raised. After graduating high school, John spent 10 years of service with the USMC and spent several years abroad with indigenous villages in the Phillippines only adding to wilderness skillsets with jungle survival. Upon discharge he was hired by the Fayetteville (NC) Fire Department and served as a medic, Rescue Technician, HazMat Technician and retired in 2016 as a Captain. John decided to turn his passion for homesteading into a full-time job, but also began teaching firearms training including his true love, long range precision. John transitioned into also teaching wilderness skills to this day, sharing God’s creation and the peace the wild can bring.

Jim Tubbs is the Chief of a Township Fire Department in West Central Michigan. He owns Sawhorse Stables Custom Woodcraft and works as an Armed Security officer for a large security company. He has been in the public safety realm for nearly 30 years with work and training in law enforcement, corrections, security, fire fighting and EMS. 

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Jim has been teaching ropes and knots to the fire service for 13 years and to the survival/bushcraft community for 3 years. He has a passion for all things rope related and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others. He is a certified Fire Service Instructor in the State of Michigan and specializes in Ropes and Knots, Vehicle Extrication, Building Construction and Ventilation. Jim brings his fire service experience to the survival/bushcraft community in an attempt to build your skills and increase your odds of surviving in a limited resource scenario. 

Wanda L. Priday grew up romping the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and comes from a line of outdoorsmen and woman that lived a subsistence lifestyle. Coming up in a family that gardened and canned, raised chickens, hogs and cows, hunted, fished, trapped and foraged for everyday provisions is the base she continues to grow from.  She enjoys hiking, backpacking, camping, fishing, gardening, studying wilderness medicine and practicing primitive living skills. 

Wanda is certified in Wilderness First Aid, studied Anthropology at George Mason University, which included time at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia traveling the outback studying modern and indigenous cultures. She is an ordained minister in the International Metaphysical Ministry and owns and operates EcoCleaning LLC in her hometown Blacksburg, VA. 

Paul Christopher grew up in Aberdeen, North Carolina, where his mother showed him how to make a gourmet meal from the wasted backbones thrown out from Uncle Archie's Fish House and where his father taught him that he could build a house from a pile of scrapped lumber and sheet metal. The youngest of four, his brothers shared their vast knowledge and experience in hunting and fishing , helping to supply food for their family's table. The woods was both his playground and his grocery store so climbing through the Boy Scouts was second nature to him.
From food procurement to preservation and blacksmithing to building, Paul grew up learning how to "make something from nothing," and what he now calls, the lost ways of life. During his 22 years as a career fireman, Paul has been on several special teams including both Dive and Land Search Teams, as well as High Angle and Confined Space Rescue. It was through being a Fire Service Instructor that his passion for skill sharing grew which led him to share his own skillset in the outdoors: leading classes in homesteading, wilderness survival, self rescue, and bushcraft. Paul is Co-Founder of Lostways Survival and Homestead alongside his wife, Becky Christopher. When Paul is not at his homestead in North Carolina, he can be found teaching across the country with various institutions and events such as Gerogia Bushcraft LLC, The Woodsrunner School, Old School Survival Bootcamp and The GatherThing. Paul has also curated courses and workshops inspired by his own life script, thus, encouraging others to share certain ways and traditions before they are lost.

Becky Christopher has always been an avid outdoorsman from the time she was young having spent much time in the woods with her father. When pursing a career in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) and with a rescue squad, her passion for the outdoors grew leading employment with a SAR (Search and Rescue) team in the Blue Ridge Mountains and becoming Swiftwater certified. She primarily teaches Wilderness First Aid as she feels students should know how to care of both themselves and others. Becky loves taking her 22 years of EMS training and finding ways to apply it to the outdoors. ​Becky has since moved to the Sandhills of North Carolina and is the Co-Founder of Lostways Survival and Homestead along with her husband, Paul Christopher. When she is not in North Carolina she can be found teaching across the country at various institutions such as Georgia Bushcraft LLC and The Woodsrunner School; as well as events such as Old School Survival Bootcamp, Georgia Bushcraft's Spring Campout and Fall Gathering, and The GatherThing in West Virginia. Becky has a vast knowledge of survival skills and enjoys teaching and working alongside others as they find their own path. You can also find Becky teaching classes on her own land in North Carolina.

Madison Poole is the owner/operator of Bombproof Bushcraft. She has taught for several years at the Woodsrunner school in South Carolina, given classes and seminars at events pertaining to survival, bushcrafting and all over the midwest, and southeast.  Her knowledge of the outdoors is brought to life to her students through humor, wit and hands on instruction. 

BIO Coming Soon

BIO Coming Soon

Preparing meals from your long-term storage food shouldn’t be a trial, especially when you’re already in a crisis. And eating great tasting food, by using your food stores to their greatest potential, is a morale booster for your family and group, as well. 

Deb has been cooking, canning, and preparing food for a long time. Rice and beans may be basic fodder, but they don’t have to be boring. She helps bring verve and zest to the routine requirements of daily food. She also points out how to modify the food for your body’s best use. 

With Food Storage Feasting, Deb will teach you how to integrate long-shelf-life, common ingredients into your daily menu. As well as what to do when you need quick fixes on the run! Food can be fun, and learn how to make it, keep it, and enjoy it, with Food Storage Feasting!