The Journal

Stories, lessons and field notes.

Real founders, hard-won lessons, and the unsexy truths behind running a business after service.

Rick from Code One Support with a fire fighter in breathing apparatus and fire truck in the background

first responder business · 16 June 2026

Code One Support — peer-led mental health for first responders, built from inside the job

Rick has spent ten years inside Fire Rescue Victoria — ten years quietly helping coppers, fireys and ambos with their heads. Code One Support is what happens when the side-of-the-mouth advice gets a website.

By M1R Alliance

Jerry Lienert playing around with his mates on a night out acting the fool

transition · 1 June 2026

The Golden Handcuffs Are Real. So Is the Way Out.

Lead Flux is the business I'm building outside the uniform. It's also proof that the door out of the job exists for any of us who decide to walk through it.

By Jerry Lienert