What I Didn't Know: Building the Life You Recovered For

What happens when you realize you’ve been fiercely devoted to all the wrong things—to toxicity, negative self-talk, and the old rules that keep you small? In this powerful episode, I sit down with Amber Dodd to unpack how we break negative core beliefs, reclaim intuition, and own our inherent worth. Drawing from Amber's journey of surviving childhood trauma, addiction, and human trafficking,...

There is a strange, quiet gravity that shifts when you lose the anchors of your family tree. Suddenly, you aren’t just looking back at your roots—you’re looking at what you're leaving behind. We often treat grief like a linear checklist. But in this episode sitting down with Matthew Hillman, a sudden family passing holds up a mirror to our own lives, sparking a raw, introspective, and surpris...

In this deeply moving and vital episode, I sit down with my friend Haven Thomas to open up a transparent, empowering conversation about surviving domestic violence, breaking the cycle of trauma bonding, and finding the road to true freedom . After touching on resilience back in Episode 20, Haven is back to share her journey. This episode isn't just about what she survived—it’s an eye-opening...

What happens when you finally decide to change your life, but the divine timeline doesn't match the grand vision you’ve mapped out for yourself? In this episode, local Nashville musician Elizabeth Bee and I unpack the messy reality of recovery, relationship loops, and the ultimate freedom of "untelling" old childhood stories. We dive into how healing requires us to intentionally bre...

"What are you getting out of staying stuck?" It’s an uncomfortable question, but it’s the one that finally forced me to look at my own blind spots. Shifting out of old habits and deeply ingrained behaviors requires a massive internal lift, and it rarely happens overnight. Inside the episode: The Reality of Growth: We are walking through the entire messy, non-linear process of change—from...

What happens when the armor you build to protect yourself from the world becomes the very cage that traps you? In this episode, I sat down with Chad Wilkerson to explore the exact turning point where his defense mechanisms became too heavy to carry. We trace his journey from navigating relentless childhood bullying to facing a second-degree attempted murder charge involving a samurai sword—and ult...

How do you rewrite your future when the world keeps dragging you back to a single page of your past? In this candid conversation, Megan Hauschulz joins me to pull back the curtain on rebuilding a life from scratch—from navigating the correctional system to starting over on the outside. But this episode goes far deeper than a broken system. Together, we unpack the heavy things we usually hide: navi...

"Give yourself the opportunity to get it wrong." In this episode, I sit down with Frankie Seeney for an unfiltered look at growing up in the "School of Hard Knocks" and what it actually takes to rebuild a life from the ground up. We dive into the heavy cost of generational emotional suppression—that inherited rule that says you have to swallow your pain, go to work, and never s...

“My first drug of choice was validation.” In this episode, I sit down with Savannah Kirkland for a soul-baring conversation about the beautiful reality of the "Second Chance." We talk about how our first birth is handed to us, but our second birth is a conscious, intentional invitation to begin again. Savannah and I trace the journey from the chaos of active addiction to the quiet streng...

What if today is just the 'Day Before' everything changes? Have you ever felt like you’re doing all the work, making the changes, and showing up—but nothing is actually moving? No phone call, no new door opening, just… silence? In this solo episode, I’m revisiting a piece I wrote back in 2022 called "On the Day Before." It’s an honest look at those seasons where life feels stag...

What does it actually mean to be vulnerable?  In this episode, I sit down with Mike White to discuss the messy, courageous "practice" of becoming new again. From navigating the dating world after decades of marriage to dismantling defense mechanisms like humor and "fake anger," we explore what it really takes to let yourself be seen . We dive into the weight of our choices on o...

What if the goal isn't to get it all right, but simply to find the courage to make the next divine stitch? In this episode, I’m joined by Nashville comedian Marty Quinn for a conversation that explores the magic of long-term recovery. After multiple decades of sobriety, Marty has moved past the spiritual arrogance of early recovery and into a life defined by something much more sustainable: p...

What happens when your "independence" starts to look more like a bunker?    This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on the "squirrely" reality of growth, the weight of carrying grief for others, and why choosing a life of recovery often means trading comfortable solitude for messy, vulnerable connection. In this candid conversation, we explore the concept of "Pattern Wit...

"Gratitude makes what I have enough.” In this episode, I sit down with Chuck Shanlever, a recovery veteran and student of the human experience with over 38 years of sobriety. Together, we strip away the image management of daily life to explore what happens when we stop trying to "arrive" at a destination and finally start embracing the journey. This conversation is an exploration o...

"I realized that my comfort was becoming a cage." Whether you’ve hit every milestone on a high-achiever’s list or you’ve simply been playing it safe on autopilot—have you ever looked at the life you’ve built and realized you’ve lost the person it was all supposed to serve? This week, I’m sitting down with Lily Peterson, who honored her own nudge over a high-level leadership career and a...

This week, I sat down with the incredible Isabel Serafin, and we explored the notion that the "perfectionist" mindset is actually a one-way ticket to the loneliness epidemic. We often treat perfectionism like a personality quirk, but in this conversation, we look at it for what it really is: a barrier to the very intimacy that heals us.  Isabel opens up about her journey as a queer woman...

I’ve spent years realizing that I wasn’t always in a relationship with the person in front of me—I was often in a relationship with a blueprint from my past.   I’m so excited to be joined again by my first repeat guest, Jeff Browning, to dive even deeper into the Jungian psychology of why we love the way we do.  In this episode, we pull back the curtain on why so many of us "self-abandon&quot...

You are an expert in your own experience.  In this raw, soul-stirring conversation, I sit down with Michael Harrell to pull back the curtain on the non-linear path of healing. From our first "deep dive" meeting on a couch to Michael’s current journey through post-traumatic growth, we explore the radical idea that recovery—and life— isn't one-size-fits-all.  In this episode, we dive...

In today's conversation with Rad Marshall, we dive deep into the art of self-reclamation and the powerful discipline of growth. We explore the messy process of breaking old patterns and what it actually takes to stop "self-abandoning" for the sake of comfort. Rad and I break down the literal power of language: the profound idea that your words aren't just describing your life—t...

In this soul-stirring and expansive conversation, I sit down with professional songwriter and recovery veteran Wes Hamil. With 34 years of sobriety and a deep-rooted apprenticeship in Native spiritual traditions, Wes provides a profound roadmap for navigating the tension of the human experience—learning to hold ourselves accountable without falling into self-abuse and finally stepping into a life...

In this episode, I sit down with Mark Martin, who is currently nine months into a deep process of personal transformation and recovery. We dive into the raw, honest reality of what it looks like to dismantle an old life and the vulnerability of starting over at 36—reminding us that "on time" is wherever you happen to be right now.  This isn’t just a conversation about sobriety; it’s a pr...

Today’s Tuesday episode is a little different. No guest this week—just a raw, honest conversation about what happens when things don't go according to plan.  I’m opening up about a technical glitch that forced a choice: scramble to maintain the illusion of "perfect," or lean into the messy truth of my reality. As someone in recovery from perfectionism—I’m choosing the latter. In thi...

Are You Carrying the Weight of the World?  We often use the term "compassion fatigue" to describe the exhaustion of caring, but counselor Angela Melzer suggests a profound shift in perspective: compassion itself is an infinite resource. What actually drains us—what leaves us hollow and reaching for our phones to numb out—is empathy fatigue .  When we over-identify with another person&apo...

“The biggest fight I’ve ever fought in my life was with myself.”  When Joe Singer texted his boss at a beer distribution company to admit he was an alcoholic, he expected to lose his livelihood. Instead, he was met with a simple: “Welcome to Step One.” It was a moment of radical transparency that redefined Joe’s relationship with his work and himself. In this raw and un-sugarcoated conversation, I...

What happens when the life you dreamed of finally arrives, but you’re too "broken" to actually live it? This week, I’m talking with Russ Pollard, a professional musician and DJ who has lived the full arc—from touring the world on a bus to finding a profound, quiet peace in the present. We look past the early days of survival to talk about the practice of presence and what it really takes...