The Hopeaholics

Rachel Sereni is co-host of the 2 Girls in a Chair podcast and sober for over 2 years. She grew up mostly alone with her little sister while their dad worked two jobs, because their mother was addicted to opiates and spent most of Rachel's early childhood nodding out on the couch. Rachel got a DUI after she left work early to drink and forgot to pick up her son from school, woke up in jail with her car impounded and her son at his grandma's house. By the end of her drinking she was 221 pounds, had over 32 W2s because she couldn't hold a job, and was blacking out most nights and cursing out her husband without remembering any of it. On April 10th, 2024, she drove to a parking lot with a bottle of wine and two shooters for one last hurrah, got halfway through the wine, started throwing a tantrum in her front seat and almost kicked her windshield in. She got out, threw everything into a field, and landed on her knees sobbing. She drove home, woke up April 11th, and that was her sobriety date. She's been sober since, lost 80 pounds, and chose April 11th as the date she married her husband. Rachel also announces an amazing surprise for the very first time in our show's history! Check out the 2 Girls In A Chair podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@2GirlsInaChair Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 00:00 — Intro 04:00 — Pregnancy Announcement 08:00 — Day one of sobriety: got on the scale, saw 221 13:29 — In and out of halfway homes with Mom 15:14 — Mom came back at 11 16:57 — Mom had numerous overdoses 17:31 — The night mom died 21:51 — Daily drinking by 19; violent, fighting people; 22:20 — Found out she was pregnant 23:33 — The friend nobody wanted to go out with 24:18 — Left work early to drink; forgot to pick son up; woke up in jail 29:40 — The surrender moment 31:39 — Friend did an intervention while she was the one who got Rachel drunk 33:17 — Started 2 Girls in a Chair with Jessica 36:41 — She thought she'd never genuinely laugh again 37:49 — Addiction doesn't have to define your whole personality 43:55 — "I married the love of my life the day I got my life back." 46:41 — Grief in sobriety 47:24 — Started EMDR for PTSD from seeing her mom's body 50:47 — Not continuing EMDR while pregnant 53:33 — What you feel during pregnancy, the baby feels 54:33 — Her son forgives her 57:22 — Blackout drinking 57:47 — How alcohol is glamorized vs what it actually is 1:02:19 — AA experiences mirror bad church experiences 1:07:04 — How she and Jessica met 1:09:14 — Grew up with no mother; all mother figures have passed

Jesse Sanchez was 11 the first time he smoked weed, 14 when he tried cocaine and opiates, and 17 when he looked up from a carpet covered in crack and thought "holy s***, what are we doing." He eventually landed on heroin as his drug of choice and spent three years hiding it from his wife, driving 4.5 hours round trip to his dealer while she thought he was at work, once using a co-worker's real funeral as cover to go pick up. When she finally found out, he ended up on his sister's couch in Washington sweating it out, then a year in AA still drinking, still taking chips for heroin. He's been six years off heroin, four years fully clean. Six months into his final sobriety, his brother Julian had died from fentanyl poisoning. The depression that followed got dark enough that when the thought of taking his son with him crossed his mind, it scared him into finally getting real help. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00 — Into 2:07 — The shirt: in memory of Julian 7:43 — Parents divorced when he was 2 8:14 — Age 11: first smoked weed with a friend, not his brother 10:06 — Age 14: no weed around, tried cocaine 13:17 — Age 17: became a crackhead 14:12 — Opiates vs everything else 17:15 — When pills got scarce, friends switched to heroin 18:06 — Met his wife from Ukraine 23:17 — Wife caught him, admitted pills, never mentioned heroin 32:37 — Used a co-worker's real funeral as cover to go pick up drugs 34:30 — Confessing addiction to wife 42:45 — Detoxing at sister's house 45:18 — 6 years off heroin, never touched it since 46:04 — Tried AA while still drinking 51:22 — Relapsed on cocaine at work, told his sponsor 55:24 — Mom calls to tell me my brother died 58:20 — 800-pound steel tube cut his fingertips off on the job 1:04:39 — Staying sober through brother's death 1:09:05 — Rock bottom in sobriety 1:17:33 — What turned the corner: therapy, EMDR 1:21:06 — What you tell your sponsor vs what you tell a therapist

Jessica Nolin is a content creator, recovery advocate, and co-host of 2 Girls in a Chair podcast. Jessica's dad dealt drugs her entire childhood and helped manage her anxiety by giving her a vodka orange at 12 along with random pills she didn't even know the names of. By 15 she was drinking daily. A few years ago she detoxed at home alone over nine days without telling anyone, sleeping an hour at a time, still showing up to work and helping customers on the sales floor between rounds of throwing up. What got her through it was sheer will and a decision she made going in that she wasn't going to be ashamed of it. After those nine days she started figuring out what sobriety actually looked like for her and found an Instagram community of people in recovery just by putting herself out there during a dry January and posting every day. Today she has two years sober, a genuine support system, and is continuing to share her experiences and spread her message with her content. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #mystory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 01:12 — Jessica Nolin 04:38 — Parents were 17 and 18 05:27 — Struggling with anxiety and depression 06:28 — First drink at 12: dad gave her a vodka orange for her anxiety 11:46 — Living in dad's trap house 19:24 — Hair falling out, throwing up every day 25:42 — Grandpa and dad sold drugs 30:00 — Moment of clarity 31:47 — Nine days of home detox 33:46 — What's kept her sober 35:49 — Radical self-acceptance 36:46 — How she met Rachel and started their podcast 42:58 — Dad is still using; relationship with mom is better now 43:48 — Why she does this

Adam Wittbrodt is a personal trainer and recovery advocate. He grew up with an alcoholic father who walked out on his 12th birthday and died before Adam turned 19. Carrying grief Adam spent the next decade and a half burying under IV heroin, forged checks, and 8 felonies. One day he collapsed at the front desk where he worked after injecting what he thought was heroin. It was laced with fentanyl and cocaine. A hotel guest walked in at exactly the right moment and called 911. Three weeks into county jail after that, he heard himself tell his cellmate he was pissed that the paramedics had saved him. That was the break. He went through Midland County Recovery Court, then treatment at Harbor Hall in Petoskey. Sober June 22nd, 2016. He has 10 years, runs a personal training operation with 100+ clients, a fitness and recovery program inside the Midland County Juvenile Justice Center, and co-hosts the Level Up Life podcast. I Used To Do Heroin At Work Now I'm 10 Years Sober w/ Adam Wittbrodt | The Hopeaholics Podcast #359 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00 — Intro 0:58 — Adam Wittbrodt 11:59 — Cigarettes at 13 to IV heroin 12:53 — First Vicodin prescription at 14 14:50 — "Maybe if I do what my dad did, I'll understand him" 16:34 — Dad dies; $10K in life insurance gone in a month 18:29 — First 90 days in jail at 21 21:06 — The Curry Hotel: 3 × 80mg Oxy loaded into one shot 23:24 — Conning doctors 25:08 — 23 months to 14 years 30:00 — Grandmother dying in the ICU 31:20 — Using laced Heroine at work 33:06 — It was fentanyl and cocaine: just hitting the market in 2016 33:52 — Survivor's remorse: "Why was I saved?" 35:42 — The ER should treat addiction like a diabetic emergency 52:32 — 7th and 8th felonies, $500K bond 1:03:23 — 10 years sober; 210 meetings in 210 days 1:14:37 — Building the personal training business 1:15:48 — The Rebuild Program 1:19:52 — 300 fentanyl deaths a day: why he thinks he was saved

At 18 Riley moved to LA, got into the adult entertainment industry, made fast money, found cocaine & alcohol, and ran that combination through her entire 20s. In 2023 she got pregnant but couldn't stop using. She missed 2 Christmases that she blamed on her daughter being sick when it was Riley being hungover. Riley's breaking point was being in closet at 4am doing coke, convinced there were people in her house that weren't there, called 911, the operator told her to get some sleep and hung up, and she grabbed her daughter and drove 80 miles an hour to her ex's parents' house to try and convince them they needed safety. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 00:00 Intro 01:40 Riley Jensen 06:40 The family disease 08:32 Doing P*** at 18yo 14:14 First attempt at sobriety 16:23 Pregnant and couldn't stop 18:28 Post partum addiction 20:06 Going Into Psychosis 22:33 Walking into AA, 3 times a day, the first 60 days 31:55 First sober airplane and vacation 35:51 80-year-old sponsor 39:43 Dad chaired her first meeting 43:18 Breaking the cycle 56:24 "This is me. This is the real Erica."

Nate Block is a professional crisis de-escalation instructor with Jumpstart Mastery, traveling the country to train correctional departments and agencies on how to work with people in crisis. Nate dropped out of high school and spent the years that followed bouncing between apartments, bar shows, and eventually a college town he moved to chasing a girl, working odd jobs and drinking past the point where it felt like a choice, past the point where it was the only thing that made him feel like he was worth being alive. At 19 he made his first suicide attempt, and he'd make 3 more over the years that followed. Today Nate is 13 years sober and he's 60 days into "The Weight We Carry," a rucking challenge he built from scratch where he adds 1lb into a pack and runs a mile until he can't anymore; for 1 goal: to force men to talk about suicide. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00:00 Intro 0:05:26 Oklahoma City bombing 0:08:48 "Childhood ends the moment you realize your own mortality" 0:14:16 Finding out he was adopted at 12 0:17:44 First drink at 13: punk rock and playing bars at 15 0:25:57 A friend is killed, dropout at 15 0:32:10 Drinking was the only thing that made me feel worthy 0:33:03 4 close call suicide attempts 0:36:29 "There is a big difference between reactive and premeditated" 0:38:05 "I heard a voice that wasn't mine" 0:46:09 1lb a day for men's suicide prevention 0:51:00 Men's suicide and the cost of being told to toughen up 0:53:50 Reasons to Stay: writing letters to people who are reaching out 0:54:13 You have no idea how good it can get 0:57:08 Firefighting 0:58:33 2 kids from his safety class didn't make it out 1:13:36 What he does now: crisis de-escalation, men's coaching 1:21:43 "Don't doubt the addicts" 1:23:04 Mama Bird pushes the babies out of the nest

Shannon Hatfield grew up in section 8, her dad in federal prison, and her mom spent 2 decades working through OxyContin, black market heroin, and finally fentanyl. She's now a chiropractor running Evolve Sport and Spine working with professional athletes and anyone needing help. Shannon talks about what growing up inside that house actually looked like: finding her mom nodding out with cigarettes on her chest, being brought to the ER as the "normal daughter" so her mom could look functional enough to get Dilaudid, building boundaries as she got older, and being told "you think you're better than us" every time she took a step towards furthering her education. Her brother was also deep in meth and heroin while she was in college. Shannon gets into the medical philosophy that came out of all of it: the system was made so that over-prescription is the rule not the exception, the insurance model is broken by design, and her job is to sit with people long enough to actually figure out what's wrong. My Parents' Addictions Led Me To Become A Doctor w/ Shannon Hatfield | The Hopeaholics Podcast #356 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00 - Cold open: "people just want to be heard" 2:51 - "Both my parents were addicts" 3:26 - Her mom's path: Vicodin to OxyContin to heroin to fentanyl 4:14 - The call from the OC sheriff: her mom was gone 4:33 - Nine months later: dad on life support 6:34 - First NFL client after graduating 6:51 - Flying to Texas to take boards one month after her dad died 7:32 - Why she practices the way she does: root cause, not symptom 15:21 - Growing up in section 8 16:45 - Finding her mom nodding out 17:40 - Being used as a prop at the hospital 18:03 - Building walls, getting called "you think you're better than us" 19:25 - Her brother in the thick of meth psychosis 23:46 - How she turned trauma into fuel instead of an excuse 28:41 - Her parents once sent her to AA 38:19 - Evolve Sport and Spine: what she does differently 46:52 - "At any given moment we have the choice to change direction"

Noel Arevalo returns to the show to talk about three things she's been sitting with: how your breakthrough gives the people closest to you permission to do the same, how deep alcohol gets woven into your identity without you ever noticing, and how the people, places, and patterns that were dragging you down start to fall away naturally once you surrender the thing that was holding it all together. For 15 years Noel Arevalo cycled through bender weekends while running a fitness coaching business and telling herself she had it under control. Two and a half years ago she finally let it go. Since then, her brother and older sister have both gotten sober. She talks about what she does today to stay grounded without a 12-step program, and what it actually feels like to say "I am so proud of myself" and have it mean something for the first time, and what do you do when someone you love looks too far gone to everyone around them? Breaking A Generational Addiction Curse w/ Noel Arevalo | The Hopeaholics Podcast #355 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Intro 0:04:19 - The 3 things she came here to share 0:05:59 - The bender cycle that started at 13 0:07:01 - Addiction on both sides of her family 0:11:57 - People, places, and patterns that sabotage you start to fall away 0:13:52 - Chad: meth was his drug of choice; the one promise of NA is freedom 0:20:39 - The person who went sober with her for 10 months — and what happened after 0:23:38 - What she does today: cold plunge, church, gym — no 12 steps 0:37:09 - There's someone very close to her currently struggling 0:38:31 - "Nobody is too far gone" 0:44:51 - Chad's his mom was scared to come to his house — she thought they'd find him dead 0:51:19 - "I'm in this chair because people have prayed for me my entire life" 0:57:27 - What we tell ourselves we'd never say out loud to another person 1:04:42 - "Your mind quits before your body does" 1:06:01 - Closing

(TW ED) My ED Caused Heart Failure & Almost Killed Me w/ Kate Avnaim | The Hopeaholics Podcast #354 Kate Avnaim's father was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was just 6 months old. When Kate was 13 they found it had spread through his whole brain. He chose quality time over more rounds of chemo. She was furious at him but she just didn't understand yet. He passed away and her mom was laid off right after, leaving Kate stuck in a permanent feeling that there was nothing in her life she could control. But she found 1 thing she could control and her eating disorder started shortly after. When her mom took her to the doctor, Kate hid it, wore a weighted vest under her clothes to fake the scale. They still knew something was wrong. They couldn't draw blood from her arm. She was diagnosed with bradycardia, a dangerously low heart rate, with fallouts happening in her sleep. Doctors told her mom on the spot: she needs to go to the hospital right now. No going home first. No packing a bag. The average hospital stay for what she had is one to two weeks. Kate was there for 35 days, on complete bed rest. After that, an online recovery program at home for 8 hours a day for about a month. Kate has since picked up training and has fallen in love with helping others see the potential within themselves and to hopefully be symbol of hope for others who are battling the same things she did growing up. National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline — 1-866-662-1235 Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 06:48 — Dad diagnosed with brain cancer 07:53 — Remove the tumor and lose everything, or 7 more years 10:43 — The beginning of losing control. 11:11 — Mom laid off right after his death 15:36 — No prior body image issues 17:22 — The eating disorder started 17:51 — Wore a weighted vest to fake the scale at the doctor's office 18:34 — No blood could be drawn from her arm 19:29 — Bradycardia: dangerously low heart rate 21:24 — Hating the mirror, isolating from everyone 21:44 — 35 days in the hospital 22:48 — Online recovery program at home 23:13 — Feeling proud of her body for the first time 27:05 — ED are addiction. Once you start, you cannot stop 29:50 — Screaming at anyone who tried to help. 38:07 — Relationship with God 39:52 — Got mad at God after dad died 50:07 — Eight months recovered 52:09 — What would my dad be thinking watching me in the hospital? 54:29 — God gave you this body to use 56:03 — Exercise as a blessing instead of a punishment 1:00:22 — What would you tell someone silently struggling right now?

We Fell In Love Thanks To Sobriety w/ Nic And Ant (@nic_n_ant) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #353 Nicole and Anthony one of the most recognized and popular sober/recovery couples in social media. They met in a recovery meeting in 2018. She had six years and he was 60 days out of detox. His first year clean was a mess. Lies, cheating, not working a program. Both going through divorces simultaneously, his kids hating Nicole, his ex-wife's family leaving homewrecker comments in the comment section for years. They broke up and kept finding their way back. Nicole got clean at 21. Before that: 92 pounds, homeless, sheets over every mirror because she couldn't look at herself, months in the same blue dress without showering. Five arrests starting at 19 — selling drugs on felony probation, assault with a deadly weapon, possession. Stealing painkillers off a dying aunt on hospice and still not stopping. Anthony's path started with a work injury and a prescription. Heroin, then speed, then the needle. He took his son to baseball practice, dropped him off, and sat in the car getting high. He left his family mid-vacation in Montauk, drove four hours home to pawn the Rolex his wife had saved up to buy him, and went on a two-day run. When he came back, she told him: get help or you'll never see these kids again. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 00:00 — Cold open 01:38 — Introducing Nick and Ant 06:15 — How they met 12:47 — 11/11/22: the wedding date and the angel number 14:25 — Co-parenting: from hatred to "we love each other today" 15:57 — His kids found out through TikTok before he told anyone 17:53 — Nicole steals Donna's number and reaches out three times 25:26 — Meetings versus actually working the steps 33:01 — Nicole's story: approaching 14 years, 22nd birthday in rehab 37:48 — From the cheerleading squad to selling drugs in the projects at 3am 41:47 — How she met her ex-husband: both smoking crack 44:24 — Got everything she thought she wanted. Was miserable. 50:08 — Anthony's story: 43rd birthday in rehab, now 52 54:37 — Work injury to first prescription addiction 57:44 — The slide to heroin 58:59 — Going to work to steal 59:46 — Dropping his son at baseball practice and getting high in the car 1:00:25 — Left his family in Montauk, drove four hours home to pawn the Rolex 1:02:19 — In detox, calling his wife: "I just want to get high one more time" 1:04:43 — Wife hands him the phone. Bed opens Monday. His eyes lit up. 1:06:11 — The day the obsession lifted 1:20:11 — Why they went public about their recovery 1:30:43 — The anonymity question 1:35:15 — Recovery coaches bashing 12-step and charging money 1:39:59 — What would you tell your past self? 1:42:18 — Work a program or we're not getting married

Jess Seiwert grew up in Kansas. He was abused at home from age 5 to 12. After 9/11 he joined the Army at 18, made sergeant, survived an IED blast, and came home with a Purple Heart and an Oxycontin addiction. One day he woke up in county jail charged with first-degree attempted murder and kidnapping after his best friend slept with his wife while he was passed out. He walked out with 14 felony convictions, seven rehab attempts, and 3.5 years in county jail across eight Kansas counties during Covid. He now has 1,000 days sober next month. This episode covers his entire journey. The IED that started the pill spiral. The gang he joined within three months in prison. Coming home to Kansas and going straight into meth distribution. Gambling away his drug money at the casino, three Christmases in a row while his family was at home. Using his Purple Heart military ID to run $200,000 in forgery across three states. One childhood mentor named Bob Timmons who bailed him out, got robbed by Jess, and kept coming back anyway. Getting high ten days into court-ordered treatment. And the moment he finally threw up his hands and let God in Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:21 Intro 2:14 Gambling: the addiction that swallowed everything at the end 4:07 Father arrested for child rape 6:45 Growing up angry 7:05 9/11 happens right after graduation. Joins the Army 8:43 First drink: the first time he ever felt normal 10:29 IED hits him + Purple Heart 11:04 Comes home on Oxycontin 13:26 Second marriage. Gets her hooked on pills. 15:00 Wakes up with 1st degree attempted murder, kidnapping 20:29 Crowley Correctional: in a gang within three months 21:47 High on meth, headbutts his parole officer. Back to prison. 25:38 Charlie Kirk assassination 38:49 Forgery across three states: $200,000 40:18 3 1/2 years in 8 county jails during Covid 41:37 Using his Purple Heart military ID to forge checks 43:11 Meets his 3rd wife in county jail 44:11 Gets out. Uses within 24 hours. She gets pregnant that night. 48:47 120 meetings in 90 days. Fires his sponsor at 3 months clean 50:04 Peer mentor in Kansas City / Social work. 50:22 Almost 1,000 days sober. 43 years old 51:19 Son with autism doing great. Rebuilding with his oldest two kids. 1:01:03 Why recovery has to be the foundation on the hardest days 1:10:34 Veterans and the VA 1:12:21 Veteran mental health access 1:17:36 "25 years of alcoholism. 15 years of addiction. Why would I give up on anybody?"

Gregg Champion's father was killed in a head-on collision with another drunk driver when Gregg was 4. He grew up angry, filled that with alcohol and attention, and spent his 20s collecting DUIs, assaults, a marijuana trafficking operation out of a van, and two arrests in the same 24-hour stretch at Mardi Gras. He got sober at 25, went back and finished his ASU degree sober with a 4.0, sits on the Arizona State Alumni Leadership Council, taught entrepreneurship at USC, and is 30+ years sober. This episode covers the childhood trauma he carried alone for decades. The night at he woke up in a jail cell, found a Catholic church in the phone book, and sat down in front of a priest named Father Bill — who turned out to be his stepfather's sponsor — and who sent him to his first meeting. He built Startup Recovery and Wellness over nine years and three sober living homes in the Pacific Palisades. In that same stretch he also lost his mom to Alzheimer's, his sister to suicide, went bankrupt in 2008, and watched the January 7, 2025 fires burn all three houses to the ground. He's still standing. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00 Cold open 0:38 Intro 1:07 Gregg Champion 7:14 31 years sober and still working on it 10:26 The seven-year itch: three years without AA and no sponsor 13:42 Being a girl dad in recovery — why he shares it out loud 17:17 His father was killed in a drunk-on-drunk collision 18:01 Becoming what killed his father 18:49 Attention as the first substitute 20:23 A secret he carried since he was eight 22:33 Age 13 to 25: Arizona State, six credits short, and a rampage 23:16 Going back to finish his degree sober now on the ASU Alumni Leadership Council 24:15 Lost sister to suicide, mom to Alzheimer's, bankrupt in 2008, Palisades fires 24:38 Getting sober at 25: DUIs, assaults, two Mardi Gras arrests 29:13 Running weed out east 32:20 Waking up in a jail cell and hearing a voice say his name 33:17 He finds the nearest Catholic church in the phone book 34:21 Father Bill 36:20 Father Bill turned out to be his stepfather's sponsor 41:36 His daughter asks: "Papa, have you ever been to jail?" 47:25 Teaching entrepreneurship at USC 57:48 The TED Talk he bombed 59:11 Couples counseling: finding the therapist with 25 years in Al-Anon 1:00:37 What year ten of sobriety demands: going a level deeper 1:06:34 The Recovery Playbook: sober, now what? 1:08:22 The thing he relapsed over but never fully faced 1:15:35 Breaking the cycle: giving his daughters the life he didn't have

Golf Prospect w Full Ride to UCLA. Meth Took It All w/ Danny Dalton | The Hopeaholics Podcast #350 Danny Dalton grew up in Huntington Beach playing golf when Tiger Woods was the standard everyone chased. He was good enough to earn a full scholarship to UCLA. He lost it junior year and spent the next decade filling the gap with cocaine, then meth, then heroin. This episode covers the whole run. The UCLA golfer who shot course records and still couldn't get out of his own way. The meth use that progressed to the needle at 33. The night he looked in a mirror and saw Gollum staring back. And the second day of treatment when a stranger walked into the room with the same name as his deceased father. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie 0:00 Cold open 0:18 Intro 0:47 Danny Dalton, welcome to the show 1:09 Golf: how Danny got into it late and why it took over 6:35 progressive alcoholism begins 7:11 Full athletic scholarship to UCLA 9:12 The gene: addiction running through the family 14:45 Growing up with Tiger Woods as the benchmark 15:05 "I didn't realize how insulated I was until I wasn't" 19:03 Losing the scholarship junior year, somehow graduating anyway 21:56 Course records / sponsors: pro-level golf he couldn't hold onto 24:14 Cocaine, then meth 25:09 The needle at 33 32:33 First meth charge at 36: parents finding out 32:59 Nine charges with the law 33:21 Heroin: the thing that took him all the way down 34:48 Four years of isolation + his father dies 35:49 "I looked in the mirror and saw Gollum" 36:13 The shot that almost killed him 37:18 Threw everything in the trash and walked to the beach 38:01 Detox on his mom's couch, then court 39:17 Court-ordered 90 days 39:38 Day 2 in treatment: breaking down in church 41:13 A stranger named Tom Dalton walks in — his dead father's name 43:08 "That's why you have a gift" 44:29 Losing his treatment community, starting to slip again 45:23 Why he stays in recovery: it's for the next guy 48:33 Chad on his own hard year 51:12 The two words he says every morning 57:35 The recovery side has to come first 1:02:41 What Danny does today

They Said I'd Never See My Kids Again. Got Them Back Sober w/ Ian Day | The Hopeaholics Podcast #349 Ian Day grew up a standout athlete in a one-stoplight town in Indiana with one bar. His first drinks were sips of Miller Lite off his grandpa's lawn mower. By 17 he was smoking weed every day and panhandling in his high school hallways for lunch money because he'd spent it all on drugs. By 26 he was in Maricopa County tent jail in pink underwear and it was a country song in the jail chapel that finally broke him open for the first time in his life. He was told he'd never see his kids again and he got them back while fully sober. Ian shares his experience in the fork in the road between homeless, prison, and the halfway house, 90 meetings in 90 days, waking up at 4am to work a food bank before heading to a tattoo shop in the evenings, and what it looked like to slowly build a life he never thought was possible. Ian is now 8 years sober, owns Everlasting Inc. tattoo shop in Phoenix next door to a sober lounge, goes into intake prison on Monday mornings, and is raising his kids with his wife, Christin Day Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Timestamps: 0:00 - Cold Open: First Blackout 0:26 - Welcome / Intro 1:45 - Eight Years Sober This Weekend 2:55 - Told He'd Never See His Kids Again 4:06 - They Lied to the Courthouse 6:52 - Losing His Sister at 32 9:27 - The Last Time She Moved Was to Hug Me 12:37 - First Drinks on Grandpa's Lawnmower 13:28 - First Blackout: Let's Try Again 15:40 - Alcohol as a Solution to Social Anxiety 20:47 - Panhandling in High School Hallways for Lunch Money 22:32 - I Believe Wholeheartedly I Would Be Dead Without My Parents 44:57 - Chris Young Song in the Jail Chapel 45:27 - God I Want to Be a Good Man — First Honest Moment 49:16 - Homeless, Prison, or the Halfway House 52:46 - Sponsor Says Stay 53:44 - Two Jobs at 4am for Almost Two Years 55:04 - Meeting His Wife at a CA Convention 1:02:25 - God Told Him to Pay Off His Fines Instead 1:10:09 - What Are You Going to Do With Your Power Today

My Baby Passed In The Car Because I Blacked Out w/ Carolina Ayala | The Hopeaholics Podcast #348 Chad and Natalie sit down with Carolina Ayala, founder of The Happier Life Project, a recovery community organization built to give people the peer support she never had. She was drinking, using, and married by 15, and had watched two of her closest friends get killed before she was old enough to graduate. One night she drank too much, blacked out, drove home, and didn't take her daughter Crystal out of the car seat. Crystal spent three hours in the car and didn't make it. Carolina did nearly four years in prison for child endangerment and used meth for the next two decades because it was the only way she knew to get through what happened. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Cold open: the night Crystal died 0:00:40 - Welcome / What is the Happier Life Project 0:03:01 - The gap between treatment centers and what happens after 0:05:10 - Treatment, psych wards, jails, prison 0:05:51 - Getting pregnant, giving son to CPS 0:06:38 - Getting custody, relapsing, returning to smoke meth 0:07:02 - Rock bottom in 2021: not wanting to be alive anymore 0:07:34 - Losing faith in God, 12-step, everything she held onto 0:08:12 - Outside the crisis hospital, too scared to go in 0:09:16 - Finding RA International's peer support center in Temecula 0:10:55 - The idea for the Happier Life Project 0:13:19 - Divorced parents, alcoholic stepdad, being the oldest 0:14:41 - Gifted programs and nothing in the adult world making sense 0:15:08 - First joint at 12 as a freshman in El Paso 0:16:51 - Following friend into gang life 0:17:43 - The four runaways: Jasmine shot in the head, Cynthia murdered and burned in the desert 0:19:48 - Why she stayed on the street instead of going home 0:20:43 - Meeting her husband at 12, marrying at 15 0:21:13 - Moving to Arizona with a Mormon family to clean up 0:23:38 - Husband falls out of car going 55mph 0:25:26 - The miscarriage that wasn't: Danielle is alive and 31 0:26:36 - Leaving her husband and daughter on her first birthday 0:28:34 - The guilt cycle: couldn't face going back, so she never did 0:30:32 - Daughter goes to a Mormon colony in Mexico 0:32:27 - Federal charges at 19, domestic violence, psychiatric holds 0:33:40 - Trying to kidnap her daughter and failing 0:35:42 - Arrested at eight months pregnant for cocaine trafficking 0:35:58 - Crystal born, alcoholic mother-in-law tried to sell her 0:38:09 - Crystal's Death 0:39:46 - Prison for child endangerment 0:40:25 - Blood alcohol, no drugs found, what the DA had threatened 0:41:08 - Planning to jump off the 15 freeway / bail raised to $250K 0:42:59 - Not qualifying for the substance abuse program because the charge wasn't drug-related 0:43:47 - No contact with anyone under 18, including siblings and daughter 0:45:06 - Two beers, blowing a .08 0:45:40 - Back in on violation / introduced to meth in prison 0:46:04 - What meth did that nothing else could 0:47:36 - First time in treatment 0:49:08 - Guilt, shame, and unaddressed grief 0:49:37 - $20 worth of meth, sentenced to five years in state prison 0:51:11 - Cooper Fellowship: three years sober, the longest stretch yet 0:52:01 - CBT: the first thing that actually made sense to her 0:53:23 - The pre-cycle nobody ever addressed 0:55:37 - This time in recovery is different 0:57:34 - Almost not coming back to the rooms after the last relapse 0:58:00 - What actually matters today: the daily work, not the time 1:05:32 - Crystal's birthday, deciding to honor her for the first time 1:06:01 - Psychic medium speaks with Crystal 1:09:26 - Chad and Natalie / walking through pain vs. sitting in it 1:15:41 - The Happier Life Project: where to donate, how to find them

From USC Football to Cartel Cocaine w/ "Cocaine Quarterback" Owen Hanson | The Hopeaholics Podcast #347 The "Cocaine Quarterback" Owen Hanson was a volleyball player at USC who wanted to get stronger and start again. That led him to smuggling steroids in from a vet in Tijuana. He walked onto the football team and began selling Adderall, Xanax, and cocaine to teammates. After the 2008 recession killed his real estate job, he became a bookie, landed a cartel lieutenant as a client, and lost $2.5 million of the cartel's money in an Australian casino. His plan to pay it back involved dissolving cocaine in Everclear and shipping it to Australia in Napa Valley wine bottles. In 2015, 15 FBI agents arrested him at a golf course in Carlsbad and he did nearly a decade on a RICO charge. Thats where he invented protein ice cream in a mop bucket, and had an Emmy-winning Amazon Prime documentary built around his life while he was still locked up. Chad and Natalie talk to him about how each thing escalated, what the meeting in Tijuana with the cartel actually looked like, what a decade in federal prison was really like, and what he's building now. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Cold open 0:00:49 - Podcast intro 0:01:19 - Owen Hanson, one year out of federal prison 0:05:05 - Buying steroids from a vet in Tijuana 0:08:45 - The transformation: 185 to 240 pounds in six weeks 0:10:27 - Making the USC football team / Pete Carroll era 0:13:32 - Black market concierge 0:15:30 - Grew up broke at a school full of money 0:17:03 - Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart 0:19:33 - California Ice Protein taste test 0:29:36 - Getting high on his own supply in college 0:38:38 - 2008 recession kills the real estate job; becoming a bookie 0:40:08 - Uncle Tony and the Italian bookmaker introduction 0:44:27 - Going to Costa Rica, starting his own sports book 0:45:11 - The cartel whale: $750K lost in three weeks, paid on Monday 0:47:00 - The offer: $1 million a day to go to Australia 0:47:51 - The laundering scheme collapses 0:52:24 - The call from the New South Wales Police Department 0:53:33 - Back in America, the cartel wants $3 million immediately 0:57:11 - Figuring out how to move cocaine into Australia 0:57:47 - The wine bottle method 0:59:11 - Five years of FBI building the case 1:00:02 - The arrest at Aviator Country Club in Carlsbad 1:01:38 - RICO charges: distribution, money laundering, bookmaking 1:02:28 - Sentencing day 1:04:10 - Mark Wahlberg's team takes the story 1:05:23 - The halfway house: Bureau of Prisons curfew and 20 months to build the brand 1:05:42 - Coming out with nothing, the warehouse, the Murphy bed 1:06:32 - Protein ice cream from mop buckets, sold for $15 a jar 1:09:38 - "It's a second chance ice cream" 1:11:46 - Federal vs. state prison: 85% time served, no early release 1:13:49 - Getting sober in prison and eating clean 1:15:26 - Coming out to Amazon Prime, Instagram, and Apple Pay 1:23:18 - Living in the warehouse, the grind, proving people wrong 1:24:55 - Why he never cooperated with the cartel 1:27:25 - Little things you don't realize until they're taken from you

I Was A Lawyer Smuggling Heroin for the Mexican Mafia w/ Jason Keller | The Hopeaholics Podcast #346 Jason Keller was a criminal defense attorney with his own firm when he started smuggling drugs into jail for his clients. Papers that looked like textbook material turned out to be black tar heroin flattened between the pages. Then it was a cell phone. Then a charger. All for the Mexican Mafia. He was also smoking crack in the courthouse parking lot before walking in for hearings. He got arrested and almost did six years. That still wasn't his wake-up call. He got drunk on vacation in Honduras, fell off a boat, went to dinner soaking wet, and urinated in a fountain in front of everyone he knew. He was 47. That was the morning he decided he was done. He recently retook the bar exam 20 years later and passed. Chad and Natalie sit with him through all of it the addiction that started at 13, the law career that somehow ran alongside it for decades, and what it took to finally stop. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 00:00 Cold Open: The Charges Read Aloud 00:42 Introduction / Jason's Background 01:56 How He Became a Criminal Defense Attorney 03:18 First Marriage and Using During Law School 05:57 3 Years Old and His Grandmother's Liquor Cabinet 10:15 Full Scholarship to U of A. Flunked Out First Year. 13:01 The Workout Regimen That Started in Prison 15:04 Can a Convicted Felon Practice Law in Arizona? 16:28 The God-Sized Hole / What's Actually Underneath Addiction 18:52 The Moment He Said Yes to Smuggling 21:00 The DUI That Derailed His Career Before It Started 22:23 Out of Prison and Already Manipulating Probation 24:21 Relapse on Meth / PO Says Treatment or Go Back 26:14 How the Smuggling Actually Started 27:18 Smoking Crack in the Courthouse Parking Lot 30:28 Finding Out the Papers Were Full of Heroin 34:26 The Cell Phone for the Mexican Mafia 39:14 Arrested September 30th, 2008. Seven Charges. 41:21 What the Arrest Changed and What It Didn't 42:09 The Detective Who Put the Cuffs On Him 43:17 The Sun City AA Meeting / 86-Year-Old Jack Lee 45:29 The Ninth Step Amends With the Detective 51:26 Chad's Story: Felony Evading in a Lamborghini 57:41 The Real Wake-Up Call: Honduras 1:01:10 Finally Admitting He Was an Alcoholic 1:03:35 Step One and What Changed Everything 1:05:30 Why Prison for Six Years Still Wasn't Enough 1:07:31 Internal Bottom vs External Consequences 1:12:20 The AA Meeting He Started for Lawyers 1:14:57 Ethics Talks at the Public Defender's Office 1:16:58 Why Lawyers Are Scared to Get Help 1:19:37 The Disciplinary Panel / Waiting on the Bar 1:20:55 Passing the Bar by Hand While Everyone Used Laptops

He Collapsed My Lungs & Ended Up WANTED w/ Kristin Swan (TW abuse) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #345 Kristin grew up in Lakeville, Massachusetts, an hour south of Boston, in a house where disease was already present before she arrived at it. Her mother drank and went to meetings and died the day right after Mother's Day. Both her cousins are gone from fentanyl poisoning. By 15 she was cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals, diagnosed bipolar, put on lithium, hearing voices. She hadn't touched a drug yet. By 20 she was in a relationship with a man dealing crack out of their apartment. She saw the red flags early. She stayed anyway. It all ended in a snowstorm when he body-slammed her, collapsed both lungs, and stomped her head with Timberlands on while she was in the bathtub. She created a diversion, kicked the wall, and ran out barefoot into the snow while he searched for her. She hid in the bushes behind a neighbor's house and a man who barely spoke English called an ambulance. When she did find sobriety, it looked like what the promises are supposed to look like. A good sponsor. An interior design job. Things starting to make sense. Then a relapse. Now she's coming back. She's working the program again, going to bonfire meetings on the beach, building something small and clean, trying to put God first and figure out the rest from there. TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:00 - Cold Open 1:11 - Kristin Arrives 2:32 - Growing Up in Lakeville, MA 3:12 - Mom's Death After Mother's Day 4:26 - Losing Two Cousins to Fentanyl 5:13 - First Drink at 14 / Bipolar Diagnosis at 15 6:20 - Lithium, Voices, and Psych Hospitals 7:22 - Parents' Divorce / Dad's Breakdown 8:20 - Moving to Tampa 10:13 - Rebellion 11:05 - Life After Basketball 11:45 - The Abusive Relationship 14:57 - New Year's Eve in a Blizzard 15:32 - The Attack: Body Slammed, Both Lungs Collapsed 17:09 - Hiding in the Bushes / Ambulance Arrives 17:50 - Emergency Surgery / Boston Medical 20:36 - Love Addiction: Why We Stay 21:24 - First Recovery at 20 / DV Shelter 22:22 - Dancing, Fast Money, and Relapse 24:26 - The Program, a Sponsor, and the Promises 25:13 - On Relapse, Shame, and Coming Back 26:28 - Orange County Recovery Scene / Bonfire Meetings 29:13 - Therapy, EMDR, and Healing Trauma 29:53 - Building an Agency / New Beginnings 30:46 - Her Relationship with God 31:29 - Rosary Beads and Dreams of Her Mother 32:04 - The Morning Routine That Keeps Her Grounded 33:28 - An 11th Chance 34:23 - Day at a Time / Wrap-Up 36:05 - Closing / Final Message

Chad and Natalie sit down with Matt Bowyer, the Orange County bookie at the center of the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal, for the full story behind the headlines. Matt ran one of the largest illegal sports betting operations in the country for over 30 years. At his peak he had 1,250 clients nationwide, 48 agents, and processed over $1 billion in wagers in 2023 alone. He was also betting millions of his own money because gambling was his addiction and he was the house getting high on his own supply. The feds raided him twice. The first time was 2014, 14 agents, his daughter crying in the driveway, coming home from losing $800,000 in Vegas on March Madness. The case didn't start with Ohtani. The feds didn't even know about Ohtani. The case started with casino money laundering, led to Matt, and then his electronics told the rest of the story. He grew up watching his Vietnam vet father drink 40 beers a day until his mom divorced him after three failed rehabs. By 13 he was the top newspaper salesman in Orange County. At 16 he had a poker ring running out of his house. At 18, with his girlfriend pregnant and the family in a Dana Point mobile home, he got hired as a busboy at Chevys, got recruited to a commodities brokerage, passed the Series 3 exam as a mail boy, and was making $600,000 a year at 21. He bought back the house his family had lost. Then he got tired of giving his money to bookies. He currently owes $9.7 million in taxes at $60,000 a month in interest. Tax lien on his $5 million home. Two years probation, mandatory Gamblers Anonymous, mandatory drug dealer classes every week. And a new book dropping called Controlled Chaos. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:56 - Welcome Matt Boyer / The Ohtani Scandal 1:21 - Growing Up in Cypress, CA / Tiger Woods Connection 1:55 - Three Brothers: One Gone, One Fighting Heroin Addiction 3:19 - The Second Raid: 29 Agents, AR Rifles, Wife Handcuffed 4:50 - How the Operation Worked: 1,250 Clients, 48 Agents Nationwide 5:54 - Betting $4.2 Million on a Single Football Game 8:22 - The Psychology of Gambling: Losing Feels Better Than Winning 12:21 - CEO of an Illegal Operation Doing $1 Billion in 2023 13:19 - Commodity Trader, Opened His Own Brokerage at 28 14:17 - Why He Chose the Illegal Path Over the Legal One 17:33 - First Raid, 14 Agents, Daughter Crying in the Driveway, Just Lost $800K in Vegas 19:39 - Signs the Abandonment Form and Triples His Business 21:09 - October 5th, 2023: The Second Raid That Ended Everything 22:55 - Three Relationships, Five Kids, All One Big Family 24:14 - Meeting His Current Wife at 40 / IVF for a Son 31:19 - His Father: Vietnam Vet, 40 Beers a Day, Three Rehabs 32:17 - 13 Years Old: Paper Boy, Baseball Cards, Weed, Poker Ring 33:13 - 18 Years Old: Mobile Home in Dana Point, Girlfriend Pregnant, No Job 34:18 - Getting Hired as a Busboy, Getting Recruited to a Brokerage 36:28 - Mail Boy to #1 Broker, Buying Back the Family House at 21 37:23 - Setting Up the Website in Costa Rica / Scaling to a Real Operation 40:32 - Sitting in the Courtroom Hearing His Own Numbers for the First Time 43:44 - The Charges: Money Laundering, Falsified Tax Returns, Bookmaking 44:29 - Pleading Guilty Immediately Instead of Fighting the Feds 46:38 - Cooperating with the Government: Giving Up the Casinos 49:21 - Paying $1.7M in Restitution in Full Before Sentencing 51:10 - Federal Prison: What It's Actually Like at Lompoc 53:05 - How the Shohei Ohtani Connection Actually Happened 55:09 - Telling the Feds About Ohtani 57:42 - Watching His Name Break on SportsCenter 58:49 - Why He Believes Ohtani Didn't Personally Place the Bets 59:59 - The $16.2 Million Question 1:13:15 - Going from $1.5M a Month to 0: Writing the Book During the Indictment 1:14:43 - What's Next: Public Speaking, Books, Building a Community 1:16:28 - Current Terms: Probation, Gamblers Anonymous, Drug Dealer Classes 1:20:07 - Does He Miss Gambling? 1:21:17 - The Super Bowl Bet: $4.2M on Chiefs vs. Eagles, $9.2M Swing in 3 Hours 1:23:38 - His Wife as the Reason He Stopped

Chad and Natalie sit down with Sean Couper, a personal trainer and 4.5 year sober alcoholic who spent three decades functioning at a high level in corporate healthcare. Sean covers his full story: growing up between Florida and California without a real father figure, a first drink at five years old, thirty years of high-functioning alcoholism that nearly ended with liver and kidney failure, three DUIs exactly a decade apart, his mom dying on Christmas Day 2019, and the long road from watching HIV patients' livers shut down at work to eventually watching his own body do the same. He talks about hiding bottles from his family, drinking through Zoom IOP sessions, and the moment with his daughter that finally forced his hand. He did 28 days at Cumberland Heights and walked out wanting to help people immediately. Now he does exactly that. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:00 - Cold Open 0:23 - Intro 1:07 - Meet Sean Couper / Nashville 2:23 - Growing Up: Saint Pete and North Hollywood 5:02 - First Drink at 5 Years Old 5:51 - First Real Drunk at 13 8:35 - Finding Out His Real Father Wasn't His Dad 10:16 - Moving Out at 18 / Healthcare Career 11:24 - Compound Pharmacy: Mixing Meds for HIV Patients 13:20 - 30 Years as a Functioning Alcoholic 14:10 - Marriage and Family 15:45 - The Bachelorette Party Incident 19:18 - First Marriage Ends: His Ex-Wife's Pill Addiction 21:41 - Single Father, Bottle a Night 22:44 - Mom Dies Christmas 2019 / Three DUIs / COVID 24:54 - The Doctor Flags His Liver 26:57 - Physical Collapse: Jaundice, Edema, Passing Out 29:17 - Relapse: "Just One Beer" 30:26 - Hiding Bottles, Replacing Liquor with Water 33:45 - Daughter Finds the Beer / Wife Throws Him Out 34:40 - Agrees to Treatment / Zoom IOP While Still Drinking 37:50 - Waving the White Flag 39:26 - Telling His Daughter / The Drive to Cumberland Heights 42:24 - The "Let Go and Let God" Sign 44:24 - Detox, Post-Acute Withdrawal, 21 Questions Exercise 47:25 - Leaving Treatment / Wanting to Help People 48:31 - Going Back to School 50:39 - Getting Back in the Gym / Brian Welch Connection 51:18 - Becoming NASM Certified 52:48 - Life Today: Full-Time Trainer, Working with People in Recovery 55:17 - Fear, New Business, and Building Something New 1:00:01 - Chad's First Podcast Panic Attack 1:02:18 - How Natalie Joined the Show 1:09:11 - Wrap Up