Unhappy with school, Geri tries to join the military but they don’t want her. Geri tries everything, and even writes letters to TV star Carol Burnett and tells her that she is interested in a stand-up comedy career. Unbelievably, Carol writes back and encourages Geri to go for it. Right after high school, Geri auditions for a comedy club on Hollywood Boulevard. In her first attempt at stand-up comedy, Geri received a standing ovation. The audience loves her and she is an instant hit in the Hollywood comedy scene. After performing on stage for a couple of years in Hollywood and around Los Angeles, Geri lied her way into landing a spot on national television!

Being the world’s smallest premature baby at that time, Geri Jewell began her life with trauma. She started life at three pounds and then dropped to two. She was isolated and no one was allowed to touch her, so she had no physical attention for the first 3 months of life. Geri was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Her first stage appearance was as a baby where she was used at a medical convention for doctors to observe. Geri is upset that she cannot attend a “normal” school and is continuously bullied and abused by school children and kids and parents in the neighborhood. Her younger sister Gloria is her saving grace, and when they play together Gloria puts popsicle sticks on Barbie Dolls so that Geri feels normal with her leg braces.

Although Anthony wanted God to prove himself, he began to change his perceptions when he heard God share three rules to live by. These valuable rules paid off. Wanting to help others and to share his story to inspire others, Anthony wrote the book, “From Park Bench to Park Avenue.” He talks about his struggles from being a homeless drug addict to becoming a successful member of society. A prominent community member, Anthony has taken on an ambitious project to house the homeless.     

Anthony travels to Michigan to say his last goodbyes to his dying mother. During his visit, Anthony realizes he is actually more interested in his mother's medications. When in his 30's, Anthony would finally find himself incarcerated for the first time. While in prison, he took to reading. Eventually, he would enter a treatment center, group therapy sessions, and obtain his first sponsor. Anthony was transitioning into a normal lifestyle, but then he relapsed.

Born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, Anthony Brown’s life began with trauma. He grew up in poverty with his mother and two sisters above a Cleveland bar. At age nine, Anthony found his mother on the floor, shot in the head by a boyfriend. By 14, Anthony had experimented with hard drugs and was injecting regularly. At 15, his mom lied about Anthony’s age and enlisted him in the Navy, but they found out and kicked him out. Anthony joined a traveling carnival in the summer and lived in deserted homes in the winter. With layers of childhood trauma, you will wonder how he made it out alive.

Jodi became an advocate after losing her son to a drug overdose. She connected to a network of Jarrod’s classmates and parents who were facing similar problems. By building a community and bringing awareness, they fought back against the epidemic of illegal drugs and dirty doctors who over-prescribed to make a profit. She also set out to inspire new legislation. Jarrod’s life would not be lost in vain. 

Jodi Barber was devastated when her son Jarrod overdosed and lost his battle with drug addiction. Looking back, she believes that the best help for an addict is to get them into a treatment facility. While she did everything she could, dirty doctors and negative connotations about rehab got in the way of real solutions. To survive her grief, Jodi put her energy into research and directly confronted the dirty doctors who contributed to the death of her son.

Jarrod broke his collar bone while riding dirt bikes, which led to using prescribed opioids for pain management. The opioids then led to addiction and a “dirty doctor” Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng, MD, who kept the prescriptions flowing without Jarrod’s parent’s knowledge. Desperate for help, Jodi sent Jarrod to the “best doctor in Orange County” who prescribed Seroquel and promised her son’s addictions would be gone in a week. The “best doctor in Orange County” had been placed on five-year medical probation and was addicted to Seroquel himself. Jarrod relapsed during Thanksgiving and Christmas. On January 7th, 2010, Jarrod slipped into a drug-induced coma. He was pronounced dead at the same hospital where he had been born. 

The Barber family appeared to be living the Southern California dream. Jodi, her husband Bill, and her two sons Jarrod and Blake. Blake was calm and a parent’s dream. On the other hand, Jarrod started to suffer in school and developed attention problems and emotional issues. This escalated to drug use and ill-tempered tantrums. Jodi turned to the medical field for help and used a doctor not knowing that he was on 5-year probation due to malpractice.

Jessie decides to let go of the past and tells her father she does not want him, his sex tapes, celebrity wrestling, and constant insanity in her life. She is now driving towards a doctorate in media psychology and starting a support group for those who have been exploited by the media. Starting at the age of nine, Jessie’s experiences gave her profound insights into the trauma caused by being infamous by association.