"The reason why we wanted to share these stories with you is so that you understand what it f****** takes." Nothing summarizes our short series more succinctly than this quote from Carolynn Koznarsky of Megaburn fame. In this final installment of our recordings from The Struggle Is Real speaking event, our gal Shannon Beekman ushers the shame out of the darkness to expose her spiral into alcoholism in full light. From leaving a trail of wreckage in her wake until finally hitting rock bottom (with "bottom" being an actual ravine), it took some stark realizations to tackle the hardest thing she'd ever done: achieve and maintain sobriety. Then we hear from Carolynn, who self-admittedly stumbled during the Permission Granted event by not fully revealing her truth. Her desire to remedy that is the entire reason why The Struggle Is Real was born, and here she totally levels up the courage and power and delivers on the gritty realities of the sex industry. These stories expose the trials and traumas behind the successful faces we present to society. They remind us that even the most confident, seemingly put together entrepreneurs and public figures have fought their own dark and private struggles to succeed. And again and again, we're shown how much it truly takes to find your place of power. 

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this special series, our speakers, their stories. What can you relate to? What hit you hard? Where should we go next? And please share Real Talk, Real Change with someone who you think would enjoy what we're dishing out, too.

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Real Talk Real Change Podcast @realtalkrealchangepodcast

MegaBurn Fitness @megaburnfitness

Elisha Alcantara @elishaalcantara

Shannon Beekman @shannonkbeekman

Carolynn Koznarsky @___carolynn__