Get a Grip Podcast

Sy Saqfelhait’s story is one of loss, survival, and ultimately redemption. Born with deep roots in Palestine, Sy spent years caught in the grip of Xanax addiction—so long that he describes it as losing nearly a decade of his life to a fog of missing memories. Entire chapters of his past are gone, erased by dependency and relapse, leaving him to piece together who he was and how far he’d fallen.Time and time again, Sy would flee back to Palestine in an attempt to get sober, hoping distance, culture, and family could save him. For a while, it worked. But each return to America pulled him back into the same patterns, the same triggers, and the same relapse that kept him stuck in a cycle he couldn’t seem to break. The tug-of-war between two worlds mirrored the war inside himself—wanting freedom while being chained to addiction.Everything changed when sobriety finally stuck. This time, Sy didn’t just quit using—he rebuilt his entire life from the ground up. Today, he stands as a sober, driven entrepreneur, owning and operating his own successful roofing company. What was once a life ruled by pills and lost time is now defined by discipline, purpose, and accountability.In this powerful episode, Sy opens up about blacked-out years, the pain of repeated relapse, the struggle of identity between two countries, and what it truly took to break free for good. His story is a raw reminder that no matter how much time addiction steals, recovery can still give you a future worth fighting for.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this unforgettable episode, Chad McClintock tells the raw and unfiltered story of living two completely opposite lives at the same time—serving as a firefighter and first responder while secretly trapped in a severe meth addiction. Chad’s journey begins in an abusive childhood filled with violence and instability, experiences that shaped his anger, survival instincts, and early decisions. As a teenager, that chaos followed him into the streets, where he began selling cocaine, eventually escalating to selling and using meth as addiction fully took hold.Despite having a family and a child who depended on him, Chad found himself unable to outrun meth. He opens up about the terrifying reality of “firefighting on meth,” responding to emergencies while high and risking not only his own life, but the lives of his crew and the public. One of the most haunting moments of his story is being the first responder to his own uncle’s death, a trauma that pushed his substance use even further out of control.As addiction deepened, Chad describes getting pulled over while eating six grams of meth, smoking crack, moving in with his dope dealer, and spiraling into increasingly reckless behavior. From smoking crack in a Walmart parking lot after his partner left, to losing everything and ending up connected to a homeless shelter, Chad paints a brutal picture of how fast addiction can dismantle a life—even one that looks respectable from the outside.Eventually, the consequences caught up. Facing 11 years over his head and later learning he was officially going to prison, Chad shares the fear, surrender, and realization that his life was either going to end behind bars or not at all. In a powerful reflection, he explains how prison—something he once feared more than anything—became the environment that finally forced him to confront himself and change.This episode is a brutally honest look at addiction, trauma, accountability, and redemption. Chad’s story is proof that addiction does not discriminate, and that even those tasked with saving lives can be silently drowning. If you want to understand the real cost of addiction—and the possibility of transformation when everything is on the line—this is an episode you don’t want to miss.⏱ TIMESTAMPS0:00 – Title of First Chapter00:01:00 Abusive childhood00:03:15 Beating up his stepdad00:07:00 Starting to sell c0caine00:09:15 Selling m3th & Firefighting on m3th00:12:00 First responding to his uncle’s death00:14:45 Getting pulled over while eating 6g of m3th00:16:15 Smoking cr4ck00:22:00 Moving in with the dope dealer00:25:00 Smoking cr4ck in a Walmart parking lot after theft00:29:00 Going to CBCF with 11 years over his head00:33:00 Taking a car and ending up at a homeless shelter00:36:30 Finding out he’s going to prison for 11 years00:39:00 How prison worked for him & final reflections🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

Drake Phillips grew up surrounded by wealth in Beverly Hills, but behind the gates and privilege was an emotionally absent father and a deep sense of rebellion that would shape the course of his life. In this episode, Louis sits down with Drake to unpack how a childhood that looked perfect from the outside led him down a dark and dangerous path. Drawn to the streets at a young age, Drake was initiated into a gang, introduced to drugs early on, and quickly found himself living a double life that spiraled out of control. As charges began stacking up, he fled to Mexico, believing he could outrun his past. Instead, he became a chameleon—blending in, moving fast, and fueling his survival with heavy cocaine use while navigating an unforgiving underworld. But running only works for so long. After stepping on the wrong toes, Drake was brutally beaten and thrown into a Mexican prison, where survival became a daily battle. Extradited back to the United States, his chaos followed him to Columbus, Ohio, where one night would nearly end his life when unknown men abducted him and attempted to saw off his leg. This raw, unfiltered conversation explores trauma, identity, addiction, violence, and the cost of chasing escape instead of healing—making Drake’s story a powerful reminder that pain doesn’t care how you were raised, and survival often comes at a terrifying price.

🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this raw, emotional, and brutally honest episode, Aaron and Louis sit down with Landon Muncy to tell the full story of a life shaped by addiction almost from the very beginning. Landon shares how he was exposed to drugs at a young age and first used heroin at just 10 years old, setting him on a dangerous path that would follow him into adulthood. He reflects on his childhood, moving to Florida with his mom, and how normal chaos and instability quickly turned into smoking crack by 15 and shooting up for the first time at 17—long before he ever graduated high school.Landon breaks down the fast-money mindset that came with addiction, including hitting Walmart licks, stealing everything a dealer owned, and being surrounded by people printing fake money just to survive and get high. The conversation doesn’t shy away from the darker moments: gun violence, a traumatic shooting, contracting Hep C, and catching a domestic violence charge that pushed his life even further off the rails. One of the most heartbreaking moments comes when Landon opens up about his father taking his own life, and later discovering that his best friend died in jail while Landon himself was serving time in Level 2 prison.The episode ultimately turns toward accountability and redemption as Landon explains how prison became the turning point that led him to sobriety. He talks candidly about getting sober after incarceration, navigating recovery, and unlearning a lifetime of using drugs with his parents. “Where smoking crack and shooting heroin before I graduated high school led me to…” is a powerful story of consequences, loss, survival, and the fight to build a better life against overwhelming odds.
🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this raw and eye-opening episode, Louis and Aaron sit down with Catherine Pacedoves to unpack a life shaped by chaos, fast money, and survival inside the stripping world. Catherine shares how her childhood spiraled early, including her first experience with alcohol at just four years old and later being sent to an anorexia camp, setting the stage for years of instability. She walks through the moment she went from waitressing to stripping in a single night, the allure of easy money, her biggest nights on the pole, and what it was like dancing in Las Vegas at the height of excess. The conversation dives into heavy cocaine use during the stock market crash, a seizure at Scores, and surreal encounters that led to meeting and living in Suge Knight’s house, even introducing Michael Phelps to him. Catherine opens up about escaping Vegas, freebasing cocaine, blackouts, being targeted in clubs, and the final moments that pushed her to stop using. She also speaks candidly about being a sober stripper, the trauma of being trafficked by Suge Knight, and a manic episode that landed her at Jackson Pike. This episode is a brutal but powerful look at addiction, exploitation, and the fight to reclaim your life.
🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

Crystal Turner’s story is a raw, unfiltered descent into addiction, crime, and ultimately redemption. Born into instability, raised in a trailer park by a mother who was barely a teenager herself, Crystal grew up with an absent father lost to drug use and a childhood marked by survival rather than safety. What began as experimentation spiraled quickly—first heroin and Xanax, then deeper into meth—while she tried to maintain a “normal” life, even working in Human Resources as addiction quietly took control. Her relationships mirrored the chaos, including becoming involved with a man decades older and later crossing paths with one of the most powerful drug dealers in her world. During the isolation of COVID, Crystal’s addiction intensified as she became entangled in a large-scale operation that eventually drew the attention of federal authorities. When the walls closed in, ATF, FBI, and DEA agents stormed her home, leading to indictments that carried the terrifying weight of decades behind bars. From jail in Ironton, Kentucky, Crystal entered rehab, confronting not only her own addiction but the painful reality of smoking with her father as cancer and opiate dependence took his life. Facing charges that once threatened 40 years to life, Crystal now reflects on how the kingpin fell, how everything unraveled, and how sobriety rebuilt what addiction tried to destroy. Today, she shares what life looks like on the other side—clean, accountable, and grounded in gratitude—proof that even the darkest paths can lead to real recovery.

🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcast👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this powerful and unfiltered episode, Louis sits down with Angela Vroman to share the harrowing truth of her life—one marked by deep childhood trauma, crack addiction, kidnapping, and human trafficking. Angela opens up about her early years and how her father became the foundation of lasting trauma, leading to inappropriate physical relationships at a young age and a path of vulnerability. While homeless, her life took a terrifying turn when she was kidnapped, tortured, and ultimately sold for an eight ball of crack to a pimp, pulling her deeper into a world of exploitation. She recounts being introduced to crack, meeting other trafficked women, and descending into extreme addiction—smoking up to $1,500 worth of crack a day, staying awake for weeks without food, and surviving violent, chaotic encounters, including being pulled over at 4 a.m. in a bikini with drugs and waking up days later with no memory of what happened. Angela shares how she became an escort at 17, went to prison at 19, endured repeated abuse at knifepoint, and even drew the attention of the FBI while incarcerated. Despite relapses and episodes of drug-induced psychosis, Angela’s story is ultimately one of survival, recovery, and accountability through drug court. She closes the conversation by offering hard-earned advice and hope to those still struggling, proving that even after decades of addiction and trauma, recovery is possible.

🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcast👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this powerful and deeply honest episode, Louis and Aaron sit down with Naveah Benton to hear her story of growing up in the shadow of addiction. Born to two teenage parents struggling with substance abuse, Naveah’s life was shaped early by chaos, instability, and trauma. She opens up about her childhood surrounded by drugs, the loss of her father to an overdose, and watching her mother’s addiction spiral further as domestic violence and destructive relationships took hold.Naveah shares moments no child should have to endure—being exposed to adult situations at a young age, witnessing her parents’ painful histories with addiction, and experiencing physical and emotional abuse firsthand. Despite everything, she reflects on how these experiences impacted her perspective, her resilience, and the lessons she’s carried forward.This episode is raw, emotional, and eye-opening, offering an unfiltered look at what happens after a child is born into addiction—and how survival, self-awareness, and hard-earned wisdom can emerge from even the darkest beginnings. Naveah closes by sharing heartfelt advice for others who may be walking a similar path.⚠️ Viewer discretion advised: This episode discusses addiction, domestic violence, and childhood trauma.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcast👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this powerful and unfiltered episode, Louis interviews Taelor Thorton, whose life story is a stark portrait of trauma, addiction, and survival. Born with cystic fibrosis, Taelor grew up facing serious medical challenges that shaped her childhood and sense of self. By her early teens, she was already drinking, misusing prescription stimulants, and acting out in dangerous ways, including stealing her parents’ car. At the same age, she experienced a devastating sexual assault by an older man, a turning point that deepened her spiral. Taelor opens up about overdosing on insulin, graduating high school while immersed in substances like cocaine, Xanax, and Percs, and how her addiction escalated rapidly after discovering fentanyl following the death of her grandmother.As her use intensified, Taelor describes overdosing repeatedly, abandoning her cystic fibrosis and diabetes medications, and watching her weight and health collapse. She shares the reality of catching a possession charge, overdosing in a parking lot before court, and the heartbreaking barriers that kept her from traditional rehab due to her medical condition. Prison followed, and so did relapse immediately after release, pulling her into stripping, more overdoses, temporary blindness, and exposure to xylazine and its horrific physical effects. Her journey then turns even darker as she recounts traveling toward Florida, losing her belongings, being threatened with trafficking, and ultimately being picked up by a pimp who auctioned her and another woman off and sexually assaulted her. The episode culminates in Taelor’s escape, calling the police, being taken to the hospital, placed on life support, and beginning the fight for recovery. This conversation is a raw look at what it means to survive fentanyl, xylazine, crack addiction, and sexual trafficking while battling a life-threatening illness—and what it takes to keep going when survival itself feels impossible.

🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcast👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this powerful and honest conversation, Aaron and Louis sit down with Elaine Berman to unpack a life that, on the surface, looked relatively normal—but carried deep, hidden wounds beneath it. Elaine opens up about her early years in ballet, including the discipline and pressure of an extremely strict instructor, before sharing the trauma of a sexual assault she experienced at a young age. From there, she walks listeners through pivotal moments of growing up, first dates, graduating, and celebrating youth, while unknowingly stepping into patterns that would later shape her struggles.As the conversation unfolds, Elaine describes falling into relationships marked by infidelity, experimentation, and self-destruction. What begins as a spontaneous strip club audition turns into a new identity, life on stage, and exposure to the darker, addictive side of stripping. She speaks candidly about her first lap dance, substance use, and a series of intense relationships that pulled her deeper into chaos, including relapses and encounters with drugs she never imagined trying. Elaine also reflects on how these chapters eventually came to an end, what rock bottom looked like, and how she found her way into recovery. The episode closes with hope, as Elaine shares how healing, self-work, and a healthier relationship helped her begin a new chapter. This is a raw, unfiltered story of survival, consequences, and the strength it takes to rebuild.

🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcast

👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives