Got a Light?

For 37 years, Sal lived a life consumed by addiction, violence, crime, and incarceration. What began as a 13-year-old boy experimenting with methamphetamine eventually became decades of destructive decisions, prison sentences, gang involvement, and relationships torn apart by addiction.

Born in Chico, California, and raised in Shasta County, Sal grew up surrounded by instability, substance use, and family struggles. Despite excelling in school and athletics, his desire for acceptance and belonging eventually led him down a path that nearly cost him his life.

Throughout this conversation, Sal shares his experiences with methamphetamine addiction, heroin dependency, prison gangs, and the devastating consequences of violence. He opens up about the moment he faced the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars—and how that experience forced him to confront the man he had become.

But this isn't just a story about addiction. It's a story about accountability, forgiveness, faith, family, and the power of transformation.

Now in recovery, Sal has found a new purpose through the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, reconnecting with his family, sponsoring others in recovery, and dedicating his life to being of service.

Together, Rich and Sal explore the human need for belonging, the difference between pleasure and fulfillment, the importance of healthy relationships, and how the darkest chapters of our lives can become a source of hope for others.

Sal's message is simple but powerful: “Drugs are bad. We do recover.”

Got a Light? is about finding hope in the darkest moments of life—and Sal's story reminds us that no matter how long someone has lived in darkness, change is still possible.

Sam’s journey is a powerful testament to survival, resilience, and the transformational power of connection. Born into a world shaped by addiction, Sam was taken from her mother at three years old, navigating abusive foster homes before moving into a family environment marked by severe physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, deep isolation, and strict control. Finding a temporary escape in competitive baton twirling, where she won a national championship at age ten, she lived in constant fear while taking on adult responsibilities for young family members.

Reconnecting with her mother at fourteen offered freedom, but it also opened the door to rebellion, weed, alcohol, and eventually a heavy addiction to methamphetamine. After the heartbreak of sending her six-year-old daughter to live in Missouri to save her from the streets, losing her mother to an overdose, and navigating four and a half years of homelessness, Sam reached a breaking point. Facing a major prison sentence, she chose intensive court-ordered treatment (AOP), accepted spiritual support, and chose to build a life for herself.

Now 13 years clean, Sam has rebuilt her relationships with her children, works directly in the drug and alcohol field helping current addicts, and serves as a living blueprint that no past is too dark to overcome.

Chris grew up in Orange County, California, throwing an 85 mph fastball at fourteen with a bright future ahead. Behind the athletic talent, however, was a childhood fractured by severe physical abuse and a deep-seated need for control. Within weeks of trying crank (methamphetamine) at age fourteen, Chris was kicked off his basketball team, ran away from home, and was arrested for four first-degree burglaries and weapon possession.

In this episode, Chris opens up about his descent into a 20-year addiction fueled by crime, violence, and isolation. He speaks candidly about the darkest moment of his life—losing custody of his two daughters—and how he used drugs to numb the agonizing pain of that loss. Chris takes us through his turning point in 2012 when he faced down two attempted murder charges, chose total accountability, and surrendered to recovery. Today, nearly 15 years clean, Chris serves as a regional manager, a devoted husband, and a present father, proving that no one is ever too far gone to build a life of purpose.

Kelly’s story is a powerful reminder that addiction does not discriminate and that even after years of darkness, a life of freedom, purpose, and redemption is possible.

Raised in a loving, hardworking family in Redding, California, Kelly never imagined that experimenting with OxyContin during his senior year of high school would lead to more than a decade of addiction. What initially gave him confidence and a sense of belonging eventually took control of everything. His relationships faded, his finances disappeared, and his life became a relentless cycle of working to get loaded and getting loaded to work.

After multiple DUIs, a devastating collision that nearly took another person’s life, repeated overdoses, suicide attempts, and a seven-year prison sentence, Kelly believed his only remaining futures were death or lifelong incarceration. But prison became the unlikely starting point for his transformation.

In this deeply honest conversation, Kelly shares how faith, Alcoholics Anonymous, the Twelve Steps, accountability, and a community of people who understood his struggle helped him rebuild his life. He also recounts the extraordinary moment when the woman he injured offered him forgiveness and grace, helping release years of guilt and shame.

Today, Kelly is no longer controlled by substances. He has rebuilt the relationships he once damaged, serves his community through the fire service, and works alongside some of the same captains he knew while serving as an incarcerated firefighter. He now returns to recovery rooms to help others discover the same freedom that was offered to him.

This episode explores addiction, isolation, accountability, forgiveness, faith, service, and the importance of reaching out before it is too late. Kelly’s journey proves that rock bottom can become a foundation and that the person who once felt beyond saving can become a light for someone else.

If you are struggling, don’t sell yourself short. Help is available, recovery is possible, and there are people ready to reach back when you extend your hand.

This episode is different. There’s no guest and no interview, just the story behind why Got a Light? exists.

Addiction has shaped my life since childhood. I lost my father to suicide when I was 12 after his struggle with a methamphetamine addiction. In the years that followed, I watched my mom struggle with alcohol, drugs, depression, overdoses, suicide attempts, DUIs and treatment.

For a long time, addiction represented nothing but darkness to me: loss, fear, anger, shame, helplessness and isolation. I wanted to escape my past and the community where so much of it happened.

But over time, my perspective changed.

Through hearing stories of recovery, witnessing people rebuild their lives and seeing the power of connection, I began to understand that addiction does not have to be the end of someone's story.

That realization became the foundation of Got a Light?

This podcast exists to give people a place to honestly share their experiences with addiction, recovery, loss and redemption and to use those stories to reach people who may still be struggling in silence.

My mission is simple: bring connection and light into a place that can feel incredibly dark.

I want the person struggling with addiction to know they aren't alone. I want families and loved ones to hear perspectives that help them better understand addiction and recovery. I want children growing up around addiction to hear that someone understands what they're experiencing. I want people in recovery to have a platform to show what life on the other side can look like.

I can't change what happened to my family or rewrite my childhood. But I can choose what I do with it.

The darkness of addiction shaped me. Now I want to use it to help carry a light for someone else.

That's why I started Got a Light?

Because your story could be someone else's light.

From Under the Bridge to a Life of Purpose | Matthew’s 35-Year Journey Through Addiction and Recovery.

For 35 years, Matthew lived in the grip of addiction. Alcohol, drugs, homelessness, broken relationships, jail, shame, and isolation became his reality. His darkest moments were spent living under a bridge, convinced he was beyond saving and hoping he simply wouldn’t wake up the next morning.

Today, nearly nine years sober, Matthew shares the story of how everything changed. In one of the most powerful conversations on Got a Light?, Matthew opens up about childhood trauma, growing up with an addicted father, the need for acceptance that fueled his addiction, and how isolation nearly killed him. He explains why addiction was never really about alcohol or drugs—it was about trying to escape himself.

Together, Rich and Matthew explore the themes that connect nearly every recovery story: shame, loneliness, identity, purpose, faith, surrender, and the healing power of genuine human connection.

Rather than offering easy answers, Matthew shares the difficult lessons learned through decades of pain and how those same experiences have become the foundation for helping others find hope.

If you’ve ever struggled with addiction, loved someone who has, or simply wondered how someone can rebuild a life after losing everything, this conversation is for you.

Because no matter how dark the night becomes, there is always a light waiting to be found.

In this episode of Got a Light?, Rich sits down with Bryce, who is nearly one year sober after a devastating addiction to nitrous oxide, also known as whippets.

Bryce shares how boredom, pain, and easy access led him into a habit that quickly took over his life. What started as a way to numb physical pain eventually cost him money, relationships, freedom, and nearly his ability to walk. After experiencing psychosis, paralysis, a coma, and homelessness, Bryce finally reached the point where he knew something had to change.

His turning point came through faith, surrender, and the decision to ask for help. Since entering the Good News Rescue Mission, Bryce has rebuilt his life through community, prayer, mentorship, and a renewed relationship with God. Now eleven months sober, walking again, preparing for heavy equipment school, and reconnecting with family and friends, Bryce’s story is a powerful reminder that it is never too late to choose life.

This conversation is about addiction, isolation, shame, forgiveness, faith, recovery, and the strength it takes to ask for help.

In this powerful episode of Got a Light?, Rich sits down with Nick, a 36-year-old father of five who has been sober for over six and a half years. Nick shares a raw and honest account of addiction, homelessness, incarceration, abandonment, trauma, and ultimately redemption.

At his lowest point, Nick was homeless, estranged from his family, separated from his children for nearly a decade, and convinced he would die as a “junkie on the streets.” He recounts sleeping behind a wall near a movie theater, covered in blood, screaming at God to either let him die or show him a way out.

What happened next changed everything.

A chance encounter with a sober friend became his “Got a Light?” moment—an act of unconditional love that opened the door to recovery, healing, and a completely different life.

Today, Nick is a devoted husband and father, regained custody of his sons after ten years apart, became a restaurant owner, mentors people in recovery, and creates employment opportunities for those rebuilding their lives after addiction and incarceration.

“Don’t give up, man. It could be tomorrow that you have a breakthrough. If I can do it, you can do it. I was the worst of the worst—a gutter drunk junkie. Look at me now.”

In this powerful episode of Got a Light?, Rich sits down with Quintin, a Marine Corps veteran whose battle with cocaine addiction began after leaving the military and losing the identity, structure, and brotherhood that had shaped his life.

Quintin opens up about the darkness of addiction: using cocaine nearly every day, going days without sleep or food, losing weight, borrowing money, damaging relationships, and feeling trapped in a life he knew was destroying him. His story is raw, honest, and deeply human.

But this episode is also about hope. Quintin shares how an intervention from his family, friends, and community gave him the chance to say one life-changing “yes” to rehab. He talks about the importance of accountability, movement, honesty, fatherhood, and keeping the right people close.

A major message from Quentin’s story is that recovery does not happen in isolation. Community saved his life, but daily choices kept him moving forward. His reminder is simple and powerful: make one good decision, then stack another on top of it.

Powerful Quote from Quintin:

“Keep your rock bottom high.”

This episode is a message for anyone struggling with addiction, anyone who loves someone struggling, and especially veterans who feel lost after leaving the military: your identity is not gone, your story is not over, and there is always a brighter day.

Rich sits down with his friend Dan, a college football coach who shares the story of how alcohol slowly became part of his identity, ultimately leading him to a devastating rock-bottom moment that nearly cost him everything. What began as social drinking turned into a lifestyle built on false confidence, hidden anxiety, and destructive decisions. After a traumatic personal failure forced him to confront the truth, Dan set out to quit drinking for 30 days—never imagining that decision would completely transform his life.

Together, Rich and Dan explore the realities of addiction, shame, anxiety, fatherlessness, identity, and the lies many men tell themselves to survive. They discuss the powerful role that football, faith, brotherhood, mentorship, and unconditional love played in Dan’s recovery, as well as the responsibility both men feel to serve as father figures and leaders for young men searching for purpose and direction.

This episode is about far more than sobriety. It is about redemption. It is about learning that your mistakes do not define you. It is about discovering that true fulfillment is found not in substances, status, or temporary validation, but in authentic relationships, meaningful purpose, and a relationship with God.

Whether you are battling addiction, struggling with shame, searching for your identity, or supporting someone who is fighting their own darkness, Dan’s story is proof that no one is beyond hope and that even the deepest valleys can lead to a life filled with purpose, peace, and light.

Topics discussed:

Alcohol addiction and recovery

Hitting rock bottom and rebuilding your life

Anxiety, shame, and mental health

Fatherlessness and male identity

Football, coaching, and mentorship

Faith, grace, and redemption

Brotherhood and unconditional love

Finding purpose after failure

Becoming the man you were created to be

“You don’t have to stay who you were. Sometimes the darkest moments of your life become the foundation for the brightest future.” – Dan