Today’s guest is “Narcan Nate” Smiddy, who talks about his not-so-ideal upbringing in Tennessee, his addiction to pills and cocaine, and his very open and honest journey to recovery that included relapses. Now, 29-years-old, Nate lives in southern California and is giving back and helping others as a trainer and educator for A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing). He hands out NARCAN (Naloxone), the nasal spray, used to treat emergency narcotic overdoses and save people’s lives.

Today’s guest is Amy, who accidentally became addicted to prescription pain pills following weight loss surgery in 2002. At the peak of her addiction, Amy was spending about $800 a day on pills to maintain her habit. The turning point to stop was when Amy’s 6-day-old son was taken from her and she was sent to prison. Amy shares her remarkable recovery story and how she helps others in the same position she was years ago.

After cooking in kitchens for more than 25 years, Chad Houser has been called a lot of names. But he’s still not used to being called, ‘Sir.’ It is a humbling experience. Chad started Café Momentum and Momentum Advisory Collective, a restaurant and nonprofit in Dallas that is changing the lives of many youth. Besides being an award-winning restaurant, it’s a 12-month paid post-release internship program for young men and women exiting Dallas County juvenile detention facilities. On any given day, nearly 60,000 youth under the age of 18 are in juvenile jails or prisons. The United States has the highest rate of youth confinement in any developed country. What happens to these teenagers and adults after they are released? How do they find work and housing?

Although it’s tough, complicated, and messy, it’s perfectly okay to talk about having a loved one with a substance abuse disorder. Stephanie Wittels Wachs is the author of “Everything Is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love, and Loss” and co-founder of the podcast network, Lemonada Media. Stephanie’s brother, Harris Wittels, was a comedian, writer, and executive producer for the “Parks and Recreation” TV series. Stephanie talks about what it was like to have a family member with a substance abuse disorder, the pain and suffering of losing a sibling from addiction, what she has learned about addiction since her brother’s death, and the emotions she felt by naming her son after her late brother.

Dustin is in long-term recovery from meth and talks about growing up in an abusive household. He had the courage to step up and speak out at a young age about the trauma he experienced. Due to his addiction to meth and eventual relapse, he feels truly blessed that he is still living. Now, Dustin is happily married to his husband, Daniel. Both are clean and sober, strong in their faith, and perform outreach and church ministry.

Kelsey Moreira is the CEO and founder of Doughp, legit edible and bakeable cookie dough. Kelsey is in long-term recovery from alcohol. After getting sober in 2015, she wanted to make the world a little sweeter by reducing stigmas around mental health and addiction recovery, so she founded Doughp! You want to grab some legit edible cookie dough? Doughp ships nationwide through www.doughp.com. Kelsey has appeared on Shark Tank and is on a Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Tony Vezina is the executive director of 4D Recovery, as well as a person in long-term recovery, taking one day at a time. Tony talks about how childhood trauma impacted his life, his addiction, and his recovery. Tony is now a leader in the recovery community nearly nine years after becoming sober.

Nesil —just a regular girl, from a regular family who turns to drugs to escape the way she feels—reflects on her obsessive behavior and addictive tendencies. As a kid, she thought she would die without eating enough sugar, sought out drugs as a teenager, was in active addiction throughout college, overdosed 30-50 times, and eventually reached rock bottom to seek recovery and live out her dreams as a stand-up comedian in New York.

Sam Ballinger talks about his family and love for hockey. A broken home and sports injuries led Sam to becoming dependent on and addicted to legal pain pills—Percocet and Oxycontin—only to later transition to illegal drugs—heroin and meth. Unfortunately, his younger brother and mother suffered from addiction and died from overdoses. However, Sam has been in recovery for two years and continues to make amends.

Addiction is a mental health component misunderstood by most and doesn’t discriminate based on anybody. Growing up together, going to the same school, and knowing each other’s families for about 25 years, Erik Kilgore of Henry’s Uncle reconnects with Amanda Heminger to discuss substance abuse and recovery.

Amanda talks about her sheltered upbringing, how her alcoholism led her to isolation and living in an abandoned home, her parents’ journey to understand what she was going through, and how she found and has maintained recovery for more than six years.