Andrew Drasen, author, addiction advocate, and identity repair speaker, joins KneeToKnee to talk about rebuilding your sense of self after addiction, loss, and incarceration.

Andrew went through eight treatment programs before finding any meaningful change. He finished writing his memoir five minutes before walking out of prison in 2019. He lost the woman he loved to suicide. And now he's briefing U.S. senators on drug policy reform and speaking at international conferences on identity and relapse prevention.

This conversation goes past the usual addiction story. Andrew breaks down what recovery actually means (hint: stopping the behavior is just the beginning), why identity is at the root of addiction, loss, and every major life transition, and why the story you tell yourself matters more than almost anything else.

Key moments in this episode:
• Why eight treatments failed before one thing finally clicked
• How writing a memoir inside prison changed the lens Andrew sees life through
• What Andrew means when he says he's blown up the word 'recovery'
• How losing Caroline to suicide became its own identity crisis and how Eva the dog helped him through it
• Why self-talk is the most overlooked variable in how men change or stay stuck
• What compassion has to do with building real connection with other men

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:05 High School, Arrests, and the Beginning of the Battle
03:51 Writing a Memoir in Prison and the Mindset Shift It Created
08:04 Honesty, Acceptance, and Releasing the Past
14:37 Blowing Up the Word Recovery
16:06 Speaking, Advocacy, and Briefing Senators on Drug Policy
19:03 The One Thing Men Can Do to Build Deeper Connection

Find Andrew's book and more at avisionofhopebook.com

📩 Get The One Thing - a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf

More Like This - Suggested Playlists:
• The Conversations Men Need to Be Having - This episode goes exactly where that playlist lives: honest, unfiltered, and covering loss, identity, purpose, and what it takes to show up differently.
• Start Here: The Episodes That Change How Men Think About Connection - Andrew's message on self-talk, compassion, and identity repair makes this a strong anchor episode for any new listener.

This episode of KneeToKnee sits at the intersection of men's health, functional medicine, and what it actually means to lead yourself well in midlife. Mark Marrott sits down with Stretch Rayner, a personal trainer and health coach from Australia, to talk male burnout, blood work for men, genetics testing, gut health, sauna benefits, testosterone decline, and the warrior to king shift that men in midlife need to hear about.
Stretch built a 300-member gym in London, burned himself out doing it, and came home with chest pain, chronic fatigue, and no real answers. When he finally went looking, a deep dive into functional medicine, blood work, and genetics testing revealed mercury toxicity, hemochromatosis, the MTHFR gene variant affecting his detoxification pathways, and a histamine intolerance that was making his healthiest foods the problem. Within six weeks of the right protocol, including sauna therapy to clear the mercury and targeted dietary changes for his gut health, he felt like himself again.
Now Stretch works with men in midlife through his Sustainable Training Method and the Midlife Mavericks program, helping them take ownership of their health, build accountability into their lives, and make the shift from warrior to king. In this conversation we get into what blood work and genetics testing actually reveal, why testosterone decline and male burnout are showing up earlier than ever, how masculine archetypes play into men's mental health, and why strength training for men might be the single best gateway habit for building deeper men's connection and male friendship. Stretch also shares why he believes most men in midlife are waiting too long to look under the bonnet, and what happens when they finally do.
You can find Stretch and the Sustainable Training Method at tstmethod.com.
00:00 Introduction
01:07 How Stretch Got His Nickname and His Origin Story
03:42 Burnout in London and the Decision to Go Home
05:02 The Blood Work That Changed Everything
09:16 What Men Should Actually Test and How to Start
16:06 Midlife Mavericks and the Warrior to King Framework
22:05 The One Thing: Strength as the Gateway Habit
📂 More Like This — Suggested Playlists:

The Men Who Got Their Energy Back After 35
The Conversations Men Need to Be Having

📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf

Male intimacy, sex therapy, couples connection, emotional vulnerability, radical listening, men and loneliness, marriage advice, EFT therapy, attachment styles, KneeToKnee podcast

Melissa Barton is a licensed therapist, couples therapist, and sex therapist based in Utah. Her husband Brad was on KneeToKnee a few weeks back and told us we had to have her on. He was right.

This is one of the most honest conversations we have had on this show. Melissa works with men and couples every single day, and she knows something most men have never been told: the desire to feel connected, seen, and known does not go away with age. It just changes form. And if you are not building the language to talk about it, you and your partner end up living at the surface level for decades.

We get into what really drives conflict in relationships (hint: it is usually not the thing you are actually fighting about), why anger is often just sadness wearing a mask, and a simple concept called the bridge that can completely reframe how you handle hard conversations.

Melissa also gets into what happens in her office when men finally let their guard down. Spoiler: it is one of the most powerful things she ever gets to witness.

The one thing she leaves you with is simple. Take a breath first. Then listen like your relationship depends on it, because it does.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:43 How intimacy and connection change from your 20s to your 50s

06:00 Why men were conditioned to never ask for help

10:27 Loneliness and its real impact on men's health

13:26 What anger looks like in couples and what is underneath it

21:17 The bridge concept: how to stop fighting and start hearing

28:31 The one thing: radical listening and the breath that changes everything

📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf

Eric Robinson spent years pastoring a church built for people who didn't normally go to church. The work was meaningful. The stress was unsustainable. So he made a call most people would never consider: he applied to the FBI.

What followed was a 25-year career that included 15 years on FBI SWAT, roles as a tactics instructor, firearms instructor, and fitness instructor, and front-row seats to some of the deepest male bonds you can build. He retired a few months ago, and this is one of his first conversations since.

In this episode, Mark and Eric get into the real stuff: how Eric managed stress that others couldn't, why the FBI felt like a relief after ministry, what SWAT brotherhood actually feels like from the inside, how his team handled a shooting, what "being curious" really means in practice, and how a man figures out who he is when the badge and the title are gone.

Eric's closing answer to "the one thing" is simple, practical, and worth sitting with.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and the Running Connection
04:00 From Ministry to the FBI: The Pivot Nobody Saw Coming
07:00 Resilience, Trauma, and Underestimating Yourself
10:30 What FBI SWAT Brotherhood Actually Feels Like
13:30 The Hot Wash: How Eric's Team Processed a Shooting
19:00 Retirement, Identity, and Letting Go of the Badge
23:00 The One Thing: Stay Curious, Stay Open

📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf

🎙️ KneeToKnee — connection that compounds.

https://youtu.be/r_EpasCuWos

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Darren Parry, former chairman of the Northwestern Band Shoshone Nation, on Bear River Massacre, indigenous wisdom, male leadership, service, brotherhood, and reconnecting men to purpose.

What does it actually mean to lead? Not manage, not dominate, but lead. Darren Parry has spent his life carrying that answer.

Darren is the former chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, an educator at Utah State University, and the author of the Bear River Massacre of Shoshone history. That book started with his grandmother, the tribal historian for their people. When she passed before she could finish it, Darren picked it up and carried it home.

In this conversation we go deep on what indigenous culture understood about men and community that our modern world has slowly walked away from. Darren talks about the difference between hierarchical power and a circle of responsibility, what it means to build intergenerational bonds with your family before it's too late, the courage it takes to stand up for something even when the odds are against you, and the simple question his grandmother asked him as a boy that redefined what leadership actually looks like.

His closing answer about eagle feathers and what it means to go be a chief is one of the best moments we've had on this show.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
01:23 Darren's background and Shoshone history
03:54 The Bear River Massacre
06:13 What indigenous men knew about responsibility
09:26 How to rebuild intergenerational bonds
12:45 Oral history, elders, and the library that burns
14:10 Running for Congress to give a people a voice
18:18 Go be a chief — the eagle feather story

📩 Get The One Thing — a weekly note from Mark every time a new episode drops: https://bit.ly/4eIs6gf

☑ Find us most everywhere! https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee

#HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney

EpicDeca finisher JD Tremblay breaks down blood chemistry, energy regulation & endurance performance. Insert Link

Only 3 people on Earth have completed the Epic Deca — 10 Iron Man distance triathlons across 10 Hawaiian islands. JD Tremblay is one of them. But what makes this conversation different from every other endurance story you've heard is that JD isn't interested in telling you how tough he is. He's here to give you the systems he used — systems that work whether you're attempting the impossible or just trying to drag yourself back to the gym.

In this episode of KneeToKnee, JD breaks down the DECA framework (Discipline, Energy Regulation, Capacity, Action), his BRAIN optimization method (Blood Chemistry, Recovery, Attention, Inflammation, Nervous System), why your morning smoothie may be sabotaging your focus and energy, the truth about electrolytes, sodium, and insulin timing, and why values need to come before goals if you want lasting direction in your life.

JD is also a certified naturopathic practitioner and military veteran — and his perspective on inflammation, community, and building a value-driven life is something every man needs to hear.
Chapters
• 00:00 – Welcome & Introduction to JD Tremblay
• 01:00 – What Is the Epic Deca? (10 Iron Mans, 10 Days, 5 Islands)
• 03:32 – The DECA System: Discipline, Energy Regulation, Capacity & Action
• 11:12 – The BRAIN Framework: Blood Chemistry, Recovery, Attention, Inflammation & Nervous System
• 16:53 – Practical Nutrition Tips for the Average Man Getting Back in the Gym
• 27:46 – Values Before Goals: JD's Closing Advice for Building Deep Connections


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#HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney

Veteran mental health, male loneliness, and brotherhood collide in this raw conversation with Lt. Colonel Ryan Reichert on KneeToKnee with Mark Marrott.

Ryan Reichert retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel, landed a Fortune 500 job with a multi-six-figure salary, and found himself completely alone. No brotherhood. No mission. No foundation. What followed was an identity crisis, addiction, divorce, and the hard work of rebuilding from scratch. In this episode, Ryan shares what broke him after the military, how he found his way back through community and faith, and why kindness might be the most underrated weapon a man carries.

Topics covered include post-military identity loss, veteran PTSD and addiction recovery, the Bravo Zulu House (the first all-veteran sober house in the nation), Our Protector Development, the one-high-two-lows check-in method, and Ryan's six-step kindness framework from his TEDx Duluth talk. This is a Tier 4 episode: Mindset and Relationships.

Chapters:
• 00:00 — Introduction: Ryan Reichert and the Built to Break mindset
• 02:30 — Post-military identity crisis: From Lt. Colonel to Fortune 500 to rock bottom
• 05:10 — Male loneliness and the cost of going it alone
• 10:35 — The groups that rebuilt Ryan: Church, veterans court, and battle buddies
• 12:50 — Bravo Zulu House: The first all-veteran sober house in the nation
• 15:10 — Our Protector Development: Turning pain into purpose
• 19:45 — The six-step kindness method: Ryan's TEDx Duluth framework

☑ Find us most everywhere! https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee

#HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney

Introvert strengths, deep connections & male loneliness — David Hall reveals the truth about quiet men. Insert Link

Most men have been told their whole lives that being an introvert is something to overcome. In this powerful conversation, introversion expert and podcast host David Hall joins Mark Marrott to bust the biggest myths and flip the script on what it means to be quiet and strong.

David shares the exact moment he stopped thinking something was wrong with him — and how understanding his introvert personality changed his relationships, his career, and his confidence forever. If you've ever felt misunderstood for being the guy who thinks before speaking, needs time alone, or prefers a great one-on-one conversation over a room full of strangers — this episode is for you.

We dig into the neuroscience of introversion, practical strategies for building deeper connections, how introverts can master small talk without losing their soul, and the one thing you can do TODAY to strengthen your most important relationships.

Chapters
00:00 — Welcome & Introduction to David Hall
02:00 — What Introversion Actually Means (And What It Doesn't)
06:30 — Introvert Strengths: Deep Thinking, Reflection & Innovation
10:30 — The Neuroscience of Introversion
14:00 — Practical Strategies for Introverts in Relationships & Work
19:35 — The One Thing You Can Do Today to Build Deeper Connections


☑ Find us most everywhere! https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee

#HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney

empathy, mentorship, human connection, active listening, career transition, transferable skills, Utah Highway Patrol, leadership, communication skills, personal growth, emotional intelligence, wellness, relationships, presence, trust, kindness, building connections, career reinvention, workplace communication, mindfulness, resilience, authentic storytelling, community support, personal development, meaningful conversations
Meet Brad Zeeman — retired Utah Highway Patrolman turned senior safety manager — and discover how mentorship, active listening, empathy, and transferable skills can transform every relationship and career you'll ever have.
Whether you're navigating a career transition, trying to build deeper human connections, or just wondering why some people make you feel seen while others don't, this conversation is going to hit home. Brad breaks down how meeting people where they are isn't a soft skill — it's the foundation of leadership, trust, and real personal growth. From the streets of the Utah Highway Patrol to Fortune 500 facilities across the country, the through-line has always been the same: people need to feel heard, and the men who figure that out change every room they walk into.
This is KneeToKnee — real conversations for men who are done settling. Insert Link

Chapters
00:00 — Introduction: Meet Brad Zeeman
01:24 — Brad & Mark's History: Working Together and the Larry Sagers Comparison
03:54 — Meeting People Where They Are: The Learn & Grow Framework
06:13 — Mentors Who Shaped Brad: Lessons from Law Enforcement
08:31 — Mark's Dad, a Moose in Alaska, and the Best Sales Advice He Ever Got
15:51 — The 360-Degree Leader: Leading Up, Down, and Across
18:20 — Career Reinvention: How Brad Translated a Law Enforcement Career into the Private Sector
23:07 — The One Thing: What Would Mark Marrott Do?

Books & Resources Mentioned
The 360 Degree Leader — John C. Maxwell

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#HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney

What if shame — not lack of discipline — is the real reason men stay stuck? Kurt Francom built a 20-million-download podcast on human connection, mental health, and the healing power of authentic storytelling. In this conversation, we explore the difference between guilt and shame, why self-acceptance is the foundation of personal growth, and how vulnerability and mindfulness unlock real change. Kurt shares his leadership skills, his journey through resilience and emotional health, and how a vow of silence inside a three-day wilderness retreat became the most powerful tool he's seen for men's mental health. We talk about presence, trust, kindness, community support, and what overcoming shame actually looks like in a real conversation with someone you respect. If you've ever carried that quiet question — am I enough? — this episode is for you.

Chapters:
0:00 — Introduction & Welcome
2:24 — Who Is Kurt Francom? Leading Saints & 20M Downloads
4:30 — Is God Disappointed in Me? The Book and the Shame Behind It
8:30 — Guilt vs. Shame: A Distinction That Changes Everything
14:35 — Warrior Heart: Three-Day Men's Retreats and Why They Work
20:00 — The One Thing: 10 Minutes of Silence and Reclaiming Your Identity

Learn more about Leading Saints: https://leadingsaints.org/
Warrior Heart Retreats: https://awarriorheart.com/
Subscribe to KneeToKnee Audio: https://kneetoknee.riverside.com/

☑ Find us most everywhere! https://linktr.ee/kneetoknee

#HumanConnection #AuthenticConnections #WellnessJourney