Let The Journey Begin

This week, we bring on a very special guest, Lacy Nicole! Lacy grew up aspiring to be and later becoming a stylist, fully diving into the world that is fashion and entertainment. However, her life and perspective completely changed when a particularly terrifying experience occurred: she was kidnapped. Lacy describes to Hilary and Jason what happened the night she was abducted with a friend and how a guardian angel was truly looking out for them that night. She goes on to explain that after the incident, she began to develop a slew of health problems that almost made her want to give up completely. Rather than letting all the negatives overcome her, Lacy embraced her circumstances as a chance to uplift and empower women who have endured all sorts of trauma alike. Today, Lacy is an advocate for all things mental health and strives to change the narrative of compartmentalizing one’s true feelings. She hosts her own podcast Shame To Sparkle where she discusses what life is like living with her own trauma and health difficulties and how everyone can still recover from shame after trauma.

Instagram: @lacyoc, @shametosparkle

You can find Lacy’s podcast, Shame To Sparkle, on Apple Podcasts in addition to all major podcast platforms.

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

Check us out on YouTube every Friday! Let The Journey Begin Podcast

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This week, Hilary and Jason are joined by CEO/President of Epic Journey and Owner of Fresh Start of California, Preston Durnford. Preston grew up loving action sports and idolizing such stars as Travis Pastrana and Robbie Maddison, although his older brother was truly his hero. However, being surrounded by the wrong crowd began to take his older brother down a dark road, which Preston of course wanted to be a part of. Preston began to develop a serious heroin addiction but after finally hitting rock bottom, he knew he had to make a change for good. In the midst of his sobriety journey, his father unfortunately took his own life because of his own inner struggles and his older brother, and hero, eventually passed away at the hands of his own addiction. As traumatic as both of these experiences were for Preston, he explains what he had to do to stay sober through all of it. Today, Preston uses his passion and excitement for adrenaline-filled adventure to inspire the lives of those around him. Through all of the trials and trauma he has experienced, Preston has discovered that all things are possible, and it is this mentality that allows him to take such an important role in the life of an addict or any person struggling with deep-rooted hurt.

Instagram: @epicjourneyoc

For more information on Epic Journey, visit the link below:

epicjourneyinc.com

For more information on Fresh Start of California Detox, visit the link below:

fsocadetox.com

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

Check us out on YouTube every Friday! Let The Journey Begin Podcast

Please subscribe, rate, and review!

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week, we bring on a person who played a major role in Hilary's life: breakthrough life coach and best-selling author, Lisa A. Romano. Lisa created a 12-week breakthrough coaching program helping individuals heal from codependency and narcissistic abuse. Personally suffering from emotional neglect and codependency growing up, Lisa had to find a way out of the confusion a codependent mind can be. She explains how the work she had to do on herself, in a way becoming her own case study, led to her eventually coaching others. Like the flip of a switch, Lisa went from enduring all the nonsense, to a no-nonsense kind of person all while stressing the importance of forgiveness and feeling your feelings. In addition to Hilary, Lisa has helped a great deal of people with their struggles in emotional neglect and codependency, however, she states that she merely holds the flashlight, while you do the work. All the credit goes to those who put in this work with the tools they've been given.

You can find more information on Lisa A. Romano, as well as her books and coaching programs at:

lisaaromano.com

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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On Let The Journey Begin, we like to bring on individuals who have endured all different kinds of trauma, because many times the experiences and symptoms can overlap. Our guest this week, singer/songwriter, blogger, public speaker, and mental health advocate, Cami Julaine, definitely has one of those stories. Cami grew up wanting to be a singer, but abuse at an early age changed the way she lived her life. After multiple occasions of this traumatic abuse, she began to develop OCD, which then turned into severe anorexia, which eventually evolved into bulimia, so bad to the point Cami thought she may die. At age 16, Cami received help from a mentor who had gone through similar struggles and helped put life into perspective. Nearly a decade later, Cami explains what has helped her continue down her recovery path, including a daily routine, productivity, and an accountability mentor. She also mentions how important it was for her to let go of any perceived judgement that may come with taking medication. Although life is much better today than it was years ago, Cami describes how important her getting help was and how her recovery is continually a work in progress.

Instagram: @camijulaine

camijulaine.com

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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Hilary flies solo this week and welcomes guest Franki Olinger, author and Owner/Head Coach of Olinger Coaching, to the show. From childhood, Franki has been no stranger to tragedy. She was abused as a child, experienced an extremely traumatic incident with a boyfriend, suffered from low self-esteem, and ultimately used drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism to deal with the pain. Franki got to a point in her life in which she knew she needed help and, in the strange way that God works, opportunities began to present themselves that would ultimately transform her life as well as help her attain nearly 24 years of sobriety. She used to think her story was her curse, but now believes that she was put on this Earth to help others with that exact same story. Franki stresses that suffering is not mandatory in life and explains how using her "Five V's" can help you discover where your True Truths have been Victimized and altered.

TikTok: @franki_says_relax

OlingerCoaching.com

You can find Franki's book at the following link:

The Five V's: A Guide to Empowerment and Happiness; Written with Love by A Modern Day Spiritual Warrior

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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Hilary and Jason ring in the New Year with Jackson Rowden. Many times on Let The Journey Begin, certain traumas or particular situations lead our guests down a path of drugs and alcohol. However, in Jackson's case, he explains that he just simply liked the feeling that drugs and alcohol provided him. One day he began to realize that "this train wasn't stopping" and reached out for help knowing that his usage had become a problem. From that moment, Jackson dove head-on into treatment and has celebrated over seven years of sobriety. Addiction is a peculiar disease and Jackson explains how it truly affects each individual person differently. For him, keeping it simple is what works and allows him to stay the course of sobriety. Finally, Jackson believes it is important to be kind to oneself and to give yourself a break, in life or sobriety, especially as stressful as the world is today.

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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Chad Robichaux is a former Force Recon Marine and Department of Defense Contractor with eight deployments to Afghanistan as part of a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Task Force and is also a former professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Champion. He is president and founder of Mighty Oaks Foundation, one of the most impactful nonprofit organizations serving our military and first responder communities.

Closing out a crazy 2020, Chad joins Hilary and Jason this week to talk about his time in the military, how it affected his home life, and what he is doing now to help veterans and first responders who suffer from PTSD. Chad always wanted to be a United States Marine and found a great deal of success during his time in the military. However, he soon found out that a lot of what made him successful in the military didn't necessarily mesh well with his life after serving. At one point, he even found himself at the lowest of lows, but with the help of his family and what you may call "divine intervention," he was able to get to where he is today. Many of those that serve our country experience some form of PTSD (whether it is diagnosed or not) and Chad uses his platform to advocate for civilian support of America's warriors returning home.

Instagram: chadrobo_official

If you would like to find out more about the Mighty Oaks Foundation, please visit:

MightyOaksPrograms.org

Also, you can find several of Chad's books at the links below:

- An Unfair Advantage: Victory in the Midst of Battle

- The Truth About PTSD

For Chad's complete works, simply search "Chad Robichaux" on Amazon.

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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Ethan Citron sits down with Hilary and Jason this Holiday week to walk us through his journey to sobriety. Originally from New Jersey, Ethan began experimenting with alcohol at just 13 years old and even at such a young age, the drink took hold of him. As he grew older, grades, sports, career…all of that took a back seat to alcohol. Finally, a few, simple, harsh words at the age of 38 served as his "moment of clarity," causing him to take a one-way flight to California in order to get sober. In Ethan's case (as many of us have experienced ourselves), tough talk and troubled times can seem horrible at the moment but are ultimately the exact thing we need to hear or go through in order for something to change. Today, Ethan has a relationship with his three children and ex-wife that is better than ever due to his sobriety and he stresses that kindness can go a long way in the world we live in today.

Instagram: @ethancitron11

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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Two Bronze Stars with Valor and Purple Heart recipient, Sean Tobias Ambriz, released Ghosts of the Valley: a book of true stories displaying honor and sacrifice of a small group of Military Police who helped shape major combat operations in the mountainous battlefields of Afghanistan. The book also aims to provide resources for soldiers and open them to the vulnerability of PTSD.

Military instructor, Sean Ambriz, joins Hilary and Jason this week to talk about his time in the military and how powerful PTSD can be. Joining the military out of high school, Sean had a much different vision of what his service would entail. But, after two deployments in Afghanistan, he came across a great deal of trauma. However, as terrifying as those life-threatening incidents were for him, Sean explains how he uses those experiences now to make future soldiers' encounters much more manageable. Today, Sean's goal is to simply help veterans in any way that he can, whether that be in their own endeavors or managing PTSD that has come about from their service. Because of the way the world is today, he stresses how important human connection is and how much of an impact simply contacting someone can be.

Also…it's a very special day in that our own Jason Wahler is celebrating one year of sobriety!!!

Instagram: @chief_pinkmist

You can find Sean's book Ghosts of the Valley at the link below:

https://amzn.to/37nOpEX

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

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Matt Pinfield is a music personality, TV host, radio DJ, and video DJ most notably for MTV and VH1. Matt also worked as Vice President of A&R and Artist Development for Columbia Records.

A man of many titles, Matt Pinfield has lived more life than a dozen people combined could compare. Recently seven months sober, Matt joins Hilary and Jason this week to discuss his life in music and his own road to recovery. Matt always wanted to have a career in the music business, which he very successfully attained; however, the business began to cause a lot of problems in his personal life. Many times, the music industry and substance abuse go hand-in-hand and Matt discusses how he began to get caught up in the lifestyle of his career. He also talks about trying moments in his life that have tested his sobriety including a near fatal accident that occurred two years ago as well as the current isolation forced upon by COVID-19. Today, Matt is grateful to be alive and explains how being of service and staying active have been the true keys to his sobriety. He stresses, in a world full of negativity, it's important to focus on the positive things and the positive people in it.

You can find Matt on:

- Instagram: @matthewpinfield

- Twitter: @mattpinfield

- Facebook: Matthew Pinfield

Also, click the link to get Matt's book, All These Things I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life!

Check out Matt's show, In A Lonely Place with Matt Pinfield, on YouTube!

For more information on the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org

If you are interested in donating to the Red Songbird Foundation, please visit:

redsongbird.org/donate

New episode every Thursday!

Please subscribe, rate, and review!

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.