The question I kept asking myself throughout this interview is, "how did Mikie Bobzin survive?" She recounts being a 5 year-old girl having to grow up quickly with a bi-polar mom who was a severe alcoholic. As a 7 year-old, Mikie knew she wanted her mom to drink beer not gin. That is a lot for a 7 year-old.  They were in and out of public housing and Mikie was always trying to figure out how to fit in. She went down a dark path with her own addictions, hanging with a tough crowd. You really feel her rock bottom moment.  Mikie is so honest and real in telling her story...she really puts you on the edge of your seat, and you can't possibly imagine this having a happy ending. Well, unbelievably it does. Mikie and her 5 kids are doing well together as a family. Mikie has a meaningful job, and just graduated with her Masters degree in Social Work. This is truly a Nightmare Success story, and Mikie is giving back to those who helped save her along the way.

Bill Glaser, tan, white hair, looks like the picture of a successful country club rich man, and he was. He had worked his way to the top of the class with sought after clients with his wealth management company and real estate. Then the nightmare...A bad homebuilder turned into a terrible fraud for Bill's clients. The FBI came knocking on the door, and Bill found himself in a spin cycle of bad to worse. Finally, he pleads guilty and finds himself designated to Federal Medical Prison, Lexington KY. Not a good place to be. This place has all classifications of prisoners. How does a guy like Bill handle being choked out and put in the hole for 8 months? This honest, heartfelt story has it all packed into one episode.

Shawntelle Fisher walked out of prison for the last time on her birthday...November 3, 2011. She had been in and out of prison with multiple felonies mostly pertaining to forgery or bad checks. Fisher had become a mother at 15, a convicted felon at 17...by the time she was 19 she was in prison. Her birthday release was going to be different. This time was the last visit to prison, and she set out on a mission to change her life and other peoples lives by founding Soulfisher Ministries, a nonprofit that helps educate children whose parents are, or have been, incarcerated.  

Fisher is one smart woman. She sought out her education along the way after prison...she holds degrees with full ride scholarships from University of Missouri-St.Louis, graduate degrees from Washington University and Eden Theological Seminary. She became a licensed clinical social worker and drug and alcohol abuse counselor. She now helps hundreds of kids with education and life through her organization.

With all of these accomplishments, she was recently denied and then appealed and then denied again by a judge to be a foster parent. Why? Because of her felony record. Shawntelle says she will become a foster mom, and we have a deep discussion about what are the best solutions for people who return home from prison trying to make their way back in society. The recent setback is a gut punch to Shawntelle, but it is inspiring how she handles a challenge. Everyone can learn something from how Shawntelle handles life. I am a fan!

What if you were convicted of murder and it took 20 years in prison to finally prove you were innocent? That is exactly what happened to my guest Marvin Cotton Jr. one day when he was driving to pick up his 2 year old daughter from daycare. It is one heck of a story told in a way no one else can tell it like Marvin. We walk through his nightmare as if we are walking beside him...could have easily been one of us picking up one of our kids from school. His freedom would have never happened without the prosecutors office creating a special division in the office named the Conviction Integrity Unit. It was tasked to look at questionable convictions. Cotton's case was one they chose to investigate. After 2 1/2 years of investigation he was freed and exonerated after 20 years in prison. He did get work in prison. Marvin used his time there to help bring factions and gangs together through his unique leadership as a communicator. His Mom and family never gave up hope. He also kept his relationship alive with his daughter through all of these formative years. Marvin has not wasted any time since he was released. He is the CEO of Better Not Broken, where he is a motivational speaker, mentor, and coach that helps people overcome circumstantial roadblocks and progress to personal life transformation. Marvin Cotton Jr. is running for The House of Representatives 11th District in Michigan. We need men like Marvin in politics. He could so easily be bitter, but this is an optimistic man who is using his experience to effect change for the better. He never gave up hope, stayed determined, and had the courage to keep stepping through the unknown...what a message!

Samantha Lander gives us the Federal Prison experience from a female's perspective, and she has lived through her nightmare and survived. She has a very engaging personality that mixes humor and pain as she relays to us her incredible journey of survival, determination, and success. Sam grew up in St. Louis in an upper middle class suburban neighborhood. Her dad was a doctor.  She went to one of the best high schools in the state and then attended the University of Michigan. She moved to LA and become a successful "A List" DJ in the club scene...just like that her world spun out of control with a SWAT team crashing down her door. How does the girl next door get saddled with spending 2 years in Federal Prison? Sam tells the details of what was going through her mind as if we are walking through the experience with her. She has gotten out and put her life back together. Always a great athlete, she is a sought after personal trainer, who now runs her own business @seefitliving. Sam optimizes your health holistically to get you and your life back! You should check out her Instagram account @seefitliving for healthy ways to live. Sam kept walking right through her nightmare and never gave up!

How about this headline..."I went from being one of the top teen golfers in the World (#4) to Hawaii's most wanted. This is Kyle Quilausing's incredible story of letting arrogance get the best of him...falling from grace as a child Hawaii celebrity... being expelled 6 months before high school graduation...taking one hit off a meth pipe losing it all...becoming a fugitive most wanted, finally being arrested, and then orchestrating one of the biggest escapes from prison to fuel his addiction. The story that is told only the way that Kyle can tell it. It will leave you on the edge of your seat. His prison stories left me speechless. It is emotional, inspiring, and a true story of redemption. Kyle now leads a life talking to kids all over the country of how to keep out of the dark hole he fell into. He explains how one wrong decision can be life altering. You can find Kyle on Instagram with the words he now lives by...stay, humble, pray...with over 30,000 followers (@stayhumblepray). This is truly a story of a man who has lived a nightmare and survived to use his experience for the good of helping others. If you like stories of how to adapt, survive, and create a successful second chance... you will be inspired by Kyle. 

To reach out to Kyle: https://www.instagram.com/stayhumblepray/, https://topyouthspeakers.com/speakers-topics/kyle-quilausing

Russ Faria is my guest this week. He has been on Dateline 6 times, a record. He is the subject of the popular Podcast "The Thing About Pam" that has over 30 million listeners. The 6 Part NBC Mini Series just finished up with the same title as the podcast. Joel Schwartz, Russ's attorney, was my guest last week, and did an excellent job describing the details and characters of the case. Russ gives us his life story. What kind of life he was living before the horrible December night tragedy? How did he and Betsy meet and what was their life and marriage like? Russ does an incredible job of letting us inside his mind as the events unfolded and what he was thinking and feeling. He shares nuggets of wisdom and strategies of how he kept being himself regardless of being locked up for life without parole plus 30 years. He never gave up or lost hope. Russ is a very likable, happy, optimistic man who wants to use his experience to help others and create change. He is using his new found fame to lend his voice to the Midwest Innocence Project. He wants people to know that there are Russ Faria's all over the country that are innocent and locked up in prison. Russ has recently gotten engaged, and his fiancé was actually one of the hunted potential victims of Pam Hupp's before she asked to be let out of Pam's car. You can't make this stuff up! Russ is a good man, doing good things... making a difference!

My guest this week is criminal defense attorney Joel Schwartz. He is the attorney who represented Russ Faria in the case that has become an NBC 6 part series ratings darling titled, "The Thing about Pam" starring Rene Zellweger (as Pam Hupp) and Josh Duhamel (as Joel Schwartz). Joel has written the book Bone Deep that takes readers through the perfect storm of miscalculations and missteps that led to an innocent man’s conviction—and recounts Schwartz’s successful battle to have that conviction overturned. Joel has been speaking to sold out audiences all over the nation that can't get enough of this story. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, 60 Minutes, CBS Morning News, CNN, Fox News and countless local television news affiliates. Joel went to undergraduate and law school at the University of Texas, Austin. He has a bit of an entrepreneur streak in him. While he was an undergraduate at UT, he created the popular "Men of Texas" calendar that landed him on the cover of Newsweek Magazine. After finishing law school, Joel headed to Hollywood to be an actor. He came home to St. Louis for a visit, and never went back to Los Angeles. He said he would give law a try for a year, and now 33 years later he is Principal Partner in the nationally respected Law Firm of Rosenblum, Schwartz, and Fry. On top of all of that, he has his own band, JFB, where he is the lead guitarist and singer. Joel is a family man with a wife and 3 kids who has a passion for making a difference with everything he goes to do. Joel is the criminal defense attorney you would want fighting by your side if you find yourself in a nightmare. In a perfect world, there would be a criminal defense attorney cloning machine making 100's of Joel Schwartz clones. He is definitely one of the good guys!

Ripped from todays headlines... my guest is Brandon Reid. Brandon, Intake Coordinator of Criminal Justice Ministry, has dedicated his life to helping ex-felons find housing when being released...ironically he was recently denied housing himself because of a blanket ban of not allowing felons to live in the Hampton Garden Apartments. This prompted a headline article over the weekend in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Brandon is a non-violent drug offender. He sits on boards and is the President of Pride STL. Brandon has a fascinating life story of growing up in Italy until he was 10 years old, and seeing abuse to his mom in the household. His first arrest was for drug possession when he was 18. Brandon was addicted to meth and heroin. He finally got himself on the right path, and his story is one of determination, survival, and success. He discovered an incredible mentor and a group of friends conquering their struggles. Brandon is using his unique experience to help others to affect  real change. He is now bringing awareness with the most recent issue of legal discrimination for housing with ex-felons.

Billy Vasquez is my guest this week...  A very likeable Texan, along with, being a hardworking soft spoken gentle giant family man. Billy tells the story of how it was easy to fall into an addicted lifestyle with friends and family who were already living that life. He stepped into helping a group transport marijuana because of the benefits of being with the "in" lifestyle crowd. The group got greedy and did a back to back deal that Billy advised against. The Feds seized over 700 lbs. of marijuana on the second shipment. You can really feel his emotions of loss, love, and family with his nightmare and how he was able to eventually survive the storm. He is now back in Texas with his family. He is driving a big rig tow truck doing what he likes doing. He discusses how his perspective on life after prison makes him a very happy man living the life he had hoped for. Billy offers up nuggets of strategies with how he got through it all.