Primary Purpose with Pej

Ginny Burton returns to Primary Purpose with Pej for her second interview—and this time, they’re sitting down in person. Known for her widely shared transformation photo, Ginny joins Pej for an honest conversation about the life behind that image, her recovery journey, and what it means to keep rebuilding long after getting sober. Together, they explore how childhood environments shape behavior, the search for acceptance, personal accountability, education, and finding purpose through helping others. Ginny also discusses her work with incarcerated people and her commitment to creating opportunities for meaningful change. The conversation touches on parenting, grief, faith, relationships, and their perspectives on treatment and rehabilitation. It’s a candid discussion about second chances, breaking familiar patterns, and learning to build a life beyond your past. Subscribe to Primary Purpose with Pej for more conversations about addiction recovery, personal growth, and lasting change, and let us know in the comments what part of Ginny’s story connected with you most.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejChapters | 00:00 Ginny Burton Returns to Primary Purpose00:53 Reconnecting in Person01:50 The Story Behind Ginny’s Transformation Photo02:37 Childhood and Growing Up in Washington04:32 Early Trouble and Family Influences05:43 Sponsor: Intervention on Call06:10 Childhood Experiences and Juvenile Detention09:14 Being Introduced to Recovery as a Teen09:48 School, Environment, and Growing Up17:38 Getting Her GED and Entering Adulthood18:55 Motherhood and Parenting20:28 Family Patterns and Incarceration26:44 The Turning Point Toward Recovery29:34 The Search for Belonging and Acceptance33:13 Finding Faith and Recovery Behind Bars35:49 Trauma, Identity, and Taking Accountability38:07 Grief, Losing Her Son, and Facing Blame43:10 Changing Behavior and Mental Health45:19 Returning to Education46:56 Helping People in the Prison System48:06 Advocating for Change and Rehabilitation50:19 Perspectives on Treatment and Harm Reduction51:37 Accountability and Their Recovery Experiences53:52 Looking Beneath the Tough Exterior57:23 Life Beyond the Viral Transformation Photo01:00:59 Questions About Medication in Correctional Settings01:02:34 Parenting and Child Protective Services01:04:04 Perspectives on Long-Term Maintenance Treatment01:05:30 Marriage, Faith, and Moving Forward01:07:38 Pej’s Closing ReflectionsTags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

What does it take to turn around a life after nearly 40 years of addiction, homelessness and incarceration? On this episode of Primary Purpose with Pej, we sit down with William Duran, the Flagler men’s program director at Foundations to Freedom, in DeLand, Florida. Born and raised in Kansas City, William grew up idolizing the mob-connected men around his father. He survived a traumatic childhood experience that changed him at 15, and by 19 he had hitchhiked to Daytona Beach. There he spent decades living in the woods, cycling through jails and prisons 11 times, and surviving any way he could.William opens up about his rock bottom in a freezing tent on January 4th, 2022, the foxhole prayer he whispered that night, and how help arrived in the most unexpected form. He shares how a jail-based program and a visit from Katie Russell led him to Foundations to Freedom. He talks about fighting the process for months, choosing the toughest sponsor he could find, and finally becoming willing. Today, at 62, William has never relapsed. He has paid off years of fines, completed probation for the first time in his life, and now helps other men off the same streets he once lived on.This conversation is about second chances, wraparound recovery care, and the truth that no matter how far you’ve fallen, it’s never too late to change your life. If you or a loved one is struggling, William’s message is simple: one day at a time, and if he can do it, anybody can.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejChapters | 0:00 Intro1:02 Meet William Duran1:46 Growing Up in Kansas City3:38 Addiction & Moving to Florida5:25 Sponsor: Intervention On Call5:59 41 Years & 11 Prison Sentences7:36 Childhood Trauma9:17 Life in the Woods11:20 Survival on the Streets13:50 Rock Bottom: January 202215:15 The SMART Program16:58 Meeting Katie & Foundations to Freedom19:52 The Sponsor & Willingness21:36 Never Relapsed22:50 Graduating & Becoming Staff26:00 Program Director Today31:12 Message to Families32:48 Purpose in Life35:20 Pej’s Reflections & OutroTags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

On this episode of Primary Purpose with Pej, we sit down with Joseph Casaceli, founder of Sober Living Companion, for a raw and unfiltered look at 15 years of addiction and the road out. Joseph grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and started drinking vodka and taking pills from his parents’ cabinets at 15. At 17 he shot heroin for the first time and immediately said, “I’m addicted.” What followed was a decade and a half of rehabs, Teen Challenge, the threat of prison, crack in Colorado, life on the streets of South Central LA, and three months living out of a rented tent on Skid Row.Joseph opens up about the opioid-blocking implant that kept him from getting high, the fentanyl relapse that cost him a marriage and a home, and a meth psychosis so intense he ate his phone battery. He also shares the moment he finally surrendered, asked for help, and found recovery through the 12 steps. Pej and Joseph get into the kratom and 7-OH craze, Suboxone and harm reduction versus abstinence-based recovery, the pain he put his mom through, and his message for any young person who feels hopeless.Today Joseph is the founder of Sober Living Companion, a mobile app supporting residents and operators of sober living homes. It’s used by roughly 8,000 people across hundreds of houses in 15 states. He also facilitates SoberLivingDirectory.com, a nationwide listings resource for recovery housing, and is a founding board member of Empower Next Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. His work centers on one goal: making it easier for people to find and stay connected to the right care.If this story moved you, subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Recovery is possible.Follow Joseph on Instagram: Sober Living Companion:SoberLivingDirectory.comCHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejSasha's Links |Website - https://seizethedayz.com/ & https://numenrecovery.com/Chapters |

0:00 From Heroin Addiction to Helping Thousands

1:03 Meet Joseph Casaceli

1:41 Growing Up in the Detroit Suburbs

2:20 First Drink: Vodka From the Liquor Cabinet

4:41 Dad’s Pills and the Start of Opioid Addiction

6:12 The Scientology Rehab

7:16 Rehab After Rehab in Michigan

7:32 Brighton Hospital and Eminem

8:47 Teen Challenge

9:08 Homeless at 17

9:33 Drinking at Christian College

10:39 Prison or Treatment

11:58 A Year in Long-Term Treatment

13:10 Crack in Colorado

14:21 Moving to South Central LA

15:22 Paranoia and the Milk Jug

16:15 What His Parents Went Through

17:10 Palm Springs Rehab

18:26 The Opioid-Blocking Implant

20:14 Trying to Shoot Heroin on the Implant

21:03 Skid Row

22:05 Renting a Tent on Skid Row

22:50 Getting Out With Medi-Cal

23:44 Married With a House

24:20 Fentanyl Relapse

24:58 Meth Psychosis: Eating a Phone Battery

26:44 “This Isn’t Working”: Asking for Help

28:37 Getting Sober at a Jewish Treatment Center

29:13 Life in Recovery Today

31:03 Kratom and the 7-OH Craze

32:11 Precipitated Withdrawals Explained

33:23 Abstinence vs. Suboxone

35:05 A Message for Anyone Who Feels Hopeless

35:33 What He Put His Mom Through

36:28 Sober Living Companion

39:14 How to Find Joseph

39:58 Pej’s Final ThoughtsTags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

This week on Primary Purpose with Pej, Pej sits down with Sasha who shares his journey through meth addiction, hacking, crime, and prison to recovery and addiction intervention work. Together, they explore family dynamics, why loved ones need to be part of the recovery process, and what it means to rebuild your identity after addiction. This candid conversation connects a remarkable personal story with a shared purpose: helping individuals and families find a path forward. Subscribe for more honest conversations about addiction, recovery, interventions, and finding purpose.If this conversation resonates with you, please like the episode, subscribe to the channel, and share it with someone who may need to hear it. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, consider reaching out to a qualified healthcare professional or a trusted local support service.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejSasha's Links |Website - https://seizethedays.org/Chapters | Tags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

This week on Primary Purpose with Pej, Pej sits down with interventionist and recovery expert Chris Howard for an honest conversation about addiction, mental health, intervention, sober living, and what it takes to create lasting change. Chris shares how childhood instability, foster care, poverty, substance use, incarceration, and opiate addiction shaped his life—and how getting sober led him from working overnight grocery shifts to graduating from UCLA and building Ethos Recovery. Drawing on more than 16 years of frontline experience, Chris explains why trauma is not always the root of addiction, how mental health diagnoses can become part of a person’s identity, when medication-assisted treatment such as Suboxone can save lives, and why short-term addiction treatment often fails to produce long-term lifestyle change. Pej and Chris also discuss accountability, family involvement, therapeutic communities, distress tolerance, intervention strategies, and the balance between compassion and confronting destructive behavior. This episode offers direct, practical insight for individuals in recovery, families affected by addiction, treatment professionals, and anyone trying to help a loved one change.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejChris' Links |Website - https://ethosrecovery.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chrishoward/Chapters | Tags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

This week on Primary Purpose with Pej, Pej sits down with Katherine Russell who shares how a devastating car accident and a prescription for narcotic pain medication led to years of addiction—and how she ultimately transformed her pain into purpose. After losing nearly everything, Katherine began rebuilding her life through recovery, Narcotics Anonymous, step work, and community support. Today, she is the founder and Executive Director of Foundations To Freedom, an organization dedicated to helping people navigate early recovery through sober living, practical resources, and compassionate support from staff with lived experience. Katherine’s inspiring journey is a reminder that prescription drug addiction can affect anyone, healing is possible, and a meaningful life can be rebuilt after addiction. Watch this episode to hear her remarkable addiction recovery story, learn why supportive sober living matters, and discover how Foundations To Freedom is helping people create lasting change. Learn more about Foundations To Freedom, support its mission, and share this conversation with someone who needs hope.If this conversation resonates with you, please like the episode, subscribe to the channel, and share it with someone who may need to hear it. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, consider reaching out to a qualified healthcare professional or a trusted local support service.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejKatherine's Links |Website - https://foundationstofreedom.org/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/foundationstofreedomfl/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ftfdeland/Chapters | Tags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

This week on Primary Purpose with Pej, Pej sits down with Laisha Martinez who shares her journey through substance use, X**ax dependency, and three DUIs and the wake-up calls that ultimately led them toward sobriety and a completely different life.Together, Pej and Laisha Martinez explore what it was like to get sober at such a young age, experience emotions clearly for the first time, and learn how to navigate adulthood without escaping uncomfortable feelings. Laisha also opens up about the legal consequences of their decisions, what rock bottom looked like, the realities of early recovery, and the difficult process of taking accountability without living in shame.This episode is about more than addiction. It is a candid conversation about emotional growth, rebuilding an identity in sobriety, and finding hope and purpose through recovery. Above all, it is a reminder that a person’s lowest moments do not have to define their future.If this conversation resonates with you, please like the episode, subscribe to the channel, and share it with someone who may need to hear it. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, consider reaching out to a qualified healthcare professional or a trusted local support service.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejLaisha's Links |Podcast -  @fthestigma  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nolongerlaisha/ & https://www.instagram.com/fthestigmapod/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/fthestigmapod/Chapters | 00:00 Welcome & Introduction

00:47 Lisha's Story Begins

03:36 Growing Up in North Carolina

06:14 Family Dynamics & Early Trauma

12:20 Middle School Memories

16:40 High School & Insecurities

24:40 First Drink & Substance Use

28:40 First Xanax & Rapid Escalation

33:20 DUIs & Rock Bottom

41:00 Struggling with Addiction

44:00 Third DUI & Final Straw

47:00 Deciding to Go to Rehab

50:00 Life in Treatment & Early Sobriety

56:00 Finding Purpose: Film & Podcasting

01:01:00 Building 'F the Stigma'

01:06:00 Moving to Baltimore & Nonprofit Work

01:12:00 Family Relationships Today

01:15:00 Maintaining Recovery & Sobriety

01:19:00 Message for Young People & Final ThoughtsTags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

This week on Primary Purpose with Pej, Pej sits down with Danny. He shares how growing up in an abusive household led him to use drugs and alcohol to cope with feeling like he never belonged. After eight years sober—but still feeling restless, irritable, and discontent—he relapsed and remained in active addiction for 15 years. Now celebrating 18 years of sobriety, Danny’s powerful recovery story offers hope to anyone struggling to get sober, stay sober, or find lasting freedom from addiction.

CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓

https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedom

To learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:

https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTube

Call Foundations to Freedom for more information:

833-8-Hope4U

Pej's Links |

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/

All Links - https://beacons.ai/pej

Chapters |

00:00 Opening Story and Introduction

01:46 Introducing Danny D's Sobriety Journey

03:34 Who is Danny D? Early Life and Family

07:51 Childhood Abuse and Escaping Through Music

12:06 First Drink and Running Wild

15:21 The Rod Stewart Lie and Hollywood

20:20 Skid Row and Desperation in San Francisco

25:05 Finding AA and the Phone Booth

28:10 Eight Years of Untreated Alcoholism

31:09 Relapse at the Anniversary Meeting

35:44 15 Years of Chaos and Music

38:07 Ron Johnston Never Gave Up

40:32 The Rainy Night in Venice

42:32 The Rodeo Meeting and a Glimmer of Hope

45:04 Earl Becomes Sponsor and Never Gives Up

48:16 Asking Earl Why He Never Let Go

50:10 The Beast and the Turning Point

53:42 The Laughter That Changed Everything

55:40 The Lineage and Service

57:27 Final Thoughts and How to Find Danny

Tags in this video ↓

#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

Jenny Leone lived a picture-perfect life while secretly falling apart behind the scenes. In this raw conversation with Pej, she reveals the hidden addiction, emotional pain and double life that nearly destroyed her—and how recovering out loud changed everything. Jenny opens up about losing old friends after getting sober, discovering that sober dating and recovery can actually be fun, and learning how genuine connection became essential to her healing. She also discusses borderline personality disorder, drug-induced psychosis, dangerous withdrawal and the growing fentanyl crisis.

The conversation also explores the realities of the adult entertainment industry, the loneliness hidden behind a glamorous public image and why Jenny believes isolation can be even more dangerous than substance use.

Today, Jenny is a recovery advocate who uses her experiences to help others escape the same darkness she once lived through. Her story is proof that your past can become your purpose—and that recovery does not have to be quiet.

CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓

https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/

All Links - https://beacons.ai/pej

Jenny's Links |

Facebook - https://www.instagram.com/jennys_sober_lifestyle_

Chapters |

00:00 Finding Purpose in Sobriety

01:04 Sponsor: Intervention on Call

01:37 Guest Introduction: Jenny Leone

03:15 Jenny's Background and Childhood

05:42 Early Drug Use and Rave Scene

07:46 Move to LA and Modeling Career

09:04 Prescription Pills and Denial

11:28 Withdrawal Experience and Continued Use

12:34 Escalation to Dirty Doctors

13:56 Health Decline and Psychosis

16:01 Hiding Addiction from Family

16:58 First Treatment Attempt

18:03 Getting Sober and Doing the Work

20:32 Reflections on Adult Entertainment Work

24:38 Shame, Ownership, and Moving Forward

27:38 Sobriety Fears and Fun in Recovery

29:14 Loneliness and Healthy Distractions

30:48 Bars, Parties, and Friendship Changes

32:21 Sober Dating and Relationships

33:20 Traditional Recovery and MAT

39:59 Sober Influencers and Social Media

43:12 Issues in the Treatment Industry

47:34 Dangers of 7-OH and Nitrous

53:44 The Ethics Page Controversy

01:02:01 New Ventures and How to Connect

01:05:52 Episode Wrap-Up

01:07:20 Closing Remarks and Subscribe

Tags in this video ↓

#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school

This week on Primary Purpose with Pej, Pej sits down with Sam Funger about his years-long battle with heroin addiction, severe mental health struggles, and finding lasting sobriety. Sam opens up about feeling suicidal at just 12 years old, undergoing electroconvulsive therapy, living in his mom’s basement with a needle in his arm, and stealing medication from his dying father after his cancer diagnosis drove Sam deeper into addiction. After years of searching for answers that doctors couldn’t provide, Sam ultimately overcame life’s darkest obstacles and rebuilt his life in recovery. This is an honest conversation about addiction, grief, mental health, resilience, and the difficult road to sobriety.CHECK OUT The Foundations To Freedom Youtube! ↓https://www.youtube.com/@FoundationToFreedomTo learn more about Foundations to Freedom visit this link:https://f2f-pej-help.com/YouTubeCall Foundations to Freedom for more information:833-8-Hope4UPej's Links |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pejinterventions/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PejizCorner/All Links - https://beacons.ai/pejSam Funger's Links |Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sam.funger/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wsamuelfunger/Chapters | Tags in this video ↓#addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #sobrietyjourney #mentalhealth #healing #hope #resilience #personalgrowth #recoverycommunity #inspiration #doctor #education #awareness #addiction #addict #school