What happens when a child who was never heard grows up to become impossible to ignore? Meg Booth shares the painful roots of her advocacy, from a childhood shaped by divorce, coercive religion, and being silenced, to the moment she turned that pain into action for her daughter and her community. Kristina Richie talks with longtime friend Meg Booth about the control, confusion, and emotional survival tactics that defined her early years in Texas. Meg opens up about growing up in a high-control religious environment, navigating a family breakup, and learning how to mask, question, and protect the people she loved long before she had the language to name any of it.You'll discover how those experiences shaped the way Meg parents, communicates, and fights for change today. She shares the story of her daughter Brylee, whose autism, bullying, and school neglect pushed Meg to learn special education law, document everything, and take a fight all the way to the Texas Education Agency, the Office for Civil Rights, and the state Capitol.We break down the real-world advocacy behind Brylee's Law, Meg's push to bring the Blue Envelope Program to Kerrville, and how she translated one terrifying experience into a practical tool that could help autistic and disabled drivers across Texas. Along the way, she explains why she believes anger can be fuel, why precision matters when you're misunderstood, and why advocacy is often less about yelling and more about strategy, documentation, and persistence.This conversation is for parents, advocates, educators, and anyone who has ever felt dismissed, mislabeled, or left to figure it out alone. If you need a reminder that your voice can become someone else's protection, this episode will stay with you long after it ends.

Meg Booth is a Texas-based disability advocate known for fighting school systems, pushing for legislative change, and helping families navigate special education rights. She is the creator behind the Blue Envelope Program effort in Kerrville and the driving force behind Brylee's Law. Kristina Richie is the host of That Adds Up, guiding a deeply personal conversation that connects trauma, parenting, and advocacy into one powerful story.Perfect for anyone who cares about autism advocacy, disability rights, special education, and the power of refusing to stay quiet.

The advice you give yourself can become the loudest bully in the room - until you learn how to shut it down. Kristina Richie sits down with James Ruby for a raw conversation about shame, autonomy, addiction, and the invisible wounds that shape who we become.James opens up about growing up in a high-pressure, image-conscious home, being bullied for his weight, and learning to survive by performing, pleasing, and always staying one step ahead of the next hit of criticism. From childhood hypervigilance to suicide attempts, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, and a life-altering ICU stay for sepsis and pancreatitis, this episode traces the patterns underneath the chaos - and the moment he finally started fighting back against the voice in his head.You'll discover:

• Why chronic misunderstanding can make you mistrust your own motives

• How shame gets wired into the body through family, school, and religion

• The dangerous link between performance pressure and self-destruction

• Why James says permission, not pressure, can save a life

• How the "Julia Effect" uses pattern recognition to help people feel deeply seen

Kristina shares her own parallel story as an adoptee, overachiever, and former "fat kid," creating a conversation that feels less like an interview and more like two people finally naming the same wounds out loud. Together, they unpack the cost of being the responsible one, the strong one, the one who never gets to stop - and why rest can feel terrifying when you've been taught your worth is something you have to earn.This one is for anyone who has ever felt trapped in their body, their family system, their habits, or their own head. If you've ever been told you're too much, not enough, or just plain wrong, this conversation will hit hard - and stay with you.

Guest credibility: James Ruby is a deeply reflective storyteller and recovery-minded self-observer known for turning lived experience into insight, including his powerful "Julia Effect" framework for pattern recognition and emotional validation. Kristina Richie brings her own lived experience and a sharp, compassionate interviewing style that makes the truth land.

Fear shaped Billy LeBlanc before he could even name it - and that fear followed him into addiction, prison, and a life sentence. In this brutally honest conversation, he traces the moments that made him who he is: the first memory of watching his dad push his mom to the ground, the shame of being called a coward, and the long road from a scared little boy to a man trying to finally feel safe in his own skin.Billy opens up about the childhood chaos that sent him bouncing from Mississippi to Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, Florida, and Texas, the behavior issues that kept getting him in trouble, and how weed at 13 turned into LSD, PCP, cocaine, crack, and meth. He also talks through the exact chain of events that led to an arson conviction, a parole cycle, and the life sentence that made him believe he would die behind bars.You’ll hear Billy explain:

 Why he says fear is his first memory

 How his father’s anger shaped his self-worth and relationships

 Why he believes shame, not just guilt, has driven so many of his choices

 What addiction actually feels like from the inside - and why meth still has such a grip on his brain

 How prison, relapse, and recovery forced him to confront the story he has told himself for decades

This episode also goes deeper than the crimes and the drugs. Billy reflects on the love he did and didn’t feel from his parents, the regret he carries about not having children, the baseball dream that still stings, and the rare people who have helped him see himself differently - including his friend Chris, whose recovery journey he deeply admires, and his family, who have shown him more love than he has often allowed himself to believe.If you’ve ever wondered how childhood fear becomes adult self-sabotage, or what it takes to stop living inside old shame, this conversation is a must-listen. Raw, reflective, and unexpectedly hopeful, Billy’s story is about more than survival - it’s about the possibility of becoming someone new.

A tattoo artist who shot a man, survived a childhood of abuse, and built a life around helping others - LJay’s story is as chaotic as it is unforgettable. If you’ve ever wondered how someone goes from poverty, violence, and betrayal to fatherhood, business ownership, and a serious mission to give back, this conversation hits hard.Kristina Richie sits down with LJay, the Fresno tattooer behind some of Kristina and her sister’s ink, for a brutally honest, deeply human look at the life that shaped him. From growing up bounced between Stockton and Fresno, to living in an RV in a driveway, to navigating addiction in the family, gang violence at school, and a home life defined by instability, LJay opens up about the kind of childhood that teaches you to stay ready at all times.You'll hear how he started tattooing at 14, why he never developed a drug addiction despite being surrounded by it, and how a chance encounter with a tattooed woman in high heels and Daisy Dukes pulled him into the world of tattooing and piercing. Kristina and LJay also get into the wild rise of his career, the years he was making serious money, the notorious “panty checks” at his house, and the messy relationships, marriages, and betrayals that came with that life.But this episode is not just about survival or wild stories. It’s about what happens when a man who had to fight for everything starts thinking about legacy. LJay talks candidly about his desire to build a community center, support kids who were never shown the basics, and create something that helps the next generation avoid the same pain. He also opens up about the emotional cost of being the one everyone leans on, the heartbreak of fractured family relationships, and why helping other people is the only thing that reliably gets him choked up.

Perfect for listeners who love raw, unfiltered interviews, tattoos, redemption stories, and conversations about trauma, loyalty, masculinity, and what it really means to build a better life after a brutal beginning.

Guest Credibility:
LJay is a tattoo artist and piercer based in Texas, known for turning a rough, chaotic upbringing into a long career in body art and an ambitious vision for community outreach and education.