Hailing from the Bahamas, Keith Smith likes to think of himself as a citizen of the world. His smile, charisma, and energy are contagious. But as a child, Keith experienced a point in time where he lost his smile. 

From the age of 8 to 12, Keith was molested by his cousin. Eventually, he turned to alcohol as a way to numb his feelings. One day, after experiencing an anxiety attack while walking through a grocery store, Keith realized he needed to get help. He enrolled in a treatment program and embarked on a journey of learning to love himself - a journey that helped him find his smile again. 

Keith now serves as a CommUnity Facilitator for Lionrock Recovery and is proud to host the LGBTQIA CommUnity Meeting on Lionrock.life. Keith believes that obstacles are only an opportunity to move towards greatness!

Episode Resources

• Lionrock.life Shop |  lionrock.life/shop-products

Connect with Keith

• Join Keith's LGBTQIA+ CommUnity Meeting | lionrock.life/community

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Lucas is an advertising Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup in New York City. Throughout his career he’s worked on brands such as The New York Lottery, Hornitos Tequila, TGIFriday’s, Vibram FiveFingers, Mike and Ike candies, Honda, and Mastercard. His work has earned Clio Awards, Gold Lion Awards, One Show Pencils, and was even nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy.

Through his instagram account (@CoolTransLuke), Lucas is a transgender activist and has been featured by companies such as Alan Cummings’ brand "RockSoup," MarcoMarco Underwear, LogoTV, Tinder, OUT Magazine, BravoTV’s “Get A Room," Tom Hardy, and MTV’s “One Style Fits All."

While not grinding in his day-to-day, Lucas enjoys spending time strolling Brooklyn with his two Boxer dogs and staying fit by hitting the gym. 

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• Lucas' Instagram | @cooltransluke

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• Lionrock.life provides a variety of aa meetings and aa alternative meetings via Zoom. View Lionrock’s comprehensive meeting schedule here.

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Kristin Casey is a writer and recovered alcoholic and addict. Her memoir Rock Monster, My Life with Joe Walsh documents their tumultuous six-year relationship and drug-fueled, train wreck breakup. She’s survived numerous addictions, clinical depression, a suicide attempt, the panhandle of Texas, and seventeen years of Catholicism.

Her writing has appeared in The Fix, Please Kill Me, The Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, The Nervous Breakdown, $pread, and elsewhere. She writes about addiction, dependency, sexuality, and relationships. She resides in Austin, Texas, and is a certified sexuality counselor, intimacy coach, and IPSA trained Surrogate Partner.

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• Lionrock.life offers free meetings for everyone, whether you're newly sober,  you have many years in recovery, or you’re in recovery from something other than drugs or alcohol. View Lionrock’s comprehensive meeting schedule here.

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Andre Roberts is a personal trainer and tennis instructor who resides in Beverly Hills, CA. He originally shared his story in Season 2 as a bonus episode where he discussed having a segregated childhood and being a black man in today’s America. If you haven’t already listened to his story, make sure you check it out.

Today, we invited Andre back for a special ‘Where Are They Now’ episode to hear how things have changed for him in the last year. Much of our conversation focuses on racial equality and racial justice in light of the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd. Throughout the discussion, Andre shares his personal experience, the types of conversations he has been having surrounding race, and what sobriety is like for him today. 

Episode Resources

• Lionrock.life Shop |  lionrock.life/shop-products

Connect with Andre Roberts

• Andre's Instagram | @blackinroe

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• Lionrock.life provides a variety of aa meetings and aa alternative meetings via Zoom. View Lionrock’s comprehensive meeting schedule here.

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Raised in Melbourne Australia, Stuart O’Neill’s mostly self-employed life has provided its fair share of highs and lows. Stuart’s life story easily resonates with others. In the 1980’s Stuart became an Australian Surf Lifesaver. Saving lives is a passion that he still fulfills to this day. His desire to save lives now includes his book Just One Reason. 

The Just One Reason suicide prevention toolkit is the product of Stuart’s out of the box thinking and willingness to help others. Stuart takes pride in putting others first and bares his soul publicly about his personal battle with suicidal thoughts and depression. Throughout the book, Stuart reveals his own strategy for beating your inner demons and offers a powerful and very easy solution to a world problem that is getting worse, not better.

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Join Ashley (ALB), Christiana (CK), and Ashley Jo (AJB) as they review clips from the stories of Mike Govoni, Craig Pothier, Adam Fout, and Charles M Henderson Jr. Throughout their review, they cover everything from childhood trauma to how to live authentically in recovery. 

In Episode 94, Mike Govoni discusses what it was like being taken from his mother at a young age. The topic of not having attunement from a parent is one  that sparks a lot of emotion in CK. Throughout this episode, she'll share her thoughts. 

Craig Pothier, from Episode 95, displays a classic case of alcoholism. In this After the Episode, ALB, CK, and AJB discuss the rules active addicts and alcoholics often create for themselves. They also dive into why hearing a story like Craig's gives hope to those who are struggling. 

Author Adam Fout covers the topic of mental health and substance use disorder in Episode 97. In this After the Episode, ALB touches on why mental health and substance use disorder so often go hand in hand. 

Last but not least, Charles M Henderson Jr's story is truly one that takes us from heroin to Harvard - a journey in which he struggled with being fully honest about his recovery.  Hear ALB share why hearing that a former heroin addict could make it to an ivy league college was different than seeing her friends and family attend elite universities.  ALB also provides some helpful tips about living authentically in recovery. 

As you can see, there's lots to cover. Let's do this! 

Episodes Reviewed

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Growing up in Tuckahoe, New York, Charles M. Henderson Jr. went from being a teenage heroin addict and high school dropout, to becoming a Harvard graduate with an MBA in general management. His life experience inspired him to work as a change agent serving as the Executive Director, Co-Founder, Educator, and Executive Coach for Heroin to Harvard, an organization that transforms managers into leaders through active training and executive coaching. His work is anchored in research on emotional intelligence, social intelligence, rational intelligence, and behavioral economics.

Charles’ professional experience includes work with leaders at Citibank, Standard Bank, The World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Nike in the US, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Charles currently resides in South Africa and spends his time between Johannesburg and New York. Prior to his time in South Africa Charles worked as a risk analyst with JPMorgan Chase on Wall Street.

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Adam Fout was born to two attorneys in San Diego, CA. Although he didn’t know it at the time, Adam struggled with OCD, depression, anxiety, and binge eating from a young age. He began a ‘legal career of his own’ after a run-in with the Kansas City Bureau of Investigation while in college. Following this experience, Adam’s mental health spiraled out of control. He attempted suicide, spent time in multiple psych wards, and went to rehab. Like many with substance use disorder, Adam struggled with accepting that his substance use was a problem.

Today, by working the programs of Cocaine Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, and Alcoholics Anonymous Adam enjoys a life of long-term recovery. He travels with his wife McKayla, who is a travel nurse. Adam is a speculative fiction and nonfiction author as well as an addiction, recovery, and mental health blogger. Adam is currently querying his memoir, which includes several nonfiction chapters listed on his website adamfout.com.

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We’re excited to introduce our new series, Ask the Expert, where your host, Ashley Loeb Blassingame, exchanges views with and picks the brains of industry leading experts. 

Our first episode of the series features Dr. Adi Jaffe.

Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. is a #1 best-selling author and a nationally recognized expert on mental health, addiction, relationships and shame. He lectured in the UCLA Psychology department for the better part of a decade and was the Executive-Director and Co-Founder of one of the most progressive mental health treatment facilities in the country - until he started IGNTD.

Dr. Jaffe, through IGNTD, is changing the way people think about, and deal with mental health issues. His passion in the role of shame destroying lives is the philosophy behind IGNTD Recovery and its aim to greatly reduce the stigma of addiction and mental health. 

Dr. Jaffe attended UCLA, graduating with a B.A. in psychology. It was during his undergraduate career that Adi began struggling with drug issues himself, eventually leading to a 4 year hiatus from studies and into the Los Angeles drug-dealing world where he became quite successful. During that period of his life, Adi's days looked more like a re-enactment of a beatnik novel or a Quentin Tarantino film than the life of an upper-middle class suburban kid. Following a SWAT team arrest in his apartment, and extended court case and a year-long jail sentence, Adi began rebuilding his life. This eventually led to his attainment of a Ph.D. from UCLA's top-rated doctoral program in psychology, where he graduated with honors. Even before he graduated Dr. Jaffe’s name had become known through his online and academic writing. His views on addiction and his research on the topic have been published in dozens of journals and online publications and he has appeared on numerous television shows and documentaries discussing current topics in addiction and the problem of addiction as a whole.

Dr. Jaffe now writes a blog on Psychology Today, and several other online and print sources. His goal is to bring the latest knowledge about addiction to the people who could benefit from it most – those who are suffering because of it. His writing combines personal experience with a decade’s worth of fine-detail research regarding the mechanisms involved in the addictive process. Dr. Jaffe has been featured in CNN, The Huffington Post, Bustle, Los Angeles Times, KTLA.

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• Lionrock.life provides a variety of aa meetings and aa alternative meetings via Zoom. View Lionrock’s comprehensive meeting schedule here.

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Raised in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada, Craig Pothier loved playing sports. Excelling at hockey and baseball gave him the confidence he needed to fit in as a child. When he transitioned from elementary school to high school, he realized that people cared more about partying than sports. He quickly discovered that alcohol gave him the self-esteem boost he needed.

At the age of 27, after moving from Canada to New York City, a town of millions, he found himself frequenting bars to make friends. When he was on the cusp of losing his job and his sanity, at the age of 36, he finally checked into a rehab facility and began a recovery journey that took time, perseverance, and courage. Craig now resides in Austin, TX and has dedicated his life to helping others as a Sober Life Coach at Mind Uncaged where he helps people clear a path to an alcohol free life without limits.

Episode Resources

• Lionrock's CommUnity Meetings | lionrock.life/meetings

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