This episode is different. There’s no guest and no interview, just the story behind why Got a Light? exists.

Addiction has shaped my life since childhood. I lost my father to suicide when I was 12 after his struggle with a methamphetamine addiction. In the years that followed, I watched my mom struggle with alcohol, drugs, depression, overdoses, suicide attempts, DUIs and treatment.

For a long time, addiction represented nothing but darkness to me: loss, fear, anger, shame, helplessness and isolation. I wanted to escape my past and the community where so much of it happened.

But over time, my perspective changed.

Through hearing stories of recovery, witnessing people rebuild their lives and seeing the power of connection, I began to understand that addiction does not have to be the end of someone's story.

That realization became the foundation of Got a Light?

This podcast exists to give people a place to honestly share their experiences with addiction, recovery, loss and redemption and to use those stories to reach people who may still be struggling in silence.

My mission is simple: bring connection and light into a place that can feel incredibly dark.

I want the person struggling with addiction to know they aren't alone. I want families and loved ones to hear perspectives that help them better understand addiction and recovery. I want children growing up around addiction to hear that someone understands what they're experiencing. I want people in recovery to have a platform to show what life on the other side can look like.

I can't change what happened to my family or rewrite my childhood. But I can choose what I do with it.

The darkness of addiction shaped me. Now I want to use it to help carry a light for someone else.

That's why I started Got a Light?

Because your story could be someone else's light.