What if the approval you’ve spent your life chasing is actually keeping you from becoming who you were created to be?

In this episode of Genuine Life, I sit down with former professional baseball player, coach, author, and performance expert Ricky Scruggs for a deep conversation about identity, perfectionism, people-pleasing, competition, faith, and what Ricky calls “approval addiction.”

Ricky shares how his own drive to achieve began on the baseball field and followed him long after his playing career ended. As he puts it, “Pride was my dealer and approval was my drug of choice.”

We talk about why achievement can never permanently answer the question “Am I enough?”, why we shrink ourselves to keep other people comfortable, and how discovering who you really are can free you from constantly measuring your worth by someone else’s opinion. Ricky also shares how faith, truth, love, and surrender changed the way he approaches performance, relationships, and success.

Ricky is the author of The Champion Within: Overcome Approval Addiction and Compete With Greatness, a book using the framework of baseball to explore identity, purpose, faith, and freedom from approval.

Learn more about Ricky and his work at RickyScruggs.com

Who Are You When Everything Falls Apart with Samantha Norman (Ep. 196)

What happens when the life you built, the success you achieved, and the identity you worked so hard to create suddenly begin to fall apart?

In this episode of Genuine Life, Samantha Norman, creator of the Who Before What framework, joins us for a conversation about identity, authenticity, faith, leadership, loss, and the courage to stop performing.

Samantha shares how she built a successful coaching career around a version of herself that wasn’t truly her—and the devastating series of losses that eventually forced her to confront a much deeper question: Who am I when the things that defined me are gone?

We talk about people-pleasing, imposter syndrome, control, addiction, surrender, emotional health, authentic leadership, and why success can still leave you empty when it is built on a false identity.

Samantha also shares how losing her mother, marriage, home, and dream job ultimately led her back to God—and how sitting in the silence helped her rediscover her voice, her gifts, and her purpose.

If you’re walking through a transition, questioning who you are, or watching an old version of your life fall away, this conversation is a reminder: don’t be afraid of the messy part. It may be where your real life begins.

How Many Versions of Yourself Have You Created? Austin's Journey from Addiction to Identity (Ep. 195)

What if addiction isn't just about drugs or alcohol? What if it's really a search for peace... acceptance... and the feeling that we're finally enough?

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Austin Rampt, author of One Last Hit, to explore the deeper issues beneath addiction, shame, people-pleasing, and the lifelong search for identity. We discuss how childhood wounds, false beliefs, and the need for approval can shape our lives long before unhealthy behaviors ever appear.

Austin shares his remarkable journey from addiction, relapse, and unimaginable loss to discovering that true healing isn't found in success, sobriety, or striving—it's found in honesty, vulnerability, authentic connection, and learning to embrace who God created us to be.

Whether you've struggled with addiction, anxiety, perfectionism, unhealthy relationships, or the feeling that you're never enough, this conversation offers hope for anyone longing to break free from old patterns and experience lasting transformation.

You'll discover why vulnerability is a strength, why connection is essential to healing, and why your past doesn't have to define your future. Most importantly, you'll be reminded that your greatest wounds can become the very place where God begins writing a new story of hope, purpose, and redemption.