What do you do when your own mind tries to convince you that your life doesn’t matter?

Ryan Penley sits down with Joseph M. Lenard, a suicide attempt survivor who overcame addiction to Xanax and battled leukemia — and came back with a message about the value of life.

Joseph opens up about mental health, suicidal ideation, and the moment he realized every life carries meaning. He shares how creativity and writing became part of his healing journey, and how storytelling can become a lifeline for others.

We discuss:

• Addiction recovery and resilience
• Leukemia and facing mortality
• Suicide prevention and choosing life
• The butterfly effect of small positive actions
• Creativity as therapy
• Faith, personal responsibility, and the Christitutionalist philosophy

Joseph says it plainly:

“I am a suicide attempt survivor.”

This episode is a reminder that your life matters — even when your mind tries to convince you otherwise.

If you’ve ever questioned your value, this conversation is for you.

🌐 https://JosephMLenard.us
🔗 https://linktr.ee/jlenarddetroit
𝕏 https://x.com/JLenardMichigan

🌊 https://www.ryanpenley.org

What happens when the addicted brain finally runs out of excuses—and the will to live kicks in?

In this powerful conversation on The Next Fix, Ryan Penley sits down with Laura Straniak, who shares her raw journey from early exposure to addiction, through heroin and fentanyl, to the moment jail became the wake-up call that saved her life. Laura doesn’t sugarcoat the chaos—but she also doesn’t stay there.

She opens up about medication-assisted treatment with Suboxone, the role of community in a small town, and why progress over perfection became the mindset that changed everything. At 20 months sober, Laura reflects on rebuilding trust, finding purpose, and using her story to help others believe they’re stronger than they think.

This is a grounded, honest look at recovery—focused on resilience, momentum, and what happens when someone finally decides: I’m done.

Key themes: recovery, addiction, sobriety, Suboxone, mental health, community support, resilience, transformation

Memorable moments: “I was tired. I was just done.” • “Progress, not perfection.” • “I feel like I’m doing it.”

🔗 Find Ryan & the podcast: https://www.ryanpenley.org

🔗 Connect with Laura on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lstraniak

If you’re navigating recovery—or walking alongside someone who is—this episode is proof that change is possible, even after rock bottom.

Kevin Moran doesn’t soften his story. He names the chaos, the damage, and the near-death moment that forced him to confront who he’d become—and the long, imperfect road back.

Addiction started early, escalated fast, and became tangled with identity, money, and survival. No glamor. No shortcuts. Just truth.

This isn’t a clean redemption arc. It’s a real one.

In conversation with Ryan Penley, Kevin talks candidly about addiction, recovery, mental health, and sobriety—and why isolation is often more dangerous than relapse. He explains how community became essential, not as a fix, but as a lifeline for staying present and accountable.

Kevin also shares how creativity became a way forward. Through projects that honor his late fiancée, he’s transformed grief into connection—using story and expression to support others navigating loss, recovery, and personal growth. His work isn’t about attention. It’s about contribution.

What emerges is a grounded conversation on resilience, compassion over perfection, and choosing engagement—one honest day at a time.

Guest: Kevin Moran
Connect with Kevin on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003464248283

Host: Ryan Penley
Find Ryan at:
https://www.ryanpenley.org

A raw conversation on addiction, recovery, mental health, sobriety, community, resilience, and how shared stories help others heal.

Who would you become if comfort wasn’t the goal? That question sits at the heart of this powerful conversation with Audley Stephenson — host of The Audacious Living Podcast and author of the upcoming book Living Your Best Audacious Life: How Unleashing Your Inner Greatness Can Change the World (releasing spring 2026).

Audley brings a grounded perspective on courage, identity, and intentional living. Growing up around substance abuse without ever using himself, he watched his mother transform her life — reshaping his understanding of resilience, mercy, and choice. What emerged wasn’t bravado but audacity practiced daily.

Ryan and Audley explore storytelling, fatherhood, failure, leadership, and the B.O.L.D. framework — a philosophy built on progress, truth, and disrupting the patterns that keep people stuck.

This isn’t about fixing your past.
It’s about refusing to stay where you are.

👉 Connect with Audley:
• Website: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/ — home of The Audacious Living Podcast + resources
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaudman/ — audacity, storytelling & insights from Audley

🎙️ “You can’t stay there.”

This is not an interview—it’s a reckoning.
Ryan Penley sits down with his father, Wade Penley, for a raw, unfiltered conversation about addiction, responsibility, forgiveness, and the long road back to each other.

Wade shares his journey through decades of substance abuse, false starts in recovery, and the moment he realized he couldn’t build a new life while clinging to old patterns. Together, father and son confront the generational impact of addiction—and what it actually takes to break the cycle.

• 🔥 Rock-bottom honesty and the cost of avoidance
• 🔄 Breaking generational cycles instead of repeating them
• 🧠 Self-inventory, ownership, and radical responsibility
• 🤝 Forgiveness without minimizing the past
• 🌱 Turning pain into purpose through recovery and service
• ✝️ The role of faith, timing, and humility in real change

This episode is for anyone in recovery, anyone carrying family wounds, or anyone quietly wondering if healing is still possible.

It is.

Check out my pops on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/wade.penley

Addiction doesn’t always look reckless. Sometimes it looks rational.
Fast relief. Low cost. Immediate results.

What rarely gets talked about is what happens over time — the dependence, the identity loss, and the long road back to clarity.

In this republished conversation, I sit down with D.E. Foster of Uneven Life to unpack the realities most people never hear about. We get honest about benzo dependence and withdrawal, why intelligent people fall into addiction, and why denial can quietly steal years — even decades — from someone’s life.

This episode isn’t about fear-mongering or labels. It’s about truth, awareness, and what it actually takes to rebuild when the thing that once “worked” starts taking everything.

We cover:

• Why addiction often makes sense at first — especially for smart people
• The overlooked reality of benzo dependence and withdrawal
• Whether benzo withdrawal is worse than opiates
• How addiction slowly erodes identity
• Why honesty is the real turning point toward freedom

If you or someone you love is navigating anxiety meds, dependence, or the aftermath of withdrawal, this conversation offers clarity, validation, and hope.

Learn more about D.E. Foster’s work here:
👉 https://www.unevenlife.com

From white-knuckling life to walking with purpose, from silent struggle to true masculine leadership—this conversation is about calling men forward 🧭🔥

On The Next Fix, I sit down with Mike Van Pelt to unpack a real comeback story—one many men are living quietly.

Mike opens up about losing his sense of purpose as a stay-at-home dad, and how effort, discipline, and “doing the right things” weren’t enough. The real shift came through intimacy with God, brotherhood with other men, and the humility to ask for help.

This episode dives into:
• why willpower alone keeps men stuck
• how buried childhood wounds resurface later in life
• the role of faith in reclaiming identity
• the power of male community and mentorship
• family dynamics and the weight of leadership
• breaking cycles and building a legacy
• the True Man philosophy for modern masculinity

If you’ve been grinding but not growing…
If you feel called to lead but don’t know where to start…
If you’re ready to stop surviving and start becoming—

🎧 This conversation will meet you where you are.

Learn more about Mike and his work:
https://www.truemanlifecoaching.com/

Explore more episodes, coaching, and resources:
https://www.ryanpenley.org/

You are the leader of your family.
You can break the cycle.
Your comeback starts now.

Most people think surrender means losing.

Doug Fleener explains why surrender is actually the moment everything starts.

Doug Fleener went from addiction and bankrupting his family business… to rebuilding his life and leading at the highest levels of business. The turning point wasn’t willpower. It wasn’t control.

It was surrender.

This conversation digs into the moment denial breaks, why ownership is non-negotiable in recovery, and how one simple question — “What if?” — can turn fear into forward motion.

What if you stop fighting reality?
What if you ask better questions?
What if this moment isn’t the end — but the beginning?

Doug also shares the heart behind his upcoming book, Start With What If, and how small reframes can create immediate momentum in sobriety, life, and leadership.

If you want a daily reminder to ask better questions, Doug sends out his Daily and Weekly What If prompts here:
👉 https://www.dougfleener.com/newsletters

For everything Doug Fleener

👉 https://www.dougfleener.com

For everything from your hose:

👉 https://www.ryanpenley.org