Today I sit down with Adam Vibe Gunton - bestselling author, founder of the nonprofit Recovered on Purpose, and owner of a 68-bed treatment center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Adam went from being given cocaine at age 12 and starring as the defensive captain of Columbine High School's state championship football team, to a homeless heroin addict who overdosed in 2015 - and has the police body cam footage to prove it. He's the only person I know of who showed their own dead body during a TED Talk.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why a decade of 12-step meetings still left Adam unable to stay sober, and what the critical missing piece was
• The "wrong" sponsor who turned out to be exactly right - and why everything you've been told about finding a sponsor might be backwards
• The spiritual experience at an IHOP that marked the last day Adam ever used
• Why people like Adam literally die without the 12 steps being done quickly and rigorously
• How November 6th keeps showing up as the most important date of his life
• How his nonprofit is making sure nobody has to spend Christmas on a trap house floor calling treatment centers who won't pick up

Hi friend, welcome to the podcast, my name is Arlina, I've been sober for 32 years, and it's my life's mission to carry a message of hope for recovery.

Here's a question we all need to consider, No matter where you are in your recovery journey: What if the survival skills that you develop in childhood - the performing, the achieving, and the self-abandonment for the sake of appeasing others- are the exact habits quietly keeping you feeling stuck in adulthood? This actually happens to everybody in one form or another, and we're going to talk about how to break some of those patterns.

Today I sit down with Katie Hingle, founder and CEO of Lavish, and a woman in long term recovery to talk about how she is working through her own survival patterns.

I've known Katie for decades, and always admired her, not just because she's so accomplished as an executive at Adobe, and now the CEO at her own company, but because she is a woman of faith, service and integrity. Katie is one of those shining examples of someone who has done real work - not just recovery from alcohol, but the untreated perfectionism, people-pleasing, and codependence underneath it.

But before we jump in, I just want to share with you that because June marks 10 years of the One Day at a Time podcast, I am going to be doing something a little different In the upcoming weeks. I am going to do a series of episodes focused on early recovery. This will be for those who are simply wanting to take a break from alcohol, those who are sober curious and don't want to go to AA, or those coming back after a period of drinking. I want you to know that no matter where you are in your journey, I am here to support you with a safe space for coming to your own conclusions.

In today's episode, you'll learn:

• How to recognize when your survival mechanisms have become your biggest liability

• Why resentment is the root of the devolving process in recovery and relationships

• The concept of collateral growth - and why doing your own work changes everyone around you

And

• How recovery principles translate directly into building a business and showing up in relationships

So without further delay, please enjoy this episode with Katie.

Guest Website: lavishexperienceco.com

👊🏼Need help applying this information to your own life?

Here are 3 ways to get started:

🎁Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days - With a printable PDF checklist

Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com

☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick

https://www.makesobrietystick.com

Subscribe So You Don't Miss New Episodes!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, or you can stream it from my website HERE.

You can also watch the interview on YouTube:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast/id1212504521

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I23r7DBTpT8XwUUwHRNpB

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a8eb438c-5af1-493b-99c1-f218e5553aff/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast

What happens when the thing that was supposed to save you - the mission, the badge, the identity - becomes the very thing addiction destroys? And what do you do when you are a trained Navy SEAL, built to be a hero, and you cannot even save your own son from a pandemic scare because you are too deep in a three-day meth binge to pick up the phone?

Today I sit down with Dr. Tony Dice - Navy SEAL, PhD, and author of After the Trident: A Navy SEAL's Battle with Secrets, Shame, and Addiction. Dr. Dice spent years serving alongside legends like Jocko Willink, then gave up his SEAL career to protect his drug use - until a moment of devastating clarity brought him to his knees and into treatment.

In this episode you will learn:

• How growing up in extreme isolation with an alcoholic father shaped his addiction before it even started
• Why high performers are especially vulnerable to addiction - and how the same obsessive drive that builds careers can quietly destroy everything they love
• How Tony sold his car to fund his own rehab stay, and what that moment of willingness meant for his recovery
• The holistic change model Dr. Dice discovered in 12-step recovery - and why it maps directly onto proven therapeutic frameworks
• Why gratitude is not just a feeling - it is an action word, and why Tony has it tattooed on his leg next to a handcuff key

So without further delay, please enjoy this episode, and let me know what you think!

Today's guest has been sober for 17 years. But her sobriety didn't start with a surrender. It started with a dare.

Kat Courtney is a shamanic practitioner with over 20 years of experience working with ayahuasca and ibogaine, a lineage-trained facilitator who completed an 8.5-year apprenticeship, and the co-founder of Base, an ibogaine treatment center in Mexico.

Before we jump in, I wanted to announce that the podcast is coming up on the 10-year anniversary! I'm so grateful to all of you who continue to download the podcast and to all of our guests For so graciously sharing their knowledge.

If I may be so bold to ask, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Having a lot of positive rankings is how we get the message out to those in need. I realize it's kind of a pain in the ass, so if you actually take a few minutes to Leave a review, Just know you're my new favorite, and I love you.

As a Disclaimer for this episode: this is for educational purposes only. I'm not a doctor. I don't play one on the internet. This is not to encourage you to try plant medicine, but to present additional resources if you're thinking about it. I am not an expert in this area, so I will be largely deferring to Kat for her expertise.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why integration after plant medicine is more important than the medicine itself - and what happens when people skip it

• How ibogaine eliminates post-acute withdrawal symptoms for up to three months, giving people a genuine window to heal

• Why different plant medicines work for different addictions - and which ones are actually dangerous in combination

• What 10 years of shamanic training looks like, and why it matters who is holding space for you

• Kat's daily self-care rituals, and how she bookends each day with intention

So without further delay, please enjoy this episode with Kat!

SHOW NOTES:

Guest Website: https://plantmedicinepeople.com

👊🏼Need help applying this information to your own life?

Here are 3 ways to get started:

🎁Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days - With a printable PDF checklist

Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com

☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick

https://www.makesobrietystick.com

Subscribe So You Don't Miss New Episodes!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, or you can stream it from my website HERE.

You can also watch the interview on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@theonedayatatimepodcast?sub_confirmation=1

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast/id1212504521

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4I23r7DBTpT8XwUUwHRNpB

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a8eb438c-5af1-493b-99c1-f218e5553aff/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast

In this episode of the One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast, Arlina sits down with Joe Gallagher - entrepreneur, author, and two-year sober miracle. Joe shares his journey from childhood trauma and 20 years of failed recovery attempts to launching a spaghetti sauce company 60 days sober and landing interest from 1,100 grocery stores.

You'll hear how Joe finally surrendered after his fifth arrest and seventh suicide attempt, what made this recovery stick when the previous two decades didn't, and how service, community, and massive action became the foundation of both his sobriety and his business. His book "From Bars to Jars: A Saucy Redemption Story" is available now, and his honesty about childhood abuse, self-forgiveness, and faith makes this one of the most courageous conversations on the show.

Guest Website: https://apastioli.com https://apastioli.com

👊🏼Need help applying this information to your own life?

Here are 3 ways to get started:

🎁Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days - With a printable PDF checklist

Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com

☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick

https://www.makesobrietystick.com

Subscribe So You Don't Miss New Episodes!

• 0:00 - Intro and lightning round: books that helped in early sobriety
• 1:00 - Manifestation, Napoleon Hill, and how Joe used visualization to get into Piggly Wiggly
• 2:30 - Five daily practices that keep Joe grounded in sobriety
• 3:30 - Two years sober - and why year two was harder than year one
• 5:00 - Childhood: dirt poor, father's addiction, family dynamics
• 7:30 - Moving to Charleston, 10 years away from family, survival mode
• 8:30 - First drink at 13 at a cousin's wedding
• 10:30 - The roots of addiction: childhood sexual abuse, bullying, and violence at home
• 12:00 - Why men don't talk about sexual trauma - and why Joe does
• 13:30 - Forgiveness: forgiving others vs. forgiving yourself
• 15:00 - "From Bars to Jars" - the book origin story
• 16:00 - The last relapse: two years, physical deterioration, rock bottom
• 17:00 - First walk into AA in 2010 after 7th suicide attempt
• 18:00 - Resistance to God after childhood trauma in a church
• 19:30 - The final surrender: 5th arrest and dropping to his knees in a jail cell
• 21:00 - Going all in: 170 meetings in 90 days, all 12 steps in 90 days
• 22:00 - The three legacies and why service was the missing piece
• 24:00 - Forced entrepreneurship: couldn't get a job, made spaghetti sauce instead
• 25:30 - From a closet-sized kitchen to 1,100 stores waiting: the growth story
• 28:00 - Finding investors and a co-packer for 100,000 units
• 29:30 - Morning routine as an anchor for business and sobriety
• 31:00 - How he found Sober Founders and Andrew Lassise: a divine intervention

This is the second episode in the step work series with Sonia Kahlon. Co host of the sisters in sobriety podcast and a woman in long term recovery. And I'm tellin you, she is coming in HOT about Step 2!

Before we dive in, a quick announcement. The show notes of every episode contain a summary, all the action steps and all the books mentioned in the episode. There is also a resources tab you'll want to check out with a bunch of free guides like how to have sober fun, 30 tips for your first 30 days, as well as links to the YouTube channel. You can find all of these free resources to enrich your recovery, at odaatchat.com.

So, after this week's recording, it got me wondering. What if the thing standing between you and the steps is the feeling that the language just doesn't apply to you? That the Big Book is too old, too religious, or too far removed from what we actually know about trauma, neuroscience, and mental health?

This conversation with Sonia, who has never worked the steps, is a real, unfiltered walk through Step 2 of the 12 steps: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Although Sonia came in "not loving step 2" as she puts it, What unfolded might surprise you!

We talk about:

• Why the word "sanity" in Step 2 might just be a semantic issue - and what it actually means

• How to build a concept of a higher power that's personal, flexible, and makes sense to you

• We share stories of "God shots" and synchronicity that feel like "spiritual experiences"

• How the pause between your impulse and your reaction is where your higher power can work, and how to access it.

So without further delay, please enjoy this episode with Sonia, and if you do, share it with a friend struggling with the steps

Today I sit down with Peter Bailey, author of Be Epic: Reframe Your Past to Navigate Your Future, president of the Prouty Project, and a man with 43 years of sobriety. Peter started drinking at 13, got sober at 22 on Block Island, Rhode Island, and has spent decades since helping people in recovery and corporate leadership see their stories through a completely different lens — one rooted in Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey model.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How reframing your past can turn shame into your greatest superpower
• What the Hero's Journey model is and how it maps directly onto recovery
• Why comparison is a "disease" that disconnects us from ourselves and others
• How to use "defense mechanisms that don't work anymore" as your 4th step inventory
• The power of celebrating recovery milestones and daily wins
• Peter's daily armor-up practice: the sobriety coin, sunrise ritual, and 10th step
• Why willingness to be willing is itself a revolutionary act
• How the Prouty Project uses leadership development to build resilience in recovery

Action Items:

• Write down one story from your past you've been carrying as shame. Ask: what strength did surviving that require?
• Map your current challenge onto the Hero's Journey. Where are you on the road?
• Practice disclosing one unexpressed expectation in a key relationship this week.
• Add one small "armoring up" ritual to your morning.

Resources Mentioned:

• Be Epic: Reframe Your Past to Navigate Your Future by Peter Bailey
• The Hero's Journey -The Joseph Campbell Collection
• The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
• The Prouty Project: https://peterbailey.com

👊🏼Need help applying this information to your own life?

Here are 3 ways to get started:

🎁Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days - With a printable PDF checklist

Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com

☎️Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick

https://www.makesobrietystick.com

What do you do when you've had a $28 million business exit — and then watch nearly all of it disappear?

If you're Diane Prince, you eventually find Al-Anon, do the work, and rebuild a life and business that's more fulfilling than anything you had before.

In this episode, Arlina sits down with Diane — entrepreneur, business strategist, and Al-Anon member of 17 years — for one of the most honest conversations about recovery, money, and entrepreneurship we've had on this show.

The Exploding Doormat

Diane didn't grow up with alcohol in her home. But she grew up with rage — a mother who saved her pleasant face for the outside world and unleashed her anger at home. That environment created what Diane calls the "exploding doormat" cycle: swallowing feelings, avoiding conflict, staying in denial — until everything finally blows.

This pattern followed her into her marriage, her business partnerships, and her parenting. It took two specific moments — firing a family member who had been terrorizing her, and yelling at a boyfriend that he was "worse than her ex-husband" — to finally make her ask: what's the common denominator here? The answer was her. And that realization was the beginning of everything.

From Atheist to Step 3

Diane resisted Al-Anon for years. She didn't believe in God. She thought the people in the rooms were the ones who were confused. It wasn't until her life felt truly unmanageable that she was willing to try.

Working Step 3 at 2am — anxious, exhausted, worrying about college funds and the future — she asked herself: what if I just try this? What followed was a wave of peace she had never felt before. A spiritual experience she still can't fully explain, but one that changed everything.

The $20 Moment and What Came After

After the exit, after the divorce, after the financial unraveling — Diane found herself raising three kids with sometimes $20 or $50 to her name for an entire week. What she learned in that season: forcing solutions doesn't work. Letting things emerge does.

When her Malibu rental situation collapsed, she didn't white-knuckle her way to a solution. She got still, turned it over, and within 24 hours had a lease on Malibu Road she never thought she could afford.

Recovery Principles as Business Strategy

Today, Diane runs a virtual assistant agency that helps entrepreneurs build scalable businesses. She attributes her success directly to what program has taught her: let go of control, trust the people around you, make amends quickly when you micromanage, and stay open to what wants to emerge.

Action Items from This Episode:

• Notice where the "exploding doormat" cycle shows up in your own life or business
• Ask yourself: where are you forcing a solution right now? What would it feel like to let go?
• If you're building a business and feel like you have to do it all yourself, consider: who could you bring in to help you scale?

Books & Resources Mentioned:

• Courage to Change — Al-Anon daily reader
• Codependent No More by Melody Beattie

Guest Website: https://dianeprince.co/

Need help applying this information to your own life?

Here are 3 ways to get started:

Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days – With a printable PDF checklist

Grab your copy here: https://www.soberlifeschool.com

Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick

https://www.makesobrietystick.com

Subscribe So You Don't Miss New Episodes!

Listen to the episode onApple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, or you can stream it from my website HERE. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.