Podcast
Rise Above with Kevin Lanning
Hosted by Kevin Lanning · EN
Welcome to Rise Above with Kevin Lanning. Join Kevin, a former Google executive in sobriety, as he shares inspiring stories of resilience. Each episode features individuals who have faced life’s toughest challenges—addiction, trauma, anxiety, and more—and emerged stronger. These conversations aren’t just about survival; they’re about thriving and finding practical solutions to rise above adversity. Kevin’s own journey through addiction and childhood trauma fuels his passion for sharing stories that uplift, educate, and inspire. Tune in and discover the strength within you.
73episodes
Episodes
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He Went From Princeton & Harvard Law To Shooting Heroin On Skid Row
4d ago01:33:04Tap to summarizeDamon Watson did everything right. Harvard-Westlake prep school. Princeton, where he was a national debate champion. Harvard Law School. A career as an intellectual property litigator at Latham & Watkins, one of the biggest law firms in Los Angeles. On paper, his life was the American dream. Then five people close to him died in six years — his mom, his dad, his grandmother and more. His marriage fell apart. And the man who had been so terrified of becoming his alcoholic mother that he was the designated driver all through college took his first drink at 30, right after graduating law school. From there it moved fast: ecstasy at the clubs, then cocaine, then crystal meth, and finally a needle in his arm. Damon lost everything. He ended up homeless on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, shooting heroin and meth, fighting for his life, cycling through LA County Jail on check-fraud charges he committed just to survive. He describes sitting there with a needle in his arm, certain he was going to die in that spot — and something in him refusing to accept it. His way out came through a former debate rival turned friend running for city council, who flew him to New York, put him on her couch, bought him a suit, and helped him get clean. He never picked up again. Now 8.5 years sober, Damon works for the New Jersey Reentry Corporation helping formerly incarcerated people and those in recovery rebuild their lives — pulling together his Ivy League book smarts and his hard-won street smarts to give other people the second chance he got. This one is proof that addiction truly does not discriminate — and that no one is too far gone to come back. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week📲 Follow Damon: @damonesquire (Instagram) | Damon Watson (LinkedIn)🌐 New Jersey Reentry Corporation Damon Watson did everything right. Harvard-Westlake prep school. Princeton, where he was a national debate champion. Harvard Law School. A career as an intellectual property litigator at Latham & Watkins, one of the biggest law firms in Los Angeles. On paper, his life was the American dream.Then five people close to him died in six years — his mom, his dad, his grandmother and more. His marriage fell apart. And the man who had been so terrified of becoming his alcoholic mother that he was the designated driver all through college took his first drink at 30, right after graduating law school. From there it moved fast: ecstasy at the clubs, then cocaine, then crystal meth, and finally a needle in his arm.Damon lost everything. He ended up homeless on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, shooting heroin and meth, fighting for his life, cycling through LA County Jail on check-fraud charges he committed just to survive. He describes sitting there with a needle in his arm, certain he was going to die in that spot — and something in him refusing to accept it.His way out came through a former debate rival turned friend running for city council, who flew him to New York, put him on her couch, bought him a suit, and helped him get clean. He never picked up again.Now 8.5 years sober, Damon works for the New Jersey Reentry Corporation helping formerly incarcerated people and those in recovery rebuild their lives — pulling together his Ivy League book smarts and his hard-won street smarts to give other people the second chance he got.This one is proof that addiction truly does not discriminate — and that no one is too far gone to come back.🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week📲 Follow Damon: @damonesquire (Instagram) | Damon Watson (LinkedIn)🌐 New Jersey Reentry Corporation If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #AddictionRecovery #HeroinRecovery #8YearsSober #RecoveryIsPossible #MethRecovery #SoberLife#SkidRow #HarvardLaw #AddictionDoesntDiscriminate #MensRecovery #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth #Reentry#RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #DamonWatson #SecondChances #FromRockBottom #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Prescribed Xanax at 14: How Addiction Led to 8 Arrests, Jail & Recovery
6d ago01:42:06Tap to summarizeHaley Ragsdale grew up outside Nashville in the wealthy town of Franklin, a scared kid with crippling anxiety, insomnia, and a phobia of vomiting so severe it ruled her entire childhood. When her parents' divorce detonated — a five-year court battle that pulled her out of class for abuse checks and had her father legally removed from the home — the chaos swallowed the whole family. She found her escape at 15. A prescription for Xanax that a nurse practitioner had given her years earlier had been sitting untouched in her door. The night she finally tried it, she describes it as silence for the first time in her life — the racing thoughts and panic simply switched off. From that moment nothing else mattered. She was soon mixing benzos and alcohol, doctor-shopping, and spiraling into a decade of addiction. What followed was roughly seven or eight arrests, drinking and driving everywhere she went, and a DUI where — blacked out on upwards of 20 Xanax bars — she reversed through a gated community's steel gate not once but twice, totaling her mother's car. She flattened the sentence and spent four months in a Tennessee jail, where she was jumped and beaten by a fellow inmate who had confessed to murdering her boyfriend. After about a decade of trying to get clean, Haley moved to Florida in 2021 and finally found recovery. This week she celebrates one year clean and sober — and she's learned to sit with herself, love her own company, and build a healthy relationship for the first time in her life. This one is about anxiety, self-medication, and what it takes to finally quiet the noise without a substance. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week📲 Follow Haley: @crookedcigarette (TikTok, Instagram & Facebook) If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #XanaxAddiction #WomenInRecovery #1YearSober #RecoveryIsPossible #AddictionRecovery#SoberLife #BenzoRecovery #AnxietyAndAddiction #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth #DUIStory#RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #HaleyRagsdale #SelfMedication #JailStory #CrookedCigarette #FromChaosToCalm #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Addicted To Oxycodone At 15... Heroin On The Streets By 20
1w ago01:04:38Tap to summarizeClint Pitre was raised by his grandparents in Deltona, Florida, a Jehovah's Witness household where he always felt like something was off. By middle school he was smoking weed and drinking at the skate park. At 15 he took his first Oxycodone at a house party and knew instantly he wanted to feel that way for the rest of his life. By junior year he was so dependent that his own grandmother had to hand him a pill and tell him he was dope sick — that what he'd been taking was essentially synthetic heroin. What followed was roughly 15 years of addiction that bounced him between Florida and Montana, chasing and running at the same time. He moved to heroin when the pills ran dry, lived on the streets, stole to fund his hustle, cycled through jail, and got a gun put in his face during a robbery in Montana while high out of his mind. He was found overdosed in his car in Orlando, woke up to paramedics, and still wasn't done. His worst run came last — a year so dark he was waking up crying from nightmares he'd never had before. On July 7, 2023, with nothing but a duffel bag holding a pair of boxers and some Air Jordans, the pain finally got great enough. His grandmother passed away while he was in treatment, but not before knowing he was finally getting help. Now 3 years sober, Clint works at Compassion Behavioral Health, answering the phone at 1am for people at their lowest and getting them into treatment — the same lifeline someone once was for him. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #HeroinRecovery #OpioidRecovery #3YearsSober #RecoveryIsPossible #AddictionRecovery#SoberLife #DopeSick #MensRecovery #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth #OverdoseSurvivor #RiseAbovePodcast#KevinLanning #ClintPitre #CompassionBehavioralHealth #ServiceWork #FromTheStreetsToSober #NeverGiveUp#OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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I Was A Pastor Secretly Addicted To Sex & Affairs While Preaching Every Sunday
1w ago00:58:02Tap to summarizeJason Lyles was adopted at 14 days old and raised in a strict Southern Baptist home. He read the Bible cover to cover by age eight and felt called to ministry. He also found pornography at ten or eleven, and from that moment he was chasing something he couldn't name — convinced each time that the next thing would finally fix him. Marriage at 19 would fix it. Giving his life to God would fix it. But as his early sponsor told him, you never leave your addictions in the driveway. Jason planted a church in rural Georgia, preaching to construction workers and cowboys on Tuesday nights, while secretly carrying on affairs. Eventually his double life reached a breaking point that he describes with brutal honesty: living with his girlfriend in her apartment and driving to church on Sunday mornings to preach a sermon while his wife and kids sat in the pews trying to hold the facade together. When it all came apart — the church, the marriage, his job, and the death of his mother — Jason found himself lying on his side one Wednesday afternoon with a suicide fully planned, feeling not worthless but coldly logical about it. That was his turning point. A chance training on nervous system regulation introduced him to cold water, breathwork, and meditation, and on October 19, 2020, he got sober in a way he never had before. Now 6 years sober, Jason runs Sacred Grit, coaching men through addiction using nervous system regulation, daily practice, and accountability — and teaching them how to put their feet on the floor each morning and do one thing that makes them feel loved by themselves. This one is about the addictions nobody talks about, the danger of believing the next thing will fix you, and finding a way out that finally works. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week🌐 thesacredgrit.com🎙️ The Sacred Grit Podcast Jason Lyles was adopted at 14 days old and raised in a strict Southern Baptist home. He read the Bible cover to cover by age eight and felt called to ministry. He also found pornography at ten or eleven, and from that moment he was chasing something he couldn't name — convinced each time that the next thing would finally fix him. Marriage at 19 would fix it. Giving his life to God would fix it. But as his early sponsor told him, you never leave your addictions in the driveway.Jason planted a church in rural Georgia, preaching to construction workers and cowboys on Tuesday nights, while secretly carrying on affairs. Eventually his double life reached a breaking point that he describes with brutal honesty: living with his girlfriend in her apartment and driving to church on Sunday mornings to preach a sermon while his wife and kids sat in the pews trying to hold the facade together.When it all came apart — the church, the marriage, his job, and the death of his mother — Jason found himself lying on his side one Wednesday afternoon with a suicide fully planned, feeling not worthless but coldly logical about it. That was his turning point. A chance training on nervous system regulation introduced him to cold water, breathwork, and meditation, and on October 19, 2020, he got sober in a way he never had before.Now 6 years sober, Jason runs Sacred Grit, coaching men through addiction using nervous system regulation, daily practice, and accountability — and teaching them how to put their feet on the floor each morning and do one thing that makes them feel loved by themselves.This one is about the addictions nobody talks about, the danger of believing the next thing will fix you, and finding a way out that finally works.🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week🌐 thesacredgrit.com🎙️ The Sacred Grit Podcast If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #SexAddiction #PornAddiction #6YearsSober #RecoveryIsPossible #AddictionRecovery #SoberLife#NervousSystemRegulation #MensRecovery #FaithAndRecovery #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth#RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #JasonLyles #SacredGrit #PastorStory #Breathwork #SuicidePrevention #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Dark Reality of Alcoholism | My Battle with Alcohol Addiction, Blacking Out & Horrific Detoxes
2w ago02:04:59Tap to summarizeLaura Tomana appeared to have it all—a successful career, a thriving social life, and a bright future. Behind closed doors, however, alcohol had taken over her life.What began as partying evolved into blackouts, drinking around the clock, and eventually becoming physically dependent on alcohol. After losing her mother to cancer, Laura made a promise to stay sober—but grief, addiction, and despair pulled her back into relapse. She shares the heartbreaking reality of drinking more alcohol than water, detoxes, hospitalizations, suicidal thoughts, and the moment everything finally changed.Today, Laura is approaching two years sober and uses her story to give hope to anyone struggling with addiction, grief, or mental health.If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you're not alone. Recovery is possible. Follow Laura on IG: @ltomana This Episode Is Sponsored By NOCD A lot of people who've done the hard work of getting sober still struggle with unwanted, intrusive thoughts that bring guilt and shame and keep coming back. For some people, that may be OCD — and in recovery it often goes unrecognized for years because it can look like anxiety or feel like part of the process. The good news is it's treatable. NOCD is the world's leading provider of OCD treatment, with licensed therapists who specialize in ERP (exposure and response prevention) therapy through live, face-to-face virtual sessions, plus support between sessions. NOCD is covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans. 👉 Book a free 15-minute call at NOCD.com #Sobriety #AlcoholAddiction #Recovery #RiseAbovePodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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I Went From The MVP Quarterback to Shooting Heroin | How I Found Sobriety and Changed My Life
2w ago01:26:01Tap to summarizeTommy Lyons grew up between Brooklyn and Staten Island, a fearful, introverted kid with a nervous disposition who found that drugs made him feel like he could finally talk to anyone. He was smoking weed at ten, doing Xanax by thirteen, and a borderline cocaine addict by fourteen — funding it by stealing and robbing before he was even old enough to drive. He became the MVP quarterback of his high school football team while already deep in opiate addiction. Vicodin became Percocet, Percocet became blues, and blues became heroin. He describes shooting heroin in the bathroom at his serving job in his green dress shirt, bouncing between sober livings and couches in both New York and South Florida. He climbed the ranks running sober living homes — becoming director of operations of 14 of them in his twenties — all while admitting he had no real connection to recovery and was running on ego. Then he relapsed into one of the most vicious runs of his life. Suicidal, his front teeth knocked out, crack now in the mix, he overdosed behind the wheel of his car and woke up days later in a hospital with no memory of how he got there. Now 4 years sober, Tommy works in the recovery field helping others find what he eventually found — and says he can't even picture himself using anymore. This one is about how many "lucky breaks" it can take before the stars finally align. Tommy Lyons grew up between Brooklyn and Staten Island, a fearful, introverted kid with a nervous disposition who found that drugs made him feel like he could finally talk to anyone. He was smoking weed at ten, doing Xanax by thirteen, and a borderline cocaine addict by fourteen — funding it by stealing and robbing before he was even old enough to drive.He became the MVP quarterback of his high school football team while already deep in opiate addiction. Vicodin became Percocet, Percocet became blues, and blues became heroin. He describes shooting heroin in the bathroom at his serving job in his green dress shirt, bouncing between sober livings and couches in both New York and South Florida.He climbed the ranks running sober living homes — becoming director of operations of 14 of them in his twenties — all while admitting he had no real connection to recovery and was running on ego. Then he relapsed into one of the most vicious runs of his life. Suicidal, his front teeth knocked out, crack now in the mix, he overdosed behind the wheel of his car and woke up days later in a hospital with no memory of how he got there.Now 4 years sober, Tommy works in the recovery field helping others find what he eventually found — and says he can't even picture himself using anymore.This one is about how many "lucky breaks" it can take before the stars finally align. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #HeroinRecovery #CrackAddiction #4YearsSober #RecoveryIsPossible #AddictionRecovery#SoberLife #OpioidEpidemic #MensRecovery #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth #OverdoseSurvivor #StatenIsland#RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #TommyLyons #FromAthleteToAddict #ServiceWork #NeverGiveUp #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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A Surgery Led To My Painkiller Addiction | What My Life Looks Like 8.5 Years Sober | Vlog Ep. 3
2w ago00:16:36Tap to summarizeRise Above | Vlog Episode 3 A routine shoulder surgery is where my painkiller addiction began. This is what my life looks like 8.5 years sober. In this vlog I'm taking you through a real day in my life and the things that keep me grounded. We start at Tequesta Biomechanics where I train with Jessica, working on decompressing my lower back, recovering mobility in the shoulder that started it all, and undoing years of damage from poor form and old football injuries. Physical health has become a massive part of my mental health and my recovery. Then I head back to the studio, give a shout out to Ben who's been helping run the socials, and walk you through exactly what goes into prepping for every single episode — including the one fatal mistake I made that erased an entire interview, and the guest who handled it like a champion because of the program she works. I also talk about today's guest Tyler, his story of recovery, and something really important to me — why I keep the podcast and my actual program of recovery completely separate. The meetings, the step work, the sponsorship, the commitments..... those come first, always. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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A Heroin Addict's BRUTAL Lifestyle | Losing My Arm, Arrests and How I Found Sobriety
2w ago01:12:00Tap to summarizeMike Debany was a fast-talking sales guy living what looked like the good life in South Florida — a fiancée, a baby on the way, money in the bank. Underneath it he was already an addict, having found his way from marijuana to the pill mills of South Florida, where a doctor in a parking lot would hand out 180 Xanax and 90 Roxys to anyone who waited long enough. Then on October 18, 2010, everything changed. Driving a Jeep overloaded with cinder blocks over a bridge under construction, he rolled the vehicle. The cinder blocks came through the windshield. He was airlifted to the hospital, spent roughly 18 hours in surgery, and didn't wake up for nearly six weeks. When he came to, one of his vocal cords was crushed, his legs had atrophied, and his right arm no longer worked — an arm he would have to amputate a year later. But as Mike tells it, the accident isn't the story. He woke up already on morphine, Dilaudid and Ativan — and what followed was years of full-blown opiate addiction, a vicious slide into heroin once the pill supply dried up, and the loss of his fiancée, his daughter, and nearly everything else. Now 7 years sober, Mike has rebuilt his relationship with his now 15-year-old daughter, bought a home, built a business, and lives a life centered on service — going to a meeting every day, sponsoring others, and carrying the message into detoxes and hospitals. This one is about how recovery is possible even when the odds are completely stacked against you. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #OpioidRecovery #HeroinRecovery #7YearsSober #RecoveryIsPossible #AddictionRecovery#SoberLife #Amputee #PillMill #MensRecovery #SobrietyJourney #MentalHealth #FatherhoodInRecovery#RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #MikeDebany #ServiceWork #AgainstAllOdds #SoberDad #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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I Lost My Job, My Wife & My Son To Alcohol & Oxycodone
3w ago01:06:24Tap to summarizeFrom the outside Nick Johnsson had it all. Born in Sweden, educated in Australia, and based in Southeast Asia, he spent a decade climbing the corporate ladder until he was the general manager of 72 hospitals and clinics across Indonesia — one of the biggest roles of its kind in the world. And he was quietly falling apart behind the closed door of his corner office. Every promotion made him lonelier. He was drinking to control himself, working punishing hours, and slowly losing the discipline that had defined his life. When the pressure became too much he resigned, couldn't talk to his wife about why, filed for divorce, and separated himself from his five-year-old son. Isolated with no job, no marriage and no child, he gained 60 pounds and slid into a daily dependence on alcohol and oxycodone — which in Southeast Asia he could buy over the counter like popcorn. It took two days to get off the alcohol and two years to taper off the medication. Now 8 years sober, Nick is an author, speaker and entrepreneur who travels the world with his teenage son, volunteers for a suicide prevention agency, and wrote a book — Executive Loneliness — about the isolation at the top that nobody talks about. In this thoughtful and powerful episode Nick shares how he rebuilt his relationship with his son from across the world through Minecraft, why he believes loneliness is the root so many high achievers try to numb, and what it really takes to come back. This one is for every high achiever who looks successful on the outside and feels completely alone underneath. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week📲 Follow Nick on LinkedIn: Nick Johnsson🌐 nickjohnsson.com📖 Executive Loneliness — available now If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/ #RiseAbove #SoberLife #8YearsSober #AlcoholRecovery #ExecutiveLoneliness #HighFunctioningAlcoholic#RecoveryIsPossible #AddictionRecovery #MentalHealth #SobrietyJourney #Loneliness#FatherhoodInRecovery #RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #NickJohnsson #CorporateBurnout#MensMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention #OneDayAtATime #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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I Was A High-Functioning Drinker Who Hid It All | Losing My Mom, My Marriage & My Hair
3w ago01:39:37Tap to summarizeFrom the outside Christie Green looked like she had it all together. A successful career, a wide circle of friends, the person who sent the thank-you cards and remembered everyone's birthday. Nobody saw the high-functioning drinking underneath, or the grief, divorce and decades of quiet pain she was masking with it. Christie lost her hair to alopecia as a child and spent years building humor and achievement into armor so no one would look too closely. She lost her mother six years ago and describes that grief as the catalyst that sent the next chapter of her life into a tailspin. She went through a divorce, multiple miscarriages, and a long stretch of self-medicating just to avoid sitting with her own feelings. Then on one bad night out she slammed a door in a stranger's face in a crowded bar, walked home, and woke up the next morning knowing she was done. She caught herself at the crossroads. This March she celebrated one year alcohol-free. In this honest and reflective episode Christie talks about high-functioning drinking, grief, learning to sit with hard emotions instead of numbing them, and the journaling and self-worth work that carried her through her first year sober. This one is for everyone who looks fine on the outside and is quietly struggling underneath. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/rise-above/?utm_source=rise%20above&utm_medium=social%20media&utm_campaign=june #RiseAbove #SoberLife #1YearSober #HighFunctioningAlcoholic #AlcoholFree #SobrietyJourney#GriefAndHealing #WomenInRecovery #Alopecia #RecoveryIsPossible #MentalHealth #SelfWorth #SoberCurious#RiseAbovePodcast #KevinLanning #ChristieGreen #GettingSober #Journaling #OneDayAtATime #OneMoreThing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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