Podcast
The Hopeaholics
Hosted by Addicted to Hope · EN
Chad Carlsen started The Hopeaholics Podcast after his soon-to-be son-in-law died of fentanyl poisoning. Not as therapy. As a response to a crisis that kills tens of thousands of people a year while most of the country looks the other way.
Hosted by Chad and WWE superstar Natalie Eva Marie, The Hopeaholics brings on survivors of addiction, mental illness, and the kind of rock-bottom moments most people never talk about. Long-form, unfiltered conversations with people in recovery, families who've lost someone, and the professionals working inside the addiction treatment system.
327+ episodes. New episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
If you or someone you love needs help with addiction or substance use, call 949-615-8588
352episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
We Fell In Love Thanks To Sobriety w/ Nic And Ant (@nic_n_ant) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #353
2d ago02:11:25Tap to summarizeWe Fell In Love Thanks To Sobriety w/ Nic And Ant (@nic_n_ant) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #353Nicole and Anthony one of the most recognized and popular sober/recovery couples in social media. They met in a recovery meeting in 2018. She had six years and he was 60 days out of detox. His first year clean was a mess. Lies, cheating, not working a program. Both going through divorces simultaneously, his kids hating Nicole, his ex-wife's family leaving homewrecker comments in the comment section for years. They broke up and kept finding their way back. Nicole got clean at 21. Before that: 92 pounds, homeless, sheets over every mirror because she couldn't look at herself, months in the same blue dress without showering. Five arrests starting at 19 — selling drugs on felony probation, assault with a deadly weapon, possession. Stealing painkillers off a dying aunt on hospice and still not stopping. Anthony's path started with a work injury and a prescription. Heroin, then speed, then the needle. He took his son to baseball practice, dropped him off, and sat in the car getting high. He left his family mid-vacation in Montauk, drove four hours home to pawn the Rolex his wife had saved up to buy him, and went on a two-day run. When he came back, she told him: get help or you'll never see these kids again. Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsGo to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie00:00 — Cold open01:38 — Introducing Nick and Ant06:15 — How they met12:47 — 11/11/22: the wedding date and the angel number14:25 — Co-parenting: from hatred to "we love each other today"15:57 — His kids found out through TikTok before he told anyone17:53 — Nicole steals Donna's number and reaches out three times25:26 — Meetings versus actually working the steps33:01 — Nicole's story: approaching 14 years, 22nd birthday in rehab37:48 — From the cheerleading squad to selling drugs in the projects at 3am41:47 — How she met her ex-husband: both smoking crack44:24 — Got everything she thought she wanted. Was miserable.50:08 — Anthony's story: 43rd birthday in rehab, now 5254:37 — Work injury to first prescription addiction57:44 — The slide to heroin58:59 — Going to work to steal59:46 — Dropping his son at baseball practice and getting high in the car1:00:25 — Left his family in Montauk, drove four hours home to pawn the Rolex1:02:19 — In detox, calling his wife: "I just want to get high one more time"1:04:43 — Wife hands him the phone. Bed opens Monday. His eyes lit up.1:06:11 — The day the obsession lifted1:20:11 — Why they went public about their recovery1:30:43 — The anonymity question1:35:15 — Recovery coaches bashing 12-step and charging money1:39:59 — What would you tell your past self?1:42:18 — Work a program or we're not getting married
Transcribe →Purple Heart, Addict, 14 Felonies, and 1000 Days Sober w/ Jess Seiwert | The Hopeaholics Podcast #352
5d ago01:31:58Tap to summarizeJess Seiwert grew up in Kansas. He was abused at home from age 5 to 12. After 9/11 he joined the Army at 18, made sergeant, survived an IED blast, and came home with a Purple Heart and an Oxycontin addiction. One day he woke up in county jail charged with first-degree attempted murder and kidnapping after his best friend slept with his wife while he was passed out. He walked out with 14 felony convictions, seven rehab attempts, and 3.5 years in county jail across eight Kansas counties during Covid. He now has 1,000 days sober next month.This episode covers his entire journey. The IED that started the pill spiral. The gang he joined within three months in prison. Coming home to Kansas and going straight into meth distribution. Gambling away his drug money at the casino, three Christmases in a row while his family was at home. Using his Purple Heart military ID to run $200,000 in forgery across three states. One childhood mentor named Bob Timmons who bailed him out, got robbed by Jess, and kept coming back anyway. Getting high ten days into court-ordered treatment. And the moment he finally threw up his hands and let God inFollow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsGo to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie0:21 Intro2:14 Gambling: the addiction that swallowed everything at the end4:07 Father arrested for child rape 6:45 Growing up angry7:05 9/11 happens right after graduation. Joins the Army8:43 First drink: the first time he ever felt normal10:29 IED hits him + Purple Heart11:04 Comes home on Oxycontin13:26 Second marriage. Gets her hooked on pills.15:00 Wakes up with 1st degree attempted murder, kidnapping20:29 Crowley Correctional: in a gang within three months21:47 High on meth, headbutts his parole officer. Back to prison.25:38 Charlie Kirk assassination38:49 Forgery across three states: $200,00040:18 3 1/2 years in 8 county jails during Covid41:37 Using his Purple Heart military ID to forge checks43:11 Meets his 3rd wife in county jail 44:11 Gets out. Uses within 24 hours. She gets pregnant that night.48:47 120 meetings in 90 days. Fires his sponsor at 3 months clean50:04 Peer mentor in Kansas City / Social work.50:22 Almost 1,000 days sober. 43 years old51:19 Son with autism doing great. Rebuilding with his oldest two kids.1:01:03 Why recovery has to be the foundation on the hardest days1:10:34 Veterans and the VA1:12:21 Veteran mental health access1:17:36 "25 years of alcoholism. 15 years of addiction. Why would I give up on anybody?"
Transcribe →From Running Drugs To Teaching At USC 31 Years Sober w Gregg Champion | The Hopeaholics Podcast #351
1w ago01:22:23Tap to summarizeGregg Champion's father was killed in a head-on collision with another drunk driver when Gregg was 4. He grew up angry, filled that with alcohol and attention, and spent his 20s collecting DUIs, assaults, a marijuana trafficking operation out of a van, and two arrests in the same 24-hour stretch at Mardi Gras. He got sober at 25, went back and finished his ASU degree sober with a 4.0, sits on the Arizona State Alumni Leadership Council, taught entrepreneurship at USC, and is 30+ years sober.This episode covers the childhood trauma he carried alone for decades. The night at he woke up in a jail cell, found a Catholic church in the phone book, and sat down in front of a priest named Father Bill — who turned out to be his stepfather's sponsor — and who sent him to his first meeting. He built Startup Recovery and Wellness over nine years and three sober living homes in the Pacific Palisades. In that same stretch he also lost his mom to Alzheimer's, his sister to suicide, went bankrupt in 2008, and watched the January 7, 2025 fires burn all three houses to the ground. He's still standing.Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsGo to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie0:00 Cold open0:38 Intro1:07 Gregg Champion7:14 31 years sober and still working on it10:26 The seven-year itch: three years without AA and no sponsor13:42 Being a girl dad in recovery — why he shares it out loud17:17 His father was killed in a drunk-on-drunk collision18:01 Becoming what killed his father18:49 Attention as the first substitute20:23 A secret he carried since he was eight22:33 Age 13 to 25: Arizona State, six credits short, and a rampage23:16 Going back to finish his degree sober now on the ASU Alumni Leadership Council24:15 Lost sister to suicide, mom to Alzheimer's, bankrupt in 2008, Palisades fires24:38 Getting sober at 25: DUIs, assaults, two Mardi Gras arrests29:13 Running weed out east32:20 Waking up in a jail cell and hearing a voice say his name33:17 He finds the nearest Catholic church in the phone book34:21 Father Bill36:20 Father Bill turned out to be his stepfather's sponsor41:36 His daughter asks: "Papa, have you ever been to jail?"47:25 Teaching entrepreneurship at USC57:48 The TED Talk he bombed59:11 Couples counseling: finding the therapist with 25 years in Al-Anon1:00:37 What year ten of sobriety demands: going a level deeper1:06:34 The Recovery Playbook: sober, now what?1:08:22 The thing he relapsed over but never fully faced1:15:35 Breaking the cycle: giving his daughters the life he didn't have
Transcribe →Golf Prospect w Full Ride to UCLA. Meth Took It All w/ Danny Dalton | The Hopeaholics Podcast #350
2w ago01:07:43Tap to summarizeGolf Prospect w Full Ride to UCLA. Meth Took It All w/ Danny Dalton | The Hopeaholics Podcast #350 Danny Dalton grew up in Huntington Beach playing golf when Tiger Woods was the standard everyone chased. He was good enough to earn a full scholarship to UCLA. He lost it junior year and spent the next decade filling the gap with cocaine, then meth, then heroin. This episode covers the whole run. The UCLA golfer who shot course records and still couldn't get out of his own way. The meth use that progressed to the needle at 33. The night he looked in a mirror and saw Gollum staring back. And the second day of treatment when a stranger walked into the room with the same name as his deceased father.Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsGo to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie0:00 Cold open0:18 Intro0:47 Danny Dalton, welcome to the show1:09 Golf: how Danny got into it late and why it took over6:35 progressive alcoholism begins7:11 Full athletic scholarship to UCLA9:12 The gene: addiction running through the family14:45 Growing up with Tiger Woods as the benchmark15:05 "I didn't realize how insulated I was until I wasn't"19:03 Losing the scholarship junior year, somehow graduating anyway21:56 Course records / sponsors: pro-level golf he couldn't hold onto24:14 Cocaine, then meth25:09 The needle at 3332:33 First meth charge at 36: parents finding out32:59 Nine charges with the law33:21 Heroin: the thing that took him all the way down34:48 Four years of isolation + his father dies35:49 "I looked in the mirror and saw Gollum"36:13 The shot that almost killed him37:18 Threw everything in the trash and walked to the beach38:01 Detox on his mom's couch, then court39:17 Court-ordered 90 days39:38 Day 2 in treatment: breaking down in church41:13 A stranger named Tom Dalton walks in — his dead father's name43:08 "That's why you have a gift"44:29 Losing his treatment community, starting to slip again45:23 Why he stays in recovery: it's for the next guy48:33 Chad on his own hard year51:12 The two words he says every morning57:35 The recovery side has to come first1:02:41 What Danny does today
Transcribe →They Said I'd Never See My Kids Again. Got Them Back Sober w/ Ian Day | The Hopeaholics Podcast #349
2w ago01:15:26Tap to summarizeThey Said I'd Never See My Kids Again. Got Them Back Sober w/ Ian Day | The Hopeaholics Podcast #349Ian Day grew up a standout athlete in a one-stoplight town in Indiana with one bar. His first drinks were sips of Miller Lite off his grandpa's lawn mower. By 17 he was smoking weed every day and panhandling in his high school hallways for lunch money because he'd spent it all on drugs. By 26 he was in Maricopa County tent jail in pink underwear and it was a country song in the jail chapel that finally broke him open for the first time in his life. He was told he'd never see his kids again and he got them back while fully sober. Ian shares his experience in the fork in the road between homeless, prison, and the halfway house, 90 meetings in 90 days, waking up at 4am to work a food bank before heading to a tattoo shop in the evenings, and what it looked like to slowly build a life he never thought was possible. Ian is now 8 years sober, owns Everlasting Inc. tattoo shop in Phoenix next door to a sober lounge, goes into intake prison on Monday mornings, and is raising his kids with his wife, Christin DayFollow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsGo to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Our Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieTimestamps: 0:00 - Cold Open: First Blackout 0:26 - Welcome / Intro 1:45 - Eight Years Sober This Weekend 2:55 - Told He'd Never See His Kids Again 4:06 - They Lied to the Courthouse 6:52 - Losing His Sister at 32 9:27 - The Last Time She Moved Was to Hug Me 12:37 - First Drinks on Grandpa's Lawnmower 13:28 - First Blackout: Let's Try Again 15:40 - Alcohol as a Solution to Social Anxiety 20:47 - Panhandling in High School Hallways for Lunch Money 22:32 - I Believe Wholeheartedly I Would Be Dead Without My Parents 44:57 - Chris Young Song in the Jail Chapel 45:27 - God I Want to Be a Good Man — First Honest Moment 49:16 - Homeless, Prison, or the Halfway House 52:46 - Sponsor Says Stay 53:44 - Two Jobs at 4am for Almost Two Years 55:04 - Meeting His Wife at a CA Convention 1:02:25 - God Told Him to Pay Off His Fines Instead 1:10:09 - What Are You Going to Do With Your Power Today
Transcribe →My Baby Passed In The Car Because I Blacked Out w/ Carolina Ayala | The Hopeaholics Podcast #348
3w ago01:17:14Tap to summarizeMy Baby Passed In The Car Because I Blacked Out w/ Carolina Ayala | The Hopeaholics Podcast #348 Chad and Natalie sit down with Carolina Ayala, founder of The Happier Life Project, a recovery community organization built to give people the peer support she never had. She was drinking, using, and married by 15, and had watched two of her closest friends get killed before she was old enough to graduate. One night she drank too much, blacked out, drove home, and didn't take her daughter Crystal out of the car seat. Crystal spent three hours in the car and didn't make it. Carolina did nearly four years in prison for child endangerment and used meth for the next two decades because it was the only way she knew to get through what happened.#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieJoin our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsBuy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.comVisit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps:0:00:00 - Cold open: the night Crystal died0:00:40 - Welcome / What is the Happier Life Project0:03:01 - The gap between treatment centers and what happens after0:05:10 - Treatment, psych wards, jails, prison0:05:51 - Getting pregnant, giving son to CPS0:06:38 - Getting custody, relapsing, returning to smoke meth0:07:02 - Rock bottom in 2021: not wanting to be alive anymore0:07:34 - Losing faith in God, 12-step, everything she held onto0:08:12 - Outside the crisis hospital, too scared to go in0:09:16 - Finding RA International's peer support center in Temecula0:10:55 - The idea for the Happier Life Project0:13:19 - Divorced parents, alcoholic stepdad, being the oldest0:14:41 - Gifted programs and nothing in the adult world making sense0:15:08 - First joint at 12 as a freshman in El Paso0:16:51 - Following friend into gang life0:17:43 - The four runaways: Jasmine shot in the head, Cynthia murdered and burned in the desert0:19:48 - Why she stayed on the street instead of going home0:20:43 - Meeting her husband at 12, marrying at 150:21:13 - Moving to Arizona with a Mormon family to clean up0:23:38 - Husband falls out of car going 55mph0:25:26 - The miscarriage that wasn't: Danielle is alive and 310:26:36 - Leaving her husband and daughter on her first birthday0:28:34 - The guilt cycle: couldn't face going back, so she never did0:30:32 - Daughter goes to a Mormon colony in Mexico0:32:27 - Federal charges at 19, domestic violence, psychiatric holds0:33:40 - Trying to kidnap her daughter and failing0:35:42 - Arrested at eight months pregnant for cocaine trafficking0:35:58 - Crystal born, alcoholic mother-in-law tried to sell her0:38:09 - Crystal's Death0:39:46 - Prison for child endangerment0:40:25 - Blood alcohol, no drugs found, what the DA had threatened0:41:08 - Planning to jump off the 15 freeway / bail raised to $250K0:42:59 - Not qualifying for the substance abuse program because the charge wasn't drug-related0:43:47 - No contact with anyone under 18, including siblings and daughter0:45:06 - Two beers, blowing a .080:45:40 - Back in on violation / introduced to meth in prison0:46:04 - What meth did that nothing else could0:47:36 - First time in treatment0:49:08 - Guilt, shame, and unaddressed grief 0:49:37 - $20 worth of meth, sentenced to five years in state prison0:51:11 - Cooper Fellowship: three years sober, the longest stretch yet0:52:01 - CBT: the first thing that actually made sense to her0:53:23 - The pre-cycle nobody ever addressed0:55:37 - This time in recovery is different0:57:34 - Almost not coming back to the rooms after the last relapse0:58:00 - What actually matters today: the daily work, not the time1:05:32 - Crystal's birthday, deciding to honor her for the first time1:06:01 - Psychic medium speaks with Crystal1:09:26 - Chad and Natalie / walking through pain vs. sitting in it1:15:41 - The Happier Life Project: where to donate, how to find them
Transcribe →From USC Football to Cartel Cocaine w/ "Cocaine Quarterback" Owen Hanson | The Hopeaholics Podcast #347
3w ago01:32:21Tap to summarizeFrom USC Football to Cartel Cocaine w/ "Cocaine Quarterback" Owen Hanson | The Hopeaholics Podcast #347The "Cocaine Quarterback" Owen Hanson was a volleyball player at USC who wanted to get stronger and start again. That led him to smuggling steroids in from a vet in Tijuana. He walked onto the football team and began selling Adderall, Xanax, and cocaine to teammates. After the 2008 recession killed his real estate job, he became a bookie, landed a cartel lieutenant as a client, and lost $2.5 million of the cartel's money in an Australian casino. His plan to pay it back involved dissolving cocaine in Everclear and shipping it to Australia in Napa Valley wine bottles. In 2015, 15 FBI agents arrested him at a golf course in Carlsbad and he did nearly a decade on a RICO charge. Thats where he invented protein ice cream in a mop bucket, and had an Emmy-winning Amazon Prime documentary built around his life while he was still locked up.Chad and Natalie talk to him about how each thing escalated, what the meeting in Tijuana with the cartel actually looked like, what a decade in federal prison was really like, and what he's building now.#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieJoin our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsBuy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.comVisit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps:0:00:00 - Cold open0:00:49 - Podcast intro0:01:19 - Owen Hanson, one year out of federal prison0:05:05 - Buying steroids from a vet in Tijuana 0:08:45 - The transformation: 185 to 240 pounds in six weeks0:10:27 - Making the USC football team / Pete Carroll era0:13:32 - Black market concierge0:15:30 - Grew up broke at a school full of money0:17:03 - Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart0:19:33 - California Ice Protein taste test0:29:36 - Getting high on his own supply in college0:38:38 - 2008 recession kills the real estate job; becoming a bookie0:40:08 - Uncle Tony and the Italian bookmaker introduction0:44:27 - Going to Costa Rica, starting his own sports book0:45:11 - The cartel whale: $750K lost in three weeks, paid on Monday0:47:00 - The offer: $1 million a day to go to Australia0:47:51 - The laundering scheme collapses0:52:24 - The call from the New South Wales Police Department0:53:33 - Back in America, the cartel wants $3 million immediately0:57:11 - Figuring out how to move cocaine into Australia0:57:47 - The wine bottle method0:59:11 - Five years of FBI building the case1:00:02 - The arrest at Aviator Country Club in Carlsbad1:01:38 - RICO charges: distribution, money laundering, bookmaking1:02:28 - Sentencing day1:04:10 - Mark Wahlberg's team takes the story1:05:23 - The halfway house: Bureau of Prisons curfew and 20 months to build the brand1:05:42 - Coming out with nothing, the warehouse, the Murphy bed1:06:32 - Protein ice cream from mop buckets, sold for $15 a jar1:09:38 - "It's a second chance ice cream"1:11:46 - Federal vs. state prison: 85% time served, no early release1:13:49 - Getting sober in prison and eating clean1:15:26 - Coming out to Amazon Prime, Instagram, and Apple Pay1:23:18 - Living in the warehouse, the grind, proving people wrong1:24:55 - Why he never cooperated with the cartel1:27:25 - Little things you don't realize until they're taken from you
Transcribe →I Was A Lawyer Smuggling Heroin for the Mexican Mafia w/ Jason Keller | The Hopeaholics Podcast #346
4w ago01:22:12Tap to summarizeI Was A Lawyer Smuggling Heroin for the Mexican Mafia w/ Jason Keller | The Hopeaholics Podcast #346Jason Keller was a criminal defense attorney with his own firm when he started smuggling drugs into jail for his clients. Papers that looked like textbook material turned out to be black tar heroin flattened between the pages. Then it was a cell phone. Then a charger. All for the Mexican Mafia. He was also smoking crack in the courthouse parking lot before walking in for hearings. He got arrested and almost did six years. That still wasn't his wake-up call. He got drunk on vacation in Honduras, fell off a boat, went to dinner soaking wet, and urinated in a fountain in front of everyone he knew. He was 47. That was the morning he decided he was done. He recently retook the bar exam 20 years later and passed. Chad and Natalie sit with him through all of it the addiction that started at 13, the law career that somehow ran alongside it for decades, and what it took to finally stop.#TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieJoin our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsBuy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.comVisit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps:00:00 Cold Open: The Charges Read Aloud00:42 Introduction / Jason's Background01:56 How He Became a Criminal Defense Attorney03:18 First Marriage and Using During Law School05:57 3 Years Old and His Grandmother's Liquor Cabinet10:15 Full Scholarship to U of A. Flunked Out First Year.13:01 The Workout Regimen That Started in Prison15:04 Can a Convicted Felon Practice Law in Arizona?16:28 The God-Sized Hole / What's Actually Underneath Addiction18:52 The Moment He Said Yes to Smuggling21:00 The DUI That Derailed His Career Before It Started22:23 Out of Prison and Already Manipulating Probation24:21 Relapse on Meth / PO Says Treatment or Go Back26:14 How the Smuggling Actually Started27:18 Smoking Crack in the Courthouse Parking Lot30:28 Finding Out the Papers Were Full of Heroin34:26 The Cell Phone for the Mexican Mafia39:14 Arrested September 30th, 2008. Seven Charges.41:21 What the Arrest Changed and What It Didn't42:09 The Detective Who Put the Cuffs On Him43:17 The Sun City AA Meeting / 86-Year-Old Jack Lee45:29 The Ninth Step Amends With the Detective51:26 Chad's Story: Felony Evading in a Lamborghini57:41 The Real Wake-Up Call: Honduras1:01:10 Finally Admitting He Was an Alcoholic1:03:35 Step One and What Changed Everything1:05:30 Why Prison for Six Years Still Wasn't Enough1:07:31 Internal Bottom vs External Consequences1:12:20 The AA Meeting He Started for Lawyers1:14:57 Ethics Talks at the Public Defender's Office1:16:58 Why Lawyers Are Scared to Get Help1:19:37 The Disciplinary Panel / Waiting on the Bar1:20:55 Passing the Bar by Hand While Everyone Used Laptops
Transcribe →He Collapsed My Lungs & Ended Up WANTED w/ Kristin Swan (TW abuse) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #345
4w ago00:37:41Tap to summarizeHe Collapsed My Lungs & Ended Up WANTED w/ Kristin Swan (TW abuse) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #345Kristin grew up in Lakeville, Massachusetts, an hour south of Boston, in a house where disease was already present before she arrived at it. Her mother drank and went to meetings and died the day right after Mother's Day. Both her cousins are gone from fentanyl poisoning. By 15 she was cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals, diagnosed bipolar, put on lithium, hearing voices. She hadn't touched a drug yet.By 20 she was in a relationship with a man dealing crack out of their apartment. She saw the red flags early. She stayed anyway. It all ended in a snowstorm when he body-slammed her, collapsed both lungs, and stomped her head with Timberlands on while she was in the bathtub. She created a diversion, kicked the wall, and ran out barefoot into the snow while he searched for her. She hid in the bushes behind a neighbor's house and a man who barely spoke English called an ambulance. When she did find sobriety, it looked like what the promises are supposed to look like. A good sponsor. An interior design job. Things starting to make sense. Then a relapse. Now she's coming back. She's working the program again, going to bonfire meetings on the beach, building something small and clean, trying to put God first and figure out the rest from there. TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieJoin our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsBuy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.comVisit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps:0:00 - Cold Open1:11 - Kristin Arrives2:32 - Growing Up in Lakeville, MA3:12 - Mom's Death After Mother's Day4:26 - Losing Two Cousins to Fentanyl5:13 - First Drink at 14 / Bipolar Diagnosis at 156:20 - Lithium, Voices, and Psych Hospitals7:22 - Parents' Divorce / Dad's Breakdown8:20 - Moving to Tampa10:13 - Rebellion11:05 - Life After Basketball11:45 - The Abusive Relationship14:57 - New Year's Eve in a Blizzard15:32 - The Attack: Body Slammed, Both Lungs Collapsed17:09 - Hiding in the Bushes / Ambulance Arrives17:50 - Emergency Surgery / Boston Medical20:36 - Love Addiction: Why We Stay21:24 - First Recovery at 20 / DV Shelter22:22 - Dancing, Fast Money, and Relapse24:26 - The Program, a Sponsor, and the Promises25:13 - On Relapse, Shame, and Coming Back26:28 - Orange County Recovery Scene / Bonfire Meetings29:13 - Therapy, EMDR, and Healing Trauma29:53 - Building an Agency / New Beginnings30:46 - Her Relationship with God31:29 - Rosary Beads and Dreams of Her Mother32:04 - The Morning Routine That Keeps Her Grounded33:28 - An 11th Chance34:23 - Day at a Time / Wrap-Up36:05 - Closing / Final Message
Transcribe →The Shohei Ohtani Bookie Who Ended Up On ESPN w/ Mathew Bowyer | The Hopeaholics Podcast #344
Jul 1401:31:19Tap to summarizeChad and Natalie sit down with Matt Bowyer, the Orange County bookie at the center of the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal, for the full story behind the headlines. Matt ran one of the largest illegal sports betting operations in the country for over 30 years. At his peak he had 1,250 clients nationwide, 48 agents, and processed over $1 billion in wagers in 2023 alone. He was also betting millions of his own money because gambling was his addiction and he was the house getting high on his own supply. The feds raided him twice. The first time was 2014, 14 agents, his daughter crying in the driveway, coming home from losing $800,000 in Vegas on March Madness. The case didn't start with Ohtani. The feds didn't even know about Ohtani. The case started with casino money laundering, led to Matt, and then his electronics told the rest of the story.He grew up watching his Vietnam vet father drink 40 beers a day until his mom divorced him after three failed rehabs. By 13 he was the top newspaper salesman in Orange County. At 16 he had a poker ring running out of his house. At 18, with his girlfriend pregnant and the family in a Dana Point mobile home, he got hired as a busboy at Chevys, got recruited to a commodities brokerage, passed the Series 3 exam as a mail boy, and was making $600,000 a year at 21. He bought back the house his family had lost. Then he got tired of giving his money to bookies.He currently owes $9.7 million in taxes at $60,000 a month in interest. Tax lien on his $5 million home. Two years probation, mandatory Gamblers Anonymous, mandatory drug dealer classes every week. And a new book dropping called Controlled Chaos. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarieJoin our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off!Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials:https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholicsBuy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.comVisit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.comIf you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC:https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps:0:56 - Welcome Matt Boyer / The Ohtani Scandal1:21 - Growing Up in Cypress, CA / Tiger Woods Connection1:55 - Three Brothers: One Gone, One Fighting Heroin Addiction3:19 - The Second Raid: 29 Agents, AR Rifles, Wife Handcuffed4:50 - How the Operation Worked: 1,250 Clients, 48 Agents Nationwide5:54 - Betting $4.2 Million on a Single Football Game8:22 - The Psychology of Gambling: Losing Feels Better Than Winning12:21 - CEO of an Illegal Operation Doing $1 Billion in 202313:19 - Commodity Trader, Opened His Own Brokerage at 2814:17 - Why He Chose the Illegal Path Over the Legal One17:33 - First Raid, 14 Agents, Daughter Crying in the Driveway, Just Lost $800K in Vegas19:39 - Signs the Abandonment Form and Triples His Business21:09 - October 5th, 2023: The Second Raid That Ended Everything22:55 - Three Relationships, Five Kids, All One Big Family24:14 - Meeting His Current Wife at 40 / IVF for a Son31:19 - His Father: Vietnam Vet, 40 Beers a Day, Three Rehabs32:17 - 13 Years Old: Paper Boy, Baseball Cards, Weed, Poker Ring33:13 - 18 Years Old: Mobile Home in Dana Point, Girlfriend Pregnant, No Job34:18 - Getting Hired as a Busboy, Getting Recruited to a Brokerage36:28 - Mail Boy to #1 Broker, Buying Back the Family House at 2137:23 - Setting Up the Website in Costa Rica / Scaling to a Real Operation40:32 - Sitting in the Courtroom Hearing His Own Numbers for the First Time43:44 - The Charges: Money Laundering, Falsified Tax Returns, Bookmaking44:29 - Pleading Guilty Immediately Instead of Fighting the Feds46:38 - Cooperating with the Government: Giving Up the Casinos49:21 - Paying $1.7M in Restitution in Full Before Sentencing51:10 - Federal Prison: What It's Actually Like at Lompoc53:05 - How the Shohei Ohtani Connection Actually Happened55:09 - Telling the Feds About Ohtani57:42 - Watching His Name Break on SportsCenter58:49 - Why He Believes Ohtani Didn't Personally Place the Bets59:59 - The $16.2 Million Question1:13:15 - Going from $1.5M a Month to 0: Writing the Book During the Indictment1:14:43 - What's Next: Public Speaking, Books, Building a Community1:16:28 - Current Terms: Probation, Gamblers Anonymous, Drug Dealer Classes1:20:07 - Does He Miss Gambling?1:21:17 - The Super Bowl Bet: $4.2M on Chiefs vs. Eagles, $9.2M Swing in 3 Hours1:23:38 - His Wife as the Reason He Stopped
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