Rise Above with Kevin Lanning
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.
Episodes
August 12, 2025 • 58 mins
Keesha’s journey is one of resilience, heartbreak, and purpose. After battling alcoholism, losing her husband to a drug overdose, and raising twins alone, she turned her pain into a mission — helping teens and families struggling with addiction and mental health.
In this powerful interview, Keesha shares:
How she got sober after years of destructive drinking
The devastating day her husband relapsed and passed away
Parenting twi...
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August 10, 2025 • 42 mins
Brittany’s life spiraled from anxiety-filled childhood to a devastating descent into addiction. After surviving sexual coercion in high school, she turned to stripping, entered an abusive relationship, and was introduced to fentanyl. Soon, she was homeless, living in a van with her dealer, surrounded by children watching their parents shoot up, and caught in the middle of a motel shootout.This is her raw, unfiltered story — from do...
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August 8, 2025 • 73 mins
In this raw and unfiltered interview, Matt Stoddard opens up about his journey through addiction, from his traumatic childhood to a life spiraling out of control with pain pills, OxyContin, and Fentanyl. He shares his darkest moments, including playing "Russian roulette" with his life, hitting rock bottom, and finding his way to recovery. With brutal honesty, Matt reveals the mental and physical toll of addiction, his struggles wit...
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August 6, 2025 • 63 mins
Ben was s*xually abused at age 10 by a trusted camp counselor. That trauma led him to heroin by 16, methadone addiction, and eventually losing custody of his son. But through God's grace, relentless 12-step work, and a fierce desire to help others, Ben got clean—and stayed clean for 14 years. In this raw interview, he shares how he went from shooting up daily and nearly dying from withdrawal… to adopting a child whose mother overdo...
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August 4, 2025 • 67 mins
Tom grew up in a small Pennsylvania town, raised by a single father after his mother abandoned him and his sister. By 13, he was drinking. By 25, he was blacking out, driving drunk, popping benzos, and working high. After a devastating DUI and a near-death experience, Tom got on a plane to Florida—and never looked back. Now over 14 years sober, he’s a father, a son, a podcast host, and the man who helped his long-lost sister into r...
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July 31, 2025 • 72 mins
Dina grew up excelling in school and sports — but behind the scenes, she was spiraling. Expelled from multiple schools, battling attention-seeking behavior, and drawn to chaos, her life took a dark turn into opiate addiction. She lived a double life, fooling friends, family, and even herself — until her parents made the hardest decision of their lives: to cut her off and have her arrested.What followed was a brutal detox, a terrify...
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July 30, 2025 • 69 mins
Zach was addicted to porn for over a decade — a secret he hid while building a successful career and life overseas. His sex addiction escalated into dark, isolating patterns that he couldn’t escape — until he hit a breaking point. In this raw and revealing interview, Zach opens up about the childhood traumas, depression, and validation-seeking that fed his addiction.Now over 9 years sober, Zach is the founder of Open Recovery, an i...
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July 27, 2025 • 77 mins
Ricki Friedman was prescribed Adderall at just 7 years old. After losing her mom to cancer at 13, she battled decades of emotional pain, a secret marijuana addiction, and an identity built around medication. Despite creating a successful brand and coaching thousands through “Break the Weight,” Ricki was silently crumbling.
In this raw and unfiltered interview, Ricki opens up about living a double life, her decision to quit weed an...
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July 25, 2025 • 52 mins
Sheila spent years as a top critical‑care nurse, running ICU floors and even traveling coast to coast as a contract RN. But after a brutal ankle injury and two surgeries, legitimate pain management morphed into a secret prescription racket. Sheila reveals how she ran a telehealth practice from her home, writing pain‑killer scripts for herself—and even family members—until the medical board caught her and stripped her license. In th...
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At just 9 years old, Eric watched a man strangle his mother with a phone cord—the same man who later became a convicted serial killer. That moment shaped his entire life. From martial arts champion to nightclub enforcer, to losing his wife to a terminal illness, and ending up homeless and suicidal—Eric’s story is raw, powerful, and ultimately redemptive.In this gripping episode, Eric opens up about addiction, grief, violence, and h...
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July 21, 2025 • 52 mins
At just 19 years old, Andrew’s life imploded after selling weed to an undercover cop and spending 30 days in jail. What followed was a six-year spiral into OxyContin, heroin, and IV drug use that nearly killed him—literally. On Christmas Eve, after a near-fatal overdose, his life changed forever.In this raw and inspiring episode, Andrew opens up about:Growing up in Jersey and the trauma of divorceHow college freedom led to experime...
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July 19, 2025 • 46 mins
Maddee was prescribed 300 oxycodone 30s a month after a minor injury. What followed was years of addiction, jail time for marijuana DUIs, a suicide attempt, and being told she had 8 years of prison hanging over her head. But when rock bottom came, she made a decision that would change her life forever.Now 10 years clean, Maddee shares how jail saved her life, how journaling and prayer helped her stay off opiates, and what it means ...
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July 15, 2025 • 82 mins
At 25, Michael Barschi was crippled by anxiety, drowning in addiction, and secretly planning to end it all. Today, he's 22 years sober, a father of three, and one of the most respected therapists in the recovery space.In this powerful episode, I sit down with the man who helped me through my first year of sobriety—my former social worker, Michael Barschi. We talk about his darkest moments: the shame of dropping out of law school, s...
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July 12, 2025 • 97 mins
Kat Sorensen (@socalkattt) drank for the first time at age 7, blacked out by 13, and was married and cheating by her early 20s — all while hiding her addiction behind a successful career. But when her double life nearly cost her everything, she surrendered to recovery and found purpose in helping others.Now, 9.5 years sober, Kat shares how she went from suicidal thoughts and secret drug use to launching a global sober community, bu...
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July 10, 2025 • 90 mins
Robert was born into chaos—raised by a controlling mother, traumatized by his father’s suicide at 8, and conditioned to seek validation in everything but himself. After achieving 10 years sober, he relapsed and spiraled, losing his business, wife, and—most painfully—custody of his daughter. But in the ashes of devastation, Robert found God, healing, and a new identity.In this raw, unfiltered interview, Robert opens up about childho...
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Louis grew up in privilege—but addiction doesn’t discriminate. In this raw and emotional interview, he opens up about getting arrested, battling drug and gambling addictions, and testifying in a high-profile murder trial involving his former best friend. From being publicly shamed in the press to rebuilding his life through sobriety, Louis shares how he broke a generational curse and stepped into fatherhood, service, and peace.This...
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Krystal’s story is nothing short of incredible. Her father immigrated to America from Nigeria with just $20 in his pocket and walked miles to enroll in college—on the last possible day. Years later, Krystal faced a defining moment of her own: she walked away from medical school against her family’s wishes, lied about it for months, and hustled her way from sleeping on a friend’s couch to landing a job at Spotify.In this episode of ...
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Paul Hutchinson was a billionaire real estate mogul living a life of luxury—until one phone call changed everything. He went undercover to infiltrate a child sex resort being built by a cartel, and what he witnessed would alter the course of his life forever. In this gripping interview, Paul exposes the brutal reality of child trafficking, the addictions and trauma behind it, and how he made rescuing children his life’s mission.Thi...
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July 1, 2025 • 103 mins
Chris Olson was a straight-A student at an elite boarding school when he took his first ADHD pill—and it changed everything. What started as prescription meds quickly escalated to Vyvanse, Adderall, benzos, and eventually intravenous heroin and cocaine. By 21, he was prescribed 6mg of Klonopin a day and using over 100 Xanax bars weekly. At 25, on a solo hike in the South of France, Chris had a spiritual awakening that changed the t...
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Rodney grew up surrounded by addiction, violence, and heartbreak. By 12, he was stealing food to survive. By 14, he was being paid to carry out violent crimes. He faced multiple life sentences—including for a kidnapping—and spiraled into a world of crack cocaine, street justice, and desperation while trying to save his mother from her own addiction.
But this is not where his story ends.
Rodney opens up about the drive-by shooting...
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