Get a Grip Podcast

In this deeply emotional and unflinchingly honest episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Nicole Kaufmann to tell a story that cuts straight to the core of trauma, addiction, and survival.Nicole’s journey begins in a chaotic childhood marked by instability and exposure to substance abuse at home—including the haunting memory of her mother taking an entire bottle of Valium. From a young age, Nicole ...

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig flips the script and sits down with co-host Aaron Garnes to uncover the full story behind the man listeners hear every week.Aaron takes it all the way back to his childhood, shaped by chaos, survival, and the shadow of his father’s past—smuggling heroin during Vietnam and living a life that blurred the line between hustle and instability. From loan shar...

In this gripping episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Rob Schilder for a raw, unfiltered conversation that traces the full arc of addiction—from early pain to full-blown chaos.Rob opens up about his childhood, shaped heavily by his father’s battle with cancer, and how that emotional weight followed him into his teenage years. What started as experimenting with drugs and alcohol in high school qu...

In this powerful episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig sits down with Jake Knappy to unpack a raw and unfiltered story of addiction, chaos, and ultimately redemption.Jake takes us all the way back to his childhood before diving into the moment everything began to spiral—using meth for three straight weeks in high school and quickly falling into a pattern of reckless behavior. What follows is a shocking progression through mult...

In this deeply raw and emotional episode of Get a Grip Podcast, hosts Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Alysha Shbasky to share a story that is as heartbreaking as it is powerful.Alysha’s journey into addiction started early—watching her mom misuse opiates and cocaine before she ever touched weed herself. By high school, she was introduced to meth, and by 16, she was already experiencing withdrawal in jail. What followed w...

In this powerful episode of Get a Grip Podcast, hosts Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Cameron Brewster for a raw and unfiltered conversation about a life shaped by trauma, addiction, prison, and ultimately redemption.Cameron opens up about his early childhood, growing up with his father in prison for murder and the instability that led him into the foster care system. As he got older, he found himself chasing money and e...

In this episode of the Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Josh Shaw to unpack a wild story of early crime, addiction, and building an underground empire during the height of the pill mill era.Josh’s journey starts young—getting arrested at just 9 years old, fighting in juvenile detention, and being prescribed high doses of Adderall as a kid. By high school, he was already dealing weed, getting expelled, ...

In this powerful and emotional episode of the Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Shaye Shunkle to share a story that is as heartbreaking as it is inspiring—a journey through addiction, motherhood, chaos, and ultimately, recovery.

Shaye’s story begins with a difficult childhood, born to a mother who was just 15 years old. Growing up surrounded by instability, she was exposed to alcohol and drugs early on, ...

In this intense and unfiltered episode of the Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Matt Wiseman to unpack a life story that is as shocking as it is deeply human.Matt’s journey begins in a chaotic childhood where innocence was stripped away early. He shares what it was like taking his first drink at just 6 years old—forced to grow up fast in an environment filled with trauma, violence, and confusion. As his...

In this powerful and raw episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Vinny Ramirez to uncover a life story that spirals from chaos and survival into addiction, crime, and ultimately redemption.Vinny takes us back to his childhood growing up in East Chicago, where instability was the norm. With nine people packed into one house and violence never far away, he looked up to his older brother while navigat...

Louis takes the conversation beyond the studio and into the streets, sitting down face-to-face with people experiencing homelessness to hear the stories most of us never get to hear. In this raw and unfiltered episode, he speaks with men who are living day-to-day survival, many of them battling serious addiction while navigating life without stability, safety, or support.What quickly becomes clear is that homelessness is far more c...

In this deeply emotional and eye-opening episode, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Marrissa Hibbler to share a story that begins in what many would consider a “normal” upbringing—but quickly unravels into a journey marked by trauma, loss, addiction, and ultimately, resilience.Marrissa takes us back to her early years, opening up about her childhood and the complicated relationship she had with her father. While things may...

In this powerful and unfiltered episode, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Al Savage to unpack a life story that most people couldn’t imagine surviving—let alone coming back from.Al doesn’t hold anything back. From the streets to the system, he walks us through the chaos of a life consumed by addiction, crime, and survival at all costs. What started as substance use quickly spiraled into a relentless cycle of desperation, ...

in this powerful and unfiltered episode of Get A Grip Podcast, the team steps out of the studio and into the streets to uncover the raw, often unseen reality of addiction and homelessness. What unfolds is an eye-opening look at the lives of people many pass by every day—stories that are rarely heard, and even more rarely understood.Through honest, on-the-ground conversations, the team connects with individuals battling addiction in...

In this episode, Chelsea Boggs shares her raw and unfiltered story of addiction, survival, and the long road to recovery.Chelsea opens up about her childhood and how a major family shift shaped her early life. What started as partying on the weekends quickly escalated after experimenting with drugs in her teenage years, leading to the use of Percocets and eventually daily dependence. As her environment changed, so did the severity ...

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Nicole Stull to share a story of survival, pain, and ultimately redemption.Nicole opens up about a childhood marked by unimaginable trauma. Growing up in a home where she was abused by her older brothers in ways no child should ever experience, Nicole spent years carrying the weight of that pain in silence. The emotional scars followed her into a...

In this episode, Emma and Rihanna from The Ohio State University sit down with Louis Essig to hear the powerful story of how a young man from an upper-class community ended up living on the streets in the grip of addiction—and how he fought his way back.Louis grew up in what most would consider a normal, stable environment, but everything began to change after his first drink at 16. What started as typical teenage experimentation q...

In this powerful episode, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Dr. Nicole Labor to hear a story that challenges everything people think they know about addiction, recovery, and redemption.Nicole grew up in a strict household where drugs were something to fear and avoid. But like many stories of addiction, the path didn’t begin where anyone expected. What started with heavy drinking as a teenager eventually led her into the co...

Born into chaos and addiction, McKayla Jodon’s story is one of survival, relapse, and ultimately redemption. In this powerful episode, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with McKayla as she opens up about growing up with a mother who had her at just 14 years old and how instability shaped her early life. What began as a seemingly normal childhood quickly spiraled as McKayla was introduced to drugs at a young age, eventually usin...