Get a Grip Podcast

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Amanda Long to discuss her journey from addiction and chaos to recovery and purpose.Amanda grew up with young parents and describes a childhood that often left her searching for direction and stability. As she entered her teenage years, rebellion became a way of life, leading her down a path of risky decisions and eventually substance abuse.What started with pills quickly escalated into a much more serious addiction. Amanda shares how opioids and heroin took control of her...

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Ashtyn for a brutally honest conversation about addiction, toxic relationships, the adult entertainment industry, and the long road to recovery.Ashtyn's story begins with a difficult childhood and early exposure to situations no young teenager should have to navigate. She opens up about being involved with an 18-year-old when she was only 13, setting the stage for years of unhealthy relationships and destructive decisions.As addiction entered the picture, methamphetamine quickly became a major part of her life. Over time...

In this powerful episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Rich Davenport for a heartbreaking story of childhood trauma, addiction, loss, and recovery.Rich's struggles began at just 5 years old when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. As her health deteriorated, his childhood quickly unraveled, eventually leading him into foster care and a series of emotional battles that few children should ever have to face. By the age of 7 or 8, he was already engaging in self-harm and being admitted to psychiatric hospitals as he searched for a way to cope...

In this unforgettable episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Mickey Mills to share one of the most shocking and inspiring recovery stories ever featured on the show.Born in St. Petersburg, Russia and adopted into the United States, Mickey's life was shaped by trauma from an early age. After losing a close friend to suicide and experiencing abuse, she spiraled into addiction, overdosing on benzodiazepines and experimenting with heroin by just 15 years old.Mickey opens up about homelessness, toxic relationships, living under bridges, moving across the country...

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Isabella Hoover to share a story filled with addiction, betrayal, toxic relationships, family struggles, and ultimately recovery.Isabella's life started with challenges from day one. Born addicted and suffering a stroke as a baby, she faced obstacles long before she could understand them. As a teenager, she was dealt another devastating blow when her mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, sending Isabella deeper into a lifestyle of partying and poor decisions.What followed was a relationship that would completely change...

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Kenny Maupin to talk about how addiction can happen to anyone — even someone who had a good childhood and loving family. Kenny opens up about growing up in a stable home before his parents divorced at a young age, something that quietly affected him more than he realized at the time.What started with marijuana and alcohol eventually progressed into harder drugs and ultimately IV heroin use. Kenny shares how addiction slowly took over his life, changing the way he thought, li...

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Tree Burns for one of the rawest conversations yet. Raised in chaos with a mother addicted to cr4ck and a father constantly in and out of prison, Tree’s childhood spiraled fast. By just 9 years old he was already getting high, running the streets, robbing convenience stores, and getting lit at school while trying to survive a life with no real stability.As the violence, partying, and addiction escalated, Tree found himself in and out of trouble, spending years in DY...

In this intense and brutally honest episode of Get A Grip, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Carl Wilson for one of the most chaotic and emotional conversations the podcast has ever had. Carl takes listeners deep into his past, opening up about a rough childhood filled with instability, violence, and early exposure to addiction. From getting hooked on painkillers in high school to spiraling into harder drugs later in life, Carl tells his story with raw honesty and zero filters.What starts as stories about growing up in a small town quickly turns into...

On this intense and emotional episode of Get a Grip Podcast, hosts Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Brandy Harden for a brutally honest conversation about addiction, trauma, loss, and survival. Brandy opens up about her chaotic upbringing, growing up with her father after her mother left when she was young, and how rebellion and risky behavior began early in her life.From stealing cars in high school to buying a house at just 19 years old, Brandy’s story is full of extreme highs and devastating lows. She shares how toxic relationships and bad decisions pu...

Reading for one of the most raw and honest conversations yet. Matthew opens up about the struggles that shaped his life from an early age, beginning with the devastating loss of his father when he was still a child. Without guidance and dealing with unresolved pain, he found himself searching for acceptance and purpose in all the wrong places.As Matthew shares, that pain eventually led him down a destructive road filled with violence, crime, and poor decisions. What started as a troubled childhood spiraled into robberies, assaults, and nearly a decade spent in prison. Behind bars...

On this episode of the Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Brother Will for an unforgettable conversation about survival, violence, addiction, prison, redemption, and what it really takes to change your life after years of chaos.Brother Will tells his story from the very beginning — growing up in unstable environments, moving from hood to hood, and learning hard lessons at an early age. He opens up about the moment he discovered his father had another family, the emotional impact of finally meeting his real father, and what it was like growing up...

In this intense episode of Get a Grip, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Vinny Walton for one of the most shocking addiction stories ever told on the podcast. From growing up during Florida’s infamous pill epidemic to surviving fentanyl addiction, overdoses, scams, withdrawals, and losing everything — Vinny tells the full truth with nothing held back.Vinny opens up about his chaotic childhood, watching his father spiral into crack and cocaine addiction, and the terrifying moment his dad nearly shot him with a shotgun. He describes growing up in a house flooded with pills during the heig...

In this gripping episode of the Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Ron Don for a raw and unforgettable conversation about addiction, violence, prison, and redemption. Ron opens up about the dark road that led him deep into substance abuse, the choices that nearly destroyed his life, and the moment he almost took another man’s life in a violent encounter that changed everything.From surviving the chaos of addiction to facing the brutal reality of prison, Ron shares the pain, fear, and consequences that came with living on the edge. But this ep...

On this episode of the Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Dustin Ryan for one of the wildest and darkest conversations we’ve had yet. Dustin opens up about growing up surrounded by addiction, chaos, crime, and loss — and how those experiences shaped his life from a young age.From shocking childhood stories and early exposure to drugs and sex, to felony charges, family trauma, and brutal moments from addiction culture, this episode goes deep into the realities most people never see. Dustin shares raw, unfiltered stories about his uncle, life around fentanyl, viol...

In this powerful episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Dion Evans for an unbelievable story of trauma, addiction, prison, and redemption.Dion’s life started with pain early on. After being hit by a drunk driver as a child and suffering traumatic brain injuries that would permanently impact the way he thought and reacted to the world, his life slowly spiraled into chaos. He talks openly about stealing from a young age, battling an identity crisis, and growing up while his family dealt with the heartbreaking reality of his sister being bo...

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Chase Tomak for one of the most intense and unfiltered conversations yet—a story that starts in chaos and somehow finds its way to hope.Chase was born into addiction, entering the world as a crack baby and immediately facing odds stacked against him. By the time he was in 5th grade, he was already being expelled from school, and soon after, thrown into a foster care system that would bounce him through over 40 different homes. What he experienced inside those homes is ha...

In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Brandon Muth for one of the most intense and eye-opening conversations yet—a story marked by trauma, addiction, violence, and ultimately, transformation.Brandon’s life started with chaos early on, including a near-fatal accident where he was hit by a dump truck as a child, followed by another serious injury not long after. Pain, both physical and mental, became a recurring theme—and by 16, drugs and alcohol had already taken hold.What follows is a rapid descent. Brandon shares how his addiction escalated into r...

In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Tyler James to tell a story that starts in a quiet small town and spirals into a life consumed by addiction, chaos, and survival.Tyler opens up about his early years, growing up in a place where not much seemed out of the ordinary—until he was introduced to Hydrocodone at 17. What started as experimentation quickly escalated, leading him to Chicago where everything changed. He shares the intense and painful reality of using for the first time intravenously, including missing veins and learning th...

In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Michael Larkin to unpack a story that starts in the heat and chaos of Miami and winds its way through addiction, consequences, and ultimately, recovery.Michael takes us back to his early years growing up in Miami, where experimenting started young—first with weed, then quickly escalating into harder substances. He shares what it was like walking into something as normal as an English class while high on cocaine, and how fast that lifestyle became normalized. What begins as curiosity turns into patterns, in...

In this powerful and deeply unsettling episode of the Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Brittany Hanson to uncover a story that is as heartbreaking as it is eye-opening. From the very beginning, Brittany’s life was shaped by instability and danger—growing up without her father and being exposed at a young age to environments no child should ever experience. What follows is a chain of events that pulls her deeper into trauma, survival, and ultimately, addiction.Brittany shares what it was like living under the same roof as a preda...