Andrew shares what happened when he learned he was HIV-positive on Christmas Day and how the loss of family support affected his mental health. He speaks honestly about using alcohol and drugs to numb his pain, surviving a suicide attempt on his 30th birthday, and making the decision to pursue a different life.

Together, Andrew and Will discuss the meaning of U=U, undetectable equals untransmittable, the importance of regular HIV testing, and the shame people still experience surrounding sexual health. Andrew also describes his advocacy work with George House Trust, his training in integrative psychotherapy, and his plans to support people living with HIV and members of the queer community through his private practice.

Andrew also introduces his forthcoming book, Unbreakable: Rising with HIV, A Journey of Resilience, Determination and Triumph, and offers a message of courage, community, and hope to anyone facing a new diagnosis or feeling alone.

Connect with Andrew Liam Oakes:

Instagram: instagram.com/andrewliamoakes

Facebook: facebook.com/andrew.liam.944

Learn more about George House Trust:

ght.org.uk

Content advisory: This episode includes discussions of HIV, sexual health, family rejection, alcohol and drug use, suicidal thoughts, and a suicide attempt. Listener discretion is advised.

Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will is provided for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute clinical advice, counseling, diagnosis, or treatment.

Want to be a guest? Email therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com.

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Together, Dallas, Nick, and Will examine the needs that can exist beneath the behavior, including belonging, validation, intimacy, escape, and relief from rejection or internalized stigma. They discuss how meth and sex can become connected in the brain, how smartphones and dating apps can provide immediate access to old patterns, and how secrecy can allow those patterns to continue. Dallas offers practical guidance on telling someone, limiting digital access, building a specific accountability team, preparing for high-risk periods, and developing a clear vision for life in recovery.

The conversation also explores learning how to experience sexuality without substances. Dallas discusses reconnecting with the body, challenging beliefs about sober sex, communicating boundaries, rebuilding intimacy, and grieving the subculture, rituals, hiding places, and identity someone may leave behind. Nick and Will share candid reflections from their own experiences with triggers, relationships, fear, shame, and finding connection through honesty.

Follow Dallas Bragg on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/drdallasbragg

For more information on Dallas Bragg, visit https://www.recoveryalchemy.org/

This is an explicit and deeply personal conversation about recovery, sexuality, identity, and the importance of creating support that understands the full experience.

Content advisory: This episode includes explicit discussions of methamphetamine use, sexual behavior, pornography, stigma, and recovery. Listener discretion is advised.

Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will is provided for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute clinical advice, counseling, diagnosis, or treatment.

Want to be a guest? Send an email to therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

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For Podcast Merch: https://colorsacrossthesky.printful.me/

In this episode of Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will, Nick Fantozzi and Will Cashman sit down with the Honorable Judge Joy Malek Oldfield of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Joy presides over the Turning Point Program, Summit County’s felony drug court, and has devoted much of her judicial career to advancing recovery-focused approaches within the criminal justice system.

Judge Joy explains why participating in drug court is far from an “easy way out.” The program combines intensive supervision and meaningful accountability with substance use treatment, random drug testing, peer support, mental health care, regular court appearances, and assistance with education, employment, housing, and other areas of life.

The conversation explores individualized care, trauma, stages of change, relapse risk, recovery housing, employment barriers, and the need to meet each person where they are. Nick and Will also share their experiences with court involvement, treatment, and rebuilding their lives after addiction.

Together, they discuss how recovery-focused courts can improve public safety, reduce recidivism, strengthen communities, and give people an opportunity to build lives they are proud of. Judge Joy also shares the successes and losses that have shaped her work, the importance of strong community partnerships, and why every person who enters her courtroom deserves to feel seen and heard.

She closes the conversation with a powerful message for anyone facing a difficult moment: give yourself 24 hours. Feelings can change, and allowing time before making a life-altering decision may create the space needed to choose differently.

This episode includes conversations about substance use, overdose, incarceration, trauma, grief, and recovery. Listener discretion is advised.

Learn more about the Turning Point Program:
https://www.summitcpcourt.net/adult-probation/specialty-supervision-units/the-turning-point-program/

Follow Judge Joy Malek Oldfield on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/judgejoyoldfield

Read Judge Joy Malek Oldfield’s official judicial profile:
https://www.summitcpcourt.net/judges/honorable-judge-joy-malek-oldfield/

Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will is intended for entertainment purposes only. The conversations shared on this podcast should not be considered clinical, medical, mental health, substance use treatment, or legal advice. This podcast does not provide counseling or establish a professional relationship.

Guest Inquiries: therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook! facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

Soberfest gave us the chance to meet listeners, hear incredible stories, and connect with people at every stage of recovery. Some had years behind them. Others had three days or even twelve hours. Those conversations reminded us why we keep showing up, sharing our stories, and creating space for people to feel seen.

Then things get a little heavier during our recovery check-in. Will talks openly about accountability, depression, obsessive thinking, beating himself up, and learning how to face difficult consequences while continuing to move forward. Nick shares how his demanding work schedule has affected his meeting attendance and why that change has made him nervous.

That leads us into a very unfiltered conversation about the many pathways to recovery. Meetings, sponsorship, the Steps, peer support, faith, sober living, community, or simply picking up the phone when life gets heavy can all play a role. Recovery looks different for everyone, and whatever helps you keep moving forward deserves room in the conversation.

We also preview our upcoming episodes, talk about the incredible guests joining us, and look ahead to Blue Water Recovery Outreach Center’s Recovery Fest in Port Huron, Michigan.

And since some of you have already chosen a favorite host, our official Team Will and Team Nick T-shirts are available now! Pick your team, wear it proudly, and prepare to defend your decision.

Grab yours at https://colorsacrossthesky.printful.me/.

This episode is funny, emotional, scattered, honest, and completely unfiltered. Come hang out with us, laugh at the chaos, and join a conversation about what recovery looks like in real life.

What does recovery look like for you today?

Content note: This episode includes mature language and discussions of addiction, depression, and suicide loss.

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Want to be a guest on the show?

therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will is presented by Colors Across The Sky LLC : www.colorsacrossthesky.com/podcast

Ray and Nancy remember Nick as a happy, strong child before describing the secrecy, unusual behavior, disappearances, damaged trust, and frightening phone calls that slowly revealed something deeper was happening. They speak openly about denial, the constant fear that Nick might be dead or in jail, and the painful realization that they could support him without controlling when he chose recovery.

The conversation explores enabling, boundaries, treatment attempts, rebuilding trust, and the years addiction took from their family. When Nick asks what his addiction personally cost them, the answer is simple and devastating: time. That truth opens a larger discussion about missed holidays, family photographs, broken relationships, personal responsibility, and learning to appreciate the time recovery has returned.

Through painful memories, unexpected humor, and genuine love, Ray and Nancy offer a message for parents who may feel frightened, isolated, or unsure where to turn. Family members need support, education, and recovery too.

Content note: This episode contains frank discussions of substance use, overdose risk, family trauma, and addiction.

Follow Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will:

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Guest inquiries:

therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will is intended to inform, educate, uplift, and share lived experiences. It does not provide clinical advice or counseling.

If you or someone you know needs immediate emotional support, call or text 988. For treatment information and referrals, contact the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit https://findtreatment.gov.

As the great-grandson of legendary songwriter Irving Berlin, Benjamin grew up surrounded by music, words, privilege, and expectation. Addiction eventually carried him from private schools and promising opportunities into opioid dependence, crack cocaine use, needles, withdrawal, and the daily desperation of trying to avoid getting sick. He shares how his identity became intertwined with substances and how his music once helped him maintain a fictional version of his life.

Recovery forced Benjamin’s music to become honest. He opens up about his early connection with Mac Miller, the impact of Mac’s death, and the decision to combine classical piano with raw lyrics about addiction and recovery. That creative risk eventually led him to a Vermont recording studio, professional opportunities, and a platform capable of reaching people who may still be searching for a way out.

The conversation also explores privilege, rebuilding trust with family, fatherhood, faith, harm reduction, medication-assisted treatment, multiple pathways of recovery, and the proposed restrictions surrounding 7-OH. Benjamin offers his perspective on the risks of abruptly removing a substance from people who have developed dependence without creating accessible treatment and support.

Above everything, this episode is about freedom. As Benjamin puts it, recovery is “waking up free.” He closes with a powerful message for anyone who feels trapped by heroin, fentanyl, crack cocaine, 7-OH, alcohol, or another substance: the fear, discomfort, guilt, and shame you’re carrying can become fuel for the life ahead of you.

You are already enough, and you have what it takes.

Learn more about Benjamin Lerner:
https://benjaminlerner.com/

Follow Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will on Facebook:
https://facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

Interested in joining us as a guest?
Email: therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, SAMHSA’s National Helpline provides free, confidential treatment information and referrals 24 hours a day at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). You can also visit https://findtreatment.gov.

If you are experiencing a mental health, suicide, or substance-use crisis, call or text 988 to connect with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Support is available 24/7.

Content note: This episode contains candid discussions of substance use, overdose, withdrawal, death, and recovery.

For more than three weeks, depression has affected Will’s motivation, creativity, sleep, and ability to complete work that matters deeply to him. It tells him his videos have no value, his writing isn’t good enough, and the podcast episodes waiting to be edited aren’t worth finishing. Those thoughts then follow him into his work on the podcast and his writing collaboration with Dr. Nicole Labor.

Will also examines the amount he has taken on since getting clean, including releasing Colors Across the Sky, launching Recovery: Unfiltered, working in recovery advocacy, planning events, and beginning another book project. These were dreams he intentionally created for himself, but bringing several of them to life at once has carried a physical and emotional cost.

The conversation explores burnout, perfectionism, the tendency to measure recovery through productivity, and Will’s fear that sitting still means becoming complacent. He also discusses severe sleep disruption, nightmares, becoming afraid to fall asleep, and the cycle of exhaustion that made his depression even harder to manage.

This is an honest check-in from the middle of depression. Will shares what he is learning about rest, asking for help, adjusting his pace, protecting the dreams he has built, and continuing to move forward without allowing a difficult season to become a permanent home.

This episode includes discussions of depression, nightmares, negative self-talk, and suicide. Please listen with care. The experiences and opinions shared on this podcast are intended to inform, encourage conversation, and help others feel less alone. They aren’t a substitute for professional medical or mental health care.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis in the United States, call or text 988. If there is immediate danger, contact emergency services or go to the nearest emergency department.

This episode asks a question many of us carry long after the relationship has ended, the substance is gone, or the hardest part appears to be over: Am I allowed to move on?

Joining us is Christina Sophia Ramirez, a photographer, former speech-language pathologist, creator of the Rage Project, and the photographer behind the cover of Colors Across the Sky: A Journey of Hope.

Together, we talk about guilt, grief, identity, codependency, neurodivergence, relationships, recovery, and what it takes to finally release the weight we’ve been pushing uphill. We explore how anger can be expressed safely, how love can exist from a distance, and how moving forward can make room for something meaningful to grow from what we leave behind.

This episode includes open discussions of substance use, trauma, suicide, disability, and loss. Please listen with care. The experiences and opinions shared on this podcast are intended to inform, educate, and encourage conversation. They aren’t a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 in the United States.

Find Christina on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ramichristina

Follow Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will!

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Would you like to be a guest on the show? therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

For Sponsorship Opportunities, visit https://www.colorsacrossthesky.com/sponsor-recovery-unfiltered

Based in Long Island, New York, Rescuing Families is a family-run nonprofit that repairs, renovates, and modifies homes for families facing disabilities and financial hardship. Their work creates safer, more accessible living spaces while restoring dignity, independence, stability, and hope.

Gina brings her experience as a master carpenter, designer, caregiver, and disability advocate. Vinny combines construction expertise with a lifetime of caregiving and service, including his experience as an FDNY EMT. Roger contributes hands-on support and the clinical insight he has developed as a registered nurse and through years of working alongside people with developmental disabilities.

Together, they share the deeply personal experiences that shaped their mission and discuss:

• The difference between a code-compliant home and one that is genuinely accessible
• The emotional and financial challenges families and caregivers face
• How unsafe living conditions can affect dignity, independence, and quality of life
• The power of volunteers, donors, businesses, and communities working together
• The creation of the Family to the Rescue docuseries
• Their vision for reaching and serving even more families

This conversation speaks directly to the heart of recovery: rebuilding after hardship, restoring what has been lost, accepting support, and ensuring that people facing overwhelming circumstances know they haven’t been forgotten.

Community. Love. Restoration. This is Family to the Rescue.

Connect with Family to the Rescue

Website: familytotherescue.org
Rescuing Families, Inc.: rescuingfamilies.org
Facebook: facebook.com/familytotherescue
Instagram: instagram.com/familytotherescue
YouTube: youtube.com/c/FamilytotheRescue

Connect with Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will

Facebook: Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will

Interested in becoming a guest? Email therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com.

Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will is intended for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes. Nothing shared in this episode should be considered clinical advice, counseling, diagnosis, or treatment.

For substance-use support, contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

James shares how relapse, incarceration, treatment, community connection, and a willingness to change shaped his recovery. He also explains what peer support looks like in practice: walking beside someone as they establish goals, navigate recovery services, rebuild everyday life, and regain independence.

Nick, Will, and James discuss the boundaries of peer support, recovery housing, family support without enabling, balancing advocacy with accountability, professional burnout, warm handoffs between organizations, and the gaps that remain in housing, transportation, insurance, mental health services, and continuity of care.

For anyone struggling, James offers a powerful message: “Give yourself a break and give yourself a chance. It’s greater on this side.”

Learn more about ARC Recovery Services in Akron, Ohio:
https://www.arcrecoveryservices.com/

Follow Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will:
https://facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

Follow Colors Across The Sky:
https://facebook.com/colorsacrossthesky

Interested in becoming a guest on Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will? Reach out!
therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

NEED SUPPORT?

For mental health or substance-use information and treatment referrals, contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). This free and confidential service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

If you’re experiencing emotional distress, a mental health or substance-use crisis, or thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 or visit the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Free, confidential support is available 24/7.

This episode is filled with real conversation, hard-earned perspective, and a powerful reminder that every recovery story deserves to be heard.

On a personal note, what an honor it was to have Brittany join us. <3

Connect with Brittany Townsend:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brittany.townsend.5686
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@boldbrittenergy

Follow Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered clinical or medical advice. If you or someone you love needs help with substance use or mental health, please contact a qualified professional or local crisis resource.

Need Help?

For free, confidential treatment referrals and information about mental health or substance use disorders, contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Help is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

If you’re experiencing emotional distress, a mental health crisis, or thoughts of suicide, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Free, confidential support is available 24/7. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.

In Episode 9, Nick and Will sit down with Pej of Pej Interventions and Peji’s Recovery Corner for an honest conversation about the person behind the work. Pej shares his recovery journey, who he was before recovery, and what inspired him to help individuals and families find a path toward treatment and healing.

Together, they explore the realities of intervention, the myth that someone must hit rock bottom, and the difficult line between supporting a loved one and enabling them. They also discuss boundaries, rebuilding trust, choosing ethical treatment, continuing care, relapse, and the role families play throughout the recovery process.

This is a candid conversation about addiction, family recovery, and holding onto hope during some of life’s most difficult moments.

Learn more about Pej and his work at www.pejinterventions.com.

Find Recovery Unfiltered with Nick and Will on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

Want to be a guest? Email: therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

Want to sponsor us? Check out:

https://www.colorsacrossthesky.com/sponsor-recovery-unfiltered

Disclaimer: Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The experiences and opinions shared by the hosts and guests do not constitute medical, mental health, substance-use, or other clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not establish a counselor-client or provider-patient relationship. Always seek guidance from a qualified professional regarding your individual needs.

If you or someone you know needs support, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. For substance-use treatment information and referrals, contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit FindTreatment.gov. If there is an immediate danger or medical emergency, call 911.

In this raw and deeply personal conversation, Hunter shares how alcohol and substance use led him through homelessness, organized crime, repeated arrests, 19 treatment admissions, 13 felony charges, and the possibility of eight years in prison. He opens up about the stranger who showed him compassion at one of his lowest moments, the tough love that changed his relationship with his father, and the faith and Narcotics Anonymous community that helped him build a new life.

Now approaching five years in recovery, Hunter is a union ironworker, R&B singer, rapper, worship-team member, and part of the musical group 2Fluent. He discusses rebuilding trust, working the Twelve Steps, taking personal accountability, and transforming painful experiences into music that helps others heal.

This is a story about consequences, surrender, faith, family, second chances, and the small daily choices that make lasting recovery possible.

Find Hunter Carneal on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/hunter.carneal.2025

2Fluent: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560002662007

2Fluent on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5AYYWcl9xFh98nIzBMJIFC?si=75am75hAQ0mVjOP80jp44w

Content notice: This episode includes discussion of substance use, suicidal thoughts, criminal activity, withdrawal, incarceration, and family separation.

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therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

We also share personal updates, give listeners a chance to learn more about who we are beyond the podcast, and explain what’s changing behind the scenes. Expect honesty, laughter, questionable side conversations, and plenty of unfiltered chaos.

Coming next week, Pej from Pej’s Interventions joins us for Episode 8 to discuss what interventions really look like, who Pej was before recovery, and who he has become since finding recovery.

Want to be a guest on the show? Email us!

therecoveryunfilteredpodcast@gmail.com

Facebook:

facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

This Podcast is presented by Colors Across The Sky LLC

facebook.com/colorsacrossthesky

Pej Interventions:

https://pejinterventions.com/

In Episode 6 of Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will, we step into one of our rawest conversations yet: Disagreement, Disrespect, and Power: When “Just My Opinion” Causes Harm.

We explore why disagreements feel so personal, how ego and identity create power struggles, and how politics, religion, LGBTQIA+ issues, family conflict, recovery pathways, stigma, and cancel culture test our ability to remain open-minded. We also discuss boundaries, accountability, acceptance, “I” statements, and the willingness to truly listen when another person’s perspective makes us uncomfortable.

This episode enters difficult territory, including whether treatment, accountability, and the capacity for change can coexist after serious harm. Some listeners will strongly disagree with us—and that is part of the conversation.

Where does disagreement end and disrespect begin?

Patreon:

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facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

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The JADFA House of Akron

www.thejadfahouse.org

ARC Recovery Services
arcrecoveryservices.com

Colors Across The Sky: A Journey of Hope by Will Cashman

https://a.co/d/05ZyenUw

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colors-across-the-sky-will-cashman/1150219383?ean=9798256380700

In this episode of Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will, we are joined by Caleigh Hoskins, CEO of Skypoint Recovery, to examine what quality addiction treatment should look like from the moment someone enters a program through discharge and continued care.

Caleigh shares her personal recovery story, her experience building a treatment organization, and why client care must remain the foundation of every clinical and operational decision. Together, we discuss individualized treatment planning, staff qualifications, trauma-informed intake practices, case management, mental health services, life-skills development, community connection, and the importance of preparing people for life beyond the structured treatment environment.

We also confront disparities and ethical concerns within addiction care, including insurance companies limiting treatment duration, assembly-line programming, unsafe discharge practices, inadequate warm handoffs, and treatment environments that prioritize reimbursement over recovery.

The conversation takes a direct look at the barriers LGBTQIA+ individuals may encounter when seeking treatment or recovery housing. We discuss respectful intake practices, gender identity, privacy, trauma, inclusive housing options, family rejection, and the responsibility programs have to connect people with safe and appropriate services when their own resources are limited.

Effective treatment requires more than groups, paperwork, and drug testing. It requires qualified and compassionate staff, individualized clinical care, ethical leadership, accountability, human connection, and a commitment to helping every person build a sustainable life in recovery.

Content notice: This episode includes discussions of addiction, overdose, sexual assault, abusive relationships, incarceration, trauma, relapse, and discrimination.

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Facebook:

facebook.com/therecoveryunfilteredpodcast

facebook.com/colorsacrossthesky

The JADFA House of Akron

www.thejadfahouse.org

Skypoint: skypointrecovery.com

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colors-across-the-sky-will-cashman/1150219383?ean=9798256380700

The conversation challenges sponsors, peers, treatment providers, recovery-house staff, and members of the recovery community to speak up when they witness predatory or manipulative behavior.

Newcomers deserve the space to recover, build meaningful connections, and learn how to stand on their own two feet without being targeted by someone who understands their vulnerability.

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Check Us Out on Facebook!

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The JADFA House of Akron

www.thejadfahouse.org

Colors Across the Sky: A Journey of Hope by Will Cashman

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colors-across-the-sky-will-cashman/1150219383?ean=9798256380700

https://a.co/d/0gwysdlw

We discuss what codependency actually is, how it develops, and why behaviors that appear caring or supportive can become unhealthy when they are driven by fear, guilt, control, validation-seeking, or the need to feel needed. We explore people-pleasing, enabling, self-abandonment, difficulty setting boundaries, and taking responsibility for another person’s emotions, choices, or recovery.

Nick and Will also examine the connection between codependency and addiction, including how the brain can become conditioned to seek validation, emotional intensity, and relationship-based reassurance. Most importantly, we discuss how boundaries, personal accountability, and a stronger sense of self can support healthier relationships and long-term recovery.

Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Follow Recovery: Unfiltered with Nick and Will for new episodes, clips, guest announcements, and conversations about the parts of recovery that often go unspoken.

We are on Patreon! We'd appreciate your support!

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Colors Across The Sky: A Journey of Hope

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Kmani shares the personal experiences that led him to begin this journey, including depression, suicide attempts, hospitalization, trauma, bullying, and the ongoing work of understanding his own mental health. He discusses the role faith plays in his life, the physical and emotional challenges of walking 10 to 20 miles a day, and the moment he nearly ended the journey after experiencing a mental health crisis and medical emergency.

The conversation explores mental health stigma, neurodivergence, asking for help, finding purpose, and the importance of meeting people with compassion rather than judgment. Kmani also reflects on the strangers who have supported him, what the walk is teaching him about courage and determination, and the message he hopes others carry with them: believe in yourself, take the next step, and keep moving forward.

Follow Kmani's journey on Instagram and YouTube, and consider supporting his walk through the GoFundMe link included with this episode.

This episode includes discussion of suicide, sexual assault, trauma, depression, and mental health crises.

Listener discretion is advised.

Kmani's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-my-walk-from-akron-ohio-to-san-diego

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kmanicarr/

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/TickerKmani?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=e3e1c6ac-5e5c-475c-9e34-063d3a80f847