Rise Above with Kevin Lanning

Ava Fox opens up about the dark reality behind the modeling industry and the pressure to drink, party, and use drugs just to survive in the entertainment world.

In this episode of Rise Above with Kevin Lanning, Ava shares how she grew up largely on her own, started drinking at just 12 years old, and fell into a lifestyle surrounded by drugs, older crowds, and a reckless party culture. As she entered the modeling industry, she saw firsthand how alcohol, cocaine, and networking culture were deeply embedded in the business.

After years of chaos, health scares, and watching others lose themselves to addiction, Ava made a life-changing decision to walk away from it all. She quit drinking, changed her entire lifestyle, strengthened her faith, and has now been sober for 11 years.

This is a powerful conversation about independence, addiction, boundaries, healing, and what it takes to choose a different path when the entire industry pushes you in the opposite direction.

#sobriety #addictionrecovery #modelingindustry #recoveryjourney #riseabovepodcast

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Nicky Santora grew up in Staten Island surrounded by addiction, chaos, and loss. When he was just 15 years old, he found his mother dead after an overdose from Percocet and OxyContin.

What followed was years of destruction.

He started with weed and cocaine as a kid… then moved to Roxy blues, Xanax, and eventually heroin. Within months he was shooting heroin, robbing houses, stealing air conditioners out of windows, and overdosing.

At his lowest point, Nicky was homeless, facing multiple arrests, and eventually landed inside Rikers Island, where violence and drugs were everywhere.

But somehow, he made it out.

Today Nicky is over 10 years sober, a father of three, and a rising comedian who uses his brutally honest story to help others battling addiction.

This is a raw conversation about addiction, recovery, prison, and rebuilding a life when everyone thinks you're finished.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, stories like this prove that recovery is possible.

#addictionrecovery #heroinaddiction #soberstory #recoveryjourney #rikersisland #opioidcrisis #recoverypodcast #riseabove

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Kira looked like the “good kid.”
3.8 GPA. Band. Job. Involved in everything.

Behind the scenes, she was self-harming at 12, drinking at 12, snorting ketamine in the school bathroom, selling alcohol through her locker, and attempting suicide multiple times.

At 18, she shaved her head, stopped showering, lived with strangers, and drove 12 hours to Georgia to move in with a man she met online… before barely escaping.

Her true rock bottom?
A little kid knocking on a drug dealer’s bedroom door asking for his dad.

That moment changed everything.

Today, Kira is 6+ years clean and sober, graduated from Michigan State, worked in Child Protective Services, and is now pursuing her Master’s in Social Work.

This episode is about addiction that doesn’t look “broken,” mental health, grooming, suicide attempts, recovery at 18, and how contentment—not happiness—is the real goal.

If you’re struggling, there is hope. Stay.

#AddictionRecovery #MentalHealthAwareness #SobrietyJourney #SuicidePrevention #YoungPeopleInRecovery #KetamineAbuse #RecoveryStory #AARecovery

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Logan Houle looked like he had it all.

Triple-A hockey. A long-term girlfriend. Good grades. No major trauma. A “normal” life.

But behind closed doors, he was blacking out daily by 16… flipping his Jeep while drunk at 17… and later—after getting sober—developing a hidden gambling addiction that led him to wager over $3.7 million in just four months.

From stealing from family, draining paychecks in hours, and losing $10,000 in under 60 minutes… to rehab, self-exclusion, faith, and helping the next generation through his podcast New Generation Sobriety — this is one of the most powerful young recovery stories you’ll hear.

Addiction isn’t always drugs.
Sometimes it’s alcohol.
Sometimes it’s gambling.
And sometimes it’s the pain underneath it all.

If you're struggling, you're not alone.

#AddictionRecovery #GamblingAddiction #SobrietyJourney #AlcoholismRecovery #RiseAbove

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Fausto grew up in fear. A narcissistic, abusive father. Sexual abuse at 7 years old. Bullying. Codependency. Addiction to validation.

By 14, he was faking his own death on MySpace, getting 5150’d into a psych ward, drinking Jack Daniel’s daily, and chasing ecstasy just to feel normal.

By his 20s, he was smoking meth, having 3–5 grand mal seizures a day, overdosing on pills, blacking out on cruises, and attempting suicide more than once.

He says alcohol saved his life before it nearly killed him.

But that wasn’t even the end.

In sobriety, he faced betrayal, family deaths, brain aneurysms, EMDR trauma breakthroughs, and a collapse that almost took him out at six years clean.

This is a raw conversation about sexual abuse, addiction, masculinity, forgiveness, service, and protecting your peace.

If you’ve ever felt broken, ashamed, or alone… watch this.

There is purpose in pain.

—

Follow Fausto:
YouTube / IG / TikTok: @HopeDealers

If you’re struggling with addiction or trauma, you are not alone. Reach out. Help exists.

#AddictionRecovery #SobrietyJourney #TraumaHealing #MensMentalHealth #SexualAbuseSurvivor #FromRockBottom #5150 #GrandMalSeizures #AARecovery #RiseAbovePodcast

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