Rise Above with Kevin Lanning

Back by popular demand — Karina Miesner (IG @karina.mies) returns for our second Q&A, where Kevin and Karina answer the questions the audience asks most in the comments. Two people with real long-term recovery talking honestly about the stuff people actually want to know.

In this episode they get into: how you know if you're actually an alcoholic or addict versus someone who just drinks too much, whether you can have a problem if you don't use every day, what's harder — getting sober or learning to live sober, how to handle grief and hard times without picking up, whether you can stay sober and still behave the way you did in active addiction, whether two people in recovery can have a healthy relationship, what to do when someone won't forgive you even after you've changed, and why so many people relapse when things are going well.

Honest, practical, and straight from lived experience — no scripts, just two people sharing what actually worked for them.

Karina will be back to share her full story again soon — drop a comment if you want to hear it. And if you have questions for the next Q&A, leave them in the comments and we'll bring them to the next round.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexa Cunniff never really had a childhood. Raised like what she calls "a gypsy kid" — living in hotels and trucks, on the run from process servers, never setting foot in a classroom until sixth grade — she learned to read off an atlas and grew up around addiction on every side of her family. She was drinking and using by 12, in the clubs by 15, and chasing the "hard stuff" she'd heard glorified her whole life.

Her story runs through a decade-plus of addiction: cocaine and Xanax as a teenager, two kids by 21, and then the drug that truly took her under — Adderall. She describes eating eight to ten pills a day, dropping to 134 pounds, and finally crossing into meth (introduced, unforgettably, by a stranger driving a street sweeper) and then heroin and speedballs. She lost everything, ended up living in her car, and survived things she says by all rights should have landed her in prison or worse.

What finally broke through came on Halloween of 2021 — after a terrifying assault and a night sitting outside a detox for hours waiting to be let in. A clinician she'd never met refused to let her sign herself out, told her she was worth fighting for, and it changed everything. Alexa got sober that day. She later went to work as a peer recovery specialist for the very organization that saved her, and today she's a therapist helping others find the way out.

Alexa Cunniff never really had a childhood. Raised like what she calls "a gypsy kid" — living in hotels and trucks, on the run from process servers, never setting foot in a classroom until sixth grade — she learned to read off an atlas and grew up around addiction on every side of her family. She was drinking and using by 12, in the clubs by 15, and chasing the "hard stuff" she'd heard glorified her whole life.Her story runs through a decade-plus of addiction: cocaine and Xanax as a teenager, two kids by 21, and then the drug that truly took her under — Adderall. She describes eating eight to ten pills a day, dropping to 134 pounds, and finally crossing into meth (introduced, unforgettably, by a stranger driving a street sweeper) and then heroin and speedballs. She lost everything, ended up living in her car, and survived things she says by all rights should have landed her in prison or worse.What finally broke through came on Halloween of 2021 — after a terrifying assault and a night sitting outside a detox for hours waiting to be let in. A clinician she'd never met refused to let her sign herself out, told her she was worth fighting for, and it changed everything. Alexa got sober that day. She later went to work as a peer recovery specialist for the very organization that saved her, and today she's a therapist helping others find the way out.
Sponsored by Caron Treatment Centers

My recovery journey began at Caron Treatment Centers, and the care I received there changed the course of my life. That's why I'm proud to partner with Caron.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, Caron has been helping individuals and families find hope and lasting recovery for nearly 70 years. They are in-network with all major insurance providers, and same-day admission is available.

➡️ Learn more: https://www.caron.org/lp/rise-above

📞 Call Caron today: 855-352-0103

Recovery starts with taking the first step.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the outside, Cassidy Matone had it all together — a makeup artist and bikini bodybuilder from Long Island with her own business. Addiction doesn't discriminate. What started as a single Roxy a friend handed her "to help her sleep" turned into a full-blown opioid addiction, then counterfeit fentanyl pills, and eventually a needle.

Her story runs from the corporate office where a boss left a Roxy on her desk like a morning coffee, through rehabs and relapses, to the streets of Kensington in Philadelphia — one of the epicenters of the opioid crisis. She's unflinchingly honest about the depths: shooting heroin and cocaine together, drug-induced psychosis, and a rock bottom in a trap house that finally broke through. Getting clean nearly killed her — her detox was so severe she went into seizures and was placed in a medically-induced coma for days.

Today Cassidy is over a year sober, has her own apartment for the first time in a decade, and is rebuilding a life she thought was gone. A raw reminder that no one is too far gone.

This Episode Is Sponsored By NOCDA lot of people who've done the hard work of getting sober still struggle with unwanted, intrusive thoughts that bring guilt and shame and keep coming back. For some people, that may be OCD — and in recovery it often goes unrecognized for years because it can look like anxiety or feel like part of the process.

The good news is it's treatable. NOCD is the world's leading provider of OCD treatment, with licensed therapists who specialize in ERP (exposure and response prevention) therapy through live, face-to-face virtual sessions, plus support between sessions. NOCD is covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans.

👉 Book a free 15-minute call at: https://www.treatmyocd.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come behind the scenes on one of the biggest weeks yet for Rise Above. We just launched our merch line — hoodies, sweatshirts, and hats — and every dollar from it goes right back into the podcast to keep spreading the message of hope.

I'm also pulling back the curtain on the business. Two years ago I started this thing not knowing if anyone would watch, and it's grown into something I never imagined — about 112,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 1.1 million followers across all platforms. I just hired a five-person team handling social media, guest bookings, and content, which has finally freed me up to focus on the interviews and new opportunities.

One of those opportunities was surreal: a deal with Paramount. When I started the podcast two years ago, one of my early interviews was with Dr. Nadine, Jordan Belfort's ex-wife. Paramount licensed that content, and when The Real Wolf of Wall Street came out, my phone blew up with people who spotted the clip in the documentary.

Through all of it, the mission hasn't changed. It's become my job and there's real business behind it now, but I keep my 12-step recovery completely separate, and the goal of every single episode is still just to help that one person. God takes care of the rest.

Plus — Lilo update. The Rise Above puppy is 19 weeks now, nearly doubled in size, fully potty trained, and crushing his training.

Thank you for being part of this. Episode six is coming in a few weeks.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kelsey Daniels grew up poor in Connecticut, one of three kids, chasing an athletic scholarship as her whole identity and her only path out. She was molested at eight, sexually assaulted at sixteen, and — in the aftermath — slut-shamed by classmates and even her own family, until she quietly absorbed the belief that the abuse was somehow her fault.

That belief followed her to college, where a professor's offhand pitch about "sugar dating" pulled her into a world she didn't understand until she was deep inside it. What started as a way to feel some control over her own body turned into exploitation, coercion, and being trafficked — passed between men who told her she was owned. For years she saw it as her own doing.

It wasn't. This is the story of how Kelsey came to understand what was actually done to her, how she got out, and how she rebuilt a life and an identity that finally belong to her. Today she's sober, healing, and using her voice so other survivors know it was never their fault — and that there's a way out.

This is a hard, honest conversation about trauma, exploitation, and reclaiming your life.

Sponsored by Caron Treatment Centers

My recovery journey began at Caron Treatment Centers, and the care I received there changed the course of my life. That's why I'm proud to partner with Caron.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, Caron has been helping individuals and families find hope and lasting recovery for nearly 70 years. They are in-network with all major insurance providers, and same-day admission is available.

➡️ Learn more: https://www.caron.org/lp/rise-above

📞 Call Caron today: 855-352-0103

Recovery starts with taking the first step.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices