Matt Nannis (he/him) is the Executive Director at PIVOT Point WNC. He approaches life with pragmatism, integrity, and curiosity.  PIVOT Point WNC approaches treatment in the same way. The program was inspired by his own experience. In this episode of Nature Untold, John talks to Matt about his story and about the process of healing in nature. Matt has some incredible recovery wisdom and this episode is bound to have you deep in thought about your own experiences outside.

In these short episodes, we hear quick answers to quick questions from our monthly guest. This month, John and Naomi go through the lightning round and hear more about what's bringing her joy lately, what advice she might have for people trying to get sober, and much more! You can learn more at our website.

Naomi Veak (she/her) is an authentic relating facilitator, a nature-connected life coach in-training, and the founder of My Sober Girlfriends, a membership community for badass sober women in Portland, Oregon. Outdoor sports helped her manage her depression in her early 20's, but it wasn't until she got sober and learned to slow down in Nature that shit got magical. In this episode, Naomi and Jon talk about the concept of slowing down in nature, hosting sober events for badass outdoor women, the importance of continuous growth, and channeling new energy through sobriety. You can check out Naomi’s membership program here. You can also catch up with Naomi here. This episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether it’s from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If you’re interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here! This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website. Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the show’s Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever you’d like.

Nature Untold Short Stories will feature essays that reflect on the recovery, addiction, or sobriety journey in the outdoor space. In this short story, we're reading Part 3 of a 3-part series, Autumn Tides, by past guest Sarah Fountain. You can listen to Part 1 here and Part 2 here. You can find Sarah's full story from our interview with her earlier in 2022, episode 26. You can read Sarah's full essay here and follow along with her here.  Nature Untold is a part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can follow along with Nature Untold on Instagram.

TW: This episode mentions suicide, self-mutilation, and eating disorders. Originally from Toronto, Crystal Allsop (she/her) now calls the town of Squamish home. Crystal is a mountain lover; she loves to stare at them, paint them, and explore them via many modalities. Her favorite way to experience and connect with the mountains is through alpine climbing. Crystal shares her story of using alcohol to numb the painfully confusing emotions of a traumatic childhood and the things that were instrumental in her gradual rise to self-respect, sobriety, and mountain summits. You can catch up with Crystal on Instagram. ✨ This episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether it’s from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If you’re interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here! This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website. Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the show’s Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever you’d like.

Nature Untold Short Stories will feature essays that reflect on the recovery, addiction, or sobriety journey in the outdoor space.  In this short story, we're reading Part 2 of a 3-part series, Autumn Tides, by past guest Sarah Fountain. You can find Sarah's full story from our interview with her earlier in 2022, episode 26. You can read Sarah's full essay here and follow along with her here.  Nature Untold is a part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can follow along with Nature Untold on Instagram.

Nature Untold Short Stories will feature essays that reflect on the recovery, addiction, or sobriety journey in the outdoor space. In this short story, we're reading Part 1 of a 3-part series, Autumn Tides, by past guest Sarah Fountain. You can find Sarah's full story from our interview with her earlier in 2022, episode 26.  You can read Sarah's full essay here and follow along with her here.  Nature Untold is a part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can follow along with Nature Untold on Instagram.

As you may know, the Nature Untold Podcast is part of a greater family of outdoor podcasts called the Plug Tone Audio Collective. We're a house of current, awesome podcasts and a production house for future audio storytelling. As part of this collective, we have been creating new content for the Plug Tone Outdoors podcast feed. In this mini trailer, we're introducing our new show, Built Outdoors. Built Outdoors explores and shares stories of outdoor entrepreneurs in a highly-produced, narrative storytelling audio format. We're really excited about sharing these stories and hope you'll check them out over on the Plug Tone Outdoors Podcast channel. If you want to follow along with Plug Tone, you can follow us on Instagram, check out our website, and sign up for our newsletter.

Andrew Gibbs-Dabney is the founder and CEO of LIVSN Designs. LIVSN creates versatile and sustainable apparel designed to last longer. Andrew is dedicated to the values of sustainability and conscious capitalism. He truly believes business success and social progress go hand in hand and he has built LIVSN on these ideals from day one. Andrew comes on the show to share his story of recovery from opioids. He was exposed to opioids at a very young age because of some health issues as a child, and from there, felt that he was already predisposed to addiction. He speaks to his moment of clarity, choosing his rock bottom, serving time, and rebuilding a normal life. Catch up with Andrew: LIVSN Instagram Personal Instagram This episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether it’s from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If you’re interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here! This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website. Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the show’s Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever you’d like.

Bret Biggart serves as Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Solar Power. Bret has a background in corporate finance and obtained his MBA from the Jones School of Business at Rice University. When he's not working, he is enjoying a mixture of nature and sport endurance, with a focus on biking. Bret recently completed the Leadville 100 - 105 mile race and Tahoe Trail 100K. From leading the solar revolution to biking his way through nature, Bret's purpose is maintaining the beauty of the planet. In this episode, John and Bret discuss: being into a LOT of different outdoor things emotional sobriety turning things over to his higher power his family background with alcohol and drugs the importance of AA in his life losing touch with normal human emotion the doors that recovery opens the difference between spirituality and religion how your higher power can be anything you want it to be how Bret’s outdoor pursuits factor into his recovery how to balance the tendency of overdoing it when it comes to Bret’s outdoor pursuits finding someone who’s done this before and talk to them This episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether it’s from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If you’re interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here! This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website. Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the show’s Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever you’d like.