Welcome to today’s episode featuring a sober friend and female powerhouse, Shelton Wilder.  Her bio says it all:Shelton Wilder hails from Charlotte, North Carolina but loves Los Angeles as only a native can. In her over fifteen years on the Westside, Shelton has developed a nuanced understanding of LA's complex and often bewildering patchwork of neighborhoods, schools, and cultures. In just over six years as a realtor--but many more as a serial entrepreneur in marketing, fashion, and entertainment---Shelton has achieved a staggering $300 million in total sales, putting her in the top 1.5% of realtors nationwide. Shelton was also nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year by the LA Business Journal, named Real Estate All-Star by Los Angeles Magazine and featured in Forbes “Top 10 Business Professionals to look out for in 2022.” While she specializes in luxury residential and commercial properties in Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Mar Vista, Venice and Beverly Hills, Shelton will travel anywhere her clients have interests. Buying a home is often the most important purchase--and investment--of a person's life. It's also one of the most intense experiences of a person’s life, particularly in the ever more competitive Los Angeles market. Shelton is committed to making the process as stress-free as possible. Her compassion, patience, exuberance, and gentleness distinguish her from many with comparably acute business sense and vigorous skills of negotiation. Whether working with a first-time buyer on a starter home or an experienced investor buying a third residence, Shelton is equally dedicated to helping her clients achieve their dreams. This unparalleled devotion, born of a genuine desire to be of service to others, explains why 99% of Shelton's business comes via referral or past clients. The testimonials say it all: when you hire Shelton once, you become part of her extended family--and a client for life. Her relationship-centric approach also explains Shelton's success in securing "off-market" listings. With inventory at an all-time low, hidden listings routinely come to her from former clients and associates who trust her and recognize both her integrity and professionalism. Clients also benefit from Shelton's superb aesthetic sense and extensive background in fashion (she started several fashion-oriented businesses, one of which appeared on Shark Tank). While she enlists the expertise of the industry's top stagers, Shelton brings her imagination, along with her passion for decor and design, to each listing. This loving and enthusiastic attention to the smallest details makes every client feel like she's in their corner --because she is. Shelton is the proud mother of two beautiful boys (Beau and Lane) and the wife of a longtime Los Angeles attorney and avid tennis junkie and Rams fan, Clark. In addition to volunteering at her son’s elementary school, Shelton also donates her time and resources at P.S. Arts, The Alexandria House, LA Food Bank and Upward Bound House. In her free time, she enjoys dining out with her wonderful friends and colleagues and indulging in staycations in her favorite location in the entire world, Los Angeles. 

Welcome to this special episode with my dear friend Rebecca Schaffer, a sober sister who has been trudging this road along side me since before we were sober.  Not only do we discuss how our lives collided and we found ourselves in recovery, but we also explain the highs and lows of motherhood in recovery.  We keep it honest, funny and real.   

Today's episode is deeply personal as I take you into my world---my childhood, my trauma, and my grief.  I also take you into all the lessons I have learned along the way-my resilience, my bravery, my compassion and my unrelenting love for who I have become.  I believe my story is a manifesto of how to keep an open heart despite how many times it breaks.  Navigating grief has been one of the most excruciating things in sobriety and I am in the thick of it right now.  Join me to experience what it looks like to have an open, honest conversation about some of life's hardest things.  The truth hurts, but the truth is also beautiful and healing.  My sincerest hope is that my truth gives you comfort wherever you are on your life's journey.

Today's episode features my college friend Kate Goff, who graduated with a Masters in Forensic Psychology and Psychopathology from New York University.  She knows about alcoholism and addiction first hand, and though she does not suffer from the disease, she lives with someone who does.  Tune in to what life is like when you live with and love an addict, including the dire necessity for self preservation through boundary setting.  

Today's special guest is my best sober girlfriend and an elite colorist at the high end salon on 3rd street, Spoke & Weal.  Emily Neri has more than two decades of salon experience and more than 16 years of sober experience.  She is also a mom to an adorable 3 1/2 year old daughter, Harlow, and knows a thing or two about control and the insidious ways it shows up in her work life, parenting life, friendships and marriage.  Join us as we explore how to live in the gray versus the black and white, where the best and hardest things exist.

Today's guest features Nadia Angelini, a psychologist who specializes in helping clients find their own intuitive voice so they can live their life by design.   If you have ever wondered what people are talking about when they describe their intuition, this is THE episode for you.  Whether you identify as an addict, a co-dependent, or a human being trying to navigate a scary world, this episode shines a bright light on how to get closer to your intuitive voice so you can live the life YOU have always wanted.  Despite common spiritual lingo, honing in on our inner knowing is not magic-it's actually science.  Tune in to this very special episode if you're ready to have someone speak to your soul.

Welcome back to another episode of the truth about addiction and living sober.  Today's episode explores body image in recovery and the raw, honest truth about how trauma, upbringing, hardwiring, and habits plays into that relationship.   Dr. David Wiss, PhD, leads us through this discussion as a Registered Dietician and expert on nutrition as it pertains to the gut microbiome, brain health and and the intersection between food and mental well being.  The conversation is raw, real, and refreshing for men AND women who struggle with the unrelenting beauty and body standard.For more information on Dr. Wiss, check out his bio below:David became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in 2013 and founded Nutrition in Recovery, a group practice of RDNs specializing in the treatment of eating and substance use disorders. In 2017, David received the “Excellence in Practice” award at the national Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. The California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics awarded him the “Emerging Dietetic Leader Award” in 2020. He earned his PhD from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health in the Community Health Sciences department (with a minor in Health Psychology) by investigating the links between adverse childhood experiences and various mental health outcomes among socially disadvantaged men. His treatment philosophy is based on a biopsychosocial model which incorporates an understanding of biological mechanisms, psychological underpinnings, and contextual factors that integrate the social determinants of health. His website Wise Mind Nutrition provides information at the intersection of nutrition and mental health.

Today's episode is an interview with a long time sober friend, Mindy Magana, who shares parts of her story with addiction and then takes us on a journey into her concept of God.  There is so much to unpack in this episode, from making an amends to navigating guilt and shame in sobriety to finding ever changing concepts of a higher power.  Don't miss it!

Welcome back to The Truth About Addiction! This episode brings back our first guest, Erin Burrows, to discuss her experience with romance in recovery.  If dating, breaking up, marriage, divorce, and rejection weren't hard enough, just try it SOBER! Join us as we discuss ALL the things that are scary, hard, heartbreaking and breathtaking.  We probably have a lot in common with the non-addict, except for the lengths in which we go when we are in utter obsession.  Tune in and let us know what you think.  

Welcome to the first episode of "The Truth About Addiction", a podcast where a community of people discuss the good, the bad, the devastating and the beautiful about life as an addict (or life in close proximity to an addict).  This episode is a one on one interview with my  best sober girlfriend, Erin Burrows, to learn her tale of what her addiction  was like, what happened, and what it is like now--8 years sober.