Growing up, Earl had a sense of abandonment. In his active addiction he did not know that his father walking out on him (when he was five) would negatively impact his life, but it did. His sense of belonging changed once he drank his first beer as it gave him a persona. All of a sudden he felt like he belonged in social circles. Working as a craps dealer, Earl was introduced to cocaine. Snorting cocaine made him deal craps/calculate numbers faster.  Eventually, Earl began to freebase cocaine, going on a 19-year long journey where he lost two marriages and became a functioning person who did cocaine on the side. According to Earl, he was living a lie. Living in Las Vegas, Earl worked as an executive at a casino living what he felt was the high life where he was able to secure cocaine without paying for it.  The drugs amped his behavior threatening his job security but more importantly his identity. He won’t forget the 18-hour state of drug induced psychosis as he was shacked up in his home with a gun pointed to his temple. It was a knock on his door that saved his life. For Earl he knew he had an advantage in achieving sobriety because he had the foundation of multiple treatments in the past. What Earl was able to do was jump right into AA, get a sponsor and go through the steps which he believes dramatically changed his life. An encounter with a major influencer in the addiction/recovery industry resulted in Earl changing his career.  As a treatment consultant he still has the opportunity to make people’s lives pleasurable but with more added value.  Through his work he’s able to take those dark days and let people know that they can actually transform their lives and that they can be okay living in their own skin. Podcast may contain mature language and situations