Shane Watson and His Journey

All right, welcome back to another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour. I’m your host, Jake White from Vive 18. And today we’re talking with Shane Watson. And I’m gonna tell you a little bit about Shane. This is gonna be a good discussion. Shane Watson is a public speaker, recovery consultant and mental health educator who has spent 12 years working in the field of mental health and behavioral health and wellness. He’s performed over 600 hundred speaking engagements at schools, corporations, community groups, and conferences throughout the U.S. He’s done more than a hundred local and national media interviews, including the Today Show, Good Day New York, PBS, and Kansas City Live. And he speaks on topics like addiction and recovery, suicide prevention and intervention, depression, healthy technology use, bullying, substance use prevention, and more. And most of all, this is what I’m excited about, man, is talking about your story and storytelling because that’s from what I hear about you too, Shane, when I asked, hey, you know, Shane Watson, people say that guy’s a good storyteller. So Shane, thanks for being on the show.

Thank you so much, Jake, I really appreciate it.

Yeah, well, just to give our audience an idea of who you are, how you got into this field for 12 years. Will you kind of give us a background on yourself?

Absolutely. I stumbled upon the field of prevention and mental health and behavioral health in the strangest way, in a pretty roundabout way. I actually, my degree, my university degree is in journalism, but I am someone who in two days here, I was coming up on 13 years sober, 13 years in personal recovery. And I lived a life that was, you talk about a story, there are stories there.

And I went from being somebody who grew up in a loving family, got straight A’s, played sports, went to church, was a boy scout. I went from being that quote unquote good kid to being someone that struggled with substances like alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin for close to 20 years, ended up getting arrested multiple times, ended up as a result of the decisions I made the last night I drank or used, November 28th, 2011, ended up a convicted felon because of that felony, it gets really challenging to find work. And I happen to be fortunate and blessed enough to run into a former speaker from a local nonprofit called Not My Kid who told me, you know, they’ll still hire you even if you have a felony, as long as you don’t have any crimes against children, at least a year into healthy active recovery. And if you’ve got a story to tell. And I said, man, do I ever have a story to tell? So I worked for Not My Kid for nine years.

And then I left not my kid a little bit over two years ago and struck out on my own to, in addition to do youth mental health, to reach adults. I love sitting down with peers of mine, adult men who are in recovery or are looking to get in recovery, maybe still in active addiction. And because I live through these things, the kids, when I speak at schools, can identify with, okay, this guy knows what he’s talking about. He lived this.

When I sit down with somebody who’s in the midst of that struggle themselves, they know that I can empathize with where they’re at and I’m coming without judgment. So I’m an individual in long-term recovery. As you said in the intro, now 12 years in the field. I’m also driven by the fact that I’m a very proud dad of young lady who’s about to be 12 years old. So my personal connection, my professional connection, and my parenting connection is what makes me so passionate about these topics.

Wow, that’s fascinating. And I didn’t realize you were a journalism major too. That’s what I picked when I was in school.

If, you know, hindsight being 20-20, if I were to go back now, I would do something with psychology or sociology or something related to what I’m doing now. But actually the journalism has come in handy because on my website, I do write blogs and articles to help people with information, with tools, with knowledge, with resources regarding various mental and behavioral health challenges. So it wasn’t for naught, but it isn’t the exact road I ended up going down 20 plus years later.

Right? I say something similar, it’s whenever people ask, yeah, what did you get your degree in? Or like, how are you using your college education? It’s like, well, I started a business. I’m not quote using my degree, but that journalism class of writing blogs, that’s how my movement was started. Throwing these drug-free parties across the country. It started from a blog when people said, wait, you’re doing what? Can I do this on my school? And it kind of launched this whole movement that we’re experiencing now. And so I’m like you, I’m like, hey, it wasn’t for nothing. It was a great experience. It probably was part of my path and what I was supposed to do. So yeah, who am I to argue with that? That’s cool. Well, tell me a little bit more, Shane. I’m interested in, and I know these episodes go quick, but if you, you mentioned it in your story.

You were in sports, you got good grades, you’re going to church, you’re a boy scout, you’re doing all these things from the outside looking in, everyone says, wow, this kid’s got everything going on. He will never use a drug. How did it go from that to how did substance get introduced into your picture and why?

In junior high, everything changed for me and not in a good way. I went from being somebody that loved school and got straight A’s, was excited to go to school every day to going through pretty vicious bullying in junior high school at the hands of some people that I had previously considered friends. And I was awkward and I felt like I didn’t fit in, like I didn’t belong. And that’s really difficult when you’re that young and you don’t have the self identity and self confidence that you have as an adult.

So I tried to win my peers approval by doing crazy and risky and off the wall things to try to get the people to laugh or to like me in any way that I could. So in junior high, I had a friend staying over for the night and I stole the alcohol that belonged to my parents and we drank it because my thinking was, okay, not only am I going to impress him, we’re going to go back to school on Monday and we’re going to tell everyone else what we did and then I’m going to be in. They’re going to like me, they’re going to accept me, they’re going to think that I’m cool.

Well, when I took that first drink, a couple things happened. One, there were no immediate consequences that I could notice. And when nothing went wrong right away that I could notice, I said, they tell us all the time how dangerous this is. We just did this, we’re fine. Like the world didn’t come to an end, but I didn’t understand. There is a consequence for every unhealthy decision we make in life, but they don’t always happen right away. We don’t always notice them right away. And sometimes they follow us down the road.

The other thing that happened was when I drank it, I thought, I don’t feel so bad. I’m not worrying about everything so much. I’m feeling comfortable in my own skin. I have found the solution. And I thought in my mind, the inexperienced mind of a seventh grade kid, this is the answer. Well, in high school, that one drink turned into a lot more alcohol, alcohol much more frequently. Alcohol much more frequently eventually led me to try marijuana for the first time.

And when the floodgates really opened was when I was in college and an athlete who lived in my dorm who had gotten injured and had sports surgery had been prescribed opioid painkillers. And he didn’t like how they made him feel. And I was already very familiar with how they made me feel. And so I said, I’ll buy those from you. I bought them from him. And remember, this is not like now where they’ll only prescribe about three to five days at a time. They would prescribe 30, 60, 90, 120 days worth at once.

And when I finished the first bottle, I convinced him to go get a refill and another refill and another refill because they used to do that much more easily back then too. And as you probably know, when it comes to opioids, it doesn’t take very long to be down that path of dependence. So that sent me down that road where I found myself within a few years of college graduation. Yes, I graduated. I don’t exactly know how I managed to do that. Being someone who was then using cocaine, crystal meth, and heroin, three drugs that if you had asked me in high school or junior high, are you ever gonna do these things? I would have told you, no way, not in a million years. So that chaotic story that ends up with arrests, it ends up with overdoses, it ends up with alcohol poisoning and damage relationships. If I’m being honest with you about how that story started, it started with one drink of alcohol in seventh grade. That’s what opened the door.

Yup. Wow. And that’s even today when the drug of choice seems to be nicotine. It’s easy to consume in these pouches or these vaping products that students are using younger and younger. And they’re saying it’s only. It’s only nicotine. It’s only vaping. It’s only alcohol. And what your story shows is it’s never only that. You are teaching your brain how to respond to challenges, to events, to feelings. And when that drug naturally is going to get less and less effective, you will consume more and more of it and go down that path of addiction.

The Impact of Substance Use and Personal Storytelling

Absolutely, it’s one thing that you start with makes you less fearful of that next thing. Well, this wasn’t a huge disaster that I could notice right away. So maybe this other thing is not such a big deal. And like you said, when you build up that tolerance, okay, I used to use nicotine to get a buzz and now I need it just to feel normal. Maybe I should try this next thing to feel good again, to get that euphoria and get that high. And as far as nicotine, the phrase only nicotine.

As someone coming up on 13 years in recovery, I have met people who have quit and are in recovery from any substance you could possibly think of, including nicotine. Almost everyone that I have met who has quit things like methamphetamine, cocaine, et cetera, but also had to quit nicotine has told me nicotine was the hardest substance I ever had to quit. The withdrawals are awful and you can’t go to Walgreens or you can’t go to the gas station. You can’t go to the grocery store and buy heroin. You can go to the gas station and you can get nicotine. It’s societally viewed very differently. We’re surrounded by it. And so the temptation is even greater.

Wow. Yeah, I haven’t thought about that, but I have heard also people in recovery say the same thing. Like quitting nicotine, way harder than anything else. And that surprised me. I wouldn’t have thought that. Not being in recovery myself, I subscribe to what everyone says. it’s just, it’s just. And that’s so wild. And Shane, you have so much experience. You’ve done all these interviews. You’ve spoken at schools, conferences, churches, like all these great events. Can you teach us something? mean, you’re even just talking with you, I can tell you’re a master, like a masterful storyteller. How can we learn from you? How did you get this way?

Well, the biggest things for me were practice, repetition, and editing. Practice, practice, practice. When I still tell my story now, it’s very different than when I told my story nine, 10, 11, 12 years ago. Now, my story didn’t change. The things that I went through, the decisions I made, the consequences I faced, they’re the same. But I tell it in a very different way because I’ve refined it over time. Some of the things that I’ve implemented over time are number one know who your audience is. Who is your audience? If I’m speaking to a youth audience or I’m speaking to an adult audience, there are some universal truths that’ll cross over both of them. But generally, those are two very different audiences. Who is your audience? What are they motivated by? What do they care about? And then, what is your end goal? Begin with the end in mind. What is the goal that I want this audience to walk away with? I want them to think, feel, or behave differently. Well, How do I get this audience to do that? And you reverse engineer from there. So you begin with the end in mind. The second thing that I think is really important is make them care. Why should we care? Who are you? Why do we care about what you have to say? Make them care. And there’s ways that by being vulnerable, by being open, you can gain empathy. There’s ways that you can talk about things that they’re presently going through right now that you went through and they can say, I know what that feels like. I’m in the middle of that right now. Take them with you into the moment. When you’re telling a story, incorporate the five senses. What did it look like where you were at in that moment? What did it sound like? What did it feel like? What did it smell like? And make them feel that moment. Now, when we’re dealing with mental and behavioral health, it’s crucial to know where that line is drawn. We don’t want to trigger an audience.

We don’t want to use details that are unhealthy. We don’t want to share things that could be mentally or emotionally damaging to them, but they’re human beings. And if we make them feel what we felt in that moment in a safe and controlled way, they will be like, wow, I want to hear what this person has to say. Like this, this guy knows what it is that we’re talking about here. Make it personal and authentic. Be real. Don’t ever try to be someone you’re not.

Be who you are because people can see through, especially youth audiences. They can see through it if someone’s not being authentic. When I tell a story and I’m wanting to come away with a teaching point on it, I tell the story first. I make them care first. Then I teach the teaching point because they already like me, they trust me, they have empathy for me, and they’re more likely to then say, okay, I’m gonna listen to what it is. can tell you’re teaching now.

What is this or better yet, if you can couch the teaching point, if you can hide it in the story at the same time, they’re more likely to not only listen, they’re more likely to retain it and they’re more likely to implement it. And then finally, there are some great articles on the internet, including a Ted Talk, where you can learn to use certain techniques and we don’t have time to talk about this here, but you can use certain techniques in sharing your story where you can cause a release of dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. And if you can cause the release of those in your audience, you will have an audience that is more attentive. You will have an audience that is paying attention and remembering, an audience that is empathetic to your story, an audience that is feeling comfortable rather than fearful. And if you can do that, that brain is then primed to take away the teaching point, the whole purpose that you’re there for in the end of the presentation.

That’s so good. That was packed full of amazing things. So I’m going to pull out some that you said and we can chat about it. Because I love that you said that you get to start with the end in mind. And that’s the counterintuitive thing when someone begins telling their story is they think it’s about their story and realizing that no, your story is about your story. This audience though needs a reason to care about it and therefore a way that you can serve them.

And I love that you’re saying, begin with the end in mind. What do want them to believe or do at the end? And everything serves that purpose. Everything you do and say, every action goes towards it. And I think one thing to add is that in the beginning, we start, we want to tell them everything. We want to tell them all the things that we learned, but realizing, you only have 15, 30, 45 minutes. They’re gonna remember one thing.

So pick one thing and then make that the driving theme. It doesn’t mean that you can’t share other stuffs along the way, but it has to land home like every time that they leave with this one thing, this one takeaway simplify it, that what is the one main purpose? What are we trying to do? It doesn’t need to be complicated and it shouldn’t be complicated or they’re going to miss the point. They’re going to miss the needle in the haystack. And you made a really good point where you said, yeah, it’s your story, but the audience is the audience. And I may have stories within my story that I think, this is a cool story. This is neat. If it doesn’t advance the story to the end point that we’re aiming toward.

And if it isn’t relevant to the audience, it has to go. We get in love sometimes with these little facets of our own stories, and I know I’ve been guilty of it. It’s like, but this is so cool. Yeah, does it matter to them? No, then it needs to go. Does it lead toward what you’re trying to lead toward? Not really. Then it’s time for it to go. So in addition to the practice, practice, practice that I mentioned earlier, the repetition, edit. Edit over time.

Yes. And it’s, it is so difficult in the beginning because you, right, you have to videotape yourself and you’re cringing at what you said. You’re like, that was so bad. Or you’re listening to your voice and saying, did I, do I sound like this? And all that stuff goes through your head and you have to realize, well, no, I’m just a messenger. I’m creating experience for them. My story is a part of this. And then, you know, we have data, we have supporting things, we have, know, activities and how we help release dopamine and oxytocin through this experience, but it’s never about me and those little side tangents. I’ve noticed, especially with younger speakers, is if we don’t feel comfortable with who we are, we’re gonna overcompensate by trying to make the audience like us and it works against us. Cause they’re like, you’re trying so hard, just be comfortable, be who you are. And that’s what you said. You said, be real, be who you are.

Don’t try to make them like you because just like when someone in a relationship does that, can like, ugh, you don’t like that person. You’re like, you’re fake. What do you want from me? What are you trying to do to me? It doesn’t feel real. And instead you just get repulsed by it.

And especially like I said earlier with youth audiences, mean, middle school and high school students and college students, they have this sixth sense where if someone is being inauthentic, it’s like they have a radar for it. And if you start doing that, it’s gonna backfire right at the beginning. And as you said, just accept yourself for who you are because if you’re comfortable with you, they’re gonna be comfortable with you.

I’m not the coolest guy in the world. I’m not the toughest guy. I’m not the best looking guy. But over time, I’ve found ways to get comfortable in my own skin, to find what strengths I do have, to focus on those things. Because when I was younger, I mean, I really tore myself down. Honestly, it really didn’t start as far as me getting comfortable in my own skin. Did not really begin until I got sober. And I didn’t get sober till around 35, 36 years of age and it is still a work in progress to this day, but you’re right. Be who you are, learn how to be comfortable in your own skin, and if you’re relaxed, they’re gonna be relaxed.

Mastering the Art of Storytelling

Yeah, I remember learning that lesson in the beginning, right? I got trained by someone, I followed their system, putting it together, and you’re trying things on, right? In the beginning, you’re like, is this me? Is this me? And I remember this call I had with this guy, his name is Clint Pulver, and he’s another drummer like myself. And he was saying, Jake, what do you do for fun? Like the audience wants to see you in a state of play, humor, or vulnerability. And so do you have a state of play that you love? And I’m like, I love games, right? I’m not, I think things are funny, but I’m not a humorist. Like I don’t come up with funny jokes. So he’s like, well, then you don’t have to be the comedian, be the guy who plays. What do you play? And I was like, I play the drums. I love it. I play games. I love it. So he’s like, put that in your presentation.

And what I’ve noticed, is as soon as they see you having fun on stage, doing what you love, goofing around, having fun, it gives them permission to follow in suit. And like you said, they’re like, hey, I’m bought in now. This guy’s kind of funny, he’s kind of weird. I want to know what happens next and I want to know what he thinks. And so I’ve, even today, if I delay the drum piece, I can visibly see the transition from who is this guy? I don’t really know if I want to listen to

My gosh, this is gonna be fun. What does he have to say? And there’s a shift in the audience. I’m wondering if you have anything that helps you feel comfortable that you do in the presentation or did all of that start outside of the presentation and now you’re just more comfortable telling your story.

Actually, before I answer that, want to touch on something that you said toward the end of this here. You talked about what you do makes them want to see more, want to know more. If you can build that anticipation and that suspense, when I mentioned earlier that we have the ability to cause their brains to release dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin, that building of suspense and that, wait, wait, where do we go from here? That causes dopamine release, which will lead to increased attention, increased focus. And then you talked about play and vulnerability, those two things can lead to the oxytocin and endorphin release. So you actually kind of answered the thing that I was talking about earlier as well. As far as what I do to set the stage for me, it’s really something that it’s a matter of my comfortability came through that repetition. The fact that I’ve done, like you said in the intro that you read, over 600 presentations I now get up there and I’m comfortable and they’re comfortable because I’ve done this so many times.

You know, when I was at presentation number 50 or 100 or whatever, I was still like, well, what if this happens? What if somebody does this? And that never happened. Now, if that were to come up today, I would find a way to, you know, navigate it and it would be okay. But earlier on, in those early days, what I would do to kind of set the stage is before I would go out there, I would do some deep breathing exercises, things like box breathing. Now, I remember when I first tried box breathing, did like two or three cycles, two or three repetitions. I’m like, this isn’t doing anything. You know, I’d spent like, I don’t know, like 60 seconds on it. When I really started putting time into doing that, and I would designate time in advance, I’d be backstage or wherever before I came out to speak and I would dedicate at least a good five minutes to it. It just, the way that that works and there’s research on the internet that explains how this works, the physiology of it, the chemistry of it, et cetera. That was something that really brought me comfort and relaxation. And the other thing that made me comfortable was I knew the material. I worked so hard to know the material and then I would go on the internet and do additional research.

So I could actually expand on these things I was talking about if people wanted to know more about those things as well. So preparation and then doing that self-care in advance set the stage early on. And now for me, it’s a matter of just I’ve done enough repetition that this is, it’s my happy place now.

Yeah. Okay. That’s cool. I’m curious what you think about vulnerability too. I, this is like personally, I have a very short part of my presentation where I share how I lost my uncle to an addiction and I’m not, I’m not overly emotional about it. It’s kind of a matter of a fact. And I asked them if they have someone that can they relate? Have they seen it?

And it’s more of an evidence piece to know we’re not alone, that this matters, something like that. But other than that, the vulnerability piece, I’d say that’s like my next level. In order for me to get really, really good at my craft, that’s the next piece I need to tackle. If someone is like myself or someone else out there is like, hey, I don’t have a sad or dramatic story or, yeah, I don’t feel particularly empathetic as like in my feels a lot. Is there ways to know how to just introduce vulnerability in your story and are there different ways to do it than what most people think?

And by the way, you mentioned, you know, I don’t get overly emotional. That’s actually good. You know, we want to show a certain extent of that to show that we’re human. But if it crosses a certain line, you know, where I’ve seen some people speak and it’s just like they’re sobbing and it’s there’s nothing wrong with that emotion as a human being, but they’re in front of a youth audience and it can put the kids in a place where it’s not healthy for them.

You know, if the speaker is out of control emotionally, that can be an issue. But within reason, showing that emotion makes us us human. So it’s actually it’s actually not a negative thing at all that you don’t get overly emotional talking about your uncle. But obviously, they will probably hear in your voice that it that it does affect you and it does matter to you. If you don’t have a story where you can talk about personally some major crisis that you went through as human beings.

We have all faced trials and we all have shortcomings. Vulnerability can sometimes be a matter of, this is something that I’m working on as a person. Just owning up to our flaws, owning up to our character defects. It doesn’t have to be some massive thing. But if you do that and you volunteer that information and you show them, I’m okay volunteering this thing that a lot of people want to put under the rug and I’m talking about, I’m a human being, I’m showing myself grace, I’m working on it, I know I need to get better, that’s gonna tell every kid in that audience or every adult or whoever you’re talking to, wow. So it’s okay to talk about something you’re battling with because then maybe that kid speaks up to a parent, a coach, a teacher, a mentor, a religious leader and says, I am fighting a major battle. Maybe they are dealing with something that we talked about earlier like addiction or something like that.

But your example, even if you feel like, you know, this doesn’t, this doesn’t stack up to somebody who’s saying that, you know, I went through, you know, addiction or whatever. It shows them that example of, you know, Jake’s cool. I like Jake. He came up here. He’s, mean, I want to be like this guy. I want to listen to this guy. And by sharing that, it makes me feel like maybe I can share the things that I need to speak up about. So even whatever it is that you’ve dealt with, the battles you fault, and then talking about things you’ve overcome not just things that you are wrestling with present tense, but things that you battled in the past and overcame. And it could be a matter of it’s a self-esteem issue. You struggled with self-esteem when I was younger. Whatever those things were, showing that you can overcome those things in addition to showing that it’s okay to talk about them. That is a very safe form of vulnerability that I think every human being is able to do because we’ve all had some kind of human experience that other people hear and go, yeah, I know what that’s like.

Yeah. Okay, that’s cool. That’s, it’s really encouraging to hear that it doesn’t have to be a dramatic life-changing event that sometimes it’s the smaller ones that maybe are more relatable to the audience too saying, no, I felt that or I’ve struggled with that or I failed that way. so that’s thanks for, thanks for talking about that with me. I appreciate it.

Absolutely, more kids will be able to identify with that as well. Speaking to youth, there’s gonna be some that I talk to that are struggling with addiction or substances or whatever. Maybe the vast majority of them aren’t doing that yet, but they can identify with me in seventh grade saying, I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I didn’t like myself very much. I didn’t feel accepted. I didn’t feel like I belonged. That’s gonna resonate with a large percentage of junior high or even high school students.

Yeah, yeah, that’s so good. And the last one I want to touch in that you mentioned before we close and learn more about how we can listen to you more, because this was awesome, is you mentioned hiding a lesson inside of a story. And I’ve noticed this with you. And now that I’m listening to you, Shane, I’m noticing the other people that are around me that are really great storytellers. I think you trained them people like Tomas, our co-founder, people like Zion, who’s one of our speakers, and they do these masterful things. I hear them in these tips and in your story, and I’m wondering when you break down a story and you put it together, almost like a formula or a map, one thing I noticed is that when Tomas speaks,

Sometimes he’ll start a story in the middle or the end. Like he’ll pick a dramatic moment almost like a movie preview where it’s like, my gosh, this person’s falling out of a plane. And then you wonder how did they get there? And then you go back and you tell the story. I’m wondering if there are other cool things that you’ve seen people do or that you do and how to formulate your story.

Yes. I actually do that same exact thing. When I get up and I share my story of addiction and recovery, the first words out of my mouth are, I woke up to the sound of someone screaming. I couldn’t understand the words that were being said, but it didn’t matter. The sound itself was disturbing enough. And as I opened my eyes and the sights and the sounds and the smells came flooding back in, I realized once again where I was. I was in Durango jail, part of the Maricopa County jail system.

But how did I get there? That’s a good question. It’s a question I was asking myself, and it’s a question I’m going to answer for you today. And then I go into my intro. So we put them right there in the middle of Durango jail, and they’re like, hold on. What’s the answer to this? How did we get here? So they are hanging on because they want to know that thing there. So that technique that you’re talking about that Tomas uses, and by the way, Tomas and Zion are rock stars, two of the best I’ve ever seen. I use that same technique right there.

What I try to do in storytelling is I try to set the stage, explain, know, put them in the time and place. So there is a setting, there is a conflict, there’s a resolution, and there’s a takeaway. And so if you can map your stories out into those four parts, setting, conflict, resolution, and takeaway, and at the end you sum it up with that takeaway, it’s that perfect little line that’s like, this is what we learned from this.

That’s an easy way to structure stories. And when I share a story, a lot of times there are multiple what I call sub stories within it. When I go up and I share my story, this overarching umbrella, it’s made up of a lot of other smaller stories. Now frequently within those sub stories, I’m using that four part format. As a matter of fact, these last few weeks, I’ve actually been teaching someone storytelling. created my own, I’m still really kind of working on refining it, a 10-part training, an hour at a time, on effective storytelling. And I was just teaching him the other day about that four-part system within the individual stories.

Vulnerability and Authenticity in Presentations

That’s so cool. I geek out a little bit about that kind of stuff because whenever you can break something so cool down into a system and like help me easily understand it, I’m so excited about it. Like, yeah, let’s go practice that. Let’s try that. Let’s put one of my stories into it and see what happens. And that’s the fun thing about sharing your story or speaking to is it’s always it’s like a puzzle and you can switch stuff out though if you want to and it’s never done. And even if your story hasn’t changed, maybe an audience has changed or your time limit has changed. And so being a pro means you can work with those different variables and you can still take away that one thing for the audience so that they leave empowered and ready to change in whatever positive way that you’ve asked them to. So Shane, this has been really, really cool.

If people want to learn more about you, I want you to tease your own podcast too. Like where can people go to snoop on you? then also how do you work with other, maybe drug prevention coalitions or schools, the people that might be listening to this?

Okay, thank you so much for that. My website is silverladder.com. S-I-L-V-E-R-L-A-D-D-E-R. Silverladder.com is my website where you can find out everything about me from the really fleshed out full form version of my addiction and recovery story written out right there. Feedback on places where I’ve gone and spoken. It really kind of sums up everything that I do.

There are articles and blogs there as well. And I am very, very close to launching a podcast. There is on the toolbar, if you click on podcast, check it out. We’re going to have that as well. And so I talk about everything on the website in video format or blog format, everything from prevention, prevention speaking to youth or about youth, speaking to their parents, all the way into recovery for adults.

And so there’s a lot of topics within those topics right there. As far as how I partner, different organizations, different schools, there’s been some local treatment facilities and things like that, will often have me come in and speak on different topics, whether I’m educating parents, whether I’m educating youth. lot of that looks like a one hour public education presentations. Sometimes I’ll end up collaborating with someone else from another organization and we kind of tag team the presentations.

We’ll use either my proprietary one or theirs, or we’ll use a hybrid. I’ve also had places that have brought me in for consulting, where they’re like, how do we approach this situation? And then a big part of what I’m doing right now is also what I call peer support and family support. There’s a lot of people out there who they’re on a waiting list to try to get into treatment, or they don’t even know whether or not they want to go to treatment.

And I am what I would consider a first responder. I’m not a licensed counselor and that’s something that I tell people very much upfront. But the need for mental and behavioral health support is so vast right now. The availability and the affordability is often low. There’s sometimes waiting lists to get in to see certain therapists. And so what I can do is I can step into that gap as someone who has professional knowledge and credentialing, whether it’s as a peer support, certified peer support specialist, suicide prevention, things like that, I can step into that gap with the professional credentialing, the professional experience and the personal experience. And what I can do is help that person now at least stay alive, start forming a recovery plan, finding what healthy coping skills they can implement, et cetera, to get them to where ideally, if they need it down the road, they can go to that treatment facility. And a lot of times I help them find what treatment facility can you go to with your insurance or cash pay or whatever it is. So that’s a big part of what I’m doing as well. And I’ve had some treatment facilities reach out to me to look at how do we create a symbiotic relationship here.

Yeah, that’s cool. That sounds really like a needed service. I’m glad that we have someone like you doing this, Shane, because just spending a half hour with you, learning from you, I can sense your passion. You’re doing something that personally, I’m sure you’re like, hey, I wish I had this when I was growing up. And I think that really shines through your voice and watching you here on camera. So I appreciate you, Shane.

Thank you so much. took me a long time to find my calling. I bounced around from corporation to corporation, job to job. I did well at all of them. I had great bosses, but all of them felt like this is not what I’m supposed to be doing. And 12 years ago, I stumbled upon this place where I’m at now. And we talked about being authentic. That passion you hear is authentic. I can’t suppress that even if I tried to. So what you’re hearing is someone that found the place where he belongs and I love helping other people find that as well. Thank you so much, Jake. I really appreciate your sharing your time with me.

And for everyone listening to this podcast, you’re involved in young people’s lives. You’re doing prevention, harm reduction, or you’re in recovery. And I want to say the same thing to you. Please stay in the game. We know that the days are not always glittery and awesome and they don’t feel the best sometimes, but your impact matters. And even if you don’t see it today, you’re influencing people in a positive way and as you grow, you’re going to grow your impact too. So please stay in the game. We appreciate you and all that you do. And with that said, we’ll see you next Monday for another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour.