Raw Minds

What does rock bottom really look like?

In this Raw Minds Podcast episode Erick sits down with Karyn Ward, a recovery leader who went from addiction, prison, and losing everything to helping others rebuild their lives from the ground up.

Karyn shares her raw story. From losing children, battling addiction, and living a life of crime, to hitting rock bottom and choosing a different path.

This is not theory. This is lived experience.

She...

Nobody teaches you how to grieve.It just hits you.In this episode of Raw Minds, Erick sits down with Krista McDonald to break down what grief actually looks like and how people rebuild after loss.Most people are not prepared for death.Even less are prepared for what comes after.Krista has spent years working around death as an EMT and hospice nurse. She has seen what happens in the final moments and what families go through after.T...

Why do so many men feel stuck in life?

In this Raw Minds Podcast episode Erick sits down with Matt Young to break down why most men struggle to change, stay consistent, and follow through on their goals.

Many people start strong. They feel motivated, confident, and ready to level up their life. Then reality hits. Discipline fades. Old habits creep back in. Progress stops.

Matt explains that the real issue is not motivation. It is the ...

Why do most men fail their goals, habits, and New Year resolutions?

In this episode of Raw Minds Podcast, Erick sits down with mindset coach, author, and speaker Joey Chandler to break down why most people never follow through on the goals they set. The truth is simple. Motivation is not enough. Most people do not fail because they are lazy. They fail because they do not have the right system behind the goal.

Joey shares how burnout ...

mens mental health addiction recovery masculinity identity discipline and personal transformation are at the center of this powerful Raw Minds Podcast episode.

In this conversation Erick sits down with Adam, a mens mental health advocate, entrepreneur, author, and father of four who rebuilt his life after complete collapse.

Adam once weighed over 640 pounds and battled severe food addiction, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, and dep...

Sleep and mental health are deeply connected. In this Raw Minds Podcast episode Erick sits down with Derek from NAPLAB, a company that has tested over 500 mattresses using real data to uncover how sleep affects anxiety, depression, performance, discipline, and recovery.Most men ignore sleep while chasing success. They grind late, wake up exhausted, drink more coffee, and wonder why their focus, patience, and mental health begin to ...

What if you could finally say the words you never got to say?

In this powerful episode of Raw Minds, Erick sits down with John Kammer, founder of Guardian Angels, an AI-driven grief journaling platform built to help people process loss in a private, structured, and emotionally safe way.

John lost three of his closest friends. For years, he carried that grief in silence. Then fatherhood changed everything. Instead of passing down sile...

Most men are running on empty.
No sleep.
High stress.
Always on guard.

On this episode of Raw Minds Podcast, Erick sits down with Tim Thomas, former Special Forces candidate, veteran advocate, and creator of Breathwork in Bed.

At 30 years old, Tim stepped into Special Forces Selection as the oldest candidate allowed. No excuses. No guarantees. Just pressure. After military life, he hit burnout, undiagnosed PTSD, adrenal fati...

What if you could hear your dad’s voice again?Not an old recording. Not a voicemail. A real conversation.In Raw Minds Podcast Ep 74, Erick sits down with entrepreneur Miles Spencer, founder of Reflecta.ai, the platform that allows families to preserve voices, memories, and legacies using artificial intelligence.Eight years after his father passed away, Miles created a way to speak with him again. Using only a short voice sample and...

Why do so many successful leaders still feel empty inside?

In this powerful episode of the Raw Minds Podcast, Erick sits down with Dr Ron Stotts, psychologist, bestselling author, and leadership transformation guide, to break down what conscious leadership really means.

Dr Ron Stotts shares his journey from PTSD and a suicide attempt to becoming a global guide for leaders who want more than surface level success. We talk about trauma...

Infant loss, NICU trauma, PTSD, and a father’s mental health journey are at the center of this Raw Minds Podcast episode.

Nathan Wieser shares the true story of losing his infant daughter after medical failure, surviving multiple miscarriages, and enduring a life threatening NICU battle when his son was born at 26 weeks. This is a real conversation about grief, trauma, PTSD in fathers, and survival.

This episode of the Raw Minds Podc...

Psilocybin and mushrooms for mental health are changing how doctors and researchers approach PTSD, depression, anxiety, addiction, and sleep. In this Raw Minds Podcast episode, host Erick sits down with Michael from Spores MD for a real, grounded conversation about trauma, healing, and what the research actually says.

This episode is not hype. It is not medical advice. It is about real research, lived experience, and responsible dis...

What does healing look like after war? Who helps the helpers when they break? And how do men face the pain they’ve buried for decades?

In this soul-level conversation, Erick sits down with Chaplain Sy Alli—a man who served with honor and now leads with heart. From military combat to mental health recovery, Sy’s journey reveals what happens when strength collapses, faith is tested, and identity is shattered.

He doesn’t speak in theory...

She lost both her sons. One to murder. One to tragedy. Her mother passed. Her youngest battled mental health. But Marcia Earhart didn’t break — she rebuilt.

In this powerful conversation, Erick sits down with Marcia, founder of The Sterling Rose Sanctuary, to explore deep grief, unspoken pain, spiritual healing, and the process of learning to live again.
This isn’t theory. This is a raw, lived journey through hell and back.

You’ll...

Welcome back to Raw Minds. I’m your host Erick.

Today’s episode is about ADHD, men’s mental health, addiction, and purpose. Not from a textbook. From lived experience.

I sit down with Ron Souers, coach, speaker, and host of the podcast Dont Mind Me I Just Have ADHD. Ron works with men navigating adult ADHD, addiction recovery, depression, and identity struggles later in life.

Ron believes ADHD is not a flaw. It is a different operatin...

Welcome back to Raw Minds. I’m your host Erick.

Today’s episode is uncomfortable. It’s not polite. And it’s necessary. I sit down with Matt Melvin, author of Bullied Behind Bars, to talk about prison trauma, bullying behind bars, men’s mental health, and what incarceration really does to the human mind. Matt made one impulsive decision while working at a car dealership.

That decision sent him to prison. What followed nearly destroyed...

Welcome back to Raw Minds. I’m your host Erick.

Tonight I sit down with Elliot Justin, an emergency physician, healthcare entrepreneur, and innovator who has spent over 25 years working at the intersection of men’s health, technology, and real world medicine.

Elliot is the co founder of FirmTech, the company behind the TechRing, an FDA registered wearable designed to objectively measure nocturnal erections, which are a critical early...

Welcome back to Raw Minds. I’m your host Erick.

Tonight I sit down with William Person, a former nine-year Team USA Bobsled athlete who pushed his body and brain to the absolute limit — and paid the price in ways most people never see.

After years of extreme impacts and head trauma, William began experiencing CTE-like symptoms that slowly destroyed his memory, emotional control, and sense of self. At his lowest point, he could barely...

Tonight’s episode is raw, honest, and heavy. We sit down with Scotty Hulshof, a man who survived federal prison, addiction, extreme violence, trauma, and solitary confinement and came back with truth for the rest of us. Scotty spent nearly ten years in federal prison, survived 15 months in solitary, lived through overdoses, street violence, riots, torture, and the kind of darkness most men never recover from.This is a story about m...