Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast

Robbie W. from Vineland, NJ speaking at the Aberdeen Wednesday Night Group's Quarterly Meeting in Aberdeen, SD - 2007 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Robbie’s story is a raw, powerful walk from gifted Catholic-school athlete to a broken young alcoholic whose drinking dragged him through jails, prisons, mental institutions, and homelessness before he finally cried out to God in a Kalamazoo detox at age 22. What saves him isn’t luck but the unwavering love of Alcoholics Anonymous—beginning with a pig farmer named Don who took him into his home, taught him the steps, and showed him he was worth saving. Through rigorous honesty, daily action, and sponsorship, Robbie rebuilt his entire life: returning to his parents with amends, becoming a husband and father, building a stable career, and spending his life carrying the message to newcomers. His central truth is that God never let go of him—and AA didn’t either—and that our job is to pass that same hope to the next suffering alcoholic. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Paul M. from Chicago, IL speaking at his 60 year sobriety anniversary at the Last Chance House in Chicago, IL - August 26th 2007 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com This powerful gathering celebrates Paul Martin’s remarkable 60 years of sobriety, but even more, it showcases the timeless AA message he carried into the lives of the six men who spoke before him—each a sponsee or someone deeply formed by his guidance. Their stories reveal how they arrived in AA full of fear, ego, or untreated alcoholism, only to find healing through Paul’s unwavering emphasis on rigorous honesty, repeated step work, amends, and daily spiritual action. Together they show that sobriety isn’t sustained by meetings alone, but by practicing the Twelve Steps as a way of life—over and over—until sanity, humility, and usefulness slowly return. Above all, the evening honors the sacred community of Alcoholics Anonymous, where one alcoholic helping another becomes a lifeline, a spiritual path, and a living demonstration of the profound impact one dedicated sponsor can have across generations. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Jason B. from Memphis, TN speaking at Tennessee Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous in Memphis, TN -2009 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Jason’s talk is a powerful reminder of how early willingness, honest step work, and deep service can completely reshape a life. He shares how his drinking began young, escalated quickly, and left him spiritually empty—yet the moment another alcoholic carried the message, a door cracked open. With a sobriety date of May 16, 1999, he credits the Big Book, real sponsorship, rigorous inventory, and years of service for giving him a life of purpose, connection, and freedom. His journey highlights the importance of unity, showing up for others, and discovering a God of one’s own understanding, proving that consistent action in AA can turn a lost young man into someone who now helps countless others find sobriety. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Part 2 of Gail L. from Akron, OH speaking at the Swedish Serenity group's spring convention in Stockholm, Sweden - May 30th 2009 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Gail shares a heartfelt and often humorous walk through AA’s early history, shining light on the women who quietly held the fellowship together. With gratitude and decades of sobriety since 1978, she honors figures like Anne Smith, Lois Wilson, Henrietta Seiberling, Sister Ignatia, and the first sober women who helped nurture meetings, guide new drunks, open their homes, type the Big Book, and shape the spiritual practices that became our Steps. Through stories of sacrifice, courage, and grace—women sewing collars during the Depression, praying alcoholics into the rooms, taking in strangers, keeping Bill and Bob alive, and standing firm when AA wavered—Gail reminds us that AA’s birth was a collective act of love. Her greatest contribution is preserving this legacy so we never forget the “good old gals” whose faith and service helped millions find a life of recovery, one day at a time. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Joshua H. from Toronto, Ontario, Canada speaking at the Banff Roundup in Banf, Alberta, Canada - March 16th 2007 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Joshua shares an extraordinary journey of survival and transformation, describing how a boy who grew up traumatized, addicted, homeless, and completely broken found a new life through the Twelve Steps and the fellowship of AA. From childhood chaos, blackout drinking, psychotic drug use, and years spent in institutions and living in dumpsters, his life seemed hopeless—until a moment of clarity at 19 brought him into AA, where identification, honesty, and the Steps slowly rebuilt him from the inside out. Through rigorous inventory, amends, spiritual growth, and helping others, Josh repaired relationships with his family, became a loving husband, a dependable son, a sponsor, and a man who shows up for life. His greatest accomplishment is the redemption he never imagined possible: standing in the same city where he once slept in dumpsters, now sober, grateful, and surrounded by friends—choosing love, service, and life one day at a time. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Mike L. from Indianapolis, IN speaking at the men's St. Benedict retreat in McKenzie Bridge, OR - March 3rd-5th 2006 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Mike offers a deep, practical, and often humorous exploration of Step Three, showing how turning his will and life over to God wasn’t about a one-time emotional moment, but about a lifelong commitment to stop playing God, let go of old ideas, and follow spiritual direction through real action. He describes his early failures—treating God like a bellhop, being a “spiritual litterbug,” clutching old ideas like a monkey trapped by sweetmeats, and managing life with self-centered fear—and then explains how true surrender came when he backed his decision with inventory, amends, and daily willingness. His honesty about money, relationships, sex, resentment, and ego reveals how the Third Step reshaped his entire life: helping him become a better father, a respectful ex-husband, a responsible professional, a generous sponsor, and a man who contributes rather than takes. Mike shows that spiritual growth isn’t about gaining more—it’s about dropping the bricks we’ve been carrying so God can do what we cannot. His greatest accomplishment is learning to live as a steward of God’s power, free from the bondage of self, and grounded in service, humility, and real freedom. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Gail L. from Akron, OH speaking at the Swedish Serenity group's spring convention in Stockholm, Sweden - May 29th 2009 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Gail shares a heartfelt and humorous journey of recovery, showing how one grateful alcoholic with a simple willingness to say “yes” became a guardian of AA’s history. Sober since 1978, she describes arriving in Akron, discovering the power of our early roots, and unexpectedly being asked to help start an archives—work that eventually led to preserving Dr. Bob’s home, safeguarding original materials, and ensuring the fellowship’s story would survive for future generations. Blending her love of history with service, she walks us through AA’s early struggles, the Oxford Group influence, the humble beginnings of the Big Book, and the many slender threads that kept this movement alive. Gail’s greatest accomplishment is helping protect the legacy that continues to guide millions toward sobriety, one day at a time. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

☀️🧡🦃Happy Thanksgiving, Sober Sunrise family. We’re deeply grateful for each of you—whether you’re sharing the message, showing up for recovery, or simply taking it one day at a time. Thank you for being part of our little fellowship🦃🧡☀️ Paul M. from Fargo, ND speaking at the Big Easy Group's 2nd anniversary in New Orleans, LA - April 23rd 2011 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Paul shares his story, a life rebuilt through the grace of sobriety, sponsorship, and rigorous action. After years of street living, broken relationships, arrests, and trying every escape but recovery, he hit a devastating bottom when his drinking and rage shattered both his sanity and his family. In AA, he finally discovered he wasn’t broken beyond repair but alcoholic, and through the Steps he learned honesty, humility, discipline, and a daily reliance on a Higher Power. Paul rebuilt his life piece by piece: making amends, becoming present for his children, repairing old wounds, and learning how to live in the “here and now” instead of the noise in his head. Today he stands as a grateful husband, a devoted father, a steady sponsor, and a man deeply connected to God and service—proof that even the most chaotic life can become meaningful, balanced, and full of purpose. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Don C. from Colorado Springs, CO at River Roundup, Laughlin, NV - January 19th 2002 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Don shares a powerful story of recovery that bridges the Twelve Steps with the spiritual teachings of his Mohican ancestors, showing how a man broken by alcohol, trauma, and cultural loss found healing through honesty, surrender, and connection. After crawling out of addiction’s “arena” with nothing left, he fully committed to AA, worked the Steps with discipline, returned to his cultural ceremonies, and discovered that the Steps themselves form a sacred circle of growth—east to south to west to north—guiding him back to the Creator and to himself. Today Don is a respected elder and a leader involved in community healing projects, helping others reconnect to culture, spirit, and sobriety. His journey reveals how the Steps, when treated as sacred, can bring a person from despair to deep spiritual purpose. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Chris G. from Austin, TX speaking at the Austin Citywide meeting in Austin, TX - September 15th 2012 Check out our new sober/AA inspired merch & support the channel 🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Chris shares his 14-year sobriety journey, showing how a man who once sat with a syringe in one hand and a gun in the other transformed his entire life through rigorous step work, deep self-examination, and a willingness to take spiritual action even when terrified. He explains addiction as a progressive malady that began long before drugs, describes his descent through heroin, meth, homelessness, overdoses, and loss, and then details how he rebuilt everything through the mechanical, reproducible nature of the 12 Steps—learning inventory, humility, sponsorship, responsibility, and true freedom. Today he’s a dependable husband, spiritual partner, musician, worker, and son, living a big, meaningful life grounded in God and service. His story highlights that recovery is not about perfection but about daily spiritual fitness, disciplined action, and a willingness to grow beyond fear into the person he was always meant to become. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu