Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast

Mary P. from Orlando, FL at the Crested Butte Mountain Conference in Crested Butte, CO - July 23rd-28th 2006 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Mary shares her journey through fear, denial, chaos, and transformation. Despite a loving upbringing and early academic success, she was plagued by deep-seated fear and perfectionism, eventually turning to alcohol to cope. Her life spiraled into addiction, failed marriages, and heartbreaking consequences, including forgetting she was a mother. But through Alcoholics Anonymous, surrender, and the grace of a persistent sponsor, Mary found sobriety. Over time, she rebuilt trust, earned back the love of her family, and became a steady source of support and healing. A pinnacle moment was being chosen to hold her grandson the night he was in neonatal crisis—an act that symbolized the full circle of recovery, responsibility, and redemption. Mary’s story is a testament to how lives once lost to addiction can be wholly reclaimed and used in service to others. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Chris C. from Auburn, AL speaking at Pelham House in Alexander City, AL - September 24th 2011 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Chris shares his transformation through pain, perseverance, and the grace of a spiritual awakening. From early trauma, deep insecurity, and a lifelong struggle with alcoholism and addiction, he endured homelessness, arrests, and the devastating loss of his brother—yet through it all, he found a path to healing in Alcoholics Anonymous. His turning point came when he fully surrendered to the 12-step process, embracing honesty, making amends, and ultimately becoming a sponsor to others. Today, he lives with purpose as a loving father and a man of integrity, carrying the message of recovery to help others find the freedom he once believed was impossible. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Thank you to this weeks supporters of the show: Eric, Shelley, and Stephen. We really appreciate your sponsorship!  If you'd like to donate, check out: Sober Sunrise Marty J's talk is a raw and deeply human journey through the wreckage of alcoholism and the redemption found in recovery. With humor, vulnerability, and a storyteller's flair, Marty reveals the full arc of his life—from early family trauma and relentless drinking to delusion, hospitalization, and the depths of self-centeredness. But the power of Alcoholics Anonymous—and of a persistent sponsor who "didn't understand rejection"—helped Marty confront his selfishness, rediscover spiritual connection, and rebuild love in his family. He speaks with honest gratitude about getting his children back, rekindling his marriage, and learning how to serve others from the heart. Above all, Marty’s story reminds us that the true miracle of sobriety isn't just not drinking—it's being freed from fear, discovering purpose in service, and becoming someone who can love and be loved fully. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Scott R. from Van Nuys, CA speaking at the East Bay Roundup in Oakland, CA - May 20th 2007 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Scott R. blends biting humor with raw vulnerability, tracing a journey from delusion and destruction to spiritual renewal and purpose. With a sobriety date of April 22, 1985, Scott speaks candidly about the devastating impact his addiction had on his family—particularly his sons—and how AA offered not just relief from drinking but a complete design for living. He challenges clichés, calls out superficial spirituality, and emphasizes deep honesty and humility in recovery. Despite intense pain, psychiatric struggles, and spiritual confusion, Scott ultimately reclaimed his humanity and rebuilt his life through the 12 Steps, sponsorship, and a higher power he still doesn't claim to fully understand—but which he trusts. His story is a poignant reminder that the real miracle of AA lies not in staying dry, but in the transformation of character, connection, and daily renewal. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Don L. from Bellingham, WA speaking on the topic of sponsorship at the New Horizons group in Bend, OR - May 15th 2021 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Don L, with nearly three decades of sobriety emphasizes that his joy and freedom come not just from abstaining, but from surrender, service, and spiritual growth. Don brought humor and humility to his stories—like detailing his wife's car only to expect a sonnet of gratitude or calling his sponsor who simply diagnosed him with “untreated alcoholism.” He underscored that sponsorship works because sponsors don’t carry our emotions and can reflect the truth back to us with love. His first 12-step call, his early days setting up meetings, and sponsoring others—even when feeling unqualified—revealed a deep message: Alcoholics stay sober not by self-will, but by giving away what was freely given to them. Through laughter, tough love, and grace, Don showed how AA transformed his life from hopelessness to purpose, and how sponsorship continues to be the single greatest tool for sustaining that miracle. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Johnny T. from Lawtey, FL speaking at the 48th Annual Big Deep South Convention in New Orleans, LA - June 17th 2016 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com Johnny T. shares of his fall and recovery, turning tragedy into testimony. A fifth-generation Floridian, Johnny was a sawmill operator, father, and devoted husband whose drinking nearly destroyed his family and drove his father to the edge. He recounts being consumed by ego, chasing status through motorcycles, boats, cattle, and booze—until Alcoholics Anonymous cracked him open. After a desperate moment on his knees in a treatment center, Johnny surrendered. He got sober in 2003, worked the steps, made deep amends, and transformed from a loud, broken fraud into a loving father, husband, sponsor, and service-driven AA leader. His message is powerful: bring what you’ve got—Your higher power can work with that. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Sandy B. from Tampa, FL speaking at the Far Corners retreat in Ellenton, FL - December 11th 2008 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com In Part 4 of Sandy B’s talk, he fields deep spiritual questions with clarity, humility, and grace—reminding listeners that true growth lies in acceptance, not control. He shares personal stories, including a touching tribute to Scott Redman and a moment with Clancy who told him, “You can’t quit—you have a gift.” Sandy explains that trying to fix others often masks our own discomfort, and instead, we should pray for the willingness to accept life exactly as it is. He speaks passionately about humility as the key to escaping self-centeredness, and describes grace as God's unconditional love that asks nothing in return. His central message: let go, trust God fully, and keep showing up—for fun and for free. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Sandy B. from Tampa, FL speaking at the Far Corners retreat in Ellenton, FL - December 11th 2008 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com In Part 3, Sandy introduces concepts like eliminating time, ego, and identity to become the “hole in the donut,” symbolizing true spiritual surrender. Using vivid metaphors and stories—from St. Francis’s radical humility to Chuck Chamberlain’s quiet spiritual leadership—Sandy draws a parallel between the 12 steps and the path to conscious contact with God. He offers a humorous yet humbling proposal for joining the “Wilsonian Order of the Present Moment,” requiring complete letting go of ego, plans, and even beliefs to access divine presence. His message reminds listeners that the spiritual awakening AA promises is not a future event, but an ongoing miracle available only in the now—a singular, eternal moment still unfolding since Bill W.’s Towns Hospital experience. It’s a call to stop waiting and start being. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Sandy B. from Tampa, FL speaking at the Far Corners retreat in Ellenton, FL - December 11th 2008 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com In Part 2, Sandy B. dives into a deeper, more reflective spiritual experience rooted in AA’s core ideas. He explores how true transformation often emerges from stillness, not striving—calling silence the space where “truth is revealed” and describing AA not just as a path to sobriety, but as a profound mystery wrapped in simplicity. Drawing from the Big Book, personal stories, and spiritual traditions, he underscores that awakening is not intellectual—it’s experiential. By letting go of the need to control, define, or even fully understand, we make room for something divine to guide us. Whether it’s reflecting on “I am” or sitting with a single powerful sentence from AA literature, he emphasizes the lifelong value of becoming a seeker. His heartfelt anecdotes—from watching a newcomer return to meetings to sitting at Bill Wilson’s kitchen table—bring the message home: AA’s magic isn’t in its words, but in the light that passes between people seeking connection with something greater. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

Sandy B. from Tampa, FL speaking at the Far Corners retreat in Ellenton, FL - December 11th 2008 Visit our website - Sober-Sunrise.com In Part 1 from the December 2008 Men's Spiritual Weekend, Sandy B. offers a powerful, humorous, and deeply grounded invitation into the heart of spiritual awakening. Speaking to a room of men gathered entirely by word-of-mouth, he honors their role as seekers—those quietly becoming beacons of spiritual energy and transformation in their communities. Through vivid metaphors and AA wisdom, Sandy explains how we often carry imaginary burdens—problems made of thought—and how awakening dismantles the self-centered trance that created them. Drawing from Chuck Chamberlain and Bill Wilson, he emphasizes that all our problems stem from one thing: conscious separation from God. True healing and clarity begin when we make spiritual awakening—not just sobriety—our highest priority. Whether through letting go, honest prayer, or seeing life differently, Sandy reminds us that everything changes when we stop being the center of the story and instead orbit around something greater. Music: Deep by KaizanBlu