From Rock Bottom to Rockin' It

Latest Episodes:

45: Teens & Parents, Mental Health, Drugs, & Healing as a Family Unit // The Story of Aaron Huey Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

Aaron Huey has been working with children, teens, and parents for over 18 years. After ten years directing camps and empowerment programs around the world, Aaron opened Fire Mountain because he wanted to work with kids and families on a deeper level. Over the first few years of running programs like Teen Rites of Passage The Warrior Phoenix Challenge, and numerous cries for help from parents, Aaron realized the need to turn his efforts towards teens struggling with drugs, alcohol and the behaviors and issues related to addiction. An addict in recovery since 2000, he felt a calling to put together an expert team and open Fire Mountain. His mission is to awaken confidence and leadership. "It's not about being better, it's about giving up the struggle to be different from who you are." Aaron's formal educational background is in acting. He graduated from the top acting school in the US, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1990. His skills in comedy and drama make him an influential speaker and presenter, and a favorite among the kids. His confidence, compassion, and humor set the tone for deep healing, and fun. Aaron is also trained as an EMT, a Wilderness Survival Instructor and Martial Arts teacher, all of which he weaves into the Fire Mountain RTC curriculum.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I would love to hear from you! Contact me at us via: Email (eric@ericgilbertwilliams.com), LinkedIn (@ericgilbertwilliams), Twitter (@ericgilbertw), or Instagram (@ericgilbertwilliams).

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44: Street Artist to Vice-President of Global Design Coca-Cola // The Story of James Sommerville Jan 18, 2022

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James Sommerville is the Founder of KnownUnknown, the world's first decentralized design community working with Fortune 100 brands on brand design assignments and NFTs, leveraging their utility token ($KUDOS). From 2013 to 2018, James was the VP Global Design for The Coca Cola Company, where he led the design innovation and identity programs for many billion-dollar iconic beverage brands.

Prior to joining Coca-Cola, James was co-founder of Attik, a UK startup design firm that led the digital art revolution and changed the face of design in the 1990s, inspiring thousands of designers and creatives across the world. They were also responsible for the major redesign of Coke's brand identity in 2006 and its visual identity strategy for 2010's FIFA World Cup. He also worked with other famous brands such as Adidas, Virgin, Heineken, and Sheraton.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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43: Re-Inventing Yourself Through Entrepreneurship // The Story of Bryan Clayton Dec 23, 2021

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Bryan Clayton is the Co-Founder and CEO of GreenPal, an online marketplace that connects homeowners with local lawn care professionals. GreenPal has been called the "Uber for lawn care" by Entrepreneur magazine and has over 100,000 active users completing thousands of transactions per day.

Before starting GreenPal, Bryan Clayton founded Peachtree Inc., one of the largest landscaping companies in the state of Tennessee, growing it to over $10 million a year in annual revenue before it was acquired by Lusa holdings in 2013. Bryan's interests and expertise are related to entrepreneurism, small business growth, marketing, and bootstrapping businesses from zero revenue to profitability and exit.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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42: The Kid With No Chance Who Built A World Class Podcast // The Story of Justin Schenck Nov 09, 2021

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Justin Schenck is the host of the top-rated podcast the Growth Now Movement and founder of Growth Now, LLC which is a full-service podcast production and coaching company. He has been named a Top 8 Podcaster to follow by INC Magazine and chosen as an 'Icon of Influence' in the new media space. What started as a way to connect with top people and inspire others has become a way of life. Now getting played in over 100 countries every single week he is able to make a greater impact than he could ever imagine. He not only speaks to organizations on how to overcome adversity and utilize podcasting to grow your business but he helps others launch and grow their own podcasts with www.beginpodcastingnow.com. His vision? To teach the world how to live happily no matter where they are today. "It's about the journey, not the destination."

Like most people, Justin thought that it was his past that defined him. Because he didn't come from a great upbringing and didn't have the resources so many had, he thought that he was destined to fail. Then, at 19 years old Justin discovered personal development through a mentor. He became obsessed with the idea that he can have full control over the outcome of his life simply by choosing to grow. The realization that it doesn't matter where he comes from, but the choices that he makes today to create a better tomorrow for himself and others is all that matters, was life-changing.

When Justin launched the Growth Now Movement podcast in 2016, he had no idea what it would become. Now it gets played in over 100 countries every single week, he speaks all over the country on overcoming adversity, and most importantly, he discovered that we all have the power to create our own happiness, to grow into the person we were meant to be and that we can all create the life we truly desire.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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41: Coming Out as Gay, then Creating a World Class Impact for LGBTQ Communities // The Story of Arthur Woods Oct 19, 2021

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Arthur Woods is a social entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ leader, working at the intersection of equity, inclusion and technology. He was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and 40 Under 40 by BEQ. He is the author of the national best-selling book, Hiring for Diversity; he is a global keynote speaker, having delivered 3 TEDx talks; and has contributed to Harvard Business Review, FastCompany and Forbes.

He is the Co-Founder of Mathison, a venture-backed technology platform equipping employers with everything they need to manage their diversity hiring efforts. He is the creator of the first Equal Hiring Index to assess and benchmark inclusive hiring practices. Arthur came from Google where he led operations for YouTube's Education division and oversaw YouTube for Schools. Arthur previously co-founded Imperative, a leading social learning platform; Out in Tech, the largest global LGBTQ technology community; and Social Impact 360, a collegiate social enterprise education program.

Arthur studied at Georgetown University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and HBS online. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, GCT Entrepreneur in Residence, a New York Venture Fellow, SAP.io Foundries Fellow and sits on the Advisory Boards of LIFT and Second Day.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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40: Sexual Assault Victim To Impact Entrepreneur // The Story of Carlie Rioux Sep 14, 2021

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Carlie Rioux is the founder of Thea Caye, a social enterprise creating stylish and functional beach bags while making a positive impact in the world by creating jobs for survivors of exploitation, using sustainable materials, using bio-degradable packaging, and working with unknown artists to help them build their rep. Through this venture, they can provide scholarships to the children of the survivors to help break the cycle of violence. They support the Drop-In center in Nepal so that present-day trafficking victims have somewhere to go. Carlie and her team are also helping to create jobs in poverty-stricken areas by removing ocean plastics.

In her early twenties, Carlie was sexually attacked 4 times by 4 separate men: a friend, a boss, a date, and a massage therapist. Different races and different ages, different dynamics in different places. Since then, it has been a difficult journey for Carlie, but one morning everything changed for her. Her mom hated beach bags and so does most women she knew. This gave her the idea to start her own beach bag business, which also opened her eyes to the many exploitations happening in the fashion industry and all around her. Carlie knew she had to do something about it, which started her career in impact entrepreneurship.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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39: Undercover to Fully Recovered, Former Police Officer Overcomes Addictions // The Story of Brock Bevell Aug 10, 2021

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Brock Bevell is a well-regarded family man with 7 children, six daughters and one son. He is a retired Police Officer who was run over on duty and ultimately retired from the injuries. The injuries caused him to endure numerous knee surgeries and constant rehabilitation. To deal with the pain, he was prescribed Opioids. After months and months of therapy, the department and doctors made the determination that his injuries would prevent him from doing the job effectively and could place others at risk. It was decided that he would be medically retired from the department.

For the next few years, Brock struggled with being retired. The day after turning in his equipment, he felt ostracized and not a part of the brotherhood. This was a huge blow to his ego. One day you're chasing bad guys and the next you're picking up your kid's toys. It was a difficult transition. It was at this time, that Brock's addiction took control of his emotions and he began to spin out of control, and he proceeded to self-medicate himself. During the height of his addiction, he went through a very difficult divorce. He lost time with his children and made poor decisions costing him his children's trust.

His detox lasted 7 days. At no time did he have a visitor or help from friends or family. He was alone. He had alienated most friends and was too embarrassed to share the process with his family. He walked the journey alone, but the detox set him up for the comeback. For the first time in years, the need, want or desire to use opioids was gone. He did not want to use it ever again. The process he went on prepared him for the battles he was going to face. Since recovering from his addiction, Brock has helped hundreds of men and women combat addiction. He utilizes an unconventional approach to recovery. This approach continues to lead men and women to lasting sobriety.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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38: Bench Warmer to Pro Basketball Career, Author of 29 Books & 8,000 Videos // The Story of Dre Baldwin Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

Dre Baldwin turned one year of high school basketball and a Division 3 college ball career into 9 years of pro basketball. In 2005, he began blogging and publishing to a new website called "YouTube." That's where the brand started. Dre created his first products in 2008, and introduced the phrase "Work On Your Game" in 2009. His first book "Buy A Game" published in 2010.

Dre stopped playing basketball in 2015 – the same year he did the first of his 4 TEDxTalks. The daily Work On Your Game Podcast launched in 2016. Today, between Speaking, Coaching, Authoring and Podcasting, Dre serves an audience of entrepreneurs, professionals and athletes on mastering Discipline, Confidence & Mental Toughness.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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37: From Depression to Passion, Winning a Film Festival, & 1.4 Million Followers // The Story of Zac Stracener Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

Zac Stracener is a popular social media personality who gained his popularity for his videos with the theme of mental illness and anxiety. His TikTok account, Zac.Stracener, has over 1.4 million followers. One of his most well-known TikTok videos, which has the song "Overwhelmed" by Royal & the Serpent, earned more than 2 million views.

Creating striking and poignant vignettes on TikTok, Zac has also proven himself with award-winning short films as well as engaging commercial pieces. Bringing magnitudes of creative insight, he has given himself a name in content creation as well as artistic vision in cinema. Zac lives in Los Angeles, California where he creates weekly videos for social media along with working on Films.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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36: Chronic Heart Conditions to the Worlds First AI Powered Health Care // The Story of Marie Johnson May 10, 2021

Show notes

Marie Johnson is the co-creator of Nadia, the first AI digital human for service delivery and the creator of the AI digital human cardiac coach. She is a writer, commentator and international speaker on artificial intelligence, digital transformation, cyber, technology, ethics and the human experience. Her expertise is the human interface in complex servicing systems.

Described as a "public entrepreneur", "crazy brave", Marie is a trailblazer with a track record for tackling wicked problems head-on. Marie says she prefers the "edge" because it's uncomfortable and that's what sparks innovation. An impatient optimist, Marie is a relentless advocate for women on STEM, and is recognized for her groundbreaking work on inclusion and accessibility led innovation.

Across government and internationally, Marie has delivered significant technology, innovation and digital services transformation programs across revenue, business, health and human services, payments, identity, immigration visa operations, and disability services. Her advocacy and expertise in identity was influential in the Australian Financial Systems Inquiry recommending the need for a federated digital identity framework as a critical element for the future robustness of Australia's financial systems.

*** For Show Notes, Key Points, Contact Info, Resources Mentioned, & More on this episode please visit our website: RockBottom2RockinIt.com. ***

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