Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast

AA Speaker - Ralph W. - Oslo, Norway - 2015

Ralph W. from Los Angeles, CA sharing on the steps at the "Spiritual Progress rather than Spiritual Perfection" convention in Oslo, Norway - October 30th 2015
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Ralph describes arriving in AA in 1986 after his double life as a respected businessman by day and a destructive “vampire” by night collapsed, leaving him broken and powerless. Through treatment, meetings, and surrender, Ralph discovered that recovery is not about information but transformation—training his feet in action, finding humility, and learning to rely on a higher power rather than self-will. He spoke about the power of the steps, the importance of unity, service, and recovery, and the way AA turned his life from darkness into light, allowing him to stand as a whole man in his own skin. His journey reflects the enduring truth that healing comes from surrender, connection, and carrying the message to others.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Jay S. - Hobbs, NM - 2006

Jay S. from Redondo Beach, CA speaking at the 26th annual Tumbleweed Conference in Hobbs, NM - September 15th 2006
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Jay shares a life reclaimed: a 1979 sobriety date, decades free from the “front drink,” and a journey from blackout living and DUIs to spiritual action, amends, and service. He frames alcoholism as allergy + obsession + soul sickness—and recovery as complete abstinence, prayer/meditation, and working all 12 steps. Key wins: he stayed sober when the obsession lifted around 100 days, made hard amends, sponsored widely (“if God sends them, you can’t hurt them”), and helped family—supporting his father through illness with dignity and boundaries. He became a man who shows up: building community from Hermosa Beach meetings to Central America service trips, honoring Al-Anon family healing, and tapping empty chairs as a quiet daily “prayer.” His message is simple and urgent—“find God or die”—but inclusive: try the disciplines, notice the results, and let AA’s kitchen-table sponsorship raise the dead. The arc of his life proves that when we put AA first, everything else becomes first-class: love, family reconciliation, purposeful work, and the privilege of carrying a message that’s saving lives across the world tonight.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Carl P. Conyers, GA - 2014

Carl P. from Atlanta, GA speaking at the Fellowship of the Spirit in Conyers, GA - April 6th 2014
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Carl traces a restless childhood—constant moves, isolation, and a mind that never felt comfortable—into full-blown addiction where alcohol and cocaine became the only reliable relief and then the wrecking ball for every job, home, and relationship he touched. He shows how “white-knuckle” stints in treatment and halfway houses failed because mere sincerity and fellowship couldn’t overcome a body that craved and a mind that obsessed; the breakthrough came when he finally recognized the illness for what it was and became willing to take disciplined spiritual action even when it didn’t make sense. From there he leans into rigorous inventory, amends, daily practice, and a tight, accountability-heavy home group he helped found that cycles back through the work repeatedly and challenges the belief systems—especially about what it means to be a man—that once ran his life. The result: real freedom, deep friendships, useful service, and steady growth in health, career, and purpose. The life-importance message: pain can become power when you surrender, do the hard interior work, and stay in a community that demands honesty and action.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - John K. - Dodge City, KS - 2008

John K. from Primary Purpose Group in Dallas, TX speaking at the SW Kansas AA Conference in Dodge City, KS - January 2008
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John shares his story of going from a straight-A, gifted athlete with everything on paper, to a hopeless alcoholic who cycled through jobs, relationships, treatment centers, and blackouts until Labor Day 1999, when he finally surrendered and found a sponsor who laid out the truth of the Big Book. He explains in his own words how Step 1 hit him when he saw he couldn’t not drink, Step 2 gave him hope that what worked for others might work for him, and Step 3 became real on his knees with a simple prayer asking God for willingness. He describes Step 4–5 as uncovering the “ugly truth” of selfishness and damage done, Steps 6–7 as the hard willingness to let go of those defects, and Steps 8–9 as making amends wherever possible. For him, Step 10 is daily action, Step 11 keeps him grounded in prayer and conscious contact, and Step 12 is not “work” but joy—helping other drunks, taking calls, driving guys to meetings, and carrying the message with urgency. Today he lives with purpose, sponsors “hard cases,” has restored family relationships, is engaged, and even brought his non-alcoholic mother into Big Book study. His message: gratitude is shown not by words but by action—staying close to God, thumping the Big Book, and helping the next alcoholic.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Rick K. - British Columbia, Canada - 2008

Rick K. from Edmonton, Canada speaking at Parksville Rally in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada - June 14th 2008
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Rick shares a funny-raw arc from blackout drinking (early DUIs, a seizure, a marriage on the brink, dyslexia shame, and career chaos) to long-term sobriety (8/8/1985) built on service, sponsorship, and trusting God; he found purpose making coffee, stacking chairs, and “living like it might work,” then working the steps with a paint-salesman sponsor—especially Step 3 (decision with another person), Step 4–5 (honest inventory and full disclosure), Step 6–7 (trust God rather than white-knuckle self-change), Step 8–9 (amends—most powerfully to his still-drinking father), Step 11 (prayer/meditation to start the day sane), and Step 12 (“working with others” done with love, not lectures). He underscores AA as a participation sport—show up, help newcomers, and keep your spiritual condition ahead of the first drink—while highlighting grace in family life (an adoption returned with dignity, then the surprise birth of his son Luke) and gratitude for his parents, including healing old wounds. Key accomplishments and turning points include earning his Red Seal as a chef (even cooking for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip), rebuilding his marriage, becoming a present father, and growing into a man who welcomes newcomers with a hand on the shoulder. The life-importance message: sobriety thrives on humility, honesty, and service—do the next right thing, trust God, and love people well.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Joshua H. - Vancouver, Canada - 2009

Joshua H. from Toronto, Canada speaking at the North Shore Roundup in Vancouver, Canada - April 12th 2009
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From early chaos—drinking at 10, homelessness, jail, psych wards, and years of relapse—Joshua reached a bottom at 19 where alcohol stopped working and only AA remained. Guided by sponsors, steps, and service, he found freedom in admitting powerlessness, seeking a higher power, and using his painful past to help others. Despite trauma, loss, and struggles with self-centeredness, Joshua built a life of sobriety marked by showing up for family, sponsoring others, and embracing love and community. His key accomplishments are long-term sobriety since 1995, rebuilding broken family ties, sponsoring countless alcoholics, and discovering that his greatest life achievement is simply being an active, loving member of AA—a place that finally felt like home
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Rick W. - La Jolla, CA - 2010

Rick W. from Oxnard, CA speaking at the Old Town speakers meeting in La Jolla, CA - Oct 2010
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Rick W. from Oxnard shares a humorous, raw, and deeply grateful account of a life transformed by Alcoholics Anonymous: after early trauma, chaotic drinking, DUIs, accidents, and a low point at Camarillo State Hospital (lured first by coffee, cookies, and H&I Marlboros), he discovered AA, recognized his alcoholism, and—sober since July 1977—built a daily practice of meetings, service (from “best chair-putta-boy” to sponsor), and the Twelve Steps. He stresses what matters most: that AA works when we admit powerlessness, make a decision, do inventory, make amends, and keep helping others—turning pain into purpose, loneliness into fellowship, and fear into faith. His key accomplishments are enduring long-term sobriety, relentless meeting attendance, concrete service to his home group, rigorous step work, and active sponsorship—proof that a life once ruled by alcohol can become a life of dignity, usefulness, and spiritual growth.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Tim T. - Edisto, SC - 2007

Tim T. from Brooklyn, OH speaking at the Edisto Roundup in Edisto, SC - April 13th-15th 2007
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Tim's share reflects pain transformed into purpose: the son of an alcoholic father who got sober in 1946, Tim grew up in chaos—cycling through step-parents, over 20 schools, jails, prisons, and failed marriages—before reaching his bottom on June 23, 1982, when loneliness and despair nearly consumed him. His early life was marked by running from responsibility and authority, endless trouble with the law, and broken relationships, yet Alcoholics Anonymous gave him the fellowship, sponsorship, and spiritual grounding he needed to rebuild. Through the steps, he found humility, forgiveness, and a faith that turned “have to” into “get to,” caring for his sick mother until her passing with love instead of resentment. Tim built a life rooted in service, marrying within AA, regaining dignity, and learning that sobriety is about living for others and trusting God’s will. His story embodies the real purpose of recovery—maximum service to God and those around us—and he leaves the reminder that amends and love must be lived today, not left for the funeral home.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Don C. - Albuquerque, NM - 1994

Don C. from Colorado Spring, CO speaking at the 4 Seasons Workshop at the 1st NM Indian AA Convention in Albuquerque, NM - April 1st 1994
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Don shares a deeply spiritual message blending Native tradition with recovery. He spoke of prophecies marking a new springtime for Indigenous people, a stirring where hidden gifts would surface and healers would emerge after walking hard personal roads. Drawing on the medicine wheel, he reframed the Twelve Steps as a circle of relationships—with Creator, self, others, and elders—urging that growth follows cycles of spring, summer, fall, and winter. He emphasized that mistakes are sacred teachers, part of the wide Red Road of life, and that healing means living in harmony with the unseen world where spirit and intent are always felt. His story reflects not just recovery from alcoholism since 1978, but a larger calling: to reconnect culture, honor trials as life school, and help bring healing circles to his people.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu

AA Speaker - Ralf S. - Copenhagen, Denmark - 2009

Ralf S. from München, Germany speaking at the Men Among Men Group's first conference in Copenhagen, Denmark - August 8th 2009
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Ralf, a German mathematician, blends humor, intellect, and honesty. He described how childhood trauma left him people-pleasing and empty, and though he built success and wealth worldwide, he lived as an “empty suit,” disconnected from himself and relying on alcohol to survive. His drinking spiraled in Miami until even alcohol stopped working, leading him into AA where the obsession was lifted but where, for years, he lacked true step-based recovery. Returning to Germany, he found himself lost in meetings that didn’t work the steps, plagued by fear, emptiness, and loneliness despite outward success. Through long-distance sponsorship and finally working the steps in earnest, he learned the importance of fellowship, rigorous honesty, and unity in practicing the same program together. Today, he is not only sober but pursuing dreams he never dared admit—like becoming a comedian—living proof that sobriety allows space for courage, service, and possibility beyond fear.
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu