Get a Grip Podcast

On this episode of the Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Dustin Ryan for one of the wildest and darkest conversations we’ve had yet. Dustin opens up about growing up surrounded by addiction, chaos, crime, and loss — and how those experiences shaped his life from a young age.From shocking childhood stories and early exposure to drugs and sex, to felony charges, family trauma, and brutal moments from addiction culture, this episode goes deep into the realities most people never see. Dustin shares raw, unfiltered stories about his uncle, life around fentanyl, violence, and the mindset of someone who felt “born an addict.”⚠️ Viewer discretion advised: This episode contains discussions of addiction, crime, death, violence, prostitution, and other disturbing topics.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this powerful episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Dion Evans for an unbelievable story of trauma, addiction, prison, and redemption.Dion’s life started with pain early on. After being hit by a drunk driver as a child and suffering traumatic brain injuries that would permanently impact the way he thought and reacted to the world, his life slowly spiraled into chaos. He talks openly about stealing from a young age, battling an identity crisis, and growing up while his family dealt with the heartbreaking reality of his sister being born sick.As the years went on, the streets and addiction took control. Dion explains how OxyContin became the beginning of a much darker road—one filled with burglaries, police chases, jail cycles, and eventually facing decades behind bars. One of the craziest moments of the episode comes when Dion explains how he received an 18-year prison sentence for robbing a correctional officer’s house while already on the run.Inside prison, everything changed.From humiliation and violence to meeting former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett behind bars, Dion shares the moments that slowly forced him to confront who he had become. He opens up about apologizing to the correctional officer he robbed, learning accountability, and beginning the long process of rebuilding his life from the ground up.This episode is more than just a prison story. It’s about consequences, transformation, and proving that your worst mistakes don’t have to define the rest of your life.By the end of this conversation, Dion shares where he is today, the accomplishments he’s made since prison, and what life looks like a year after first appearing on the podcast.This is one you do not want to miss.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this episode of Get a Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Chase Tomak for one of the most intense and unfiltered conversations yet—a story that starts in chaos and somehow finds its way to hope.Chase was born into addiction, entering the world as a crack baby and immediately facing odds stacked against him. By the time he was in 5th grade, he was already being expelled from school, and soon after, thrown into a foster care system that would bounce him through over 40 different homes. What he experienced inside those homes is hard to hear—violence, neglect, and kids hurting each other and animals, all while he tried to survive and repeatedly attempted to run away.Eventually landing at Buckeye Boys Ranch, things didn’t stabilize—they escalated. This is where addiction began tightening its grip, setting the stage for a life filled with crime, trauma, and destruction. Chase opens up about deeply disturbing moments from his past, including forcing his own sister into a life-threatening situation, catching serious charges involving kidnapping and weapons, and spiraling further into chaos.Then came fentanyl.Chase describes what he calls “falling in love with fent”—a relationship that nearly cost him everything. Over 100 overdoses. Violence. Running from consequences. Watching the people around him break, including a girlfriend battling her own demons and attempting to take her life.But somehow… he survived.At his lowest point, something shifted. Chase began the long road toward recovery, eventually getting clean and entering treatment. It’s there he meets the woman who would become his wife—but even that journey wasn’t smooth, with relapse still part of the story before real change took hold.This episode is raw, dark, and brutally honest—but it’s also a reminder that even the most broken paths can lead somewhere better.If you or someone you love is struggling, this conversation could be the one that hits home.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Brandon Muth for one of the most intense and eye-opening conversations yet—a story marked by trauma, addiction, violence, and ultimately, transformation.Brandon’s life started with chaos early on, including a near-fatal accident where he was hit by a dump truck as a child, followed by another serious injury not long after. Pain, both physical and mental, became a recurring theme—and by 16, drugs and alcohol had already taken hold.What follows is a rapid descent. Brandon shares how his addiction escalated into reckless and dangerous behavior, including robbing a convenience store on Xanax with socks over his hands in a blackout state. He explains the progression from Loratab to heroin—shockingly influenced by someone in the medical field—and how quickly things spiraled once heroin entered the picture.One of the most chilling moments of the episode comes when Brandon recounts a night where, under the influence of heroin and alcohol, he nearly took a woman’s life—something he has to live with every day. That moment set off a chain of consequences, leading to a potential 16-year prison sentence and a decision to take his case to trial.Brandon takes listeners deep inside the prison system, eventually landing in a level 4, supermax environment. Even behind bars, the addiction didn’t stop—he talks about using meth in prison, the realities of “tune,” and the mental toll it took, including hearing voices and losing touch with reality. The chaos followed him even after release, including violent incidents at a halfway house and being sent back to prison again.He also opens up about the lesser-seen side of incarceration—owing thousands of dollars inside, navigating prison politics, and the constant pressure of survival.But somewhere along the way, something shifted.Brandon shares the moment things finally started to click, what led him to begin changing, and how his mindset today is completely different from the man he once was. His outlook on life, responsibility, and accountability has been hard-earned through years of consequences and reflection.This episode is raw, unsettling, and real—but it’s also a powerful example of how even the darkest paths can lead to change.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives

In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Tyler James to tell a story that starts in a quiet small town and spirals into a life consumed by addiction, chaos, and survival.Tyler opens up about his early years, growing up in a place where not much seemed out of the ordinary—until he was introduced to Hydrocodone at 17. What started as experimentation quickly escalated, leading him to Chicago where everything changed. He shares the intense and painful reality of using for the first time intravenously, including missing veins and learning the hard way what he calls “slow” heroin.From there, things accelerate fast. Tyler talks about the dangerous mix of meth and heroin, and how that combination pushed him into a cycle that felt impossible to escape. Legal trouble followed, starting with a DUI, but that was only the beginning. As pills turned into heroin, his life unraveled—leading to homelessness, desperation, and stretches of being awake for weeks at a time while deep in addiction.One of the most intense parts of his story includes being up for three straight weeks, completely caught in the grip of meth and heroin—a moment that captures just how far things had fallen. He also recounts violent encounters on the street, including having a gun pulled on him and being beaten by a dealer, painting a raw picture of the reality that comes with that lifestyle.But Tyler’s story doesn’t end there.He shares the turning point—what finally made him decide to get sober—and what that day actually looked like. The conversation shifts into his life today, including his experience in a Medication-Assisted Treatment (M.A.T.) program and what recovery really looks like on a daily basis.Tyler’s message is honest and direct: recovery isn’t easy, but it’s possible. He closes by offering real advice to anyone struggling, speaking from lived experience rather than theory.This episode is a powerful reminder of how quickly things can fall apart—and how, even after everything, it’s still possible to rebuild.🔥 Expect emotion. Expect truth. Expect hope.🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories on addiction, recovery, and resilience.Get a Grip Podcast Social Media: Find our TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio links, a more on our Link Tree below!Get a Grip Social Media Links: ⁠https://linktr.ee/officialgetagrippodcastFor Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below:📩 Email: [email protected]👇 Let us know your thoughts in the comments.#getagrip #redemptionstory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #addictionrecovery #recoveryjourney #trauma #childhood #oxy #dealer #soberlife #wedorecover #childhoodtrauma #healing #inspiration #awareness #kingpin #trafficking #hustle #opioidcrisis #neardeathexperience #fyp #prison #bar #mistake #change #survivor #survival #tv #television #inspire #parole #officer #school #teacher #students #study #student #changinglives