This episode is not a clean, tied-up sobriety story.

Kayla shares what it actually looked like from drinking at 12, to years of alcohol and cocaine use, to a car crash that could’ve ended everything. Sobriety didn’t come from a decision. It came from consequences, court, and being forced to stop.

Three years later, she’s still here. Still sober. Still figuring it out.

We talk about:

• Growing up around chaos and how that shaped everything
• Drinking that started as fun and turned into escape
• Anger, fights, and losing real relationships
• The night that led to a DUI, surgery, and drug court
• Why sobriety doesn’t automatically make life better
• Depression, identity loss, and mental health in recovery
• Learning how to live without numbing everything out
• What keeps her from picking up a drink now

This is a conversation about the part people don’t always talk about what happens after you stop drinking.

If you’re struggling, questioning things, or just trying to figure out your next step… this one’s for you.

Welcome to Young and Sober... for the sober confident, the sober curious, and the sober-ish.

This episode is a perspective on addiction that doesn’t get talked about enough the people who grow up around it.

I sat down with Casey Conrad, a respected voice in the health and wellness space and author of Bitter or Better, to talk about what it was actually like being raised by an alcoholic mother. From the outside, her childhood looked normal, but everything shifted when her mom’s drinking became impossible to ignore.

At just 12, Casey stepped into the role of caretaker learning how to manage chaos, keep the peace, and suppress her own emotions. It wasn’t until college that she realized her experience wasn’t normal.

What makes her story different is that she never picked up a drink. But even without alcohol, the impact showed up in her anger, independence, relationships, and the way she moved through the world.

Now, after decades in the health and wellness industry, Casey has built a life centered around growth and helping others do the same. In her book Bitter or Better, she shares how she turned a difficult upbringing into something meaningful.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Growing up with an alcoholic parent

• Emotional suppression and anger

• Hyper-independence and control

• Breaking the cycle without becoming the addict

• And what it actually means to choose better over bitter

This episode isn’t just about addiction it’s about what it leaves behind.

On this episode of Young & Sober, Sydney sits down with her friend Jasmine to talk about the long road that finally led her to one year sober.

Jasmine’s story starts with severe anxiety and agoraphobia as a teenager, which led to a benzodiazepine prescription that quickly spiraled into addiction. What followed were years of alcohol, drugs, destructive relationships, psychosis, and repeated attempts to get sober that never quite stuck.

She shares openly about losing custody of her daughter, surviving violent relationships, experiencing drug-induced psychosis, and relapsing just two weeks before reaching a year sober.

Now at 37, Jasmine has finally reached one full year of sobriety.

This episode is about hitting bottom more than once, rebuilding a life from the ground up, and what finally changed when nothing else had worked before. Finally building a life worth living.