091: Impacting Life 24/7 with C.L King091: Impacting Life 24/7 with C.L King
You're Sober! Now What?
Tamar Medford chats with C.L. King about his journey from severe childhood abuse and homelessness to a life focused on impact, speaking and podcasting. Their conversation links trauma, purpose and practical personal development, offering encouragement to those in recovery who want more from life.
47:17•19 Apr 2021
Turning Childhood Trauma into Everyday Impact with C.L. King
Episode Overview
- A painful childhood of abuse and homelessness does not have to dictate a person’s future.
- Supportive adults and faith communities can redirect a young person’s life towards purpose.
- Choosing to use hardship as fuel for change can prevent repeating abusive patterns.
- Identifying one’s gifts, committing energy and endurance, starting, and tracking results are key steps to progress.
- Focusing on consistent impact, even with one person at a time, can build a meaningful life in recovery.
“You can take all of that junk, all of the abuse… and use it as an excuse, or you can use it to change the world.”
What drives someone to seek a life that actually means something after years of pain? This chat between host Tamar Medford and guest C.L. King brings that question front and centre, blending raw childhood trauma with high-octane motivation. C.L. shares his early years of severe physical, verbal and sexual abuse, homelessness, malnutrition and bouncing through group homes and foster homes. He recalls being told by his foster mum, Ruth E. Plowden: "You can take all of that junk...
or you can use it to change the world" — a line that becomes the backbone of his story. Rather than becoming "a statistic", he chooses a different path, eventually serving in the United States Marine Corps, raising seven children and building a global speaking and podcasting platform. You’ll hear how church, a tough-but-loving foster mum and his own stubborn refusal to repeat the past pushed him towards purpose.
He talks openly about still wrestling with childhood demons, yet making a clear break: never abusing his children, never harming his wife, and focusing on impact instead. C.L. also breaks down his high-energy personal development framework, GEAR: identifying your gifts, understanding the energy and endurance they require, actually starting, and then tracking results instead of settling.
He jokes about checking the scales multiple times a day while losing weight, using it as an example of how paying attention to results changes everything. Listeners who are in recovery or feeling stuck will relate to Tamar’s own reflections on overdoing things, slipping into old patterns, and using daily, small steps to move forward. The tone stays lively, fun and honest, even while touching on serious abuse and addiction themes.
If you’re wondering whether your past automatically decides your future, this episode might have you asking a different question: what could your story help you change today?
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