172 Living Life In Recovery with Sterling Shrout

172 Living Life In Recovery with Sterling Shrout

What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This conversation with Sterling Shrout shows how chaotic things can get, and how change can still happen. Sterling shares how growing up in poverty and within a strict Jehovah’s Witness upbringing shaped his early years. By his mid-teens he was selling drugs, and between 15 and 28 he bounced between probation, parole, prison and rehab.

He talks frankly about the reality of a three-year mandatory prison sentence and how, even after release, “I couldn’t get a job at a fast food place because of my record,” leaving him feeling totally shut out from society. Things spiralled into heavy heroin and crack cocaine use, homelessness and crime.

Sterling describes one overdose in 2019 as the moment that “gave me the realisation that I didn’t want to die; I fully enjoy living,” especially with a young son now in his life. From there, he used medically assisted treatment, daily routines and gradual lifestyle changes to build a new foundation.

You’ll hear how a simple vision-planning exercise – imagining life at 90 in a cabin with healthy children and grandchildren – became a turning point, helping him see a future he felt worthy of. Education and podcasts then opened his eyes to money, mindset and opportunity, leading to small businesses and a role in a recovery-focused mastermind that teaches vision, financial skills and personal growth.

There’s plenty here for anyone in recovery who’s wondering what comes next: Sterling talks about relapse, the danger of hanging onto old relationships, spotting emotional red flags in family life, and why he now feels a responsibility to support others coming out of addiction and the criminal justice system. If you’ve ever asked yourself whether your past can be used for good, this episode might spark some new ideas about what life in recovery can look like.