From Rehab Client to CEO: Sabyn Mayfield on Recovery, Creativity and Stopping the Pursuit of Fame

From Rehab Client to CEO: Sabyn Mayfield on Recovery, Creativity and Stopping the Pursuit of Fame

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol when fame, money and creative success seem like the ultimate fix? Recovery Rocks brings together co-hosts Lisa and Anna David with filmmaker, musician and trauma-treatment CEO Sabyn Mayfield to unpack that question in a raw, funny and very relatable conversation.

Sabyn shares how he went from client at The Bridge to Recovery in 2022 to becoming its CEO less than two years later, joking that he’s “not only… the CEO, but a client.” He talks openly about years in Los Angeles chasing film and music careers, fuelled by addiction, ego and a desperate belief that being “rich and famous” would finally make him feel like somebody.

As he puts it, “I had this core false belief that if you are not somebody, you are nobody.” The chat digs into trauma (or “woundedness,” as Sabyn prefers), the obsession with external validation, and the way creative hustling can keep people stuck in feast-or-famine chaos. You’ll hear how his work in recovery taught him that creativity isn’t just making art; it’s also teamwork, problem-solving and expressing your authentic self in any environment.

A three-day silent retreat with his sponsor led to his single “Worthy,” and also helped him reconnect with quiet, ritual and nature. He describes how unplugging from devices shows him that “it all waits” and how long-term recovery often means facing emotional dysregulation and that relentless inner critic, rather than trying to “12-step it and pray it away” alone. This conversation is aimed at people in recovery, those sober-curious and anyone who’s ever pinned their worth on achievement.

If you’ve chased success hoping it would fix how you feel inside, Sabyn’s story might have you asking what you truly want, and what being “worthy” actually means to you.