After dropping out of college, Nikki Mammano was an “it girl” kingpin in Waikiki’s drug trade. When it all fell apart, she landed in prison and then on the street, thieving and hooking to survive. Flash forward to today – Nikki is a PTA mom of two daughters living in the burbs. How did this happen? Her memoir, BREAKING GOOD, tells the tale and we are here for it!

Find Nikki’s book and more on her website.

Check out all things Recovery Rocks, Lisa and Anna.

If rehab worked the way it’s supposed to…why do so many people end up right back where they started?

After more than 30 years in the trenches of addiction treatment, Jimmie Applegate has some theories.

In his recently released book Addicted to Failure: Why the Rehab System Doesn’t Work and What Must Change, he pulls back the curtain on the myths, blind spots and outdated models that keep people stuck.

We talk trauma, brain rewiring, why “just go to rehab” is wildly oversimplified and what real, lasting recovery support should actually look like. This one is part wake-up call, part hope for something better.

Learn all about Jimmie’s work here.

Finally, check out all things Recovery Rocks, Lisa and Anna.

Lisa Smith is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar. Anna David is the author of the novel Party Girl, as well as multiple nonfiction books. Together, they bring the honesty of lived experience to conversations about addiction, sobriety and the messy, meaningful truths at the heart of recovery.

What happens when your “journey of self-discovery” includes Burning Man debauchery, spontaneous decisions to move to other countries and the ingestion of substances you probably should’ve Googled first?

We asked the best source on the topic—Carly Schwartz, a former top editor at The Huffington Post and Editor-in-Chief of the San Francisco Examiner all about it when discussing her upcoming recovery memoir, I’ll Try Anything Twice: Misadventures of a Self-Medicated Life.

To call Try Anything Twice just a recovery memoir doesn’t do justice to just how poignant, tragic and inspiring it is. It’s a sharp and painfully honest look at dealing with depression and addiction, not to mention chasing meaning in all the wrong places—before finally finding real recovery.

We get into adult identity crises, denial that deserves an award, suicidal depression and what it actually takes to rebuild a life you almost lost. Also, we talk a lot about how we’re all obsessed with each other.

Find out more about Carly on carly.ink, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn. And book a writing and storytelling workshop with Carly at Mindwriters.

Finally, check out all things Recovery Rocks, Lisa and Anna.

Lisa Smith is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar. Anna David is the author of the novel Party Girl, as well as multiple nonfiction books. Together, they bring the honesty of lived experience to conversations about addiction, sobriety and the messy, meaningful truths at the heart of recovery.