Episodes
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Matt Nannis (he/him) is the Executive Director at PIVOT Point WNC. He approaches life with pragmatism, integrity, and curiosity. PIVOT Point WNC approaches treatment in the same way. The program was inspired by his own experience. In this episode of Nature Untold, John talks to Matt about his story and about the process of healing in nature. Matt has some incredible recovery wisdom and this episode is bound to have you deep in thought about your own experiences outside.
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In these short episodes, we hear quick answers to quick questions from our monthly guest. This month, John and Naomi go through the lightning round and hear more about what's bringing her joy lately, what advice she might have for people trying to get sober, and much more!
You can learn more at our website.
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Episodes manquant?
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Naomi Veak (she/her) is an authentic relating facilitator, a nature-connected life coach in-training, and the founder of My Sober Girlfriends, a membership community for badass sober women in Portland, Oregon. Outdoor sports helped her manage her depression in her early 20's, but it wasn't until she got sober and learned to slow down in Nature that shit got magical.
In this episode, Naomi and Jon talk about the concept of slowing down in nature, hosting sober events for badass outdoor women, the importance of continuous growth, and channeling new energy through sobriety.
You can check out Naomiâs membership program here. You can also catch up with Naomi here.
This episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether itâs from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If youâre interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here!
This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Nature Untold Short Stories will feature essays that reflect on the recovery, addiction, or sobriety journey in the outdoor space.
In this short story, we're reading Part 3 of a 3-part series, Autumn Tides, by past guest Sarah Fountain.
You can listen to Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
You can find Sarah's full story from our interview with her earlier in 2022, episode 26.
You can read Sarah's full essay here and follow along with her here.
Nature Untold is a part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can follow along with Nature Untold on Instagram.
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TW: This episode mentions suicide, self-mutilation, and eating disorders.
Originally from Toronto, Crystal Allsop (she/her) now calls the town of Squamish home. Crystal is a mountain lover; she loves to stare at them, paint them, and explore them via many modalities. Her favorite way to experience and connect with the mountains is through alpine climbing.
Crystal shares her story of using alcohol to numb the painfully confusing emotions of a traumatic childhood and the things that were instrumental in her gradual rise to self-respect, sobriety, and mountain summits.
You can catch up with Crystal on Instagram.
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This episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether itâs from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If youâre interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here!
This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Nature Untold Short Stories will feature essays that reflect on the recovery, addiction, or sobriety journey in the outdoor space.
In this short story, we're reading Part 2 of a 3-part series, Autumn Tides, by past guest Sarah Fountain.
You can find Sarah's full story from our interview with her earlier in 2022, episode 26.
You can read Sarah's full essay here and follow along with her here.
Nature Untold is a part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can follow along with Nature Untold on Instagram.
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Nature Untold Short Stories will feature essays that reflect on the recovery, addiction, or sobriety journey in the outdoor space. In this short story, we're reading Part 1 of a 3-part series, Autumn Tides, by past guest Sarah Fountain.
You can find Sarah's full story from our interview with her earlier in 2022, episode 26.
You can read Sarah's full essay here and follow along with her here.
Nature Untold is a part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can follow along with Nature Untold on Instagram.
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As you may know, the Nature Untold Podcast is part of a greater family of outdoor podcasts called the Plug Tone Audio Collective. We're a house of current, awesome podcasts and a production house for future audio storytelling.
As part of this collective, we have been creating new content for the Plug Tone Outdoors podcast feed. In this mini trailer, we're introducing our new show, Built Outdoors.
Built Outdoors explores and shares stories of outdoor entrepreneurs in a highly-produced, narrative storytelling audio format. We're really excited about sharing these stories and hope you'll check them out over on the Plug Tone Outdoors Podcast channel.
If you want to follow along with Plug Tone, you can follow us on Instagram, check out our website, and sign up for our newsletter.
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Andrew Gibbs-Dabney is the founder and CEO of LIVSN Designs. LIVSN creates versatile and sustainable apparel designed to last longer.
Andrew is dedicated to the values of sustainability and conscious capitalism. He truly believes business success and social progress go hand in hand and he has built LIVSN on these ideals from day one.
Andrew comes on the show to share his story of recovery from opioids. He was exposed to opioids at a very young age because of some health issues as a child, and from there, felt that he was already predisposed to addiction. He speaks to his moment of clarity, choosing his rock bottom, serving time, and rebuilding a normal life.
Catch up with Andrew:
LIVSN Instagram Personal InstagramThis episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether itâs from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If youâre interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here!
This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Bret Biggart serves as Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Solar Power. Bret has a background in corporate finance and obtained his MBA from the Jones School of Business at Rice University. When he's not working, he is enjoying a mixture of nature and sport endurance, with a focus on biking. Bret recently completed the Leadville 100 - 105 mile race and Tahoe Trail 100K. From leading the solar revolution to biking his way through nature, Bret's purpose is maintaining the beauty of the planet.
In this episode, John and Bret discuss:
being into a LOT of different outdoor things emotional sobriety turning things over to his higher power his family background with alcohol and drugs the importance of AA in his life losing touch with normal human emotion the doors that recovery opens the difference between spirituality and religion how your higher power can be anything you want it to be how Bretâs outdoor pursuits factor into his recovery how to balance the tendency of overdoing it when it comes to Bretâs outdoor pursuits finding someone whoâs done this before and talk to themThis episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether itâs from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If youâre interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here!
This episode is also sponsored by Sawyer Products. Sawyer is more than an outdoor company. Every Sawyer product you buy is a contribution to our common humanity, bringing clean water programs to people in need domestically, internationally, and in disaster relief missions all around the world. We appreciate their support and their mission. You can learn more on their website.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Matt Samet is a climber of 35 years based in Boulder, Colorado, where he lives with his family in the plains east of town. He is the former editor of Climbing Magazine as well as the author of the Climbing Dictionary and the memoir Death Grip: A Climberâs Escape from Benzo Madness.
In this episode, John and Matt discuss:
Growing up in Albuquerque How bouldering led to more sport climbing and beyond The sport of climbing and the unspoken push towards lightness How he got introduced to Benzodiazepines A voice inside asking âif this makes me feel this good now, I wonder if there will be a price to payâ What happens when you build a tolerance to Benzos Tapering off of Benzos with the help of a psychiatrist The medical professionals Matt came across during his time coming off of psych meds and how patient advocacy has improved the experience of taking and coming off of these types of medications How reading a ton about the reality of psych meds helped Matt understand his own experience more The universal threads of addiction recovery Coming in and out of climbing The importance of climbing with people who understand and empathize with Mattâs journey Invisible chronic illness and the lack of understanding and empathy from the general public Internal wisdom being your best guide Laying the hard groundwork earlyThis episode is sponsored by Bigger Life Adventures. Founders and owners, Carrie and Zach, created an amazing retreat company to help folks heal and recover, whether itâs from addiction, trauma, or anything else that ails us. They have scholarships available because they believe that everyone should have access to these types of retreats. If youâre interested in attending a retreat, use code NATUREUNTOLD for $50 off your purchase. Learn more here!
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Kara Hoisington (she/her) is a true New Englander. Growing up on the mountains of Maine and currently living in Vermont, Kara is an All-American ski racer and avid hiker. Her day job is as a Principal Consultant at a leading market research firm. In the past year, she got divorced from her husband of one-year and is on the road to better understanding and forgiving herself to rid the habit of engaging in toxic relationships.
In this episode, Kara and John discuss:
Recovery from a relationship The duality of an individual Clinging to a story that youâre trying to build versus the experience that youâre living How recovery from a relationship can mirror recovery from substance use Boundaries How having a grit mentality can get in the way of healing How love is not always enough to make a marriage work Getting out of the relationship leading to her getting back outside again How doing what you love can attract better people in your life Letting yourself have the full experience Allowing yourself to be content or feel positive about going through a negative experienceThank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Spencer Harkins (he/him) is a skier and Brand guy for the infamous Pit Viper. He lives in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, and sends the gnar.
In this episode, John and Spencer chat about:
His early ski days in Massachusetts and how he realized street skiing wasnât for him How an ACL injury led him to riding his road bike more, which led him to partying more The final catalyst for Spencer wanting to get sober What the mental clarity of sobriety opened up for him How he likes to show up for folks who come to him to share their struggles How Spencer manages being at drinking events now The improvements heâs seen in his athletic pursuits since getting sober Committing to a year of sobriety first, not forever âif itâs not fun, unless youâre drunk, itâs not fun.â the outdoor community celebrating and accepting getting drunkYou can follow along with Spencer on Instagram here.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Karen Schroeder (she/her/hers) is a sober ultra runner, climber, Mother Nature lover who has a passion for wild spaces and raising youth to be good stewards of them.
She is currently working towards being the best version of herself, pushing her limits as she climbs the Rockies of Colorado. Sheâs training for her first official ultra race, after completing other self-supported endurance pursuits. In her free time, sheâs standing on summits, dancing and promoting inclusivity, and getting curious about the rock layers of the Southwest.
In this episode, John and Karen discuss:
How she incorporates her love of the outdoors into her lesson planning The pandemic and how it contributed to daily drinking How a dry month became three months, six months, and just eventually became continuous sobriety The importance of asking âwhyâ How her love of physical movement and the outdoors aided in her journey towards self-awareness Why Sprouts gummy bears are the absolute best The addiction transfer How her friendships and dating changed in sobriety Red flags The practices she uses now to keepIf you want to catch up with Karen, you can follow her here.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Content warning: this episode contains mentions of PTSD and suicidal thoughts and ideation. If that is triggering for you, you may want to skip that one and thatâs totally okay! We love you either way.
Drew Petersen (he/him) is a passionate skier, runner, and mountain athlete on a mission to change our culture surrounding mental health. In his career as a professional skier, he blends storytelling with his athletic adventuresâranging from skiing lines in the backcountry to running 100 milesâto bring people along for the ride and to advocate for things he cares about.
In this episode, John and Drew discuss:
How Drew came to be a skier How a traumatic accident in the mountains His definition of sobriety His first attempts at sobriety came from recovery from season-ending injuries How masculinity plays into how much Drew felt he could share deeper issues How one of his injuries led to his mental health diagnosis Drewâs sobriety journey overall Why clarity and fortitude within the decision of sobriety was the big game-changer Getting back to socializing after the big waves of the pandemic Drewâs morning routine Combining skiing and runningCatch up with Drew here.
You can watch the full new film, Ups and Downs.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Sarah Fountain (she/her) is a marketing director, creative, writer, dog mom, rock climber, and general outdoors enthusiast living in Boulder, Colorado. She recently celebrated 9 years of sobriety. She also describes herself as an aggressive extrovert and empath.
In this episode, John and Sarah discuss:
her day-to-day in Boulder, Colorado Sarahâs recent celebration of 9 years in recovery her upbringing and how she immediately felt like she was a fish out of water how the first time she got drunk, she immediately thought âI need thisâ her semester with NOLS and how it was essentially a detox but also she had her first big moment with the outdoors her relationship with cocaine and how it became a light switch in her brain how addiction can feel like a loss of trust in yourself her rock bottom moment how most of early recovery was about trudging the happy road her move to Maine after 20 months of recovery catalyzed by her brother having Stage 4 cancer how climbing and the climbing community supported her during her recovery having to mourn the loss of drinking and drugging dealing with cultural norms around drinking her relationship with her brother, who was dying of Stage 4 cancer, and how she wouldnât have been able to show up for him, in the same way, were it not for a 12-step program staying in the right relationship with the mountains and learning from the mountains keeping your side of the street cleanCatch up with Sarah on Instagram.
Thank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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WELP, we have a little update for you from the Nature Untold Podcast.
As some of you may know, Iâm celebrating my two-year soberversary this week and with my second year of sobriety came a lot of changes. Iâve started building my own little business, quitting my 9-5 job, and Iâve been trudging along in this life.
I was noticing that I wasnât able to bring as much passion to these conversations as I thought was necessary and respectful to our guestsâ stories. I feel really good in my sobriety but I felt I would be doing a disservice to this podcast as a host if I went into interviews not feeling like I was giving it everything I had like I had done in the past.
So, I reached out to John Holdmeier, a past guest and current friend. And I asked for some help - I asked him if he would be interested in doing some interviews for the Nature Untold Podcast. And he said yes!
So, from here on out, indefinitely, John will be taking on interviews for the Nature Untold Podcast. You can catch up on his full story from Episode 5, when he was featured as a guest.
I still fully believe in the power of this show and I think there is so much more good we can do together.
And for a second update, we are joining a podcast network, Plug Tone Audio. Go over to their site and check out the awesome podcasts that are already part of this collective. More to come from them!
Finally, as always, thank you so much for your support over the year plus that weâve been producing and putting out this show. You are all the best.
If you want to connect, feel free to follow us on Instagram or join our private Facebook group. âTil next episode!
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Emerald LaFortune (she/her) is an outdoor writer, whitewater and flyfishing guide, as well as a community builder. She is based in rural Idaho.
We sit down with Emerald for a follow-up from her first interview with Nature Untold, in which she talks about her year-long experiment without alcohol.
In this episode, we discuss:
Her annual break from social media What is bringing her joy right now Where she is now with her relationship with alcohol Her top takeaways from a year-long step back from alcohol Her newfound trust in herself How we need to examine binary-style thinkingCatch up with Emerald:
Instagram WebsiteThank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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Margaret Ward joins the Nature Untold Podcast as a recovery coach, sober woman, runner, mom, lawyer, and much more. She also now owns her own company that helps women in recovery get out, travel, run, and find community together.
During our conversation, we chat about:
Knowing yourself The recovery before the sobriety What types of things she does in recovery to further her growth Her passion for creating communityand much more!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Book: Quit Like A Woman Book: Drinking: A Love Story Book: The Good HouseCatch up with Margaret:
Instagram Facebook Group WebsiteThank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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An avid alpinist, snowboarder, mountain biker, guide, and life adventurer, Molina previously served as an international director at The Climate Reality Project, where he designed the organizationâs climate leadership training and oversaw its post-Paris Agreement international strategy. Prior to his work at Climate Reality, Molina led strategy and programs as deputy director at the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE). He is now the Executive Director of Protect Our Winters.
In this episode, we discuss:
His new hobby of archery How he came to all of the outdoor sports he plays in Marioâs 4-year full break from alcohol His relationship with alcohol growing up and into adulthood What he learned from giving up alcohol and what doors opened because of that Trying to do 4% better Getting familiar with your physiology and tweaking those pieces for optimal performanceResources mentioned:
Book: Atomic Habits Book: Canât Hurt Me Book: The Brain That Changes Itself Book: FlowThank you, as always, for listening to this episode. Please follow along on the showâs Instagram, our private Facebook group, or wherever youâd like.
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