Addiction rarely starts with the substance.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Jennifer Chase, recovery coach, speaker, and founder of Rise Addiction Life Coaching, to talk about addiction from three perspectives: daughter of an alcoholic, addict, and mother of a child struggling with addiction.

Jennifer shares how trauma, childhood instability, and years of emotional pain shaped the path that eventually led her into addiction after a brain tumor surgery left her living in chronic pain and prescribed opioids.

She opens up about the guilt of realizing she had unintentionally become part of her son’s addiction story, the shame that followed, and what finally shifted when the consequences of addiction outweighed the relief addiction once provided.

We talk about trauma, people-pleasing, masking, and how many addictions are lessabout weakness and more about trying to survive emotional pain. Jennifer sharesone of the most powerful mindset shifts of the episode:

Not “What’s wrong with you?” but “What happened to you?”

We also discuss the stigma surrounding addiction, why society judges some copingmechanisms while praising others, and why empathy and accountability can existat the same time.

This conversation is about healing, responsibility, recovery, and the possibility ofrebuilding — even after life feels completely broken.

🌐 Learn more about Jennifer Chase: https://www.riseaddictionlc.com

💜 Need help or support?Jennifer welcomes outreach through her website if you or someone you love isstruggling with addiction or recovery.

🔗 More from me:
🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast
📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF
🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ
🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

A lot of adulthood starts making more sense once you understand the emotional climate you grew up in.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I talk about family life, instability, and the quiet ways childhood shapes who we become long before we have language for any of it.

This is not about blaming family or putting private moments on trial. It is about understanding what happens when unpredictability becomes normal, when you learn to read tension before words are spoken, and when connection feels rare enough that you hold onto it harder than most people understand.

I share how growing up in emotional instability shaped the way I watched people, attached to relationships, stayed alert, and struggled to fully relax even when life became calmer. We talk about how many things we call “personality” are actually adaptation, and how survival skills built early in life can quietly follow us into adulthood.

This episode explores nervous system patterns, emotional caution, loneliness, connection, and why some people feel “too much” when relationships finally feel safe.

Because sometimes the better question is not:

“What is wrong with me?”

Sometimes the better question is:

“What did I learn too early that I still carry today?”

This conversation is about context, self-understanding, and learning that being shaped by something is not the same thing as being sentenced to it forever.

🔗 More from me:🎙️ Podcast & episodes: https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast📖 Book (Print + Kindle): https://a.co/d/06CoAtVF🎧 Audiobook on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ🛍️ Merch & Support the Mission: https://www.bradhhill.com/merch

There’s a point in life where everything can look fine on the outside…
but internally, something feels completely off.

In this episode of the No One Is Normal Podcast, I sit down with Randy Bishop to talk about identity, authenticity, and what it really means to start over later in life.

Randy opens up about approaching 60 and realizing that despite a lifetime of experience, success, and roles he had played, he no longer knew who he actually was. What followed was a complete unraveling of identity. From leaving a 30-year marriage and walking away from 16 years in ministry, to questioning beliefs he once stood firmly on, this conversation dives deep into what happens when the life you built no longer feels like yours.

We talk about why so many people stay stuck in identities that no longer serve them, how social media distorts reality, and why being authentic is one of the hardest things a person can do. Randy also breaks down his “RE Method” — reflect, reframe, restore — and why most people struggle with actually repeating the process.

This episode is about more than change.
It’s about becoming who you actually are.

Because at some point, the question shows up whether you’re ready or not:
Who am I… really?

🌐 Learn more about Randy and the ER Method:

https://www.amazon.com/author/randyebishop

🔗 More from me:

🎙️ Podcast & episodes:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/podcast⁠

📖 Book (Print + Kindle):⁠https://a.co/d/016Dh1eB⁠

🎧 Audiobook:⁠https://www.audible.com/pd/No-One-Is-Normal-Breaking-Free-from-Normal-Audiobook/B0GJFWBSBZ⁠

👕 Wear the message:⁠https://www.bradhhill.com/merch