The Addiction To Success | Recovery Vow Podcast

In this powerful episode of The Recovery Vow Podcast… We sit down with Kenny Stoddart, a former cybersecurity executive turned recovery advocate and mental health coach whose life looked successful on the outside, but was quietly unraveling beneath the surface. From high achievement and global success to addiction, shame, and a life-altering cancer diagnosis… Kenny’s story is one of breaking, rebuilding, and finally becoming the man he was always meant to be.

Kenny takes us back to a defining moment being expelled from school and carrying that hidden shame for years. That unresolved identity followed him into a high-performing career, where success and alcohol became dangerously intertwined. What looked like confidence and achievement slowly turned into exhaustion, decline, and a cycle he couldn’t escape.

What followed wasn’t just recovery it was transformation. From entering treatment and embracing the process, to surviving stage three prostate cancer, to now building a mission-driven life helping others through addiction and identity struggles. Kenny didn’t just rebuild his life… he redefined it.
On This Episode:
The hidden shame that silently shaped Kenny’s identity for years
How high achievement and addiction can exist at the same time
The “grace in the mirror” moment that changed everything
Why trying to fix addiction alone keeps people stuck
The dangerous gap between wanting help… and actually taking action
Surviving cancer during recovery — and what it revealed about mindset
How Kenny is now helping high performers rebuild their lives from the inside out

Connect with Kenny Stoddart:
TikTok: @‌ironmindkenny
Website: ironmindadvisors.com
LinkedIn: Ken Stoddart

Connect with us:
Socials: @‌RecoveryVow
Website: http://recoveryvow.com
Email: recoveryvow@gmail.com

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• Transcript

  I really like talking about recovery more than I do addiction. The addiction is where that trauma is held and kept and it has to be shared. That way people that we connect with can hear from us and and know the things that we went through. Everybody defines addiction as one way and they don't know it but a lot of folks define recovery as this one way and and I don't there's many different types of addiction and I believe there's many different types of recovery and I think everybody has an opportunity to walk in recovery because everybody has an opportunity to walk in addiction if if it gets to that point. It is a disease, but then it's also choice in there too. It's because we we lose the control of choice and we we lose the control of being able to manage our lives, you know. Hey everyone, I'd like to welcome Kenny Stodd to the Recovery Val podcast. Recovery Vow is a nonprofit I started after writing a book called Marriage After Addiction getting published. I was told I had the perfect face for radio. So, they said you should start a podcast. Um, be before all of that, I was in addiction for 15 years. And now I use a platform like this um through recovery vow as a nonprofit to offer marriage after addiction to men and women to offer a podcast with with just different conversations happen to to everyone out there um in recovery uh of many walks of life. And we also have our recovery val collective which is our education and teaching platform. And we have our own private line of coffee because conversation happens over a cup of coffee. And in recovery, uh, a lot of us smoke cigarettes or drink coffee. And before I pedal Marls and Winston's, I decided to do my own line of coffee. But after all of that, I get connected with folks like Kenny, who's going to be telling us all about some of the amazing things he's doing and the work that he's doing, but also what got him here. Kenny, thanks for being on our podcast today. Um, besides being 52 and very techsavvy, what you've been up to for the past 52 years? Born and raised Buffalo, New York. Small town just outside of Buffalo of Hamburg. I was uh, you know, hockey was in the blood. That's what we did in Buffalo. That's, you know, snow ice hockey. Never been to Buffalo. Okay. Well, it just seems like that's cold. It is cold. It's all it's cracked up to be. And, uh, just a great place to be from. um spent my childhood there living an amazing life parents blueco collar my dad was a buffalo police officer uh my parents ran a landscaping business um I got to to do whatever I wanted because my parents you know wanted me to have everything and I focused on sports a lot and um became a decent hockey player after my junior year of of high school I was I was expelled for for reckless decisions if if you will. Um, but that was a trans that was a big part of the past 52 years because um, it was an issue that I never dealt with with my identity and some of the embarrassment. I never really properly dealt with that until I was much older. And in the meantime, I had to find out what living was like with shame and guilt and things like that and always trying to move the needle. So, um, you know, upon graduating from high school, finally, I, uh, went off to Charleston, South Carolina to the Citadel, which is a military school. Um, all right. That's awesome. Yeah. So, uh, did great things there. Uh, graduated and, um, immediately jumped into the, uh,.com era, uh, back in the very late 90s, early 2000s. And, um, timing was on my side. I worked with some of the greatest internet companies and uh ended up spending the next 27 years as an executive in the cyber security space being a sales leader and traveling the world and doing amazing things um working with great people, great leaders um just a tremendous career but it also um took its toll on me. I had a a reckless uh drive to succeed and be a top achiever at all times. And um it was very difficult to keep up with. And as I grew older, uh alcohol became to play uh more of a role in my life. Um my health became, you know, slowly deteriorating. Um you know, I was I was the trajectory was not going in the right direction. Uh that ultimately landed me in um uh you know seeking help for for my alcohol related issues and going to recovery and um from there you know transforming um myself into the individual that I am today uh that I always wanted to be. Um, I was sidetracked by addiction, unfortunately. Um, and now I use it as a um, opportunity to help others and I've dedicated my career, like I mentioned briefly, to um, those also struggling with addiction. Um, I'm in the process of getting my master's degree in licensed mental health counseling with a focus on addiction. So, um, no more cyber security for me. Um it was lovely but like I said it it it played a huge impact on my health. Um shortly uh about six months ago I was diagnosed with stage three prostate cancer. um you know at the young age of 50 and um you know really shocking to to fe to hear that to feel that to know that um but by the grace of God I was I was blessed with you know using early detection and I was able to catch it soon before uh before it spread. Um, I had a surgery in November uh to to take care of the cancer and uh now here we are just a few months later and uh continuing to to build upon the momentum that I had before that diagnosis with the idea of helping others and giving back and um being able to leverage some of the incredible experiences including those spiritually that I've experienced by being called to this journey of helping others that are struggling the way I did. Kenny, we've been on here for five minutes and 59 seconds. Well, six minutes now. And you just gave me a lot. Um, now we're going to we're going to go back through all of that and dive in as much as you want to. Yeah. U, first I have to ask though, um, how are you health-wise now? Unbelievable. I mean, I'm feeling great. I, um, I had my followup in in late January. I'm cancer free at this point. Physically I'm incredible. Yeah, I know. It's amazing. There's so many great things that happened on that. You know, that was an opportunity for me to um really challenge my own what I'm practicing every day with, you know, when we're faced with adversity, how are we going to deal with it? That was one that I did not see coming. Um it was a big one obviously. But, you know, I have all these great tools like I live in Jacksonville, Florida. The Mayo Clinic's in my backyard. um not but just a few miles away and um I just dove into it finding out what the best move was for me and I'm feeling great and thank you for asking. Um scary for sure but medicine today is amazing the way it was my recovery was unbelievable. Yeah. So, I want you to take me back. Um, we don't have to go all the way back to like childhood unless you really want to, but you know, you you dove into uh going to the Citadel out of Buffalo. First question I had, I don't know why this came to mind, is what kind of landscaping does a family do in a city like Buffalo where there's so much snow? That's a great question and um it's very seasonal. Yes. Uh so my parents ran a business which was very uh you know this is before the Home Depots and the you know but this was a true landscaping and garden center where you know in the fall they would have pumpkins and apples and trees and then they would transition into Christmas trees and wreaths and poinsettas and then through the winter they would close and then Easter time it would be Easter plants and then spring flowers and then for a few months of the year we do get to mow lawns up there. So that was one of my jobs as a youngster was uh helping my parents with their lawn mowing business. So um but yeah, so it's like a farm, nursery, all of that. Well, a farm and nursery and then there we did some residential stuff which yeah, people landscape and then you have to treat it and prepare it for the winters and so yeah, it was it was fun. My parents were hardworking people and uh Yeah, it sounds like it. I was thinking like you and your your parents, your mom was running the office and you and your dad were out there cutting grass or whatever. But no, this this sounds it was a big that's a that's a big deal. Oh, it was a big deal for a long time. Yeah. And um it it gave them a great life and um allowed me to learn. You know, there's a lot of things that I talk about and well, how do you like I learned a lot growing up in that environment, you know, um small town farm. We were not farmers. We just my dad wanted lands to grow trees. So, we kind of I just learned about it as as I grew up because I was around it all the time. But, it was very fascinating and you learn a lot about um you know, common sense and how mother nature works and things. It's very interesting. So, when you get to the point where you're making a decision on where you're going to go to school? Yeah. What made you what made you choose the Citadel? Did something happen in life that says, "Okay, this is what's going to help me get structured or military ran in your blood, you know, what what made you decide to go, I'm getting out of Buffalo. I'm going down to South Carolina. I'm going to go to the Citadel." Yeah, a little bit of all of the above. I mean, you know, I had a like I said, I had a an embarrassing experime experience at high in high school when I was um asked to leave and you know, I went to a smaller college right out of high school. Um but I was not doing what I wanted to do. I was not achieving and I you know, I had this drive to do amazing things and better things and I don't know um I had one of my Can you elaborate on what the embarrassing thing was or you you don't have to share? I absolutely can. No, I mean, so the embarrassing thing for me was I was a star hockey player at the, you know, this great school in, you know, St. Francis, which is in uh in this small town where, you know, our family was well known and, you know, I was a class clown. I was a punk. I like I needed to be put in my place, but the school put me in place by essentially asking me to leave. It was a shocker. Like I was floored by it and so was so I was just it was embarrassing to me that that actually happened and I never properly dealt with that. I kind of, okay, well, I'm going to show them. I I got a little bit of an attitude initially, but then I decided that that wasn't going to work. And I followed one of my best friends who um who went to the Citadel a year before me and, you know, I saw what he was doing and I'm like, that's what I need to be doing. So, that's how I ended up at the Citadel. Um there was a lot of doubters because I was not um your typical candidate for that type of environment, if you will. But like other, you know, challenging situations in my life, I really embraced it because, you know, I I like those types of challenges. So, I ended up at the Citadel. I graduated from there. It was amazing. I loved it. I actually went back and got my MBA 30 years later and just a few years ago. And um I love the place. It was life-changing for me. It really was. I I've got some friends that were maybe close to your age that that went to school there. one was Jeremy West. Um JD West went there and definitely Yeah, I know some I actually know some ladies that went um some of the first group of ladies that went. So I think the Citadel is a great school. Um could have a little bit better football team. Basketball team's doing great this year though. Basketball's got a good team. So, but yeah, the reason I want to say all this because it just brings some realness into people being able to say, "Okay, this is just not not just a guy from Buffalo, you know, went to the Citadel and he's trying all these different things, but then they have this moment of I wouldn't say heavy heavy trauma. I don't know what that looks like for you, but for the embarrassment or shame that you carry that to be asked to leave school that that drives you to choose these kind of things." Now, what what do you feel like um from the time of the Citadel and before you got into um the work that you did for for 20some plus years um cyber security? What pushed you over the deep end? Like what got you into your addiction? I I I'm one of those addicts that's really addicted to really anything I put too much energy into like whether you whether it's fly fishing or triathlon or chasing finish lines or in sales it was quotas um or you know president's clubs or just being a leader of the pack. um what what when I peel back the layers on on why I was I'm wired that way now it's it does go back to those days where you know I I was had big expectations for myself and then they were taken away from me because of this the high school situation um I I've always been on a mission to fix that right and that's how I started you know so once I got into sales and leadership I wanted to climb the chain of command I wanted to, you know, I wanted to be the go-to person. I wanted to be um the sample set, if you will. And with that came, you know, the constant entertainment in my industry. The alcohol was always around. You know, the more I was the more I was sociable, the better I was at work. And classic, you know, my my drinking issues are very common. Um I wouldn't, you know, I was around it for years. I never looked like I had a a drinking problem per se on the outside. I was, you know, I I held it well, if you will. You know, all the different cliches or but it wasn't until the until the last few years where I started to show it and whether it be slurred speech or repeating myself or being loud, those little things that are like that's not who I am. But then I, you know, then it was starting to get pointed out to me that, you know, I was overdoing it. And I didn't need to be told necessarily, although I did because I wasn't listening to myself. But it was the first person that pointed out that you were overdoing it. Do you remember? Yeah. I had one of my best friends, the same guy that I followed to the Citadel. I mean, he he was the one that really And then I have some really really good buddies that are like si my old Buffalo buddies that are, you know, I hate that they even I had to put him in that position to do it cuz it's uncomfortable, right? But they did and I'm grateful for them for doing that. And then, you know, then it was my mother and my sister and the concern that I caused them and the um that's the stuff that hurt. That's the stuff that really compounded. And then I had so much shame in myself because I knew I was better than this. I knew and I would have these conversations with myself like most people struggling with alcoholism do. I can get through this. I can do this. And I kept going through the motions and the cycles and um then enough of enough was enough with that because I was into the vicious cycle of well 30 days and then you go back and then it's like a couple days then you're right back to the same old. And um I think I did that one too many times. And you know when I went and at when I finally said I'm fixing this and I went to Hazelton and got help. I you know I just like I did at the Citadel I embraced it. I um these are some of the hardest things that people can face. Even for me like I loved that and I didn't real I hated that it was having such a negative impact on me. But now I'm so glad I'm over it. But I I hated who I had become. But I had to embrace the recovery process. And then, you know, I was met by these people who were complete strangers that were um, you know, had such a sincere interest in helping me get better. I was really blown away because I guess I just wasn't used to that. I mean, I have wonderful family and friends that were always there for me, but it was something more that, okay, you know, I can do this. I've I've been surrounded with the right resources here. So, I did that's what I did. I embraced it. And um now I embrace talking about it because I think there's a misconception about what recovery actually looks like for a lot of people. But I want to be a a good picture of that. Yeah, I agree with you on that. It's it's funny that um everybody defines addiction as one way and then everybody and they don't know it but a lot of folks define recovery as this one way and and I don't there's many different types of addiction and I believe there's many different types of recovery and I think everybody has an opportunity to walk in recovery because everybody has an opportunity to walk in addiction if if it gets to that point. It is a disease but then it's also choice in there too and it's because we we lose the control of choice and we we lose the the control of being able to to manage our lives you know you know being able you know saying our life had become unmanageable you you hear the 12 steps in what I'm saying right now because I went through those those 12 steps but um yeah I I really I really um like talking about recovery more than I do addiction um the addiction is is where that trauma is held and kept then it has to be shared. That way people, you know, that that we connect with can hear from us and and know the things that we went through and uh all all that hurt and not make light of it because addiction is I mean it is such a beast. I I admit that like I I hope that nothing I said made it like I was such a you know now I try to like I have to be addicted to something so I I put it towards studying and and my work. I mean in a good way. Now I talk about boundaries and stuff and I I put my own boundaries in place but addiction my addiction is different than yours perhaps I don't know but probably mine was to alcohol and it was brutal because I always it's so accessible as we know um you could easily it's just it's always the temptation is so always there and um that's where you have to be bigger than it right so it's the recovery like you say how do you go go about it. Many people go about it and there's so many different ways to go about it. Some work, some don't. I know that for mine, um, you know, I tried to, my buddy said, "You're not white knuckling this and trying to do it all on your own again." That's what he said to me, his exact words. And I was like, "Yeah, you can't do it on your own." Well, can you tell us what was the worst day in your addiction, Kenny, the your drinking addiction? If you had to go back and and talk about it for a minute, what was the scariest? What was the worst? People call it rock bottom. People call it whatever. What was the moment for you? Not the moment that changed your life, but the the the the worst moment. I mean, there there are several of them, I know, but if we're talking about the worst was the last moment I I mean, the way I felt at the end was despicable. It was disgusting. Not only physically, but um the shame that I had towards myself. Now, we'll talk about how that changed, but yes, there were some moments of like incredible shame where I drank too much or I said the wrong things or I wasn't myself. Whatever mistake that I made, I made many of them. But at the end, um the pain became so unbearable because I was the the type of person that didn't necessarily want to ask for help. I thought I was going to be I'm big, I can strong, I'm Superman, I can handle this. I can I don't want I can do it. I can do it. I got this. And then I didn't have it anymore. Um and that's that is the most pain and but it also turned into the you know the the probably the biggest moment of my life when I talk about it's it's that night where I gave myself grace in the mirror and we'll talk about that. But I was so hurting when I looked at myself. I hated myself so much. I didn't think that there was a a way out. I felt like I had gone too far. I felt like my relationship with my friends was tarnished beyond repair. Um, I felt like I had let down my my the people in my life that were closest to me and that they wouldn't um recover from it. I don't know what the right word is. I I was just so disgusted with myself on this final day. And and then I I I g then I said, "It's time to do something about it." And and that's that moment. And it's it's November 7th. It's it's grace in the mirror. It's I said, "I'm going to do this." And you know, I talk about it so much because when you're It was my moment that I It was It finally became real. There was no more faking it. There was no more vicious cycle. There was no more I'm doing this on my own. I can do it. I've, you know, I've done it. There was I can't do it on my own anymore. I need help. I need help. And I'm sorry to myself. I don't even know who I was apologizing to, but it turned out to be the best decision of my life because it worked for me and it's working for me. I mean, we're never out of it. I hate to say, you know, that I'm a 12steper myself. This isn't every day. Every single day this challenge is in front of us, but it worked for me to embrace recovery and then be proud of it. I don't hide from it. I talk about it probably too much, but I I'm just it was such a huge challenge. Just like an iron man or just like a a master's degree. Recovery is harder, right? It's like it takes everything that you got to not break down or, you know, and be strong and um and that's that's what I'm focused on doing right now. That's good. How are you using what what you went through to help other people now? Well, I I did so many things the wrong way. Number one, I think there's always, you know, the ability to learn from our mistakes and um, you know, so I'm, you know, I'm very open about my recovery process. I I I am non-judgmental. I will talk to anybody about it. And, um, and like I said, I I use my own experience as the the guiding point of what I went through. And some of the things that I mistakes that I made along the way, probably the biggest one was, you know, there was a point in February of 2023 that I that I I said I need to get help to myself and I waited another nine months to actually take action on that until November. And you know, that's a very dangerous period for anybody that's struggling, right? Because it's almost like a free pass until you, well, I'm going to do it, but I just don't know exactly when I'm going to do it. and I got into that and that was a nine-month period. Now I call that like the the high, you know, it's it's a very dangerous period for anybody that's seeking help. So I want to just let people know that there's a I didn't know who to go to until I was handed an 800 number for Hazel and Betty Ford, honestly. And I'm a very sophisticated person. I But recovery can be very scary when you look at it, when you do a Google search on it. And I want to so I'm helping people kind of sift through that if you will. That's just kind of initial step because my my vision of recovery was like they were going to take my phone away and put me in a padded room and you know feed me and I I I just was very scared about it and it was not that. It was actually quite the opposite where it was very welcoming. Um it's a life reset button is what I've called it in the past. It's you selfishly we get to not worry about all the things, you know, the when I often work with people, they're like, you know, I don't know if I can do inatient treatment. I'm like, well, if you can do it because you you get to free your mind of the the things that you worry about from and they'll be there waiting on you when you get out. I mean, yeah, but you need that time and and I'm just talking for myself. Um, you're right. I I needed that I needed that that reset time in recovery in my first and I I wanted it on the first shot, too. I do I was willing to do whatever it took to get it, you know, but um you know, we we've talked about some some heavy stuff here and kind of um blanketed a little bit around, you know, what the addiction side looked like. Um tell me tell me these these letters on your hat. I see IMA. What is what is IMA and how are you using that today to help people? IMA is Ironmind Advisors. That's that's the company that I launched uh a year ago. Um and this is part of my journey quite frankly. I during my recovery process at Hazelden, I mentioned that I embraced that process um very much so. And I kind of became the first person, you know, this I was the student at the front of the class. I like to use the example. But during that process, people started coming up to me and and asking me for advice or guidance or I would have a therapist say, "Have you ever thought about getting into, you know, the helping people?" And I I never had thought about it. And I was like at the time I'm like, "Well, I can't do that. I'm 50 years old. I've been in cyber security for the past 27 years or whatever. I can't just, you know, um and then, you know, my mind, you know, I was informed otherwise." And I was, you know, like, you should look into this and that. You already have a master's degree. And I'm like, and that's exactly what I did. I I um started looking into what that would look like because I I loved working with people and helping and just talking people through some of the challenges they're facing and being a voice of someone that's been there. So, I started looking into it and um wanted to be figure out how I could help. So I I started to get I enrolled in at Liberty University to get my masters of u licensed mental health counseling with a focus on addiction. And now I'm I'm rolling that I'm going to seeking my PhD in it as well. And I'm going to um you know ultimately at the end of the day working very closely with with people that are struggling the same way that I did from a therapeutic perspective from a a career perspective because I'm also an executive coach and that's what Ironmind Advisors is. I the name is um derived from my love of the Proverbs 27:17 which is iron sharpens iron. I know you're well famili familiar with it, but um it also comes from the name my my friends, one of my dear friends was talking to me one day and I was actually on my way to recovery and he he said to me and this is a man that you know man of few words doesn't always know what to say but my friends were really um really wanting me to get better and get myself back on track and he told me that um you know he said Kenny whatever you do when you do your Iron Man races like when you whatever it it takes to for you to do those things like do that to your recovery and you know I had to think about that and it's really like applying and I do believe that I have a like a very strong mental structure where I like if I want something bad enough I can get it and that's going into this mental place. So that's where the iron mind, the iron sharpens iron, the iron man and the mental kind of formed into what I call the iron minds mentality. And you know, I I like to advise people, some high achievers on how to accomplish great things just like I'm doing, you know, in my recovery and back in school. And um it's been fantastic for me. Um I do keynotes, I speak just like you, and I, you know, I it's there's so much grace and gratitude in being able to give back. um and help others. There's the business side of it, of course, but there's also, you know, the the amount of people that I can touch just through social media has been unbelievable. Like millions of people already, and it's just amazing. So, I'm Isn't that incredible? It is. It really is. Yeah. God's using you for some big things, Kenny. You just need to be ready. How long in recovery do you have now? Uh 496 days. So, just under 500 days, a year and five months, roughly. That's good. That's really good. Good. But it's not great. Well, it's good, but every day is a journey. You know it. Yes. I'm Every day is a journey. And it and it's it's going to be an ongoing journey of process and understanding and and learning and um I'm I'm coming up on 16 years and it feels like the first year still, you know. I'm I'm Congratulations. I appreciate that. Congratulations to you, too. I I I I I appreciate the the the confidence that I have now more than anything, you know, being chosen to to do these things or step out and want to do these things so that you're helping people. You know, you could you could be done and just retire if you want to. You know, you you know, at some point, but to go back and get your masters after working for 20some years in cyber security, that's that's a big deal. I mean, it it really is a big deal for for what you're doing. And I think the people that you'll be that that you're helping now and the people that you will help in the future. Um, you're not changing just their story, you're changing the people that come after them, you know, those stories because we have to think back to, you know, the people that we affected from our past up in Buffalo. Um, parents, families, all that kind of stuff. You just never know um how much of a direction you changed when you were in addiction. So, you have a huge opportunity to help people. um you know change in their in their recovery. If if um if you had the next you know few minutes to talk about what your hopes are in the years to come. You know we don't want a lot of people I don't ever encourage people to plan their sobriety but also not to plan a relapse but if you were going to plan the uh outcome for the work you're doing over the next five years what would you what's your what's your hope? What's your prayer um for the growth of of what you started? Yeah, my prayer is, you know, to accept that mission that you just uh mentioned before, you know, helping people like I am in whatever capacity, but um getting more specific. You know, I I want to work strategically with people that are wanting to do incredible things because that really motivates me just like speaking on these types of platforms about my sobriety and about my recovery. It's it's a huge accountability method for me um because I I like it allows me to continue to talk about this and feel how great it is to help others. So yes, I want to, you know, I will be a therapist, like I said, at the end of this year once my lensure is all squared away and I'm done with school. But in the meantime, you know, spreading the word about, you know, early awareness of prostate cancer research, things like that. And then, you know, letting people know that there is, uh, you know, the ability to make a career change at at at a at midlife like this is also very doable. But, you know, how can I help people that are that are struggling to get the most out of themselves? And that's that's what I'm doing now is, you know, I'm maximizing what I thought I was capable of doing. Um, not only by leveraging recovery because without it, I would be a flop. I mean, I know that for a fact. I just it wouldn't be a good ending. So, being um being clear-minded and, you know, my having my identity back and now allowing to to work with others and it it's the reward is the outcome. Obviously, like you know, my clients are achieving great things and oftentimes it's just because of minor changes in the way they look at some of the challenges that they're looking that they're facing or how they go about their stuff. But, um, the results of them, you know, achieving these goals that they might not have expected, that makes me feel really, really good. Um, I love doing it. Um, I work with athletes a little bit here and there just because of some of my past um, you know, my endurance racing, but that's also like getting into the mental side of that with with folks that, you know, it's not about always how fast you can ride your bike or how far you can run or swim or whatever, but what goes on up here. And I love that part of it because I had to depend on that very strategically. I'm not built to be a triathlete, right, or an iron man. I'm a big dude, but I am like mentally I am as strong as a hard as a rock and it's great. So, continuing to build upon that and then apply, you know, theoretically um you know, once I get my once I'm licensed and stuff to really help people dig deep into how how to get the best out of themselves. That's that's the goal. That's great. You know what I'd love to do is um you said you finished at the end of when? March for school. It'll be this year. No, in in the fall. Yeah, in the fall. Yeah. And then I have testing and stuff. So, it's a process. It really is. But it's well worth it. It's just an amazing journey. As you get closer um to finishing, I would love to uh provide you and your clients with opportunity to join our recovery val collective. And here's why. Um, if you go sign up to today, um, go ahead and just see what we're doing in the collective. I'd like to invite you to come on some of the collective calls. Okay? Um, you can use your you can use that as a way, uh, to implement some of the coaching you're doing. I want to be able to speak to professionals that that have an influence, but also uh, let them have this platform to to reach people. And then that way, I don't want to hog a spotlight. I mean, this isn't about me. The collective is is where we do coaching and they get one-on-one time with me, but they also get one-on-one time with people across the from me. Um, and we kind of turn that into a podcast, but then I have this this, you know, practical content that we'll go through. Um, so maybe it's um leadership or iron sharpening iron for men in recovery. We need to know how to do that as husbands and leaders and dads and all that kind of stuff in recovery. But then maybe moms are are needing that, too. And so I I want it to be generational. I want it to be um for men and women and I just want it to be something that's available, you know, that I love doing stuff like that. I really do. I can talk for days and um not that I always need to, but I love participating in those types of things. Well, we'll make sure we make that happen. Um, a as we kind of, you know, wrap up, um, I know we, this has been very broad and not really honed in on on one particular thing because I want I want people to just kind of get to know you. Um, but how can those that want to know you more? Um, how can they find you? Yeah. So, I do a couple different So, I'm active on Tik Tok on a Tik Tok on a regular basis, which is ironmindky. And what I do there is daily like iron mind mentality tips and updates. Some people find it very interesting, some people don't, but I like doing it and it gives me uh an opportunity to reach out to others in in kind of a grander scale. Um I also keep my website updated on a regular basis which is ironmindadvisors.com and then I'm uh on LinkedIn as Ken Stoddard and I um you know there's numerous ways to get in touch with me there. text message, website, uh, submission forms, but I'm I love talking about these types of things. I know we covered a lot from from cancer to to recovery. Um, my idea is, you know, high performers sometimes need someone to talk to as well and like to work with that type of person who wants to do, you know, to get great things. The type of person that wants to do better, um, is an ideal client and then we put the tools in place to actually do that. So, yeah, man. And Kenny, I'm I'm I'm very proud of of what you're doing. I'm very proud that you're coming up on your recovery sobriety date. Um Thank you. I'm proud of what you built, but I just I want to hear more about it. Um so what I'd like to do is is um close this out, but I'd like to just go ahead and and plant the seed for you to know that I'm going to invite you back and we'll do a collective call. Um and thank you again for for sharing that stuff. I'm I'm going to do an outro real quick, but before I do, is there is there any any prayer requests you have? Um I just think in there's so much going on in our world right now. I I want every I think that a prayer for um everybody's clarity and um confidence in the people that are running our our country that every you know we can do as best as we can and everybody's got this um um uneasiness right now and it's very very much understandable and I think praying about it is probably the best thing that we can do at this point. Yeah, I love it. Well, I'm going to be praying for you. I'm I'm and your and your um your recovery, but also your Thank you. I just perked up when I hear the the cancer thing. It's just it just gets scarier and scarier the older we get. So, it does does. But I appreciate you coming on the Recovery Val podcast. Um for for those of you that didn't get a chance to to hear Kenny, you can connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also find him on the Tik Tok, which is incredible. I mean, we don't have to be uh young to be on Tik Tok. Recovery Val, we're also on Tik Tok. We're also on Instagram, Facebook, we're also on LinkedIn. Um, but you can also go to our website and you can connect with us there. You can go back and watch or listen to any of our podcast by subscribing on our YouTube channel. Recovery Val is known for our book, Marriage After Addiction, Take Back Your Life Together. That book was written to the supportive spouse of someone uh that is in love or married to someone that's in recovery. The next book we have coming out is to parents where they find the balance between enablement and support and often their marriage takes a toll. And uh yeah, I I am just thankful for this kind of work that we can we can give away and and leave for one day when we're not here. But uh but for today, I just want to say Kenny, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. And um for you guys that want to connect with Kenny, he left that information. We'll also put that link in the bio. But until next time, have a good afternoon.