Episode 194

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Published on:

13th Jun 2026

#194 - Ed Kressy - Addiction, Recovery, and Why Significance Is What We're All Chasing ⛓️ 💡 🙏

#194 - Ed Kressy - Addiction, Recovery, and Why Significance Is What We're All Chasing ⛓️ 💡 🙏

Ed Kressy had a career at Stanford University, a home in San Francisco, a BMW motorcycle, and a life savings. He put all of it in a glass pipe and smoked it away.

20 years addicted to cocaine and meth. Homeless. Arrested. Carrying a loaded .357 pistol through the streets of San Francisco because he believed the FBI was hunting him. Then one night in a hotel ballroom — wearing a filthy tuxedo — he made the decision that changed everything.

Ed shares the raw truth about addiction, mental health, rock bottom, and the three S's that pulled him back — spirituality, self-improvement, and service.

He's now the CEO of Uncarcerated, a nonprofit helping incarcerated people transform their lives. His book is distributed inside prison walls.

The comeback is real. And it started with one decision.

Connect with Ed Kressy:

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Built Not Born
Everyday People, Remarkable Lives
Welcome to Built Not Born!

The story of EVERYDAY PEOPLE creating REMARKABLE LIVES.

Each week we bring a REMARKABLE story of an ordinary person that overcame the odds, fought through adversity and impacted the lives of countless people in their community.

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About your host

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Joe Ciccarone

Dad of three. Husband to one.
Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Recovering Blogger.
Host of the Built Not Born Podcast.
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