#50 - From Drinking to Die to 10 Years Sober: Savannah Rae Glynn on Growing Up in an Alcoholic Home, Losing Her D1 Dream, and Building a Fitness Empire in Recovery

Mike Diamond found Savannah Rae Glynn through an Instagram post shouting her out for eight years of sobriety. He messaged her, liked what she was doing, and watched her build something extraordinary. This is the full story.Savannah was born in 1986 in California, where her father was stationed at Camp Pendleton as a Marine. From the outside — well-respected family, sports, structure. Behind closed doors, a verbally and emotionally abusive alcoholic. When Savannah was seven, her mother gave him an ultimatum: stop or leave. He stopped cold turkey. For six years those were the happiest of her childhood — a tomboy, a multi-sport athlete with a feeling that something big was meant for her life.At thirteen, her father brought home a case of beer. Within a week, the liquor followed. The abuse returned — targeting her image, her weight, her worth. She internalized every word until the tape player ran on its own. To earn his love she stopped eating, reached 98 pounds. His response: now you're skin and bones, no man will ever want you. There was no winning.But there was softball. She became a catcher — one of the best in her region — with a D1 scholarship as her exit plan. Her senior year her father started smoking crack. The home exploded. The dream slipped away. No college, no direction, and she started partying.Ages 21 to 26 were the worst five years of her life. She needed alcohol from the moment she woke up — keeping mini bottles in her apron, shots in the bathroom every hour just to take orders. She got a DUI, woke up in a jail cell on Easter Sunday. She passed out in bars, alleyways, bathroom stalls. She drank hoping she would not wake up. She kept waking up in hospitals.Her last binge: $300, three nights at the Vista Motel in Port Orchard. Night one — bar across the street, passed out, ambulance, ER, back to the motel. Night two — bowling alley next door, same thing. Night three — a blackout call to her mother she has no memory of making. Her mother came. If she hadn't, Savannah believes she would have died in that room.At the ER for the third night running, she saw the look on her mother's face and something shifted. She asked God for help for the first time. She went to Kitsap Recovery Center and begged for a bed. Month-long waitlist. Three days in detox. On day three her counselor came around the corner with tears in her eyes: you got a bed.A counselor in treatment told the group: look around — only one or two of you is going to make it. Savannah wanted to be one of those two. She stayed three months. Breathalyzers, buses, meetings, court fines, no license, no car, a bag of clothes. She moved her feet forward every single day.Ten years later she runs a virtual fitness community at savannahraefitness.com, raises two daughters, navigated her husband's relapse, and is rebuilding her relationship with her father as he battles stage four cancer. She can see color now. She's in reality. She is never going back.About Savannah Rae Glynn Savannah Rae Glynn is a fitness entrepreneur, recovery advocate, and mother of two based in Washington State. Sober since May 21st, 2012, she is the founder of Savannah Rae Fitness — a virtual boot camp community built on the same principles she learned in recovery: one day at a time, one step at a time, keep moving forward. She is a former competitive fast-pitch softball catcher and a passionate voice for sobriety and women's wellness. About Mike Diamond Mike Diamond is Director of Engagement and Intervention Services at American Addiction Centers, a featured Interventionist on A&E's Intervention, and the bestselling author of A Dose of Positivity (BenBella / Matt Holt Books) and 7 Steps to an Unbreakable Mindset. Sober since April 16, 2006. Resources mentioned Savannah Rae Glynn — savannahraefitness.com (virtual boot camp) Savannah’s Instagram  Mike Diamond — A Dose of Positivity (BenBella / Matt Holt Books) Mike Diamond — 7 Steps to an Unbreakable Mindset