Win This Year

Recovery Month - Taylor Popp's Journey of Addiction and Recovery - Teen Drug Prevention

notMYkid Season 1 Episode 2

After nearly losing his life to drugs and alcohol, Taylor Popp is using his experience to help teens find a better path.  In this episode, he shares his personal experience of becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol as a preteen, the chaos that substance use caused in his life, and how he managed to overcome his addictions.  Taylor candidly and fearlessly talks about how he started using drugs, what his progression looked like, and what he does differently today to navigate life without drinking or using.  He also discusses the things he's seeing and hearing from teens while working in schools as a Prevention Specialist, and shares some crucial takeaways for parents, families, educators, and anyone who works with youth.  If you have preteens or teens in your life, you won't want to miss Taylor's insights and suggestions.

Taylor Popp is one of notMYkid’s most sought out Prevention Specialists who travels all throughout Arizona and speaks to both large auditoriums full of students and teaches small life skill classes.  He is 25 years old and joined the notMYkid team in 2017. Taylor has been fortunate to celebrate over 4 years of continuous sobriety after turning his life around following over a decade of addiction.

Since arriving at notMYkid, Taylor has shared his story and skills with over 25,000 students on topics ranging from drug and alcohol addiction, bullying, depression, unhealthy relationships, body image, internet safety and critical life skills training for youth.   Taylor also co-facilitates our Project Rewind Program, supporting families through education and early intervention.

When Taylor shares his incredible journey with youth, there is an immediate connection.  His greatest satisfaction in life and his constant goal is to share his experience, strength and hope with others and inspire teens to rise above challenges and embrace their “something better” in life.


Contact information, resources and links mentioned in this episode:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (800) 273-8255

Crisis Text Line: Text "Listen" to 741741

Teen Lifeline: (800) 248-8336

SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Locator: https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/

notMYkid Website: https://notmykid.org/

notMYkid Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notMYkid/

notMYkid Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notmykiddotorg/

notMYkid Twitter: https://twitter.com/notmykidtweets

notMYkid YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/notMYkidVids

Win This Year show email: WinThisYear@notmykid.org

Sponsor website: https://www.firstcheckfamily.com/
(Use code WINTHISYEAR to save on your order.)