Paul Churchill heard countless warnings about drugs from speakers who came to his school, but absent was any reference to alcohol. As far as he could tell, if he was 21 years of age, everything was going to be just fine. After moving to Spain and buying a bar, he found that alcohol wasn’t the benign drink he thought it would be. Over the following 3 years, Paul was blacking out 6-7 nights per week until he eventually walked away from the bar. In this talk, Paul shares his struggles with addiction and how he used accountability and his voice to beat addiction. He feels addiction and alcoholism is something that should be talked about instead of something we keep secret. Through community, we have the best chances of beating this. In 2006, Paul Churchill moved to Granada Spain where and purchased a bar. In the following three years he became a dependent on alcohol, blacking out close to 7 nights per week. In February, 2015 Paul launched the Recovery Elevator podcast as an accountability tool to stay sober. Today, it’s been over 2.5 years since Paul last took a drink of Alcohol and the podcast is approaching 1 million downloads. The Recovery Elevator podcast is in the 96th percentile of all podcasts on iTunes and has been downloaded in all 50 states and over 130 countries. The Recovery Elevator podcast has evolved into a private membership community, with over 250 members from all over the world. In August, Paul will be hosting a ‘summer camp’ themed recovery retreat in Bozeman, Montana. Paul has spoken to thousands of students about alcohol awareness and was a featured speaker at My Brave LA this January. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx