Dan Peres is the author of As Needed for Pain. He was editor in chief of Details for fifteen years, starting in 2000, when the title relaunched under his leadership. During his tenure, the magazine won many awards, including two National Magazine Awards. Before taking the editorship of Details, Dan spent nine years at W magazine, overseeing bureaus in Paris, London, and Milan. While in college, he worked as a copy boy at the New York Times and later as a research assistant at Esquire. He is the author of Details Men’s Style Manual. He lives in New York and has three sons.
Bobi Conn was born in Morehead, Kentucky, and raised in a nearby holler, where she developed a deep connection with the land and her Appalachian roots. She obtained her bachelor’s degree at Berea College, the first school in the American South to integrate racially and to teach men and women in the same classrooms. Bobi’s debut memoir, In the Shadow of the Valley, explores the beauty and struggle of life in Appalachia, with a deep love for this unique landscape and its complex people. In addition to writing, Bobi loves being in the woods, attempting to grow a garden, and spending time with her incredible children.
Avery Nix is in long-term recovery from substance use disorder. Being in recovery means he is a proud father to his 7-year-old daughter and son who is almost 2 years old, and a loving fiancé who shares a similar vision for their life together. He serves his local community in several different capacities, as well as the state of Georgia at large, but his heart and soul rests in advocating for people in self-discovery and seeking long-term recovery.
He grew up in Clermont, Georgia, just north of Gainesville. In high school, Avery played football, wrestled, and ran track. He acquired many followers during these years and left an impact on his community. This began laying the groundwork for his journey to personal recovery and his career in the field of addiction recovery. Today, Avery finds himself advocating for high school athletes that struggle with substance use disorder. He has spoken on many different platforms, both nationally and locally, including WebMD, local newspapers and podcasts. Avery also arranges an annual flag football event to raise awareness for all pathways to recovery.
Avery has 5 years in continuous recovery. In that time, he has helped pilot and launch peer recovery coaching, with the GA Council on Substance Abuse, in the emergency departments of Northeast GA Medical Center. As of late September 2018, he took a position working with adolescents as the Director of Marketing and Clinical Outreach for Eagle Overlook Recovery for Adolescents.
He continues to spread as much hope and awareness as possible for those in recovery or seeking recovery from substance use disorder and mental illness. His priority is to support those who need it most.
Jesse is both a non-drinker and founder of The Mocktail Project, a mission based project helping to create a safer, more inclusive, stigma-free drinking culture. Jesse began his career in business consulting, helping streamline small business needs. In 2017, on his sobriety date, Jesse walked away from the comforts of his corporate life to start his newest journey in his professional career, The Mocktail Project.
In 2017, in conjunction with the start of his newly formed mission, Jesse traveled cross-country for more than two years. He achieved his goal of visiting all 48 lower states in early 2019. His personal goal during this time was to try new activities he once thought were impossible to do while sober. Professionally, he wanted to embrace new ideas and spark new conversations around sobriety and the alcohol-free community. Today, Jesse leads national campaigns in the alcohol-free community partnering with big spirit brands. This fall, The Mocktail Project will be introducing the first mobile mocktail bar in Bourbon Country. On 4.16.2020 Jesse celebrated six years of active recovery & three years since forming The Mocktail Project. In that time, The Mocktail Project has crafted and served more than 35,000 alcohol-free cocktails for those choosing not to imbibe.
Olivia Pennelle is a writer, journalist, and recovery activist. Her work has appeared in STAT News, Insider, Filter Magazine, Ravishly, The Temper, and Shondaland. She is the founder of popular site Liv’s Recovery Kitchen. She lives near Portland, Oregon.
Brandon Mouw was just three- years-old when diagnosed as a Juvenile Type 1 Diabetic. His journey with diabetes is a survivor’s story. Growing up to become a brittle diabetic, he underwent nine surgeries, lost a kidney, told that death was imminent, and raised over $250,000 to pay for a life-saving pancreas-only transplant.
In late 2015, during his freshman year of college, Grady was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the age of 18. Throughout the past few years, he has experienced the emotional and physical impacts of IBD. His experiences with various medications, medical appointments, and complications have made him highly aware of the challenges of chronic illness. As a result, Grady is passionate about advocating for patients and healthcare rights. Today, Grady is involved with the IBD community as a writer for inflammatoryboweldisease.net. He has written and spoken on a number of issues from body image to the mental impacts of illness. He has worked with organizations such as Improve Care Now’s Patient Advisory Council on patient resources. In addition, he is an alumnus of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s National Council of College Leaders. In that role, he served as chair of the communications workgroup. He is a current Crohn’s and Colitis Young Adults Network fellow. Along with other young leaders, he works to raise awareness of IBD through advocacy, outreach, and creativity. He is passionate about advocating for the chronic illness community and motivated to create new resources for patients. Grady is excited to continue developing his advocacy through his work with Lyfebulb.
Teresa is a Congenital Heart Disease survivor and has endured multiple open-heart surgeries and cardiac procedures. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in November of 2014 and is under the care of an esteemed MS Specialist. Teresa knows there is a calling on her life and she fully embraces that. Teresa uses her illnesses as opportunities to further rely on her faith, walk in her truth, raise awareness and educate others. She believes that she is purposely on purpose and uses her life to empower and inspire others. Teresa aspires to be a light that shines in dark places. Teresa is a patient advocate, inspirational speaker, author, poet, and a community activist. Diversity, inclusion and health equity matter to Teresa and her advocacy efforts solidify her commitment to amplifying the patient voice, racial and social justice. She enjoys writing, reading, listening to music and spending time with her family and friends. Teresa acknowledges her supportive and loving husband who is beside her through every trial and triumph and the unwavering love of her wonderful parents throughout her life.
My name is Lara. I am a marriage and family therapist in California and I specialize in working with young adults living with chronic illness. My work with chronic illness has been motivated by my own health concerns. I lived with chronic heart failure for 5 years and last year I received the ultimate gift, a heart transplant. These experiences transformed me and my work, too. I provide space to those of us who are learning to live with a chronic illness, who are grieving at times, and who are trying to navigate life while honoring our health concerns. I am honored to work with individuals towards the goal of living an authentic, happy, and content life, despite and in congruency to, their medical conditions.
Jaime’s journey with migraine has been a life-long one. From a toddler with abdominal migraine to a wife and mother with chronic intractable migraine, Jaime has learned to turn her pain into empowerment. She also manages her daily life with depression and anxiety, surviving two suicide attempts, along with fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, spinal stenosis and chronic back pain. Despite these conditions and their limitations, she strives to do her best to find her optimal health. Advocating for headache disorders and mental health are her passions.
She is the author of the popular blog The Migraine Diva and was the Migraine Patient Advocacy Coordinator for Global Healthy Living Foundation. She also partners with the American Migraine Foundation and Shades for Migraine and is a stakeholder with the Coalition for Headache and Migraine Patients and the Headache and Migraine Policy Forum. Through her advocacy work and blog, Jaime’s mission is to make a very invisible disease visible to the rest of the world and validate the real pain of millions. You may reach her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.