From Addiction to Impact: Ben Owen on Recovery, Purpose & Changing Communities

The Mike Litton Experience

Mike Litton

Business, Kids & Family, Parenting, Careers

5.0 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this powerful episode of The Mike Litton Experience, Mike sits down with Ben Owen—founder, community leader, and living testament to the power of redemption and purpose.

Ben shares his deeply personal journey from addiction, incarceration, and homelessness to becoming a force for good through organizations like We Fight Monsters and Flanders Fields. What started as a battle for survival turned into a mission to serve others—transforming lives, restoring neighborhoods, and creating ripple effects that extend far beyond Memphis, Tennessee.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

How Ben overcame addiction and rebuilt his life from rock bottom
The mindset shift that changed everything
The real impact of serving others and giving back
How community revitalization creates generational change
Why small acts of kindness can literally save lives

Ben’s work has helped combat human trafficking, support veterans, restore communities, and provide hope to those who need it most. His story is raw, real, and incredibly inspiring.

Whether you’re facing challenges, searching for purpose, or looking to make an impact—this episode will move you.

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to The Mike Litton Experience for more powerful stories, real conversations, and life-changing insights from incredible guests around the world.

Like, comment, and share this episode to help us spread these stories and make a difference.

Welcome to The Mike Litton Experience Podcast!
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Transcript

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0:00.0	I was going to end my life about a week before I hit rock bottom for good, maybe three days.
0:07.8	And I went into the gas station.
0:10.7	I was in DTs.
0:11.9	If you've never been an alcoholic, you don't understand DTs.
0:14.4	It's when you're about to die because you're withdrawing from alcohol.
0:17.9	And I wanted the gas station to steal a beer.
0:22.4	And I was going to drink it and I was going to go end it you know and this woman I had never seen before or since looked at me
0:28.9	and smiled and she may have said how are you doing today or it may have just been a smile I don't
0:34.7	remember that one single act of kindness was enough for me to say,
0:39.1	you know what? I'm not going to end it today. My life gets good. I tend to make bad decisions back then.
0:45.2	And so I started drinking again. I thought, you know, I got this under control. I'm an accomplished man.
0:51.2	I'm not even 30 years old. And, you know, I've got a big house and a bunch of cars and employees and a big warehouse.
0:56.8	And so I can I can successfully drink a six-pack when I got off for it.
1:00.5	And of course, it never ended it.
1:01.6	So you get arrested.
1:03.0	Yeah.
1:03.6	I get arrested for the first time.
1:05.0	I was on the way home from my warehouse and had a bunch of guns because I collected
1:10.6	firearms and I was shooting behind my warehouse, just a bunch of guns because I collected firearms and I was shooting behind
1:12.2	my warehouse, just blowing on steam. And I had dope with me. And, you know, police typically
1:16.5	frown upon people having a lot of guns with heroin. So, I mean, they took me to jail and
1:21.6	charged me like I was Pablo Veskabar. Welcome to the Mike Litton Experience podcast.
	...

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