Gruff Gushnowski has been living life openly and honestly for the last three and a half years. If you following him on social media, he can be uncomfortably candid about his postings, and he revealed in this week's show about how helpful it has been. We explored his radio career which has been set in Alberta for 25 years outside of a brief stint programming CHEZ 106 in Ottawa. There are other heritage rockers in their too like K97 in Edmonton and The Goat in Lloydminster, Alberta. (Given all the awards, accolades and talent that has passed through that station, I think we can give it iconic status) He worked his way up from announcer, to music director and the program director's chair. As the pressure mounted and the responsibility accumulated, so did his drinking. Until one day -- he stopped.
Last November he started back at Newcap in his current position as Program Director for the Northern Alberta stations; overseeing radio stations in Lloydminster, Wainwright, Cold Lake, Bonnyville, St. Paul, Lac La Biche, Athabasca, Slave Lake, High Prairie, Whitecourt, Westlock, Edson & Hinton. Best of all for him, he has moved back to Lloydminster where he lay down some heavy roots in early part of the millenium. In this episode, Gruff holds nothing back. He and I even take a few moments to share tactics for alleviating depression. I am not a clinical psychologist, but I briefly play one on this podcast.
If you do need help and are looking to make a life change, this is a great place to start.