Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaleb Golak
Hi Kaleb, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Well, I’m originally from Ohio. I grew up in Canton but also all over Northeast Ohio throughout my whole life, I did also live in Vegas from ages 3-6 and I lived in Florence Kentucky for a year before my mom and I moved in with my stepdad in canton. I didn’t have much friends in middle school and in high school I was a troubled kid. I was hanging around the wrong crowd trying to fit in and I almost got kicked out my freshman year, but my mom pulled me out just in time and I did online for the rest of the year. I then sophomore year discovered Acting and theater but I didn’t stick with it but I found my passion early on with it along with many other things like music and boxing in highschool through many school fights and trials and errors with independent music making, I grew up around some of the most dangerous parts of town then even eventually stayed in some pretty nice parts of town throughout middle school and highschool but always made my way back to the rough parts, I took boxing/mma seriously when covid hit and by the time I graduated I was already a year into my training preparing for fights and I had a business with my stepdad along with a job as a mechanic, then I dove into addiction shortly after my graduation but didn’t get attached just yet, I had my first beer at 6 however and did my first hard drug at 14 but that didn’t stick back then, although slowly but surely everything started to fall apart though after I competed in Cleveland golden gloves in 2022, I lost my license, lost my car, got kicked out of my grandparents and had to live with my mom for a few months until I got my own place and by that time the addiction to alcohol and other substances had ahold of me, I hit a true low emotionally January of 2023 then I found music again and met my guitarist and started a band with him then we did pretty good for a while and started to perform more and more and I just kept gradually getting more and more involved with drugs and alcohol to be in a creative zone all the time and then it became to a point where I couldn’t function without it, I wasn’t even 21 at the time and I got banned from 3 bars in canton, by the time I turned 21 I came across my first true love and swore to stay sober for her and well that didn’t last long, in November of 2023 my band broke up and then by the end of that month my girlfriend left me and I hit the lowest point of my life, I got really stuck in addiction and it became truly fatal, in February of 2024 I had a over dose that flatlined me and had me incubated for 2 days and in icu for 10 days, I still sadly remember my moms face next to me on that hospital bed, that wasn’t the end I actually snuck drugs in the hospital and used right before I checked myself out, I went hard for a couple more months and then I hit a true low emotional and even physically and watched a Robert Downey jr, documentary along with this great movie called beautiful boy and that inspired me to get help and seek treatment, I went to Florida for detox and residential for 30 days then came to LA for that along with acting and modeling, I took my sobriety seriously with drugs but not with alcohol just yet, I went a 107 days sober and then I relapsed on drinking but I didn’t drink as much amount wise but I did drink just as often as I used to and for the same reasons, I then went back to detox and then came out and went twice as hard in my program and had 2 sponsors at once and had a girlfriend too and made it to step 4 in A.A before I slipped again then a few weeks later I went back to detox and now I’m 93 days sober, have a sponsee, and am the happiest I’ve been in a while and am trying to find a agent and manger for acting and modeling now. I have no one else to truly thank other than god for giving me the love I have And life I live today and for the people I have came across in my program of recovery for helping me and pushing me forward and pulling me up when I need it.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all, I saw my mom struggling as a single mom for 12 years of my life and saw my cousins struggling with addiction at 8 years old and had to grow up very quickly at a young age with other things outside of those things listed happening too, I also struggled with depression and social anxiety at a very young age from the constant moving around I did, I also struggled with the lost of friends due to gang violence from 14 on to still today, my real drug addiction didn’t start till I was 18 and that was the icing on the cake. I was surrounded by people who didn’t want me for me but for what I had to offer and I turned to drugs and alcohol because of how unwanted I felt throughout my whole life because of my dad not being involved one bit and my mom taking her rage out on me and friends I grew up with constantly coming and going.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an actor and a model and my real life experiences help me with my craft so much and help me stand out from others because I can make the imaginary situation seem so much like a real one and it’s also a great coping mechanism for me but it’s a desire I have to pursue as a life long career, I also love making music and singing I used to have a band when I was at my worst point in life and it motivated me to keep going in life, I also just started getting back into singing lessons and am looking into starting a new band eventually and make music again either with a band or as a solo artist.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I love dogs, video games, non fiction and fiction books, anime, almost all genres of music, superhero comics and movies, cooking, and making new friends and getting to know them and form deeper connections with them as much and as often as I can, a thing that suprised a lot of people is my life story and the fact that I was ever such a hateful human being at one point of time because I’m so loving and caring now, I do have my moments where I’m like fuck everyone though but they pass very quickly.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Frank Martinez
