Overview of Smile, Or You're Doing It Wrong: Andy Glaze On Relentless Positivity, PTSD, & The Healing Power Of Movement
This Rich Roll conversation traces Andy Glaze’s journey from a troubled adolescence marked by divorce, neglect, heavy drug use, and institutional abuse to becoming a high-performing ultra runner, firefighter/paramedic, and public voice for resilience. At the center of the discussion is a simple but powerful idea: movement can be medicine, but healing ultimately requires more than endurance—it requires honesty, patience, and confronting the roots of trauma rather than only managing symptoms.
Main Themes
Trauma, addiction, and survival
- Andy describes how his parents’ divorce, lack of supervision, and emotional turmoil helped fuel early substance use.
- By his mid-teens, he was deeply addicted to crystal meth and alcohol, eventually running away from home and being found emaciated and strung out.
- His early life included “treatment” experiences that were often more abusive than helpful, including:
- a Utah wilderness program that functioned like a harsh scare tactic
- an emotionally coercive therapeutic boarding school
- grooming and sexual abuse by an older teacher
Institutionalization and its lasting impact
- Andy and Rich discuss how these experiences created long-term psychological consequences that resemble PTSD.
- He explains that survival in those environments often meant masking, people-pleasing, and becoming a “chameleon” to avoid attack.
- The episode emphasizes how shame and secrecy can deepen trauma rather than resolve it.
Running as a path to healing
- After years of instability, Andy’s turning point came when a friend suggested exercise to help with panic attacks, chest pain, and depression.
- He began lifting, then running, and eventually moved into triathlons, marathons, and ultras.
- He now uses ultra running partly as a way to regulate PTSD symptoms by entering a state where the nervous system simplifies to basic survival: eat, drink, keep moving.
The limits of coping strategies
- A major insight in the conversation is that running helped Andy manage symptoms, but it did not fully heal the underlying trauma.
- Recently, he says running has stopped working the way it once did, which pushed him toward therapy and trauma-focused treatment such as:
- CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy)
- EMDR
- The discussion frames this as an important evolution: moving from symptom management toward deeper healing.
Relentless positivity and “Smile, or you’re doing it wrong”
- Andy’s brand of positivity is not presented as fake cheerfulness, but as an intentional mindset shift.
- The phrase came from a Strava trail segment name and evolved into a life philosophy:
- choose the positive angle when possible
- use a smile to alter your own state and influence others
- Rich and Andy connect this to the idea that even small gestures can create ripple effects in others.
Key Takeaways
- Transformation is rarely linear. Andy’s sobriety, career, and identity were built through multiple starts, stops, relapses, and reinventions.
- Failure is useful. He now sees failure as part of growth rather than something to hide from.
- Movement can unlock healing, but it is not a cure-all. Exercise helped him survive and function, but deeper trauma still required therapy.
- Consistency beats intensity. Long-term change comes from small, repeatable actions rather than dramatic short-term fixes.
- Service matters. Andy emphasizes using personal transformation to inspire and help others, not just to optimize the self.
Practical Advice Andy Offers
For someone feeling stuck
- Start fresh every Monday.
- Commit to 30 minutes a day of something constructive:
- walking
- jogging
- biking
- swimming
- journaling
- reading
- another form of self-improvement
For someone struggling with addiction or emotional overwhelm
- Don’t try to solve everything alone.
- Find support, especially:
- AA or another recovery meeting
- a sponsor
- a therapist
- Take the first step toward change instead of waiting to feel fully ready.
Andy’s Philosophy on Growth
- “The magic of life lives between I can’t and I did.”
- Big accomplishments take years, not weeks.
- The goal is not just to endure, but to become a better person and help others along the way.
- Progress should be measured in decades, not days.
What Andy Is Working Toward Next
- He still has big race goals, including:
- Hardrock 100
- Summer Spine Race in the UK, a 268-mile event with minimal crew support
- Despite his experience, he says he is genuinely scared of the challenge—which, for him, is part of the appeal.
Final Message
The interview ultimately presents Andy Glaze as more than a smiling ultra runner. His story is about surviving chaos, reclaiming agency through movement, and learning that real healing means facing trauma directly. His message to listeners is hopeful but grounded: change is possible for everyone, but it takes time, repetition, and the willingness to keep moving forward.