Forged in Fire Publishing and the Forged in Fire Initiative were born from lived experience — from solitary confinement with nothing but a dictionary, pen, and paper — into a movement dedicated to truth, recovery, and resurrection. Founded by writer and peer recovery specialist Ryan Ead, Forged in Fire exists to help people reclaim their voice, rewrite their story, and rebuild their lives through storytelling, education, and community empowerment.
Our mission is simple but transformative: to use the power of story to heal trauma, expose injustice, and restore dignity to those the system was never built to serve. We believe that the people most silenced by society — the incarcerated, the addicted, the homeless, the forgotten — hold the very stories that can ignite systemic change and inspire human transformation.
Through books, workshops, public speaking, and media production, we transform lived experience into tools of education and empowerment. Our programs include:
• Writing Workshops for justice-impacted and trauma-affected individuals — helping participants process their experiences and develop real-world communication and literary skills.
• Community Storytelling Events and public readings that amplify unheard voices and create shared spaces for truth and recovery.
• Educational Outreach in recovery centers, detention facilities, and schools to teach critical thinking, emotional literacy, and personal agency.
• Multimedia Projects — including books, podcasts, and digital storytelling — that bring these narratives to a global audience, sparking dialogue and understanding across divides.
The Forged in Fire team is made up of lived-experience leaders, writers, recovery advocates, and collaborators dedicated to rewriting the narrative for those who have been written off. We are not just telling stories — we are building a new foundation of truth, compassion, and self-determination.
Our work stands as a living proof that survival was never the end of the story — it was the beginning of the revolution.
🔥 Forged in Fire — Because the Truth Deserves a Voice.