About Sarah
Sarah Spier is a speaker, consultant, program strategist, and systems advocate working at the intersection of addiction recovery, behavioral health systems, and public policy.
Her perspective is shaped by both lived experience and professional work within the behavioral health system. After struggling with heroin addiction in her early twenties, Sarah entered recovery and began dedicating her work to understanding addiction, treatment systems, and the broader forces shaping the opioid crisis.
Over the past decade, she has worked with behavioral health programs, treatment providers, community organizations, and policy initiatives focused on improving behavioral health treatment and recovery support. Her work centers on strengthening systems of care, expanding access to treatment, and helping communities better understand the complexities of addiction and recovery.
Through speaking, consulting, and Follow The Poppy, Sarah brings together lived experience, professional insight, and systems thinking to help people better understand and navigate addiction, recovery, and the opioid crisis.
As Seen In
How My Recovery Shaped My Work
Hi, I’m Sarah Spier, the creator of Follow The Poppy.
My path to this work has been anything but conventional. In my early twenties, I was working in the film industry in Hollywood and helping run an international nonprofit in Africa. At the same time, my life was quietly unraveling. What began with prescription pills eventually led to a severe IV heroin addiction that nearly cost me my life.
Recovery was not a single moment but a long and difficult process. With the unwavering support of my mother and a commitment to rebuilding my life, I found my way into long-term recovery. That experience fundamentally changed the direction of my life and led me to begin studying addiction, treatment systems, and the broader forces shaping the opioid crisis.
As I learned more about the realities of addiction and the systems designed to address it, I realized how complex—and often confusing—those systems can be for individuals and families seeking help. That realization became the foundation for the work I do today.
Over the past decade, my work has focused on addiction recovery, behavioral health systems, and policy initiatives aimed at improving treatment access and recovery support.
Some highlights of my work include:
• Earning a degree in International Political Science with a focus on global opioid treatment systems
• Becoming an International Certified Recovery Coach and Certified Professional Coach
• Working with city and state task forces and coalitions focused on addiction recovery and behavioral health systems
• Supporting statewide behavioral health initiatives through my work with NorthStar Advocates, including coordinating efforts such as the Bridge Coalition, which connects providers, policymakers, and individuals with lived experience to strengthen recovery housing and transitional support systems
• Contributing to policy and systems work connected to Washington State legislation, including the Safe Harbor CSEC Receiving Center legislation (SHB 1775) and Bridge Housing for young adults exiting behavioral health treatment (SHB 1929)
• Participating in Washington State’s Medicaid Transformation, which focused on integrating physical and behavioral health care
• Supporting the development of holistic recovery environments and treatment programs
• Helping design and implement a youth sex trafficking recovery center, one of the first programs of its kind
• Serving in leadership roles within youth behavioral health treatment programs in Washington State
• Helping raise over $15 million to support behavioral health treatment, trafficking recovery services, and programs for youth experiencing homelessness
Through Follow The Poppy, my goal is to bring together lived experience, professional insight, and systems thinking to help people better understand and navigate addiction, recovery, and the opioid crisis
raised for nonprofit treatment
Years in Recovery
programs/task forces/coalitions
Lives Impacted
My Commitment
My commitment through Follow The Poppy is to provide honest, transparent information about addiction, recovery, and the opioid crisis.
The reality is that many individuals and families struggling with addiction face enormous barriers when trying to access treatment and support. Limited treatment availability, financial challenges, and confusing systems often make it difficult to find meaningful help.
Millions of people live with substance use disorder, yet only a small percentage are able to access the care they need. Families are often left trying to navigate these challenges with little guidance or reliable information.
Follow The Poppy was created to help bring clarity to these realities. By sharing knowledge, lived experience, and insight into the systems surrounding addiction and recovery, my goal is to help people better understand and navigate the path toward recovery.
From Hollywood to Heroin to Hope: Sarah Spier’s Journey
This was not supposed to be my story. My mother should never have found me unconscious in a dope-house, thin, pale, weak, and broken with bruised and bloodied track marks covering my entire body. She was never supposed to have witnessed me slip into a comatose...
Dear Family Warriors: Navigating the Opioid Journey Together
If you have a loved one struggling with opioid addiction, know that you're not alone in this journey. It's a challenging road, filled with uncertainty, but your support can be a lifeline that makes all the difference. Trust me when I say that you play a critical role...
Understanding Fentanyl: The Risks, Facts, Origins, and Global Reach
I wanted one of my first blog posts to be about something that has been dominating headlines and causing significant concern for a number of years now—fentanyl. Now, first and foremost, I'm not here to lecture you, and tell you not to do drugs or share more horror...