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Hello everyone and welcome to the Within Range Coaching podcast.

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I'm Ranger, certified holistic success coach, and in this podcast, I'm bringing down the

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journey that entrepreneurs face as they start their organization, find solutions to the

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roadblocks in their way, and create an impact that lasts.

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So if you're an entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, or purpose-driven community member that wants

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to learn how to grow your impact and develop yourself as the person behind the mission,

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then this podcast is for you.

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I know you're just as eager to get started as I am, so let's jump right in.

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Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening everyone, and welcome to today's episode of

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the Within Range Coaching podcast.

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I'm about halfway through my walk across the country.

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I think I'm about 300 miles or so shy of the actual halfway points, but I'm taking a few

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days off over in Oklahoma with some family.

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And I don't know, I feel like I just want to sing the praises of Facebook and social

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media again, because, you know, walking, like meeting people randomly has been fantastic.

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I've met a lot of great people, heard some great stories.

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I mean, just the people that have connected me with folks for staying for a day or two

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or have been on the podcast or, you know, the hosts, the families, the people I come

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across.

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But I feel like Facebook and social media have done such a huge part in the connections

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that I've made.

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And one of those examples is our guest for today.

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But again, like I did in Little Rock area, I posted on the Fort Smith, like what is it,

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what's happening in Fort Smith Facebook group, kind of just talking about the mission for

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the walk, who I'm looking to interview, looking for some help here and there.

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And today's guest, Austin Coates, is one of the people that responded to it.

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And when I heard about his mission, his organization and what they do, I knew I had to go and check

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them out.

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And I hung out with them for what?

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What were we together for?

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Like an hour or two that day?

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Yeah, for about two hours.

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Yeah, about two hours or so.

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Had some news out there, some media, but I knew I wanted to try to get some more long

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form content with him to really share the story more than just a what?

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A 10 minute YouTube video can cover.

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But anyway, I mean, you've already heard his voice a little bit.

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So allow me to introduce the founder and director of Hope's Bridge, which is a recovery residence

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in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

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Austin, how's it going today?

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It's going well.

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Thanks for having me, Ranger.

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I'm happy to be here.

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Yeah, of course.

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I'm excited to chitter chat and hear more about your story and share that with the listeners.

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So thank you again for all that you do and for dealing with my scheduling conflicts today

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and getting it getting it all squared away.

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But but yeah, just to start the conversation off, let's go ahead and like share a little

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bit about yourself with the audience and also talk a little bit about what your intention

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for today's episode is.

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So I'm in recovery myself from opiate use disorder, from opiate addiction.

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I started back in high school, played football, had three surgeries on my shoulder from football

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injuries.

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I got hooked on the pain medication that I was prescribed.

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And it really just took a horrible down spiral from there for the next, I don't know, 20

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years or so.

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Where I went through a whole lot and I put my family and people around me through a lot

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and eventually got sober, wrote a couple of books, started this organization, Hope's Bridge

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and here I am today talking to you.

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And I think my main the main thing that I would like people to take away from today

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is number one, that people that are suffering from from addiction and substance use disorder

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that they can recover and live, you know, in empowering and sober and fulfilling lifestyle.

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Wonderful.

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So, yeah, it sounds like you being recovered yourself gives you that I don't know, that

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unique perspective or that connection to people that are going through it currently.

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And I mean, you even just through our conversations, which we'll get to in a moment, like it's

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possible not only theoretically, but you've seen it happen.

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And you're a shining example of recovery being possible.

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Certainly possible.

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Man, there's a point where, you know, we've talked about it before, Rose homeless, sleeping

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on a beach in Florida, sleeping behind dumpsters.

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And here I am today, you know, doing what I'm doing with, like I said, a couple of books

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under my belt that have been published and and just trying to be a living example to

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people in recovery that literally anything is possible.

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So yeah.

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And I mean, yeah, going from homeless under a bridge or wherever you were staying in,

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you have to save up money to get well, I'm going to let you tell your own story, I guess.

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I think it's just so interesting that we hear these stories of people after everything has

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happened, right?

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And after, you know, after you got out of your bad situation, realize what was going

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on, kind of that rocky cut scene that I've mentioned a couple of times where, you know,

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you're you're getting punched in the face, you're having all these bad things happen,

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you're going through, you're putting in the work that I guess is needed to get where you

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want to go.

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So like, what what is your rocky cut scene?

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What did that look like?

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Yeah.

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So, I mean, I think there was a point, I guess there's a point where I went to a treatment

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center in Colorado.

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This is my seventh, eighth time in treatment.

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And I had, you know, it was I had already been through my entire addiction.

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And this was on the tail end of when I got sober.

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And I was sitting at a table filling out the paperwork in Fort Collins, Colorado, it was

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actually Wellington, a little bit north of Fort Collins.

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And I was filling out the paperwork to get admitted into this place where I was going

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to be there for a year.

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And you know, it asked for a background, your name, birthday, your drugs you're using, blah,

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blah.

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And they got to a question that was kind of a it was a defining moment for me.

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And it was a very simple question that on the surface, nobody would think anything about.

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But for me, it was kind of an epiphany and a changing moment in my life.

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And that question said, who is responsible for all of the problems in your life?

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And I sat there and it just hit me like a ton of bricks, like this blanket just blew

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off and I just got this clear vision, you know, that and it sounds again, it sounds

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so simplistic and so, you know, almost self evident that anybody would be able to realize.

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But it would hit me like I am responsible for my problems.

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And so it was the first moment where I had been kind of subconsciously waiting around

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for people to somebody else to get sober for me, somebody else to go finish college for

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me, somebody else to get a job for me.

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And I realized like, this is my life.

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I got to take charge of it.

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It's me.

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I got to do it.

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And so from that moment forward, like I took charge.

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And that's what really changed my life and set off on my on my journey where I am today.

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Yeah, and when you mentioned that to me before that, you know, who's responsible for your

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problems or your addiction?

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Like what was their intention with having it on there?

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Is that something that is commonly on questionnaires or do you think they were trying to kind of

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cause that gotcha moment or what?

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I think they were.

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Yeah, I think they were.

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Because like I said, I've been to treatment centers all over the country before and I've

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never had that question on the intake paperwork before.

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And you know, knowing the people that were running the place and the type of organization

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that was, I think they were trying to induce or incite that that aha moment and people

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or at least get them thinking about it, you know, because it worked.

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It worked for me.

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And and I don't I don't know why I never really thought about that before, but I didn't.

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And that's what you know, that's what kind of led me down the path I'm on today.

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Yeah, because like you were saying, it kind of it sounds like there's very much that that

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victim mindset of I'm waiting for someone to come and save me.

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This is somebody else's fault.

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Like who in your mind, like who was to blame at that time?

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What did that?

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I don't really think there was a particular person.

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I think, you know, a lot of us.

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Well, I can't speak for anybody else, but in addiction, it was we get so consumed in

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the day to day lifestyle of trying to find money to get what we need to get to feel better.

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Because, you know, for opiates anyway, like when you don't have them, you get really sick.

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Like you get withdrawal and it's horrible.

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And you're not going to die from it, but you feel like you're going to die.

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You know, there are withdrawals from other substances like alcohol and benzo diazepines

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that you can actually die from the withdrawal.

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But opiates, you feel like you're going to die and you want to die, but you're not going

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to.

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And so, you know, it was it was very much a victim mindset.

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I don't think I don't think that there was any one particular person.

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It was just it was just it was never in the forefront of my mind that I got to take charge

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because I was so consumed with the day to day lifestyle that came along with being in

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the act of addiction, you know, that I just I didn't I never I never think about it.

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You know?

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Yeah.

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And maybe I just don't know a whole lot about what addiction means and how that kind of

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happens, because I feel like there is a there is a belief out there that people are addicted

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to drugs or alcohol and it's just, oh, well, this feels good.

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So I'm just going to do it.

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Right.

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But it sounds like there's a lot more like a physiological and almost like a fight or

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fight response that happens.

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I mean, just describing it as it feels like you're going to die.

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And you know what I mean?

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Like it would make sense why it would be such a oh, I need this.

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It's not just oh, I really want this really bad.

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It's like like what are those like physiological effects that can happen?

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So there's there's a couple of different aspects to what you're describing.

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So for instance, like alcoholics, it's it's been there's been studies and it's proven

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science that like that alcoholics process alcohol differently in their brains and in

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their body than people who are not alcoholics.

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Right.

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And so we talk about in recovery, there's there's a spiritual malady that we suffer

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from in our active addiction, a malady, something that's missing in our spiritual life that

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allows us to continue down that path and not change our course.

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There's there's a physical allergy to it.

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So that means that when when I put something in my body, there's there's a physical reaction

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in my body that doesn't happen to normal people.

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Right.

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So, you know, we talked a little bit before.

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There's a couple of different ways that somebody could find themselves in active addiction,

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one being they could be predisposed to it in a familiar manner so they could it could

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be passed down hereditarily.

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They could be predisposed to addiction or they're more likely to engage in that kind

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of behavior if they consume it at some point in their life.

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Another way is that they are prescribed into addiction where their doctor, you know, prescribes

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them pain medication like me for long enough.

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They take it and become physically dependent on it through their body.

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And then the third way is they could actively use their way into it, which they're not necessarily

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prescribed something, but they consume something long enough that they become physically dependent

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on it.

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And so for me, it was a mixture between the last two.

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You know, I was I was prescribed into it.

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And then when the prescriptions ran out, I continued to use and use my way into it and

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eventually started using the needle and just took it down for spiral.

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So got it.

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So it's the predisposed prescribed into it.

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And what was that last one one more time?

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You could be you could use your way into it.

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So if you take a substance long enough that there's addictive properties, you're eventually

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going to be dependent on your body will will change and you'll be physically dependent

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on that chemical if you use it for a long enough period of time.

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Gotcha.

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OK, so it's definitely not just it feels good.

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So I'm going to keep doing it.

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There's legitimate physical changes that happen in the body that cause you to be dependent.

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That's true.

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But it is a case of like for me, like whenever I got prescribed pain medication, I like the

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way it made me feel.

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And so that's why I continue to do it.

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But I was also being prescribed the medication.

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So that's why I say it was a mixture between the two.

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So yeah, it could definitely be the fact that I just like the way it makes me feel, you

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know.

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And there's kind of a stigma attached to addiction and addicts and alcoholics and, you know,

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that they live a horrible grew up in a horrible life, horrible family or whatever.

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But that's not the case.

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I grew up in a great family, a great home.

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My family took care of me.

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I couldn't ask for better parents.

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I never really wanted for anything.

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You know, we weren't just rich by any means, but I had anything ever needed.

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And so I had a great family.

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So there's nothing I was really trying to run away from when I started mine.

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I just I was prescribed this medication that I like the way it made me feel.

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And it took off, you know.

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Gotcha.

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OK, so it's there's many different factors.

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That sounds like it's going to be very different for everybody.

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Sure.

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Based off of, you know, family life, the people that you're exposed to.

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I mean, in your case, it was a football injury, which is, you know, people you play sports

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to be healthy and do all the, you know, build team and community.

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00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,720
And it kind of went south almost for you.

233
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,440
Yeah, yeah, I did.

234
00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,500
I had three three injuries.

235
00:13:43,500 --> 00:13:46,600
So I had one each year of my high school football career.

236
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:51,180
So at the end of the season of each of those years, I had an operation.

237
00:13:51,180 --> 00:13:55,320
And so that's really what led me down my path was those operations and being prescribed

238
00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,760
medication and then dealing with the pain in between during seasons and stuff like that.

239
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:00,760
Gotcha.

240
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:01,760
OK, so.

241
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:08,400
The surgeries happen, you become addicted to the opioids like can we go a little bit

242
00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:13,160
more detail on what happened with you after that or what the situation you were in?

243
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:20,320
Yeah, so I went to college at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and that's the

244
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:26,000
first time it was my my would have been my sophomore year in college.

245
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,000
So I used pain.

246
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:32,360
I was just taking the pills up until this point, pretty much every day.

247
00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:33,960
I didn't really know that I was addicted.

248
00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:39,200
There's a point where I was driving from northwest Arkansas from Fayetteville back down here

249
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,680
to Fort Smith one night, middle of December.

250
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:47,000
That's about an hour drive on the interstate directly south from Fayetteville to Fort Smith.

251
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,000
And I was coming back.

252
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,000
I don't know when I was coming back from.

253
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,720
And and I there was a there the time where it was freezing outside.

254
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,480
I mean, it had to be close to zero middle of the winter.

255
00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,760
And I was just dripping in sweat and just so hot.

256
00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,440
And I rolled all the windows down on my truck and driving down the interstate freezing cold.

257
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,640
And I was still I was still hot, just just dripping in sweat with all the windows down.

258
00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,120
And I remember thinking like, this is not OK.

259
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,120
Something is radically wrong with me.

260
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,120
And I had no idea that I was inactive addiction and that this was part of withdrawal.

261
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:18,200
So I didn't even know.

262
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:26,600
And so fast forward a little ways about a year after that, I was introduced to the needle

263
00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:31,440
and and I started using Oxycontin intravenously.

264
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,240
And that's really where it took off for me.

265
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:40,360
I stayed up in college for the next couple of years, slowly drifting out of classes and

266
00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,000
grades falling.

267
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:49,120
And I ended up ended up leaving college with one semester left to finish.

268
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:51,160
And so I was one semester shy.

269
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,240
And I ended up leaving just because I was in too bad shape.

270
00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:55,240
And I came back home.

271
00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,880
I couldn't pay my rent, couldn't do anything, got kicked out of school because I wasn't,

272
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:00,240
you know, I wasn't going to class.

273
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:07,520
And so I came back home and just continued to know when I had several different stints

274
00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:08,520
and rehab.

275
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:09,520
You know, there's a moment.

276
00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,400
There's a first time where I went to my family and I said, hey, you know, I've got I've got

277
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:14,400
something going on.

278
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:15,680
I've got a problem and I got to fix it.

279
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:16,680
I need some help.

280
00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,240
And so, you know, my family was real new to this, as was I.

281
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,760
And we didn't really know what what to do or where to go.

282
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:28,360
And so they just found the most expensive, best, fanciest place in America that they

283
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:29,800
could find for me to go to treatment.

284
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,200
It happened to be in southern Florida.

285
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,600
And we kind of had this idea that I was going to go down there and and stay for a month

286
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:37,600
and come back cured.

287
00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,400
You know, we're going to go back to life.

288
00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:40,400
Life is we know it.

289
00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,280
And we both kind of felt that way just because we had no idea what this was about.

290
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:50,200
And so I went down there and, you know, stayed at this beautiful resort looking thing and

291
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:51,800
went to treatment and came back home.

292
00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,800
And life did not go back to the way it should be.

293
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:55,800
You know, I was not fixed.

294
00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:02,400
And and I realized that this was something deeper than that, that, you know, and so I

295
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,080
continued to use.

296
00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:10,760
And about a year later, I went back down for another stint in a different treatment center,

297
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:12,680
but back down in the same area in Florida.

298
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:17,320
And this time, the goal was for me to finish treatment, stayed on there for a year and

299
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,880
work and just kind of start a new life, you know.

300
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:27,360
And I ended up using relapsing right when I got out of treatment and started getting

301
00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:31,480
kicked out of halfway houses, bouncing around from halfway house to halfway house.

302
00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:35,120
And I eventually ran ran them all out and didn't have anywhere to go.

303
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:40,840
And so I found myself homeless for the first time in southern Florida and didn't know what

304
00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:42,160
to do, didn't know where to go.

305
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:47,280
And so my best idea of the safest thing I could think of was the first night that I

306
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,040
was homeless.

307
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,000
I waited until the police station was just about to close at five o'clock and I snuck

308
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:59,200
in the front lobby there and snuck into the bathroom and in the lobby of the police station,

309
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,320
the Delray Beach Police Department.

310
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,520
And I slept in that bathroom all night long and it was freezing.

311
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:11,480
I remember all night long reaching up and hitting the big silver button on the hand

312
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:16,240
dryer by the sink and letting it blow down on me all night long because it was so cold

313
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:17,240
in there.

314
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,000
And then, you know, like I said, a couple of nights I slept on the beach, which was

315
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,000
not fun.

316
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,320
It sounded like it's fun, but the sand gnats are absolutely relentless overnight.

317
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,280
And you know, I slept behind a dumpster at the library one night.

318
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:34,560
I remember getting shooed off like a dog from the library in the next morning about 7 a.m.

319
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:39,080
And I remember that was one of those moments where I was like, what, how did I get to this

320
00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,320
point in my life?

321
00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:41,320
You know what I mean?

322
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,160
When I when she was shooing me off, but I knew exactly how I got there.

323
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:49,420
And so it was kind of a weird moment for me and I didn't feel good.

324
00:18:49,420 --> 00:18:51,120
And so there's things like that.

325
00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:56,400
I spent a month in Africa, you know, trying to do some mission work and go on safari to

326
00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:02,240
get away from here, and that was an experience in itself.

327
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,160
I was actually the plane ride out there.

328
00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:07,840
I used up until the moment that I left.

329
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:13,740
And so I spent 16 hours of the flight in the bathroom, just throwing up, shaking uncontrollably

330
00:19:13,740 --> 00:19:14,740
and withdraw.

331
00:19:14,740 --> 00:19:17,440
It was awful.

332
00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:18,440
And then I got out there.

333
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,160
And like I said, it was a very cool experience.

334
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,800
But again, that was not enough to change me, you know, change my addiction.

335
00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:28,040
I continued down the path and and there was a lot more to play out ahead of that, you

336
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:29,040
know.

337
00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:30,040
Yeah.

338
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:35,160
So it sounds like a lot of it was trying to get yourself out of different physical locations

339
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,200
and moving down to South Florida, going back home, going back to a different treatment

340
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:40,200
center.

341
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,560
I mean, just going across the world to a whole other continent.

342
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:45,560
Right.

343
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,240
I have a question.

344
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,720
So in regards to that first stint in rehab, it sounded like you and your parents were

345
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,920
both under the impression that, oh, we'll just just go for a month.

346
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,680
You'll be fine.

347
00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,200
Almost like it's treating like the common cold.

348
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,200
Right.

349
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,640
Like, oh, if you just do this, like this will be fine.

350
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:09,380
Like where did that that I guess that what's the word that expectation or that belief of

351
00:20:09,380 --> 00:20:10,380
how long it would take?

352
00:20:10,380 --> 00:20:12,520
Like, where did that come from for you guys?

353
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,320
Well, we didn't have any idea.

354
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,960
Like we never dealt with it before.

355
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:21,360
You know, I guess it was kind of like we just we had an idea that like that it wasn't

356
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:23,120
necessarily the time spent.

357
00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,640
I think it was just like the act of going to rehab, right, going to treatment.

358
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:34,360
So we just kind of I guess we just kind of just felt like maybe just go into treatment

359
00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:36,120
like this is what we need to fix.

360
00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:39,240
Like it would be just like the medicine of the common cold or whatever.

361
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,320
Like this is what people do to get better from addiction.

362
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:42,320
And then it's fixed.

363
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,160
You know, we didn't really know any better because we did our first experience with them.

364
00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,160
Yeah.

365
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:52,920
But what do you think was missing from that experience that because I mean, it sounds

366
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,760
like it sounds like we're getting closer to the questionnaire part of the story.

367
00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:02,920
But what how did a month in rehab not shift that mindset for you?

368
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,120
But a question on another intake form did.

369
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:07,120
Sure.

370
00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:08,120
I don't think so.

371
00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:12,360
To answer your question, I don't think it was actually that specific questions kind

372
00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,520
of what sparked it on that intake form.

373
00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,720
But I don't think that that is the question itself is what changed it.

374
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,560
I think it was I wasn't ready.

375
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:23,560
Right.

376
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,480
So that very first time I went, I knew in the back of my mind that I really wanted to

377
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:31,880
continue to use, you know, and so we don't change until we want to change, you know,

378
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:39,720
but but there's also a juxtaposition aspect of that that I remember many times I prayed

379
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,600
for, like, I would say I would say, please, God help me to want to change.

380
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,440
I knew I needed to, but I didn't want to.

381
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:54,320
And so I would the time wasn't wasn't right for me to get sober because I wasn't ready.

382
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,200
You know, I haven't gone I hadn't gone through enough and suffered enough consequences at

383
00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,280
that point to really warrant a change in my life.

384
00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,480
You know, I really hadn't gone through anything horrible yet.

385
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:09,800
And so, you know, fast forward through all the years where I found myself in Colorado,

386
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,040
there had been a lot that had happened.

387
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,120
And I had gotten a lot more mature.

388
00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:18,160
And I finally had got to a point where I was like, man, I got to I got to do something.

389
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,160
This is enough.

390
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:20,760
You know, this is enough.

391
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,160
And I'd seen my friends that I graduated with all having great careers now.

392
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,360
They got families and here I am, you know, with nothing.

393
00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:30,360
And I felt shameful.

394
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:31,360
I felt embarrassed.

395
00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:33,560
I felt like less than, you know.

396
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:37,960
And so not to mention all the hurt that I put my family and myself through and all the

397
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:39,720
money that we wasted on stuff.

398
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:44,640
And so I just there that first time in treatment I had I wasn't ready.

399
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,680
You got to be ready to change before you can change.

400
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,200
And I wasn't ready at that point, you know.

401
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:55,840
OK, so it sounds like it's a lot more of that again, that internal desire rather than just

402
00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,880
it sounds like you're just going through the motions, like kind of expecting again, expecting

403
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:06,440
someone else to or something, someone and an external factor to make you change rather

404
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:07,960
than that internal.

405
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,120
I want to make a difference.

406
00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:10,600
I want to change.

407
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:11,920
I want something different.

408
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:12,920
Right.

409
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:13,920
Yeah, definitely.

410
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:15,960
You know, you speak of like changing environments.

411
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:20,400
And so that's very common in this conception and in recovery regarding people that are

412
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,080
trying to get sober, they don't really know much about it.

413
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:24,080
Like I did.

414
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,080
Like I did not.

415
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:30,120
So, you know, we've got a saying of wherever you go, there you are.

416
00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:31,120
Right.

417
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:32,120
So the problem is me.

418
00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:33,120
That's not my environment.

419
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,440
It's not it's not this particular rehab.

420
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,840
It's not this particular environment.

421
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:38,840
The problem is me.

422
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,880
So I could go across the world to Africa like I did.

423
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,200
And I'm still, you know, there I am.

424
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:45,200
Right.

425
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:46,200
Because I am the problem.

426
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,400
The problem exists in my brain and in the spiritual malady that I'd spoken of.

427
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,200
And so until those things are fixed, I'm not going to I'm not going to get sober.

428
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:54,920
I'm not going to change my life.

429
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:56,520
And so it didn't matter where I went.

430
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,280
There was not a change in the environment that I needed.

431
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,800
So it can help to kind of propel you down the correct path, getting away from certain

432
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,400
people and stuff like that and triggers.

433
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:11,080
But but ultimately, the work has got to come from within to change, you know.

434
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:12,080
Gotcha.

435
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:17,000
OK, so it sounds like there is an aspect of.

436
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,400
Getting away from certain people, pulling yourself out of situations, maybe kind of

437
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,080
putting some distance.

438
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,960
But that's I'm just making up numbers.

439
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,440
So that's like five, 10 percent of the game.

440
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:33,640
But 90, 95, 99 percent of it is that desire and wants to change yourself.

441
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:34,640
Absolutely.

442
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:35,640
Yeah.

443
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:36,640
Yeah.

444
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,440
So what what started kicking off that internal desire for you?

445
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:44,920
It sounds like the I know being the police department in the library, like that kind

446
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:45,920
of started it.

447
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:47,120
Or was there something else?

448
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:52,900
No, I think, you know, that was that was real early on in my addiction.

449
00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:55,120
It was much later than that.

450
00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,960
I think, like I said, I just gotten older and I had.

451
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:06,280
I had I had enough, you know, I got to, you know, I don't believe that for me, I didn't

452
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:07,280
really have a rock bottom.

453
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,000
I mean, my rock bottom is going to be dead.

454
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:11,000
Right.

455
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:16,880
I went as low as I could and I could go lower, you know, but I've I just fortunately I got

456
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,640
to a point where, you know, there's a big spiritual aspect to my recovery.

457
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:28,800
And I got to a point where I genuinely, you know, I wanted to change.

458
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,040
Like I said earlier, you got to have to want to change.

459
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,480
And so I got to a point where I just said, you know, God help me.

460
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:35,840
I can't do this.

461
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:36,840
You know what I mean?

462
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:42,960
And so I tried everything in my power before that to get sober on my own with everything

463
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,320
inside of my body, with my brain, with reading.

464
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,480
I tried everything I could inside of me to get sober.

465
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,320
And I was not successful at it one time.

466
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,520
So therefore that told me that something outside of my body had to help me.

467
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,400
And it can't be something that is equal than me.

468
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,600
It can't be another person in a place.

469
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:01,440
It's got to be something greater than me because of something equal that to me like another

470
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,000
person could do it, then I could get myself sober.

471
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:05,000
Right.

472
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,200
So therefore I knew that it had to be something greater than me to help me get sober.

473
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,280
And so that's where the spiritual aspect came into play.

474
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,560
And that's been a major part of my recovery ever since.

475
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,320
And it was a major part of my life growing up, you know, the way I was raised.

476
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,520
And I looked at it a completely different way when I got sober.

477
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:23,520
Gotcha.

478
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:33,560
So, hmm, because earlier time I'm more like that external validation or external pressures.

479
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,560
But it's like those, you know, the people, the, you know, you're expecting someone else

480
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:39,680
to get me sober, right?

481
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:40,680
Like we mentioned that earlier.

482
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,740
It's not necessarily that is what you're talking about.

483
00:26:43,740 --> 00:26:45,080
It sounds like that spiritual aspect.

484
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,800
I'm assuming, you know, God, the universe, whatever you want to call it.

485
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:55,840
Like that is like what about that was so impactful for you, I guess.

486
00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:00,040
I think it was, you know, so the place that I went to in Colorado, right?

487
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:04,320
It was this big ranch and the plan was for me to stay there years, like working ranch.

488
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:10,800
There was like 90 other guys there and it was a faith based organization.

489
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:11,800
Right.

490
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:17,160
And so I, let me back up a little bit.

491
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:22,000
I grew up raised in, you know, a religious home where we went to church pretty regularly.

492
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,960
It wasn't, you know, anything over the top.

493
00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,480
I mean, it was just a typical religious home, I guess, if you could say that there is one,

494
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,680
but we would go to church and we believe, you know, I grew up a believer and my parents

495
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,040
are believers and we believe in God and Jesus.

496
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:43,000
And so, but when I got to this place in Colorado, I didn't, you know, I would attend these Bible

497
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,720
studies and stuff like that.

498
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,200
And I just, I didn't get much out of them.

499
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:48,200
Right.

500
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,240
I mean, I believe in what they're teaching, but it wouldn't really affecting me.

501
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:52,720
It wasn't really helping me.

502
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,080
And while I find the Bible, you know, I believe the Bible and I believe that it's truth and

503
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,800
I find that it's interesting and I do enjoy reading it and trying to practice it.

504
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:05,320
But there was something about, you know, in the mornings, like for instance, in the mornings

505
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,680
I had to wake up and I had to walk about a quarter mile from where I was sleeping to

506
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:09,680
the cafeteria.

507
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,560
And it was always right before dawn when the sun was coming up.

508
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,800
And for some reason, I don't know what it is, but in Colorado, the sunrises and the

509
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,120
sunsets are just absolutely beautiful.

510
00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:22,460
I've never been anywhere else in the country where they look like this, just the shades

511
00:28:22,460 --> 00:28:23,460
of orange and yellow.

512
00:28:23,460 --> 00:28:25,240
And it's just absolutely gorgeous.

513
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:30,120
And so when I would walk in the mornings from where I was sleeping to the cafeteria, I would

514
00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:37,800
look at the sunsets and I would just begin to experience a feeling of fullness and content

515
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:44,440
and I would just be overcome with some sort of spiritual feeling of a void that was not

516
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:45,440
there before.

517
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:46,440
Right.

518
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,720
And so those became those mornings became the time that I would do by praying and talk

519
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,440
to God and I would start, I would feel God.

520
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,120
And so there's a time where I made a comment to somebody that ran the place that I get

521
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:02,560
more out of those walks in the morning than I do with the Bible studies.

522
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:03,840
Well, obviously they didn't like that.

523
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,000
They ended up kicking me out.

524
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,360
And so which is fine.

525
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:13,520
And so that's where I found myself 800 miles away from home and homeless again.

526
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:18,040
And I realized I found myself at a homeless shelter.

527
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,480
So I came to a point where I had the decision that I had to make.

528
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:22,800
So I could do what I've always done.

529
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:27,920
I could go out and find what I want and use and continue down that path or I could go

530
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,680
the other direction and I can make a choice to stay sober.

531
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:32,600
And so that's what I did.

532
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,160
And I stayed at that homeless shelter.

533
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,840
I got a job making pizzas and then I got a little bit better job at construction.

534
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:45,360
And I stayed at that shelter for several months and saved up money and I bought a truck and

535
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,680
I drove back home and I stayed sober.

536
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:54,000
And so when I got back home was when I wrote my first book about my addiction to my recovery,

537
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,840
Spoons of a Stardust Coffee.

538
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:58,560
Both of my books are available on Amazon.

539
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:03,320
So I wrote that book and I stayed sober for almost five years.

540
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:08,280
And I ended up relapsing after having this book out about my addiction, have it published.

541
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,000
I was a face of recovery.

542
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:17,360
And then here I am, I had relapsed and it was real humbling and real embarrassing.

543
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,840
There's a major humility aspect to it.

544
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:26,440
And I used for about a year and a half and then I eventually got sober again and I've

545
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,200
been sober now for eight years.

546
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,760
So that's where I'm at now.

547
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,960
And I want to acknowledge you for that in terms of just being honest about it, right?

548
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:40,440
Because I feel like it could have been something that you would hide or again be shameful of

549
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,200
or embarrassed.

550
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,760
But it sounds like that's just part of the story.

551
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,920
Yeah, no, it is.

552
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:52,600
And it's important for me to talk about my relapse with people, especially after being

553
00:30:52,600 --> 00:31:00,560
the face of recovery like I was, because relapse does not have to be a part of recovery, right?

554
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,600
And that's not necessary, it doesn't have to happen.

555
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,920
But relapse is a part of recovery for me and many, many people that I know.

556
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:09,640
So it's very common.

557
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:14,560
And a lot of people have this misconception that you lose everything when you relapse

558
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:15,880
and you got to start all over.

559
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,680
And while you do in regards to how long you've been sober, you don't lose everything you

560
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,400
learned throughout your sobriety in that time.

561
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:23,760
You still know all that stuff.

562
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,520
And so you don't start over.

563
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,720
And so there's obviously something missing in your recovery, which caused you to relapse,

564
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:32,720
right?

565
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,120
And so it's a learning opportunity to be able to identify that and prevent it from happening

566
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:37,120
again.

567
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:38,120
Right.

568
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:45,180
And I mean, just kind of taking that and putting it and expanding it out, that's true for whether

569
00:31:45,180 --> 00:31:54,080
you're an entrepreneur, a leader, a parent, like you can go from, in this case, addiction,

570
00:31:54,080 --> 00:32:01,420
sobriety, relapse, sobriety, or failure, success, failure, whatever you want to attribute it

571
00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:04,820
to your story.

572
00:32:04,820 --> 00:32:07,600
But again, like you don't lose those lessons that you've learned.

573
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,920
And I think, again, what you're saying is it takes a lot of humility to kind of step

574
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:15,120
back and say, OK, something worked here.

575
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,640
But something really did not work either.

576
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,680
What's that thing that didn't work?

577
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:22,040
How can we get rid of that?

578
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,280
Or how can we expand on these things that did work?

579
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:30,500
So with that being said, like what is it that wasn't working?

580
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:35,440
Or what did you have to change to maintain your sobriety this long?

581
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:36,440
Yeah.

582
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:43,760
So I think in regards to my relapse the first time, there was somebody very close to me

583
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:49,160
that was introduced to my life that was using at the time.

584
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:50,720
And I didn't know that they were.

585
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,580
And it came out that they were.

586
00:32:52,580 --> 00:32:56,280
And I continue to tell them that I couldn't be around them, that they continue to use

587
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:57,760
because I'm in recovery.

588
00:32:57,760 --> 00:32:59,320
It's dangerous for me.

589
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:01,720
And they continue to say that I will quit.

590
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:02,720
I promise I'll quit.

591
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:04,560
And it didn't happen.

592
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,400
And just time and time again.

593
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:11,840
And there was a point where I finally just said, OK, let's do it together.

594
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,480
And that's how it happened.

595
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:19,280
And so I think the complacency played a major part in that.

596
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:24,440
I wasn't really doing the daily stuff that I know to do to stay strong.

597
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:30,640
And in hindsight, I should have not allowed myself to be around that stuff to begin with.

598
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,560
So I think that's where initially I went wrong.

599
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,680
But I think I just become complacent.

600
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:36,600
I was five years into this thing.

601
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:37,600
And I was like, I got this.

602
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:38,600
I'm good.

603
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:40,600
But I was not good.

604
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,440
Yeah, it's just kind of what you're saying there.

605
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,680
It's like how people kind of get relaxed on safety regulations or rules.

606
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,000
You know, oh, I'm around it every day.

607
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:51,480
I don't need to put the PPE on.

608
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,480
I don't need to do that anymore.

609
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:57,960
It's like, no, it's you've got to practice the small stuff because that's what's going

610
00:33:57,960 --> 00:33:59,400
to come and bite you eventually.

611
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:00,400
It is.

612
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:01,400
Yeah, it is.

613
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,040
And so, you know, it was that.

614
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:09,840
And so I remember, like, I got I ended up getting arrested after I relapsed and I get

615
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:11,640
arrested again for something.

616
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:16,480
And that was that was July the third 2016.

617
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:17,480
Right.

618
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,640
So I've been sober since that day.

619
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,920
And so I remember getting put in the back of the police car that day.

620
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:29,840
And the police officer, they're waiting for me outside of my house that morning for something.

621
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:31,360
And they put me in the car.

622
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,800
And so they put me in the back of the seat and nobody had the officer hadn't got back

623
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:36,800
in the car yet.

624
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:37,800
So I was the only one in there.

625
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,240
They put me in there and I remember sitting in the back seat of that car with my hands

626
00:34:41,240 --> 00:34:42,560
cut behind my back.

627
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,680
And I said out loud to myself, thank you, God.

628
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:48,680
Like I was so relieved that it was over.

629
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:49,680
Right.

630
00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:55,840
I knew that if I could just get out of my situation and get get on a path of where I

631
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:59,720
can have a little bit of time under my belt without using that, I could I could remain

632
00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:00,720
sober.

633
00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:01,720
Right.

634
00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:02,720
Now, I just couldn't get myself out of that.

635
00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:07,000
I was so I was so deep back into it.

636
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,560
I couldn't I couldn't do it myself.

637
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,160
And so that was, you know, God doing for me what I couldn't do for myself.

638
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,760
And I was just so grateful that it had come to an end.

639
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,440
And it sounds crazy to happy and grateful that you got arrested.

640
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,720
But to me, that was a life changing moment.

641
00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:28,760
Like I was so happy to be finally free of what I had been in, you know, for the past

642
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,560
year and a half.

643
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:35,760
That's so interesting, just because you'd be locked up for however long or you wouldn't

644
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,800
be you wouldn't even have the opportunity to have access to anything.

645
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,520
It was almost like a forced like reset or a forced quit.

646
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:44,520
Yeah.

647
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,200
Yeah, I was I was in I was in jail that time for about a month.

648
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,400
And then I went from there to another treatment center for three months.

649
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:57,000
So but yeah, that month it was a forced, you know, and you can get you can get drugs in

650
00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:58,000
jail.

651
00:35:58,000 --> 00:35:59,000
You know, don't get me wrong.

652
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:00,280
It's no surprise you can get drugs in jail.

653
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:06,400
But it was it was much easier for me to stay sober in jail than it was outside because

654
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,880
I was able to keep myself in there.

655
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,360
And I just saw it as an opportunity to stop.

656
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,480
You know, it was kind of a forced reset, like you said.

657
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:20,280
And then that was kind of a springboard to go into another treatment center, like I did

658
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:21,880
for another three months after that.

659
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,840
And so when I was back out into the real world and society at that point, you know, I had

660
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:27,680
four months of sobriety under my belt.

661
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:31,440
And I knew that if I could just get a little bit of time under myself again, that I could

662
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,320
do it, which I've done it before, you know.

663
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:37,580
And so now since then, it's been eight years and here I am, you know, and I'm so grateful

664
00:36:37,580 --> 00:36:43,440
that I'm still able to say that I'm not used to drugs or alcohol since that day.

665
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:44,440
That's amazing.

666
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:51,440
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676
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677
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681
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689
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,540
I guess to kind of like transition to the now, it sounds like you've taken all of those

690
00:38:18,540 --> 00:38:21,840
lessons the five years, the whole thing, right?

691
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:28,800
Because how long roughly did this whole from from high school when it started to now?

692
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,180
What is that like 15, 20?

693
00:38:31,180 --> 00:38:32,760
So it would have been, I guess.

694
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,120
I mean, I graduated in 03.

695
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:40,760
I started using my first year and really, it was really the year before high school,

696
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:41,760
but say 2000.

697
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:49,160
So yeah, I mean, so it's been now it's been 25 years, but I used for, you know, a good

698
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:53,080
15 plus years, I guess, is what it would be.

699
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,360
And so it's been quite some time, you know?

700
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:57,360
Yeah.

701
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:03,520
And it sounds so weird to say this about a situation like this, but it sounds like with

702
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:07,040
that experience with what you've gone through, what you've learned about yourself, what you've

703
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:08,840
seen work for others.

704
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:12,780
Now you've been able to kind of take all of that and transition it into Hope's Bridge

705
00:39:12,780 --> 00:39:18,040
to help other people through their recovery process, through their addiction.

706
00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:21,480
Like how did Hopes, how did Hopes Bridge come to be?

707
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,360
And like, what are you guys doing now?

708
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:25,360
Yeah.

709
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:31,320
So, so, you know, like I said, after my first, after I wrote my first book, I started getting

710
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,760
messages from people all over the world, you know, that would say stuff like, hey, you

711
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:36,760
know, thank you.

712
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:38,200
You saved my life or thank you.

713
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:42,580
You helped me understand my son better or my mom better, or, you know, you helped my

714
00:39:42,580 --> 00:39:44,040
family out through your story.

715
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,680
And so it was those messages that made me feel so good.

716
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:50,680
And so I knew at that point that I had, that was my purpose.

717
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:55,640
And so, you know, there's, Sigmund Freud has this concept, this idea that we live two halves

718
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:56,640
of lives, right?

719
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,360
Or that we have to put the potential to live two halves of lives.

720
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:03,320
And so we live the first half of our life trying to figure out what purpose we're supposed

721
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,320
to serve on this planet.

722
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:09,520
And then there's a transition period before we enter our second half of our life.

723
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:13,200
And so the second half of a life is you end up living out that purpose.

724
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:16,840
Right. And so this little transition period between there where you're figuring out what

725
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:18,600
exactly you're supposed to do.

726
00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:20,440
Sometimes it's not comfortable.

727
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:21,440
Sometimes it's really uncomfortable.

728
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:27,640
It could be very volatile time, which was mine, you know, during that volatile time.

729
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,320
And then you get this opportunity to live out the purpose of your life.

730
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,640
And so, you know, some people aren't fortunate enough to be able to do that.

731
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,320
Some people live their entire life in the first half.

732
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:40,320
They don't ever get to figure out what they're supposed to be doing.

733
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:45,200
They just kind of live this humdrum life and go through, you know, the routine.

734
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:51,280
But I figured out in writing my book that my purpose was helping people.

735
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,320
And through my story and through what I've been through.

736
00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,880
And so that's what led me down the path of working in this field.

737
00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:00,600
I worked at a couple of different treatment centers prior to opening Hope's Bridge.

738
00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:09,620
And then a very, very dear friend of mine, Hope Wright, died of an overdose from fentanyl.

739
00:41:09,620 --> 00:41:12,000
And so it was immediately following that.

740
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:19,800
About a year after that, I founded Hope's Bridge in honor of her name.

741
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:30,440
And I wrote a grant to the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, which is an agency that

742
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:35,040
received opioid settlement money from the opioid epidemic.

743
00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:41,760
So you look back and the opioid epidemic really started with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler

744
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:46,560
family where they invented OxyContin back in the early, I think it was around the early

745
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:47,560
90s.

746
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:52,600
And so they marketed this drug as very, this amazing, incredible drug that was non addictive,

747
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:54,320
that could cure pain.

748
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:56,800
And they told everybody that it was non addictive.

749
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:58,520
And so obviously it was very addictive.

750
00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:03,000
And that's really what started me on my addiction was that particular medication.

751
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:08,800
And so fast forward to recent times, the federal government ended up suing them for falsely

752
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:11,200
stating that it was non addictive.

753
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:16,360
And they got ordered to pay billions and billions of dollars along with a couple other drug

754
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:21,560
manufacturers that were making similar drugs.

755
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:26,000
And the federal government got all this money and then dispersed it to the states.

756
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:30,400
And each state got the amount that was equivalent to how much they had been affected by the

757
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,760
opioid epidemic and how they figured that up, I'm real sure.

758
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:38,640
But so Arkansas got a big pot of money from the settlement and they are now able to give

759
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:45,960
that out through grants to state agencies and nonprofits who are using these funds,

760
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:50,160
these settlement funds to help abate the opioid epidemic.

761
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:56,040
And so I had founded Hope's Bridge and I wrote a grant to the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership.

762
00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:02,040
And they graciously granted me a grant for $319,000 to buy my first house here under

763
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,280
Hope's Bridge and remodel it and furnish it.

764
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:10,840
And we founded the organization January of 2023.

765
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,080
We were granted the funds.

766
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:15,080
I believe it was in May.

767
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,880
And then we closed on the house shortly after that.

768
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:19,680
It's been a couple of months.

769
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,480
It was March, I believe is when we received it.

770
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:24,160
It's been a couple of months remodeling.

771
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:28,480
We opened the first house in August, August 1st of last year.

772
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,320
And we filled it up within the first month.

773
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:32,720
The need for this is just so great.

774
00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:37,520
And so now we're able to provide this house.

775
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:42,100
So what we try to do is, I mean, our mission is to empower and support individuals recovering

776
00:43:42,100 --> 00:43:48,280
from substance use disorder and their journey towards a sober and fulfilling lifestyle and

777
00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:54,000
help them in their integration into society through different comprehensive and individualized

778
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:57,680
recovery resident services and peer mentoring and job readiness training.

779
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:01,720
So we offer quite a lot, as opposed to just giving them a little place to stay.

780
00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:07,320
They have to participate in our program and stay sober to get a job and participate in

781
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:08,320
their own recovery.

782
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:09,320
So they've got to go to meetings.

783
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:13,440
And so we're able to provide this safe place for them, but they also have to do the work

784
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:14,880
to be able to stay there.

785
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,560
And so that's where we're at now.

786
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:21,560
We're looking to expand and open a couple more houses, another men's house and a couple

787
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:22,560
of women's houses.

788
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:28,920
We want to get one open that is for women and children, so mothers that have children,

789
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:32,960
because we have identified a great need for that in our community.

790
00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:38,560
And so our goal for this year is to get those other houses open and provide services to

791
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:42,600
a broader range and demographic of people in the community and then kind of go from

792
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:44,360
there and see where we want to go.

793
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:45,360
Gotcha.

794
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:46,360
Yeah.

795
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:50,400
So really just taking so many different parts of your life and putting it into what Hope's

796
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:54,840
Bridge is and it sounds like there's resources and everything out there for people that want

797
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:56,960
to do things like this.

798
00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:59,040
How did you figure that out?

799
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:03,280
I mean, did you just Google it or what?

800
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:05,520
Are you talking about like the grants and stuff?

801
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:11,120
Like the grants, yeah, because it's just interesting that there is so much money out there because

802
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:16,760
I've heard that from other people too, that for different, for specific use cases, there's

803
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:18,580
a lot of government funding.

804
00:45:18,580 --> 00:45:20,720
So I'm just like, how did you find out about that?

805
00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:21,720
Yeah.

806
00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:30,680
So that particular one, a very good friend of mine, Casey Wilson, who has been involved

807
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:32,240
in the organization quite a bit.

808
00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:37,800
And he's the one that told me about that specific grant.

809
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:42,120
And he was with a different organization at the time who was able to access some funds

810
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:43,120
through it.

811
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,960
And he called me and he said, look, Austin, because we talked for a long time for years.

812
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:50,360
We were childhood friends, grew up together and kind of went down a similar path.

813
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:53,120
And we got sober and we were both working in the field.

814
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:57,080
And we'd always wanted to open an organization like this.

815
00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:59,760
And he called me up and he said, look, this is real.

816
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:02,880
Like they're actually able to provide these funds.

817
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:03,880
You need to do this.

818
00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:08,200
And so that's what I heard about that first one.

819
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:12,540
But over the course of having this organization open and working with different people and

820
00:46:12,540 --> 00:46:18,680
organizations across the state and state entities, I have found that there is a lot of grants

821
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:23,080
and funds to be able to get access through the government and through different other

822
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:25,700
nonprofit agencies.

823
00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:32,040
If you know where to look and if you are an organization that is eligible, obviously,

824
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:34,640
there's a lot of assistance and funds that you can access.

825
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:35,640
Absolutely.

826
00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:36,640
Gotcha.

827
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:40,320
And I guess in terms of the because you've only been even what, basically less than a

828
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:41,320
year.

829
00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,680
So for a year, you guys have been open and operating.

830
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:44,680
Operating.

831
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:45,680
Yeah, right under a year.

832
00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:49,120
Yeah, right under a year because yeah, we're recording this May 2024.

833
00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:53,080
And you said you opened right around this time in 2023.

834
00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:54,840
August 1st is August 1st.

835
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:56,680
We had our residents move in.

836
00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:58,920
Yeah, we closed on the house around this time.

837
00:46:58,920 --> 00:46:59,920
Wow.

838
00:46:59,920 --> 00:47:03,080
OK, so yeah, just a few months off.

839
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,720
And I know that when I was there, you said that there was only 10 or you have 12 beds

840
00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:07,720
in the house.

841
00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:09,400
Ten are open right now.

842
00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:14,680
How many people have gone through the house through recovery already?

843
00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:20,120
So we actually do have 10 people in the house, but the other two are committed to a couple

844
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:21,760
of people that are coming out of treatment.

845
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:25,680
We do have a wait list of people that are wanting to get in.

846
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,160
So I mean, the need is just endless.

847
00:47:27,160 --> 00:47:28,840
You know, I've got a very long wait list.

848
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,960
And so when a couple of beds come open, I'll call the next person that had been on the

849
00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:35,840
list and the two people that are coming in happen to be in treatment right now.

850
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,520
And so we've reserved those beds for them.

851
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:42,000
But yeah, so there's how many people have come through.

852
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:45,400
I could look at our annual report and tell you.

853
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:47,400
But I mean, the bed stays full.

854
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:49,160
It stays completely full.

855
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:54,200
Fortunately, we have had really good success as far as the people that come in.

856
00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:57,480
There's not a lot of there hadn't been a great amount of turnover.

857
00:47:57,480 --> 00:47:58,480
Right.

858
00:47:58,480 --> 00:47:59,800
So that tells us that we're doing something right.

859
00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:03,880
The people are enjoying what we're providing and that what we're providing is helping them

860
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:06,880
in their own recovery and they're able to stay there and stay sober.

861
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:11,600
Because if they leave, it's either because they have returned to using or, you know,

862
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:15,320
some other external factor that's not related to what we're doing.

863
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:18,840
And so it continuously stays full.

864
00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:21,000
And I think, you know, we've had a little bit of turnover.

865
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:22,000
It's hard to say.

866
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:26,000
Like I said, I could go back and give you some specific numbers, but we've been very

867
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:30,720
it's been everybody that has come through have been very receptive to what we're doing.

868
00:48:30,720 --> 00:48:32,120
They really enjoy what we're doing.

869
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:37,160
And there's nobody around here that is providing these services in our area.

870
00:48:37,160 --> 00:48:38,160
There's nobody.

871
00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:39,720
And so the need is just so great.

872
00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:43,960
And we're trying to fill a gap that's been been here for years and years.

873
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:44,960
You know.

874
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:45,960
Yeah.

875
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:51,400
And I think I realized the way that I asked that question and what I was defining success

876
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:56,360
for Hope's Bridge as they come in, they get clean, they leave.

877
00:48:56,360 --> 00:48:57,360
Right.

878
00:48:57,360 --> 00:48:58,360
That's what I would like.

879
00:48:58,360 --> 00:48:59,360
Yeah.

880
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:01,840
It's not like turning people out, like getting like getting through the process as fast as

881
00:49:01,840 --> 00:49:02,840
possible.

882
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:05,160
And I guess that's not necessarily the goal.

883
00:49:05,160 --> 00:49:06,160
Right.

884
00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:12,240
So like, can you describe what your like what a success look like for you with the gentleman

885
00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:13,640
that come into the house?

886
00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:14,640
Sure.

887
00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:17,040
No, I mean, it is exactly what you said.

888
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:22,520
I think what I would love to see is everybody that comes through the doors of Hope's Bridge

889
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:28,400
that they would stay there for, you know, six, eight months, a year, year and a half,

890
00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:32,520
whatever it takes on, but that everybody that comes through the doors would eventually walk

891
00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:38,200
about out the doors in a situation where they are ready to move back into society, get their

892
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:39,200
own place.

893
00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:42,800
They have a job, they have income, they're stable, and they move on.

894
00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:45,560
You know, that would be ideal for in my eyes.

895
00:49:45,560 --> 00:49:51,380
That would be a success as far as everybody that comes through the doors.

896
00:49:51,380 --> 00:49:54,480
Some people, that's not really in the cards for them.

897
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:59,040
Some people they prefer and they thrive in a community setting like we have set up at

898
00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:00,520
Hope's Bridge and that's what they need.

899
00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:06,880
And so that's why I don't put a time cap on how long people can stay at the house.

900
00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:09,380
I tell them that they can stay there as long as they want.

901
00:50:09,380 --> 00:50:12,360
You know, they can stay there forever if they wanted it, because for some people that's

902
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:13,360
what they need.

903
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:17,300
And so I'm not going to cut off access to something that's helping improve their lives

904
00:50:17,300 --> 00:50:18,600
and helping them stay sober.

905
00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:21,840
So but for the most part, they do move on.

906
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:28,500
You know, they do get stable and move on and go out and get another place and they're able

907
00:50:28,500 --> 00:50:33,480
to stay sober with the foundation that they built at Hope's Bridge.

908
00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:35,160
Yeah.

909
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:40,640
And what is it that, so it sounds like they come for the treatment or they come for the

910
00:50:40,640 --> 00:50:44,040
help and they kind of stay for that community that you've built there.

911
00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:48,440
Because I mean, even just the gentleman that I met a little bit when I was touring with

912
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:49,940
you, I mean, they were very welcoming.

913
00:50:49,940 --> 00:50:50,940
They were very cool.

914
00:50:50,940 --> 00:50:55,640
It sounds like and I went back to the video that I made about it and I mentioned how clean

915
00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:58,680
and homey it felt like three or four times.

916
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:06,480
And I don't know what I was expecting going to like an addiction treatment house center,

917
00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:07,480
whatever.

918
00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:11,800
But it wasn't that I suppose because I brought it up like four or five times.

919
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:13,520
And again, right now.

920
00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:19,640
So it sounds like that's it's really cultivating that family, that that relationship, that

921
00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:22,240
accountability within the space.

922
00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:23,240
Right.

923
00:51:23,240 --> 00:51:24,240
Yeah, no.

924
00:51:24,240 --> 00:51:27,680
So a couple of different aspects to what you're talking about.

925
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:30,400
So number one, the accountability, the community.

926
00:51:30,400 --> 00:51:31,400
Yeah.

927
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:34,760
I mean, look at the look at, for instance, the 12 steps, right.

928
00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:40,520
So that's the 12 step program is founded on the idea that somebody who has been through

929
00:51:40,520 --> 00:51:44,440
what you have been through is able to walk you through it and get out through the other

930
00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:45,440
side.

931
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:46,440
Right.

932
00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:54,120
And there's such value in a community setting or somebody who you can relate to.

933
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:59,280
I spoke about it when we sat down at the table the other day, I think about how back, you

934
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:05,160
know, it was like after the Vietnam War, World War Two, where they did a study that when

935
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:10,440
these soldiers returned back from war, they go and they're ordered to go see this psychologist,

936
00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:15,200
psychiatrist and to talk through their PTSD and some of the things that they endured while

937
00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:18,800
in battle and in combat and war, the things that they saw.

938
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:22,560
And so they found out through this study that the soldiers would actually benefit greater

939
00:52:22,560 --> 00:52:28,320
and they got more out of their time spent in the waiting room talking amongst the other

940
00:52:28,320 --> 00:52:34,240
soldiers that had been through what they've been through more so than they got out of

941
00:52:34,240 --> 00:52:35,600
speaking with the doctor.

942
00:52:35,600 --> 00:52:36,600
Right.

943
00:52:36,600 --> 00:52:45,040
And so that there's a value and a shared commonality that you can identify with between your brothers

944
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:46,640
or sisters and a family.

945
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:47,640
Right.

946
00:52:47,640 --> 00:52:51,840
And so the community setting plays a major part in what we're doing.

947
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:57,000
The guys have all been that they all have different stories, but in but it's the same

948
00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:58,720
story overall.

949
00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:03,520
And so they can identify and help each other through a lot of the things that they're struggling

950
00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:06,520
with and bounce things off of each other.

951
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:07,680
And so that's one aspect of it.

952
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:13,560
The other aspect is, you know, as far as the physical structure in the house, you know,

953
00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:16,520
I wanted to build a space that these guys could be proud of.

954
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:19,720
I wanted to build a space that I would live in myself.

955
00:53:19,720 --> 00:53:26,640
I didn't want it to be some sort of rundown house that, you know, is it kind of the typical

956
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:31,520
idea, I guess, like you had mentioned, when you think of different recovery homes or if

957
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,120
they're the preconceived notion of them.

958
00:53:33,120 --> 00:53:37,480
But I wanted to create a space that these guys will be proud of to call home.

959
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:40,880
And I tell them when their first day that they get there, this is your home.

960
00:53:40,880 --> 00:53:41,880
This is your house.

961
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:42,880
It's not mine.

962
00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:43,880
It's yours.

963
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:49,400
And so I wanted to create a very nice and clean and environment that they might not

964
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:52,920
have the opportunity otherwise to live in that they can be proud of to come home from

965
00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:56,200
work every day and look forward to come home to.

966
00:53:56,200 --> 00:53:59,660
Because if you feel good about where you're living, it helps you feel good in general

967
00:53:59,660 --> 00:54:02,800
and it helps in your recovery, you know.

968
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:04,800
Gotcha.

969
00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:09,360
So you're really playing into that factor of that community building trust, having that

970
00:54:09,360 --> 00:54:11,220
shared experience.

971
00:54:11,220 --> 00:54:13,480
And it sounds like that's been pretty successful with you guys.

972
00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:15,560
No, it has.

973
00:54:15,560 --> 00:54:18,520
They have just they they love it there.

974
00:54:18,520 --> 00:54:19,520
They really do.

975
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:20,520
And they love what we're doing.

976
00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:26,340
They love the program that we have in place and the house overall.

977
00:54:26,340 --> 00:54:31,960
And that's really what continues to drive me is to see these guys happy and succeed

978
00:54:31,960 --> 00:54:37,400
in recovery and, you know, soon to be women, hopefully pretty soon.

979
00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:41,880
That's what continues to drive me and helps reinforce the idea that to me that what I'm

980
00:54:41,880 --> 00:54:44,080
doing is right, you know, and I'm doing the right thing.

981
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:49,000
And I know there's certainly things that I can improve on and things that I can do different.

982
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:52,640
But overall, I think I think we're headed in a pretty good direction as far as where

983
00:54:52,640 --> 00:54:55,560
we're going with the with the organization.

984
00:54:55,560 --> 00:54:56,560
That's amazing.

985
00:54:56,560 --> 00:54:57,560
Yeah.

986
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:01,440
Well, I know you mentioned I think you said for the the second men's home, the women's

987
00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:03,680
home and the women's and children's home.

988
00:55:03,680 --> 00:55:07,920
That's the goal is by the end of 2024 or 2025.

989
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:09,800
The goal is by the end of 2024.

990
00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:11,120
I don't know.

991
00:55:11,120 --> 00:55:13,200
We'll see if that that's going to happen.

992
00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:14,200
That's the goal right now.

993
00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:19,320
And I think by the end of 2024, we will be at least halfway through that goal, if not

994
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:20,600
the way through that goal.

995
00:55:20,600 --> 00:55:21,600
That's amazing.

996
00:55:21,600 --> 00:55:22,600
Yeah.

997
00:55:22,600 --> 00:55:24,240
And I guess it just kind of like wrap up.

998
00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:29,440
Is there anything that you would want to say to someone that is either in your position

999
00:55:29,440 --> 00:55:33,040
going through recovery, finishing up recovering, kind of looking for that next step?

1000
00:55:33,040 --> 00:55:36,880
Like you said, you were like, my purpose is to help people.

1001
00:55:36,880 --> 00:55:41,720
What would you say to someone that's at that from that first life to that second half in

1002
00:55:41,720 --> 00:55:43,400
that transitional space?

1003
00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:48,840
Yeah, I think, you know, we talked about it the other day.

1004
00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:56,000
And I think I think it's to be able to walk blindly with with faith.

1005
00:55:56,000 --> 00:56:01,560
And, you know, we what I said before, it's it's OK to reach for something that you don't

1006
00:56:01,560 --> 00:56:02,560
get comprehend.

1007
00:56:02,560 --> 00:56:07,040
It's OK to reach for a goal or to go after a goal, not knowing exactly the path to get

1008
00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:08,040
there.

1009
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:09,040
But you know where you want, right?

1010
00:56:09,040 --> 00:56:11,080
You know where you want to be, you know where you want to go.

1011
00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:15,120
So it's OK to not understand how you're going to get there or how it's even possible.

1012
00:56:15,120 --> 00:56:16,120
Right.

1013
00:56:16,120 --> 00:56:18,960
But just go just just like you're doing on your walk.

1014
00:56:18,960 --> 00:56:19,960
Just take that first step.

1015
00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:22,240
You don't you didn't know what was going to happen to you along the way.

1016
00:56:22,240 --> 00:56:24,600
You didn't know exactly how you were going to make it.

1017
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:26,120
But you just started.

1018
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:27,280
And it's the same thing.

1019
00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:29,800
You know, just just take that first step.

1020
00:56:29,800 --> 00:56:33,200
When I started off on this, man, I had no idea what I was doing.

1021
00:56:33,200 --> 00:56:36,600
And I told people that I was like, look, I have no idea what I'm doing with this.

1022
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:37,600
No clue.

1023
00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:38,800
I'm just I've got faith that it's going to work out.

1024
00:56:38,800 --> 00:56:40,040
So I'm going to do the next right thing.

1025
00:56:40,040 --> 00:56:44,960
And so I think, you know, to answer your question, just just take that step.

1026
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:45,960
Take the first step.

1027
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:47,400
Just walk out.

1028
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:53,400
And all you have to do is is do the next right thing, have good intentions and it'll work

1029
00:56:53,400 --> 00:56:54,400
out.

1030
00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:57,120
And when I say it'll work out, it may not be the way you want.

1031
00:56:57,120 --> 00:57:00,880
But I promise you that if you're honest and you do the next right thing, it's going to

1032
00:57:00,880 --> 00:57:02,720
work out the way it's supposed to.

1033
00:57:02,720 --> 00:57:04,560
Yeah, no, I hear you.

1034
00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:05,560
I love that.

1035
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:10,960
And that's I think that's a beautiful way to kind of end it off, honestly.

1036
00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:14,880
But yeah, man, now, if people because you said you wrote two books, there was Spoons

1037
00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:15,880
are for stirring coffee.

1038
00:57:15,880 --> 00:57:16,880
And there's a second one.

1039
00:57:16,880 --> 00:57:21,200
I'm not sure if you mentioned that the second one is called Getting Over Jordan.

1040
00:57:21,200 --> 00:57:26,840
I had the opportunity to I've got a very dear friend of mine who's a retired physician.

1041
00:57:26,840 --> 00:57:33,200
And he's got an incredible, incredible story and the opportunity to to tell that for him

1042
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:39,840
and the way that we had met was pretty I don't know, I guess it was a pretty poetic way that

1043
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:42,040
we met and things that have transpired since then.

1044
00:57:42,040 --> 00:57:47,840
But I was able to tell his story of some time that he spent running an emergency room.

1045
00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:53,160
And there was a little girl named Jordan that died in his emergency room under his watch.

1046
00:57:53,160 --> 00:57:59,000
And it changed the course of his life and changed, eventually changed his beliefs and

1047
00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:01,360
the way that he really walked his life.

1048
00:58:01,360 --> 00:58:03,960
And so I had the opportunity to tell his story.

1049
00:58:03,960 --> 00:58:05,920
And it's called Getting Over Jordan.

1050
00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:08,400
And both of them are available on Amazon.

1051
00:58:08,400 --> 00:58:13,240
And you can just, you know, Google Austin Coates or look them up on Amazon.

1052
00:58:13,240 --> 00:58:14,240
They'll be there.

1053
00:58:14,240 --> 00:58:16,800
Oh, you don't have to Google Austin Coates.

1054
00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:18,360
It's all going to be in the show notes.

1055
00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:19,360
Perfect.

1056
00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:24,520
I'll go ahead and link both those books in the show notes, Getting Over Jordan and Spoons

1057
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:27,880
Are For Stirring Coffee, and as well as all the social media.

1058
00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:32,200
But where can people find you if they want to just listen to this and Google things?

1059
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:35,000
Where would they find HopesBridge and everything on socials?

1060
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:42,240
Yeah, so you can find it at HopesBridge.org, our website, we've got a media page with a

1061
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:47,800
little, I'll have this on there and all the other news clippings and you can read about

1062
00:58:47,800 --> 00:58:49,760
our organization there.

1063
00:58:49,760 --> 00:58:51,840
There's contact information.

1064
00:58:51,840 --> 00:59:00,120
You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Austin Coates, Austin Lee Coates, and then HopesBridge

1065
00:59:00,120 --> 00:59:01,440
has a page on Facebook.

1066
00:59:01,440 --> 00:59:06,680
Also HopesBridge of Fort Smith is on the name on Facebook.

1067
00:59:06,680 --> 00:59:13,920
And you can reach out to in those ways or me directly through email, Austin at HopesBridge.org.

1068
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:15,440
So any of those ways.

1069
00:59:15,440 --> 00:59:16,440
Perfect, Austin.

1070
00:59:16,440 --> 00:59:21,200
All right, I'll go ahead and link all that in the show notes, the books, the Facebook,

1071
00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:23,320
the social media, the email.

1072
00:59:23,320 --> 00:59:28,760
If anybody wants to follow along on Austin and HopesBridge's journey as they expand and

1073
00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:36,640
help more people and does really be a shining light for treatment through addiction and

1074
00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:41,800
helping folks get to the other side of that and really just create the life they know

1075
00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:42,800
they need to live.

1076
00:59:42,800 --> 00:59:46,720
So Austin, thank you so much for all the work that you're doing, for spending some time

1077
00:59:46,720 --> 00:59:48,160
with us.

1078
00:59:48,160 --> 00:59:49,400
I appreciate it.

1079
00:59:49,400 --> 00:59:55,000
And I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys do and opening up house after house after

1080
00:59:55,000 --> 00:59:58,880
house and getting folks in because it sounds like it's definitely something that's needed,

1081
00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:02,680
especially in the Fort Smith area and I'm sure all over the place.

1082
01:00:02,680 --> 01:00:04,240
So yeah, yeah, absolutely.

1083
01:00:04,240 --> 01:00:07,000
And again, I appreciate the opportunity to come on here and speak with you.

1084
01:00:07,000 --> 01:00:10,400
I admire what you're doing, Ranger, and your walk.

1085
01:00:10,400 --> 01:00:15,160
And that takes quite a bit of fortitude and ambition and discipline and strength.

1086
01:00:15,160 --> 01:00:17,800
And so I commend you on what you're doing as well.

1087
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:22,520
And I'm trying to spread your message and what you're doing throughout my means of communication

1088
01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:23,520
and media also.

1089
01:00:23,520 --> 01:00:24,520
Awesome.

1090
01:00:24,520 --> 01:00:25,520
I appreciate it, sir.

1091
01:00:25,520 --> 01:00:26,520
All right, man.

1092
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:28,000
Well, I'll talk to you later.

1093
01:00:28,000 --> 01:00:31,600
Maybe we'll do a re-up here in another year or two and see where you guys are at.

1094
01:00:31,600 --> 01:00:33,880
But until then, I appreciate it.

1095
01:00:33,880 --> 01:00:34,880
All right.

1096
01:00:34,880 --> 01:00:35,880
Thanks, sir.

1097
01:00:35,880 --> 01:00:39,480
Thank you guys once again for joining us on today's episode.

1098
01:00:39,480 --> 01:00:44,600
I think that my biggest takeaway from our conversation with Austin today is how our

1099
01:00:44,600 --> 01:00:51,280
stories and the trials and tribulations and really the pain we go through in our lives

1100
01:00:51,280 --> 01:00:57,800
can really be used as a sounding board, like a jumping off point to help and serve others.

1101
01:00:57,800 --> 01:01:02,360
I hope that everybody can take a moment to see where your story has led you and where

1102
01:01:02,360 --> 01:01:08,680
you can lead others to the other side of any issues, trials and tribulations that they're

1103
01:01:08,680 --> 01:01:10,760
going through in their life.

1104
01:01:10,760 --> 01:01:15,280
Once again, I'm going to be sharing all of Austin's information in the show notes, including

1105
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:19,720
information about Hope's Bridge and ways that you could donate to help their cause, that

1106
01:01:19,720 --> 01:01:21,480
you can support them on social media.

1107
01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:27,000
Really, I do think that this is a great cause and something that really should be replicated

1108
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:33,240
in, I'd say, just the big cities, but pretty much any area where there's people, I'm sure

1109
01:01:33,240 --> 01:01:34,760
that the service can be used.

1110
01:01:34,760 --> 01:01:40,400
So I hope that you take away some key points from today's discussion.

1111
01:01:40,400 --> 01:01:43,760
Remember once again to check out our sponsor, Cold-Buddied Caffeine Company, in the description

1112
01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:44,760
as well.

1113
01:01:44,760 --> 01:01:48,760
They're a great source of all of your caffeine needs.

1114
01:01:48,760 --> 01:01:53,020
So if you want to support the podcast and stories from people that are making a difference

1115
01:01:53,020 --> 01:01:57,400
in other people's lives through the experiences in theirs, please check them out.

1116
01:01:57,400 --> 01:02:02,160
Even just follow, like and review on social media for them would go a long way.

1117
01:02:02,160 --> 01:02:07,440
And if you enjoyed today's episode, please remember to give us a like, a review, and

1118
01:02:07,440 --> 01:02:10,040
take a moment to share the episode.

1119
01:02:10,040 --> 01:02:15,360
Guys, the best way for us to get the word out about how important it is to support and

1120
01:02:15,360 --> 01:02:20,640
help one another and serve humanity would be to share episodes like this.

1121
01:02:20,640 --> 01:02:28,240
My intention with every episode is to inspire, to elevate, and really just help people learn

1122
01:02:28,240 --> 01:02:33,640
that they can make a difference regardless of how small, regardless of where it is.

1123
01:02:33,640 --> 01:02:37,120
I think today's episode would be a great way to share that message.

1124
01:02:37,120 --> 01:02:39,320
So share us on social media, tag us.

1125
01:02:39,320 --> 01:02:41,600
Every time you tag me, I'm going to reshare it.

1126
01:02:41,600 --> 01:02:44,720
So share the podcast.

1127
01:02:44,720 --> 01:02:48,080
And with all that being said, thank you guys once again.

1128
01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:49,760
I'll see you next week.

1129
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:53,160
Remember to have fun, stay safe, and be yourself.

1130
01:02:53,160 --> 01:02:54,160
Thanks.

1131
01:02:54,160 --> 01:03:03,360
Bye.