Valiant Living Podcast
Welcome to the Valiant Living Podcast where we educate, encourage, and empower you towards a life of peace and freedom.
Valiant Living has been restoring lives and families since 2017 by providing multiple levels of care for men and their families. Fully accredited by The Joint Commission, Valiant Living has earned a national reputation as a premier treatment program, offering IOP, PHP, and recovery housing programs for men ages 26 and older. Founder and CEO MIchael Dinneen is a nationally recognized therapeutic expert, speaker, and thought leader in the behavioral health field.
On this podcast you’ll hear from the Valiant team as well as stories of alumni who are living in recovery. If you or someone you love is struggling to overcome addiction or trauma, please call us at (720)-756-7941 or email admissions@valiantliving.com We’d love to have a conversation with you!
Valiant Living Podcast
Reclaiming Life: Travis Simmons Story of Overcoming Addiction and Now Leading at Valiant Living
Consider for a moment, your life spiraling out of control. What would it take to pull the brakes, make a U-turn and start over anew? Sharing his remarkable journey of recovery is Travis Simmons, who found his redemption in the midst of personal loss and addiction. From a life overshadowed by substances to a leadership role at Valiant Living, Travis opens up about his trials, tribulations, and triumphs.
Travis's story is the personification of resilience. An addiction that began in his formative years was the harbinger of a challenging life path. He paints a vivid picture of his time at the Denver Salvation Army ARC, a 96-bed men's facility, where discipline, structure, and a commitment to complete all 12 steps of recovery changed the course of his life. His experiences shaped his leadership style, advocating for a clean living environment, mental health, and the necessity of tough love in recovery.
As we journey with Travis to his role at Valiant Living, we learn about his novel perspective on recovery housing and its critical role in reintegrating individuals into everyday life. His experience has given him an incisive understanding of the fears and challenges that accompany transitions into a new living environment. Now, as the Director of Operations at Valiant Living, Travis uses his personal experience to help others transition seamlessly into new housing, fostering a sense of brotherhood and unity amidst the residents. And remember, it's never too late to seek help. His story is a testament to the power of resilience, the strength of the human spirit, and a beacon of hope for those in their darkest hours.
Well, hey, everyone. Welcome to the Valiant Living podcast, where we educate, encourage and empower you towards a life of peace and freedom. I'm your host, drew Powell, and I'm a grateful alumni of the Valiant Living program. Valiant Living offers hope and transformational change to men and their families struggling with addiction and mental health challenges. So on this podcast you'll hear from the Valiant team, as well as stories of alumni who are living in recovery. If you or someone you love is struggling to overcome addiction or trauma, please call us at 720-756-7941 or you can email admissions at valiantlivingcom. We'd love to have a conversation with you, but for now, let's dive into today's episode. I'm excited to have you on, man, because a lot of people don't get to see and experience your leadership, because a lot of your stuff is behind the scenes. So thanks for jumping on and sharing some of your story with us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're one of the few that I've had on so far. That's actually looked at the questions and prepared.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm trying not to come in with six pages of notes.
Speaker 1:That speaks to why you're good at what you do. Travis Mann, you were a big part of my recovery journey here and what you're leading. You've recently been promoted into a new role and so I'm excited to kind of talk through all that because you've kind of seen really a lot of the steps of the process, of what someone would go through in treatment here, and then just grateful that you would sit down because this week alone, the time of recording, we've had just an incredible week here at Valiant, yeah, I think.
Speaker 2:I'm on when I say incredible.
Speaker 1:I say busy, right, yeah. So a lot of new people coming in, which is what we love, but you've been running around crazy, so you've just given us a few minutes of your time here is really special. Happy to yeah. So tell us a little bit. I'd like to start just personal first. Tell us a little bit about your journey, your personal journey in recovery and kind of how you got to this place this point in time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, it's an interesting story. So I believe there is a lot of similarities between my story and others that work here, others that are going to listen to this, and we all have some unique differences. So I am a person in long-term recovery. My clean date is April 5th 2017.
Speaker 2:And I, unfortunately, was introduced to alcohol and substances at a young age. Addiction does run in my family, unfortunately, as it does for many of us, and I guess I'll start with kind of something that was tragic and kind of laid a foundation for where things went in my childhood was I lost my dad to addiction and mental health when I was six, and so that obviously had affected my whole family and affected my childhood and kind of the path that I went down. So when I discovered alcohol and substances, I had that experience that a lot of people talk about in recovery literature and meetings. It was like I had arrived, I had found that missing piece that allowed me to felt like I fit in and kind of filled that void that I had inside and there was just a lot of unresolved stuff in there when I was a kid.
Speaker 1:What do you remember? It's not an interrupt, but what do you remember about that being six, Because that's curious to me to have something so traumatic happen and then you kind of follow in some of those same traps, if you will, later in life. I mean, six years old is pretty young. I mean, were you conscious of the why behind that when that happened?
Speaker 2:No, not entirely. I knew that my dad had his struggles. I knew that alcohol being in our house wasn't a good thing when I was a kid, and I do remember when he had started drinking again and there's a lot more to unpackage there but it took a while after he passed away for me to really understand what had happened and what he was going through. And then, unfortunately, I also went through a similar experience as him in my life, and so today I really understand what he was going through.
Speaker 1:Were you connecting the dots on that when you started drinking and was that conscious at all? And you said dad's struggle with this. And now here I'm going down this road, but you just described it as feeling like you arrived. Where has this been?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's kind of I don't know if paradox would be the right word, but knowing that this is something that had led to my dad dying didn't stop me from also going down that path. And again, when it's something that runs in the family, it's kind of demonstrated to you on. This is how we cope with life and this is just kind of a part of the deal. I realized in my teens that I had a different relationship with alcohol and substances than my friends did that I was partying with. I took it to that next level and would go until I was blacked out and people, if you were going out to party with Travis, it was kind of a joke, like things are going to get crazy, and really you were that guy, I was that guy and in a sick way I took a little bit of pride in that until I realized, like no, I didn't understand the nature of it, but I knew that something was different about my relationship with that stuff.
Speaker 1:So you knew that in your teens Like, hey, I take it way further than everybody else. That was something you were thinking.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but was it a problem at that point as far as were you thinking, hey, this is a problem for me, or is this more like? This is my identity, this is what I do?
Speaker 2:I think I did feel like it was a part of who I was and I did know, probably about the time I was 17, that I had a, that there was deep down I knew I had a problem.
Speaker 2:I just didn't know exactly what that meant yet until I I got into my early twenties. And so I mean, yeah, I struggled for my teens, all the way up through most of my twenties, with addiction and it took me to some dark and lonely places. And outside of just the misery of of drinking and using substances, there's also the lifestyle that is dangerous. And you know, I found myself in quite a bit of legal trouble throughout that period of time and spent some time in jail, and it was definitely a rocky path. And that's the thing about addiction is just that bottom just keeps getting lower, and every time you think you can't lose more you do. And I, for a period of time, just had kind of resigned myself to the fact that this, this is how my life is going to go and this is what happens to the men in my family, and it was a dark place to be.
Speaker 1:So you almost just kind of gave up, or like this is my path, this is what you know what. What was the what was the moment for you, though, where you were? Maybe it was the rock bottom moment where you're like I got to do something about this, like what was your catalyst to getting healthy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question, so no, I'll include that. I did also, unfortunately, lose my brother, the same way as I lost my dad, when I was 22. And so I was already in bad shape and then I really spiraled for about five years after that. So I had done some time in jail and gotten out and gone to treatment. I did go through treatment four times in total, but it was in between the third and fourth time I had relapsed and I did exactly what they say, where you pick right up, relapsed off, and things got bad really quickly and I had a day where I drank and used too much and what really made this time different? And I this was a higher power thing.
Speaker 2:I couldn't tell you exactly why I did this, but I picked up the phone and I asked for help and that's not something I had done before and I called my sponsor, who I'd still been staying in contact with throughout my relapse, and told him I'm afraid I think I've done too much and I need help, and he and another addict got in the car and came and got me, and so I don't actually remember what transpired, but I had to be rushed to the hospital.
Speaker 2:They tried to take me into detox first, and detox was like he needs to go to the ER. But I mean, I came to in detox. I actually don't remember being in the ER and it's a detox. I had been in multiple times before and so that that was a turning point is coming back to you in detox and this time around, for whatever reason, it really set in and I had almost died and I'd had that happen before. But there's a, I think there's a disconnect for some of us and we just don't. We don't, we have a way of not grasping that entirely, but for some reason, this time it really set in and I knew it was the 11th hour and that if I didn't do something and really do it, that I was going to go down the same path as my dad and brother.
Speaker 1:So some healthy fear there set in, probably right, and some like hey, this is, this is serious, absolutely, talk a little bit about, could you mention, making that phone call. And I want, for just the people that are listening to this, talk a little bit about making that phone call, because that's one of the hardest calls that anybody ever makes and there's probably people listening to this right now that need to make a similar phone call. You know, and could you just kind of talk about that, just even the emotions behind having to call that sponsor, and you said it and just kind of in a sentence and it sounded easy, but it's not. That's sometimes that is the most difficult phone call to make, to say, hey, I'm in trouble, especially for us guys. I'm in trouble, I need help, I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2:Talk a little bit about that, that moment you know, making that call so and that's you'll hear people refer to that as the thousand pound phone, because it is that hard on, on literally just being able to pick up the phone and make that call is a very difficult experience for us. And again, it's because I was under the influence. I couldn't, I couldn't lay out my exact line of thinking. I just something inside of me flipped and I knew that if I didn't reach out for help, that, you know, I, I was told later on and if I hadn't made that call, I probably wouldn't have made it through the night. And again, I don't really I don't remember all of it, but I, I got to take that for what it's worth.
Speaker 1:You mentioned higher power too because, like there's something that because in the state of mind you're in, probably you making that phone call on your own probably doesn't happen if there's not something that is, you know, kind of moving you forward, moving you towards that call.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, what I believe and understand today is that for a long time, towards the end of my active addiction, there was a part of me that felt like I just didn't want to be here anymore. And then, I think, when it really came down to it, what I discovered is that I didn't want to die, I just didn't know how to live.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a good. That gave me goosebumps. That is a huge unpack. That a little bit more. What is that? When you say that, what do you mean by that?
Speaker 2:You know, I feel like this isn't something more taught how to do growing up, especially if you, if you come from a family where maybe addiction runs in the family and you've had these traumatic things happen on, nobody's coming alongside you and teaching you I mean, most of the time, nobody's teaching you how to cope with these things in a healthy way.
Speaker 2:Yeah and so we we turn into substances and we we make our bonds with that instead of having these healthy relationships with the people around us and, yeah, and finding these healthy ways to get through it.
Speaker 2:And so when I say I didn't know how to live, is that I just literally didn't know how to cope with my world at that time on on the people that I had lost and you know, the relationships I'd had, that had fallen apart, and there was periods where I found myself living in a car with one of my friends and didn't have a roof over my head. And was you this might sound cliche and you hear people talk about it it's like I. There was literally a day where I got up and looked in the mirror and I didn't know who I was anymore and I had even the thought of, maybe I'm, maybe I'm just not a good person, like maybe this is what it's come down to now, yeah, and so there just becomes, you reach a place where it's just hard to even see a way forward outside of the using and the lifestyle and where you're at.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I'll, that's. I won't forget that line that you just said, that that was powerful. I didn't want to die, but I did know how to live, and there's just so many people listening to this right now that that's gonna connect at a deep level, because it's like sometimes they feel like that's the only other option. But part of what we're here to do at Valiant is to help show people how to live, how to how to live free and with hope. So walk us through that next step. So you're in the ER. What did? What did treatment look like for you? What did rehab look like for you? What, what were those next kind of few weeks and months like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I I came to in detox. I believe I was on a five-day hold there because at that point, once you've been through a number of times, you're it's not just you you blow zeros in your out. They held me for a while. My sponsor actually helped secure me a bed at the Denver Salvation Army ARC. So that's the program. I actually had gone through three times prior and actually completed the full program once and then had put together like eight months of clean time before I relapsed.
Speaker 2:But anyway, I he was able to call over there and get me a bed secured and he came and picked me up and took me door to door and he somebody at that process had given, given him my wallet.
Speaker 2:So, like I didn't have my ID, I didn't have my money, I didn't have my phone, I didn't have any of that, which is a good thing because, yeah, if I had been released even though I didn't, even though I wanted better and I wanted to do something different, if I had been left to my own devices, you know what would happen. And so that that door-to-door process was really important, where he was waiting for me when I got out, took me straight over to the treatment center and and helped me get checked in, and so I walked into a facility that I just graduated the full program about a month and a half or two months prior, and they do a graduation ceremony there where you go up on the stage and so there's a lot of people still in that program that had just seen me graduate. And then a month and a half later, I'm walking back in the door and I'm you know, I look half-dead.
Speaker 1:I've just been through it again and God, that had to be a lot of shame you're dealing with to walking back in after they're just celebrating you a month or so earlier it was rough in the beginning there, there was some shame, but you're, you're also gonna hear us say we don't shoot our wounded and we don't.
Speaker 2:I was also very much embraced. You're welcome back and you know, people were just glad I was alive and yeah, and I started the process over. And so, if I could point out you know one of the things I did differently this time around, I was sitting in the parking lot with my sponsor before I checked back in and he was like man, what's, what's gonna be different this time? What are we gonna do? And we made an agreement that before I left that treatment center I was going to have worked all 12 steps before I got up on the stage to graduate. So my MO or kind of what I would do, is I'd come in and work steps one through four and go back out. And come in and do one through four and go back out. And this time I, this last time around, I buckled down and it's I mean every night, if I wasn't in programming or doing something else, I was in the library doing step work, literally almost every night for six months. Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 1:It's interesting because we'll talk about and I love to hear a little bit about your experience here at the Salvation Army because we'll kind of joke a little bit that you know you're on the leadership team here of you know Valiant Living and Professionals Program for men, but your experience and treatment was very different than the experience that a lot of our guys have here. But, as you said before, you have you learned so much there. There's so much that you apply now to your leadership that you learned at the Salvation Army.
Speaker 2:Talk us through a little bit about what that experience was like for you yeah, absolutely, and I I'll practice by saying that everything I'm about to say I say with love that the Denver ARC was a rough program and they side note they closed their doors actually just over five years ago. Okay, so they're not down there at that location anymore, but it's a 96 bed men's facility, so you have four roommates and then so your room situation there is there's a bed, a nightstand and a metal locker against the wall for each person in that room and so it's almost like a barracks situation. Yeah, and of course you always have that. There's always the one roommate who snores and maybe the one dude who won't shower, and typical things like that. But so that's a lot of people to have in one facility.
Speaker 2:And at that program you, you work, turn your way through to where everybody who goes through that program gets assigned with a work therapy assignment within that facility.
Speaker 2:So that could be working in the warehouse, that could be working at the front desk, working in the kitchen, there's working the truck routes they do less of this now, but the trucks that used to go around and pick up everybody stuff yeah, so you, you get up in the morning and and you work, your your shift, whatever your assignment is there, and then they had a little bit of programming.
Speaker 2:At night you do some classes and then after that it was time to go to a 12-step meeting and that's the part on. You know, and it's again not to knock their programming, but essentially, if you weren't going to meetings and working steps with a sponsor, I, to me I feel like that was the key ingredient of being there and that and the brotherhood that comes along with being in that facility I mean, a lot of the guys I went through there with are like my brothers, literally that's like my recovery family, wow. So there was that special ingredient of you're living there with each other and you're going through it with each other and and connecting and, yeah, going to meetings with each other and yeah well, I didn't realize, so you told me this, but there's several of the team here at valiant that that went through that program over there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's so. It's interesting. You're a better person than me, but I would. I would. It'd be hard for me to be here and be like you guys don't know how good you have it compared to what some of the other programs. It right, you know, because valiant's very different in their approach when it comes to some of those things. But you know, but we do have it good in a lot of ways that for those of us that have been through the program here, yeah, I mean backing up a little bit.
Speaker 2:So over there it's. You had to have your shirt tucked in. You had to shave every day, you had to wear your land. Your bed had to be made like military style.
Speaker 1:That's where you got that from yep. You're a stickler in housing on get that bed made, but it was important part of our recovery yeah, and it's.
Speaker 2:It's not even so much about the bed, it's about starting your day with that routine on and accomplishing that first thing. And really, if you're taking care of your living environment, that's a, it's a life skill that also helps you take care of your own mental health.
Speaker 1:There's a direct correlation there yeah, yeah, I remember that was something that you were always big on, and housing the techs that you led at the time were you know, and it was important practice for us. I mean schedule and rhythm and routine and structure for us addicts is just huge and that's what it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's when they say it's a salvation army, they, they put the army in that. Yeah, it's very structured and a bit rigid and if, if you even leave a book on your nightstand or something like that, you could get written up for it and there's, there's real consequences there. I mean, if you, if you were to sneak a phone into that facility, you get kicked out for it. Wow, and I've, I've seen people if their program ends like that and they're walk to the gate over, they had some chewing tobacco on them at the warehouse, or they they had that phone that got discovered, or so they're not playing games over there.
Speaker 1:Man, no, it's yeah, they hold to it. What are some other things that has influenced your leadership here, that you learned through that program? Is there anything specifically you think of, or is it just more overall the importance of structure and in holding kind of a tight line on some of those things?
Speaker 2:I think it's a combination. I mean, I I have the benefit of having gone through that program and seeing a lot of things that really worked and seeing some things that didn't. And I had a lot of people in my life from that program that there is a lot of true leaders in the Salvation Army and people that I watched closely on how they led. You know entire groups of guys that were in programming and staff that was underneath them and and how they carried themselves in that situation. And there's a guy and I won't name him out, but he was a resident manager over there for 14 or 15 years and when you're in that program you can very much feel like he's your worst enemy because he's riding you about yeah, is your shirt tucked in and did you shave and all these things. And then I come to graduate and eventually move on into this line of work and then I understood why, why he was that way and why he presses these things. So importantly is because that that place produced some strong programs at recovery.
Speaker 1:Yeah, probably the probably cared about you the most in some ways. I don't mean the ones that love you the most are the ones that are willing to, in some ways, have tough love. I've seen you do that here in your team of housing texts, I think the I should say your former team now. But I I just think that what I appreciated as a client was the balance. I felt like you guys held a really great tension of like this is the way it needs to be, and kind of making us hold the line because it was good for our recovery. There was a why behind everything right, there was never just let me kind of flex on you or be on a power trip. It was like no, there's a why behind. We do this in. You need to learn.
Speaker 1:Especially some of us guys I'll speak for myself that came in with a great sense of entitlement. There was a bit of a breaking down that needed to happen of like, hey, you need to clean up, you do the dishes, you need to make your bet, you need to do the things that humans do on a schedule. But there was also a lot of compassion and grace like that you and your team carried. You know, for us I have a, you know, fun place in my heart for specifically for housing tax, because they're really doing so much of the work with us guys, like you know, maybe we're in therapy all day and we're getting a lot of emotions are coming up and we're going back to the house and all bottled up and it's usually the housing tax that are listening and guiding us and, of course, you know most of them aren't therapists, of course, but they're. They're really helping us in the moments we needed the most and so I appreciated just kind of that way.
Speaker 1:I mean, talk a little bit about your journey to valiant, because now your, your title now is director of operations. Is that right? They get there, yeah, so that's a high level leadership position within our organization, but you didn't necessarily start there. So talk a little bit about, kind of how you went from your recovery through treatment but then come to to be working in this industry yeah, so I graduated the Salvation Army program, went through sober living, finally, you know, moved out, got into my own place.
Speaker 2:I worked in the trades after I graduated treatment, I did HVAC and was doing auto body and still love those trades and incorporate some of that into what I do still.
Speaker 2:But yeah, kind of what had happened was that the pandemic started up so things were we're kind of drying out where I was working anyway and I was kind of looking around at other things to do and was feeling on my heart, you know and again, not to knock working on cars, because I still do that as a hobby, but yeah, you know there's. I just felt like there was maybe more important things I could be doing. And that's around the time I heard that JR and I hope he won't mind me throwing him into this, but I had heard through my sponsor that JR was maybe looking for some help over where he worked and he was overseeing the housing department at the time. So he and I got in a call and got connected that way and he's he's been a close friend of mine since pretty much the beginning of my recovery anyway. But yeah, he had me come down and interview with him and I spoke with Michael Denene as well and the clinical director at the time, and so I started out as a tech and the housing department.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and did that for a while. What was that like for you?
Speaker 2:it was definitely odd now being on the other side of it having been through treatment, sure, but it was.
Speaker 2:You know it was cool. Yeah, I do. I have enjoyed that work and it's there's elements of it that are stressful. You, you are in the mix and kind of in the trenches, if you will, with with a lot of guys and there's there's various situations and the struggles, and sometimes crisis, that are happening. And, yeah, there's there's a lot to manage there and a lot of logistics, but I'm also the kind of person that thrives on a little bit of chaos as much as I don't always want to admit that.
Speaker 1:Well, you'd have to in this, this industry, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're, you've, you're, you're very calm under pressure. I don't know if that underneath there's something like boiling up, but like I've never seen you really get and you've had to navigate a lot of situations here throughout your time, but you always seem to have a really calm demeanor. Is that just a front or what? How's that work?
Speaker 2:You don't have to out yourself. But yeah, I appreciate that and it's. Yeah, the wheels are turning up here, but calm on the surface.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you started. You started as a tech and did that and then you moved into overseeing all the techs and all that all the housing Could you explain a little bit about? For people that are listening and don't know much about how our housing process works or what that's all about, would you be willing to give them just a little insight into to what that's like here at Valiant?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can kind of lay out that that department for you and there's there's more than one layer to it.
Speaker 2:So you have our clients that are in programming our men and then you have a team of recovery texts that oversee them at the PHP house and at the other IOP houses and again they're the guys that are taking them to meetings and helping with all the logistics, essentially everything that happens outside of here at the clinical office programming. So you have you have the clients, you have this team of texts that work in the houses, you have the houses themselves and there's there's maintenance to be done and things of that nature and inventory, and so how many houses does Valiant have at this, at this time?
Speaker 2:We have four right now Four.
Speaker 1:And one of those houses specifically for what we call PHP, and that's the 30 day, and then people can transition right To some of the other houses in the IOP level of care, which is a bit unique to our model, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I don't feel like there's a whole lot of other places that are doing it that way, yeah, so yeah, foxfield is our PHP house, and somebody listening doesn't know what PHP stands for. That stands for partial hospitalization program, and that really means is that you're, you're have staff with you almost 24 seven, and that we, we monitor medications and it's that's that speaks to the level of care that you're in clinically and the house that you're in for your first 30 to 45 days or so.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it took me 45.
Speaker 2:It really taken me that long to.
Speaker 1:Well, I got really comfortable over there and I remember at one point I, we, you and I had a conversation. I was like you know, I'm good to stay here as long as you you want me to, and eventually I moved over. But you know, I all the houses are set up really comfortable. I mean they're really. You know, the houses that you've, you have here, are definitely with this type of treatment in mind. You know they're set up for this type of thing.
Speaker 1:And when I came here I didn't know much about the program. I thought everything was on one location so I didn't realize, which was kind of nice to be able to, almost, like, go home at the end of the day. And then we came into the center here and did a lot of our therapy and our work and that kind of stuff, but then we could go home and so so people will not realize that that's the case. Like we, we go back and forth. In the first, like you said, 30 to 45 days we're actually transported back and forth. You guys have arranged that kind of thing and so that makes it, you know, really helpful for us, especially in the beginning when we need that kind of level of care. I mean those first 30, 45 days. For me I needed that kind of accountability. But talk a little bit about just that step down approach. You know why do we go from PHP to the IOP and that level of care and a little bit more freedom that opens up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. So that step down from PHP to IOP is kind of the. The secret ingredient to what we do is we we really want our men to come through our program to get accustomed to the, the things that they're going to be doing outside of here in their regular life anyway, and so, towards that tail end of their PHP stay, we're going to start incorporating. You know, it's the the device privileges are going to come back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, if there's a car involved, you might have the car kind of come back into the mix. We'll have them start up a work schedule, and so we don't. What we don't do is one day you wake up and all of a sudden you're you're working, you've got your car back and it's everything at once and you're moving houses to one of our IOP houses. So we kind of stagger that to get somebody prepared to launch. Yeah, um, so I IOP would really be considered that launching pad on word. We're having them get back into, kind of their real life and working in the groove of that. But they're still in our programming and they're still, um, still, you know, doing drug testing with us and entering and really have that accountability.
Speaker 1:The reintegration thing was. Is was so important for me because especially because I was from out of town, so it'd be tough for me just to show back up in Nashville after 90 days like, all right, I'm home it was really helpful to be able to like slowly integrate and then take the tools that I was I learned here and start applying them in everyday life, getting getting triggered out in a job situation, work situation but then okay, now I have new tools to use. I don't have to go back to my old you know rhythms or escapes. I can use what I've learned, but it's also still in a safe environment where there's accountability and in groups and guys I can process with, and all that stuff was really important for me for sure.
Speaker 1:I want to talk a little bit about philosophy. Then I want to get into your, your new role here too, but just housing philosophy, like how you think about housing, how you lead the team there, and again you've you've transitioned to kind of a new role just recently and I want to talk about that here in a second. But for those that are listening, you know what is kind of the why behind how you led housing and led the team there. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, I believe that part of the overall philosophy is that we can't we can't heal in the same environment in which we were staying sick.
Speaker 2:And speaking from my own experience too, is like I couldn't have done the work that I needed to do to save my life from from where I was calling home at the time.
Speaker 2:I needed to leave and go somewhere else and kind of be in a protective bubble, if you will.
Speaker 2:And so there's that element of it and you know it's called valiant living, recovery housing, and it's there's a reason why we don't really refer to it as just sober living is because it's it's about so much more than just being sober. It's about recovery, and that can be from substances and and other you know, process, addictions and things like that, and so it is that protective environment that we've. We've removed a lot of these barriers that are part of what keeps us sick and you know those, those can feel more like restrictions than it is us removing barriers, but it's to create an environment that's safe and where these, these guys can can come in and not have to deal with these external factors and be with their peers in this house and be focusing on their recovery and you know working towards getting back with the family and doing those things, but yeah, well, for many of us guys, there's a lot of fear around transitioning into a new environment, a new housing environment.
Speaker 1:You know I'll speak for myself. Control was a big part of my recovery. Learning to surrender, learning to, you know, in. One of the big ones is is housing. You know which is. You know anything from where I'm staying, who I'm staying with, um, my car, driving, I mean all these things, my phone that was a big one for me, you know. You know digital detail and this all impacts housing. It impacts, like the, the living environment. Talk a little bit about some of that, some of those apprehensions and fears, and how do you help guys overcome moving. Many of those like me, coming from a totally different city, don't know anything about this area. Some, a lot of them, are local too. But what are some, some things that you help, you put in place to help us guys transition smoothly into this housing environment?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know I. I want to start by saying that I relate to that fear and that you know that the first time I found myself on my way to treatment, I was scared to death. It was one of the most frightening experiences I've ever been through in my life and I'm, you know, more so than than going to jail or even the prospect of dying. I was really deathly afraid of having to go sit with myself and my feelings for days and weeks and months at a time. So I very much relate to that fear and you know, again, I can't stress enough.
Speaker 2:But it's about, while there is that fear there, it's about coming out of that environment where we're in a system that's maybe helping to keep us sick, and coming into a new environment and and being around our peers, and so I'd say some of the fears I see the most are one that you're you're coming into a place that you've not been before, that you're that you're going to have to call home while you're here and people that you don't know yet, and and you're you're being told all of a sudden you have to do these things that you're not accustomed to doing, and so it's kind of a lot at once. But I find that the guys that can kind of move past that fear a little bit to see it for what it is. I'm like okay, and they get.
Speaker 2:They get to see the house and they realize, all right, this is a this is a nice and comfortable place and the people here are friendly and and kind of let their guard down a little bit, find out really quickly. You know those, those tend to be the guys that that within a few days or a week they're really clicking with their, the other guys on the house and really forming these bonds. And, you know, it might be the guy who's like I can't have a roommate, that ends up getting a roommate, because that's kind of how we do things, that that becomes one of the guys that they're closest with and that they can call when, when things get tough, and that's that's a lifelong friendship that gets formed. And so I would just share to anybody that's maybe experiencing that fear is that I would I would highly encourage moving past that a little bit and and giving it a shot and and seeing what it's really about, because, again, that that brotherhood that takes place and housing is like the secret ingredient to all of this.
Speaker 1:I'm really glad that you said that, because that's that's exactly what I found to be true and because I had all those same fears as well and was so grateful for. And one thing I learned about you is that you're intentional even with who you put people with, who was in housing. I mean, there's a lot of thought and I get to see a little bit behind the curtain now in this role and I'm like man. There's a lot of care and intentionality put into this and some of it is intentionally putting us guys in places that's going to kind of force us to deal with some issues, like, like you just said, like some of the guys that are resistant to roommates may need a roommate to learn how to to share and to get along, interact and use their people, skills and all this kind of stuff. And so the absolutely true for me, my roommates have become, you know, great friends, brothers. You know, to me we journeyed through so much, we battled through so many ups and downs together that we'll always have have that bond, you know, and it's just, it's incredible.
Speaker 1:I remember Peyton was the first person I ever met at Valiant, and what a great first impression to a program, right, this guy is just so kind and loving and joyful and and it was my first moment, I mean I remember getting off the plane not knowing anything about what was going to happen, and Peyton was the one greeting me there and I was my first like exhale of like I think I'm gonna be okay. I think I think I'll be okay here. Just by the way Peyton carried himself and and all those things. What are a couple like? And I know we cling to the success stories, but when you think about what success looks like for you in housing or any success stories, is anything popping your your mind like this is this was a win for us.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean a lot does, and that's that's a question I was sitting thinking about last night and it's it's hard to pinpoint just one or two because we see so much that happens here and there's I mean, there's a success story sitting across a table from me right now and there's, and there's been other people that have come through the Valiant program that work here now.
Speaker 2:So I mean that's one of them is that I now get to work with some people that have gone all the way through this journey and and graduated the program and stayed clean and then come back on the side of things and then, you know, I might even be over across the street here at the gym and there's one guy in particular I run into who was a tough case in the beginning and it's still, I think, over a year and a half clean now and put his life back together and has a kid and credible, is just crushing it and is healthy and happy and that's awesome.
Speaker 2:It's the kind of thing where a lot of times we're just planting seeds and we don't always get to see that grow and some people may transition out of our program and they go back home and it's out of state and we kind of hear through the grapevine they're doing well and stuff like that. Or it might be the situation where I'm in person, I'm running into these guys and it's when I see one of them walk into the room they have a glow about them and it's there's a feeling that I have happened inside of me that I can't really describe, but I mean that's.
Speaker 2:That's the rewarding part of this all and why we all are in this line of work on man. Even even if it was only one guy, I got to see that for this all would have been worth it, and I get to see a lot of that. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, before I let you go this has been such amazing conversation I do want to talk a little bit about your new role. So you just moved into a director of operations role here, which is a it's a big. It's a big job here. You're pretty new into it, but I really appreciate and value like people who can see the best path, the best way to get somewhere right, like that's like your brain is wired like hey, yeah, you can like someone like Danine can say this is where we want to go. You're great at being able to say, okay, here's how to get here, here's the next best couple of steps. This is the most efficient way to do that. Talk a little bit about your new role on our leadership team and a little bit of what your your hope is in this spot as you kind of take on this new challenge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm now, but I'm still going to be overseeing the housing department, I'm also going to be working out of the detox and I'm going to be working here at the office, and so I'm going to be working kind of across all of our facilities. And so that that title of director of operations operations can mean a lot of things. It can be very broad, and so it kind of depends on the day on what it is specifically I'm going to be doing. But that's also kind of one of the things I love about it is that it includes a lot of things. And so you know, I believe the operations are. It's the glue that holds all the systems together and all the various departments. And you know, the reality is that we have to have these processes and systems and policies in order to for everything to function smoothly, and the smoother that things function, the better client care that we're able to offer. And so that's kind of my thought process behind how I approach the role. Yeah, Well.
Speaker 1:I was so happy when I saw that email come across that you were stepping in that role, because you're just one of those guys, that who is, I mean, works so diligently behind the scenes to make this place a better experience for really for everybody, for staff and for clients and when I saw you step in that role, I just thought, yes, this is, this is great. This is great. And we and we, we want to hold intention, like we honor the past and the leaders of the past who have come before, who got us to this point, and at the same time, we can celebrate the future and where we're going and so just so excited that you're leading us into the next phase of whatever that looks like for for valiant, living in your mind as you kind of dream about the future and you're looking through like what's next for for valiant, what comes up for you, what do you think?
Speaker 2:Man there's, so there's more to be revealed, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, when I look right now just at the, the just raw talent of this team that we have, I think that's what one of the things that excites me the most is that we have the right people in place. And you know, I'm just really I'm looking forward to to simplifying some things, and you know, it's one of the things that comes into my head is just bringing everybody, bringing everybody closer and bringing the departments closer and, in a literal sense, maybe bringing some things closer to where maybe we made some changes in the housing department and and had a couple, a couple of big houses closer over here to the office, and so things like that that are more logistical is what I'm thinking about in my head on on what the future could hold. And there's there's going to be some changes to programming out of the detox that the JR is also going to be helping to build out there, and so that's exciting, looking forward to helping build up that program too.
Speaker 1:And yeah, so, before I let you go, I'm going to ask you one more question, but I also want to just open it up. Is there anything else that you wanted to share today? Because I know you did. You did unlike the other. You prepared. I want to honor that, but is there anything else? You're like man I'd love to. I'd love to share this that you had thoughts coming into today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know again, that's that's something you're going to hear in the rooms at recovery, but something I'm I'm big on impressing on the guys that we do have in programming is that, as we're, we're maybe in a room together and and having a group meeting, if you will, on on pointing out that these empty chairs here mean something and that not just for the people may have we may have lost it for the people to come to, and that, if there's, if there's people that are out there right now that are listening to this and you're struggling to to pick up that thousand pound phone because it's going to be the most important thing that you've ever done in your life.
Speaker 2:It can that can alter the course of your whole life. Right, there is just picking up the phone and asking for help and we have a whole team of people here that are going to answer that call for help and we're we're ready to help people take on these challenges that they're up against. So I'm sure that they're they're feeling theirs, may feel like there's not hope and there's just no way out of that situation, on on facing what they're up against and what they're struggling with, and that's what our that's what our whole system and team is designed to do is to help people through those challenges and and help them find their recovery. So if you're that person out there listening to this, I I just hope that you make that phone call.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you just perfectly answered my last question. That's awesome, dude. Thank you so much for for jumping on and sharing, and thank you for just the work that you you put in here. Valiant Living is in good hands with with you and leadership here, so appreciate your time today. Thank you, drew. Well, we appreciate you listening to this episode of the Valiant Living podcast and our hope is that it helped you feel educated, encouraged and even empowered on your journey towards peace and freedom. If we can serve you or your loved one in any way, we'd love to have a conversation with you. You can call 720-756-7941 or email admissions at valiantlivingcom. At Valiant Living, we treat the whole person so you not only survive but you thrive in the life you deserve. And finally, if this episode has been helpful to you, it would mean a lot to us if you'd subscribe and even share it with your friends and family. You can also follow along with us on Instagram and Facebook by simply searching Valiant Living. Thanks again for listening and supporting the Valiant Living podcast. We'll see you next week.
