EP 24: A Billionaire's Vision for the Future of Addiction Treatment with Bryan Cressey

Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us here at the Recovery Executive Podcast. I'm your host, Nick Jaworski. The Recovery Executive Podcast is geared towards owners, executives, and directors that particularly need help within the business end of things. As we know, that is a huge challenge. Centers are closing left and right at the moment, and this is a gap that needs to be filled. So we speak with experts from around the country on different aspects of addiction treatment, behavioral health, In terms of operations, management, sales, marketing, et cetera, in order to help people make it through these tough times. The Recovery Executive Podcast is brought to you by Circle Social, who are experts in strategic marketing and growth for centers. If you are struggling with your admissions, operations, marketing, anything related to center growth, they can help you. Always check out what they're offering at www.circlesocialinc.com. Today we have a very special guest. We have Bryan Cressey. Bryan Cressey is a partner at Cressey and Company. They are a very large private equity firm in Chicago. Bryan himself is a billionaire and he has made his money within the private equity healthcare space. So he has a very large expertise in this area. And then specifically why, why we're bringing him on the show is that he started his own addiction treatment center. in downtown Chicago, and it's not your typical treatment center. You probably heard our episode with Dan Hostetler, who is the executive director of this center. It's called Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center, and it is a nonprofit. So very different from much of what Mr. Cressey does on a day-to-day basis. As you will learn, he obviously was very familiar with the treatment industry due to his extended family having to go into treatment And, you know, being someone that constantly helps healthcare organizations grow and build and often fix their problems, he saw a lot of what was going on with addiction treatment and how things were not really being run in a way that's, that's going to help them survive in the future. As we've seen with people closing all over the place, the industry hasn't changed too much for 80 years, and that is instigating a lot of the failures that are happening. So his dream and his vision is to build something better, build something very evidence-based with multiple modalities that are able to help a larger array of people. And he decided to start with the most challenging populations, populations that by and large aren't being served by the current addiction treatment community. So it's a very fascinating discussion. I encourage you to join us and I encourage you to think about where the field needs to go and what changes we can make From a treatment standpoint, from an operational standpoint, and just from overall vision to make sure that we make it through these current tough times and come out the other side better, not just for ourselves, but also better for the patients that we serve. Bryan, I really thank you for taking the time to join us today. I know you're extremely busy. For our listeners and viewers out there who, you know, may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about you?

Sure. Grew up in Seattle, went to grad school in Boston, and live in Chicago. So I've done both coasts and in between. And the reason we're here today is I've invested in healthcare for about 40 years, healthcare companies providing care to patients from hospitals to hospice to home care to physical therapy clinics. And so that I've got a background in healthcare. And I, when I came to the thought process of starting what is now Above and Beyond, I felt like I understood healthcare. And so I might just be able to do this. And so then I wrenched up my confidence and said, I will do this and it will succeed.

So I'm kind of interested in that, if we can dig into it a little bit. You obviously have been incredibly successful. With the healthcare companies and the work that you've done. So what made you nervous about addiction treatment in particular, or was it the nonprofit aspect? What was the part that you had some insecurity around?

I'd actually— we invest in existing companies that are somewhat successful and at least growing and have some size. When I looked at starting Above and Beyond, I wanted to put it in a poor area where the homeless would be so that they could walk in and Right off the sidewalk. So it had to be in a tough area. And I had never actually started my own company or enterprise before. I'd invested in a lot.

Right.

I mean, we'd start our own firm in terms of our investment firm, but that seemed pretty straightforward. But to start something in a whole different field where I was alone, no partners, it was just me driving around in the winter, Looking at different pieces of real estate in tough neighborhoods, that was a little daunting.

Sure.

But what I realized was the mission is worth doing. And secondly, have no doubt it will work. Have faith it will work.

Right.

And of course, I had twinges of doubt, but I kept the faith it will work and it has worked and it'll continue working and growing.

So Above and Beyond, you know, I come from an addiction treatment background a bit where my company works a lot with it. And so when I first found Above and Beyond, I was very drawn to it, very excited about it because it's very unique in this space. So I think that's something else I'd like to learn a little bit more about is it's not really like other treatment centers out there. So why, and why do you think it's effective the way it is?

The reason it exists and it's different, is that in my extended family, there's been addiction. And I've gone to a lot of addiction centers for family week or family day discussions all over the US, and a lot of very expensive ones too, unfortunately.

Sure.

And what I saw were failures. It didn't— tend to work, and they were all kind of the same. They're based on the AA model, which works for 8 or 9% of the people, but not the others. And they didn't offer alternatives. And when I saw what was missing in family members' life, I recognized the reason these people aren't getting better isn't that they didn't go to this fancy place. They they may have. The problem is they didn't have purpose and mission. They didn't understand their personal mission in their life.

Yes.

They didn't have, and they weren't working on it, and they didn't know what it was. And the other problem I saw, particularly people who come off the streets, they're ashamed of themselves. Everyone is ashamed of themselves that I've met coming in for treatment, which is sad. Shouldn't be, but they are.

Yeah.

And it's natural that they are, I guess. So we also put together a program at Above and Beyond, and I recognized we could do this, learning to love yourself. And there's research and academic work on both of these. They're very doable. None of the other treatment centers were doing it, so I got frustrated. I'd look around and I got sad. I looked at the people coming in the front door Thinking they're going to get—they're seriously wanting help for their addiction issues—and I realized, oh my gosh! They're not going to get it here at this place or this expensive place or this place. It's not going to happen here. I felt so bad for the people knowing they were going to leave and not not get healthy, and that was just sad for me. And then I put that thought together with. Wow, I can see how to create the very best treatment. It's evidence-based. Do a few fundamental things these places are not doing. Make it evidence-based. Get great people who are innovators involved. We can create a way better treatment program than what exists in America because I found they all tend to be about the same. Exactly alike. And they're doing what was done 80 years ago. It hasn't changed. If you talk to people, they do what Why do you do it this way? It's the way it's always been done.

Always been done, yeah.

Well, in other fields, you look at the internet, you look at any technology, that is not an answer. The answer is what will work in the future. That's what Above and Beyond is after, is what will work in the future. And we're after creating the role model in the future for how to treat, to be sort of a learning lab so that others can get better in the future. And so that's what I saw. That was my disappointment, sadness for those people. And it was personal because I had people in my extended family who were suffering from this so that I had the ability to recognize what I thought was needed at Above and Beyond.

I love that you mentioned the evidence-based and the outcomes tracking. So this is something that I find that is unfortunately unique, right? More centers are getting into it. But you guys are tracking your outcomes and trying to validate your beliefs and your models, right?

Yes.

So what have you seen so far? I mean, you guys are pretty new. It's only about 2 years old, you know, but what are you seeing in terms of the results that you're getting with your programs?

Well, we're getting really good results, but I can't— I'm not going to give you numbers, right? Because most of the numbers that are thrown around in the field are lies through statistics, right? In fact, one noted expert from, I think, Harvard, Boston, said that anyone that says they have more than 10% success rate is lying. And you see 60%, 70%, and those, Mike, they're way untrue.

Right.

They're playing with the numbers or flat out lying. I don't know which, but it ends up the same place. So we look at Above and Beyond at the following. We have people who are homeless. who are poor, who are estranged from their families. So we have a difficult set of people. And so while we measure statistics and we will see what percentage graduate, what percentage are good in 2 years, our goal is— I arbitrarily chose, I think, 3 years out. If a person is healthy, without addiction problem, reunited with their family, they have a job, and they have housing. If they have the whole package, my belief is it'll persist for a lifetime. And if they don't have the whole package, my belief is they'll fall back.

Mm-hmm.

I think it— the person has to be busy in all those ways and getting gratification and love in all those ways. And so our mission is the 3-year mark, to have all those things in our clients' lives after they leave, and therefore Part of the importance is follow-up. We reconnect with them after they graduate, talking to them, how are you doing, how's the job, the housing, and they come back free. We encourage them, come back to classes because they can come free forever because we want that to get to the 3-year mark. So 2 or 3 months to start with, but then we want to keep in touch because we believe They will last a lifetime, and we want to transform lives. We're not trying to make sober people for 1 month or 2 months. We're trying to change, and it'll be far fewer lives. Many, many won't be changed, but the ones that will, their lives are transformed.

I think I want to— we've talked about it before, but, you know, when I come into Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center, I see that change, right? And that's again one of the things that excited me about it. You know, when I first found your program, talked to Dan, I was like, oh, this is great, sounds really good, but you know, I want to see it, right? Is it real?

Yeah.

But you come into the center and yeah, I mean, people I'll see 3 months ago or 5 months ago, you come back now and they're just— their lives are transformed, right? They have a stable job, they're starting to reunite with their family, and they've often overcome a lot of their addiction, their mental health issues. I mean, they just have such a positive outlook on life, right? You know, and so I think One of the reasons you're successful, like you're mentioning, is that you don't focus on just the sobriety end of things. You know, often we're talking about Family— you know, sorry, Above and Beyond as a recovery center, but it's not really recovery from addiction. I feel like it's recovery from challenges in life. Would you agree with that?

I agree with that. It's— and one thing I've learned is we think of the homeless, we talk about it as a class because we have many homeless, but it's not a unified group. It's individuals, and each one has a story. And a lot of them are like you or me, and they've had a series of bad breaks, and they end up not being able to afford the rent, and then they got out in the street, and then they started drinking. It's a series. But each one of those people, when they come back and get healthy, as you point out, they're so grateful, and they get their life back. And so what we did To make it different and welcoming. When they open the door off the street, we— it doesn't look like an institution and it doesn't look medical.

Right.

I wanted to get rid of both of those. It looks like a nice home. And why does it look nice? Because I wanted them to have a sense of pride the moment they took the first step in the door that, wow, I belong at a really nice place like this.

Yeah.

I'm part of this. And start building their pride from the moment they walk in. And it works. They're comfortable. It's not threatening. And they feel proud and happy to be there. And then, as you saw, there's an aura of happiness, a lot of smiles, all positive. We're moving forward. We're getting this done. We're doing this. I love seeing you. There's a lot of love and positiveness there too. So it's like a healthy home.

Right, right. You guys are providing all these amazing resources. Like, you know, you guys have art on the walls, wonderful interior. You know, I mean, I remember that feeling when I walked in myself. I said, wow. I said, this was not what I was expecting. Right. You know, it's, uh, it looks a lot nicer than a lot of the for-profit treatments that I've been to. You know, but you provide all this support too then after recovery, right? Right. So I shouldn't say after recovery, after they've kind of entered the program and started going to whether it's AA or SMART or Celebrate, you know, anything to help with their addiction, but then they're working on their jobs or working on their housing. Right. And that model, I think, where they're building life skills above and beyond, right? I always say that. Yeah. Yeah. But it's so true, right?

It is.

Yeah. Um, just works, right?

It does. Above and beyond, I wanted the individuals looking at the center to think, wow, it is above and beyond. When they see it, they go, the programming, it's above and beyond. But I also want the individual, the client, to say, I'm going above and beyond with my life.

Mm-hmm.

So it's dual. It's the place, the center, and it's the person going above and beyond. And it works because After they enter the door, everywhere in America has one treatment program. Usually it's AA, but it might be something different.

Yeah.

One. And as I looked at it, and I got— became familiar with AA, the one thing that didn't fit me and perhaps many other people was the point, I am powerless over my addiction. Well, I believe I am powerful over my life. I'm responsible for the decisions I make and I'm in charge.

Yeah.

And I know a lot of people feel that way. Well, guess what? That fits SMART Recovery. And so we've added 3 programs. AA works for and fits a lot of people, especially religious-based people are grounded. The other SMART Recovery works for, and we have men and women for sobriety, which is different as well. So we have options. Restaurants have options. The treatment field is the only field that doesn't have options.

Right.

You come in, one size is supposed to fit all, but unfortunately one size does not fit all.

Right.

As we know. And so we started right at the beginning. I thought through what's the experience of someone who thinks they possibly want to change their life for the better. and get rid of the devil that's kind of got their claws in their back with this drinking or drugs, whatever it might be? And how could we make an experience that they would buy into, fit, and get excited about? Because they have to be motivated to get well.

Right.

They work hard. I don't work hard compared to how hard someone off the street works to shake the addiction, change their friends, And so we wanted them motivated because they need that power. And they are motivated above and beyond because the entry, what they see as possibilities, the different classes they take that inform their entire lives and help them think about the world and their own life in a more positive, more in charge way.

Yes.

We wanted to make it different. So I viewed it and started as, I'm walking in the door, what would be the best things to see and have there? Yeah. And it's very different because I didn't start with what's out there in the field, right? Luckily, I'm not from the field, but I'm exposed to a lot.

Yeah, I think there's so many advantages there. People don't realize it. Obviously, people within the space have a lot of knowledge and there's a lot to be gained there, and they've been very successful. successful, especially with a smaller group of people with the 12-step model, right?

Right.

But the people that I see really making a difference, like you, are people that have come a bit from outside the space, are bringing new ideas, are bringing fresh insights. And that empowering aspect is very different. But I remember when I went through my own recovery, that's what I needed. I needed an empowering idea, you know. And we see so many people, especially in the homeless space, or if they're coming out of jail, it's very much a victim mentality, right? I am the force of The winds that are buffeting me, you know?

Right.

And when you change that, yeah, life is hard, right? Like you said, I mean, God, getting out of homelessness and, you know, being— maybe coming out of jail for 12 years, that's not easy.

Right.

But if you believe that you have something you're working towards and you have the power to make that change, man, you'll, you'll work for it, right?

Right. And most of our clients, whether they come out of prison, off the sidewalks, Most of them, I think, remember back to a time when they dreamed of wondrous things for their life. They might have been 5 years old, might have been 15, but they had a big dream. And then they had some bad breaks and made some mistakes and lost that dream and don't have it now. We want to reignite that dream, that vision in them that, wow, I can do my life. I can do wonderful things. And because, as you point out, if they feel like a victim, I'm the result of all these things happening and that causes me— no, they will not go forward successfully. Once a person realizes I'm in charge, I make my own decisions, and that determines my outcomes, and my outcomes can be very positive, and if I help others, I'm going to be really happy.

Right.

And it's positive. They gradually learn to take charge, and that's what will help them succeed the next 50 years of their life.

Right, because if you believe that you can't change things or you don't have the power to affect the change, then why would you?

Right.

They just kind of sit there and they give up. But if they're like, well, I can make a different choice here, or I can work towards this. Yeah, this sucks, it's horrible, or I had bad experiences happen, but, you know, my future is clean, right? I can write that.

That's right. If they're passive, they're not going to do anything positive. There's no energy to passivity.

Yeah.

But if we can help them see the active side of things they can do, and then they see the rewards, they work on a resume and interviewing, and they get a job. They go visit different places that Above and Beyond may send them, and they get housing. They start seeing, wow, I'm doing this, Putting in the work, I'm getting these benefits. Oh, life can be great. Then they reunite with their family, children, grandchildren, and the love that comes from that is a great motivator. And they start putting their life back together like pieces of a puzzle start getting fit back together, and then they see the picture in the puzzle, and it's very wonderful.

I mean, what I love about the discussion— so for the listeners here, this is the first one you're listening to. This is a 4-part podcast, right? And this is part 4. We've interviewed Dan Hostetler, who is the executive director, Terry London, who's a clinical director, and then Stanton Peele, who's an advisory board member that provides us a lot of support. And what I love about these discussions is most of them aren't— we're not really talking about addiction. You don't hear us—

No.

Focused on drug use, alcohol use. You hear us focused on how can we help people move forward in their lives, overcome their challenges. What works at Above and Beyond is we're not focused on get sober. Getting sober is easy, right? I can go to jail and get sober.

Right. Yeah.

Not too hard. But then how do I live my life?

Right. And people can go to treatment centers, the normal treatment centers around America, and they'll be sober for 3 weeks or 3 months there. But when they leave, if they haven't re-envisioned their life, if they haven't reassembled the pieces, If they haven't tried, I'm going to go work here, I'm going to tell my family this, and here's how we're going to interact differently, and I'm not going to see these people. If they don't change pieces of their life, as you point out, then the results don't change. But when they do, then the results do change and get very good.

That's exactly it. You know, so many centers are focused on like relapse prevention and triggers. And again, they're just focusing on don't drink or don't use drugs.

Right.

You know, I mean, how many times in our lives have we been successful just by saying don't, don't, don't, don't, don't over again?

Yeah.

Yeah, it doesn't work.

It's like, yeah, what you fear happening happens.

Right.

When you say don't, don't, that tends to happen. It's a psychological mechanism in us. But when we— I view addiction sort of as Filling a vacuum in someone's life or covering a problem in someone's life, either one or the other. And to get rid of the desire to drink or use drugs, you've got to make life great.

Right.

And life can be great. And we can show them how to make it great and fulfilling and motivating. And so, get— finding out where's the vacuum in their life, Where are the problems in their life and helping them to understand how they can manage that. Suddenly, they don't want to use because this is a lot better life.

Right.

And the using is causing lots of problems and bringing them down and ruining their health.

Right.

So it's about life, as you said. It's about creating, helping them create a fulfilling life. Once they do that, they realize the drugs, the alcohol, I don't want it. It will ruin this. I've got a really good life now. It will ruin this. So we want to create people that understand that well enough, clients that leave and go out in the world and start to really understand that well and build up strength and transform their own life into something great.

I mean, that's it, right? And something that's not talked about in the addiction treatment space much, but according to the research, the majority of people struggling with addiction are coming from poverty or low-income backgrounds, right? It's very clear.

Yes.

The research has been forever. Mental health is the same way. And often we want to say in addiction treatment, well, it can affect anyone, rich or poor, young or old. Well, it's true, it can, right? Cancer can affect anyone, you know.

Right.

But there are certain people are more likely to get it based on various factors. And the same is with addiction, and one of those big factors is poverty, you know. And so you're speaking exactly to that point where, well, why poverty, right? And again, some people kind of argue, so I always point out the research is very clear that they often go from poverty to addiction, not addiction to poverty. Sometimes they're like, well, maybe because they're addicted they fall into poverty. That's not what the research says, right?

Good.

Um, but yeah, I mean, that's it. So if you can help them kind of Rebuild their lives, then almost by default that piece will help them deal with their addiction. So the addiction is very rarely, you know, the primary cause.

No, that, that works. And the original vision I had for Above and Beyond was twofold. One is we will innovate and continue innovating, test evidence-based, create the best clinical program Best treatment opportunities, including life skills, jobs, housing. We will create the best system to help people get through it successfully. But then when we create the best system in America, will we sell it to the rich and famous for $200,000 a person? No, we won't. We'll do something that's astounding, but the right thing to do. We'll bring the best program in America to the poorest, the homeless, who have no access to any care, any real care they have no access to. Well, let's bring the— create the best and let's bring it to those who need it the most and have the least access first.

I love it.

That was the dream and still is the dream.

So I want to talk a little bit more about that vision. So you guys are looking at opening a second center now, correct?

Yes.

And then what's the goal? So it sounds like you want to go national with this, right? I mean, where's your dream? Do you have timelines in mind, or is this very much a play it by ear at this point?

No, I, I do have and did have a dream, and it's still there. Innovating to the best program, bringing it to the poor and homeless for free, and then proving that this is the model that works best and putting it other places. So we will put additional ones in Chicago. Also, I'd like to see it in other places in the US. Whether we do that directly, maybe, but also when we have our program well enough defined and understood, other people around the US will want to use that program. We might license it.

Mm-hmm.

As long as the quality's there, to other places in America because my dream and vision is to bring a great program, an effective one, to as many poor and homeless in the U.S. as possible. Because when you change their life, that's fantastic. It also changes their family's life. A bunch of people are positively impacted. That also changes the community in a positive sense. So I feel like America really would benefit from this. So I'm not going to restrain our use of what we're learning to, oh, we have to do it at this one location. I'd like to see it, if it can be done with quality, go elsewhere in America and help the others that don't happen to live in Chicago.

I hope so. I hope so. It's a great model. What have you learned? So you had your original vision. I'm sure you've learned a lot in the 2 years you've been doing this. So what has kind of changed, or what have you learned about what works?

What I've learned about what works is several-fold. One is that— this sounds simple, but happiness works. When the clients come in and learn to smile again and are treated as very important people, VIPs, which each one of them is, and are given a smorgasbord of classes they can take, all of which are useful, but way different than other centers. It's a little bit like a little college. They learn this, they learn how to think about life, they learn how to be happy, they learn about their purpose. Makes people happy. Tasting that happiness and some fulfillment is a great motivator. So I've learned the initial experience is so important to them staying with it.

Hmm.

The other thing I've learned is the importance of changing the way they think. We have rational emotive behavioral therapy. So instead of thinking, oh, I responded to this because something happened to me, stopping and realizing I'm in charge. I won't— what about that next decision? I didn't like that, but do I have to have a hostile reaction? No. I can be positive. And it changes their life. It's changing the way they think about things, changes their life positively, and they make better decisions going forward. And then enriching their life, one of the things we've learned at Above and Beyond is I realized that our clients are mostly in a small area of Chicago, a poor area, and they don't have access to enriching things like, say, you or I might go to the Art Institute. They'll never get to the Art Institute. So I got some great art from an artist I know. We purchased it, put it at Above and Beyond. It's a big part of one room and call it the Art Museum Experience because some of them will be excited and find out, oh, I love art. And then maybe they'll be motivated to say, I'd like to go to the Art Institute. We also brought in some music. Some will be enthralled by music. So we— I've learned is it can't be unidimensional to change lives. Simply providing addiction treatment is unidimensional. It's good.

Mm-hmm.

But to change lives, we need to broaden what they have access to. And I want to broaden their experience so they have the same sorts of opportunities that people downtown do. People in the suburbs do, to enrich through music, through art, through discussions, through movies, whatever it might be, that we start to help them see the value of enriching their life. And that's a whole different approach than I think, certainly than I see at any other place. And so we're trying to revolutionize by thinking differently and thinking from the perspective The perspective of the client struggling to open that doorknob, deciding I will step in. What's best for them through their eyes? What's going to work? That's our approach and that's how we try to innovate.

So let's talk a little bit more about specifics from maybe a funding perspective because I know that you personally funded a lot of this, right? But that's obviously not sustainable long-term.

Right.

Where it's going to grow.

Yeah.

So are there ways that listeners out there can get involved? Can they help from a funding perspective? What do you recommend?

Absolutely listeners can get involved and I'd love them to because they will be providing support to help create the new model of treatment in the world. We're innovating towards the best model and we're getting there, but they will be part of that innovation, not just an old center, but a whole new way. And they'll be saving lives. We are actually saving lives. And wonderful clients come up and thank our staff members or myself. You saved my life. And of course, they saved their lives. I didn't do it. They did. I gave them— helped them find a path. But people can contribute online. They can go to A&B, the letters A&B, today and get on our website. They can contribute there. They can also learn more about what we're doing by going to the website. And we'd love to have them come visit, even if they live in Los Angeles, if they're coming through Chicago. We'd love to have them come visit when they fly through Chicago. It's a place that needs to be seen to be understood, and I think it's an example of innovation that everyone might want to promote in their own life. By coming to visit, I think they'll be enthralled and motivated more in their own lives as well. So we'd love to see them get involved and contribute, and it's very, very important. As you point out, we have to get each center to financial break-even, counting philanthropy, to open the next center, and then the next, and then the next. And I want to become, even though I've been important in funding it and building it. I want to become a very small factor. So people say, oh, it doesn't matter if Bryan disappears. This thing is a rocket ship and it is working. And that's what we want to build.

So I think I just want to ask you something on that. Get involved, payer models. Oh, well, I think I just want to encourage listeners because Like I said before, and you said before, walking in is a different experience, you know. And so anyone out there is listening, if you're involved in addiction treatment, whether it's social work or general practitioner, or just, you know, this is important to you, it's, it's, you know, Dan and everyone else at the center is just incredibly open, hospitable. You can just call up and they will schedule a tour for you and you will see, you know, the difference.

Absolutely. We want people to visit. Once they visit, I guarantee every listener that visits, their lives will be enriched, not just from feeling good about what they see happening where lives are being transformed, but also they will get ideas, they'll get motivation, and they'll get a dream that, wow, I could do this in whatever I'm doing today. I could do this better. I could innovate.

Yeah.

They will get that from visiting. I guarantee. And if anyone doesn't get it, double their money back.

All right. Well, I really appreciate your time today. I mean, I'm sure all the listeners are excited to, you know, hear more about the vision and how this got started and the difference it's making here in Chicago, and soon, hopefully, much, much above and beyond that. Is there anything else that you want to kind of mention before we sign off?

Um, 2 things I'd mention before we sign off. One is Part of what motivated me to start this was the recognition that each person in life, the poor, the homeless, the failure, each of those people, their lives are the same importance as mine to the universe, to God, same importance. And so I realized, wow, if they're the same importance, and I know they are, then that's where I need to provide the help. That's where Above and Beyond needs to go because you can do so much good there. One of my partners in our healthcare investment business is a heart-lung transplant surgeon besides being a senator, and he saved lots of lives. I thought about— I'll never be a surgeon, and I wouldn't be a good one anyway. I know a way to save lives. That was part of the formative thought process above and beyond. Whoa, I know I could save lives. I know these people's lives are as important as mine. Don't I kind of have an obligation to put that together and do something?

Mm-hmm.

That was a big part of my thinking in deciding, yes, I'm going to do that. I felt a responsibility because of those understandings.

That's awesome. Yeah, I think, you know, a lot of us are similar that when we get involved in the business space in a positive way, but we want to have impact, right?

Yes.

How can we multiply our impact?

And I think Above and Beyond is a— Yes. The other thing I'll mention is I personally view life as such a gift. Every day, particularly every year, every 10 years, such a gift. And I realize I'm only going through here once. Let me have a spectacular life or go for it. Let me change the world as positively as I possibly can in the time I've given here. Why wouldn't you? You're not coming back for a redo.

Yeah.

So I am so motivated to have a spectacularly successful world-changing experience and help others and motivate others because That's my view of the value of life and the opportunity of life that we each have.

Wow. I love it. I love it. Well, thank you so much. I mean, God, you're such a blessing to, I think, everyone that's been involved. And obviously you're gonna— I believe that you guys are gonna have a very strong impact on the field of addiction treatment in general. Again, to all the listeners out there, if you want to learn more, please go to anb.today. Check out the website. There's also a gala coming up on November 2nd, so depending when you're listening to this, please check that out. We'd love to have you there supporting. And with that, we'll sign off. Thank you so much.

Thanks so much, Nick.