Richard Taite - Shaping the Future of Addiction Recovery at Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa

Welcome back to the Casey Adams Show. Today I'm joined here by someone very special that I'm excited to have a conversation with, Richard Tate. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

My pleasure.

So your background and your story is just so incredible and I'm very excited to dive in today. You are the co founder, founder and CEO of Cliffside Malibu, which you recently sold. And now we're here at the new Carrera Wellness Center. Thank you so much for having me here today.

No, thank you.

So we got connected through a mutual friend, Chase, and I'm very grateful for him. And when he first just gave me a glimpse into your story and said, hey, you guys should have a conversation, I dove in. And to hear about your backstory and your background overall just made me pause at what I was doing. Truthfully, when I was reading the articles and got a sense of what you built at Cliffside Malibu. So when it comes to Cliffside Malibu and the origin of creating that treatment center that you ran for 15 plus years, what was the initial idea for that and what led you to creating this facility?

It was actually a mistake. I didn't mean to. I meant to open up a sober living. But what I started doing is I started giving people, you know, therapy. And quickly I found out that I was operating illegally. And I said, what do you mean I'm operating illegally? I'm giving more than I promised. And they're like, that's called treatment. So I went ahead and I got my license and that's how Cliffside began.

Wow. And then. So you recently sold that business how many years ago now?

Five and a half.

Five and a half years ago. And where we're sitting today, the career wellness spot. Talk to me about what I walked in here when we first met. You brought me on the deck here that if you're watching, you can see. And you said, this is God's house. And you gave me the overview of what it is you're creating here. And it's just so cool to be in an environment like this and, and knowing the impact that it will have on people. But what is Carrera Treatment center for those that are watching this and you know, what are you excited about when it comes to what you're building here?

Carrera is different. It's, it's going to redefine luxury in the treatment space. Bottom line. I mean, the last time I had Cliffside, when I owned Cliffside, it was regarded as the single most exclusive high end drug and alcohol treatment facility in the world. And in My opinion as we sit here today, it still is the best. Not with luxury. Okay. They, you know, that's not, you know, it is, it's what they do. But they do have a magnificent program. But Carreras on steroids. I mean, it's going to be completely different. It's going to mix wellness. Right. And self care because, you know, that's what I needed to work on, a joy of living.

Yeah.

Right. And to have self care and self love and self esteem and I don't have that the way I should. So that's why I started Carrera to work on that.

It's incredible.

Yeah.

You know, what you do here is truly life changing and it stems back to your own personal journey. Talk to me about your experience with, you know, growing up and you know, how you ended up going down this path that not only had to allow you to take a step back and say, hey, I need to fix my life and, and change. Like bring us back to the early Richard days and talk to me about your early childhood.

My parents were not the greatest. It was tough growing up in my childhood for me and my brothers. And you know, we got beaten all the time, you know, and it was more than, oh, that was the times back then. These were real vicious beatings for all three of us. And there's only a few ways that people become addicts. One is a specific trauma, God forbid a rape or a bad beating. Right. Or somebody dying. The other is a continuous trauma. And that's what this was. It was constant over time, not getting your needs met as a child. And you know, when that happens at some point in your life. And for me it happened at 5. It's too scary to think, oh, my parents are idiots or you know, they don't care about me. Right? Because they're responsible for your safety. They're responsible for shelter and protection and feeding you. And you're five, right? You need them, so you can't think that. So what you do is you internalize I'm bad. And it keeps happening, right? And over time that gets solidified. I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm bad. So pretty soon you've got this 45 year old man who's operating in his mind, I'm bad. And he doesn't even know where it came from. And so I refer to that as a continuous trauma. And then of course there's the people that get addicted to prescription drugs, right? And then they're going doctor shopping and after all the doctors cut them off, they're now Buying it on the street or over the Internet. Right. And that's how people are dying right now in this fentanyl epidemic.

Yeah. You know, it's speaking on that fentanyl epidemic. And you've seen a lot over the years of not only your personal journey, but dealing with clients that you work with. Where do they. When you think about the problem to this, it's a hard problem that you're, that you're facing and speaking on fentanyl and just sort of a gateway for younger children, teens that are then experimenting with drugs and, you know, ended up getting addicting. Like, where does this start? When you think about. Yes, you talked about the different types of addicts and how it is created in the early days, but for you, when did you know that, that you needed help and what did that process look like for you? And prior to Cliffside, like, where did you go and who did you talk to in your life?

So when you think you're bad, okay. It evolves into I'm a piece of. Okay. And when that happens, you have to self medicate. You just do. Because you're bad. Right. And the way I knew that I had a problem was I spent all my money on crack cocaine. All of it. I mean, I'd go to work, the check would hit my hand, right? And I'm thinking bills, rent, car payment, Right. And the second the check hits your hand turns into crack coupons. And that's what you did. And I got thrown out of. I once lived in 25 places in five years. That is. That blew my mind. And the only way I realized that was when I got sober. I pulled my credit and I made all my amends. I paid for everybody. You know, it was like at that time, it was $300,000. I had nothing. And it took me a couple years to pay everybody back because it wasn't my money.

Wow. When you. So how long have you been sober now?

20 years.

20 years sober.

Yeah.

When was, when you, when you think about, you know, get a paycheck, you're going from thinking about paying rent to then their crap coupons.

Right.

When did you. When was the first time that you. It got into heavier drugs and when you were growing up, was that something that you were personally around? When you talk about parents and they weren't the best. Just talk to me about, just, you know, you hear this. I, at least I heard a lot growing up. I come from a very small town in Richmond, Virginia, and I had a lot of friends that just got very heavy into drugs. Some of them are still there. And obviously I lost touch with them over the years. And then even someone like my brother who ended up having to get sober and go to, you know, down to, why am I blinking? Alcohol is anonymous aa. And seeing that, and in a small degree, not only with my brothers, but my brother, but my friends. You heard this word gateway a lot? Oh, it's a gateway drug, whether that's marijuana or alcohol. And I want to hear your thoughts on that. Like in the U.S. primarily, when you hear the word gateway. Oh, that's a gateway drug. What are your thoughts on that? And what do you think the mindset around drugs, alcohol are here in the US and how has it changed. Changed over time?

So in my opinion, and a lot of people who know better, certainly not the general consensus, there is no gateway drug. Pot's not a gateway drug. It just isn't. Right. Let me say it this way. You know how they call opiates painkillers? They work better on emotional pain than physical pain. So if you're depressed and you take a painkiller and you're no longer going through that torture, that depression, and you get a respite from that, you're addicted, right? You want more of it now you're psychologically addicted to it at the beginning, but after about seven days on opiates, now it's got you. You don't have it. Did that answer your question?

Yeah, absolutely. And you said something even before we started the show that specifically, you know, the seven days is what you recommend. But going five days, I want to dive deep into the experience at Cliffside. When you were first starting that business and working with clients, when someone comes to you and they need help, how do you help them when it comes to the first steps along their journey?

So it has to be a love call. And that's what I call it. And they have to be loved on because, look, my exit reviews. I read for almost 15 years, every single exit review for every single client that left that place. Every single one. And if I could make a subject line of. Of what it all was, here's the general consensus of the people that that went. I didn't know what love was until I came here. It was a safe, empathetic, compassionate, respectful place that literally attuned to people's needs before they even knew they had a need. Because when you're dealing with drug addicts and alcoholics, they're really smart and they think this is all about the money. And so if there's a light bulb out and they ask for it to be fixed. And the next morning or the next night, it's not fixed. See, it's all about the money. And so I never wanted my clients to ever feel that way.

And that's why I love that. And speaking on love in your life today, you've seen a lot, you've experienced a lot, you've achieved a lot. What does love mean to you? Physically, emotionally, physically? And how do you approach that word?

Well, it's a feeling, right? It's a feeling of safety and compassion and connection. Right. We're actually looking at each other and we're having a conversation. And what you say is important to me and what I say is important to you, and we're having a meeting of the minds. It's a mutual respect and acceptance. And I think that that's what love really is. It's an action, right? But it's. It's all about mutual respect and acceptance.

That's a beautiful answer. I love that.

Thanks.

So I've interviewed a lot of entrepreneurs on this show and you know, we were talking before about when you sold your business. You approached the first 100 days with a different degree of confidence and effort. Let's talk about when you sold your business. How did you feel in that moment?

The next week was the worst week of my life.

Wow.

The worst. First of all, I got all this money. I was scared to death because I'm not an investor, I'm not a business person. I give people back their families. That's what I do. And so a lot of people make the mistake because I was successful in this one thing and this is my one thing that I know about all of all things and that I'm competent in all areas and nothing could be further from the truth.

What have you learned now from knowing that and then, you know, working through that?

Oh, I learned that one of the first things I learned, and I knew it intellectually but not viscerally, was if I'm not helping people, I feel worthless, like I have no purpose. Like when I tell you this is the only thing I'm good at, I'm not being self deprecating, this is what I'm good at. Right? And so if you're one of the best in the world, and that's not my opinion, that's what I've heard, right? If you're one of the best in the world, it's something like giving people back their families and their loved ones and you don't do it. You're a dick. And you Know, if this is what I do, you know, then get back to work and do it.

I sense so much purpose since they walked in here. From, you know, you talking about this new place you're creating to now what you're saying, have you always had purpose in your life, or when did you really feel a sense of purpose and when did that begin?

I think I felt a sense of purpose when I opened up 15 years ago. You know, I told you that I was in a sober living and I wanted to give back and do the sober living, but I wanted more, right? Because the way I got sober was in sober living and with therapy. So my idea was to do a sober living and give them therapy. But like I said, it was treatment and I had to get my ticket. But I don't think there's anything more rewarding in the world than giving back a father, his daughter, or a mother and her son, or children and their parents. I can't think of anything better than that. And it meant more to me when I had children, because when I had children, it became everything.

When you say giving people their lives back, it's so powerful, even the way I hear you speak on it.

Can I just interrupt you for a second? I'm wrong about that. Straight up. I didn't really give people their lives back because if you think about it, who the hell would want their life back? They just, you know, nobody gets to treatment on a winning streak. They don't want that life back. And the life before that led to this life. So what I'm really trying to do is giving people back the life that they were always meant to live. It's about thriving. There's a lot of people that, you know, are relatively decent or. Or even good. There's some good places out there. They're hard to find, but there are. And you know, those people get sober there. That's not what I do. I get people sober and then, okay, let's go. What do you want to be? What do you want to do? Let's find out who the hell you are. That's what life is. That's what living life is. To find out who the hell you are and then just do it to the best of your ability every single day. For me?

Yeah, absolutely. I. I want to bring up. You talk about finding out who you are as a human. And a lot of entrepreneurs watch this. Or aspiring entrepreneurs, people that are also dealing with things, whether that's being an addict or they've lost everything in a. Through a bad business, dealing. What do you say to someone that is completely lost, that has no direction in their mind, and they just have no clue what the next step is. And that could mean for addicts or for anyone that just feels lost in life and you've seen a lot, and I love that perspective from you.

You don't need to know. You don't. Sometimes you don't have the answers. It. There's a gift in living life with unresolved problems and just being in it and having faith that you're going to take the next right action after the next right action until you get to where you need to be. I didn't have the answers. That's not how I live. The way I live is I start thinking about what I should be doing, right? And then if I feel like a warm blanket come over me, then I know I'm on the right track because I feel the pull. Right. And when you feel the pull, you go that way. That's just the way it works for me.

Yeah. When you first became sober, who or what was a mentor in your life? Who did you have personally in terms of a group of people or your support system? What did that look like when you were first getting sober?

Well, first I started going to AA, and I went to AA for three years, and it took me three years just to get 30 days. Wow. That's how bad I was. And then I went to a therapist, and her name was Margie. She's no longer practicing. And I went to her every single Friday. And after 11 months, she looks at me and she goes, richie, are you getting anything out of this? And I said, no. And she says, well, then why do you show up every single Friday on time without fail? And I. I said to her, because I'm slow, but I'll get it eventually. I've been here before. And that was it. After I got it, after about 15 months, I gave her a hug and I thanked her for her service, and I told her that I think I need a man going forward to show me the way, because I had no modeling. None. And then I met John. Wow. John is probably the single biggest influence I had in my life. And I've seen him for 15 years, and he is, without question, the finest therapist in the world. I mean, his client list would make Ari Emanuel blush. Not even kidding. And, you know, obviously he's never told me this, but we pass each other, and. Because I was literally seeing him through the sale every day because I needed containment around this thing. Right. I'd never been there before. And you know, you pass these people, but him, I would say my close friend Stuart is a huge example for me. He's, you know, my friend Stewart's five years ahead of me, so he's teaching me how to be a good father and how to have more joy out of life. And, you know, they've been the most positive people. And there's this swami that I see once a year, and he comes out and he's the one that taught me about mutual respect and acceptance. And for three straight years, I'm crying to him, and I couldn't get my head around making money off helping people. I just could not get my head around it. And for three years, all he said, mutual, mutual respect and acceptance. And then he threw this in because he'd had enough. And he said, hey, Rich, wouldn't the world be a better place if everyone helped people for a living? And that was clicked. And from that moment on, I wasn't just existing. I understood that what I was doing wasn't bad. What I was doing was actually good. And the second I made that switch, it was on.

That's incredible. It's interesting how sometimes one thing from one person just can completely change your perspective on something. I know we were talking before, but when I interviewed Larry King, one quote that's really stuck with me through the years. I interviewed him when I was 19, so I was 19 years old. He was 87.

Right.

And, you know, he talked about this idea of just, you can't learn anything while you're talking. Right. And it's just idea of embracing being a listener in every conversation, in every walk of life, in this conversation, to a call with your mom or friend or at a dinner. And I've embraced that so much just in terms of my show and my approach to life. And I think that's so beautiful to hear that with what your friend has told you and how it really made you just completely change your framework of how you view money and helping people.

But it's even better than that. I took that and applied it to my people, right? I have 24 right now. We're not even licensed yet. I've got 24 of the finest people in the industry. Not debatable. I mean, they're the best. And I don't hire anybody who's not by miles smarter than me, right? And so these people are. You know, I've been out of this for five years. So there's certain regulatory changes, and there's changes in every environment, right? And I sit there and listen to these people all day long, like they're teaching me because those aren't my skills. My, my skills are putting the best people in the world together, building a culture, telling them what we believe, right? Making certain we're all on the same page, rowing in the same direction. And I think my listening skills have improved over the last three months that I've been with my people. Because not only are they the smartest, but they are the most loving souls on the face of the earth. All of them. Because if you're not a lover, you don't work here.

Yeah, that's beautiful. You, you've obviously, when it comes to hiring and working with people, you've learned a lot. If you were talking to your younger self about, from a business perspective or just life perspective, what is the best way to work with people and to build a culture and an organization.

You just set up your beliefs, right? So my belief is if you feel bad and you've been treated like garbage or you feel that you've been treated like garbage, well, how do you get that back? Well, you love them, right? And you teach them self care and self love. Because what comes from that is self esteem. Right. I've never met an alcoholic in my life that wanted to kill themselves with drugs and alcohol who had self love, not once. And by the way, I've treated thousands of people. And I might have a handful of people that were as bad as me, but nobody worse. And that's not, you know, attack. It's not a contest. But, you know, I've been up 13 days in a row without food and sleep, right?

No way.

Oh, yeah.

My average 13 days in a row.

My average was six to eight days awake. I mean, I used to eat a Big Mac once a week just to keep myself alive. So if I could get sober, then anybody could get sober. And the way I got sober was the love and kindness of these two therapists. I got a good foundation in aa even though it didn't work. You know, you can't do something for three straight years and not get anything out of it. AA is great as a community, but it's, it's a support group. It's not treatment. It's not for everybody.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow. When you think about your past, I want you to help me understand the depths that you were living in at one given time. When you think about your rock bottom in life through it all, what does rock bottom mean to you and what was going on in your mind during that time?

Well, rock bottom for me, the first time was I ran out of money. I had two years and nine months and sober. And so that was my first time sober, two years and nine months. Then I had a 15 month run and then I got sober for real. And I didn't run out of money the second time. Okay? So there had to be something different. So what's different? Well, if you hold drugs and alcohol as the most valuable thing in your life because it's, it's medicine and you need your medicine, right? If you hold this thing as being the most valuable thing, then you have to replace it with something of equal value or greater. And for me, it was. There's nothing to get, there's only to give. And so that was my thing. I wanted to live. I wanted to live like an elegant man. I didn't know what that was, but that's what I wanted. And I knew that you cannot focus on your own problems at all if you're helping somebody else. You can't. And so for me, my head was chewing on me constantly, just suffering. But when I helped another person, I wasn't suffering and I was useful and I got really good at it. And that became very fulfilling, you know, when I stopped, when I sold my business. Still, for years I would get calls every day, texts, emails from past clients and their families thanking me. And you know, if I was sick one day, right, And I didn't recommend return those calls, emails and texts the next day, I was screwed because I had two hours of this stuff to do. And it embarrasses me. It embarrasses me. You know, that's my character defect. I can never take it in and I can never help enough people. So I'm still kind of tortured, right? Like right now I just. This has been the best time of my life starting Carrera. It is the best time I've ever had. I'm with the people I love. They all walked out of their other jobs, all of them. I made one phone call to each and they all gave their, their notices that day. And you know, that says everything because these people had jobs and this is a startup. And there's not one of us that thinks this isn't going to be the finest treatment facility on the face of the earth. Not one of us. We all know it. We thank God in advance. Now we're just taking the next right action after the next right action every single day until we get there. And we all can't wait. We all can't wait.

Very exciting times to help people. When you think about greatness and what makes a Great treatment center, what does that mean to you? And I remember just to even mention Larry King, I asked him what makes someone great? He said greatness is driven. And I feel this deep sense of passion and purpose for helping. And you've said it many times on the show so far. But what makes a great treatment center, in your opinion?

I would say. Let me answer it this way. Last time I had 83 high luxury beds. This time I'm going to have 18. That's it. It's never getting more than that. 18 private rooms, en suite bathrooms. Think of it like a velvet rope at a club, right? Where everybody's in line and only a few people get to go in. Now that sounds horrible until I finish the sentence, which is 100 calls a day will come in. One will be able to afford Carrera. So what are we going to do with the others? I just bought a center with 24 beds that we will be getting the license for any day. And I've got in network contracts, applications that will go out the day we get our license. These are people that for this particular center will only have HMO policies. Right. So when you take a brand and you funnel all the rest down to these affordable treatment centers where you can actually treat the masses, people that are grinding every day because good people working every day, but you know, most are paycheck to paycheck, right. These are the people that I want to help. Okay, so did I answer the question?

Absolutely. Well, I think it's. And there's these paths of what greatness is to help certain groups of people. And I'm curious, right, From a business standpoint and let me know if we can or can't go in this in depth when it comes to a client coming here. What about the exclusive access again, that creates that greatness in terms of the one on one approach, the, you know, the other people that are sharing this space. I'd love to just speak on, obviously not specific clients, but just the client interactions and your experience working in these small, in this small group atmosphere with clients overall.

So I believe that when people get here, they're sick. Not bad. So there is no punishment. That's ridiculous. Okay. I want people to experience a comfortable, caring, compassionate existence here. Right. And remember, we're also going to be teaching them self care. So can you imagine waking up to that, right. And then walking down the stairs and taking a walk on the beach? There's no one on that beach. It's like the best beach in Malibu. Right? And before 11 o' clock there's no one on that beach, right? And there's nothing better than taking a walk for a half hour on the beach first thing in the morning with your feet in the sand, grounded by the energy of the earth. Trust me, I know that sounds weird, but it's a thing.

Absolutely.

And you get grounded and you've moved your body and you're out there thinking, right? And then you walk up the stairs and, I mean, that starts your day. Believe it or not, you don't have bad days after that. You just don't. It's almost impossible to have a bad day in this house. Seriously?

Yeah.

I mean, I've had a lot of houses, but this is the only house I've ever owned where I wake up in the morning and I've never been upset, not once, nor have I ever wanted to live anywhere else. I don't care, okay, where it is or how big the house was or what the area was. This is the only place I've ever been at where I feel completely serene and comfortable. So when my children asked me to come closer to them and I got a sweetie little cottage next to the family home four minutes away, I didn't know what to do with this place because it's 35 minutes or 30 minutes, and, you know, I've got young children and they go, daddy, come. That's what they say. And then I'm like, you know, if it's traffic or if it's the summer, it's like hell. So I turn this into what will be, without question, the finest treatment facility in the world.

That's powerful.

Yeah.

I want to talk about your life today. You say waking up here especially, can't have a bad day. What are some daily rituals and routines that you live by today? Because obviously it's. Your life has changed so much over the years of being sober. And, you know, you talk about whether that's selling a business or just embracing this new life that you've created and what you're building. What are some daily habits that you live by and rituals that are important to you?

You know, there's not a lot of them, okay. Or it seems like there's not a lot of them. But what I do is I wake up every morning at 5, 37 days a week because it's easier to wake up every day at the same time than it is five days a week or six days a week. It's just if you do something for 21 days or so in a row, it's habitual. Right. You don't Even have to think about it. So I wake up every morning at 5:30 and I move my body, I work out, and then I take a shower. And I like to do my stretching in the shower. So I take these long showers. I know everybody hates me, but I do. That's my thing. I take a long shower and I do my best thinking in the shower. I mean, if I had a nickel for every time I've jumped out of the shower and written something down on a pad soaking wet or talked into my phone or sent an email so I wouldn't forget, I'd be living in Lower Bel Air. I mean, it's constant. Sometimes I get out of the shower three times. Wow. Right. And so I need to take a long shower, but that's. That works for me. And then I get up and I work off a list. You know, I. At the beginning of the month, I put in everything that's important, everything that I have to do first. And then I build my life around that. So I'm always doing the same things consistently all the time. And one of the things that I'm really proud of now that I picked up over the last five years that I didn't do when I owned Cliffside is the food. So. So for example, when you come to Carrera, it's going to be. I studied like the blue zones.

Yeah. The we were. I'm just getting into the documentary on Netflix.

I didn't even know. I've never seen a documentary.

Now it's. I feel like this whole movement right now, but I'm just learning about it. If I tell me more, if I.

Had any time to watch any television. I don't even watch sports anymore. I love sports, but really all it is is Mediterranean foods. One unit foods. Right. And what a one unit food is, it's like no sauces, no other extra ingredients, and apples and apple. A steak's a steak, right. A banana is a banana. They're one unit foods. Legumes. Yeah, right. They're one unit foods. And so when you eat that way and you live that way. Right. There's no. No sugar. None.

Wow.

If you don't have sugar for seven days, did you know you won't crave it again? And the only way you can pick it up is if you actually make the conscious decision to do it. Hand to God.

Wow. I. My fiance is a nutritional ex. She went through this nutritional health school program and we're very, very low sugar. She's no sugar, low carb, the whole thing. I grew up in A household where it was just snacks and sugary foods and just the. When I reflect on my early childhood, it was just not a good environment in terms of the nutritional aspect of things. But over these last five, six years, quite the opposite. And it's interesting where I still crave sweets and all that stuff, but I'm also very active. And last year I ran my first marathon. And this was this huge mental thing for me to not only accomplish, but just taking health seriously. As someone that's 23, business owner, entrepreneur. And it's interesting how, as you said, like, don't stopping to do a simple thing like eating sugar. I did this program called 75 Hard, which was created by this incredible entrepreneur, Andy Frisella. You'd probably like this. So it's a program where you have to do two workouts a day. One has to be outside, both for 45 minutes. No alcohol. No. No alcohol, no cheat meals, stick to a diet, read 10 pages of a nonfiction book, take a progress picture. And that program has become not a fitness program at all. It's truthfully a mental toughness challenge. And I've done it a handful of times now. First two times I failed, I've done it a couple more and I've succeeded. But it just talks about this idea of mental fortitude. And the creator, Andy Frisella. I've been fortunate to become friends with him and I learned from him over the years. And this idea of mental fortitude. You said something earlier that I want to bring up, which is it took you three years to go on that 30 day streak of being sober, is that correct?

It took me three years to get 30 days.

Three years to get 30 days. What changed for you when it comes to the mental fortitude to say no and commit to that decision? And how does that mindset bleed into other areas of your life?

I wish that was the case. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've had more sobriety dates than there are dates on the calendar. I was the single biggest hopeless case in AA that I know. And I've been to a lot of a meetings. Not in years. Okay, but a ton. And out of all the let's call it 300 ease of math, for all those 300 sobriety dates prior to this last one, I realized that there were four effortless ones. So let me explain what that means. When you get sober, every second feels like an hour, and every hour feels like a day. And every day feels like two weeks because you're struggling and the drugs are calling you and you don't have it. It's got you. And this last sobriety was effortless. And I looked back at it and I, like, look up and I'm like, okay, this is it. And I just had the awareness over so much failure that when I was. When I finally had that, that one more effortless sobriety, I didn't take it for granted. I've kept it going.

Do you remember the exact date that you became sober?

Three. Three. Oh, three.

Three, three.

Everybody knows their exact date they become sober. If they don't know their date, they're not sober.

Yeah. 3303. Wow.

Yeah. And that's it. In. That was a happy accident.

Okay. The three. Three, three.

The one before that was also another happy accident. The one before that, when I had two years, nine months before I, I had that 15 month relapse that was on Valentine's Day.

Wow. Okay, talk to me about relapse overall. Like, bring me back to a day where that happened. What changed and what led to that? And how do you avoid that now? Being able to persevere and go, you know, 20 years sober. Now what happens when someone relapses? And what are things they can look out for if someone. Either. And. And I'll re. Ask the question in a second. But, you know, if there's people watching or listening, it might not be them that's dealing with this. It might be family member, friend.

Right.

If someone is trying to get sober, how can you be a great friend and a great family member to stop a relapse from happening?

Okay, well, first of all, relapse is over. Relapse is over. We're out of time. Now. The fentanyl epidemic is so bad, people are dying all the time. All the time. And so relapse you have. Relapse was actually part of your process. And now it can't be. It just can't be. You know, used to be able to say, you know what, he'll grow out of it. He'll get it. Send him to a therapist. Right. It doesn't rise to the level of treatment. That's over. That's over. Think of it this way. Every kid experiments with drugs and alcohol at some point, every kid, they're not going to go to their parents. Right? So where are they going to score from? Their friends? Where are the friends getting it from? Who the hell knows? Right?

Yeah.

So now, like, I had a kid who was sober for seven years. He had an injury, he goes to the doctor, the doctor keeps him on the pain medication for 30 days. Because he's an idiot, right. And doesn't know any better. The kid, the doctor cuts him off. He starts doctor shopping and going to different doctors and then soon all the doctors cut him off. And now he's out trying to score so that he's not suffering, so that he's not sick. And he got some fentanyl and he died. And that's how I got involved with this, because it's too much. See, I'm gonna say something controversial, but here's the thing. You don't really know what love is until you have children. You don't. You think you do, but you don't. You love pizza, you love your boyfriend, you love sports, you love your dog. No, it's different when you have children. You know what love is. So I've got children and I've got a 13 and a 10 year old and we've had these conversations because I'd rather be way early than late. Okay, we're out of time. There is no he'll grow out of it. There is no, you know, and if you know that these kids, it's their turn. Everybody gets a turn. We had it. Our parents had it. Everybody gets a turn. These kids today don't get a turn. It's too dangerous. And there's nothing more unnatural than burying your child. Nothing. So that's what one method is going to be about. Yeah, one method is, is an awareness campaign around fentanyl. Because we truly are out of time now. Yeah.

Speaking on fentanyl and how, how it's made such a presence here. You hear stories all the time. I even just you saying this. I remember I had a friend when I was like freshman year, died of fentanyl and was in the drug that he took. And it wasn't a close friend by any means, but someone I knew of. And it stopped and made me think. And I'm curious to get your thoughts on, like what are some statistics or things that people need to know about what's happening when it comes to fentanyl in the system? Parents, you know, there's brothers and sisters that are listening. How bad is it? If you're someone like myself, you see it on the news, if you hear about it, but someone like yourself, that's so in it. How bad is the fentanyl epidemic here in America?

It's. It's really bad. As you know, I've got this concussion, so I forget everything. I mean, I've forgotten the question here 15 times, but I seem to remember and don't quote Me on it. I think 120,000 people a year are dying from this. Now, don't quote me on it. I could be wrong. But it's getting worse, not better. It's getting worse, not better. Think about it this way. We are in a depressive nation. We take a pill for everything. And people generally are depressed. This income inequality, you've got the bullying online for the kids, you've got all this stuff going on. Right. And everybody gets a chart.

Yeah. It's a powerful message. So this awareness campaign. I have a handful of questions before we wrap up here today. When you think about the future of what you're building here, what excites you the most?

What excites me the most this time around is you lose quality in a high end center. If you have more than 18 beds. You just do. There's only so many top notch people. Right. In the industry. Yeah. Right. And so if you have more than 18 beds, you lose the quality. So what excites me this time is helping everyday people. Okay. And what excites me the most is we just applied for military contracts. Now, I tried to deal with the homeless crisis. I was there in Venice. I got a place right there on Abbot Kinney. And. And every morning for nine months, I walked the streets every morning.

Wow.

And I made friends with a lot of these people and I bring them breakfast and I talk to everyone who is anyone helping the homeless crisis. Lassa. Dr. King, who's fantastic. That's who you should have on your show, Dr. Cooley King. Wow. Okay. What a saint. And all these people that had to do with that. And what I found was if you look at the encampments around town, they're filthy. Right. And it's the most painful thing in the world to see how these people live. But then on Wilshire and San Vicente, there is a veterans hospital. And there was these encampments all across San Vicente. Do you remember that?

I'm sure I've seen it.

Yeah.

But not too. I can't remember. Look at it. Exactly.

There was a difference between those encampments and the rest of them. Because these were all veterans. Do you know what the difference was?

I did not.

They were perfect. They were neat. It. It reminded me of a military locker. Wow. Right.

I haven't seen this.

These people were buttoned up. Now, there were people inside the gates too. So I wondered what the difference was between maybe they just couldn't get in. But it looked to me like there was a ton of room. Do you know what those do you know why those people were outside the gate instead of inside the gate?

Let's hear it.

They were using drugs and alcohol. Those are the people I'm going to help because those people are one step shy of homeless. So if I can't help the homeless crisis because there's too much graft and everybody's self interested and all that stuff, that's fine. That's too big for me. I get it. But if I can start treating military veterans, right, Then I can stop in some small way. This. And I'm right now looking for a CEO to replace me. Right. I'm not an operator. I'm an entrepreneur. I am the. I don't think there's anything more romantic than building something from nothing. Nothing. There's. That is the most romantic thing on the face of the earth. Right. And you know, I'm looking for a CEO that is going to help me build a thousand military beds and a thousand in network beds. So remember, wow, I've got 18 high end beds.

Yeah.

But what I'm doing is I'm building a brand that is so great that people call and I can funnel them to what they can afford and what they can reasonably deal with. And, and by the way, Carrera and One Method and the rest of the. They have the same treatment program. So it's just not going to be massages and Reiki and, and facials and wraps and scrubs and all the things that, that a wellness spa includes. Which by the way, there are none of those. Okay. You'll see in about a year everyone will be using wellness in their title and most will have a problem with the word spa because it seems so elitist. But you know what? I wouldn't go to, you know, the Salvation Army. The Salvation army helps so many people. It is so great. But I'd rather be loaded. I don't mind saying it. I want to live a life that's worth living. And that's what we do. We give you a. Like we teach you and gently nudge you. And sometimes not gently. Okay, whatever you need. But we move them to thriving. Because if you're not living a life worth living, then why not be loaded, right?

Absolutely. I love that. I want to touch on because there's a lot of entrepreneurs, founders, maybe future CEOs or current CEOs that. Listen to this. What do you look for in a CEO that you're looking to hire? Maybe one comes from this, who knows? But what do you look for when you're looking for a CEO?

I'm Sorry to interrupt you. Actually, I don't look for a CEO. I use a place called Korn Ferry. And that is the biggest headhunting firm. Yeah. Right. In the country. And I met the head of their healthcare division to find my last guy. Well, he tells me, I'm sorry, my godson is really bad off and can you help? And I say, yeah, send him, your money's no good here. I'll take care of it. And we give him back this kid who is perfect, right? And so we got so close over that he was so grateful he actually moved to Malibu to be close to me. He's right around the corner and I've moved. Right. But we're very close. And I called him and I said, it's time. Go get me another one. But this time we're going to do those two things that we talked about. But I was with my son last week, 10 years old, and I see a woman laying not on the bench, but on the floor where the bus stop is with all her stuff and a blanket on her. And I pull over, I go, dami, I'm going to be just a minute. And I get out of the car and I try to give this woman a couple hundred bucks. And she says, no, thank you, I don't need it. And now my throat starts to close and I'm like, please take the money. And she says, I'm afraid I'll lose it. And I said, it's yours to lose. And she said, thank you, but I'm mentally ill. She knew it. I have mental illness. Money isn't my issue. And so I got in the car and I had to straighten up because I don't want to upset my 10 year old. And he says, daddy, you're a good person. And I said, thanks, baby. And he says, are you gonna help that woman? And I said, no, sweetheart. And he says, why? And I said, I can't. And he said, but you help people for a living. Why can't you help her? And I said, because she's mentally ill. He said, but daddy, why don't you pull these people off the street and put them in your center? From the mouth of a 10 year old. A CEO doesn't get to come here and run our show unless that's part of it. We're gonna have a thousand beds to help the mentally ill.

That's powerful. Thank you for sharing that. I have the chills when you think about the future here and the legacy you want to have decades from now. What do you want your legacy to.

Be legacy and credit are for losers. Okay, okay, I don't do that. Okay, you want credit, be a politician. I don't do that. I shouldn't say it's for losers. I give all my credit to the people I work with. All I do all day long is I hire the best people in the world, develop a culture and a program, and then I spend the rest of my day being of service to the people who are of service to the people that we're treating. You know, I had over 250 employees last time. We were the largest employer in all of Malibu. People think it's Pepperdine, but it's not. They carved themselves out the city of Malibu proper. So City of Malibu's all around, but not in this. It's like the goddamn Vatican, okay? It's like right there. And those people would call me all the time and ask me things. Now they're completely self sufficient 95 of the time, but 5% of the time they want a sounding board. They want to know my best thinking. Right. And when you have 250 people held, when you have 24 people, right, it takes up most of your day.

Yeah.

So that's how I operate. But like I said, I'm going to hire a CEO, I'm going to be a chairman, and I want to be more of a grandfather this time around. You know what I mean? Like, not a parent. Like, kids start crying. I'm like, later, see you tomorrow.

Yeah, I love that. Well, Richard, before we wrap up here, I just want to say your story and what you're building here is truly not only changing lives, but as someone that gets to have this conversation with you, I'm just so grateful that you exist in this road and that you've committed your life to what you do.

Well, this is my first, my first media gig in seven years.

Yeah. And I'm grateful to have that opportunity to share.

You made it really easy because I got to tell you something, you're the one who's really impressive. I heard one of your, one of your podcasts this morning and it was on Mad Happy and Damon Raf.

Yeah.

Oh my God, that guy was the most impressive thing. Do you know that I think our parents did it better than our grandparents? We're going to do it better than our parents and our children are going to do it better than us. And I don't know how old he is, but he seemed young.

I think he's late 20s.

Yeah. Okay, well, I was on the corner of Crack and Pipe street when I was 32 and homeless. So if this guy is that age and they're doing this for the right reasons, man, I gotta tell you, there are so many shitty people now in the world that when I hear people who are doing things for the right reasons, nobody's a bigger cheerleader for them than me. Nobody. And so I can't wait to listen to the rest of them because that was magnificent. That was top notch.

Appreciate it.

You're a star player.

Thank you so much. And before we wrap up here, once again, thank you so much. Where is the best place for everyone watching or listening to stay connected with you to learn more about your mission and to just stay up to date with everything that you have going on?

I have no idea. You're gonna have to ask my press secretary.

We'll be sure to link it down.

Ask Emily. Emily does everything awesome.

Well, if you're watching, listening, I will link down everything below where you can follow carer the treatment center and learn more about it.

And Richard, once again, and one method. Because don't forget, of course Carrera is going to change luxury treatment in America for sure. But one method is. And the treatment centers that will follow that the CEO helps me scale. That's where the magic is this time. That's. That's this time. That's the magic.

Absolutely. Well, Richard, thank you so much for today. Really appreciate your time.

Thank you.