Speaker A
[Music] In today's world, we only watch the endings. A flashy success story or the brutal collapse. But we don't hear about the full journey that it took to get there. The late nights, tough calls, moments of doubt. On In Between Sips, we
The Mike Loverde Story reveals the real journey behind business success, from Chicago roots to building Family First Interventions in Arizona.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Success stories often omit the struggles and hard work behind the scenes.
- Building a business requires adaptability, especially when transitioning markets or industries.
- Online presence and internet marketing can be crucial for sustainable referral generation.
- Personal values and authenticity matter in business decisions, including skepticism toward social media.
- Strong partnerships and resilience help overcome challenges in demanding fields like intervention services.
What the video covers
- The series 'In Between Sips' explores the full journey of business owners beyond just success or failure.
- Mike Loverde shares his personal and professional story, including his move from Chicago to Arizona.
- He founded Family First Interventions in 2008 after leaving a previous intervention company due to differing visions.
- Mike started the business alone, handling all roles including answering phones and performing interventions.
- He focused on generating referrals through internet marketing rather than relying on treatment centers.
- Mike expresses skepticism about social media but acknowledges its role in business marketing.
- The interview covers challenges faced in the intervention business, including difficult client situations.
- Mike discusses his passion for finance, the impact of politics and taxes on relocation decisions, and adapting to new markets.
- The conversation highlights the importance of perseverance, innovation, and authenticity in business growth.
- The episode sets the tone for deeper, candid conversations about entrepreneurship and personal growth.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to In Between Sips and Mike Loverde
- 03:15Mike's Move from Chicago to Arizona
- 06:14Starting Family First Interventions and Early Challenges
- 08:56Marketing Strategy and Online Business Confidence
- 11:44Social Media Views and Business Management
- 20:08Handling Difficult Situations in Intervention Work
- 23:40Personal Reflections and Business Philosophy
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
dive deep into the raw, unfiltered stories of what these business owners and leaders have been through and who they became along the way. So, pull up a chair, pour a cup, and join us. We're just getting started 'cause we all know the
Speaker A
best conversations happen in between sips. Let's crack some nitro mic. Let's do it. I've been waiting all day for this thing.
Speaker A
You know how to pour these, Ryan? I do. Okay. All right. There you go. Why Starbucks Nitro?
Speaker A
Uh, it's convenient. Really? I feel like I've brought in a bunch of Nitro to you in your office and you always sniff it out. You're like, "This isn't, this isn't Starbucks." No, because it's smooth. All the other stuff
Speaker A
is better. Yeah. And Starbucks coffee is usually better, but the Nitro is not. Yeah.
Speaker A
Always a, always a Nitro cold brew before your webinars. Yes. Been working together five years now. Five years. Six or five? I don't know. Yeah. Ever since the flat in the parking lot. Yeah, let's walk through that real quick.
Speaker A
So, we meet, we have a presentation. I'm giving you a business growth presentation on things that from the heart, from the heart that you know, and before I go into the meeting, I hear my tire going flat. So, even before the
Speaker A
meeting kicks off, discovery meeting, you know, I hear my tire going flat and I just think to myself, well, that's a problem for future Ryan to solve 'cause I got to go meet Mike. Yeah. This guy Mike that I've, you know, been introduced to.
Speaker A
Everybody loves who's this Mike Levere. So, we do the presentation. I think it goes well, right? His introduction goes well. And, uh, I'm sitting outside on the curb because my wife, who's a saint, had already called Triple A for me. She's
Speaker A
there, uh, waiting for them to come change the tire real quick. Like already had everything rolling. I'm sitting there on the curb with her. It's August. It was hot. It was very hot. And you walk by, I think to myself, just had a great
Speaker A
meeting with Mike. And you walk by. What was it you said again? Because I think I forgot. I said that flat tire better not show up on my first invoice. Yeah.
Speaker A
Have a nice day. Have a nice day. You kept walking and I got my car with, uh, four tires that worked and I drove away.
Speaker A
Gosh. In the AC. And ever since then. Well, we're partners. We're partners. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's been fun. That was my way of telling you you're hired.
Speaker A
Yeah. I don't think I picked up on that right away because it was 120 out. But why? My wife and I were laughing pretty hard. Well, you had your wife. She was jacking up the car. No, she was. No, she
Speaker A
was not. Gosh. Oh man. Oh gosh. So tell me, uh, Chicago to Arizona. You grew up Illinois, right? Yep. Chicago area.
Speaker A
Yeah. Right near O'Hare Airport. Why, why come to Arizona? Uh, the weather was probably the biggest thing. Uh, taxes was another, property taxes and politics was another thing. And politics. Hold on. There's been something that happened recently. I mean, well, you just don't
Speaker A
see it eye to eye. Yeah. Yeah. So, you move out of Illinois. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker A
We came here. Has it always been that way in Illinois? Yeah. You know, growing up, you don't think anything of it. You know, once you get older and you get a job and you become an adult, you start
Speaker A
to realize things. Yeah. Yeah. But when you're a kid, it doesn't matter. Yeah. Yeah. What do you miss most about Chicago, though? The food. Yeah. And the summers. I mean, the summers are great.
Speaker A
You know, before we had kids, we snowbirded and it was the greatest thing you could do. I mean, eight months here or seven months here and four or five months there was great. I mean, the summers are great. My family's still
Speaker A
there, the food, the familiarity. Even when I still land back at O'Hare, I mean, you just have this home feeling, you know? I lived there for 48 years.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah, man. What Family First Interventions been around since? It started in '08. I incorporated in March of 2009. Yeah. So, what, what was that transition like? So, you, you, you moved to Arizona for that or No, no, no. I, I, I
Speaker A
ran, uh, I ran Family First Intervention out of, uh, the Chicago suburbs up until 2020 when we moved here. Um, how it got started is I worked for another intervention company. Yeah. We didn't see eye to eye on some things and, uh, I
Speaker A
moved on and I, you know, I started Family First Intervention. I threw together a website. Um, and you made a website.
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, I, I, I didn't make it myself. Brian Fry did it. But I mean, I obviously told him what I wanted. Yeah.
Speaker A
Um, and then I did throw together the PPC campaign just knowing nothing and I, you know, Well, you know, the content though, I mean, that's always been Well, yeah, I've always been, that's always been my thing, the content. Um, and
Speaker A
then, you know, I did four interventions the first week. Wow. Yeah. How big was the team when you first started? Just you. Just me? Yeah. You answering phones? Answering phones and doing the interventions. Doing it all. What was
Speaker A
that like? It was fun. I didn't have any kids and I was young. Yeah, man. Yeah. No, it was great. I enjoyed it. Wow. What did you think you'd get involved in some of the crazy situations that came up early on? Like what were
Speaker A
some of the things that came up young into the business? I mean, you came from a successful intervention company, right? Uh, I mean, you can call it successful, but it wasn't successful other than it had one national treatment
Speaker A
chain that sent them business, and if that ever stopped, they were nothing. Okay? They had no internet presence, nothing. I mean, it was like if they ever decided they were going to stop sending business there, it would be a
Speaker A
ghost town overnight. Yeah. And that's why I left because I'm like, I'm not going to rely on treatment centers. I'm going to generate my own referrals through the internet. Yeah. Um, stories.
Speaker A
I mean, there's no end to them. Yeah. Um, yeah. But the hardest part is not, you know, the person on drugs or alcohol or families. Yeah. Mhm. What made you so confident that the online business was there? I mean, this
Speaker A
was early on. This was before a big boom of online, right? I mean, you kind of hit the wave before there was some mass adoption. Um, you know, I mean, listen, I, I think everything comes from the internet at some level. And I, you know, I never
Speaker A
believed in the whole BD rep thing. Yeah. Um, even though some people swear by it. And, uh, I just wanted to be in control of my own destiny. Yeah. You know, and of course, you're not in control of your own destiny even on the
Speaker A
internet because obviously at the end of the day, search engines determine where you're at. But yeah, I just... How much do you love Google? Well, obviously I love it. Your, your favorite's Facebook, right? No, I can't stand any social
Speaker A
media. I think it's ridiculous and I think it's the end of times for us.
Speaker A
Everybody on there's a liar and painting a picture that isn't true. Yeah, for the most part. That's an absolute. But yeah, I don't have any social media. Zero.
Speaker A
Well, I mean, you do. Well, I don't have it. The business does, and my wife manages it, and I want nothing to do with it.
Speaker A
We post. Um, yeah, you do. And I don't. It's good. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Social media sucks.
Speaker A
Yeah. If you had to pick though, what platform would you adopt? None. No, you have to. I can't pick one. I'm going to take your Nitro. I don't know anything about them. You got to pick. Just pick.
Speaker A
People send me funny stuff on Instagram. Yeah. So, I watch that sometimes. So, I would go with Instagram, whatever the hell that is. Just 'cause it's the funny stuff. Yeah. And half the time I can't open it anyway. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah,
Speaker A
Instagram, man. Oh my gosh. Oh, so there you are answering phones by yourself. Yes. Starting the biz, correct?
Speaker A
Illinois, Chicago. Yes. Right. Mhm. What was that transition like th
Speaker A
started ringing? Because I was experienced in what I did. I didn't have a problem with what I could do. I had to make sure that I had the business to do it.
Speaker A
And you know, back then PPC was way different. Yeah. And you know, anybody could throw together a campaign or two.
Speaker A
And I just got the phone ringing. And then I started to learn about negative keywords and you know, just you know, I I I started to kind of get good at it determining, you know. Yeah. I don't know. I just I I started dialing it in.
Speaker A
Can anybody still run it in your opinion? Like, hey. Well, it was never better than when I did it. Um, but uh, no, it's I I don't even look at it's completely different today with Legit Script and all that, but yeah, I don't
Speaker A
even mess with it. And even now it's like back then um I remember I even had a guy audit it and it's like I was spending tens of thousands of dollars on keywords that just, you know, did nothing. And today, you know, like you
Speaker A
guys have it dialed into just two campaigns. Yeah. And uh, they produce. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, PPC is great, but you, you know, you got to be careful. So you're not just throwing money out the window. Yeah. Oh, for
Speaker A
sure. You got to dial it in. Yeah. Mhm. So, what's that moment look like as you like want to grow the business? I mean, you're not married, right? When did not time now. When did you get married?
Speaker A
2016. So, how many years into the business? Well, that would be seven. Ryan, okay, fast math. Yeah. I haven't had enough sips of that yet, but yeah, since I was like seven. Yeah, we had kids. We lived in sin for 18 months. Yeah. Yeah. We had
Speaker A
kids before we got married. Uh, I never wanted kids, by the way. Yeah. And then my wife got pregnant. Yep. Uh, there was two of them in there. Twins. And they were girls. Yep. Yeah. I remember that day. Was that in Illinois still? We were
Speaker A
snowboarding at the time. Yes. Okay. So, you're still back there? Yeah, we were back there. And then uh we had the place here. We had the place there. And uh Yeah. What' your wife Lisa think about the move though? When did you guys like
Speaker A
You know, it's funny. It was uh January 6th of 2019. And uh it was a great day that day, too.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Um and we were driving down, we were doing something, Roger, for business. Yeah. And it was 74 degrees on January 6th. Yeah. On January 6th. It was January 6th. I remember the day clearly. And we were just driving and it
Speaker A
was like probably I don't know two back in Chicago. Yeah. And she just said, "Why do we live there?" And I said, "I don't know." She said, "Let's move." Was it for the food that kept you there that
Speaker A
whole time? Well, it was just that I was born and raised there, you know, and she um she had lived in South Florida and you know, she was married at the time and they moved up here. Her husband was
Speaker A
an airline pilot. Yeah. So, this is just where we lived. Yeah. You know, it's like when that's all you know, that's all you know. I mean, listen, I wouldn't change my childhood. Like, if I if if I could redo everything, I'd still want to
Speaker A
grow up there. Like, it was the greatest experience. I think it made me who I am.
Speaker A
Yeah. But, uh it's just different now. And, uh we were and she just said, "Let's do and then finished graduate school um because I went back to school for addiction studies and counseling and uh she went back and got her undergrad
Speaker A
and is a certified alcohol and drug counselor. Yeah. We put the house on the market, got a full price offer in 4 days. Wow. And we actually People were itching to live there, huh? In Illinois.
Speaker A
Yeah. I don't know why. Yeah. But no, they they were but it was during COVID, right? I mean, you know, but but you it was before prices went up and uh Yeah.
Speaker A
It's just then we had to rent our own house back for a month. Yeah, you have a funny story there, but Yeah, tell me.
Speaker A
Tell me. Um, I mean, not only did you invade Arizona January 6, right? But now you have a story. I'm just kidding.
Speaker A
Well, no, it was just it was interesting because we live we lived in our house for 11 years and it was Memorial Day weekend and we we moved out here the day after Memorial Day weekend. Yeah. And a
Speaker A
huge storm ripped through. Now, mind you, I'm renting this house that I owned, but it's still mine in my head, right? Yeah. and that this humongous tree falls and lands on the house. And I immediately grabbed the phone to call
Speaker A
the the the place. And Lisa goes, "What are you doing?" I says, "I'm calling the tree people." She goes, "It's not your house." So I called the homeowner. I said, "Hey, you got a problem." Yeah.
Speaker A
And I told him and Well, he had to pay for it. He had to pay for Yeah. It was great. So renting isn't horrible. I can tell you from that experience. Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah. Had you ever had any problems like that before? No. No. So, as soon as you left, I had an idea that tree may come down one day. I mean, it was healthy, but just kind of put a pin in it. Save
Speaker A
what? Yeah. When it got windy, it uh Yeah. No, I wasn't shocked, but Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. But I like the tree, so I didn't take it to Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker A
So, now you're in Arizona. How old are the daughters? They're going to be 10 in July. No, back uh back then they were four. Four. Okay. Yeah. Well, well, there were four. They were going to be five that July, but yeah, they were
Speaker A
technically four. So, move them across, grow the biz. Yep. Right. Did you guys always settle in in North Phoenix for the business location? Is that always I wanted to be in Scottsdale, but you know, most of the people that we had, they were all over
Speaker A
the valley. So, that was kind of like the central location. Yeah. Just made it convenient for everybody. You should look at the Northwest Valley. I mean, yeah, it's not going to happen.
Speaker A
So, you settled down in there. How many was it just you and her then at the time? Your No, no. At the time we were expanding. Yeah. And uh it was me and Lisa and we had about four other people
Speaker A
at the time. Yeah. Mhm. And then it just grew from there. You just started cranking. Yeah. Yeah. Just built out the afterare piece and headed the phone team. Yeah. What made you like want to get into all this though? Like did it
Speaker A
something you just kind of fell into? Is it I read about it in a newspaper. You Must have been quite the newspaper.
Speaker A
Yeah. No, we you know I mean this this process helped my family back in 200 uh and five. Yeah. And I just you know I originally I have my degree in finance.
Speaker A
I worked for a phone company on site at a big five accounting firm. And finance.
Speaker A
Yeah. I have a degree in finance. I know you're so passionate about finance. I'm not. You're not. You just No. I was 21 and needed to pick a major. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker A
So you did? Yeah. I went with bed. Everyone's like, "Business, it's universal." Yeah. And I, you know, I liked I liked finance. I liked investments. I like stock market stuff, you know. So, I went with it. Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah. And I squeaked by and then you just Yeah. And I did that for a while and then uh it's not fun.
Speaker A
Yeah. There's nothing sexy about finance or accounting. I mean, unless you're making millions. Nothing fun happened at all. Like, well, I'm sure something happened. I don't remember.
Speaker A
Things were different back then. Oh, they were. Yeah. Oh man, memory's a little foggy. Oh, is it? Yeah. From back then. Yeah. I was young. Okay. So then you're going through there and like what's that moment you're like, man, I I
Speaker A
see this market. I want to get involved. I want to work. Like what what does that look like? Well, after after the intervention uh was involved in my family. Yeah. Um I just got interested in it. Yeah. You know, and uh I actually
Speaker A
worked for the place that intervened on our family. Oh, okay. Yeah. And they were actually they were a one-man operation. Yeah. Well, actually two, but the one brother couldn't stop smoking crack, so it was one. And um the guy said, "Don't quit
Speaker A
your day job." You know, we do about one intervention every 3 months. And then I'll never forget, he gave me a phone.
Speaker A
It was a It was It was one of those It was like a high-end Motorola Windows phone. It had What was it like? Did it look like a flip phone? Was it a brick?
Speaker A
It was big, man. It was like a It was like a mini brick. Like a brick. Yeah.
Speaker A
And it had a rubber band holding the mouthpiece on. And it still had the brother's black crack fingerprints on it. I'm not even making this up. Like this is a true story. Wow. And he said, "What do you do?" And my training was
Speaker A
answer the phone. Just answer. That was my That was my training. Yeah. And I got a call from a woman who works for us now. She just started with us. And she gave me a lead. Yeah. And uh within six
Speaker A
months, we we uh we were a huge operation. Did you ever clean off that fingerprint or no? You just I don't remember. Left it on there. I think I got my own phone. Did Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker A
Because there was people calling and all the time. Yeah. Wasn't good. Yeah. Yeah. His connections. But anyway, um and then that lady that gave me the referral um she worked for a huge network of treatment centers. Yeah. And I don't
Speaker A
know. I I I started closing leads for her and word spread and then every single treatment center in that entire network started referring to us. We were doing like 60 50 to 60 interventions a month. We went from one intervention
Speaker A
they those brothers went from one intervention every 3 months to 40 50 and 60 interventions a month within six months. We had a huge office. It was staffed with people. Yeah. I blew the place up. Wow. I mean obviously I give
Speaker A
them credit too. They had the infrastructure. I mean I worked off a pool table in their living room. Wasn't a lot of infrastructure with crack with a cracked fingerprint for cell phones, but they had something. And uh yeah,
Speaker A
that's that's what we did. Yeah. Did you ever find yourself in those moments though after you started Family First and you're looking to grow and you look back on some of those moments where you're like, "Man, I can't believe we
Speaker A
made it through that." Um, was working off of a pool table on the phone like No, we moved into an office shortly after the place blew up.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, no. I mean, I I loved what I learned. Yeah. But there was a lot of things that needed to be done differently. Yeah. You know, they were just They didn't know what the hell they were doing. And quite honestly, I didn't
Speaker A
either. Yeah. you know, and it was kind of just learn as you go. Well, I mean, you can't really game plan for all the different scenarios that it just grew too fast to be able to, you know, figure
Speaker A
it out the right way. Yeah. But we managed and uh we did well. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker A
So, you're in Arizona growing the biz, you and Lisa on the same page with everything. I mean, did things come up that was like, I can't believe we're going through this as a business. I mean, you're looking to scale up. Like,
Speaker A
what are some of those moments you look back on, you're like, man, I can't believe we made it through that? Well, co how so? Um, well, it's interesting because when COVID hit, I I remember it was uh it was March
Speaker A
of 2020. Yeah. And we had 26 interventions already done for the month in the second week of March. Like we were killing it. Yeah. And then I think it was like the 19th Mhm. Um they shut everything down. Yeah. And our phones
Speaker A
rang, but nobody wanted us there cuz you had to be in person to do an inction.
Speaker A
And it took about three weeks. Mhm. And our phones exploded and we never looked back. And it was like when the lockdowns came and everybody was home with the drug addict and the alcoholics are like, I don't give a [ __ ] about CO. Yeah. Get
Speaker A
him out of here. Yeah. Like I'm on the front lines now. It almost like expedited the business. It just it it was it just it exploded. Wow. You know, man. Yeah. And it was it was like April 12th. If I remember, we we went back out
Speaker A
for the first time and it just Yeah. Get this person out of my house. Wow. Yeah. So, COVID hits, business explodes. Mhm. Don't look back.
Speaker A
No, man. What a wild time CO was, by the way. It was. And then, of course, with your help in the internet and all that stuff, too. Made a big difference. Well, I I appreciate hearing that.
Speaker A
I don't think we hear that enough. Geez. I'm just uh I mean the content's what does it but yeah I mean yeah the content it's it's a collaborative effort for sure. Um what was that experience like though I mean coming through co like I
Speaker A
mean that that whole time to be an interventionist where you got to go visit in person like I mean you you're you're there you had to visit in person not able to things are shut down I know you said
Speaker A
business blew up but I mean you know a lot of states still had everything shut down depending on the state. Yeah. Most families didn't care. Yeah. Um because we got in a summer, a lot of the interventions were held in the backyard.
Speaker A
No way. Yeah. Families would do it outside, but most of them didn't care. Like honestly, co I was unaffected. Like I ran the business like like I didn't I didn't buy in all that [ __ ] Yeah. I just we
Speaker A
ran it. Um you know, but you had people to help, right? I mean these are Yeah.
Speaker A
But like even at the office it's like you know people walking with masks. I'm like Yeah. you don't have to wear that.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um and nobody did, you know, we just ran it. And uh even our girls, you know, like in school, we were lucky cuz we redid preschool with them because they shut it down in Illinois. And I think things were closed here, but with
Speaker A
their preschool, it was uh licenses daycare, so they were allowed to be open and they didn't require a mask for the kids. So I don't know like co I was unaffected. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't I didn't buy into the hype and I just I
Speaker A
did I just continued my life. Yeah. Did do political swings and cycles ever affect your business? Like did you notice a difference between different political climates or cultures shifts things like that? Yeah, of course. Yeah.
Speaker A
Oh yeah. Cuz I mean for all intents and purpose a lot of businesses that had business services like that was a that was a tough year. It was it was for a lot of people. It was a tough year to like wade
Speaker A
through all that and you had companies like yours where you're like, "Hey, we got to help people." Like people are literally on their deathbed potentially.
Speaker A
Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, it's like hospitals, police stations, they don't shut down. And what we do, it's like addiction and mental health doesn't take a break because of co Yeah. You know, that was a wild time. It was. But we got
Speaker A
through it pretty easily. Yeah. But yeah, I didn't I didn't shut down and we're the only cars in the parking lot.
Speaker A
Like we got [ __ ] to do. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. But when I got here in May of 2020, I mean, it was different here. Like Illinois, like you guys don't know what lockdowns here are. Really? No.
Speaker A
Was that much different? The worst of your lockdowns was like JB Pritsker's phase three. Okay. Okay. Like it was locked down. Really? Oh, yeah. Like Tumbleeed's locked down. Yeah. Whole city of Chicago. Yeah. And the suburbs.
Speaker A
Yeah. It was locked down. Wow. What's the wild west said here, right? I'm just kidding. Um I don't know if it's the wild west, but it was just certainly different. Mhm. You know, I mean, yeah.
Speaker A
I mean, there were some restrictions and mandates, but Yeah. Yeah. This was the place to be. That's when I knew the move was the right way, right thing. Yeah.
Speaker A
The average people here just think different. Huh. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Okay. So, you come through co business is going well, maintaining well, all that good jazz. Yeah. What are you guys up to right now in terms of uh interventions a
Speaker A
month and things like that? We got to find good phone people. The hardest part about this job is phone people like like our entire infrastructure and our internet presence thanks to you guys obviously is on point. Thanks. You know,
Speaker A
I mean, you know, I'm humbled in saying we are the largest intervention company in the country, but you got to have competent people to answer the phones.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. What's that struggle been like? I mean, I know we've been partnered up for five years. I've seen different types of teams come and go. I mean, scenarios, things like that, but I mean, what's the volatility like in in
Speaker A
finding the right people and hanging on to them? It's just a struggle. Yeah. You know, it's just because it's such a a delicate yet intelligent yet um difficult thing to do to bring a family to the point of intervening. Like why is
Speaker A
it though? What scenarios are you guys having to go through? Like I know dysfunctional families. Yeah. You know, you got, you know, getting one person on drugs to treatment is easy in compar It's not easy, but in comparison to
Speaker A
getting five to 10 family members on the same page to let us do it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, families are dysfunctional. What's some of the things you like think back on? You're like, I can't believe like we went through this situation. like what
Speaker A
like what's a scenario that you had to work through with the team to try to try to get a family an intervention? I think the most amazing thing is families always ask me on the phone, what if they
Speaker A
say no? I've never once had a family say, Mike, what if they say yes? Yeah.
Speaker A
Never. And what's so amazing is when we do the interventions Yeah. the families whose loved ones say yes, they're the ones that go berserk. Yeah. Because they cannot deal with the silence. Yeah. So, and I always tell people if you ever
Speaker A
want to know why a family doesn't do an intervention, come to my office and watch how they act after they do.
Speaker A
So, again, it just goes back without getting into details. Families are the hardest part. Yeah. You know, I mean, it's it's interesting. We'll take six weeks to schedule an intervention. My interventionist will text starting the intervention 53 minutes later headed to
Speaker A
the airport. It took me six weeks to get you to do this and it took 53 minutes to get your loved one on a plane.
Speaker A
Wow. If that doesn't put it into perspective. Yeah. We spend 90% of our time with the family because they're so difficult. Yeah. And they don't see it. Yeah. Yeah. Man, it's fun. Well, you're you're no stranger to the situations you've been a part of
Speaker A
though huh? No, it's never a dull day. No, it's never a dull day. Whether you're at a barber shop or No. Well, a barber shop.
Speaker A
Yeah. No, that was an intervention. Kind of actually. Yeah. What happened? Um, I was eating with a buddy of mine. Funny transition cuz I had to intervene here.
Speaker A
I had to come back to uh my old skills. And he uh after we got done eating, he goes to this barber shop next door.
Speaker A
Yeah. And um he goes in there and I was sitting there and I heard him talking to one of the ladies that works there and he had these uh Louis Vuitton I think they're called millionaire sunglasses.
Speaker A
They're quite expensive. They're like 1,100 bucks. They in there they are nice looking. Oh yeah. Um and he took them off and he said to the lady, "If these look good on you, you can have them." Now keep in mind this guy, he steps on
Speaker A
the rake 90 times a day. He just he can't keep himself from saying something stupid. But at the same time, I actually took a call I had to take. It was from a dysfunctional family I probably had to
Speaker A
spend another hour with to convince to save their loved one. Yeah. Did that come out loud? Yeah.
Speaker A
Um and I'm on the phone and I hang up and he comes out like like like the donkey on Eeyore like and I said, "What's wrong?" He's like, "She took my glasses." I said, "What do you mean?" She's like, "She won't give them back."
Speaker A
And I'm like, "Go get your glasses." He's like, "She won't give them to me." I said, "John, go get your glasses." Yeah. So, he goes back in there and he comes back out. He's like, "She won't give them to me." So, I go in there and
Speaker A
you know, I mean, let's just call it what it is. This is a Russian barber shop. Yeah. And everybody in there, which are the best, right? I mean, the absolute apparently they do Well, I don't think you go there. They may do
Speaker A
buffs. Yeah. But um um but so I go back in there and I ask the lady for his glasses and she's not giving his glasses back and she just is like no. Yeah. So it's getting kind of weird. Yeah. So Oh,
Speaker A
for you to say it gets weird. It must It's getting kind of weird. Must have been pretty weird. So he comes back out and then he calls his wife and she obviously is iate. Yeah. And I go back
Speaker A
in there and she's sitting on the chair and there's four other people in there.
Speaker A
Yeah. And I walk back in. I'm like I'm going to need the glasses and these two guys start walking toward. It was the first time in my life I thought I was going to have to use Kra. Like I
Speaker A
literally played in my head taking these like that's how like it was getting scary. Like they're coming like they're like walking up like what's the problem?
Speaker A
You've been doing Kra God at this point for like two days or what? No, like two and a half years. Good. And uh like I'm just thinking like am I like I thought I was going to have like I didn't know.
Speaker A
Yeah. Cuz like all of a sudden these Russians are coming like they're popping out of nowhere. Yeah. And I go up to her and I'm like give me the glasses. Yeah.
Speaker A
And she goes, "You're not getting the glasses." And I lean forward and I look back at them and they weren't coming any closer. And I said, "Give me the [ __ ] glasses." And she looks at me and I was ready to
Speaker A
snatch him off her face, but I'm like, I may break these $1,100 glasses. Yeah.
Speaker A
Then you'll have another issue to do. And then the lady behind the counter just goes, will you just give him the glasses? And she just goes like this really slow. And I grabbed them. Yeah.
Speaker A
And I walked out and then his wife pulls up. Oh gosh. And I'm like, I got it. I got it. And then I go out there. I'm like, John, here's your glasses. Wow.
Speaker A
And I said, as a matter of fact, I'm keeping them now. But I gave him back the glasses. But I was, it was the first time in my life where I was nervous like like like I thought these guys like I
Speaker A
thought there was going to be a fight. I thought I was taking on these Russian people. You've been training for other types of interventions your whole life and this was the first physical. This is going to be the first physical one.
Speaker A
Although I did have a gun pulled on me in Houston. What? Oh yeah. Real real life story. Yeah. Let's back this up.
Speaker A
We'll get there. Okay. Um yeah. I it doesn't matter what you know when the guy's 25 ft away with a Glock pointing at you with a laser. Um Yeah.
Speaker A
You're Yeah. Anyway, but to finish that that eyeglass story. Yeah. He just It was ridiculous. Yeah. Like I'm in this Russian barber shop. Yeah. Me having to get physical with these guys. Yeah. Over a stupid pair of glasses. Yeah. Because
Speaker A
he can't keep his mouth shut. It's crazy. It was stupid. That's not the first story, but there's many. Okay.
Speaker A
Let's let's go back to this Houston. I was an intervention in Houston and the guy walked in and he ex he he exhaled a big cloud of smoke out as he walked in and it was meth. Was he the one you were
Speaker A
doing the intervention on? Yes. Yes. Yes. And I remember we were reading the letters and I can hear his teeth grinding as we were reading the letters and he was sweating like P. Diddy headed the court. Okay. I mean, just sweating,
Speaker A
right? And such a time. And uh I mean, literally. And his eyes were like the Looney Tunes, you know, just Yeah. And uh he just jumped up. I remember he walked straight up his stairs and I heard I heard something and
Speaker A
I'm not I wasn't a gun guy at the time. Yeah. And he just comes out and there was this catwalk and he just he points the gun down and he's flashing around this red laser and he's like, "I'm going
Speaker A
to give you guys about 3 seconds." We ran out of the house and I said to the family, "This is how sick families are." Yeah. We need to call the police.
Speaker A
They're like, "No, no, no, no. I don't want him to get arrested." And I said, "Take me to the airport." What? And anyway, we ended up eating. The guy actually went to treatment three weeks later, though. Wow. He actually did. But
Speaker A
he was so jacked out of his mind, he pulled a gun on us. Never a shortage with you. Situations you can involve. I got stories from to the end of time. Well, let's go, baby.
Speaker A
Come on. You started this late, so I'm going to have to leave soon. But yeah. Yeah, man. Was that one of the defining moments, though? Like you're an interventionist and you're like, "This is nuts." Um, did it make you question what you
Speaker A
did? I had never had a gun pointed at me before. Mhm. Um, yeah, man. It doesn't feel good. Did it make you question what you got involved in, though? Like, no. Is this the wrong path? Is this No, not No. He was a meth
Speaker A
addict. It was a meth addict. I mean, I don't think he was going to shoot us, but No, you don't run from that. You know, interventionists are like firemen.
Speaker A
Everyone's running away. We're running in. Like, you know, I mean, I went home, took another job, and went back out. I love it. You know, there's nothing to it, you know. And like I said, the guy went to treatment three weeks later.
Speaker A
Yeah. You know, because the family did follow directions. Yeah. And held, you know, held boundaries and held him accountable. But Yeah. Was there ever a moment though where you were going through a situation? I mean, I know it's
Speaker A
like a everyday thing for you, but was never with the addict or the alcoholic.
Speaker A
Always with the families. If I was if I ever got to a point in my career where I was like, you know, I'm done with this.
Speaker A
It was because the families drove you nuts. I'm just going to be brutally honest and if any family ever reads this I'll say you got they drove me nuts. But why why is that though? Is there what's the dichotomy between enabling
Speaker A
codependency a whole family of origin of dysfunction family systems theory? Like we don't have enough time to discuss what their problem is. Their dysfunctional family roles, the martyr, the enabler, the hero, like they just all come together um to sabotage the success of the
Speaker A
substance user. Yeah. And they don't even see it. You know, pigs don't know pigs stink. And I don't mean that derogatory towards the families, but they're just like, "Huh? Me? I like the veil is it's ridiculous." And it's like
Speaker A
they're just got to a point where like I am just so sick and tired of convincing these families. Yeah. To the point of being a salesman to save your damn kid's life. Yeah. And it hasn't changed even through all the different cultural
Speaker A
shift, political shifts. Oh, no. It's Have you seen the epidemic grow worse though over the years or is it just just the addiction use, the um you know, people that are uh addicts, alcohol, drugs, like is it the same influx that
Speaker A
you keep seeing? Is it just a different vice or is it increasing over the years?
Speaker A
Uh your biggest your biggest of course is meth Yeah. and fentanyl and alcohol has always been a staple, but I I think the biggest one that would shock people, yeah, is marijuana.
Speaker A
Now, I never had an opinion on legalized marijuana. I don't smoke it. I never did smoke it. I don't like it. I mean, I tried it. I think marijuana sucks. Yeah.
Speaker A
Um I think it sucks. You know what I mean? Like, who wants to sit around and eat all day and then get paranoid every time you hear a noise? Like, it's stupid. Okay. It's just It's [ __ ]
Speaker A
stupid. Is there a story that goes with that? It's a pretty specific example you gave. I started smoking and it's I mean it just sucks. People are like, "Oh, yeah. It sucks." Um my hats are off to you. If you want
Speaker A
to be around, lay around and just do nothing all day eating Domino's pizza and and just think that's cool, you should do that. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah.
Speaker A
Go get, you know, congratulations on your career. Yeah. Um Yeah. But anyway, the weed we smoked as kids. Yeah. That's it was it was it was uh it was it was low THC content. Yeah. In the last I
Speaker A
don't know, however many years, the amount of interventions I get for marijuana is astonishing. In the psychosis cases are like methamphetamines because the THC content of legalized marijuana is unbelievably high. Really? Oh, it's unbelievable. But like people, they got
Speaker A
mental illness. They're just smoking pot. And it's like, did they have mental illness before they smoke pot? No.
Speaker A
Well, let me see. 1 + 1 equals 2. Okay, I got it. Yeah, but they want to believe it's mental illness because it's easier pill to digest, but it's it's astonishing of how powerful marijuana is today on the legal level. Yeah. You know, in the
Speaker A
gummies. Yeah. Yeah. and and and just I mean it it it if there's even the slightest underlying mental health disorder or even not. Yeah. I mean people are becoming psychotic on pot.
Speaker A
Yeah. Keep smoking. No. It sucked back then and it sucks today. Yeah. Yeah. Pot's stupid. Michael Verde's PSA. Yeah. Marijuana is just dumb. Yeah. Yeah, man.
Speaker A
Yeah. So, that's my marijuana story there. Well, there you go. What's the what's the future look like for you?
Speaker A
Family first. What's the next, you know, few years look like? Retirement. Really? Been through enough scenarios. Um, you know, after 20 years of doing this, um, you know, I love it. I mean, listen, there's nothing in the world I'd rather
Speaker A
do. Yeah. And I'll do this until I do retire, but at some point, you know, I'd like to, you know. Yeah. Just thinking pass the torch. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. But it won't be families or it won't be
Speaker A
substance users that drive me out. Yeah. It'll be uh it'll be the uh it'll be the families. I'm just be brutally honest.
Speaker A
Yeah. Because they're just they're they're I get the science. I have the education. I get the whole thing. Yeah. But man, how how unbelievably unwell they are.
Speaker A
Yeah. You know, and then of course you have phone people. Well, they have a lot of questions. So, I mean, I I know when we first started doing the webinar, you know, years few years ago, I think like
Speaker A
two people showed up to the first one. I was like, okay, how do we how do we get people engaging, right? And I remember you made a joke cuz it was like the first couple webinars we, you know,
Speaker A
pitched this idea, hey Mike, you should get on camera and answer some questions and, you know, do some presentations about these topics because it's rich content. Yeah. And I think the first couple was like what, five or 10 people.
Speaker A
You're like, so Ryan, are how are we going to get this out there? use social media to market it. Yeah. Among other things, but um you know, it's that consistency of them recognizing you as the authority, right? And and I even saw
Speaker A
a lot of the questions coming in like the Q&A after. I mean, people want to know, but I guess that's what you're talking about is that switch of okay, they're they're not afraid to ask the questions, but then when it time comes
Speaker A
time to take action for their family member or loved one, that's the hard part, right? Yeah. And and it's like after 20 years, I mean, even the questions they ask are [ __ ] Yeah.
Speaker A
You know what I mean? They're just they're they're codependent, enabling, do nothing questions wrapped up in a pretty bow. Yeah. And I shouldn't say it's [ __ ] because that's to me I'm being mean because they don't know
Speaker A
they're doing it. Yeah. Um so on an empathetic level, I have to help them under But the second you help them see that you're a salesman. Yeah. Like you can't win.
Speaker A
Yeah. And that's hard to do because like now the webinars you get a couple hundred people on, right? And you're answering questions for 45 minutes, right? Yeah. And so, but the people at the webinars are at a different stage.
Speaker A
They're ready to receive the information. Yeah. They're they're Yes. And they're they're seeing they're seeing their dysfunction. They're seeing their role. They're seeing their need to do something different. They see how their changes can make a huge impact in
Speaker A
their loved ones outcome. Yeah. Yeah. They do. I mean, like just before I got here, when I was on the phone, when you guys told me that I couldn't have my phone, um I mean, I was texting with a
Speaker A
with a with an aunt. Yeah. Um whose 34year-old alcoholic son with no job is living at his parents house. Yeah.
Speaker A
Waking up drinking all day. As soon as he can get to a bar or a restaurant that's open, he does. And then at the end of the day, the mom runs to get him.
Speaker A
She won't even get on the phone with me. H even on the phone with me. I'd have that guy in treatment in 20 minutes if I got if we showed up. Yeah. She won't let us do it. She won't even get on the phone
Speaker A
with me. Well, I don't think the industry does you any favors because you've told me there's only like a few actual treatment centers that you would trust. So, I'm sure the like we have this problem out there, right? And not
Speaker A
many treatment centers or intervention companies are actually addressing. Treatment centers are horrible. Yeah. Almost every one of them is horrible.
Speaker A
How? Because they're all it's it's not managed care, it's managed costs. You know, treatment when I first started was so much different than it is today. I mean, today everything's getting bought up by private equity firms. They got
Speaker A
multiple campuses. They got these streamlined curriculums. Um, how does that make you feel? Therapists.
Speaker A
Yeah. You know what I mean? And and the biggest problem in these treatment centers are the therapist. Like marijuana, they suck. Yeah. Yeah. Well, even locally here in Arizona, we saw treatment centers come and go all the time, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean,
Speaker A
in Arizona and Florida, it's because they were committing fraud, but uh I mean I mean, you know, Hold on. Hold on.
Speaker A
Let's back that up. Walk me through that. No, because Well, because I watch the news. No. Okay.
Speaker A
And you know, I I I get the I get the news feeds. But all kidding aside, the biggest problem with treatment centers is in fact the private equity firms buying them up and the misinformed far-left thinking of the
Speaker A
therapist. Yeah. Yeah. That not actually looking to address the core issue and not willing to dig in at do do the hard work. What is it? Challenging the client. Okay. You know, I mean, I went to the same schools they did. Yeah. And
Speaker A
you know, they actually believe that the client is the most qualified person to know what it is they need.
Speaker A
Aren't they the ones struggling with the substance? Thank you, Ryan. I'm glad you got it. Well, I mean, they don't. I guess in five and a half years, I've learned something from you, right? I actually I I actually um I actually was
Speaker A
going to change the logo on on some of those websites to Tony the Tiger. And I'll tell you why. Because these therapists would call me up, hey, so and so's doing great. He's been there 4 days. Oh, yeah. And you're calling the
Speaker A
family saying he's doing great. He's not even out of detox. Yeah. And the family's like, oh, he can come home.
Speaker A
Therapists are I mean, I very It's very very very challenging. Yeah. To come across a therapist with uh with some oomph to them. Yeah.
Speaker A
What is it? the training the curriculum is it culture nowadays like it's it's the universities cuz you've been in this what 20 years now it's like have you seen that shift though was there ever that tenacity early on in your career or
Speaker A
people has it been the education has it been a cultural shift what is it it's probably everything I mean most universities fe you know teach far-left [ __ ] and you know I was fortunate enough to have worked in this industry
Speaker A
for a long time and saw how it really worked so when I went to graduate school. I can see what they were teaching me was really bad. Yeah.
Speaker A
Because most of what I learned doesn't work. Yeah. Uh it's not effective. But you take the tests. Yeah. You know, you know, I got straight A's. I was the guest speaker at the commencement. I did pretty well, but I didn't Oh, you're the
Speaker A
guest speaker. I was. Oh, yeah. They asked me to speak. Yeah. Give him the Michael Verde words of wisdom. I kept it politically correct. Yeah. because most of the people listening wouldn't have liked my ideas. Yeah. Or my thoughts.
Speaker A
But nevertheless, uh I didn't believe with most of the stuff I was taught because and it's not even my political views. Yeah. Take that off the table.
Speaker A
It's what I saw work and fail in the space. Yeah. And what they're teaching us in those schools fails. Yeah. And what we used to do worked. And that's what we do.
Speaker A
kind of a throwback, if you will. Yes. Oh, interesting. It's not even a throwback. It's just you got to hold people accountable. You can't be afraid to challenge people. Yeah. You know, you can't be afraid to call somebody out.
Speaker A
And I don't mean like some tough guy way. But I mean, if an addict or an alcoholic or somebody's doing something that's not effective Yeah. How does that make you feel? Is not the approach. It's not the approach.
Speaker A
Shut up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we've made some progress today. Yeah. Shut up. Oh, man. Stupid. Yeah. Well, that'll be $150. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Or I can bill your insurance. That's a whole another issue. You've probably I mean, you've
Speaker A
stayed away from the insurance game because Yeah. I don't go near it because they try to try to dictate what programs you do. No, insurance. No way. Well, no.
Speaker A
They they probably will try to if you took insurance, right? If you went down that road, right? Do it. Yes. But that's exactly what'll happen. So, it's all cash. You guys do. Yeah. I mean, not cash cash, but Yes. That self-pay. Yeah.
Speaker A
You know, and then, you know, and the other thing, too, is most of our clients don't have jobs, right? And they, you know, and they end up having to self-pay for treatment anyway. And our interventions are very affordable, but
Speaker A
and that wouldn't be covered by insurance even if I took it. Yeah. But there are some treatment centers out there that we do work with that do work with insurance and they don't have the uh how does it make you feel counselor.
Speaker A
Correct. Yeah. And they hold people accountable. Yeah. And we work with them. Yeah. And they're long term. Yeah.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. So, like I said, I uh it's a lot a lot has changed in this industry, you know, but it's like that in healthcare, right? I mean, think about health care how it used to be. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
Speaker A
you went through your bout, right, most recently. Kind of working through Oh, with the valley fever. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Speaker A
And kind of experiencing what that's like. It's not fun. Yeah. No, no. I uh I had valley fever. I remember when I moved here, I'm like, Valley Fever? Who gets valley fever? Yeah. It's Arizona thing. You know what's so funny?
Speaker A
Everybody like that knows I've had Valley Fever, they're like, "You're the only guy I know that's had it." Like, I'm the guy. It's like such a local Arizona thing. Fever guy now. Yeah. It's probably because I mean we knew you're
Speaker A
from Illinois so we right went after you. Yeah. You know what? Um I wouldn't have gotten it if I would have stayed there. Yeah. But you know what's gotten a few other things. But listen to me. I will take valley fever over that
Speaker A
weather, those politics and those taxes any day. Bring it on. I'll go another round of that [ __ ] Yeah. No, I just thought it was interesting, right? um when when you were going through and we were like just
Speaker A
talking back and forth around like different treatment plans and how the hospital was and whatnot. Ivormectin versus not, right? Like like all those things, right? Cuz you I mean you took it, right? Did you? Of course I did.
Speaker A
And that's when I started getting better. Yeah. Interesting. Yes. Yeah. And I remember one of the guys came into the room. He's like, "What pill did you just take?" I'm like, "My vitamins." Yeah. And you just said, "Okay, you
Speaker A
didn't ask any more questions." That was it. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. No, I uh I had Ivormect. Yeah. From COVID, which I had three times with no symptoms.
Speaker A
Actually, the one I got in Costa Rica had some The Costa Rican CO was a little different. How was that different? What do you mean? Yeah. I got pretty ill for a day. Oh, really? Yeah. But other than
Speaker A
that, the other two I was asymptomatic. Um, everybody in the house got it and we tested positive, but um Yeah. Yeah. So, I had a whole bottle of Ivormectin and when I got to the hospital, um I remember I was like, you know, I'm not
Speaker A
getting better. And I just and I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but I started taking the Ivormectin and uh I started getting better and you know, you hear valley fever stories of how people have it for three, four, and five
Speaker A
months. I mean, I'm I'm six weeks out yesterday and yeah, my oxygen's 99. I'm back to all of my activities. The gym cravah gym, you know what I mean? Yeah.
Speaker A
No, I haven't skipped a beat. 6 weeks out, which the doctor's like, you're you're going to be down for about 4 months. Yeah. And I took a whole course of Ivormectin. Now, of course, I took the fluconazol antifungal, which you
Speaker A
have to take, but six weeks out, I mean, I'm it's like an it's like a serve pro commercial. It never even happened.
Speaker A
Yeah. I have a tiny cough still, but Yeah. Yeah. Man, how have you seen the the culture and the the shift over the years, too, change? I know you've alluded to it a few times of of what's gone on in the past. Chicago politics,
Speaker A
Arizona polit I mean you own a business here, right? Your business is national, but I mean like what have been some of the the biggest changes you've seen over the years?
Speaker A
Well, comparing Chicago to here or just in general, right? I mean, two decades into the business, you've seen definitely some some shifts and changes over the years, right? Yeah. Well, we're national. Yeah. So, you know, I don't really see a Chicago Phoenix change, you
Speaker A
know. I mean, um, they're about the same, right? I mean, in in and what people need. I mean, there's more meth out here and then there is in Chicago.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um, I think the biggest thing I see in people between there and here is I mean, I'm just going to be blunt, the people in Chicago are 10 times better.
Speaker A
Um, they're nicer and it's different. Really? Yeah. You know, cuz in Chicago it's like, and I think I've had this conversation with you. In Chicago, it's like there's a pride from being from there. Like a bond. Like if you're
Speaker A
there, you're from there. Yeah. Here you're not. Most people are from somewhere else. They ran here for a reason. Yeah. And there's no pride. I mean, you're the fifth largest city and I think you've got the 17th biggest
Speaker A
sport market. I mean, you just lost your hockey team. Like, nobody gives a [ __ ] Well, you're talking to a native here.
Speaker A
So, listen, I've been to some games where you guys play Chicago, and I swear if I didn't if I didn't if I just looked straight ahead, I was in I was in Chicago. I think I think for me, one of
Speaker A
the funniest moments was when uh the Arizona Rattlers moved to the Glendale Arena. They're the arena football team.
Speaker A
And the mayor put out a statement that said, "We're so happy to have Arizona's winningest sports team in Glendale." Now, just like, okay, that's the epitome of Arizona sports. Yeah. Nobody gives a [ __ ] Hey, I do, man. Listen, I and and
Speaker A
Chicago's always going to be my home and it's with the teams, but I do like I Dude, I was going for the Diamondbacks.
Speaker A
Um I was pissed that the Suns didn't make it. Yeah. Um so you got some Arizona pride developing.
Speaker A
No, I just wanted the teams to win. Okay. Um you know, but it's like and and the people are different, you know, like in Chicago, you live in front of your house. It's all about your neighbors.
Speaker A
You sit out front. Here we live in the backyard. You know, back there it's nice out. Your windows are down here.
Speaker A
Everybody's windows are up. Oh, and people here drive like [ __ ] I mean, they did. Arizona did not get the memo that if you're going to do the speed limit or under, get out of the left lane. Yeah. And people here don't
Speaker A
care. Like just they like it's just different. It's a West Coast mentality. I mean, there's a lot of things that are better here, but the the worst part about being here, I hate to say it, it's the people. Wow. Gosh. Well, that's how
Speaker A
we met. I mean, I feel like we're pretty pretty close. Listen, I I'm not giving you an absolute. I'm just saying everybody here is from somewhere else and it's just a different level of pride. That's a transient, right? I
Speaker A
mean, it is. When I tell people I'm a native here, they're almost like in shock like Correct. And I tell them I married a native and it's even like crazier to think about. Correct. So, the people here are definitely different.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're built different. That's right. You mean me or you? Me. Okay. Yeah, you're a native, but you're Yeah, I mean, I don't know a lot of Arizona natives, so I have nothing to compare it to. And again, I'm just I'm sure there's
Speaker A
a ton of Arizona, but it's just my experience is that people here are just it's not like being back home. Yeah.
Speaker A
Interesting. It's more of a family and a community feeling back there where here it just feels more you're on your own.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. Have you noticed any difference uh with the recent election? has that affected your business at all or you I mean I know you've alluded to it a few times of the different types of practices in health care you know the
Speaker A
approach now versus what the therapists are taught now I mean well I think okay I think it's too soon to tell um I mean let's face it um the current administration sees how much money we're wasting on stuff that doesn't work
Speaker A
um and I've seen it for a long time like what I mean people aren't getting better. Yeah. You know, and the mental health and the addiction and all that stuff. It's like, you know, people I mean, these insurance companies are
Speaker A
getting builds of dollars for these treatment centers and these methodologies and these, you know, how does it make you feel approach that doesn't work. Yeah. Um, and I am glad that this administration sees that.
Speaker A
Yeah. You know, um, but it's too soon to tell. Yeah. But my morale's up.
Speaker A
Yeah. How so? [Music] Um, you know what? I don't want to get into politics too much. You know, my mom always said, "Don't ever talk about politics and religion." But, uh, let's just say that, you know, um, we were on the wrong track. You know, I
Speaker A
mean, like, put it this way, if you send me an email and it's got pronouns, I delete it. Just out. Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting. You know, if a if a man transitions to a woman and that
Speaker A
woman goes missing and they find that body a 100 years later, the headlines will say body of male found. Yeah.
Speaker A
Like you can't change that [ __ ] Yeah. Get off of it. Yeah. End a discussion. I love it. I mean, that's me. Yeah. I I just Let's just go back to what worked.
Speaker A
Yeah. That's my point. Let's go back to what worked. And we were just on the wrong track. And you know what? Yeah. I think the majority of Americans will not be offended by what I just said because that's what they voted for. They voted
Speaker A
for that [ __ ] out of here and they voted for other things and our current administration's doing it and the last two were clowns. Yeah. Yeah. That's my stance. Hey. Yeah. I mean, you know, and just to put in perspective, like even
Speaker A
when I lived in Chicago, I didn't even like I'm I'm a conservative. Yeah. My life wasn't worse with Obama. Yeah. When I graduated college, when Clinton was president, the economy was on fire.
Speaker A
Like, I'm not opposed to Democratic leadership. Yeah. I'm opposed to where we were headed. Yeah. And we weren't headed there under those Democratic leaderships. Like, I was a Democrat for a large part of my life growing up in
Speaker A
Chicago. Like I said, I I didn't mind Obama. Yeah. I didn't mind Clinton at all. Yeah, but you see you see the trickle off though from the policies as it relates to the healthare and what you guys so you're seeing true boots on the
Speaker A
ground evidence of hey this is how this policy has trickled down and affected and so for you to say that I I mean I think is impactful.
Speaker A
I mean like Obamacare. Yeah, I liked President Obama. I know what I'm about to say was not his intention. So I don't want this to come off like I'm bashing the guy because I liked him as president. I
Speaker A
did. But Obamacare destroyed health care. Yeah. You know, I mean, the way the way things were covered and what what was covered and all that other stuff, like it really changed things.
Speaker A
Like the amount of coverage I got for substance use and mental health prior to Obamacare was way different. Yeah. You know, uh I don't know the reason for it.
Speaker A
Did you Did you take insurance before Obamacare? Insurance covered a lot more treatment than it did. So, you had to transition to like was that the moment you had to transition to cash? We were always self-pay. Yeah, for intervention,
Speaker A
but for treatment, I mean, most treatment plans covered substance use and mental health. Yeah. Today, um, it doesn't. Yeah. And if it does, it's restricted. And if it does, it's short term. And if it does, you know, insurance companies tell you what you
Speaker A
should be doing. Yeah. It's not run by the professionals. The insurance company dictates what it is that you're going to do. Yeah. Wow. So, we try to do self-pay as much as possible. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Anyway.
Speaker A
Anyway, well, the nitro's out, I guess. Are we out? We good? Yeah. What time is it? Just kidding. I don't even know. Um Oh, it's always fun talking. I want to do this more. So, yeah, we'll do this
Speaker A
more. I got a lot more stuff to say. That's a lot more stories. There's a lot more story like the Louis Vuitton sunglass Russian story. Oh, I got tons of those. Got those for days. Yeah, we need to get that hot dog lady at the
Speaker A
golf course. Golfers. He stepped on the rake there, too. We'll have to Yeah, I'll have to have you on again. This was awesome. Thanks for taking the time and for being such a great partner. Yeah. Are we done? I
Speaker A
guess you Yeah, you got Yeah, we're done. Okay. [Applause] [Music]
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