First and foremost: thank you for your service to our nation. Thank you for choosing to be our protector and our defender. Thank you for putting your life on the line so that we, the American people, can live freely and have someone come to our rescue when we are in need. You are the true hero.
I have always had a great level or respect and appreciation for the military and law enforcement. I’ve always seen the military as the force that keeps us safe from foreign enemies and local police as the people who keep me safe at home. All of the military and first responders that I’ve met have been honest, hard working and brave. I’ve always admired and respected them. But this demographic was not what originally came to mind for me. This has been a journey. At first I thought I would be serving the general population of adult men. I knew I would not be serving adolescents or women. At first, it made sense to keep the doors wide open. And then I started going down the rabbit hole.
While I’ve been sober since January 28, 2013 and I’m intimately acquainted with sobriety and all the principles and the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, I’m new to the treatment industry. I got sober in the rooms of AA and I did not go to treatment myself, so I’ve spent the past year learning as much as I can. I’ve toured existing facilities and sat down with the Owners and operators and learned from them. I’ve read countless websites and testimonials. Then I started paying attention. Several things started to fall into place.
Through my investigations, I learned that the treatment industry is corrupt. Many facility owners are just in it for the money and don’t care about sobriety. The corruption runs deep. Go watch the movie “Body Brokers”. It’s my mission to create a facility that cares about healing, helping and long-term solutions from an ethical and moral standpoint.
Problem #1: the treatment industry is corrupt
Solution #1: create a highly-ethical treatment facility that produces results and long-term sobriety
Starting a new business is challenging, and actively making plans to leave my stable, lucrative career often makes me think I’m crazy. To keep my sanity, I often listen to John Lee Dumas’ daily podcast on Entrepreneurship. He kept emphasizing the importance of niching down into a highly specialized sector of the market. He and his guests on the podcast kept saying this. Of course, it’s counterintuitive because it appears to be limiting. But it’s not! Serving a specific niche give us the opportunity to be masters at our craft. I kept thinking about this concept.
From the beginning, Throttle & Thrive has been masculine and calls to the warrior in all men. Even the main image for Throttle & Thrive is a Centurion: a soldier from the Roman empire. Centurions were powerful, well respected, highly disciplined and skilled fighters. Each Centurion commanded 100 men.
When I built the website, it naturally fell into place that the themes were related to battles and the call of the warrior. I even had a special section dedicated to Military and First Responders. Of course I wanted them to know they were welcome and respected! Los Angeles has recently been hostile to law enforcement and I wanted to make it clear that I support law enforcement.
During one of my facility tours, the owner showed me the gym on the property and made a point to mention that the veterans and law enforcement clients especially liked the gym. I just nodded and smiled. But internally, I saw the problem. These men were not being served well. The gym was small and limited. It was sterile. It didn’t have the right equipment or enough equipment. I’ve been lifting since 2003; I know what a good gym looks like. It was clear that this small and limited gym was better than no gym at all. Is that what was going on in the industry? Veterans are being offered yoga and talk therapy? Policemen are being offered organic food and singing kumbaya? Yup. That’s largely what’s happening. Most treatment facility programs are rather feminine and the field of phycology is dominated by women. Men need a program for men! The irony of course is that I’m a woman… but I’m also an engineer. Both by personality and by education: I’m an engineer. I love the facts, the science and solving problems. Check out the blog I wrote on “Why Men?” to further understand how I’m structuring this mission.
Problem #2: the treatment industry is not serving military veterans or law enforcement well enough
Solution #2: create a highly-ethical treatment facility specifically designed for military and first responder that produces results and long-term sobriety
Then I started pushing deeper and learned that military and first responders typically don’t want to go to treatment with the general population. I could see why. It because obvious that I wouldn’t be treating just the general population. I would be serving those who have served.
Next, I started researching facilities that are serving military, veterans and first responders exclusively and provide inpatient detox and residential care for substance abuse. I was very surprised to learn that I couldn’t find any facilities in California that are exclusively serving military and first responders. I found one program in Florida serving this population but nothing in California except that the VA has to offer. I kept searching and that’s when I found Warriors Heart. This incredible organization in Bandera, Texas has been helping our Warriors overcome addiction and mental health issues for several years. They are the real deal. I am in awe of the program they have created and the authority they carry. I can only hope and pray that one day I will be able to participate in the work they are doing. They are truly a gift from God.
After researching Warriors Heart and watching hours and hours of their content, I realized that they have a wait list to enter their facility. Good news is that they are doing such a fantastic job at helping our heroes that more people are coming to their facility, but the facility can only hold so many people at one time. I believe they have been working on expanding their facility to be able to accept more people at a time. This is further evidence that there is a huge need to help our veterans and our first responders. I want to be part of the solution to their healing journey and provide the highest level of care. I want to reawaken the warrior in the warrior and help men take their place of authority and power.