From Rock Bottom to CEO: How Heather Marie-Ogburn Stokes Found Her Purpose in Recovery

[0:00]  I think focusing more on the um recovery and showing more compassion and forgiveness um I've noticed that when I've been in spaces and talking about stigma stigma itself becomes a highlight right but if then if we just talk about the life and recovery and I've had friends that haven't said that they had a drinking problem right they drank a lot but now they're saying hey I'm on this journey and I just um realize that I've gone A Year Without a drop of alcohol so we celebrate that that's a life and Recovery right like I believe we're all recovering from something and um we all deserve wellness and so it's just promoting more wellness it's promoting like noticing you know maybe a friend's like oh I can't wait

[0:50]  till 5:00 you don't even have to say what you're doing right and sometimes that's just it's implied um but if we share more kindness um and you know even to the The Stranger underneath the bridge they've lost everything and it may not be addiction it may be mental health or it may be that their house just burned down and they're lost right and just showing more kindness I think it goes a lot lot further here we back with another episode on the

[1:39]  hard and hustle podcast with a another leader just doing some impactful stuff in the community always so excited Miss Heather how are you doing today I'm doing really well how are you I always say blessed anytime to get to see another day of life and I know I said that last time when I spoke to you but I truly do mean it it's like one of those things it's like I'm just grateful to be here and have these conversations right so I want to get straight into it we only have butt so much time we we know that you're a risk taker you're you're a game changer you love to make impacts and you've done that and I just couldn't have a better guess to kind of break all this down you know being a founder and a president I ask you so I know everyone has a story a moment that really lit the fire under them to do what they do what was that moment for you what made you say I have to start Serenity light recovery it was actually

[2:28]  um losing too many friends uh and family to addiction um either to prison or um having to attend their funerals and um that's when I just you know looked around and said what can I do to make a difference I have to do something because what is um currently going on it's not working right and um I'm a person in long-term recovery um in May I will celebrate 14 years and that was truly a blessing so I I understand every day is a gift every day I am I am very grateful and just before we started recording right you said how was your morning and I said busy but bless bless busy um 14 years ago I was to a point

[3:20]  where um I just asked God I say get me out of this life one way or the other I can't do this right um I never thought I would ever um you know I wasn't the type that I thought well when I grow up I'm going to get mixed up in a an addiction right I had everything going for me and um here I was at my knocking on deaths store and um you know a a week after I still remember it like it was yesterday but a week after I said that simple prayer um I got into a major car accident I was um I was arrested and that was a pivotal moment right um I got to see what so many others have endured um and and a lot of them don't make it

[4:10]  out and so that's what drives me that's what um when I was trying to figure out life for so long and trying to make sense of it and what I'm meant to do it was when I found my life in recovery that I said ah I know exactly um I was given yet another chance in life and so I strive to give back each and every day first of all congratulations 14 years um you know how you know how easy and how hard it is to go backwards or to go forward and you've obviously made it the way forward and now you're also back to that impact impacting lives to make sure that other people can live the life that you're living today um because I always say what who who you are today doesn't mean who that's who you have to be tomorrow and there's people like yourself that share those stories that really can change someone's life in an

[4:58]  instance because just you being so vocal about it which is why I love that we you created this platform here on the hard and hustle because it allows to kind of showcase uh or showcase people like yourself that are really just making so much major moves and and still right you've made a lot in the last 14 years but there's still so much more to go I can only imagine that you'll touch so many lives I I want to kind of go back to the early days though I know as you're building this Recovery Center you're probably getting people saying that's risky like are you sure that's a lot what was that phase like oh wow so even I questioned myself right um I studied psychology for many years I was once upon you know a time Premed um and when I when a an old friend said why don't you start a

[5:49]  treatment center because I kept asking what can I do to make a difference and I didn't expect that kind of question and I was like wait a minute let me pray on it because that was my go to answer cuz I know fear will um intervene quickly right and I'll miss out on on my um truest potential and so I started praying I was like okay let me just take one step at a time and and do it and um I found the perfect property everything was lining up so perfectly and I was like this is what I meant to do and this you know I I just stood strong in faith so I was actually going out there talking to other directors of facilities and marketing it and a lot of people thought we were already opened um just

[6:38]  because I spoke with so much dedication and passion right and they're like the way you speak is as if it's been an operation I said this is to come right this is what I'm building and I I'll never forget it I had one um older gentleman um look at me and say I see young and dumb and recommend going the other way and I just smiled at him and I said I may be young but I'm definitely not dumb and I am full of Um passion and drive and it's my heart that's going to carry me through in my faith right um that is going to carry me through any hardships or obstacles that may come my way and he said I used to have long hair like you and now I'm bald and I said

[7:25]  well you know self-care is really important you know know I you know it was just like I am going to pray for you my man and um and I didn't let that deter me right like I stood even taller and saying yeah no I'm going to do this this is what's wrong with this industry right there was so much corruption there's so much that even the the first so it took about two and a half years of building and designing and developing because I did not want a cookie cutter treatment like I had to be it not me but what was being created had to be different the the vision was different I really want to create safe healing grounds right um and it took there's a lot of obstacles but each obstacle it

[8:16]  just built us stronger right and um with more dedication and I um yes it's stressful but um we do a lot of self-care um and we you know um we practice what we preach right we we talk about it and this is a true life of Wellness it shouldn't be white knuckling it through your recovery or white knuckling it creating a um starting your own business or it's that passion that's really going to to carry you and the nonprofit space is so so good because I always say is it is a business while people may think it's just a nonprofit don't realize it it is truly as a business we just um may have different board to to speak to we got stakeholders we got a board of directors but ideally what's so cool about the

[9:04]  nonprofit space is the mission that people fight for and in your case is the mission was to make sure that people experience what you had to go through even better because you understood what it actually looked like to go and recovery so now because you understood that now you have a way better perspective and say you know what this is what probably could have been better for me and this is what going to be better for others so I I sometimes I you know life is very strange in a way how things kind of go and play out but then you go back and and think about it like man I actually I'm I'm almost happy that that happened to me you know because if not then I'm I'm not here as much as it's very painful at that moment you know and you don't understand the wise a lot of the times when you sit back and think what was the lesson learned in these moments you start to realize it was actually bigger than what we even imagined right and here you are doing this stuff this

[9:51]  is this is actually you know pretty cool and I can only imagine that you had that that what the hell am I doing um moment or what the am I getting myself into moment is that correct yes still today too sometimes it's like wow but then it's quickly transformed into more drive it's hard to explain sometimes because and so Serenity light recovery is a for-profit and I have a a many like that we have a gift shop that's like an it's a nonprofit that creates a um all the profits go to being able to build out scholarships for some of our clients or if some really don't have money um they have insurance um but they need a a sleep machine right like we will go over

[10:39]  and Beyond because it's the right thing to do and I always say because they're like well how how do you have so much heart um and being in a for-profit versus a nonprofit and I said well all there's no really profit it's going right back to the the clients and it's you know um it's Mission before margin um and I will um I'm actually doing a presentation next week on that right um You have to stand strong in your mission or everything else is lost um you know I um I experienced having a previous manage management members um there was a time that the mission was getting lost or or um kind of just uh blurred out and I could see

[11:27]  the difference you could even feel the energy difference and um so I I came back in and said okay we need to restructure you know and re develop the leadership team which is like the board right and it's like these are the members that share the mission right this is how we're going to stand together and Leadership is not being um the boss right it's leading by example it's standing there with the team and I like to say team not employees right um we're a team in this and and um if there needs even if there needs to be weeds plucked from the ground like I will go and pluck them and show them like I'm in this fully right um a lot of Blood Sweat and Tears and to the point where sometimes there's a lot of Tears because

[12:16]  we are so passionate about it and I'll have that fleeting thought what the heck am I doing you know little me and for I think that's the little voice growing up and maybe a generation voice is like little me I don't have to be little anymore like look at what has been created look what I've created with an incredible team with um I say it's God's Vision he just trusted me to carry it out right and the best decision I've ever made in my life was saying yes to his will that's how I've overcome addiction that's how I overcome a lot of trauma abuse and everything else that I would not wish upon my worst enemy well today I don't have any enemies but you know like I don't have time for that I

[13:03]  don't have energy for that that sucks my energy not at all you got too many things to do like even the people that are just quite mean or evil right um I don't wish upon them like what I had to endure and suffer through but I wouldn't trade it for the world I you know I would rather suffer through it and overcome and be the woman I am today and lead the team that I have today and be able to be of service and create the modalities in different um programs we have to be able to meet that individual where they're at and say look here's part of my story I've been there I will sit I've sat in the rain in the dirt with them before saying I'm right here you don't have to you don't have to run

[13:50]  anymore right and then everybody on this team I I would say 95% of our team are in recovery and so at any in I can look out and there's someone taking someone for a walk and just sharing that heartfelt moment saying you're not alone you know so good so good and I know you worked with so many people battling addiction what's that one thing about addiction that people just truly don't get um something that if more people really understood would change the way we actually look at recovery oh man it is so baffling and it's so cunning and um I I get emotional cuz I remember that that um that feeling of hopelessness and that um that life of Despair right um and for me um it was like a a it's a brain

[14:43]  disease or you know I um stopped with so much of the the the guilt and um when I understood more of that right um learning about recovery and it's much more than going to this meeting or that um like life is beautiful but if everyone could learn about um how to cope through truly cope through um stress right life is stressful some of us have you know turned to self-medication and finding other ways and just trying to find out who we are and when that substance hits It's chemical right and it um it gets us to a point where I literally just wanted to feel okay and it made me feel okay right A lot of people think it's just oh

[15:32]  they're having fun or oh they just want their next high but it's literally just wanting to feel okay and um there's so much more available to us that makes us feel even more than we could ever imagine um we could find we can feel peace in the most chaotic situations and that's the gift of recovery but addiction it's hard to just stop on your own you know you don't have to do it alone um too many people are dying because they're suffering in silence there's so much shame um still to this day associated with this and um that's why I I recreated um some of the wheel in this industry right it's like we are a recovery Wellness Center not a treatment

[16:21]  center or another rehab right there's so much guilt and shame associated with those terms and it's like we want you to come here and get well um what's one thing to to mention about addiction that's hard I mean it's it's baffling and I've had some loved ones even it's like why and I've been there right but it's like I know the light right and it's a spiritual for me it was like a spiritual condition I um had so much emptiness that I was desperately trying to fill with anything and everything and when I was able to get the substance es and some of those negative behaviors um out of me right um and I connected truly connected to my higher power and you know I know I

[17:09]  didn't create the sunrise and the sunsets and the tides coming in and there's there's something bigger than me right and so it's such a relief to be able to say all right I trust you and let the universe do its thing and I F my that emptiness now with the light right there's a light within us and just the addiction just snuffs that out um I could talk for days about it you know what it is I could also hear the passion though it's because you're so passionate about the mission you know and that's what I I I truly appreciate about you is a lot of the times and you talk about it is a for-profit business but there's still a mission and there's still so much passion behind it and there's not a lot of times you go to work for a for-profit business that still continue to care for those same values that

[17:56]  they've you know put in so many years years ago or that mission or or just passion for what it is that someone does and you just make sure that people that are surrounding yourself that that team is also passionate that it's not that they're just coming to work no you got to be passionate about just coming into work because it allows you to also just work even more efficient even you know what I'm saying to put that love into what you do and I think it it is a very tough thing because of just the mental health and and addiction and how they come together and and right now is actually being finally talked about I think it is at the Forefront of a lot of conversations however I still feel that there's still a stigma you know there's still that stigma the stigma is real yeah I ask you what has been the hardest part about breaking that stigma and like what's one thing that we can all do to

[18:43]  maybe do better supporting those that are actually struggling I think focusing more on the um recovery and showing more compassion and forgiveness um I've noticed that when I've been in spaces and talking about stigma stigma itself becomes a highlight right but if then if we just talk about the life and recovery and I've had friends that haven't said that they had a drinking problem right they drank a lot but now they're saying hey I'm on this journey and I just um uh realized that I've gone A Year Without a drop of alcohol so we celebrate that that's a life and Recovery right like I believe we're all recovering from something and and um we all deserve wellness and so

[19:31]  it's just promoting more wellness it's promoting like noticing you know maybe a friend's like oh I can't wait till 5 o' you don't even have to say what you're doing right and sometimes that's just it's implied um but if we share more kindness um and you know even to the The Stranger underneath the bridge they've lost everything and it may not not be addiction it may be mental health or it may be that their house just burned down and they're lost right and just showing more kindness I think it goes a lot lot further right it's not just throwing a little Pebble in the water right but let's make waves with it and um speak about recovery like recovering from um you know a loss of a

[20:22]  loved one or um you know um a a new life transformation or whatever it may be and just speaking more recovery into existence and that be the norm right it doesn't have to be so much oh you're drunk or you're this or that and Recovery then turns into a negative thing because they just associate it with people you know that's that drink too much or maybe have a needle in their arms they're they're running from something they're self-medicating and let's find out why right they're they're probably overcoming a lot more than you don't than you realize and um I think we just need to talk more about recovery I hope that answered your question it's just yeah yeah no it does and is there any like

[21:10]  big myth that you feel that people say all the time that you hear that really kind of make you sometimes even roll your eyes just on what people say about these things um well just with some clients that are um it's their first time in treatment and I I hope last time right um but it's like my life's going to be so boring recovery is boring and it's like that's not recovery then you know what I mean like I enjoy life way more today even on my worst days than I ever did on my best day and I remember it I have so much fun right um I this smile is a genuine smile I'll never forget when I felt it and I'm like oh wow what is this am my cheeks

[21:58]  hurt you know like it's so it felt different it just feels different like you can feel it radiating through your body and it's like this is recovery right I can be my silly self and know I can't blame alcohol or other substances but that's the beauty in it it's like no I'm my authentic self and we have so much fun right um so we show them how to have fun again or as simple of fishing like we have ponds and fish and we've had so many people is like I can't tell you the last time or if there was any time that I've cast a line without a beer in my hand or without being loaded and it's like that tugs my heart like that's sad but I I am

[22:46]  Overjoyed with this moment for you to experience this right um and not get sick after and you can remember every single thing you know most of the time you know when you say these things I can only imagine that what you do the work is it has to be it's deep it's emotional yeah right because you could especially when they become very s good at what they're doing and their year sober but even times where you've really rooting for someone and they go a little backwards you know it it's it could be Heavy some days what keeps you going what's that one moment or even person that really reminds you this is why I do this I'm going to start getting my b babies um they wouldn't be here if I didn't

[23:34]  find a life and Recovery right um they are my gifts of recovery they are my Miracles they teach me so much about life and Recovery has taught me so much about how to be a present Mom it's not perfect but you know um when my daughter turns to me saying it's okay mommy you know I know you're sad but let's take a deep deep breath right and it's like oh because it's I don't hide my emotions from them and when I get um a call or um a quick it's not really a quick text but see that either alumni overdosed or a good friend of mine that was you know in in recovery for so long and they just go out slip but they overdose they don't

[24:23]  get another chance right and then it's just I feel it and then it it's their voice um that they're kind of echoing the different things that they've heard me share with others or share with them it's like okay right um my father my father um at one point wanted to just do away with me right I mean I mean his his daughter um and he's a physician and he tried to fix me he couldn't and um when I called him and said this is what's going on he hung up and it took family men my brother celebrating his four years today and it's like yes right and it's happening all around me my

[25:11]  father um is now our you know chief medical officer he helped me build Serenity and um it's familyowned family run it's it's um because the gifts of recovery give your family back and if there's no family left like we become their families right um and I have lifelong friends and so it's a it's a combination of people but if I had to pick I mean it's my my two little children you know that um I see the gifts of recovery through and through um I love it yeah I say kids are such a blessing as much as they can drive you crazy at times through the screams and the giggles that's what I say I love it they listen my daughter just like you mentioned just the way she look at you the way she holds you um and I have a

[25:59]  son he's Oney old and he does the same thing whenever you just see that smile and you're going through something um and what's so cool is that yeah the our our kids we realize that it's not even about us anymore yeah we want to do better because we want to show them better because we want to let them know that hey mom went through something but didn't mean she couldn't overcome it right you know so when they're going through something they they can see hey I was just as strong and maybe and I I'm not I'm not the type of parent to always say you know this is what it was when I was young but I do want like to show them especially in the work that we do and I couldn't see that your daughter sees it through the work that you do you know a lot of things is not what we say but what what we're showing them and you showing her what this actually looks like is so it's so good you know it's so good for her and I can only imagine it becomes even good for you when you get to see all these seeds that you actually

[26:46]  sewed in her and now she's out who knows still carrying on this mission one day because she understood what what how it saved her mom saved her life yeah you know and not every you you mentioned it not everyone has that experience I I don't know if I mentioned to you the last time that we spoke but I'm adopted because my mom is still on drugs and was since I was 2 years old and um just you hearing almost made me emotional thinking about it you know because not everyone has that that chance okay no more crying yeah we're done uh you know but I I I always wish her the best and just to hear these stories man it everybody's life's different and maybe that moment comes later on in her life but I really just the shame that will consume people and keep them suffering in silence and it's like you are worthy I want to shout from the roof

[27:34]  rooftop rooftops and you know and say you are worthy and no matter what has happened or what has been done you and I say every single day I am not what I've done I'm what I've overcome I'm not proud of a lot of things that I've done right but where am I at now and I am a a beautiful Divine mother you know know and I can I can SP speak kindness into myself and into the world and it's because of those gifts of those suffering moments right and that's where the passion comes from um it's it's built me to who I am and um you know we had a client that come in she's like I don't know if I can do it I've been to

[28:22]  27 uh treatment centers and I said well that's 27 other treatment centers and I don't care if it's it's taking 50 you're alive you're here right like let's start fresh and let's move forward you are worthy you are worthy you are worthy and you are loved and you're still going and you're still trying yes that's the that's I think that's The Sweet Spot about it is people don't realize that yeah as you're 27th time and so what you haven't given up on yourself yeah you're still wanting more I want to help you along this journey whether it's going to take you a 30 of time I want to pour into you today and let you know that you got to keep fighting this fight that it could be the 2 s time you try that makes that you know everything kind of just so clear and then for the rest of your life you lived I actually um met the I was on the show on the cover boss um one time and the I I want to say he might have

[29:11]  been the co he might get upset cuz we're friends I can't remember his title but he was also someone very young that was into you know drugs and alcohol and he remembers the opportunities he was given and now I think he's like 40 something years sober and he continues to share the story and create also created a nonprofit but he tells how someone gave him a chance where the CEO of Subway that was a huge you know Global business seen him just drunk on his table and still didn't give up on him yeah gave him an opportunity and that dude for 20 something plus years stayed with that organization why because someone cared and was willing to help him through it and now he's doing the same thing that you're doing really just showing others that it's it is possible that today may maybe you are on the streets but tomorrow you're a CEO you're a Founder you're a president to an organization really leading a mission that that is is

[29:58]  impacting the world so kudos to what you do if I'm pretty sure people give you a flowers all the time but I see you on the hard and hustle podcast definitely want to just kind of give you your flowers because it is tremendous when I see someone you know overcome these changes especially when I firsthand witness someone that's still struggling through it yeah you know so I really want to kind of pivot so we can got get out of this emotional state though right A lot of people running a business especially one in the health and and Recovery is just about helping people but at the end of the day it's also a business business how do you actually balance the mission with the reality of actually running and sustaining something this big yeah a wonderful team um they know I have um a lot of heart right but then also um knowing it is a business and and there's a way to

[30:47]  do it with compassion and understanding of people right hiring the right people um um making sure that we're all cross trains that no one uh cross trained where no one's above anybody right and that's really important um so at any moment you know like if someone's out um any of us can step in and um having people um in the positions um trustworthy people um in the positions that I need to lean on saying all right even with admissions like I have a bleeding heart a lot of times and it's like okay it doesn't have to bleed um but let's talk it out um you know and um that's why we do have a scholarship

[31:35]  program right it might not be a full scholarship unless there's enough you know um put away from the the gift shop you know but um partial scholarships um sliding scals we want to remove the barriers but also we we offer so much more than just a regular place right um and so finding that balance um it's with the the people I trust and saying what can we do to um when it comes to life and death they know get them in right and we'll figure it out um but there's always a way to um um maneuver around some challenging decisions um and you know when you find a good team you don't have a lot of uh

[32:25]  you know rollover and money out the door to training and all that stuff um you know I recently had U an issue with when like uh I don't know what happened but it was like negativity was just I was like it's like a parasite right like we don't we can't afford negativity we have these clients coming in and they are at their worst right and I think that they were overwhelmed um some like it was two staff members they were overwhelmed because it was a very um intense crew uh group at that time the the community struggling with a lot of trauma and then um that little negativity started kind of bleeding out and then there was turn I'm like no no no no no so at any point

[33:15]  um doing like a a refresh reboot is so important self-care is top of the list um I have to have a a teen that is healthy to be able to care properly with the clients right and what we do um so I'm not paying sick leave plus PTO plus overtime right but I have to be well myself too because it'll trickle down um but I guess that's a long answer but the short answer is having the team I love it I love it listen this it's been such a good conversation I really felt like we've kind of been on this roller coaster of the good and getting kind of in the emotional spaces and um and it just kind of goes to what you you do right it just kind of shows how you are

[34:03]  really um putting so much time into this and there so much growth that is actually happening and you're impacting lives you know you you can relate to a lot of people um because every family is probably going through this and when they see someone like yourself you give them hope um you give them that faith that we talked about right I want to kind of dive into when it comes to your your clients um and and those that are wanting to kind of be in recovery and wanted to know more about you or it comes to the community aspect of how how they can potentially be of of an asset to you um you talk about that nonprice out of things to kind of help out in that sense have you Incorporated anything technology that allows people to go to the website and actually find this information so we have a website um Serenity light recovery.com um and they can you know read about all

[34:54]  the different modalities that we offer here um we invite community members or local PE you know folks that want to come and um especially if they're in recovery share your story right like share your testimony um come on speaker nights bring in meetings support um we sometimes have you know uh events here um to bring people together and it's just sharing your story and your hope is um the the biggest gift right if someone needs help uh we we help them through the whole process right sometimes family members is like at their witson and in a crisis moment I don't know what to do so we have an incredible team that um will you know

[35:43]  guide um that individual that family from day one we have family support it's actually family um day one of family day today and um doc my dad and I are co- facilitating the brain lecture and we we show that fatherdaughter Dynamic like he walks in chief medical officer and I walk in founder CEO right and then I sit down as his daughter and as a person in long-term recovery and he just lets it out and they they can see that fatherdaughter Dynamic you know but then he shares that story and um uh so we are very we are very Hands-On um we will walk people through it and then I've had um individuals ask me about some of the modalities like Isis is microcurrent neuro feedback and it's been great for

[36:32]  um um traumatic brain injuries and I had um an individual just come and see me you know once a week and it's like let's see what we can do right because their testimony their relief their healing is going to speak you know um and move mountains uh so um as far as volunteers like it's really coming and sharing your your experience and if you want to help out um just reach out and we'll umig something out so I think about other leaders that are in this space as you and they're using um like AI to be able to give lifetime livetime either answers or stories um that could really help either those that like I mentioned volunteering

[37:18]  is that something that you guys are also thinking of implementing is that something that you can even incorporate within your establishment maybe I don't even know yeah so we're investigating so um I say investigating um but we um we're looking into different AI modalities uh I mean like systems right um because um I tread very carefully um and making sure that it's um helpful um and you know we have it set up on um on the website and um being able to choose right do you want a phone call do you want a text do you want an email and how do you want that communication so that's through Ai and we're building out systems currently um to be able to um be that kind of um AI coach or AI support

[38:12]  right if you just need somebody but it doesn't it does not um it doesn't replace people right I always say use AI as call like a you know call center I don't want you know um push one and then leave a message you know it's like I want them to talk to a person even like forward it to my phone I don't care right I want to say hello and I know like it's not going to be perfect and we can't answer every call but there's nothing like the human interaction I agree I agree I uh we're almost that time here but I I do want to just kind of have this blind question moment this like my best part of the conversation cuz I get to ask you a blind question

[39:00]  from another leader that did not even know that you're were going to be in this seat and then I then you have the ability to also create that blind question for the next leader that we interview so I leave you with this question if you could sit down for dinner with anyone alive or gone and just pick their brain who would it be and what's the first thing you would actually ask them oh my God the first person that came to mind was Jesus is that let's go what what was that first thing that you ask him that's the thing that's I'm giggling like what would I I'd be like I probably wouldn't even eat you know like I would say just tell me more I don't know like um you know

[39:48]  just I would just want to know what he's thinking in his heart I don't know that's a good question I didn't really came to mind I didn't think of Jesus but when you said it I thought to myself I would ask him why did you choose me why me right yeah what am I doing enough yeah am I could I do more you know because sometime we have to ask God why why did you choose me to do this work you talked about it sometimes because you ask yourself what am I really doing but we're doing it because we know that it's a it's a bigger calling out there you know it's it feels like it's it's our purpose so to kind of get that that Clarity I would love to know my God you know what I was thinking when I'm like share with share me share with me your heart like because I would

[40:36]  want to know so much like what's to come and this is amazing you know and why me is a great you know am I why was I chosen for this Mission um and why you know you're trusting me with with it um so here we go and what's your blind question to the next leader oh so my brother um says I I live today to make two people happy um and proud my 8 eight-year-old self and my 80-year-old self so my question would be if if you're looking at making your you know inner child and your future self proud

[41:28]  like what would it be you know what would be that one moment or that one um Adventure or accomplishment that if you were to make your eight-year-old self happy and proud and your 80-year-old self to look back and be proud what would that be and this is a dedication to my brother who's celebrating four years of sobriety to yes congratulations to your brother what's his name Sean congratulations SE when he sees this he knows you're talking about yes I know I'm so proud of him Heather if someone's listening to this right now and I'm pretty sure they are because there's so many people that just want to hear your story and they're in a dark place they're struggling with addiction or maybe they have a loved one who is what's that one thing you want them to hear before we actually wrap this up you're worthy and it's never too

[42:17]  late that you're not alone I'm here yeah I love it I love it you guys here heard it here first Miss Heather CEO and president founder um overcoming adversity and just showcasing that it could be done so if you guys are watching we thank you make sure you guys share this with someone that you know maybe going through this so has maybe even overcome this so they know that they're not alone as well on their Journey my name has been ephra host here on the hard and hard and hustle podcast and we got Miss Heather thank you guys so much for watching we'll catch you guys in the next one thank lers