Why Rehab Centers Don't Work & Going Completely Sober | Natalie Eva Marie + Chad Carlsen DSH #270

And I just started sponsoring one of the girls in the program and she's only 28 and then this last year eight of her friends have either died from fentanyl poisoning or

and that's insane to me like eight

in one year in one year

Wherever you guys are watching this show, I would truly appreciate it if you follow or subscribe It helps a lot with the algorithm It helps us get bigger and better guests, and it helps us grow the team.

Truly means a lot.

Thank you guys for supporting.

And here's the episode.

Welcome back to the show, guys.

Got fellow podcast hosts here with me today, hosts of the Hoopaholics podcast, Natalie Marie and Chad Carlson.

How's it going, guys?

Really good.

Doing great.

It's Natalie Eva Marie and it's Hopaholics.

Hoopaholics.

I might have to redo that.

There is a Hoopaholics on YouTube.

There is.

Yeah, every time you go type in hopaholics,

it switches it to hoopaholics.

Ah, interesting.

It's a fake football podcast.

Oh, that makes sense.

So how do you guys get started with the podcast?

I know there's a big mission behind it.

I'd love to hear why you started it.

Yeah, I'll answer that just because it's really close to my heart.

A year ago, 9-11,

2022, I got a phone call at 7.30 a.m.

from my daughter.

And when I answered the phone, she was screaming and that kind of scream when you know that somebody's dead.

And she was just screaming, Justin's dead.

And he died from fentanyl.

We call it fentanyl poisoning because there's no safe dose of illicit fentanyl.

Yeah.

And

as part of the healing, I decided that I'd be a voice for the people that no longer have a voice and for the families who can't get out there and bring awareness uh to this horrible epidemic i mean fentanyl is it's insane yeah 300 people are dying every single day so you know we're out there fighting that fight that's a lot of people is that in the u.s or worldwide us wow yeah that's cdc numbers so that's just what they're willing to admit yeah yeah exactly it's crazy yeah it was big where i grew up in jersey actually yeah oh really yeah east coast i feel like there was a lot of it over there i know it's crazy i just got back from spain and i was talking about it over there and they couldn't believe it.

Like, they hadn't even heard of it.

Yeah, so I thought that was interesting.

And that's the one that's in credit.

I know.

Well, no,

it's in pressed pills all by itself now.

Oh, yeah.

But you'll find it in, you'll find it

means you'll find it and that you buy off of the streets.

That yeah, Adderall.

There's Adderall that.

So we just had

a big TikTok star's dad, Cooper, Coop's dad, on the podcast yesterday, and he was telling us about a story of a girl, like, just studying for her finals at college, and she ran out of her prescription at her all, so her friend had it and gave her one just to get through studying, and it was laced, and she ended up

so it's literally in like recreational use is not what it was like when I was like in my alcoholism at all.

Yeah, you, it's you can't just

try anymore.

Yeah, it's not worth the risk.

So why are they putting it in these?

Does it help their margin or something?

I mean, that's the question.

It's highly addictive.

It's highly deadly.

But now you're talking about

a pill versus like black tar

that you have to cook up in a spoon, put in a syringe, and inject.

So more people are willing to take this

versus, you know, something scary like.

but it's way more potent and way more deadly than

you really only need like the smallest amount so um i work a 12-step program and uh i just started sponsoring um one of the girls in the program and she's only 28 and then this last year

eight of her friends have either uh died from fentanyl poisoning or committed

oh my god and that's insane to me like eight that's like

in one year year?

In one year.

That's terrible.

And this hits deep for you guys because you guys both have your experiences with right?

Yeah.

That's kind of how

this all kind of came apart and I joined the Hopaholics and the Inf.

Shout out to today's sponsor, Nord VPN, my personal favorite VPN.

You can change your virtual location very easily with Nord with one click and sometimes even zero click if you want to have on auto connect.

It's got amazing speed.

It's probably one of the fastest VPNs out there in my experience.

And you can use one nord account on six devices to make sure the whole fan is taken care of you can also use it to avoid price discrimination so you can see if certain products or services are cheaper in other areas or regions which i have personally used on flights and believe it or not i've saved some money you can also use it to secure your connection protect yourself from hackers especially in public locations like airports hotels etc you can make sure you're safe there it's supported on every major platform windows android ios etc so don't worry about where you can use it.

They got you taken care of.

You can get an exclusive deal at the link in the description, nordvpn.com/slash dhs.

If you're listening on audio, we will link it in the video.

It's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee.

Check it out, guys.

It's one of those things I happened to come on as just a guest on their show.

And then we hit it off.

And I know it sounds like cheesy, but I, it was suggested to me to write and put things down that you would like, kind of like a vision board type deal, but um, I hate saying vision board because I feel like it's so cliche, yeah.

Just like I have one, but I, yeah, I know what you mean, I don't like it.

It just sounds so like weird.

Um, so I had wrote down, I think, I don't know, maybe 10 years, because I have 10 and a half years of sobriety right now.

And

I wrote down that I've always wanted to

own a recovery center as well as

use my platform in some type of way because I used to be in so much shame and live a double life and not want to talk about working a 12-step program or that I was sober and

I lived that like duality for a long time.

And then finally,

you know, I

kind of

bit the bullet, I guess you can say, and was kind of like forced to go ahead and

tell my story on a reality show, Total Divas, and on WWE.

So that kind of put me out there just because it's powerful to have.

If I'm talking about all of my own nonsense and character defects, then nobody can really use that against me.

Right.

So

then I went on their show, and we all hit it off really well.

And

they fell in love with my husband, and then they got stuck with me.

So now I'm one of the hosts of the Hopaholics podcast and it's really awesome.

I think it's really important because I wish that when I was a lot younger because my first time getting sober was at 23 and I feel like if I who knows if this would have happened or if my life would have maybe went a different route but um just being able to talk about it or hear what's going on, you know, and seeing other people, like sobriety doesn't have to suck.

It's not boring.

It's not like this woe's me type of thing.

It's like once you're able to take control and make the choice and you can have a life beyond your wildest dreams.

I'm definitely a testament to that.

Like I'm so grateful to Chad, to his wife, Donna.

Like I absolutely love them and I just met them.

And that to me is like a God

moment in my life.

Yeah.

Sounds like you two are together for a purpose.

Yeah, for a purpose.

A bigger purpose.

And, you know, I, 20.

22 years ago, when my daughter was born, I is when I had a moment of clarity and I decided that to get clean.

I almost died in a car accident five days before she was born.

And I decided to get clean.

And,

you know, I was like, why did God leave you here?

And I knew he had left me here not just to be a dad, but to help other people that suffer from the same thing that I suffer from.

So I started working in an alcohol treatment two years later, opened up my first treatment center called Hope by the Sea.

It's 21 years old.

And from that, we've spawned the Infinity Group, which owns seven other brands, including we just opened up NEM Recovery Centers, which is NEM is always Natalie Eva Marie.

So then that one literally opened two weeks ago.

Wow.

So fresh.

So

we met.

Got her as a host on the podcast, and we already opened a treatment center together.

Amazing.

She's saving lives now.

Saving lives, man.

That is actually what we talk about all the time is we're just out trying to save lives.

Yeah.

Now, what's been both your experience with rehab centers, treatment centers?

I see mixed things about them.

Are you fans of their whole business model?

Well, I'm not fans of everybody's business model.

A lot of people come in and

I'm a fan of my own business model.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because I believe if you put client care first, all of your bills are paid.

You know, and most people come into the business because they think that they're going to make a shit ton of money.

Yes, you can make money in this business, not as much as you used to be able to because the insurance companies are the ones that are in control of how much you get paid.

And they've really cut that off.

But

if you're doing it for the right reason, then I'm a fan.

You know, I'm a fan.

If you're doing it just for money, like, let's say I'm going to give you a quick example.

There's an insurance policy that pays really, really well.

We'll just say it's Cigna.

I don't know if it is Cigna or not.

You know, wink, wink.

And then you have a Blue Shield of California that pays really, really sh.

And I have both of them in my program.

If this guy breaks the rule, some programs will be like, keep him because that's a Cigna policy.

But then if he's a detriment to other clients' safety, they'll keep him anyways.

You can't.

You can't treat somebody different based on their insurance policies.

You have to treat each individual as an individual,

not how much you're getting paid.

And on my behalf, why I really was just so drawn to the entire Carlson family is because they've been in business for, I mean, 21 years is incredible.

My experience in rehab was...

absolutely terrible.

I one, I didn't,

and that was just on me because I wasn't ready, ready, but the facility and just like the care

wasn't like I got to witness myself firsthand walking into Hope by the Sea and meeting the patients and seeing all of the case managers, the nurses, and everyone cares about your growth and what you're doing.

And it's really incredible to see.

Plus, we also have,

it's called Recover Out Loud, and it's a meeting, weekly meeting on Zoom for literally everyone.

So we have parents that have lost kids from fentanyl poisoning come on because, you know, they need somewhere to get some type of, they need to grieve, they need to hear other stories.

And it's like a place where everybody can kind of share openly as well as share what they're doing to kind of get out of that pain.

Because anybody that is either successful or that you want to have as a mentor, they've all gone through some s ⁇ .

Like everybody has.

And being able to talk with like like-minded people and you know it helps it helps them continue on their days and and become better but um what

amazed me about

and why i wanted to partner with them so much is because piggybacking on what chad said there's been so many patients that log into this meeting and say thank you chad for keeping me because he'll sponsor somebody if they can't afford it or like he's saying there's no favoritism based on insurance policy.

It's based on the patient and if they really want to get better.

You know, there's some people that aren't ready and they want to leave and they leave because you know you can't keep anybody and like they're in prison.

But that's what I thought was pretty beautiful because it's it's a it's a disease that's

people on a day-to-day basis.

And if you are going into treatment, you should go into the best care possible.

For sure.

It's really cool to see you guys speak up about this because I feel like a lot of them are money-driven.

Yeah.

They care about just the dollars on paper, you know what I mean?

And, like, my dad was an alcoholic, and I saw what he went through.

He ended up in a psych ward, and honestly, he came out worse.

So, I feel like a lot of people are coming out of these places worse because they're not being actually cared for.

Right, right.

And that's a big deal because when you're going into treatment, not only do you have a disease, right?

So, and you're super clouded because you have so many substances in your body.

So you have to go through detox and then, you know, you have to start basically learning who you are and then those tools.

And if it's not done properly, then unfortunately, like you said about your dad, you know, it really makes a person kind of

end up deteriorating and going even worse.

Saw it with him the later years in his life for sure.

Yeah, because they prescribe you all these medications

and you just lose all sense of emotion.

Right.

And it's terrible.

I'm not a fan of that, man.

I'm a fan.

One thing that we're a fan of is

are you interested in coming on the digital social hour podcast as a guest?

Well, click the application link below in the description of this video.

We are always looking for cool stories, cool entrepreneurs to talk to about business and life.

Click the application link below, and here's the episode, guys.

Mind, body, and spirit.

And, you know, we're really big on working, actual working the trauma that you sustain because I believe that addiction is not

a symptom of an underlying psychological issue, right?

So we work on that first.

And alongside of that, we're working on your fitness, you know, and your spirituality.

Powerful.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's something other places, they'll just give you a pill.

I mean, you should see our gym.

Yeah.

We have a full-blown gym.

We have full-blown commercial kitchen.

It's all top-notch stuff uh you know um and not and i'm and i will say that our program's not the program for everybody some people come in they hate it or they're not ready or or whatever but then on top of that i also hire the top-notch therapists and they go through our training um which has been proven 22 years of success wow um you know and uh i i believe that the infinity group which is our our our management company uh is the standard for the treatment industry today Yeah.

I mean, it sounds like it is, man.

I've never heard of something like this, like a gym in the facility.

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, my first time as a guest on the show, you know, I got to obviously,

you know, take a tour, and that's what blew my mind as well because I totally believe in it's your mind, body, spirit.

They're all connected.

So they all got to be flowing in the same direction or else something is off.

And walking into the gym, I'm like...

This is wild.

I know my rehab facility didn't even talk about it.

It didn't have a full court basketball.

No, it didn't.

It didn't.

All signed me up, man.

laker colors

exactly and so like just little things like that are super important because yes you know you have to work on all of this the emotions and and things or the trauma that you're basically trying to kind of numb um so that's a heavy part of treatment but then also

being able to talk about nutrition and 30 minutes a day move your body like all that stuff is super important that I feel like kind of gets missed in

I can't speak about other treatments but I know about the treatment that I was went to

and it was never even talked about terrible so how many rehab centers did you guys have to go through because I see articles about Pete Davidson you know going to like five ten places sounds pretty hard to find a good one so me personally I went to one and I was

I was, I personally wasn't ready.

And that's one of the things that I always kind of like, you know, make a strong point in is

the individual themselves, they have to be ready to get well.

So they have, because it's, it's, it's a simple program, but it's hard work.

Like that individual has to want it.

And I obviously was not ready.

So I was, I mean, I was relapsing in treatment, which is insane looking back on it.

I was definitely out of my mind, but when I came ready to actually do the work and

say, I'm doing this,

that's when I got it.

So it really is, I feel like, based on individuals, because I know for a lot of parents or a lot of like spouses, they want to send their loved one to treatment.

And it's, I always use the analogy, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

So there's like so many factors in

success rates and like how that kind of

what works and what doesn't.

but I think that it is based on the individual.

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Um, I went to uh

how many, how many, Donna?

Oh, she stuck with you all time.

Yeah,

I probably went to like eight treatment centers, um, and I went to the most bougie treatment centers.

And I, and I'll tell you, the very end, the last treatment center that I went to was the bottom of the barrel.

It was a, it was court-ordered.

Um, you know, I got myself in some trouble,

and uh, I was there for a year.

It was not a good, not a nice rehab, but it was exactly what I needed at the time.

Wow.

And I took advantage of every piece that I could.

And

that was it.

That was it for me.

Eight places.

What do you think they are doing wrong?

How do you think these places can improve overall?

I mean, they need to check my pockets because

the first six, I was high as f.

Right.

And I was relapsing in my house.

And she was relapsing in hers.

You definitely need to check my pockets.

They're not strip searching.

Yeah, they weren't strips.

Yeah, they weren't strip searching.

That's for sure.

I'd come in.

I'd come in because I actually relapsed as a treatment owner.

And, you know, and I fell

in the public eye, and it was really embarrassing in my public eye.

And it was really embarrassing.

And,

you know, I kept showing up to rehab and

they knew who I was.

wow and so they would um kind of give me like the red carpet treatment and the last one the last place though this lady um her name's nancy clark and she won't mind me shouting her out she didn't give me any red carpet treatment at all yeah you know and you needed that i needed that yeah because i'd walk in and i'd have in my pocket they wouldn't even search my pockets wow and then i'm in the bathroom like shooting methamphetamines

needles all of it they didn't search you or anything no Wow.

Same with me.

I was psychotic, thinking I was working for the CIA, all kinds of awesome stuff.

Because they just see you as a number.

They don't even care about you.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Wow.

And I paid for my rehab

out of my pocket.

Like, so

the nerve of me.

But I just was I had put my

I had put myself in some pretty hot water.

So I I couldn't put that on my parents either.

I love my parents.

They are my heroes.

So I didn't want them to have to pay for for my nonsense, essentially.

And so I was paying out of my pocket, yet I was like bringing

into the facility and then doing

my thing.

And then I would be going into meetings and I'd be talking like a mile a minute.

Just craziness.

But that's like the insanity of the disease, you know?

So that's why I always say like, you know, it really is truly based on the individual.

And that's also too

a big factor into you being successful in your sobriety.

Yeah, because they can only do so much.

They can guide you, like you said.

They can't actually get you clean.

It's on you.

So, like, what are their success rates of these?

Is there statistics on it?

I mean, I could give you statistics on Alcoholics Anonymous is like 5%.

5% of the people that go into Alcoholics Anonymous stay sober for one year.

Oh, that's it?

Yeah.

It's like the very

rough, you know.

I mean, treatment centers, I will tell you, the longer you stay in treatment, pilots, if they get busted, they have a five-year program program that they have to follow.

And if they get one relapse, they can never fly a plane again.

Wow.

So and that and their success rate is like 95% of pilots that go through that program succeed.

Dang.

That's high.

So the truth is, is that the longer you stay in treatment,

the better your chances are.

Now, you don't have to stay in crazy residential treatment for a year.

It's a step-down process.

You do the residential, then you do outpatient, and then you do sober living with with you know once-a-week counseling right and you get drug tested regularly for and if you do that for a year uh it is 80%

okay yeah that's pretty good which I always highly recommend because

you if you've especially if you've clearly been struggling that you and that's why you're in rehab you got to do a lot of work so

to go back into your so-called day-to-day life is I think not the best.

And that's why it should be like the step-down program, just because

you're going to have to do some,

you know,

your friends can't be the same ones that you were hanging out with.

Right.

And you can't stay in that same circle because it's very easy to go to treatment and be like, yes, I have finally found God.

I got this.

And I'm going to save my buddy over there.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And then you leave and then it's like you see your buddy.

And then, you know, a couple hours later, you're

high.

Yeah.

And you're like,

yeah.

I mean, I remember.

You're like, dude, just

90 days clean, bro.

I'm like, it's so crazy because the fact that I can, like, it's amazing because I get to laugh at all my nonsense that I used to do.

Yeah.

Because now I've like, you know, stacked some years together.

When I was 23, I graduated college and

got myself in some trouble.

So I had to turn myself in.

And the judge was like, well, you know, um you know I'll let you walk and graduate and then you're gonna have to a week later come and turn yourself into county jail I was like okay so I go to jail for three months and that's where I was going to like AA but I was only going really to get out of my little like cell and

I remember thinking like okay I can do this I got this

awesome then I get out three months later and within like seven hours

seven hours it took you that long because it usually was like two for me man

dang straight to the and that's like crazy all good intentions until like they open that gate that and I'm on my way out and I'm like that's it yeah exactly because it's all you know yeah it's all I knew you're used to it yeah it was it was literally I got addicted to crystal meth when I was 13 years old 13 13 dang that's early how how did it get introduced to you I was smoking weed already with some buddies and I my neighbor down the street was the weed dealer and I went over to his house to buy some weed and he was like I'm all out.

And he's like, but I do have some speed.

And they called it speed back in the day.

Speed.

Yeah.

Right.

I was like, oh, what's that?

And he's all, he's like, it just makes you like, feel good and go up.

And I was like, all right, let me try it.

I remember I went home and I chalked up the line.

I snorted.

I never snorted anything in my life.

I snorted the line and I was up for like three days.

And it was like the best.

I was like, why didn't somebody tell me about this sooner?

And I was off and running for 10 years.

Wow.

10 years.

Every day.

Every day.

Damn.

Every day.

13 to 23.

And you met your wife during that time?

No, this one.

I met her when I was sober, and then she witnessed some of the most horrific relapses.

And she stuck with me, and she walked through hell, and she yelled and screamed at me, and left me.

And

yeah.

That's awesome.

I smoked some synthetic weed once.

I ended up in an ambulance.

Oh, that's terrible.

I almost died.

Yeah.

I had like a seizure.

I was in college.

Wow.

Yeah, it was crazy, man.

And I've never smoked weed since.

I mean, I just can't do it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The guy was like, yo, I got this weed from Cali.

We were in Jersey at the time.

This is amazing.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God, dude.

Terrible.

Yeah, no, I couldn't even talk.

Yeah, it was scary.

Yeah.

I don't drink.

I don't smoke.

It's been like three years.

Nice.

Yeah, which is rare in Vegas.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know for sure.

Everyone here does it.

Yeah.

They drink, smoke, and do.

Yeah.

And that's another thing, too, is like, I think why we're so kind of like passionate about kind of this movement.

Obviously, it's really close to Chad because of his daughter and losing

someone so close to you and kind of witnessing the fentanyl crisis that's going on.

But it's also,

I feel like it's really...

a positive impact for the younger generation like you don't have to try to like fit in by drinking or using what's around.

You can still have a good time.

You can still go out, but you don't have to

think that you need to, I guess I need to have a drink.

Or I guess maybe I'll smoke.

It's like, it's okay not to.

For sure.

Or don't do it and just pass everybody up financially.

Well, you know what?

You know who I'm a huge fan of right now?

Well, not right now.

I've been a fan of him for quite some time.

So I'm the youngest of all boys, so sports was always big, and I didn't get into like my nonsense until later on in in college but um deion sanders so deon sanders and what he's doing at colorado amazing but what's awesome about him too is he's never picked up a drink and he's never uh picked up a wow in his entire life i didn't know that yes which is incredible and clearly you have

a massively successful athlete yep dad and uh

you know

finances he's doing pretty good too

i think his son's making the most ever for a college quarterback.

It's crazy.

But I'm glad you said that because I used to not be able to talk to people unless I was drunk in college.

Right.

Like, I was socially awkward.

I had to drink.

And it took me a while to even just figure that out after I got sober, how to communicate.

For sure.

I mean, look at you now.

You have a podcast that kills it.

And obviously, you're not doing anything to get on.

No, I'm not drunk.

Yeah, I'm not drunk, not high,

completely sober.

Is it?

I found, though, that sometimes that's introverted people, more introverted, because I feel like I'm totally socially awkward.

At least I feel that way.

We really crush it on these things.

For some reason, dude, yeah, I've had on a lot of guests that are introverts, too.

Yeah.

And they just crush it.

Yeah.

It's weird.

I mean, we're both introverts.

Can you imagine?

She's an introvert and she had to get up in front of 100,000 people live.

That is crazy.

You know?

Yeah.

In an awkward outfit.

Bikini, basically.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wrestled people and like it was live.

You must have been nervous, right?

No, for sure.

Of course.

Especially because I kind of was thrown into

that whole experience, which was for sure like right time, right place.

God definitely opened up that door for me to walk into WWE.

But yeah, for sure, walking into Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown.

I never wrestled a day in my life.

I'm a field athlete.

Like, I like to stay on the ground.

Like, soccer is my sport.

That's what I played in college.

And so, going into wrestling was like,

wait, what?

A suplex, huh?

Like,

even though, like, I tried out and was in going for the developmental contract, but then God had other plans for me.

And

I skipped that because of the reality show that they just so happened.

Total Divas was about to start filming, and then all of a sudden, there was a curveball, and they wanted two fresh girls that knew nothing, didn't know how to wrestle, didn't know the business.

And then here I am.

Wow.

And I'm like, all right, everything happens for a reason, right?

Yeah, I truly believe that.

Yeah.

So, were you completely sober during that time, the WWE days?

I was.

I actually had

just gotten out of rehab on like maybe four or five weeks prior to my last like callback for WWE.

And it was like the physicality to see if you can even like handle

the

what it takes to be inside the ring.

Yeah.

And I had met my now husband at that that same time and i had relapsed right before that uh

that tryout in front of my husband because i did i've said this story on the on the yeah it was in vegas at a bachelor a joined bachelor bachelorette party for his best friend i was getting married oh yeah it's great

i literally met him and then i didn't tell him that i was at a just at a rehab because that's not like who wants to hi nice to meet you um by the way i'm a mess you know that's like not what you lead with So

we came out to Vegas and then

once again, off to the races.

And then he's a smart man.

And right off the bat, he's like, you're an alcoholic.

Called my mom.

And my mom was like,

my mom was like, oh.

Yeah, she is.

Yeah, I know.

It's wild.

And then, so basically, he gave me the ultimatum of like, if you really want us to be together, you need to go back to Alcoholics Anonymous to start working program.

So, with my tail between my legs, I called my previous sponsor and asked her if she would take me back.

And then she said, Well, you know the deal.

And I said, Yes, I do.

And I did.

And then I went balls to the wall into my last audition.

And then that's when everything like opened up for me.

Bam.

What a story.

Seriously, right?

Yeah, that's crazy.

So you met him in WWE?

So I met him right before.

So it was right when, like, so I started WW.

Wow.

Tongue twister.

Yeah,

I started in 2013 and that was like right

at that time when Instagram basically became Instagram yeah so it was prior to Instagram even being on like Androids it was only on Apple no DMs yet no like special thing like no crazy filters like what we what we have now and so I met him

right before

walking into a whole nother realm.

Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah, I remember that Instagram, the blue layout.

Oh, yeah.

And then people, like, you would post those like weird little like filtered photos.

Yeah, I didn't get on it.

I'm older.

You got on late.

Yeah, I was like,

they already had DMs and stories and all that when I got on.

Yeah, so he, so he was like, when I told him that I was about to embark on this journey of possibly going and becoming, and that was, this was just the developmental deal at the time.

He at first looked at me crazy, thinking like, why does she want to get punched in the face?

And then, and I let him know just because if I had gotten the job, then I would have to move to Tampa because that's where their facility was.

Yeah.

And I didn't want to have somebody try to be like, I love you, don't go.

But he wasn't.

He was like, well, if you really want to do this, then

I'll support you 100%.

So he would pack my lunches before I would go to my tryout.

Wow, he packed your lunches.

Yeah.

Damn.

Well, he's a really big nerd.

Like, shout out to Jonathan.

I love you.

He was working at Blizzard at the time.

Blizzard's a gaming.

Yeah, I've heard of Blizzard.

Oh, okay, yeah.

He used to be a gamer.

Oh, my God.

My husband is a huge gamer.

Okay.

Like, he is.

And I say, like, a big nerd.

I don't mean that in any like bad family.

No, I feel like nerd nerds.

He's like this buffed out, like, model-looking nerd.

Yeah.

Nerd is a compliment.

Oh, yeah, for backside of it.

When I say it, when I say it, I totally mean it in a compliment, so I always have to reiterate that I mean it in a compliment because I did marry him.

But

so he would be

going to Blizzard and I would be going to my tryout.

So before we would leave, you know, he would pack my lunch for me and send me on my way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How intense were those tryouts in the training?

Because they're

nasty injuries.

Insane.

I remember the tryout.

So they don't do them anymore, but they, and we were not called divas anymore,

but they would do diva searches.

So they would go to all the major cities and

look for the next WWE diva.

And we were in Los Angeles, and so they narrowed it down after callback, callback, they narrowed it down to I think like 15 of us.

So the first day, you know, we get into the ring and they have us start like doing forward rolls and

running the ropes.

And I remember there was a couple girls that were like, wait, you want us to do what?

We're out of here.

Because they're like, you know, from Los Angeles.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

So for me, it was everything that I was like

wanting and missing in my life because I was an athlete for so long that I was missing that competitiveness.

You have to obviously handle all the physicality, then you get to build a character and perform live in front of a live audience, and then you get to travel the world and do amazing things

within the community.

So my dad's a Vietnam veteran, and this is another thing why I really ended up wanting to partner with

Chad and the Infinity Group is because my dad's a Vietnam veteran and so our military is everything to me.

In WWE, I got got to go to Afghanistan twice to go visit our troops.

And, you know, I feel

like I always wanted to do something because when the guys come back from war, they're kind of not well.

And then they're kind of stuck, whether it's they're suffering from PTSD or substance abuse, which a lot of them do because they're trying to numb whatever they saw or whatever they did.

And

Chad and what his family have done, you know, they really, they have three houses that are strictly for our veterans.

And I thought that was just like absolutely amazing.

So my dad, I mean, I take him right now to the VA.

So the fact, like, that it's,

there's a facility out there for these guys, and I get to be a part of it is everything.

Like, I got to go a couple weeks back, one of my first times out, uh, kind of touring the facilities and stuff.

I got to go to one of the houses and sit down with one of the guys that is in the program and in one of their houses and got to talk to him and see how he's doing, you know?

And I thought that was just like amazing because I think also too, because they are

a different breed, that it's nice to be amongst other veterans because they kind of, you know, they all can relate to some degree, even if they're in different branches or whatnot.

And I love that fact.

So I think after that visit, that's when I was like, okay, where do I sign?

Yeah, I love that.

You guys must get a lot of veterans.

My cousin served in Iraq and he had problems coming back, man.

Now he's in jail.

And it sucks to see because I didn't realize it until I had a lot on veterans on the show, like what they actually deal with.

Yeah.

All the trauma.

And it's just, it's terrible.

Yeah, we have two houses that are specifically for mental health primary, which really works on the PTSD and the other other mental health issues.

And then we have one, a bigger, a much bigger program that is substance use disorder, is what they call it today, which would just be addiction treatment.

Yeah.

So, yeah, and then we're also contracted with the VA.

Oh, no.

So, we're actually part of the VA.

So, the VA, it's called the Community Care Network.

So, we're part of the Community Care Network for the VA.

That's cool.

So, any veteran can actually, that service connected that is honorably discharged from

the military can go to the VA, they can get a consult,

and then they can come to our.

Now, if the VA has an open bed in their program, which they hardly ever do,

that has to get filled first.

But once most of the time, the beds at the VA aren't filled, aren't fully filled.

Right.

So then they refer them out to us.

Interesting.

I didn't know they were fully filled.

That means there's a lot of them dealing with some of those.

Oh, for sure.

Well, there's also, there's just not enough beds in the VA hospital for,

because I mean, especially especially after wartimes, these guys are coming back.

And there's not a lot of, it's not really good how they reintegrate people back into society,

whether it's the military or our prison system.

Both of them are lacking big time in

the world.

Yeah, everyone I talk to from prison.

Oh, for sure.

It's the recidivism rate is 80%.

80% of people

go back to prison.

Yeah.

It's a revolving war.

Yeah.

it's sad, and I think, too, especially with our veterans, I think they're instilled in their head to like not ask for help or not talk about it because you know it's like get the job done, strong, tough, um, and don't, yeah, exactly, yeah, don't show emotion, don't show emotion.

So, I think there's a lot of them that don't seek to help, uh, whether it's they don't know where to go or what to do.

And so, I'm like on a mission, I want to go to every single VA

and talk to whomever is basically the yes man.

So that way I can get these guys the help they need.

And now partnering with them, it's like we have the facility, we have the tools for them to go somewhere and, you know, get their life back.

Yeah, that's awesome.

So how many more beds can you accommodate right now for the veterans?

Well, it's easy to grow.

I have 80 beds in Hope by the Sea

that we can accommodate for veterans.

And then we have 24 in the two different mental health facilities, which it's actually not hard to grow those.

So, yeah.

Yeah, I got a lot of veteran contacts.

I'll introduce you guys.

Okay, that'd be awesome.

We could fill those up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, it's been a great episode, guys.

Anything you want to close off with or promote?

Well, we want to definitely promote the Hopaholic podcast.

Of course.

Yeah.

And we want to really also want to promote, you know, the Infinity Group, which is

the hub of seven different brands of alcohol treatment centers and mental health facilities.

Nice.

And if anyone is listening and wants to, they don't have to even show their face for our Recover Out Loud Zoom meeting that is at 6 p.m.

Pacific Standard Time every Tuesday.

And it's in the link in our Hopaholics IG or my personal IG that you can go and, you know, listen to other people if you're struggling.

Nice.

Yeah, I'll put these links in the video for you guys.

That's amazing.

And where are your locations at?

We're all in Southern California right now.

And then we're opening up a place in hopefully San Antonio, Texas.

Okay.

Nice.

Yeah, if you're watching it, guys, reach out.

Yeah, let's do it.

All right.

Thanks for coming on, guys.

Great episode.

Thanks for watching, as always.

See you guys next time.