For 27 years, I've been working in the same field, helping recovering addicts and substance abusers rebuild their lives. It's been my passion to stay clean and sober, to not use drugs or alcohol. So my personal goals and my work life mesh perfectly. After all, one can't run a recovery or treatment program and be addicted to substances. And while doing the work I love, this program sort of expanded on its own to our present 850 beds and the half-dozen businesses we own and operate.
But often, other business people treat me like I'm some kind of talented entrepreneur. They give me a lot of credit for the success of our organization. Like I'm a great planner or strategist. When I tell them that TLC just sort of evolved on its own into what it is today they think I'm being modest.
But it's true. When our first house on Robson St. in Mesa became full, we responded by purchasing a duplex next door. And when the duplex became full, we ended up leasing an old hospital on Country Club Road. And that's how the program evolved. We'd lease or buy a property and before long it was full. So we'd search until we found another place to put people. In less than 24 months we had 300 beds and were looking for more space.
It's the same way our businesses evolved. A lot of times addicts and alcoholics have a difficult time finding employment. Our response was to start a labor group that today sometimes sends out over 250 people on different jobs. Among the work we do is to clean up after ballgames, golf tournaments, and other events. Most of the businesses we started were related to the needs of our program and clients. We spent many years repairing our roofs and remodeling our own buildings until finally, we decided to get a state contractor's license. Later we were able to obtain our air-conditioning and refrigeration license as well.
And most all of this is been an evolutionary process. Someone would come up with an idea for a business we could do and so we would try it. Many times it wouldn't work. So we'd go on to something else. Much of what has happened at TLC is the result of trial and error – as opposed to a lot of planning on our part. While we had to plan how to do things in the short term – such as how to run our businesses – we've never really had a long-term plan other than trying to help people change their lives.
