Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories - With Alcohol Dino Miliotis felt untouchable and was able to show up in the big moments with less stress and more confidence, until it all came crashing down..

Episode Date: May 17, 2023

Dino had it all or so he thought. Business was great and cash was flowing in. Alcohol served as Dino’s medicine. With alcohol, he felt untouchable and was able to show up in the big moments with less stress and more confidence. Towards the end of his struggle with addiction, Dino found himself completely alone and knew something had to really change. Dino entered a treatment center and checked his ego at the door. This is Dino’s story on the sober motivation podcast. --------------- Check out Dino on Instagram  Follow Sobermotivation on Instagram Check out the SoberBuddy App More information about SoberLink Check out Palm Beach Recovery Centers Donate to support the podcast      

Welcome back to season two of the Subur Motivation Podcast. Join me, Brad, each week is my guests and I share incredible and powerful sobriety stories. We are here to show sobriety as possible, one story at a time. Let's go. Dino had it all, or he thought so. Business was great and the cash money was flowing in. Alcohol served as Dino's medicine. With it, he felt untouchable and was able to show up in the big moments.

with less stress and more confidence. Towards the end of his struggle with addiction, Dino found himself completely alone and knew something had to really change. Dino checked himself into treatment and checked his ego at the door. This is Dino's story on the Sober Motivation podcast. The Sober Buddy app.

This community is one of the most supportive I've ever seen. Starting with the meeting hosts who lead with support, kindness, and understand, when someone falls the community rallies to help support and encourage. People from all different countries who show up as strangers leave as friends. It is a true example of community and connection. What makes sober buddies special is everyone is working on the same mission to get another day sober so we can live our best lives

and to provide a safe place so no one feels they have to do it alone. Check out the app today or head over to your sober buddy. and come and join us for some of our live support groups. It's hard to find the motivation to get sober when you're in the trenches of addiction. It's easy to say I'll stop tomorrow or I'll cut back tonight. What's harder is putting action behind those words. That's why I've teamed up with Soberlink. Soberlink's remote alcohol monitoring system was specifically designed to help in your recovery,

not just some breathalyzer you buy at the store. Small enough to fit in your pocket and discreet enough to use in public, Soberlink devices combine facial recognition, tamper detection, and real-time results so friends and family know instantly that you're sober and working towards your recovery goals. Visit soberlink.com slash recover to sign up and receive $50 off your device. Are you a loved one struggling with alcoholism or substance use disorder? Palm Beach Recovery Centers can help. Their inpatient medical detox and residential facility provides personalized treatment, to help you get back on track.

Their experienced staff is here to support you every step of the way. For more information, visit their website, palm beach recovery centers.com. How's it going, everyone, Brad here. Buckle up for this one. Incredible episode. Huge thanks to Dino. Now let's get to the show. Welcome back to another episode of the Sober Motivation podcast.

Today we've got my friend Dino with us. Dino, how are you? I'm doing great. Brad, how are you? I'm well, buddy. I told you before we jumped on here for the recording, I had my five kilometer walk this morning, so I'm fired up and I'm ready to put a good show together for the people.

Let's do it. So how we start every show is the same. What was it like for you growing up? What was it like for me growing up? You're talking to a serial entrepreneur from post of my light and still, but my earliest memories of growing up is I was encouraged by my parents to explore and believe that I could do anything and just dream. I mean, big. I mean, from a young age, just dreaming about what I wanted to do in the future. And that just was my fuel.

Yeah, no, that's beautiful. What was it like for school in friendships and relationships? Everything like there was pretty good for you? Personally, I mean, I obviously enjoyed the relationships and the friendships, even from a kid to, you know, obviously I'm a very social person. But the truth is that I really did not like school. I couldn't wait to get out of high school. Couldn't wait to explore my potential in business and just exploring all my ideas that I had, bubbling in my brain. My father was a principal of a private Greek school, Greek American school. So, you know, obviously education was paramount in our family. And for me to have the chat with my father right after high school and saying, you know, dad, I know you're telling me to go to college and everything, but I've got a semester and I just don't like it. I mean, I just don't want to do it.

And it crushed it. I mean, obviously, but he was beautiful enough to allow me to explore what was just my burning desire. And so he made me promise that if things didn't work out in my exploration of business ventures, that I would come back to school and graduate and get a degree, you know, some type of degree. And I agreed to that. But I knew, you know, when I was agreeing to it, that I'd never see a college classroom again. It was just my get out of jail free card. And I just felt completely free, you know?

Yeah, I hear you on that for sure. So when did you start drinking? When was that introduced to your life? In a Greek family, very, you know, and I'm sure it's not just Greeks, but, you know, we celebrate life. We celebrate in parties and church events and things like that. So from a very young age, it was. It wasn't taboo to have somebody underage have a sick of alcohol, right? But fast forward, probably in the mid-90s, I invented a product called Bug Ban, which was an insect-repelling

wristband. And overnight was just a complete success. I mean, I was, you know, in People magazine, I went on Oprah's show. I was being interviewed and all that. And I was just like, wow, this is just surreal. You know, you go to the gas station to pump gas and people are running up to you saying, hey, I just saw you on TV. I'm like, dude, I don't even know you.

You know what I mean? It's kind of scary, right? I wasn't prepared for it. And I noticed very early on that with each interview, with each home run that I was expected now to hit, it came with the necessity to wear a suit of armor. And my suit of armor, unfortunately, came, you know, a bottle. Alcohol. Alcohol was my drug of choice.

Always was. And that's when I started drinking secretly, you know, to, get that so-called liquid bravery so that I could go on and seem like I'm fearless and I'm impervious to the human condition and fears and all that stuff. So probably 1996, I would say. When did you first realize, like, you were using alcohol to solve those problems? Did it take a while? 1999. Do you have a few years? Because it took until 2020 for me to actually go into a rehab center and get clean and solar. I knew I had a problem. I knew. I had a problem. I knew. that I couldn't stop on my own. I was just that type of personality with, you know, that just

feeds on drive. But the thing was is that during all the years of my addiction, instead of having people frown on it and tell me what a bad person I was or that I should stop, it was actually understood, accepted, and encouraged. And me saying, you know what? Look at me. I'm successful. I'm making truckloads a month. I'm inventing stuff. I'm in the middle of business. I have so many ventures, I'm not an alcoholic. I'm not a dropletic. I don't have a problem like everybody else, right? So even though I knew that this was going to be a serious problem that I'd have to address one day, I just kept kicking it down the can for literally 20 years. So you realize you kind of had that maybe internal dialogue with yourself in 99 that if you wanted to stop,

you wouldn't be able to. What was that like for you? It was conflicting. You know, I mean, obviously you don't want any, you don't want to feel like you're a failure in something. And you're talking about somebody who's had no fear in his life ever. I would have never tried half the things that I tried if I had some reservation or any hint of fear. So I guess like most alcoholics, most people with substance use disorder, I mean, you attack it, you know, these recreational drinkers itself.

I was not one of those. I had to have it in my bloodstream. That was my medicine. and I had to have it all the time. I knew it was wrong, but at the same time, I equated that to just that medicine, right? If I have this, I can sound excited. I can have a killer boardroom meeting. I can wake up the dead.

I can have people follow me. I can motivate them. I can inspire them. It became my crutch. So it was very conflicting because I knew deep down. I mean, who am I? You know, I started hating myself. But the exterior, the persona was this polished, perfect, that very few can touch.

I mean, I was just trailblazing. I like that you brought that up there too, right? That act. And just with conversations I've had with people over the years and my own story, too, I mean, that is exhausting in itself to kind of keep that on, especially since you mentioned 20 years. Yeah, 20 years. And let me define most of those 20 years. It wasn't just light drinking.

It wasn't wine. One person's story of addiction isn't better than enough. But just so you and the listeners can understand is we're talking about a handle a day of vodka. And there's no classy way to drink vodka when you're going through a handle a day. I mean, obviously you forget the glass. You don't need the ice. You don't need the mixers. I mean, let's base it, that's all an excuse. What you want is what's in the bottom. And so I remember I always have one in freezer. I knew where every look store was in my surrounding area. I knew what time they opened. I knew the ones that closed late. I knew the ones that were open during a holiday. And you better not have a third of my bottle empty without a reserve bottle on hand because I would freak out. I mean, I literally would have

a sip or two of straight vodka every hour, 24 hours a day. It would just never stop. Or I would shake it. Right. Now, combine that with the cocaine. or the methadone or the oxy or literally whatever was around. So it came this exhausting balancing act. Too much vodka, you got to mellow out with something else. Too much something else. Now you got to take more vodka. So the equilibrium that I was chasing for,

sometimes towards the end it took me four or five hours just to reach a state of what I thought was normal. And that wouldn't last long either before the dance begins again. So it was a very exhausting life. And then the confusing part there, what you shared on before is this stuff with business and everything else is going well. I had another guy on the podcast and he was on that show, I think you can dance. And he was at the top of his game, right? Sounds like you were too, right?

You're at the top of your game. And this is how you're living kind of in the shadows. And you're thinking like, I definitely inside, I think we're like, I have something is not right. something is going on, but externally, like, you're moving and shaking out there, man. So that's sort of, if I had the guess here, Dino, that's probably what was one of the reasons that kept you stuck. I mean, also, there's other things, but I would say that would be one of the things is everything else kind of externally seems to be going pretty well.

That's right. You hit it spot on. I mean, first of all, it's shown out to everybody who's the sober warrior, whether it's a drug of choice or it's alcohol or whatever. It is a beautiful community that there's no race, there's no religion, there's no background, there's no upbringing, there's no class, you could be a celebrity, you could be an average Joe. We all have the same story, and believe it or not, it's one of the huge tribes where we all respect each other.

I mean, look, alcohol is an equal opportunity destroyer, okay? I don't know how else to say it, but unlike other things that I'm used to, you know, when you join this tribe, when you join these people that probably wear their recovery stripes, it's not that somebody who's got 47 years under their belt should be the general and me who's got three years should be the private. I mean, we're all the same, right? I can now better understand how true celebrities, you know, the stuff that you read about the tabloids and stuff, where at first you'd say, wow, they had all this, all this money, all this power, all this success. How can they just waste it away on addiction?

You know, easier said than done. You know, don't judge unless you sit in those shoes and find out the unrealistic expectations that are put on. And obviously, you want to please. You want to be life. It's inherited in everybody that we want to be life. We want to be seen as a good person, successful person. And it just becomes fate.

You're living a lie. Yeah, it's so true. Sometimes I'll post a celebrity story and people will mention. It's not common, but sometimes people will. Well, it must be nice to have all the funds, you know, to go to the nicest places. And I don't know what the answer is to that, but I don't know if it's harder for somebody who's going to have all the funds who could carry on completely the same way and experience less consequences that somebody with very little is going to experience a ton of life consequences, jail, getting kicked out of their house, getting their lights cut off and stuff. You know, I don't know. Both of those situations, I think, are going to pose an extreme challenge to getting sober.

I heard this thing where you mentioned alcohol is an equal opportunity destroyer. Many moons ago, I mean, from Yale or jail, it can affect anybody. And we're hearing more and more of those stories. As more people share their stories, I think more people become comfortable to sharing their stories. I'm wondering, Dino, did anybody in your life mention anything to you or know the extent of your addiction? Good question. Well, first of all, let me not discount the fact that I'm divorced three times. That has to tell you something, right?

Yes, it was, you know, in the closest of circles, it's like, wow, you have a problem. What are they going to do? I was a strong A-type personality, somebody who just had absolutely no fear. I remember this quote. I love it by Seneca. You act like mortals in all that you fear and like immortals in all that you desire. Well, you know what? You're talking to a person that desired them.

I wanted greatness. I was born to be great. You know what I mean? I wanted things so bad. I could taste it. I would dream that hard. So there's not much that you could tell me, especially, I mean, it's one thing if I was homeless, and I'm not knocking homeless.

I mean, it's a serious problem. But, you know, you're talking about a guy who had 18 homes who had Rolls Royces and garage filled with trinkets and stuff like that. What are you going to tell me that's possibly going to explain in at least my mind that? that alcohol isn't hurting me. Alcohol is actually helping me. And if it means that I get sick once in a while or I lose energy or I lose motivation from time to time and I have to balance, so be it. It's the price you pay for the life you choose. That's how I would think about it. That's crazy, right? But it's just like, hey, this is the sacrifice I'm making. So I'm going to be sick

for a couple hours a day. But look at me. I can buy whatever I want. I can do whatever I want. I have financial freedom. See, everything was equated to finances. Everything was equated to material things. It took me so long to get that my purpose, why I'm here, is so much more than just the material trinkets. Yeah, that's powerful there too. When was it in your life if you can kind of pinpoint something that you kind of bought into

that idea that your purpose was based off of your ability to earn or your ability to innovate. Does that make sense? Well, it was encouraged as a child. And, you know, again, I mean, some people aren't lucky enough. I found my parents were very strict. And, you know, like all kids, you resent your parents at some time in your life. But, you know, looking back, I was very, very lucky that thought process was nurtured. And yeah, you could be whatever you want. I mean, there was nobody that said, hey, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I'd say, well, I want to be a doctor. I want to be a lawyer. I want to be a scientist. I want to be an astronaut. And imagine the parent that would say, you can't do all four.

You can only do one. Maybe. You know, let me give you the statistics of how many people don't make it. I mean, I didn't have those parents. So I believed I could fly from a very young age. And this gift, I can't explain it. It's a blessing that from a very early age, I understood that I had this aura that people wanted to be around.

I mean, I had people doing things for me. I never asked them to do. Even as a kid, I would organize these plays and I would organize these fun activities outside, write scripts of the Brady Bunch and rehearse, okay, you be Jan, you be Marsha, you be Greg, you be Peter. You know, I'd memorize those things. And so for me, the belief that I could fly just, and it's still in it. It's still in me.

But it started out at my earliest memory is like age seven, for sure age seven. I knew that I had a gift and I was special. Yeah, I got you on that. When did you realize, too, like, because you mentioned there about it was all about the finances and that's what everything was built on. If that was good and everything else ought to be good, like, when were you able to kind of break down that barrier to say, like, hey, maybe there's more to life? Ready? 7-7-2020, the day I went into react. That's how I got to.

See, I knew towards the enemy. you're talking to somebody that by 2017, I had built a billion dollar a year empire, just enjoying life. But by 2017, I lost my father. I didn't think it would impact me as it did. And it didn't hit me right away. I was more interested in making sure that all the people that were coming to the funeral had rooms, that my jet was ready to fly, that everything was done for people. but it hit me like six months later.

So from 2017 until the time that I went into rehab, I wasn't showing up for work anymore. I wasn't showing up to the office, which is not like me. I had a windburned face, which is typical of an alcoholic or a drug addict. I mean, I looked like crap,

to be real frank with you. But I knew that I still had the ability if I could just talk to people over the phone that I sound, at least in my mind, semi-smart. They don't have to see me. They don't have to see my bloated body, but they could see me. But, I mean, it got so bad where I would have these hallucinations. I remember I'm in this huge house. There's compound, I call it, in San Diego. And I have all these statues and beautiful things in my

house. And there were many times that those bronze statues turned and looked at me and actually had a conversation with me. Or my cats were giving me sound business advice. I was, off the rails by that time. Every friend I had, every business associate that I had was not distancing, but I will say this, there were a lot of people who took pleasure in seeing the king bleed. There were a lot of people that took pleasure in knowing that now that I'm in a weakened state, they can overtake me, or feeding my paranoia, thinking, suggesting that there's people in my house and I need to carry guns, and I was just losing my mind. So, Tore you. the end. I remember holding a handle of vodka. I'm in the hallway of my own house. I'm looking at all this

artwork and all this material crap, right? My wife's gone. Everybody's gone for my life and I was crying. And I said, I have all this and I have nothing. And that's when I knew it was time. I didn't care about what other people thought of me. I didn't do it to get back my wife. I didn't do it to get back so-and-so or show so and so. I did it for me. For the first time, I did it for me. And you know what the hardest thing for me when I went into the doors of rehab was? It wasn't surrendering that I need help. It was turning off and surrendering my phone. Well, what if I miss a call? What if I miss a meeting? What if I miss this? What have been missed? And I finally came to the understanding that Dino, whatever you remember, you're alive up to this point. Kill it. Kill it. Learn from these guys.

Be humble. Put your ego in check. Don't tell people what you were, what you owned or what you create your regular guy and just learn. And all good things will happen after that. So it was really the first time in my life that I surrendered my ego at the door. And it was the best thing I could have done, Brad. Yeah, wow. That's powerful. Bring us back though a little bit. So 2017 is when things started to maybe speed up a little bit. A lot of bit. A lot of bit. And then you get sober in 2020.

Throughout this whole time, this 20 years, did you ever try to get sober? Did you ever do anything? Like, I'll check out a meeting or I'll talk with a therapist or I'll talk with a buddy I know that might be sober. Like, did you try anything throughout this? I tried mildly. And you have to understand, again, the reservation that if I'm giving up something that gives me superhuman strength to be successful in business, wow, that's going to affect and impact me financially, right? But I did try a few times. And I'm not knocking the therapy or the work,

but one of those times was with a psychiatrist. Now, you know, obviously they're there, they're useful and so forth. I'm not knocking the industry. But for me, my personal experience was they didn't want to hear what was in my head. They didn't anger what my fears or phobias was. At least that's how I thought. All they wanted to do was experiment with dosage and up at every two, weeks, and this is going to take six weeks to stay in your system, this is going to take long. And basically all these, it would slow down my already lightning fast brain to the point of almost being a walking zombie. I threw all the prescriptions out and I started drinking again because I'm just like,

I can't do this. My brain is my life. My thought processes connecting the dots that I see as far as opportunities is my life. You think I'm going to give that up so I can be night. of the living dead, I can't do that. And so I would always quickly just justify that, you see, that's why I'm drinking. You see? Yeah, you know, I have heartburn. I have no stomach lining. You know, everything bothers me. I don't look as good as I should look, but that's the sacrifice I have to do because now not only do I have an empire, but I have brokers and people working with me for me

that I personally mentored and made millionaires. And for me, I cared more about them than It's insane. I mean, at some point, if I'm not whole, I'm no good to anybody, especially my family, my poor ex who put up with, I don't know how much, you know what I mean, just to see me day by day just slowly deteriorate and become delusional. But the money was always there. You know, we want to have fun. Let's go shopping. Let's go on a huge vacation. Let's get the best hotel because we can. You know, why get the top penthouse? Because it's the best. I mean, that was the thought process.

So it's kind of hard to unlearn that stuff. Yeah, there's a lot of different stuff that you were tied into. And I'm starting to see the big picture here now, too. Like that this was just right into everything, right? This was really tied into your identity. Like, this was who you were. Correct. This was exactly who I was.

And I put myself at such a high standard. It wasn't sustainable the way that I was. was living, but I just, you know, it's really, really difficult. I don't think there's there when you hear people that say, well, just snap out of it or you need to slow down. Well, just think positive thoughts. Easier said than done. But when you're talking to an addict, whether it's the drug of choice or alcohol or both, whatever it is, right, we're all the same. Unless you're ready for your own reason, nothing that somebody's going to tell you is going to matter. nothing. You'll nod your head and you'll say, hey, thanks, I know, but it doesn't matter.

The only thing you're thinking about is making sure that you have a steady supply of drugs or alcohol or both to get you through your day. That's it. Yeah, so true. So what happened on 7-720? What happened leading up to that? How does Adino go from this story, this identity, this life, to someone who goes into rehab? Because what I'm hearing up to this is that's complete opposite of everything that, you know, you want to do or you're interested in. Tell me how that plays out. It is. It is.

But let's put it this way, right? You know, where everybody is like a shopping spree or something like that, going to a great mall that has all these fancy stores, you consider that you wait that with some pleasure. I mean, let's face it, no matter who you are, it's fun to be able to go in, especially when they close the store for you. And they give you champagne and strawberries and they have five people kissing your bud. Again, these are not important things, but at the time they work, right? But imagine now going to the mall over and over again, and I swear to God, you go to stores

and pretty much you've already purchased everything that the salesperson is showing you. It wasn't fun anymore, right? It wasn't fun anymore. And I just got tired of it. And I didn't have anybody else in my life. I lost my wife. And material things started to become. seemingly meaningless. I walked away from a billion dollar a year business. Just one day,

just that's it. I'm gone. I can't take it anymore. I'm tired of the people. I'm tired of the conniving. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of that. But the point is, no matter if it was delusional and I was, you know, redirecting, it should have been, I'm tired of me. But for whatever the reason, I was just flat out tired and I wanted to change. And for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid to say whatever happens happens, but I need to be alive to see something that. You know, that's the trick, right? I'm better than this. You know, you look in the mirror and you're like, who am I?

What have I become? It's a very strange thing to explain to somebody that really hasn't gone through it. The beautiful thing about your following is just everybody remembers that moment. Everybody, what I'm explaining right now, I think everybody remembers in their own story, their own moment. And I'm pretty sure they're similar. So what's the moment all about? Or is that what you're referring to is you kind of wonder you have that

conversation with yourself about like, man, my goodness, how did I end up here? I would always have the flashback, Dino, to being raised and things were good, my folks were good. And, you know, I mean, things weren't great. I didn't feel good as a person, but I had every opportunity to do better. And that used to kind of haunt me when I would sober up a little bit here and there. That would haunt me, man, because I would think like, man, I had every opportunity to do well.

Like I was just a middle class dude in a suburb and I did all right. And here I am. I can't stop drinking. I can't stop doing heroin. I can't stop taking pills. I can't get out to methadone. I'm living on my brother's floor. You know,

I'm a convicted felon at 18. And I was this look in the mirror and I'm just like, holy shit, man. You know, what happened over the last couple of years? Like, what happened, man? So is that what you're referring to like that moment? Yeah.

And it was the moment. I was actually hardest on myself. You mentioned, and that's a great story, where you're thinking about your past, your childhood, and everything like that. I was raised where I'm used to getting laughed at and ridiculed for my ideas. I'm used to having that used as tackling fuel

to prove people wrong. I'm the guy who was always counted out. I'm the underdog. I'm rocky. So I was hardest on myself at that aha moment. I was just like, there is no way that you're going to be able to justify why these things are helping you. How do you like what they've done that you?

You're alone in a house that you work 40 years to achieve all this material well, and now everything that I have is meaningless to me. Everything that I work for, every motivating thing in my head, every action that I've done for 40 years was in my head a lie. So I was finally receptive to a change, even though it's kind of scary jumping into, you know, undiscovered country. I don't know what's going to happen after rehab. But the first step is I have to hit the reset button of my own life.

And I was actually excited to go into rehab. It was the first and last time, by the way, that I swore to myself that I would go to rehab. But I did my treatment out in Lake Arrow. head in California. And, you know, it's not the fancy stuff that celebrities go to. It's not the stuff that's almost like changri-a. I mean, it was just like, it was almost like summer camp, you know, it was kind of cool. And I embraced everything about it.

I was just like, this is one time where I'm not going to tell people, do you know my name? Do you know who I cares? You're nobody. Get that through your head. You're not zero. You're less than zero at this time. and you're here to start feeling like a somebody again and relearning things and maybe a different way, right?

How were those 40 years for you? So that's kind of how I looked at it. That's kind of how I embraced it. Yeah, no, that's beautiful. What did you learn in that rehab that you've been able to carry forward to stay on track with things? What I learned was just a lot of things, you know, because I'm a very, very keen observer. And, I mean, it's served me well over the years, right?

But so I knew that I had to replace bad habits with good habits. I knew that from day one. And I also knew that just like mentors in my life growing up where I just sucked up their experiences and consumed their brain, I needed to do the same thing with the counselors there. I mean, these are people that want to be there. Let me get this clear, right? At least my recovery center, everybody, you know, my peers in my group, you know, you hear some people. comments, oh, you know, this counselor, they think they're this and that. Do you know how much they make? They don't make anything. And I'm thinking in my head, hey, dummy, they're not here

for the money. You know what I'm saying? Have you ever thought that maybe they're here for something more? So I embraced all the counselors. I listened. I watched mannerisms. I studied. I knew what to try and what not to try. But I felt like zero until I started working out. I started working out. going to their health club. Thank God they had. But I started going like 5 o'clock in the morning by myself. Then the next day, somebody in my group is like, hey, you know, I'd like to come with you. By the end of the week, I had 10 people getting up going to the gym with me, 5 o'clock in the morning.

By the end of week two, I had 25 people. One of the counselors is like, hey, are you a physical therapist or a trainer or something? I'm like, no, why? And they're like, well, you got 25 people, thought you were training. That's when I realized, you know what? I still got it. I still have it. And that gave me even more motivation to start thinking of things positively.

It wasn't the alcohol or the drugs that may be somebody. Maybe I had it all along. And that was the first time I started understanding that my superpower was me. wasn't being under the influence of drugs and alcohol. No, I love that. Yeah, so you were able to carry that forward. So how long do you state the program for? Month or so?

The program was 30 days, and I watched something that was kind of fascinating. There were a lot of people that came there that, you know, their insurance only covered two weeks. Their insurance only covered three weeks. And I would see the counselors that I had, especially the one that was my case manager. and I would see that she was so happy the first week, second week, and towards the third week, she was sad. And I asked her, why are you sad?

I mean, normally you see me progressing, you should be happy. And she's like, well, because I'm happy for you, but I know that 30 days isn't enough, especially for most people. I think that ongoing care is important. And there's no guarantee. She told me, she explained finally the relapse statistics, which just kind of, blew my mind. I had no idea how high it was. And I knew that I was in a protective bubble, but the real life and real work started when I got out. I knew that. I'm just like, if ever I was

going to be tempted, if ever I was going to have a fear or a question or something, now's the time to get it out. Here's the place to learn. Because once I get out, that's when the real work starts. I knew that. I knew that. So when I got out of rehab, it was smack dab in the middle of a COVID lockdown. Well, let's just put it this way. I mean, the effects of the COVID lockdown, I believe, haven't even been close to being measured yet. You're talking about PTSD, depression, isolation, anxiety, all of the above, right? And when everybody would sit there and look at these podcasts or these things where they're happy families, happy couples being together locked down in COVID. I was always thinking the opposite. Can you imagine if you're in a toxic relationship with somebody? Can you imagine if you're in an

abusive relationship with somebody? You're stuck in the same place with them. Oh my God. What does that feel? Right. So I knew that I had to do something. I needed to just, I couldn't be the only person feeling like this. And that there was a better way, a better life. And I decided to spend most of COVID, not binge watching 456 episodes of Law and Order or, you know, what everybody else was doing. But I wrote a book because I believe that now more than ever accelerated by COVID. People need hope. People have lost hope. And I believe that then. I still believe that now. Actually, I can prove it. But so I wrote a book. I've never written a book before. Admittedly, I told you I didn't like school, which included.

I hated reading. So you're talking about somebody who committed writing a book, who, you know, shouldn't even be writing it. But I had a story to tell. I had a 40-year story to tell about that always moving forward, that rocky story, the rags to riches and the addiction that comes along with it, just kind of peeling the curtain back on sometimes the ugly side of success. I wanted people to know. And typically it lived a very private life. So for me to open and tell a story that might inspire somebody else was a big deal for me.

Yeah, wow. I know you had written a book. I didn't know it was inspired by that stuff. And that's incredible, though. And I think that is too. The story you don't hear very often, right? Because success and struggling with addiction, I mean, I don't know if people draw it up that it's as common as it is, right? Because a lot of time when you're flying and you're moving and you're shaking, you're all over the place.

and all this incredible stuff, the stress you must feel to keep this whole thing moving forward is incredible. And the drinking will, you know, at first, it probably was an incredible way to kind of keep this going. And it didn't probably have big consequences. And you're like, oh, yeah, you know, I found it. And then it grows, right? Exactly. You know, you're talking about a guy who's clean and sober bursting with ideas and, you know, who had the mantra in their light of dream big. Think about tomorrow. Think about 10 years from now, 20 years from now. What do you want to do with your life, right?

That's my mantra. The recovery mantra is conflicting one day at a time, one minute at a time, one hour at a time. Well, how can I be a dreamer and think one day at a time? And so I did something that actually is pretty nuts, at least the people that I've talked to. And it was, I'm not saying this for, everybody else, but for me one day at a time is simply fear-based. I'm afraid to think about tomorrow because I have to think about today. I have to concentrate about today and get through the day. That flies completely opposite of what I'm wired as from a very young kid all the way current

throughout my entire life. And so I was just fighting these two philosophies, right? And one day I was just like, I have to embrace who I am. I'm. I'm in recovery, and it's not like one day I'll be able to drink socially. Okay? I can never drink again. So I started thinking of things in ways that I can understand, right? So think about allergy season. Everybody talks about the pollen and, oh, I got to stay inside.

And if somebody has watery eyes and an itchy throat or runny nose, they're just like, oh, it's allergy season. Nobody's ever going to say, hey, I know you're feeling miserable. but here's the best pollen I have ever found. I swear to God, if you have this pollen and you sniff it, you won't get sick. I mean, they respect your boundaries. Here comes recovery, right? I'm a recovering alcoholic or recovering drug at it.

And people are just like, hey, that's great. I'm glad you're cleaning it's over because you needed it. Eventually, you'll be able to drink, right? Socially. And so I started saying to people, I'm just one of those dudes that's allergic to alcohol. That's all. I didn't blame alcohol. I didn't blame the people who can have it socially and responsibly.

I just knew that this is one battle that I couldn't win. I had to embrace it. I had to learn and not be afraid of it. And so what I did is I didn't avoid bars. I didn't avoid beer commercials. I didn't avoid people that do drink. I avoided all my past. I just basically disintegrated all the,

the drug dealers and all the people that just basically enabled me, right? Okay. We're talking about the new Dino post 770. And here's a guy that wants to interact with society in all forms and not just look at it with rainbows and unicorns and be in this protective bubble because life isn't always a protective bubble. Life comes with different challenges. And I wanted to basically like train for a marathon.

I wanted to be able to interact and feel comfortable around the drug. that destroyed my light. Don't try this at home, but I will tell you, I have a fully stocked bar in my house. Not for me. It doesn't tempt me at all. But if I do have friends and family,

guests that come over and they happen to drink and they want to drink, then I'm able to offer it to them and not make them feel weird about, oh, what do you bring a recovering addicts? What do you bring them at the house? Do you bring soda? Do you act weird?

Do you talk about alcohol? Do you turn the channel to a different one when you see a beer commercial or wine commercial or something for bourbon? No, that's life in all forms. And so I attacked it in that way because I knew that if I had the broadest base of understanding my addiction, it would be easy for me to cope with and actually overcome. And that's what I did. Yeah, no, I love that. And everybody's going to have their way that works for them, their program,

and some people are going to do this and this. And there's so many, you know, different ways. I mean, at the end of the day, the goal here is to, you know, stay sober, right? So we can live our best life. And however when he gets there, like, man, I'm all for it, you know, whatever works for the people. And everybody has sort of a different thing. But, I mean, I got to say huge congrats too, man, on getting out of that hole, right? And now everybody's not going to see here, but, you know, is just lit up.

I mean, a huge smile on his face. I mean, he's just alive. And it's just, I really appreciate you sharing this. story. I think there's going to be a lot of elements that are relatable to people because not that everybody's going to have the big business and the success, but I think what you brought up there, the ego part. The ego could add many different ways to where we're putting ourselves on a different level and we don't need help. And I think that that is a big thing that we struggle with when getting sober. I know I did. You know, I had everything figured out. I mean, even though my life was a complete

dumpster fire. When people would talk to me about it, I was not able to connect the pieces of the puzzle. I did go to college and I got put on academic probation and then I got kicked out and I wanted to get my own apartment and I got my own apartment and I was evicted four months later and I got a new car and I lost the new car. I struggled to put the pieces of the puzzle together when somebody would say, oh, well, you know, you had that or you had this and you lost it. Oh, it's me. I was like, it's no big deal. It just didn't matter. And I'm like, Looking back, it's hindsight, it's always 2020. Writing was on the wall a long time before, but that ego got in the way that I had it figured

out. I'll make a comeback. I'll figure this out on my own. I don't need you or you or you. I don't need a program. I don't need to get sober. I mean, people go to the movies on Friday. I stay at my place and do cocaine.

They spend a hundred bucks. I spend a hundred bucks. That's the way I thought about it. I mean, pure madness. But it's very typical. It's awesome. What you're saying right now. It's very true.

Yeah, so now, man, we've got a few more minutes before we wrap up. But what are you up to now? Like, what's rock? And I mean, you've got the book. What's the name of the book? And I also want to ask you, too, if you were able to sum up your entire message, I mean, the book, what you've shared here into like 30 seconds, what would it be? It's a simple statement, be stronger than you think.

I'm for everybody out there. Oh, what if? Or, you know, what if I get sober? I'm going to be boring. What about the withdrawal? It's going to be horrible. I'm going to feel discomfort. I've heard. Hey, you're stronger than you think. The book is called There Is No Box. It's basically

paying tribute to one of my mentors that once told me, Dino, don't you understand? There is no box in your world. And I'm like, man, that is such a beautiful title to a book because, you know, that's the way I saw life. That's the way I still see life. What I'm doing now is basically I've tapped into just a wonderful group, like I said, the recovery community. Love talking to them. I have life coaching that I'm doing. I believe that a lot of the things that we have learned, especially during COVID, they were helpful in many ways, but now COVID's over, right? People are moving on with their life. But I've noticed that there's an emotional element. There's an emotional component that's missing in today's world, right? There's heart hugs and emojis and

hair signs and all this stuff. And all that's great. But, you know, ultimately at the end of the day, socializing and human interaction for me is a chemical reaction. There's something about that. You hear about it service in the recovery community. You couldn't be more right. But there are the elements in technology that I've learned and studied and watched over the couple of years. And I'm in the process of creating, I can't say it yet, but about to launch. There's AI technology, which is biometric, combined with the emotional component of, you know, actually people that you can talk to, networks that you can tap into and so forth. You know, the saying one day at a time, what if you had ACE? What if I could tell you, Brad, that you have a 98% likelihood that tomorrow at between 4 and 5 o'clock that you're going to feel withdrawals and that you may want.

to take a drink or do a drug. What would that do for you? It's crazy, but the technology is here, and I'm about to launch it and talk about it, and I think it's going to change the world. I think it's something that the recovery community is going to love and embrace, because there are a lot of elements for the people that are newly sober, right, which is more one day at a time kind of thought process, but then there's a lot of elements to this technology that help the people, that have adapted it to a lifestyle. The people that are 20 years sober, 30 years sober, 40 years sober. It's almost like a reminder.

Like if you have MapQuest and you put in navigation and you'll hear red light camera ahead, maybe you're not speeding. But it's reminding you that, hey, if you're speeding slow down, right? Or the brake light that you're too close, you're tailing. You know, maybe you're not tailing. But it's a reminder, right? What if we had that? What if we had that technology, but uniquely you, that can say, hey, you know what, tomorrow you're not going to feel great?

And this isn't like an emotional thing. This is a logical thing. So you take logic and you combine it with the emotional support system that's there. And you have something that does not exist anymore anywhere. And I can't wait to launch it. It will be fully explained, carefully explained in the weeks to come. But for right now, it's big. The biggest thing that I've ever done, proudly, clean and sober doing it. Yeah, no, that's beautiful. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I mean, for the technology and stuff. I mean, I don't want to get into a huge technology thing here. But, I mean, things are advancing, right?

Like faster now than they ever have before and in many different areas. So I can't wait, Dino, to check this out, man, and see what it's all about. Dude, I really appreciate you jumping on here and sharing your story with us today. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thanks for having me on, man. I really mean that. It was so much fun. Thanks.

You know it, buddy. Wow, another incredible story. Another huge thanks to Dino for coming on here and sharing a story. If you enjoyed it, if you can connect with any part of his story, be sure to send him a message on Instagram. I want to give a huge shout out to wrap up this show to my buddy, Mike. Mike, if you're out there and you're listening to the end of this show, man, huge shout out.

I appreciate all of your support so much. You're incredible. And keep on rock, and I'm so proud of you. and I'll see you on the next one.