Deep Dive with Dr D
Discussions on life and living with Dr D. A man who has risen from the lowest depths of life to the amazing life he has now.
Deep Dive with Dr D
Building Community Through Compassion And Recovery (w/guest Brandie Amundson)
Ever wonder what leadership looks like when compassion isn’t a buzzword but the operating system? I sit down with Brandi Amundsen, who went from LA’s intensity to the Ellensburg community and now leads Peers Rising, a recovery nonprofit built on connection, clarity, and real accountability. Her story moves from culture shock in grocery lines to the quiet confidence of a team that shows up for people every day without judgment—and without toxicity.
Brandi opens up about stepping into leadership, battling burnout, and learning to celebrate wins instead of racing past them. We dig into her approach to building a healthy team: hire for heart and professionalism, keep boundaries clear, apologize when you mess up, and make accountability a gift. You’ll hear the strategy behind Peers Rising’s rapid growth and why the next chapter is intentional consolidation—tightening programs, refining systems, and creating a dedicated space for teens who deserve respect, structure, and room to be heard.
At the center is a simple recovery truth: compassion opens the door; accountability helps you walk through it. If you’re overwhelmed by the long road ahead, Brandi’s advice is to look at your feet and take the next indicated step. Whether you’re leading a nonprofit, navigating sobriety, or just trying to be a steadier human, this conversation offers practical tools and real hope. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review—then tell us: what’s your next step today?
Welcome everyone to Deep Dive with Dr. D. Thank you for joining me. Um, this is I always say this with everyone, but this is gonna be a good one. Um, this one's special to me in a variety of ways. Um, so thank you for joining us. I have with me uh Brandy Amazon, and uh uh so let me let me do the housekeeping stuff. Um if you don't follow me and uh you want to just click that follow for the uh podcast. Uh I do I generally do episodes every week, but sometimes I take a week off. So generally once a week, I record them live on Sunday mornings, um, and they're wherever you see podcasts, and they're also on YouTube if you want to watch and not listen. Uh, this is my shameless plug from a book, and uh I'm actually doing an author's event on December 13th, I think it is, at Gerald's, but you can pick it up anywhere you buy books, uh, locally in Ellensburg, uh, downtown at uh Pearl Street Books at Gerald's, and then online. You can still shop local online, Gerald's.com, and then you can get it on Amazon as a paperback, as an ebook, and then a uh on Audible as an Audible book. Now, this book is special because this one is Brandy's. So there you go. There's your your book, and uh, I call it the short story of the wild ride of my life. It's been a wild ride. Okay, so uh let's get to the guest that I have in front of me who I know well. But for the world who doesn't know Brandy, Brandy, uh introduce yourself.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm Brandi Amundsen. Um originally I'm from Los Angeles, California. I'm a transplant. About seven years ago, my husband and I and our family we relocated here for his job, and I fell in love with Ellensburg. Ellensburg is a different pace of life, different people, just a whole new life. Um, and so the pandemic happened, and during that time I'd previously had a career in a corporate world, and I decided I wanted to go back to work. I need to get out of the house, but I wanted to do something that was meaningful. So I went around and applied for different places, food bank, you know, things like that. And then I met David and Mariana and um first interview of my life, I cried the entire time. I left, I sat in my driveway, cried for two more hours. My husband didn't, was just love you, like you're fine. So I really hoped I'd got it, and I did. And then since then it's just been a whirlwind of getting acclimated to the town, getting acclimated into the recovery community, meeting people, having relationships I never had before, which are very difficult in the more metropolis. So yeah, so now I lead um Pears Rising, formerly KCRCO, and uh have a team of eight right now, over four offices, uh two counties, and yeah, uh mom, proud mom of 23-year-old, a almost 16-year-old, and an almost 14-year-old. So two boys, and the youngest is my little girl, who's now 14 going on, 40. But yeah, that's a little bit about me.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. How uh you and Michael have been together how long?
SPEAKER_02:So we've been together 22 years, and we will be married 20 years May 13th of next year. Nice. Nice.
SPEAKER_00:Uh what you know, this is a random question. Uh I have my own perspective, but when you first came to Ellensburg, what did you think?
SPEAKER_02:So there was a lot of culture differences. First of all, I would be in a grocery store, someone would lean over me to grab something, and I would go into a protective stance.
SPEAKER_03:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_02:When I'd go to check out, people would have these long conversations and and follow out into the parking lot. It was very different. Everybody was very friendly, everybody knew everybody.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Before we moved here, people in the community knew we were coming and who we were, and we were that family from LA. Yeah. Um, so that was very different. Um, I grew up in a small town in LA, um, but it was very, very different. Um there wasn't as much culture, you know, because when you come from a place like Los Angeles, there's so many different ethnicities and people. Yeah. So that was an adjustment. Um, the traffic, the traffic here is hilarious because it's it's nothing.
SPEAKER_00:You know, we complain about it.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, yeah. Well, we did get in trouble a couple times because the 20 miles an hour on the streets was like, what?
SPEAKER_00:What's going on?
SPEAKER_02:We've never seen a street like that. It's usually 35, but um what a great place to raise a family. What a great place to come. It's much quieter, slower pace of life. I'd never heard of or understood a 35-hour work week or being closed on a Monday, Tuesday, you know, which a lot of businesses are, but it's family first. Um eight o'clock, the town is empty. Yeah, you know, everything closes. Um, so yeah, it was a big adjustment, but it there's such beauty in it and peace and calm. Yeah. I'd never go back. Yeah. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That's pretty similar, you know. I'm from Tacoma originally, and and uh my first drive through Ellensburg, you know, Fred Meyer brought me here because that's when I was in in retail loss prevention, and and my boss was like, Hey, we're opening a store in Ellensburg, and my true to life reaction was, Where's Ellensburg? I wanted to be close to Tyler, who he my ex had moved to Yakima. The first time I drove through, it was like, Oh, oh my god, wow, this very different. And I was just like, Okay, well, I had a truck and I had a dog, and I'm like, okay, we can make it work. But just like you just said, um, it was a it's a whole different environment. Um culturally, just the diversity is not a diver Tacoma's very diverse. I was like, okay, this is different. Um, but that same thing of and me being kind of social, I I kind of like like wow, you could, you know, you talk to people and you talk to strangers, and what do we call Fred Meyer, our mall? Yeah, you know, and you those long conversations. I remember we when the management team came here from Fred Meyer and we're talking, everyone just wanted to talk to you and get to know you. It's like okay, it's really cool. And I still have stories, people that remember when I gave them tours of Fred Meyer and blah blah blah, and it's that that thing of that really strong connection, and then the family part is huge.
SPEAKER_02:So I have a funny story about Fred Meyer. Listen, I have a friend, one of my best friends, uh, grew up in Bremerton. Oh, and so she told me, she lives down there still. Yeah, and uh she told me she said, When you go to Fred Meyer, you have to video call me. I said, Okay, she's like, it's gonna be unbelievable. I was in the store where Michael had to come get me out because I was like, I I'm I don't know what I'm in, I'm everywhere all at once, and I've never seen anything like this. It was amazing, it was the best trip of my life. I fell in love with it. That's awesome. Now I'm like, oh, I gotta go to Fred Meyer's Yeah, really. And in the beginning, it's it's a mall. It is, it's definitely a mall. Yeah, it was amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, fun random fact, I'm full of them, you know. I'm a dad, is Fred G. Meyer actually created the one-stop shopping experience.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay. There you go.
SPEAKER_00:That makes sense. He created it. And Kroger, when they bought Fred Meyer, that's part of what that was really exciting for them because now Kroger across the nation, they've kind of done that.
SPEAKER_01:So amazing. Random fun fact.
SPEAKER_00:So super cool. Thank you for sharing that about um you and you know, I knew a lot of that. And what I love about doing these is you think you really know someone and then you learn tidbits. Um, so we have, as usual, I've created some questions. So I think we'll dive into some of these questions. And the first one, let's start there. You stepped into leadership at Peers Rising, the very organization that I founded, that you were part of those very you were our first, first peer. And I remember your interview, and I and I can own this that you were my second choice, and I'm so, so glad. Our first choice, you became our first choice. Yeah, thank you. I'm so so glad. So you were there in the beginning days when we just had a couple peers, maybe a week, like really in those early days. Now you've taken it to new heights, and sitting here across from you, and we just had the gala, and I sent you the picture of you um watching you on that stage, which I know is not your thing.
SPEAKER_02:Not at all, my thing.
SPEAKER_00:And listening to you share really personal parts of your story that I know is just not what you do, and and that's okay. Like everyone has their thing, but you really owned that. Um you you're you've taken it to and you're continuing to take it to new heights, Pierce Rising. Um what's the journey been like for you both personally and professionally?
SPEAKER_02:Um, I've always kind of had a knack when I started a job to be very good at it. Um one of the things in my family, uh we come from very strong women that always had very hard work ethic. Um so it's kind of come, I don't want to say easy for me, but that's kind of how I am, where it's like, okay, we gotta push through. We build systems, we do things, we very efficient. Um, where I haven't done well is on the personal part, making sure that you know my family and myself and everything is is collating. So in the beginning, super stressed out, um, super, you know, not sleeping well, not eating well, not, you know, making time for myself, doing all the things that you told me not to do, like not turning my phone off, you know, all those things, all those things. But then I really got to a point where it was like, hey, all these things are going so great in this first year, and I'm enjoying none of them. I'm not taking time to sit in those rewards and those victories at all. Like people are coming and and congratulating us, and they're so excited for all the and I'm like, yeah, okay, but you know, and so I've really the last year and a half been taking a point in time of making sure that I'm sitting and I'm enjoying it and breathing and saying, Hey, it's okay to do that, you know, it's okay to be proud of yourself, which I struggle with, you know this. Very uh hard on myself, and that's something since I was a child, you know. So um professionally, we went through a lot of difficult times, but what it comes down to is staff. What matters is who you have in that office, in that position, doing that work, and it's a lot of different things, it's their professionalism, but also their personalism. It's how do we cohesively work together? And the team that we've got put together is just incredible. Like, I'm I'm not gonna get teary at. I'm gonna try really hard not to cry. But if you know me, I'm a crier. Um it's been awe-inspiring to myself, I guess, to sit back and to look at it and to see all of the things that we're manifesting and they're happening. Things you and I have talked about four or five years ago are just happening, you know, and knowing that they aren't just happening, it was all those years of work. So, so yeah, and um on my personal level, I am taking time for self-care if I need to take that afternoon off, that day off, you know, get back into reading. And I'm one of those people that's never had hobbies. I don't have hobbies, you know. Um, just working on that. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So I I and thank you for sharing all that. I I remember when we did hire you that almost immediately that was like, oh yeah, this is because you got shit done.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I would I would give you a task and you just did it, and you you also quickly went, Oh, let's look at this and let's look at that. And and I also remember uh the director of operations when we created that position, and you were like, Oh, I don't I'm like, No, we're you're fucking doing this. Um and you stepping into those really scary areas and um and yeah, there have been difficult times. There have been difficult times when we were to there together, the transition, me moving out was like, oh my god, it got real chaotic. Yeah, and I wasn't sure anyway, and then we did that, and then there was, you know, we you and I had the lunch and kind of cleared the air because there was drama and all that. Um but I I I want to say to you that what's really helped me as the founder when I've been stressed out about God knows what, you know, I really admire you for how you whatever you do to keep your staff wow, like Megan, and and I forget I do this with names of Monica, Justin, like whatever you're doing, keep doing that because that's a that's a barometer, right? For any organization, do you have turnover? Because that and you don't, people like Megan's solid, right? And that's a beautiful thing. And I think you and I had conversations about this, right? Take care, but you're whatever you're doing, keep doing that because it's a beautiful thing. I'm I'm actually having Katrina come talk to my class tomorrow on leadership and supervision, and I I think of you and her in the same way with this. Me as a leader, um, and I think any leadership role, you gotta have boundaries, right, with your people. Yeah, what I think is fascinating to me because it's something that it's actually causing me to adjust how I lead, and it's based on you and Katrina. Yeah, you are able to really like uh one of the kids calls you Mama Brandy or one of your staff, and and that strong relation. And Katrina does that same her buddy, you know, and I'm I've always been like, ooh, you gotta be careful. Yeah, it's a really cool thing.
SPEAKER_02:It's a tight line, it's definitely a tight line where boundaries are crossed, and then you're like, Okay, we've gone too far, we have to go back. But I've always been a person, and especially going into leadership, is we spend as much time, if not more, time together than we do with our families. And so that experience, I think life is too short to live in a toxic environment and work in one. So it's yes, we can be very close and we can be very tight, um, but there is that boundary and there is that line where it's like at the end of the day, I'm making the decisions for all of us. And if I screw up, it's going to affect every single one of us and our peers and the community. So that's a lot of pressure, but leading with an iron fist, I've worked in too many places that were toxic, I've seen too many people work in those places, and nobody wants to leave work thinking they're not valued, they're not worth anything, and everybody's replaceable. Facts. So I want to be confident that you know, if I move on or uh something happens to me, I know that they could cohesively work as a group together and make the best decisions, them and our board.
SPEAKER_00:So that's really, really cool.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, it comes down to toxic. Nobody wants to spend their life working in a toxic place. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:As someone in recovery and now leading a nonprofit that supports others on their journey. How do you balance compassion with accountability, both for your team and for yourself?
SPEAKER_02:Sure, absolutely. Actually, I love this question. It's my favorite question that you asked. So I've been thinking about it since you sent me the question, and compassion opens so many doors. It opens the doors for conversations, it opens the doors for the tough ones and the good ones. And if we don't start with compassion, what happens? We come with anger, we come with you know bad intention, or we come with judgment. Well, immediately the other person is defensive. So you really put up barriers. So for me, compassion is we can go into this conversation and have a very hard conversation, but as long as you know that I have compassion, that you're feeling your type of way, you're still gonna listen to me and know it's coming from a good place. So it's all about intention. Um, with my home life, I'm always learning and growing. I spent the majority of my life not having any healthy relationship life skills, and I've really spent the last 25 years growing them. So they're always ever evolving. But since I went into leadership and really took that on as myself, I realized, especially with my staff, because you're gonna have more hard conversations when you're leading a group of employees because things are happening. And if I lead into compassion and then bring in the accountability, that accountability is what makes people grow. Whether it's my children, whether it's my staff, that's how they're gonna learn. And I'm gonna do a disservice to both of them if I don't hold them accountable and hold myself accountable. So one of the things with my staff and a lot of leaders I feel miss this part is if I screw up, if I've made a bad decision or I've had bad behavior, coming back and apologizing and owning that. And some people I've I've learned, people in general and people in leadership, they see it as a weakness, like, oh, you know, you're not gonna be respected. Right. And that's the complete opposite. And it's the same thing that you would have with me, where it was like I'd come in the office and I'd be like, Oh, we're gonna have a fight, we're gonna be like, he's gonna be mad, and you'd be like, You tell me how you're feeling, like, let's have this conversation, and just holding them accountable, people appreciate that. I think at the end of the day, if you have the opportunity, sometimes it's difficult to do that accountability by yourself, but if you have somebody that you know cares and you do it, you feel better. You feel better, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it makes me think of the term that I throw out there from time to time is guilt and shame never help people grow. No, right? So if you're and and it's part of the recovery organization model, and and you're continuing this, which is a beautiful thing, is when someone walks in and is seeking help, yeah, you just what can we do to support you? It's not uh they have to get through a bunch of paperwork or a bunch of check marks, it's we're here to help. But I think you also talk about accountability that it's kind of what Katrina does with the preschool. It just clicked in my brain. She said this is she says, you can't expect kids to learn if they don't have the social emotional in place first. Yeah, right. So a lot of people that you interact with are coming in and they face so many barriers and so much shame and guilt by you leading with that compassion first. Yeah, they're willing to be accountable, they're more willing, I don't say always, but more willing to follow the steps maybe that you lay out.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because they're not as defensive. Yeah, you know, and um we do say, you know, how can we help you? But then we also followed up with what have you been doing to work on this? Did you do the you know applications? Did you make your meetings your and that's for them because at the end of the day it benefits them. Whoever's taking the accountability, it's gonna benefit you more than the person asking for it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, and it's definitely empowering, I think, when we take accountability.
SPEAKER_00:So you you said that you in previous periods of your life this has been a struggle for you. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:What happened? Was it just a transition or what happened that caused you to go, no, I want to I want to mother differently or lead differently?
SPEAKER_02:Um, so this is actually gonna get into our number four question. Um, honestly, my husband, um, he was the first person that I met. Uh, we have very different life experiences, almost complete polar opposites.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:So I didn't grow up in a healthy home. I didn't grow up seeing healthy relationships. Um, I was out on my own very young and uh homeless for many years. And uh when I met my husband, there was zero judgment. There was, even though he didn't, he didn't need to understand, he didn't need to relate. He was took me as I was, and I was very broken, I was a very angry person, um, didn't have close relationships, you know. Um, and he was the essential unconditional love. He just took me as I was, and so being in a relationship with that, and I do believe that you need just one person in your life, that one person makes a huge difference. Um, I wanted to be better. I wanted to be better as a person, I wanted to be better as a mom, I wanted to be better as a wife, and it was a I'm not gonna say it was quick, you know, I'm still working on it, but I started to grow, and when you start growing that way, I became more vulnerable. Like, believe it or not, this is gonna be very hard for you or anybody in Ellsberg to believe. Hardly ever cried my entire life until the last few years. And um, it was kind of explained to me where that means that you're doing real healing. And so when I when I was doing real healing, it turned me into a very empathetic person. And so um, yeah, that's basically the gist of it. And then going into this work, going into this work, um, I have a few peers over the years, and I call up kind of call them the ghosts of my past because it's very, very strange. Like I have one peer that had walked in, looks exactly, talks exactly like my uncle that passed away right before I started. You know, I have another peer that reminds me of you know this person in my life, and and just really having to face that and learning a healthy way of going back to do things because I was in survival mode. The majority of my life, I was surviving, you know. I wasn't planning ahead, I wasn't looking at a future, I wasn't, it was more like, okay, like we just gotta get to the next day.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, get to the next day.
SPEAKER_02:So, yeah, does that answer the question?
SPEAKER_00:It does. It's it's really it's I think it's powerful stuff, and the work you're you know, the work that's done in the recovery community, whatever you're doing, it it can give us a reflection of our past selves. And that's certainly what inspires me. Yeah, mine is just in the story of Justin and his shoes. Yeah, you know, and um so yeah, super, super good stuff. Question number three. As Peers Rising has grown and evolved so much under your leadership, look me in the eye so much. Like look at you go. What do you think has been the biggest key to that success, and what's next for the organization?
SPEAKER_02:So uh you'll hear me say this a lot, and I make sure that I tell um our staff and the community members, always remembering that it's not mine, it's not theirs, it's not the boards, it's community. So we have to be community driven and community first. We want to be the place that we all wish we had. You know, some of our peers, you know, our peer supports like Justin, you know, had those services. If I would have had services like this, yeah, because 12-step was difficult for me. I had um PTSD and I didn't know. So when I first tried to go in, um, I had a lot of very bad reactions and it didn't work for me. I found out later in therapy, it was related to my childhood and and things that happened. So then I tried the religious route. And then I ran into problems with the religious route, you know, and fighting with the pastor over honoring your mother and father. It was it was yeah, it was a lot, and I wasn't as mature as I am now. Oh yeah. So if I would have just had that place, that place that just gave me the opportunity to talk to somebody, to get services, to find resources, I would have healed much sooner and earlier, and I probably would have been doing this work much sooner. Um, but yeah. With staff and with the board, I'm very collective. And I've had to learn recently in the last few months. I love having everybody's opinions and everybody be a part of it. Like our new name, our new logo, our new colors. That is everyone from our board to our staff is a part of that. But I also have recently gotten to the point where I'm like, okay, like we can get everybody's collective feedback and do this together. I just need to make sure that I still stay in the leadership side of I have to make the end choice. And that's difficult for me because I love collaborative fabric. Um but it's worked, that's honestly what it's worked, and the staff again and the board that we have, they are all in their hearts, their minds. This isn't just clocking in. This is all of us collectively as a community. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:What's next?
SPEAKER_02:Um, so I kind of talked about this earlier with you. Um, me and Justin and Megan, we had a very long talk and we all agreed. We have had such an expansion of growth in two years. We need to settle. We need to settle in, we need to get the programs, look at them, beef them up, you know, cut things if we need to. That's where we want to be right now. We definitely uh the next thing is looking for a space for the teens to have of their own. This space is quickly getting too small. Yeah, and um, and we really want them to be able to take that for themselves. So that's one thing that's on the list. And then really just tightening up the nuts and bolts.
SPEAKER_03:Nice.
SPEAKER_02:Like, where can we go back and really look at strengthening where we're at because more growth, it's just gonna start unraveling.
SPEAKER_00:Because you you the system's built.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Now you just want to go in and refine it.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly. Make sure it's humming, make sure it's humming great. Yeah, make sure that you know, if it's on a social event or if we want to do lunch and learns, like what are we gonna do? Let's let's hone it into that structuring and just make sure that everything is rock solid. Good.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, perfect. Good. Okay, we're getting close. You've kind of answered this in some ways, uh, because you referred to it when I asked you a question earlier. You wear so many hats, right? Mother, wife, leader, friend, person in recovery. What grounds you? I am curious about this for you. What grounds you when life feels heavy? And what keeps you inspired to keep showing up?
SPEAKER_02:Sure. So I I kind of spoke on my husband, I'll speak a little bit more. Um, he's the only person in my entire life I've been able to be 100% vulnerable. And I don't need explanation. I don't need, he doesn't have to fix it, he doesn't have to understand, he doesn't have to relate. So I can walk in the door and completely fall apart, and he's like, okay. I can walk in the door and bite everybody's head off. And and then I come back and I apologize. Because he gives me that safe space. So that's my he is my absolute grounding foundation, 100%. Um, I have been somebody that's kind of struggled to have friendships uh throughout my life because I have a very short uh short fuse, I guess. Like when people do you wrong, I'm very loyal. I'm just kind of I'm I'm I'm good, it's unsafe. But I have um found a really, really close circle here in Allensburg that's been beautiful and amazing. Um and they ground me when I need other perspective, other thoughts, because they understand what this is like to be in this very hard work, it's very rewarding, but the bad times sometimes are more than the good.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So um, Dawn, Jessica, those are my two girls, and I can call them and there's no judgment. So yeah, I would say that's definitely part of my circle. And my kids, I just love my kids so much. Um, and they're all very, very different and give me something. So sometimes I'll come home and I'll be like, hey, you know, Marianna, come call her with me. And she'll catch me up on her date, and that clicks me out, and I have to go to a different mental. Yeah. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, in this conversation, I've always appreciated how calm Michael is, right? You're Katrina is is Michael to me. Katrina is that person, and she's the first relationship I've been in where I'm able to be me.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Always.
SPEAKER_00:Always.
SPEAKER_02:And it's love to unlike having true, yeah, unconditional love.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I and I know how lucky I am. I do, and that's why I always have to come back and be like, man, I shouldn't have done that, and I shouldn't have said that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, he they are angels on earth, in my opinion. When you can have the the muchness of our personalities and our I like how you put that trauma trauma.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, like it's trauma-led. It's it's a hundred percent survival mode. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:To be able to find these people in our lives that isn't gasoline to a fire.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's just it's a whole different life experience.
SPEAKER_00:And like you and Michael, Katrina and I came from very different upbringings. She had some stuff, but yeah, you know, the Kells are the kindest people in the world. They are. She would admit that she was raised in a pretty healthy environment. Me? No.
SPEAKER_02:No, not at all.
SPEAKER_00:Not even close.
SPEAKER_02:Not at all. Right? Broken families and oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I think that's where their ability to just love uncondition un unconditionally comes from in some ways. But I think, you know, if they're angels, there they are, um, and they're the people for us.
SPEAKER_02:I agree.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Okay, we're getting close to the end.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Do you want me to answer what inspires me to keep showing up?
SPEAKER_00:I do.
SPEAKER_02:Um my staff. My staff inspires me to show up because they are so caring and so kind, and they give back to me as well. Like, and I watch them and I watch them with the peers and I watch them heal themselves because these peers come in and they're taking care of themselves. So it inspires me on days when I'm like, you know what, I just don't want to do it. And then I'm like, oh, you know, I I should show up because I know Monica. You know, had this hard time yesterday with this peer, and let me just go check on her and whatever. And then I get in there and something always happens that's good. You know, something always happens, and maybe it's even bad. That it's like, okay, hands on deck, let's get this going. So they definitely, definitely are the biggest reason that I show up. And the teens. I mean, I know 509 teens, me and you, it was kind of like, is this a good idea? Should we really do this? And there's times when it's like, why are we doing this? But the teens to watch them and to see them, um, I've always been a big advocate of respecting kids at their ages. And I think as a society, we lose that a lot and we forget. They're members of the community, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Um and then we're shocked when they rebel. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And they're angry.
SPEAKER_00:We're all surprised.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And it's like, what's going on? But these kids are amazing. I mean, you were there at the gala. Those kids that got up and spoke, and they're talking about hard things, and it's like, man, like, respect to you guys. It's not easy being a teen these years. So yeah, that's very good.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Nice. Okay, here's your opportunity. So you and me know each other well. We have some people watching on the live that know you well. I want you to gear this message towards someone who listens to this and doesn't know you, but is struggling and needs that message of hope. You know, what would you share with someone who's listening and is struggling to believe that things can get better?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. So one of the biggest things is we isolate a lot when we're in our darkest moments. We, whether it's shame, fear, um, and that's the worst possible thing we can do because we can be our own worst enemies inside of our minds. And a lot of times we make things worse than they are. So finding somebody to talk to, whether it's your mailman, you know, come into a place like Piers Rising. There's gonna be zero judgment at all for what your story is. And sometimes peers come in and they're surprised we're not shocked, you know. But it's like we've been there, we understand. So talking to someone is huge, and that doesn't mean you have to commit to okay, today I'm gonna do all of the things. It just get it out of your mind, get that love and that connection from somebody else. So that would be the message of hope there. Another thing is a lot of times people tell you, don't look down at your feet, you know, when you're walking, don't look at your feet, you know, look ahead. And I actually tell peers the opposite. Because if you're going into recovery or you're recovery curious and you're looking down the road, it's so overwhelming, overwhelming. And a lot of times that's why we try and do everything at once. And I tell them, no, no, no, look down. What is the next step?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Because the next thing you know, you're a mile down the road.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So um, that's what I would say, and you don't have to be alone. There's so many resources and so many people in our community that might not be as vocal as we are, you know, but there's still people you can trust. And again, just really want to push for mental health. Talk, talk, and get it out there because we make up really, really bad stories in our heads, and it we can be our biggest downfall. So that'll be a good idea.
SPEAKER_00:I like what you just said, and it really hit in me because you know, some days I struggle, and so what I've learned to do some days is just sending a simple message to someone in my circle of influence that just says, Hey, just reaching out. Yeah, I don't want help necessarily, but I'm struggling. But just getting it out a little bit can actually help us get a lot further.
SPEAKER_04:It does.
SPEAKER_00:And you and I think exactly align in that, you know, do the next indicated thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:If I like I talk to students on a college campus or someone who's new in recovery, don't think about six months or a year. That's why I think from the recovery community standpoint, just focus on today.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, one day at a time.
SPEAKER_00:One day at a time in the 30s. One hour, yeah. One minute, whatever you need in that moment. Yeah. Yeah. And then talking to someone is so it can be one of the hardest things to do. It's like picking up that when we used to have phones, you know, picking up that 500-pound phone and making that call, sending a message, something simple. And Pears Rising. Yeah. Go go walk in the door. I challenge anyone listening. Here's your challenge for the week. Walk into the office of Peers Rising in Yakimar Ellensburg and just experience it. Just experience it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we love having people come in. The open door policy is just incredible and amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, it really makes a difference. It's good.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:All right, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_00:What's a question? I'm I'm a little nervous. Don't be able to do that. I'm always a little nervous. I'm like, oh god, what are they gonna like? Oh, okay, whatever. What's a question you've always wanted to ask me?
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So I really want to know if you regret leaving when you did and wish you would have stayed longer.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, oh, that's okay. This is this is this is good. Okay. Um, do I regret leaving when I did? The knee-jerk response is no, because it was always part of my plan. And people were I remember when I started that transition phase, the succession phase, and I would say to people, you know, they're like, Well, well, this is you. This is your I'm like you. This is not me. I never wanted the KCRCO Piers Rising to be David A. Douglas, I wanted it to be for the community. So, um, so the knee-jerk answer is no. Is there like, because we, you know, there was some stuff. I was like, oh my god, and I was trying to put the balls in different places, and I had to just keep reminding myself that this was part of the plan. And I as a leader, you gotta let people do what they need to do.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So to the knee-jerk answer is no, was there some regret, like, oh, maybe I should have stayed a little longer, or maybe I should have. I think that's normal. I had some of that. But um, after it was kind of after you and I had that lunch, it's been a year ago now, I don't know how long. Um, and and talking to people, yeah. You know, I do listen from time to time. My wife is one I listen to. I have people in my, you know, and they're just like, David, this is what you wanted, and this is part of the plan. So let it do what it needs to do. So I watch and I I my heart smiles. Um, and um, so does that answer your question?
SPEAKER_04:Yes. Yeah, it did.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, is there is there some regret? Is there some thought like, oh, I should have stayed a little sure, but no. No, this was part of the plan.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Good.
SPEAKER_00:100%. Yeah. This has been great.
SPEAKER_01:I enjoyed this a lot. It was great.
SPEAKER_00:Good. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00:Well, there it is. Okay, so I'm gonna move this so we can hug. We've learned to do that. This has been very good.
SPEAKER_01:I got my book.
SPEAKER_00:You did.
SPEAKER_01:I got my signed book. I want the audio, but now I got my signed book.
SPEAKER_00:Very good. Thank you for joining us. Uh, we'll have another guest on next week. It might be Rebecca. Rebecca, if you're listening, I might reach out to Rebecca or Monica. Monica's agreed. So we'll see. Yeah. Okay. Love to all.
SPEAKER_01:Bye, guys.