And what's great about having an interview here on Swell is that we can sometimes revisit your conversation and have some questions and it's a very live living organism. So I'm looking forward to not only my conversation with you, but how it lives into the future with all the people that get a chance to meet you along the way. So my first question is growing up, were you exposed to the world of healing, to the world of caring, to the world of giving?
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 0:21
My childhood was very caring, very warm, very loving. We had a great family. We grew up in a very warm atmosphere. My mother was Italian, Sicilian. Actually, my father was Spanish, but nothing really prepared me for the direction that I was going to head in later in life
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:32
That's a great leadin then to how you arrived in this place in your life. What prepared you for this or what catapulted you to this, to playing a role in recovery and rehabilitation for people. And I know there's probably a long answer. So I would love you to start with that moment when you knew you wanted to go into it. And maybe you can go backwards after that, because I'm sure things led up to that. So I'll leave it to you
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 1:08
The first thing that popped into my head, of course, was I wanted to open up a rehab to help others in the same situation that I had been in. I was in the event business. I had an event and catering business with a location. We sold our location, and with that money, I thought we would buy a Ranch, which we did. But then 2008 set in, and it was not a good time to build. So we put that rehab idea and on hold
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:48
Well, we know what 2008 was for sure and how that devastated all of us, but I kind of want to jump back a little bit because you are a doer, and the doer in you was like, okay, I'd better do something and change the world because of this horrible thing happened. And I kind of understood stand that because we want to get busy. When something happens. We want to make a difference
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 1:00
Well, debris. When you said that I am a doer, I am a doer. I let me go back a few years before we bought the Ranch the the following year here, when I found out that there was an accidental overdose, I decided to sue for wrongful death. And I've been trying to make this as short as possible. I went to court. They said I did not have the right to sue for wrongful death
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:42
Did you ever think about after that experience going to politics, or was it such a horrible experience that you would never touch with ten foot pole again
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 0:13
Politics. I'm sure the majority of people would not want me to go into politics. No, I never have because I would also probably be going for dictatorship
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:44
We don't want any more dictators, so thank you for thank you for not joining the ranks there. Okay, so we're going to get into 2008 now. So that happened. The Ranch idea with the rehab center did not happen. So take us to now, let's go. Now, let's talk about talk about Lionheart. And I know we're in early stages, but this interview is going to last for a long time
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 1:32
And it's proven every day most people that go to rehab, they don't go once they go three, four times. Why? I always wanted to know why. And I'm not saying that I have all the answers. But I think by offering this warmth, compassion, and caring with treatment, I think that that would help. I really do
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:07
I wasn't going to use two double negatives. So the way you choose them is similar to how you chose people in your event world. And can you talk a little bit about how you find personnel and what they have to be like and who they have to be before you give them the lion heart, empromoted aware
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 1:40
Deborah, I love that you asked me that question. I feel that I really did get a really good group of women and men together. My business partner is Debbie Tybee, who is a brilliant businesswoman, but not only brilliant, she has so much compassion and love and caring. It's exactly the type of people I want at Lionheart
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:37
Can you talk about what that family means in terms of an outpatient experience when they leave and they feel like they're not dropping off a cliff? What ideas do you have for that? And is that something you are concerned about? First of all? And if so, what's feel like for you as the founder? What kind of world do you want to create where people don't feel alone at the end of their recovery cycle
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 0:55
I really believe that recovery doesn't stop after 30 days. You have to understand that these people come in, they need help and it goes way beyond the 30 days. My goal is to get families involved. I want them to come back and have lunch with us, feel free to call if they need anything, and also set up some type of network or alumni that these people can call in their times of stress. I know that my team right now that I have in place
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:42
I don't know if I said it before, but I am. I'm so devastated that you lost someone to this disease. But in reality, you lost somebody to a mishandling of medicine. And if you you wouldn't mind. I would like to go back to Dana's death
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 3:07
We turned into a pharmacy. It was all downhill after that. After spending way over $200,000 in rehabs, I was getting very frustrated. I couldn't figure out what was going on. These doctors were giving her so many pills and medication. And then one day I came in and there was a huge bottle of Oxy cotton, which I'd never even heard of OxyContin. I was horrified at that point. She said she had heard of this doctor who had pain management and treated addiction with methadone
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 1:27
So when this happened, I obviously was horrified that I was not even called, that I had lost my partner, the disrespect and the just horrific way of healing handled. This was just beyond words. I thought to myself, Obviously, I'm going to fight this. I'm going to see what happened. I hired a private Detective, immediately, found out that they had given her a double dose of methadone, and she overdosed
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:54
It's so important to hear your voice speak with such conviction and such pathos around this issue. And how could your organization not be wonderful to people when the the foundation of it is built upon this experience? And I'm so sorry. And I so admire your drive and it feels so right to me that you are leading the charge and that we're going to have a beautiful facility for people and their entire families to close this founders interview out
Healing Together
@LionHeart · 1:19
And I'm hoping with compassion, a beautiful location with beautiful amenities and extraordinary food, that these people will feel that they are well taken care of and not just filling a bed. We're hoping to open five additional Lion Heart facilities, and we hope that it grows. And we hope to change the way rehabs, treat people. And we hope to really set a precedent that you can heal not only from treatment, but with compassion, love, and caring