October 14, 2025 • 37 mins
WellStrong is a 501(c)(3) in East Falmouth using fitness, peer coaching, and community to support people in recovery from substance use disorder. Executive Director Alicia Conlin joins Chris Collins and Dennis “Bobby Downspout” Siggins to share how WellStrong pairs evidence-based WAM (Whole Health Action Management) with a full gym, peer wellness coaches, and “boots-on-the-ground” outreach. We talk recovery capital, accountability, employment pathways, events like the WellStrong Fun Run, and a big expansion: partnering as the sole wellness provider at The Bridge Center in Barnstable County.
If you think WellStrong is “just a gym,” this conversation shows the myriad of community services behind the doors—and why it works.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Collins (00:02):
Periodically on this podcast, we'd like to hand
the mic to a nonprofit in thecommunity where we live and
work, organizations making areal difference close to home.
Today that's Wellstrong, ourCape Cod nonprofit, where
wellness, peer support, andcommunity help people recover
from substance abuse disorder.
Executive Director AliciaConlin joins us to share her own
journey in recovery, howWellstrong's evidence-based
(00:24):
coaching works, and whysurrounding yourself with the
right people matters.
And Alicia points out there'smuch more to Wellstrong than
just a fitness center.
It's a myriad of communityservices that support recovery
every day.
We have a great show for you,so grab a cup of coffee, sit
back, relax, and welcome toMonkey Business Radio.
Hello everyone, I'm ChrisCollins, and as always, I'm here
(00:51):
with Dennis Siggins, the CapeCod Gutter Monkeys, where those
on the Cape might know him asBobby Downspout.
So hello, Bobby.
How are we doing?
Dennis (01:00):
Doing good, Chris.
How you been?
Chris Collins (01:02):
Good, good.
Today we got an interestingepisode.
We're doing something a littleoff-track.
Every once in a while we liketo have a local community
charity in, give them someairtime, allow them to tell
their story.
And today, uh, we're veryfortunate to have with us Alicia
Conlin of Wellstrong inFalmouth.
So welcome.
Alicia (01:22):
Thank you for having me.
Chris Collins (01:23):
Oh, we're excited to hear about your journey and
the business that you're nowworking for.
You're a full-time employeewith Wellstrong Executive
Director.
Is that correct?
Alicia (01:31):
I am.
I'm the executive director ofWellstrong.
Chris Collins (01:34):
Great, great.
Do you want to kind of dive inmaybe and just give us some
background on uh Wellstrong?
Alicia (01:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So um Wellstrong is a 501c3nonprofit organization.
We are located at 180 T TicketHighway in East Falmouth, right
across the street from T TicketPark.
And there we have our wellnesscenter.
So our wellness center is asupport system for people in
recovery from substance usedisorder.
And we offer a variety ofdifferent programming that helps
(02:02):
people find their community.
Chris Collins (02:04):
Okay.
I think you're known for thegym itself.
You have a gym for people tocome in and work out and work
with counselors.
Alicia (02:11):
We do.
Yep.
So we have a full gym.
In that gym, we have Pelotons,we have cardio equipment, we
have free weights.
But a lot of our otherprogramming that I feel like
people aren't aware of are ourpeer support programming.
We have a peer wellnesscoaching program, and that is a
grant-funded opportunity forpeople of less than a year of
sobriety to come in and getpaired up with one of our peer
(02:32):
wellness coaches, and they arecertified to take our clients
through the WAM program.
So for those who don't knowwhat the WAM program is, it's
whole health action management,it's evidence-based.
And what we do is we take yourtraditional recovery coaching
and we pair it with wellness.
So we don't believe recovery isa cookie-cutter process.
So every individual gets anindividualized plan with their
(02:55):
coach.
They meet weekly one-on-one andthen they meet as a group, as a
cohort to build relationshipsand work on goals together.
Chris Collins (03:01):
So your coaches themselves, are they ex uh
clients of yours or how do theybecome a coach?
Alicia (03:07):
So they self-identify as being in recovery themselves.
Chris Collins (03:10):
Okay.
Alicia (03:11):
We believe that that peer aspect is crucial,
especially for individuals whoare new in recovery, to have
somebody who can identify with.
We get a lot of recommendationsthrough the Cape Cod Community
College.
So the community collegeprovides a recovery coaching
certification, and we provideinternships to those recovery
coaches.
And if it turns out to be agreat fit and we have the
(03:33):
funding for it and we can add anadditional coach, that is how
we've been able to maintain thisprogram and find.
That's interesting.
Chris Collins (03:39):
So it's in the community college.
Alicia (03:40):
Correct.
Chris Collins (03:41):
Oh wow.
I wasn't aware of that.
Alicia (03:43):
Yeah.
Chris Collins (03:43):
Is that a unique program for the Cape or is it
can you find that elsewhere?
Alicia (03:47):
It's pretty so you can find it online, but I mean, why
do something online that you cando in person and be in a cohort
with other people and meetpeople with, you know, that are
like-minded and also inrecovery?
Dennis (03:58):
Wow.
Very interesting.
Alicia, what is your missionstatement?
Do you have one?
Alicia (04:02):
We do have a mission statement.
Dennis (04:04):
Tell me about that.
Alicia (04:04):
So it's on our website, and I'm not going to recite it
verbatim.
But so we provide wellnessopportunities for people in
recovery from substance usedisorder by providing peer
support, fitness, and communitysupport.
So the way that we work withthat mission is just not inside
our brick and mortar at ourwellness center.
(04:25):
It's also by us doing likeboots on the ground work, being
out in the community, attendingcommunity events, having peer
support navigators go out andfind and meet people who are in
recovery, but integrating thatwellness aspect because that is
definitely the missing gap.
A lot of individuals who comeout of treatment centers,
they're pointed to go to go toAA meetings or go to NA
(04:45):
meetings.
And there isn't much else forpeople in recovery to do and
find community outside ofmeetings.
And we have found that wellnessis a huge piece to that
recovery.
Chris Collins (04:56):
Oh, yeah, I can imagine.
Yeah.
I always joke with Dennis andhalf serious half the time, but
it's, you know, running.
I still run and all the time,do a lot of hiking and stuff
like that.
And for me, it is mentalhealth.
I don't know how much I wouldhave spent on psychology.
I mean, without running, it itis my mental health break.
I always feel so much betterafter exercising and no matter
(05:16):
what I'm going through.
So I can imagine that would bea huge part.
Alicia (05:19):
Yeah.
And when you feel good, thenyou want to continue to do good
things, right?
And then fuel your body theright way.
And, you know, maybe not listento negative music or have those
negative conversations.
And so that's great.
Yeah.
Chris Collins (05:33):
So how did this all get started?
This is it's a nonprofit, it'sa fairly large organization in
terms of, you know, you have abrick and mortar place, you're
out in the community.
How did this all get started?
Alicia (05:43):
So our founder, Amy Doherty, started Well Shrong.
We were our 501c3 status camein 2017.
And so originally how itstarted is she had a brother who
unfortunately passed away froma heart disease, um, not from
substance use related, but hestruggled with substance use.
Her father also struggled withsubstance use.
(06:04):
He is now in recovery.
He's been in recovery forseveral decades.
But when she was watching herbrother struggle, she was
researching different resourcesthat could be available to him.
And she knew for herself thatwhen she was diagnosed with
Lyme's disease, that wellnessand mindfulness and meditation
was super important to herjourney.
And um, that really helped herget through her Lyme, like
(06:27):
through her Lyme's disease.
And so when she was researchingstuff for her brother, she
couldn't find anything.
There was like no sober gym, norecovery wellness
opportunities.
And so while Strong was born,she was like, well, what if I,
you know, created anorganization that had a wellness
center or a fitness gym forpeople in recovery.
(06:48):
So originally it started outwith our fitness programming.
That was like a main part ofour programming was the fitness
classes and the gym.
All of the peer support hasbeen added throughout the years
as we've seen that that has beeninstrumental to people who come
into our center being havingaccess to another individual who
is in recovery and can providesupport to them.
Chris Collins (07:12):
So she did all that from that one thing off of
Lyme disease and the combinationof her background and her
family.
That's amazing.
Alicia (07:18):
And she's a runner too.
She was always active,participated in triathlons.
And when Well Strong firststarted, that's how a lot of our
members got involved was shewould sign them up for different
races and triathlons.
And the David Lewis 5K wasmerged from all of this.
Chris Collins (07:36):
Yeah.
It's kind of interesting.
Now that's the second charitythat we've had in, both running
based at some point, which isinteresting because Dennis and
I, our background is linked torunning.
Chris and I were running.
Dennis (07:45):
We were teammates in high school.
Yeah, we were runners.
Alicia (07:48):
On the track team?
Dennis (07:49):
We were more we were good track runners too, but
we're our real sport at our highschool was cross-country.
We were very good and um we hada really dedicated coach.
It is funny though, because Ithink I often say that like you
and me and Mark Bugdon and guysthat we ran with in high school,
we all still run and we're allpart of this sort of early,
maybe the first group of kidsthat didn't stop their
(08:12):
athleticism right after highschool or right after college.
And, you know, Andy, mypartner, he wasn't a runner, he
was a soccer player, but herides a bike now and he's very
healthy.
I still run, I still ride abike, I do swim, I live on a
lake, I like to do open waterswims, but I still I have a gym
at home.
We have a gym here too in ourcompany, but I still exercise
(08:34):
pretty regularly.
And didn't everybody tell usback in the day, Chris,
running's bad for you, it'sgonna ruin your knees.
Lifting weights is bad for you,it's gonna ruin your joint.
This is what we were all toldback in the 70s.
You gotta stop this stuff andyou gotta act your age.
But now look at the change.
This is where people areturning to.
And I it's true what Chrissays.
I think for me, exercise is myyardstick measure, it's my
(08:58):
barometer, lets me know how I'mfeeling and how I'm doing.
And yeah, if I miss a day, Idon't feel very good.
If I miss two days in a row,other people know I don't feel
good.
So I I hardly ever miss a day.
Yes, it it keeps everythingbalanced.
Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
Chris Collins (09:15):
So let's talk a little bit about too.
You're reaching out into thecommunity.
You do, besides just havingyour brick and mortar, like you
said, you do some things out inthe community.
There's a couple of differentthings you want to kind of, and
I think you're expanding aswell.
You mentioned in the pre-showthat you were expanding the
business as well, at least.
Alicia (09:30):
Yeah, yeah.
So we attend a lot of communityevents.
So you'll probably see us atdifferent opportunities where we
can set up the table, meetpeople out in the community.
We have a peer supportnavigator program where they are
going out into the community,meeting people where they're at,
directing them to resources.
We provide community events.
So two of our annual eventsthat we put on one is the Well
(09:53):
Strong Fun Run, and that takesplace in the beginning of June.
And that is sponsored by thePatrick Graham Foundation.
And what that is, it's justlike a fun event for people to
come out and bring their family,bring their kids, bring their
friends, and you do a half-milerun around Tea Ticket Park.
And during that course, thereare about 20 different obstacles
(10:14):
that you have to overcome.
Chris Collins (10:15):
It's fun.
Um it would be fun.
Alicia (10:17):
It's hilarious.
It's actually very challenging.
When we first created it overthree years ago, we kept upping
the ante.
We'd be like, oh no, we can addfive more to that challenge.
That wouldn't be that hard.
Oh, by the time you are halfwaythrough, you are like, you're
like, there's more.
I have to do more.
And you end the whole challengewith this huge bouncy house at
(10:38):
the end, obstacle course.
So we have food trucks there,we have arts and crafts for the
kids.
And it's just a good way tohelp reduce that stigma that
recovery can be fun.
There are things that you cando with your friends and family
outside of that.
And we, you know, inviteeverybody to come to that.
The other one is our eventthat's actually happening this
Saturday on the 27th, theFalmouth Gus Canti Center, the
(11:01):
recreational center.
And that is for recovery month.
So September is recovery month,and that we partner with the
Falmouth Recovery Center.
And we put on a large eventwhere a ton of different
organizations and resources comein.
They set up, we have multiplespeakers, we have food, we have
stuff for the kids and for thefamily, and just so that people
are aware of what's going on andwhat's accessible to them.
Chris Collins (11:24):
How do you get your word out there about these
certain events and things?
Alicia (11:27):
Social media.
We also have a greatrelationship with Cox and Media
with Cape Cod Radio.
So they advertise us, and a lotof it is our doing our outreach
and you know, reaching out toother organizations.
And we have a member list ofover 2,000 individuals that we
send it to.
We also have a donor list ofabout 3,000 individuals.
(11:49):
So, you know, we're pushing outinformation to about 5,000
people monthly about upcomingevents and ways that they can
get involved and participate.
Chris Collins (11:58):
And oh, it's great.
That's great because it's gottabe a huge community out there.
If you think about all thepeople that are in recovery in
the state, you know, on the Capeand whatnot, it must be a very
large number.
Alicia (12:07):
Found that there's a huge recovery center hub.
I think with all the localtreatment centers that come out
to the Cape, a lot of people,once they're here and they make
friends and they they meetpeople, they don't want to
leave.
Chris Collins (12:17):
Right.
Yeah.
Alicia (12:18):
I'm one of them.
Chris Collins (12:19):
Yeah.
Barley (12:20):
Yeah.
Chris Collins (12:20):
Why don't we talk a little bit about your story
too?
Because you came to this, guessyou were mentioned that you're
one of just two employees,full-time employees for the
fund.
It's a pretty largeorganization in terms of
fundraising.
Touch on that too a littlelater.
But so why don't we tell, youknow, if you'd like to tell your
story how you came to this job.
Alicia (12:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
So um I am a person in recoverymyself.
I celebrated eight years backon June 25th.
Chris Collins (12:44):
Congratulations.
Alicia (12:45):
Thank you.
I came to the Cape to get soberback in 2017.
So I was in the retail andcorporate world for most of my
life.
My last job before Wall Strongwas at TJX.
I was an allocation analyst.
And my life was, I wasstruggling.
And I don't think people reallyknew to the extent that I was
(13:06):
struggling because I was maskinga lot of it.
I willingly went to treatment.
I ended up at RecoveringChampions out in Falmouth.
And I, after treatment, I movedinto a sober home and I wanted
to stay on Cape because I feltlike I found my home.
Flash forward, Well Strong wasjust being started back when I
had about six months ofsobriety.
(13:27):
I heard about it at an AAmeeting, and I thought it was
really cool.
Wellness was always a part ofmy life.
I've played sports my wholeentire life, everything from
softball to basketball tovolleyball to gymnastics.
I think my mom enrolled us ineverything to keep us very busy
and active.
Chris Collins (13:43):
You were busy.
Alicia (13:44):
Yeah.
With two younger sisters alsoenrolled in everything.
So I knew that wellness wasalways something I could go back
to.
Back in 2021, it was presentedto me that there was an
opportunity for a full-timeposition as a program director.
I was in the middle of gettingmy yoga certification, my 200
hours, and it felt like aperfect fit.
(14:05):
Yeah.
So I started at Well Strong asthe program director, and I was
voted into the executivedirector position back in the
last March.
So March of 2024.
Chris Collins (14:17):
Wow.
So yeah, you've been there fora while now, at least a year
almost going on.
Alicia (14:21):
For the ED position, yeah.
Chris Collins (14:22):
Yeah, great.
So how do you find the job?
Alicia (14:24):
Your interest, is it everything you thought it was
going to be, or is it uh is it alot more of a lot of podcasts
and uh Yeah, I loved my role asthe program director because I
got to be in it with themembers.
Like I was part of theday-to-day and as the ED, you
know, the the founder is the onewho really pushed that I could
do this job.
She worked very closely with meas the program director, and
(14:48):
she's someone who reallybelieved in me that I could do
this.
And I love my job.
I don't wake up in the morningand think, why do I have to do
this?
I'm like, I get to do this.
I get to be a voice for peoplein recovery and I get to help
them find what makes them feelwhole.
Chris Collins (15:04):
Yeah.
So what exactly does theexecutive director do?
Alicia (15:07):
Everything.
Chris Collins (15:10):
It's only two employees.
Everything, two full-timeemployees.
It must be making the coffeeand uh yes.
Alicia (15:16):
I have a wonder, I have to say, my staff is truly
wonderful.
Like I don't have to be at thewellness center every day for it
to open and close and functionand for things to get done.
Our peer mentors that are thereare phenomenal.
Our fitness instructors arephenomenal.
Everyone shows up, they dotheir job, they play their role.
As far as for me and mydevelopment director, we are the
only full-time staff.
(15:37):
So it means we are wearing alot of hats.
So I am HR, I am marketing, Iam payroll, I am IT, I am you
think of it and name it.
I have about 25 employees thatreport directly to me.
Wow.
So days are very, very busy,but it's extremely worth it.
And I wouldn't, you know, theonly thing I would change is we
are going to be uh promotingthat we are hiring a new program
(16:00):
director, which will makethings a lot easier.
Chris Collins (16:03):
Easier on the fundraising, I'm always curious
the fundraising.
I'm involved in a charity outin uh Helena, Montana for a
school in Uganda.
And the fundraising is alwaysthe part that's so cringy to me
because I have such a hard timewith it.
Why?
It's fundraising.
I'll always tell a story whenwe get on this topic.
But when I was a kid growingup, we went to St.
Bridget's in Framingham.
(16:24):
Oh yeah.
And we were always raisingmoney.
And I had seven brothers andsisters, and four of us were at
St.
Bridget's at the same time.
So they all send us home withseed catalogs, and you had to
sell seeds or candy bars or uhChristmas wrapping, you know.
So I'll hear I can just see myneighbors on the street, you
know, saying, Oh, here come theCollins kids with the wrapping
again this year.
It's fucking him, you know.
(16:45):
So it was just awful.
I just dreaded it, dreaded it.
And it's carried on all my lifenow, even to this point.
And so now I'm getting involvedin fundraising there, and uh
it's part of the more difficultpart for me.
But yeah, so you must beinvolved because it's a fairly
large budget.
What is your budget there?
Alicia (16:59):
It's uh around a half a million.
Chris Collins (17:01):
Wow, wow, that's big.
It is quite large.
Yeah, that's right.
How do you raise that money?
Alicia (17:05):
So what's what is the So the breakdown is currently
about half of our income is fromour fundraising events that we
participate in.
So we have an annual galacalled Celebrate Well Strong
that takes place in April everyyear.
We participate in EJ JaxTimer's Charter Cup fishing
tournament in July.
It's very fun.
And then we participate in theFalmouth Road Race every year.
Chris Collins (17:27):
Okay.
All right.
So for the fishing tournament,what do you sponsor a team or
something like that?
Alicia (17:31):
So we have our own team.
Bruce Kelly is our captain.
He's been our captain, him andBill Gibson for the last ever
since we've done it.
And they are at the forefront.
So they're actually activelyout fundraising on behalf of
Well Strong.
Chris Collins (17:44):
Oh, cool.
Alicia (17:45):
And then they go out and they fish.
Chris Collins (17:46):
Oh, cool.
Yeah, great.
Oh, wow.
That sounds like a lot of fun.
It is.
It's a cool event.
Yeah, I guess fundraising canbe fun if you do it right.
Alicia (17:52):
It definitely can.
Everyone is a fundraiser.
Dennis (17:55):
Yeah.
All right.
I don't know anything aboutrecovery, but I do know that
there's certain concepts thatwork in business and in life.
And one of them that just sortof came back to me as I was
listening to you is in business,we always say, you know, sevens
and eights hire nines and tens.
And threes and fours hire onesand twos.
(18:17):
And we've all seen examples ofeach of these.
And in life, we say that, youknow, sevens and eights surround
themselves with nines and tens.
And threes and fours surroundthemselves with ones and twos,
and they don't know why.
And I could see the importanceof somebody who's in recovery
choosing to surround himself orherself with the proper people.
(18:38):
I would I would guess, I don'tknow for sure, but I would guess
that one possible reason forthat recovery wouldn't work is
that a person may not surroundhimself with the right people
before, during, and afterrecovery.
Sometimes before recovery,that's why you would probably
end up with poor habits.
But I would say during recoveryand post-recovery that it would
(19:02):
be essential to surroundyourself with the right types of
people.
If you're a three or a four andyou keep surrounding yourself
with ones and twos, you'reprobably not going to have a
successful recovery.
But if you're a three and afour and you begin to surround
yourselves with sevens andeights, pretty soon you become a
seven and an eight.
I think it's true ineverything.
I think it's true in businessand in life.
(19:22):
And I suspect it's probablytrue when it comes to recovery.
Is that probably accurate?
Alicia (19:28):
You summed it up perfectly.
We see that all the time.
And what our community does, ithelps people get to a next
level.
There's an accountabilityfactor that happens when you
come to Wall Strong.
People start to notice thatyou're there.
Our peer mentors get to knowyou, our instructors get to know
you.
You miss a week or two, you'regetting a phone call from one of
us checking in.
(19:49):
How are you doing?
What's going on?
We haven't seen you in a while.
You know, because we want youto succeed.
We want you to be in recoverylong term.
Chris Collins (19:58):
Yeah, I think it's amazing too, that one
program where you can come for awhole year with no cost, have a
one-on-one peer trainer or peermentor and be able to work with
him for a solid year.
I mean, if you make it throughthat year, I'm I gotta think
your success rate is prettyhigh.
Oh, yeah.
Alicia (20:13):
We talk about recovery capital.
It's a way to kind of scale theperson's potential of staying
in long-term recovery.
And there's a lot of factorsthat go into it.
But yeah, the consistency andshowing up with a community that
are like nines and tens thatyou're surrounding yourself with
boost your recovery capital andit brings the relapse rate down
(20:34):
tremendously.
Chris Collins (20:34):
Yeah, I can't.
Alicia (20:35):
So our pure wellness coaching program has a 90%
success rate because when peopleare involved and they're in it
and they're held accountable tohaving to show up and
participate and work on specificgoals, we don't see them
relapsing out there.
Chris Collins (20:48):
I could think that if you get this message out
there enough across the Capeand across these areas, you can
see a huge influx of people.
Alicia (20:56):
Oh, yeah.
Chris Collins (20:56):
Because there's just got to be so many people in
recovery.
It's just like you said, it'sone of those things you kind of
can hide and you know cover.
And a lot of people, there is ashame factor to it, you don't
want to admit it.
Alicia (21:05):
Absolutely.
Chris Collins (21:06):
But to get in a program like this is amazing.
And I love the fact that youguys bring in, you know, the
your own clients, people whowere once your clients and now
they're peer mentors.
And it's just incredible.
Yeah.
Turn people's lives around.
Dennis (21:17):
It's very impressive.
Especially with the high levelof recovery.
I've heard estimates as low asthree to five percent.
I've heard these, you know, andagain, I don't it's hard to
believe today's mainstream mediabecause everything is slanted,
everything is biased one way orthe other.
But I've heard estimates as lowas three to five percent.
(21:38):
Like, I don't know if it's trueor not, and I don't know what
the basis is.
Alicia (21:42):
It used to be 10%, so it could have dropped, you know,
with COVID happening.
We saw a huge influx insubstance use after COVID.
After COVID, oh yeah.
A lot of people resorted todrinking and using drugs to cope
with everything that washappening.
So I can imagine the statisticsprobably have dropped with the
number of people who are now youknow actively using.
Chris Collins (22:05):
Yeah, I'm amazed with this program because it's
such seems like such a naturalthing because of our running
background and our experiencejust with running, it just seems
like such a natural thing thatit would just fit in so nicely
with a recovery program of anytype, I guess.
You know, anything fromsubstance abuse, even you know,
weight issues or any sort ofthing like that.
It would just be amazing.
Oh, PSTD, like we're talkingour last podcast, uh, the
(22:26):
program that they had there forsort of a wellness program for
treating PSTD.
So it's a PTSD.
PTSD.
What did I say?
Close.
PSTD.
I do that all the time.
It's due to dyslexia.
And it is, it is.
Barley (22:39):
Yeah.
Alicia (22:40):
I'm right there with BL.
Chris Collins (22:41):
B NFL and the NL NLF.
NFF.
MBL used to drive my kidscrazy.
It took me like two years tosay Tesla correctly.
I was calling it Tesla orsomething like that.
Yeah, it is stuck in my brain.
It would drive my kidsabsolutely insane.
So after a while, I just gaveup and just kept doing it just
to kind of drive them crazyanyway.
Yeah, but I do that all thetime.
Dennis (23:04):
I was talking with some people in the last week or so,
and we were talking about thesevens and eights and the threes
and fours, and it's soapplicable.
And we talked about it in itsregards to business.
It's a basic principle thatpeople in business, if they
don't, if they've never heard itput that way, they get it right
away.
They know exactly.
And that's how we growbusinesses, and that's how we
(23:25):
build successful teams at work,is by hiring the best people.
And sometimes you can see atwork, you bring in one guy that
shows up late, he misses days.
We can't put up with that.
We we can't, because then thecrew chief says, he's on my
crew, and now I'm I'm short oneman today.
And it just works its way intothe fabric of the organization
and the culture of theorganizations.
(23:47):
You can't have it.
Everybody has to be on the samepage.
And that's why I personallycontinue to try to find the best
people available.
I'm not saying that I'm not a10, I consider myself maybe an
eight and a half, but I but Ilike to surround myself with
nines and tens.
You are the average of the fivepeople that you most closely
(24:09):
relate to.
Absolutely.
And so who are those fivepeople?
You know, and are they yourattorney, your banker, your
financial planner, your bestfriends?
I mean, who are those fivepeople that you most closely
relate to?
Hopefully they're not the guysthat you drink with at the bar.
Right.
Hopefully they're not thepeople that you party with and
that you do drugs with.
(24:30):
Because if they are, you havesurrounded yourself with the
lowest common denominator, andthat's where the problems not
only start.
And again, I don't I don't knowabout recovery, but I know
about life in general.
Alicia (24:41):
Yeah, I think we talk about this in the programs like
in AA and NA with sponsorship.
And we talk about this at WallStrong a lot.
I know I'll speak for myself.
When I was looking for asponsor when I was newly sober,
I, you know, they always say,like, go into the halls and hear
other women speak and, youknow, find someone that you want
what they have.
(25:01):
Well, when you're in activeaddiction, a lot of what we want
is material items, right?
Like we want the cars or thehouses or, you know, whatever it
may be to make us feel goodbecause we think if we have all
that stuff, it's gonna make usfeel better.
But what I slowly learned isthat I wanted more of the peace
aspect.
And so when I went out and Ilooked for a woman to sponsor
(25:23):
me, I ended up finding a womanwho was 70 years old who had my
future life that I wanted.
Like she was at peace with herlife, like nothing ruffled her,
like she was unshakable.
And I think when you're lookingfor those types of people, you
got to kind of look a little bitforward, right?
Because you don't want to besurrounding yourself with a ton
(25:44):
of people that are alreadyliving in your circumstance.
Yeah, right.
You want to be looking forindividuals and mentors that are
maybe a couple of chaptersahead of you where you're like,
my ideal life would actuallylook like that, and they're
living it, right?
Chris Collins (25:56):
And plus you did something you mentioned that you
moved to the Cape, so youseparated yourself completely
from your world.
Alicia (26:02):
I mean, that's I changed people, places, and things.
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Collins (26:06):
I mean, it's one thing to kind of you know stop
seeing your friends or stophanging around doing your usual
routines and things like that,but you made a complete change.
You left a job.
Uh it sounded like it was avery good job at uh TJX to come
to the CAPE.
And well, you're here today, soit worked out, but that's a
that's a that was a big leap.
Alicia (26:22):
Big leap of faith.
Yeah, but I wanted it.
And I think that that issomething that you know a lot of
people are like, I don'tunderstand why this person can't
grasp recovery.
I they can't grasp it.
And to me, it's like they needthis much willingness, like the
smallest, smallest amount ofwillingness that their life can
be completely different.
And every day they have to takeanother step forward.
(26:43):
It doesn't have to be a fullstep, but it can be a smaller
step.
And your whole life, your wholetrajectory can change.
Chris Collins (26:49):
Yeah, yeah.
And you really change yourdirection direction.
Dennis (26:52):
I mean, geez.
Well, you are committed.
Very you you had to becommitted to make that kind of a
step.
That's huge.
So we've flirted with alcoholaddiction, drug addiction.
Do you ever get people thatcome to your program that have
no substance abuse issues, butthey're addicted to spending?
They've spent themselves intobankruptcy.
(27:12):
Do you ever is like that's anaddiction?
Alicia (27:15):
Right.
Dennis (27:15):
So our mission do people ever come to you with that or
and only that?
Alicia (27:18):
Well, so our mission is specifically substance.
Oh, it's substance use.
So to attend in ourprogramming, you have to
identify with substance use.
But a lot of our people whosuffer from substance use,
there's many arms and life toyour addiction.
So when they get in recovery,they then they turn to shopping,
right?
And they start spending alltheir money that they have
because they no longer have thedrugs and alcohol.
(27:40):
The drugs and the alcohol arejust a symptom to recovery,
right?
Like it's it's deeper thanthat.
It's it's a spiritual malady,is what we like to talk about it
of it's a big gaping hole.
So when you put down the drugsand the alcohol, a lot of times
people think, oh, my life isinstantly gonna get better.
Yeah.
But no, your addiction, it'sgonna find something else,
right?
It's gonna find food,codependency, gambling,
(28:04):
shopping.
Chris Collins (28:05):
I remember my dad had experience with uh alcohol.
You know, he had got it undercontrol eventually.
He had some health issues thatscared him, so he got it under
control.
But he remembers he always usedto talk about, and to this day,
I still my mom's house, he'sgone now, but still my mom's
house, there's a cookie drawerthere.
That was his cookie drawer.
Yeah.
Because once he gave upalcohol, you still have that
need for the carbs and whateverthat he had to replace, the
(28:27):
cravings and like that.
And so that's what he starteddoing.
He started eating it.
He never I never saw him eatsweets until then.
But then he started and hedeveloped this thing, and it
became a kind of a joke havinghis cookie jar.
It was in the cookie drawer.
That's what we used to go.
To this day, I'll go in myhouse and what kind of cookies
were in there?
Oh, it was all kinds of things.
He liked the uh marshmallow,those chocolate marshmallow
things and all that.
Oh, yeah.
Alicia (28:47):
I would think Oreos.
Yeah, I was actually thinkingOreos myself.
Chris Collins (28:51):
Yeah, he was a keebler.
He liked a lot of the Keeblerones, you know, things like
that.
But and to this day, I go inthe house.
I joke with my mom all thetime.
I see your mom all the time togo in there.
And uh I always joke I can't gothrough the kitchen without
opening up the see what's inthere, seeing what's in there.
But uh yeah, it's kind ofinteresting.
Yeah, where you say what itpops out in some other
direction, you know, some otherpiece of your life becomes
(29:11):
unstable from that.
Alicia (29:13):
Yeah.
And that's where we try to fitin those coping tools, right?
Like instead of maybe going tothe cookie jar, like maybe you
lace up your sneakers and you gofor a run.
Right, yeah.
Right.
Or you sit down and you do a 15meditation.
Yeah, you know, there's so manydifferent tools that we can use
when we're feeling some type ofway because what we know is
life doesn't stop.
Just because you get soberdoesn't mean I mean, some of my
(29:35):
most difficult moments happenedin my eight years of sobriety.
Yeah, sure.
And I'm grateful today, like Ihave a six year old son, he has
never seen me pick up drugs oralcohol.
Chris Collins (29:44):
And that's wonderful.
Alicia (29:46):
But, you know, that's not the case for some people.
And I think the more tools thatyou have in that tool belt that
you can access, the less likelyyou are to turn back.
Chris Collins (29:54):
There's one other question I wanted to ask you
about.
So, besides just, you know,providing uh wellness.
resources and things like thatand working in the community.
Do you have sort of uh programsfor the people in their in your
like uh referral programs andall that sort of things referral
for either mental health orother sort of medical issues or
one of the ones I was just goingto touch on, Dennis just
mentioned it is employment.
(30:15):
Like uh so I know there's a lotof employment issues with
people in substance recovery.
Alicia (30:20):
Yeah.
So all of our staff isequipped, we have a whole
resource table at our brick andmortar, but all of our staff's
equipped to answer a lot ofthose questions and refer people
out for, you know, say thatthey come in and they're like, I
need a PCP.
I can't find one.
We have a lot of informationregarding that.
As far as employmentopportunities, I mean we provide
(30:41):
opportunities for people foremployment.
Like I mentioned our staff isin recovery themselves.
You have to have six months ofsobriety to start as a peer
mentor.
And then our goal is to kind ofget you on a career path where
it could open up to otheropportunities depending on your
skill set.
Do you help them with jobsearch and things like that?
Are they resources to do that?
We, because we have a lot ofconnections in the community.
(31:02):
People will reach out all thetime from other organizations,
hey, we're hiring for thisposition if you know of anyone.
So on our resource board we'realways posting different job
opportunities that are availablein the community.
Our peer wellness coaches arespecifically equipped for that.
So if they get a client whocomes in and they don't have a
current job, they do help them.
They'll help them with theirresume, they'll help them apply,
(31:24):
they'll help them withinterview questions.
So yeah, we find that you knowthat's a piece too of the
recovery capital is like how canyou get your life back together
if you don't have an income?
Dennis (31:34):
Right.
Yeah.
Chris Collins (31:35):
Yeah that makes it really it's huge.
So before the show youmentioned you have a new
initiative that you might wantto discuss and let people know
about.
Alicia (31:42):
Absolutely.
So it's going to be in a pressrelease in the next couple of
weeks but Walsh is going to bethe sole partner of the Bridge
Center, which is Sheriff DonnaBuckley's initiative in
Barnstable County to provide acentralized resource hub for
people to come in and getassessed of what their needs are
and meet them where they're at.
Chris Collins (32:03):
Oh wow okay so how does that work you'd come
into their shop and what wouldhappen?
Alicia (32:07):
Yeah so the Bridge Center is located at what was
the original Sheriff's home.
I think it was built in like1950 and it's about three floors
and we're partnering with abunch of other organizations to
provide a variety of differentresources for these individuals.
And ideally when the initiativefirst started Sheriff Donna
Buckley was interested inproviding resources to those who
(32:29):
were re-entering back intosociety after being incarcerated
because the goal is to make ourcommunity safer.
And to do that we need to equipthese individuals so they don't
go back out and commit thecrimes that they committed
before.
But a lot of these individualsalso suffer from substance use
disorder.
As we spoke more we've want itopen to allies too so anybody
can just walk in you don't needan appointment you'll be greeted
(32:52):
by either a bridge center staffor a Wellstrong staff.
And the programming we're goingto bring there are our peer
wellness coaching program, ourpeer support navigators and then
we will have a variety offitness programming and
hopefully a gym downstairs inthe case in there.
Okay.
So you have a new buildingcorrect oh wow so this is a big
expansion for you a big bigexpansion and we are beyond
(33:14):
excited and you know gratefulthat we were selected to be a
partner with the Bridge Center.
Chris Collins (33:20):
Oh wow okay so I'm not familiar with the Cape
that much I'm not a CAPE person.
Alicia (33:23):
I wasn't you're a wash ashore?
Chris Collins (33:25):
I'm a wash ashore no you don't even live here I
don't even live here I don't youdon't get the title ranked a
wash ashore I'm a I'm a blowthrough or whatever.
But it sounds interesting.
Alicia (33:37):
So this woman what was her name so sheriff Donna
Buckley she is the sheriff ofBarnstable County and she's done
a tremendous job in our jailsystem providing them access to
different programming that theydidn't have before.
Okay.
And so this is her initiativeto provide resources in a
centralized area because it'sright in if you know where the
probate court is the districtcourt is it's right in that
(34:00):
plaza.
So it's right on 6A so it'saccessible by the bus, easy to
get to and just a way to bringkind of you might not know this
because you're not from theCape, but we have over a
thousand nonprofits on Cape.
And if you are a nonprofit thatmay you might not have access
to social media or a websitepeople might not know that you
(34:22):
exist.
And so the bridge center isreally to equip people to know
that there are more out there,right?
And a lot of these nonprofitsoffer these services for little
to no cost.
A lot of them are free.
So the more that we can equippeople they can be better
community members right they canthen be employable and give
back and participate in ourcommunities.
Chris Collins (34:43):
That's impressive that you got selected to be one
of their people that actuallyin their building working with
them.
Alicia (34:48):
I agree.
Chris Collins (34:49):
Wow that's what we're very good feather in your
cap I'm sure as an executivedirector to help set that up it
was our founder's dream for usto have a second location.
Alicia (34:58):
And so I'm happy that we're we're able to do that.
Is Amy still around is shestill working she is yeah she's
still active she resigned offour board back in June so that
she could live her life as agrandmother now she has a
grandson and but she's stillvery active and Wallstrong her
and I meet regularly and I loveher still being a part of you
know what she created.
Chris Collins (35:19):
Yeah yeah nice to still have a hand in running
the business.
Okay.
All right well we're gettingtowards the end of our show
thoughts Dennis I'm all doneyou're all done I'm all tapped
out I'm tapped out well this isgreat we I mean we love having
local charities on I think thisis going to become a regular
thing for us.
It's just a nice sort of thingto have your community
represented on the show everyonce in a while and it's we
(35:41):
would appreciate yeah with allthese a thousand out there
there's so many good ones andthis sounds great.
I just to me just sounds likesuch a no-brainer I'm surprised
there's just not more of it outthere.
I just I'm surprised withwellness and recovery aren't
linked you know to hippractically it just seems like
such an obvious thing but it'sgreat that you guys bring it
out.
Thank you.
So I hope this helps a littlebit hope this show gets out
there a little bit and peoplehear it.
(36:02):
They know someone or strugglingthemselves that then maybe
they'd give you guys a call.
Just walk right in.
Walk right in that's what I dotwo locations now.
Yeah.
Arnstable and Falmouth.
Alicia (36:11):
Yes.
Chris Collins (36:11):
All right well thank you for being with us
Alicia we've really enjoyed yourtime here.
Dennis (36:16):
Thank you very much.
No monkeys were harmed in themaking of this podcast.
That's right thanks for havingme.
See you later.
Chris Collins (36:22):
Bye bye thank you for tuning in to Monkey
Business Radio.
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(36:43):
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Don't forget to leave us a fivestar review if you found the
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We'll see you next time thispodcast is produced by American
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ownership for details visit usat American Guttermonkeys.com
Periodically on this podcast, we'd like to hand
the mic to a nonprofit in thecommunity where we live and
work, organizations making areal difference close to home.
Today that's Wellstrong, ourCape Cod nonprofit, where
wellness, peer support, andcommunity help people recover
from substance abuse disorder.
Executive Director AliciaConlin joins us to share her own
journey in recovery, howWellstrong's evidence-based
(00:24):
coaching works, and whysurrounding yourself with the
right people matters.
And Alicia points out there'smuch more to Wellstrong than
just a fitness center.
It's a myriad of communityservices that support recovery
every day.
We have a great show for you,so grab a cup of coffee, sit
back, relax, and welcome toMonkey Business Radio.
Hello everyone, I'm ChrisCollins, and as always, I'm here
(00:51):
with Dennis Siggins, the CapeCod Gutter Monkeys, where those
on the Cape might know him asBobby Downspout.
So hello, Bobby.
How are we doing?
Dennis (01:00):
Doing good, Chris.
How you been?
Chris Collins (01:02):
Good, good.
Today we got an interestingepisode.
We're doing something a littleoff-track.
Every once in a while we liketo have a local community
charity in, give them someairtime, allow them to tell
their story.
And today, uh, we're veryfortunate to have with us Alicia
Conlin of Wellstrong inFalmouth.
So welcome.
Alicia (01:22):
Thank you for having me.
Chris Collins (01:23):
Oh, we're excited to hear about your journey and
the business that you're nowworking for.
You're a full-time employeewith Wellstrong Executive
Director.
Is that correct?
Alicia (01:31):
I am.
I'm the executive director ofWellstrong.
Chris Collins (01:34):
Great, great.
Do you want to kind of dive inmaybe and just give us some
background on uh Wellstrong?
Alicia (01:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So um Wellstrong is a 501c3nonprofit organization.
We are located at 180 T TicketHighway in East Falmouth, right
across the street from T TicketPark.
And there we have our wellnesscenter.
So our wellness center is asupport system for people in
recovery from substance usedisorder.
And we offer a variety ofdifferent programming that helps
(02:02):
people find their community.
Chris Collins (02:04):
Okay.
I think you're known for thegym itself.
You have a gym for people tocome in and work out and work
with counselors.
Alicia (02:11):
We do.
Yep.
So we have a full gym.
In that gym, we have Pelotons,we have cardio equipment, we
have free weights.
But a lot of our otherprogramming that I feel like
people aren't aware of are ourpeer support programming.
We have a peer wellnesscoaching program, and that is a
grant-funded opportunity forpeople of less than a year of
sobriety to come in and getpaired up with one of our peer
(02:32):
wellness coaches, and they arecertified to take our clients
through the WAM program.
So for those who don't knowwhat the WAM program is, it's
whole health action management,it's evidence-based.
And what we do is we take yourtraditional recovery coaching
and we pair it with wellness.
So we don't believe recovery isa cookie-cutter process.
So every individual gets anindividualized plan with their
(02:55):
coach.
They meet weekly one-on-one andthen they meet as a group, as a
cohort to build relationshipsand work on goals together.
Chris Collins (03:01):
So your coaches themselves, are they ex uh
clients of yours or how do theybecome a coach?
Alicia (03:07):
So they self-identify as being in recovery themselves.
Chris Collins (03:10):
Okay.
Alicia (03:11):
We believe that that peer aspect is crucial,
especially for individuals whoare new in recovery, to have
somebody who can identify with.
We get a lot of recommendationsthrough the Cape Cod Community
College.
So the community collegeprovides a recovery coaching
certification, and we provideinternships to those recovery
coaches.
And if it turns out to be agreat fit and we have the
(03:33):
funding for it and we can add anadditional coach, that is how
we've been able to maintain thisprogram and find.
That's interesting.
Chris Collins (03:39):
So it's in the community college.
Alicia (03:40):
Correct.
Chris Collins (03:41):
Oh wow.
I wasn't aware of that.
Alicia (03:43):
Yeah.
Chris Collins (03:43):
Is that a unique program for the Cape or is it
can you find that elsewhere?
Alicia (03:47):
It's pretty so you can find it online, but I mean, why
do something online that you cando in person and be in a cohort
with other people and meetpeople with, you know, that are
like-minded and also inrecovery?
Dennis (03:58):
Wow.
Very interesting.
Alicia, what is your missionstatement?
Do you have one?
Alicia (04:02):
We do have a mission statement.
Dennis (04:04):
Tell me about that.
Alicia (04:04):
So it's on our website, and I'm not going to recite it
verbatim.
But so we provide wellnessopportunities for people in
recovery from substance usedisorder by providing peer
support, fitness, and communitysupport.
So the way that we work withthat mission is just not inside
our brick and mortar at ourwellness center.
(04:25):
It's also by us doing likeboots on the ground work, being
out in the community, attendingcommunity events, having peer
support navigators go out andfind and meet people who are in
recovery, but integrating thatwellness aspect because that is
definitely the missing gap.
A lot of individuals who comeout of treatment centers,
they're pointed to go to go toAA meetings or go to NA
(04:45):
meetings.
And there isn't much else forpeople in recovery to do and
find community outside ofmeetings.
And we have found that wellnessis a huge piece to that
recovery.
Chris Collins (04:56):
Oh, yeah, I can imagine.
Yeah.
I always joke with Dennis andhalf serious half the time, but
it's, you know, running.
I still run and all the time,do a lot of hiking and stuff
like that.
And for me, it is mentalhealth.
I don't know how much I wouldhave spent on psychology.
I mean, without running, it itis my mental health break.
I always feel so much betterafter exercising and no matter
(05:16):
what I'm going through.
So I can imagine that would bea huge part.
Alicia (05:19):
Yeah.
And when you feel good, thenyou want to continue to do good
things, right?
And then fuel your body theright way.
And, you know, maybe not listento negative music or have those
negative conversations.
And so that's great.
Yeah.
Chris Collins (05:33):
So how did this all get started?
This is it's a nonprofit, it'sa fairly large organization in
terms of, you know, you have abrick and mortar place, you're
out in the community.
How did this all get started?
Alicia (05:43):
So our founder, Amy Doherty, started Well Shrong.
We were our 501c3 status camein 2017.
And so originally how itstarted is she had a brother who
unfortunately passed away froma heart disease, um, not from
substance use related, but hestruggled with substance use.
Her father also struggled withsubstance use.
(06:04):
He is now in recovery.
He's been in recovery forseveral decades.
But when she was watching herbrother struggle, she was
researching different resourcesthat could be available to him.
And she knew for herself thatwhen she was diagnosed with
Lyme's disease, that wellnessand mindfulness and meditation
was super important to herjourney.
And um, that really helped herget through her Lyme, like
(06:27):
through her Lyme's disease.
And so when she was researchingstuff for her brother, she
couldn't find anything.
There was like no sober gym, norecovery wellness
opportunities.
And so while Strong was born,she was like, well, what if I,
you know, created anorganization that had a wellness
center or a fitness gym forpeople in recovery.
(06:48):
So originally it started outwith our fitness programming.
That was like a main part ofour programming was the fitness
classes and the gym.
All of the peer support hasbeen added throughout the years
as we've seen that that has beeninstrumental to people who come
into our center being havingaccess to another individual who
is in recovery and can providesupport to them.
Chris Collins (07:12):
So she did all that from that one thing off of
Lyme disease and the combinationof her background and her
family.
That's amazing.
Alicia (07:18):
And she's a runner too.
She was always active,participated in triathlons.
And when Well Strong firststarted, that's how a lot of our
members got involved was shewould sign them up for different
races and triathlons.
And the David Lewis 5K wasmerged from all of this.
Chris Collins (07:36):
Yeah.
It's kind of interesting.
Now that's the second charitythat we've had in, both running
based at some point, which isinteresting because Dennis and
I, our background is linked torunning.
Chris and I were running.
Dennis (07:45):
We were teammates in high school.
Yeah, we were runners.
Alicia (07:48):
On the track team?
Dennis (07:49):
We were more we were good track runners too, but
we're our real sport at our highschool was cross-country.
We were very good and um we hada really dedicated coach.
It is funny though, because Ithink I often say that like you
and me and Mark Bugdon and guysthat we ran with in high school,
we all still run and we're allpart of this sort of early,
maybe the first group of kidsthat didn't stop their
(08:12):
athleticism right after highschool or right after college.
And, you know, Andy, mypartner, he wasn't a runner, he
was a soccer player, but herides a bike now and he's very
healthy.
I still run, I still ride abike, I do swim, I live on a
lake, I like to do open waterswims, but I still I have a gym
at home.
We have a gym here too in ourcompany, but I still exercise
(08:34):
pretty regularly.
And didn't everybody tell usback in the day, Chris,
running's bad for you, it'sgonna ruin your knees.
Lifting weights is bad for you,it's gonna ruin your joint.
This is what we were all toldback in the 70s.
You gotta stop this stuff andyou gotta act your age.
But now look at the change.
This is where people areturning to.
And I it's true what Chrissays.
I think for me, exercise is myyardstick measure, it's my
(08:58):
barometer, lets me know how I'mfeeling and how I'm doing.
And yeah, if I miss a day, Idon't feel very good.
If I miss two days in a row,other people know I don't feel
good.
So I I hardly ever miss a day.
Yes, it it keeps everythingbalanced.
Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
Chris Collins (09:15):
So let's talk a little bit about too.
You're reaching out into thecommunity.
You do, besides just havingyour brick and mortar, like you
said, you do some things out inthe community.
There's a couple of differentthings you want to kind of, and
I think you're expanding aswell.
You mentioned in the pre-showthat you were expanding the
business as well, at least.
Alicia (09:30):
Yeah, yeah.
So we attend a lot of communityevents.
So you'll probably see us atdifferent opportunities where we
can set up the table, meetpeople out in the community.
We have a peer supportnavigator program where they are
going out into the community,meeting people where they're at,
directing them to resources.
We provide community events.
So two of our annual eventsthat we put on one is the Well
(09:53):
Strong Fun Run, and that takesplace in the beginning of June.
And that is sponsored by thePatrick Graham Foundation.
And what that is, it's justlike a fun event for people to
come out and bring their family,bring their kids, bring their
friends, and you do a half-milerun around Tea Ticket Park.
And during that course, thereare about 20 different obstacles
(10:14):
that you have to overcome.
Chris Collins (10:15):
It's fun.
Um it would be fun.
Alicia (10:17):
It's hilarious.
It's actually very challenging.
When we first created it overthree years ago, we kept upping
the ante.
We'd be like, oh no, we can addfive more to that challenge.
That wouldn't be that hard.
Oh, by the time you are halfwaythrough, you are like, you're
like, there's more.
I have to do more.
And you end the whole challengewith this huge bouncy house at
(10:38):
the end, obstacle course.
So we have food trucks there,we have arts and crafts for the
kids.
And it's just a good way tohelp reduce that stigma that
recovery can be fun.
There are things that you cando with your friends and family
outside of that.
And we, you know, inviteeverybody to come to that.
The other one is our eventthat's actually happening this
Saturday on the 27th, theFalmouth Gus Canti Center, the
(11:01):
recreational center.
And that is for recovery month.
So September is recovery month,and that we partner with the
Falmouth Recovery Center.
And we put on a large eventwhere a ton of different
organizations and resources comein.
They set up, we have multiplespeakers, we have food, we have
stuff for the kids and for thefamily, and just so that people
are aware of what's going on andwhat's accessible to them.
Chris Collins (11:24):
How do you get your word out there about these
certain events and things?
Alicia (11:27):
Social media.
We also have a greatrelationship with Cox and Media
with Cape Cod Radio.
So they advertise us, and a lotof it is our doing our outreach
and you know, reaching out toother organizations.
And we have a member list ofover 2,000 individuals that we
send it to.
We also have a donor list ofabout 3,000 individuals.
(11:49):
So, you know, we're pushing outinformation to about 5,000
people monthly about upcomingevents and ways that they can
get involved and participate.
Chris Collins (11:58):
And oh, it's great.
That's great because it's gottabe a huge community out there.
If you think about all thepeople that are in recovery in
the state, you know, on the Capeand whatnot, it must be a very
large number.
Alicia (12:07):
Found that there's a huge recovery center hub.
I think with all the localtreatment centers that come out
to the Cape, a lot of people,once they're here and they make
friends and they they meetpeople, they don't want to
leave.
Chris Collins (12:17):
Right.
Yeah.
Alicia (12:18):
I'm one of them.
Chris Collins (12:19):
Yeah.
Barley (12:20):
Yeah.
Chris Collins (12:20):
Why don't we talk a little bit about your story
too?
Because you came to this, guessyou were mentioned that you're
one of just two employees,full-time employees for the
fund.
It's a pretty largeorganization in terms of
fundraising.
Touch on that too a littlelater.
But so why don't we tell, youknow, if you'd like to tell your
story how you came to this job.
Alicia (12:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
So um I am a person in recoverymyself.
I celebrated eight years backon June 25th.
Chris Collins (12:44):
Congratulations.
Alicia (12:45):
Thank you.
I came to the Cape to get soberback in 2017.
So I was in the retail andcorporate world for most of my
life.
My last job before Wall Strongwas at TJX.
I was an allocation analyst.
And my life was, I wasstruggling.
And I don't think people reallyknew to the extent that I was
(13:06):
struggling because I was maskinga lot of it.
I willingly went to treatment.
I ended up at RecoveringChampions out in Falmouth.
And I, after treatment, I movedinto a sober home and I wanted
to stay on Cape because I feltlike I found my home.
Flash forward, Well Strong wasjust being started back when I
had about six months ofsobriety.
(13:27):
I heard about it at an AAmeeting, and I thought it was
really cool.
Wellness was always a part ofmy life.
I've played sports my wholeentire life, everything from
softball to basketball tovolleyball to gymnastics.
I think my mom enrolled us ineverything to keep us very busy
and active.
Chris Collins (13:43):
You were busy.
Alicia (13:44):
Yeah.
With two younger sisters alsoenrolled in everything.
So I knew that wellness wasalways something I could go back
to.
Back in 2021, it was presentedto me that there was an
opportunity for a full-timeposition as a program director.
I was in the middle of gettingmy yoga certification, my 200
hours, and it felt like aperfect fit.
(14:05):
Yeah.
So I started at Well Strong asthe program director, and I was
voted into the executivedirector position back in the
last March.
So March of 2024.
Chris Collins (14:17):
Wow.
So yeah, you've been there fora while now, at least a year
almost going on.
Alicia (14:21):
For the ED position, yeah.
Chris Collins (14:22):
Yeah, great.
So how do you find the job?
Alicia (14:24):
Your interest, is it everything you thought it was
going to be, or is it uh is it alot more of a lot of podcasts
and uh Yeah, I loved my role asthe program director because I
got to be in it with themembers.
Like I was part of theday-to-day and as the ED, you
know, the the founder is the onewho really pushed that I could
do this job.
She worked very closely with meas the program director, and
(14:48):
she's someone who reallybelieved in me that I could do
this.
And I love my job.
I don't wake up in the morningand think, why do I have to do
this?
I'm like, I get to do this.
I get to be a voice for peoplein recovery and I get to help
them find what makes them feelwhole.
Chris Collins (15:04):
Yeah.
So what exactly does theexecutive director do?
Alicia (15:07):
Everything.
Chris Collins (15:10):
It's only two employees.
Everything, two full-timeemployees.
It must be making the coffeeand uh yes.
Alicia (15:16):
I have a wonder, I have to say, my staff is truly
wonderful.
Like I don't have to be at thewellness center every day for it
to open and close and functionand for things to get done.
Our peer mentors that are thereare phenomenal.
Our fitness instructors arephenomenal.
Everyone shows up, they dotheir job, they play their role.
As far as for me and mydevelopment director, we are the
only full-time staff.
(15:37):
So it means we are wearing alot of hats.
So I am HR, I am marketing, Iam payroll, I am IT, I am you
think of it and name it.
I have about 25 employees thatreport directly to me.
Wow.
So days are very, very busy,but it's extremely worth it.
And I wouldn't, you know, theonly thing I would change is we
are going to be uh promotingthat we are hiring a new program
(16:00):
director, which will makethings a lot easier.
Chris Collins (16:03):
Easier on the fundraising, I'm always curious
the fundraising.
I'm involved in a charity outin uh Helena, Montana for a
school in Uganda.
And the fundraising is alwaysthe part that's so cringy to me
because I have such a hard timewith it.
Why?
It's fundraising.
I'll always tell a story whenwe get on this topic.
But when I was a kid growingup, we went to St.
Bridget's in Framingham.
(16:24):
Oh yeah.
And we were always raisingmoney.
And I had seven brothers andsisters, and four of us were at
St.
Bridget's at the same time.
So they all send us home withseed catalogs, and you had to
sell seeds or candy bars or uhChristmas wrapping, you know.
So I'll hear I can just see myneighbors on the street, you
know, saying, Oh, here come theCollins kids with the wrapping
again this year.
It's fucking him, you know.
(16:45):
So it was just awful.
I just dreaded it, dreaded it.
And it's carried on all my lifenow, even to this point.
And so now I'm getting involvedin fundraising there, and uh
it's part of the more difficultpart for me.
But yeah, so you must beinvolved because it's a fairly
large budget.
What is your budget there?
Alicia (16:59):
It's uh around a half a million.
Chris Collins (17:01):
Wow, wow, that's big.
It is quite large.
Yeah, that's right.
How do you raise that money?
Alicia (17:05):
So what's what is the So the breakdown is currently
about half of our income is fromour fundraising events that we
participate in.
So we have an annual galacalled Celebrate Well Strong
that takes place in April everyyear.
We participate in EJ JaxTimer's Charter Cup fishing
tournament in July.
It's very fun.
And then we participate in theFalmouth Road Race every year.
Chris Collins (17:27):
Okay.
All right.
So for the fishing tournament,what do you sponsor a team or
something like that?
Alicia (17:31):
So we have our own team.
Bruce Kelly is our captain.
He's been our captain, him andBill Gibson for the last ever
since we've done it.
And they are at the forefront.
So they're actually activelyout fundraising on behalf of
Well Strong.
Chris Collins (17:44):
Oh, cool.
Alicia (17:45):
And then they go out and they fish.
Chris Collins (17:46):
Oh, cool.
Yeah, great.
Oh, wow.
That sounds like a lot of fun.
It is.
It's a cool event.
Yeah, I guess fundraising canbe fun if you do it right.
Alicia (17:52):
It definitely can.
Everyone is a fundraiser.
Dennis (17:55):
Yeah.
All right.
I don't know anything aboutrecovery, but I do know that
there's certain concepts thatwork in business and in life.
And one of them that just sortof came back to me as I was
listening to you is in business,we always say, you know, sevens
and eights hire nines and tens.
And threes and fours hire onesand twos.
(18:17):
And we've all seen examples ofeach of these.
And in life, we say that, youknow, sevens and eights surround
themselves with nines and tens.
And threes and fours surroundthemselves with ones and twos,
and they don't know why.
And I could see the importanceof somebody who's in recovery
choosing to surround himself orherself with the proper people.
(18:38):
I would I would guess, I don'tknow for sure, but I would guess
that one possible reason forthat recovery wouldn't work is
that a person may not surroundhimself with the right people
before, during, and afterrecovery.
Sometimes before recovery,that's why you would probably
end up with poor habits.
But I would say during recoveryand post-recovery that it would
(19:02):
be essential to surroundyourself with the right types of
people.
If you're a three or a four andyou keep surrounding yourself
with ones and twos, you'reprobably not going to have a
successful recovery.
But if you're a three and afour and you begin to surround
yourselves with sevens andeights, pretty soon you become a
seven and an eight.
I think it's true ineverything.
I think it's true in businessand in life.
(19:22):
And I suspect it's probablytrue when it comes to recovery.
Is that probably accurate?
Alicia (19:28):
You summed it up perfectly.
We see that all the time.
And what our community does, ithelps people get to a next
level.
There's an accountabilityfactor that happens when you
come to Wall Strong.
People start to notice thatyou're there.
Our peer mentors get to knowyou, our instructors get to know
you.
You miss a week or two, you'regetting a phone call from one of
us checking in.
(19:49):
How are you doing?
What's going on?
We haven't seen you in a while.
You know, because we want youto succeed.
We want you to be in recoverylong term.
Chris Collins (19:58):
Yeah, I think it's amazing too, that one
program where you can come for awhole year with no cost, have a
one-on-one peer trainer or peermentor and be able to work with
him for a solid year.
I mean, if you make it throughthat year, I'm I gotta think
your success rate is prettyhigh.
Oh, yeah.
Alicia (20:13):
We talk about recovery capital.
It's a way to kind of scale theperson's potential of staying
in long-term recovery.
And there's a lot of factorsthat go into it.
But yeah, the consistency andshowing up with a community that
are like nines and tens thatyou're surrounding yourself with
boost your recovery capital andit brings the relapse rate down
(20:34):
tremendously.
Chris Collins (20:34):
Yeah, I can't.
Alicia (20:35):
So our pure wellness coaching program has a 90%
success rate because when peopleare involved and they're in it
and they're held accountable tohaving to show up and
participate and work on specificgoals, we don't see them
relapsing out there.
Chris Collins (20:48):
I could think that if you get this message out
there enough across the Capeand across these areas, you can
see a huge influx of people.
Alicia (20:56):
Oh, yeah.
Chris Collins (20:56):
Because there's just got to be so many people in
recovery.
It's just like you said, it'sone of those things you kind of
can hide and you know cover.
And a lot of people, there is ashame factor to it, you don't
want to admit it.
Alicia (21:05):
Absolutely.
Chris Collins (21:06):
But to get in a program like this is amazing.
And I love the fact that youguys bring in, you know, the
your own clients, people whowere once your clients and now
they're peer mentors.
And it's just incredible.
Yeah.
Turn people's lives around.
Dennis (21:17):
It's very impressive.
Especially with the high levelof recovery.
I've heard estimates as low asthree to five percent.
I've heard these, you know, andagain, I don't it's hard to
believe today's mainstream mediabecause everything is slanted,
everything is biased one way orthe other.
But I've heard estimates as lowas three to five percent.
(21:38):
Like, I don't know if it's trueor not, and I don't know what
the basis is.
Alicia (21:42):
It used to be 10%, so it could have dropped, you know,
with COVID happening.
We saw a huge influx insubstance use after COVID.
After COVID, oh yeah.
A lot of people resorted todrinking and using drugs to cope
with everything that washappening.
So I can imagine the statisticsprobably have dropped with the
number of people who are now youknow actively using.
Chris Collins (22:05):
Yeah, I'm amazed with this program because it's
such seems like such a naturalthing because of our running
background and our experiencejust with running, it just seems
like such a natural thing thatit would just fit in so nicely
with a recovery program of anytype, I guess.
You know, anything fromsubstance abuse, even you know,
weight issues or any sort ofthing like that.
It would just be amazing.
Oh, PSTD, like we're talkingour last podcast, uh, the
(22:26):
program that they had there forsort of a wellness program for
treating PSTD.
So it's a PTSD.
PTSD.
What did I say?
Close.
PSTD.
I do that all the time.
It's due to dyslexia.
And it is, it is.
Barley (22:39):
Yeah.
Alicia (22:40):
I'm right there with BL.
Chris Collins (22:41):
B NFL and the NL NLF.
NFF.
MBL used to drive my kidscrazy.
It took me like two years tosay Tesla correctly.
I was calling it Tesla orsomething like that.
Yeah, it is stuck in my brain.
It would drive my kidsabsolutely insane.
So after a while, I just gaveup and just kept doing it just
to kind of drive them crazyanyway.
Yeah, but I do that all thetime.
Dennis (23:04):
I was talking with some people in the last week or so,
and we were talking about thesevens and eights and the threes
and fours, and it's soapplicable.
And we talked about it in itsregards to business.
It's a basic principle thatpeople in business, if they
don't, if they've never heard itput that way, they get it right
away.
They know exactly.
And that's how we growbusinesses, and that's how we
(23:25):
build successful teams at work,is by hiring the best people.
And sometimes you can see atwork, you bring in one guy that
shows up late, he misses days.
We can't put up with that.
We we can't, because then thecrew chief says, he's on my
crew, and now I'm I'm short oneman today.
And it just works its way intothe fabric of the organization
and the culture of theorganizations.
(23:47):
You can't have it.
Everybody has to be on the samepage.
And that's why I personallycontinue to try to find the best
people available.
I'm not saying that I'm not a10, I consider myself maybe an
eight and a half, but I but Ilike to surround myself with
nines and tens.
You are the average of the fivepeople that you most closely
(24:09):
relate to.
Absolutely.
And so who are those fivepeople?
You know, and are they yourattorney, your banker, your
financial planner, your bestfriends?
I mean, who are those fivepeople that you most closely
relate to?
Hopefully they're not the guysthat you drink with at the bar.
Right.
Hopefully they're not thepeople that you party with and
that you do drugs with.
(24:30):
Because if they are, you havesurrounded yourself with the
lowest common denominator, andthat's where the problems not
only start.
And again, I don't I don't knowabout recovery, but I know
about life in general.
Alicia (24:41):
Yeah, I think we talk about this in the programs like
in AA and NA with sponsorship.
And we talk about this at WallStrong a lot.
I know I'll speak for myself.
When I was looking for asponsor when I was newly sober,
I, you know, they always say,like, go into the halls and hear
other women speak and, youknow, find someone that you want
what they have.
(25:01):
Well, when you're in activeaddiction, a lot of what we want
is material items, right?
Like we want the cars or thehouses or, you know, whatever it
may be to make us feel goodbecause we think if we have all
that stuff, it's gonna make usfeel better.
But what I slowly learned isthat I wanted more of the peace
aspect.
And so when I went out and Ilooked for a woman to sponsor
(25:23):
me, I ended up finding a womanwho was 70 years old who had my
future life that I wanted.
Like she was at peace with herlife, like nothing ruffled her,
like she was unshakable.
And I think when you're lookingfor those types of people, you
got to kind of look a little bitforward, right?
Because you don't want to besurrounding yourself with a ton
(25:44):
of people that are alreadyliving in your circumstance.
Yeah, right.
You want to be looking forindividuals and mentors that are
maybe a couple of chaptersahead of you where you're like,
my ideal life would actuallylook like that, and they're
living it, right?
Chris Collins (25:56):
And plus you did something you mentioned that you
moved to the Cape, so youseparated yourself completely
from your world.
Alicia (26:02):
I mean, that's I changed people, places, and things.
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Collins (26:06):
I mean, it's one thing to kind of you know stop
seeing your friends or stophanging around doing your usual
routines and things like that,but you made a complete change.
You left a job.
Uh it sounded like it was avery good job at uh TJX to come
to the CAPE.
And well, you're here today, soit worked out, but that's a
that's a that was a big leap.
Alicia (26:22):
Big leap of faith.
Yeah, but I wanted it.
And I think that that issomething that you know a lot of
people are like, I don'tunderstand why this person can't
grasp recovery.
I they can't grasp it.
And to me, it's like they needthis much willingness, like the
smallest, smallest amount ofwillingness that their life can
be completely different.
And every day they have to takeanother step forward.
(26:43):
It doesn't have to be a fullstep, but it can be a smaller
step.
And your whole life, your wholetrajectory can change.
Chris Collins (26:49):
Yeah, yeah.
And you really change yourdirection direction.
Dennis (26:52):
I mean, geez.
Well, you are committed.
Very you you had to becommitted to make that kind of a
step.
That's huge.
So we've flirted with alcoholaddiction, drug addiction.
Do you ever get people thatcome to your program that have
no substance abuse issues, butthey're addicted to spending?
They've spent themselves intobankruptcy.
(27:12):
Do you ever is like that's anaddiction?
Alicia (27:15):
Right.
Dennis (27:15):
So our mission do people ever come to you with that or
and only that?
Alicia (27:18):
Well, so our mission is specifically substance.
Oh, it's substance use.
So to attend in ourprogramming, you have to
identify with substance use.
But a lot of our people whosuffer from substance use,
there's many arms and life toyour addiction.
So when they get in recovery,they then they turn to shopping,
right?
And they start spending alltheir money that they have
because they no longer have thedrugs and alcohol.
(27:40):
The drugs and the alcohol arejust a symptom to recovery,
right?
Like it's it's deeper thanthat.
It's it's a spiritual malady,is what we like to talk about it
of it's a big gaping hole.
So when you put down the drugsand the alcohol, a lot of times
people think, oh, my life isinstantly gonna get better.
Yeah.
But no, your addiction, it'sgonna find something else,
right?
It's gonna find food,codependency, gambling,
(28:04):
shopping.
Chris Collins (28:05):
I remember my dad had experience with uh alcohol.
You know, he had got it undercontrol eventually.
He had some health issues thatscared him, so he got it under
control.
But he remembers he always usedto talk about, and to this day,
I still my mom's house, he'sgone now, but still my mom's
house, there's a cookie drawerthere.
That was his cookie drawer.
Yeah.
Because once he gave upalcohol, you still have that
need for the carbs and whateverthat he had to replace, the
(28:27):
cravings and like that.
And so that's what he starteddoing.
He started eating it.
He never I never saw him eatsweets until then.
But then he started and hedeveloped this thing, and it
became a kind of a joke havinghis cookie jar.
It was in the cookie drawer.
That's what we used to go.
To this day, I'll go in myhouse and what kind of cookies
were in there?
Oh, it was all kinds of things.
He liked the uh marshmallow,those chocolate marshmallow
things and all that.
Oh, yeah.
Alicia (28:47):
I would think Oreos.
Yeah, I was actually thinkingOreos myself.
Chris Collins (28:51):
Yeah, he was a keebler.
He liked a lot of the Keeblerones, you know, things like
that.
But and to this day, I go inthe house.
I joke with my mom all thetime.
I see your mom all the time togo in there.
And uh I always joke I can't gothrough the kitchen without
opening up the see what's inthere, seeing what's in there.
But uh yeah, it's kind ofinteresting.
Yeah, where you say what itpops out in some other
direction, you know, some otherpiece of your life becomes
(29:11):
unstable from that.
Alicia (29:13):
Yeah.
And that's where we try to fitin those coping tools, right?
Like instead of maybe going tothe cookie jar, like maybe you
lace up your sneakers and you gofor a run.
Right, yeah.
Right.
Or you sit down and you do a 15meditation.
Yeah, you know, there's so manydifferent tools that we can use
when we're feeling some type ofway because what we know is
life doesn't stop.
Just because you get soberdoesn't mean I mean, some of my
(29:35):
most difficult moments happenedin my eight years of sobriety.
Yeah, sure.
And I'm grateful today, like Ihave a six year old son, he has
never seen me pick up drugs oralcohol.
Chris Collins (29:44):
And that's wonderful.
Alicia (29:46):
But, you know, that's not the case for some people.
And I think the more tools thatyou have in that tool belt that
you can access, the less likelyyou are to turn back.
Chris Collins (29:54):
There's one other question I wanted to ask you
about.
So, besides just, you know,providing uh wellness.
resources and things like thatand working in the community.
Do you have sort of uh programsfor the people in their in your
like uh referral programs andall that sort of things referral
for either mental health orother sort of medical issues or
one of the ones I was just goingto touch on, Dennis just
mentioned it is employment.
(30:15):
Like uh so I know there's a lotof employment issues with
people in substance recovery.
Alicia (30:20):
Yeah.
So all of our staff isequipped, we have a whole
resource table at our brick andmortar, but all of our staff's
equipped to answer a lot ofthose questions and refer people
out for, you know, say thatthey come in and they're like, I
need a PCP.
I can't find one.
We have a lot of informationregarding that.
As far as employmentopportunities, I mean we provide
(30:41):
opportunities for people foremployment.
Like I mentioned our staff isin recovery themselves.
You have to have six months ofsobriety to start as a peer
mentor.
And then our goal is to kind ofget you on a career path where
it could open up to otheropportunities depending on your
skill set.
Do you help them with jobsearch and things like that?
Are they resources to do that?
We, because we have a lot ofconnections in the community.
(31:02):
People will reach out all thetime from other organizations,
hey, we're hiring for thisposition if you know of anyone.
So on our resource board we'realways posting different job
opportunities that are availablein the community.
Our peer wellness coaches arespecifically equipped for that.
So if they get a client whocomes in and they don't have a
current job, they do help them.
They'll help them with theirresume, they'll help them apply,
(31:24):
they'll help them withinterview questions.
So yeah, we find that you knowthat's a piece too of the
recovery capital is like how canyou get your life back together
if you don't have an income?
Dennis (31:34):
Right.
Yeah.
Chris Collins (31:35):
Yeah that makes it really it's huge.
So before the show youmentioned you have a new
initiative that you might wantto discuss and let people know
about.
Alicia (31:42):
Absolutely.
So it's going to be in a pressrelease in the next couple of
weeks but Walsh is going to bethe sole partner of the Bridge
Center, which is Sheriff DonnaBuckley's initiative in
Barnstable County to provide acentralized resource hub for
people to come in and getassessed of what their needs are
and meet them where they're at.
Chris Collins (32:03):
Oh wow okay so how does that work you'd come
into their shop and what wouldhappen?
Alicia (32:07):
Yeah so the Bridge Center is located at what was
the original Sheriff's home.
I think it was built in like1950 and it's about three floors
and we're partnering with abunch of other organizations to
provide a variety of differentresources for these individuals.
And ideally when the initiativefirst started Sheriff Donna
Buckley was interested inproviding resources to those who
(32:29):
were re-entering back intosociety after being incarcerated
because the goal is to make ourcommunity safer.
And to do that we need to equipthese individuals so they don't
go back out and commit thecrimes that they committed
before.
But a lot of these individualsalso suffer from substance use
disorder.
As we spoke more we've want itopen to allies too so anybody
can just walk in you don't needan appointment you'll be greeted
(32:52):
by either a bridge center staffor a Wellstrong staff.
And the programming we're goingto bring there are our peer
wellness coaching program, ourpeer support navigators and then
we will have a variety offitness programming and
hopefully a gym downstairs inthe case in there.
Okay.
So you have a new buildingcorrect oh wow so this is a big
expansion for you a big bigexpansion and we are beyond
(33:14):
excited and you know gratefulthat we were selected to be a
partner with the Bridge Center.
Chris Collins (33:20):
Oh wow okay so I'm not familiar with the Cape
that much I'm not a CAPE person.
Alicia (33:23):
I wasn't you're a wash ashore?
Chris Collins (33:25):
I'm a wash ashore no you don't even live here I
don't even live here I don't youdon't get the title ranked a
wash ashore I'm a I'm a blowthrough or whatever.
But it sounds interesting.
Alicia (33:37):
So this woman what was her name so sheriff Donna
Buckley she is the sheriff ofBarnstable County and she's done
a tremendous job in our jailsystem providing them access to
different programming that theydidn't have before.
Okay.
And so this is her initiativeto provide resources in a
centralized area because it'sright in if you know where the
probate court is the districtcourt is it's right in that
(34:00):
plaza.
So it's right on 6A so it'saccessible by the bus, easy to
get to and just a way to bringkind of you might not know this
because you're not from theCape, but we have over a
thousand nonprofits on Cape.
And if you are a nonprofit thatmay you might not have access
to social media or a websitepeople might not know that you
(34:22):
exist.
And so the bridge center isreally to equip people to know
that there are more out there,right?
And a lot of these nonprofitsoffer these services for little
to no cost.
A lot of them are free.
So the more that we can equippeople they can be better
community members right they canthen be employable and give
back and participate in ourcommunities.
Chris Collins (34:43):
That's impressive that you got selected to be one
of their people that actuallyin their building working with
them.
Alicia (34:48):
I agree.
Chris Collins (34:49):
Wow that's what we're very good feather in your
cap I'm sure as an executivedirector to help set that up it
was our founder's dream for usto have a second location.
Alicia (34:58):
And so I'm happy that we're we're able to do that.
Is Amy still around is shestill working she is yeah she's
still active she resigned offour board back in June so that
she could live her life as agrandmother now she has a
grandson and but she's stillvery active and Wallstrong her
and I meet regularly and I loveher still being a part of you
know what she created.
Chris Collins (35:19):
Yeah yeah nice to still have a hand in running
the business.
Okay.
All right well we're gettingtowards the end of our show
thoughts Dennis I'm all doneyou're all done I'm all tapped
out I'm tapped out well this isgreat we I mean we love having
local charities on I think thisis going to become a regular
thing for us.
It's just a nice sort of thingto have your community
represented on the show everyonce in a while and it's we
(35:41):
would appreciate yeah with allthese a thousand out there
there's so many good ones andthis sounds great.
I just to me just sounds likesuch a no-brainer I'm surprised
there's just not more of it outthere.
I just I'm surprised withwellness and recovery aren't
linked you know to hippractically it just seems like
such an obvious thing but it'sgreat that you guys bring it
out.
Thank you.
So I hope this helps a littlebit hope this show gets out
there a little bit and peoplehear it.
(36:02):
They know someone or strugglingthemselves that then maybe
they'd give you guys a call.
Just walk right in.
Walk right in that's what I dotwo locations now.
Yeah.
Arnstable and Falmouth.
Alicia (36:11):
Yes.
Chris Collins (36:11):
All right well thank you for being with us
Alicia we've really enjoyed yourtime here.
Dennis (36:16):
Thank you very much.
No monkeys were harmed in themaking of this podcast.
That's right thanks for havingme.
See you later.
Chris Collins (36:22):
Bye bye thank you for tuning in to Monkey
Business Radio.
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us reach more aspiringentrepreneurs like you.
If you've got a question ortopic you'd like us to cover
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(36:43):
We'd love to hear your thoughtsand keep the conversation
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