Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartMedia Rollie presents CEOs You Should Know, where we shine
a spotlight on decision makers from all corners of the Triangle,
showcasing the leaders and companies that drive our local economy.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome back to another episode of CEOs You Should Know.
With iHeartMedia, I'm your host Michael Berger, and we have
the opportunity to have some amazing executives come in and
not only share their story, but their company's story and
what they're trying to do and how they're making an
impact not only in the Triangle but across the entire country. Today,
I'm very fortunate to be joined by Rob Robinson, the
(00:33):
CEO of Alliance Health. Welcome, It's good to be here absolutely. So.
You know, we talked right before we started recording and
we said this is going to be very conversational. One
of the things I always like to do is I
like to ask some icebreakers just to kind of to
get everything set to no tension. So, first one, outside
(00:53):
of work, what's a typical day look like for Rob Robinson?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
A typical day? So, I have two daughters. One is
a college one's a wolf pack. Right. So, being from
Upstate New York, I grew up in Syracuse. Hard to
root for any team down here. But I have joined
the wolf Pack because that's where my daughter goes. So
I get to spend time with her. My youngest daughter
still in high school. She competes softball, so I spend
(01:18):
a lot of time with her working out pitching. She's
a pitcher for Cardinal Gibbons High School.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
What year is she?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
She is a senior senior this year, and so I
have to spend time with her working out. I have
to exercise myself. This work we do is a grind,
and I got to keep myself saying, and so exercising
is part of that. And then me and my wife
like to go out to dinner and do walks and
those kinds of things, vacation when I can.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That sounds well balanced, and I think your point there
is like sometimes exercises some of the things people think of,
well the external I look better when I do that,
but really just the endorphins and the stress release that
comes from that can sometimes be just as important.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Absolutely when I don't. When I go a few days
without exercise, my wife tells me you better go. I'm
starting to get a little squirrely.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
It's like get out of here, go take an hour
and a half, go do some bicep curls.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'll see it a little bit.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And you mentioned how how time intensive youth sports can be.
I personally have a twenty three year old daughter. I
also have an eleven year old son, a nine year
old son, and a five year old.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Son, all of them at some level of sports.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
We just launched a nonprofit AAU basketball team, so now
travel basketball as well as recreational sports with soccer and
youth group and all the other stuff mixed together.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
It's it's a good time. And everybody says you're.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Going to miss it, but it can be. It can
be to find time to work out and do those
things exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I love it. I grew up playing sports. It was
part of what I think put me on the right path.
That camaraderie, the teamwork, and I've tried to distill that
into my daughter and she's definitely gravitated to that, so
that's awesome. My oldest was a gymnast. Now she got
you know, that caught up with her injuries and that
kind of stuff. She still likes to exercise and work out,
(03:05):
but gymnastics she ended.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That gymnastics like a whole other level of intensity.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Absolutely, it's it's an incredible sport. It is definitely one
of the most difficult sports you can play, and it
takes a toll on these kids and their bodies. And
she's fine, but you can tell every now and then
she'd walk with it, you know, her back hurting or something.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
But I remember when I was younger, my mom had
me in gymnastics and I showed it for like one time,
and all I wanted to do was jump on the
trampoline and I think I officially got a sumrsault down.
That was like the extent of it. I can't even
do it full partwheel, like I was never a gymnast.
But yeah, then you just hear about the eight ten
hours some of these gymnasts are putting in.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
It's that's that's.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
So much you're putting on your body at such a
young age to be so driven. But that's that's great.
All right.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
So changing topics just a little bit.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You mentioned a lot of stuff, so you're gonna have
to think deep on this one, But can you share
a fun fact about yourself that most people don't know?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
A fun fact about myself that most people don't. No, Michael,
that should be an easy one. I'm thinking hard. Well,
you brought up you couldn't find me on social media.
I'm not big into social media. I do like to
look and see what other people are doing, but I'm
not a big poster. But that's probably not what you're looking.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
No, No, that's that's great.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean I think that's I think, particularly for somebody
in your position, it's probably unique. Not a bad way,
but I think so many people have been Hey, listen,
you've got to self promote. You've got to talk about
yourself and share what you're doing, and you know, it's
very unique. So I think I think that's great because
I as we were talking previously, I was like, man,
I can't find a whole lot about you. I was like,
I know, the first three letters of your your name
(04:42):
are the same as the first three of your last name,
but other than.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
That, we're not finding out a whole.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Lot of that's right.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Do you have a favorite book or a movie? And why.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Do I have a favorite book? Goodwill Hunting is definitely
my favorite fe movie. I've seen that several times. I
just thought that was a powerful story. I think that
Matt Damon did or it was a Matt Damon job
and Robin Wood. I thought that was an incredible story.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Yeah, it's a good movie.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And yeah, you know, dealing with a lot of mental
health issues in that whole thing too. I actually just
watched the clip of him and Robin Williams and Matt
Damon sitting on the bench and him saying like you've
never really experienced anything a couple of weeks ago on YouTube. So, yeah,
that's funny. You mentioned that's a great movie. Yeah, this
is This is kind of those cliche questions. I think
my wife and I both asked each other this when
we first met each other. But if you could have
(05:35):
one dinner or dinner with any historical figure, who would
it be?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
And why I wouldn't call that I'm not sure if
you calls the historical dinner, it would be Michael Jordan's.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
He changed my life and how I looked at sports
and how I looked at how to become the best
at what you do. He he was incredible. He will
forever be my all time favorite and I love to
sit down with him and and pick his brains. Now,
I did watch the Netflix special.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
So it kind of the last dance.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, the last dance. And uh, you know, he was
a tough guy, but he made the best out of
everybody that he that he played with and made certainly
made the best himself. Definitely the best.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
We'll see later on when we get to the questions
about your management philosophy, if your management philosophy aligns with
how Jordan for his teammates. Have you ever punched anybody
in the face like Steve that.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I may plead the fifth.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
No, Michael Jordan was phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I grew up, I have a basketball background, played had
an ability of coach in college for a couple of
years before I got into TV and then into into
audio with iHeart.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
So yeah, Michael Jordan was the guy.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Go watch his games, go outside in the driveway, shoot baskets,
go back in and watch the NBA on NBC, go
back out. So no, And now I just have conversations
with my kids about is Lebron or Jordan better? That's
like half of our dinner conversation. And so I'm an
old school Jordan guy. There a new school Lebron guy,
and we're never gonna be able change each other's minds.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Surround yourself with good people. I can't emphasize that enough.
When we've had you know, I've I've had been very
fortunate to be able to work with a lot of people,
and the teams that I've worked with, you have one
egg that just doesn't fit with the culture, or is
not the right person, doesn't bring the right skill set.
(07:29):
It throws off the whole dynamic of the group. And
I was taught that early on, and I definitely that's
a piece I live by. You talk about my management style,
but management's style is creating team, hiring the right people
that align with the culture of our organization and we
do have a specific culture, and then let them go.
(07:52):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, I think I think that's important. I think it'll
we'll get to that. I want to come back that
a little bit later on what culture means to you,
because I think that is important. But I think so
many times people are in a position similar to you,
and they feel like I've got to do everything, and
I've got to show put great people around you and
let them do their job, and you will look like
a rock Star as the team succeeds together.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
So where'd you go to college?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I've got my undergraded a college called the Sweedels State,
New York. It's on Lake Ontario. It's Jerry Seinfeld went there,
NOL Roker, Steve Levy for me, ESPN, Linda Cohne from ESPN.
So there's a few folks okay there. And then my
masters I got in Norfolk, Virginia.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Okay, say that again. Where did you go? Where did
you get your master's from?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Norfolk State?
Speaker 4 (08:42):
All right?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
I just so I moved here from Missouri about four
years ago, and Norfolk is how I pronounced it before
I got here. It's kind of like I think it
should be top sail, and it's not. It's topsail. So
that's just one of the one thing I wanted to
hear you say, because everybody I know who's lived there
for any period of time they pronounced it far differently
than I do. Nobody cares about my opinion, but I'm
on record now first saying that. All right, if you
(09:06):
weren't in healthcare right now, what career do you think
you would have pursued?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
You know what's interesting, I think I would have stayed
in upstate New York and done some sort of blue
collar work when I before I got there was a
nuclear plan up there. I applied for about every position.
Those are like the most demanding job. I literally applied
for the guy out of college applied for the janitor
job and you get paid like twenty two dollars an
(09:35):
hour or something. And never got any of the jobs
up there. So I had to figure out I was
going to do, might as well use something with my degree,
and so it went on to the field. But I
think I would have ended up in a blue collar
job work. And I did a lot of that during
you know, pay for you for college, and did some
of that in high school.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, that's that's a that's a unique pivot. That's a
blue collar to CEO. That's a But I'm sure a
lot of that that that color and that grit and
that work ethic probably is part of what got you
to where you are today. Got it for my dad?
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Did you?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Did? You?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Hard working man?
Speaker 4 (10:12):
We kind of talked about this, So what.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Is the most memorable moment you've ever had with a
client or colleague? Does one stick out? That's that's a
tough question. That's I'm asking you scan the entirety of
your your life and your professional career.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You know. What's so I used to in Norfolk. I
used to work with kids involved in the court system.
These were your tough kids. This was the last resort program.
We tried to do some community based work. The one
that probably touched me the most there was a kid
that just didn't have a family life, dysfunctional, but the
(10:51):
kid gravitated somehow. He and I connected over sports and
he he says, he played baseball and all these guys
you know, like I played baseball. So we went out
kid through ninety two miles an hour, like seventeen years old.
The kid was a stud in yeah, trying. And the
thing that I liked is tried to work with him
(11:12):
to find to get a degree so that he could
go play college ball. And he wanted to do that.
There was never anyone's life to guide him to do it.
The disappointing part is we never got there. So, you know,
I did some work to try and reach out at
a friend as a coach and those kinds of things,
but never worked out. But that was a moment I remember,
and that's why we do stuff right, some of these
(11:34):
kids just need a chance, and we're the people to
try and do that, and that I will always remember.
I always wonder what happened to that kid, you know,
because back, you know, once you go, you're not supposed
to stay in touch and all that other stuff. But
I always wondered what happened.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Well, it's it's funny.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I mean, I think anytime you have a conversation like this,
you're going to know a little bit about me. I'm
going to know a little bit more about you. And
I actually had an AAU basketball team that I started
in Columbia, Missouri, my hometown, University of Missouri, I started
there and I started an AAU team. It was for
seventeen year olds and younger, but several of the players
on the team their parents were working three four jobs
(12:12):
a week. They were kind of on their own, and
there would be conversations like, hey, when's the last time
you had a chance to eat. He's like, well, I
found two dollars, so I grabbed him a chicken yesterday
type of thing. And so I think for me that
was also very rewarding that we were able to help
get some of those kids to the next level. In scholarships.
And now one of those kids that I actually helped
has started his own organization in Columbia, Missouri. He's got
(12:33):
like seven teams and he's helping people and he's in
the community, and like, that's the stuff that you know,
I think when you can pass down and listen, I'm
not even close to responsible for all the success he's had,
But seeing him do something similar and kind of carry
that on.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Is it's a cool fe I love that story, and
I love that you stepped up and it made a difference.
I mean, it clearly made a difference for others. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Well, I think sometimes too, when we look at sports,
you look at like a, well did I affect one
hundred people? You're like, yeah, you can affect one person
like and then that one person affects ten people like.
It's it's there's some downstream benefit from that. So you
mentioned earlier, when you travel, you can first question where's
the favorite place you traveled, and where's the place you
(13:14):
would most like to travel.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
We did our first cruise last year with the family.
My wife and my two girls went on our cruise
and and you know, we we did We did it
right and so my kids loved it, and you know,
and that's made it most memorable. And you know, you
get all the cruise, you can't get in the pool,
you know, all the other things with it. But it
was awesome. We had a fantastic time. And that's one
(13:40):
I'll always remember.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
That trying to get you an endorsement deal. Was it Viking?
Was it was a carnival? Was a Disney cruise?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Do you Royal Caribbean?
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Okay? Okay, so you're on one of the huge We
took our first cruise on Royal Caribbean last year too.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
There you go, there you go, right, how about that?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
So okay, so you took a cruise that was great.
Where's the next place you and the wife want to go?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Europe? We haven't been, and you know, I the looking
at maybe the Viking cruise, one of those going down
the river and stopping because you know, I'm not a
sit in a town and just kind of go to
a museum for eight hours, like I'll be in a
museum for twelve minutes and then I'll be on where's
the next thing we're going?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I've seen it all.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Let's go, let's go, let's go. And so I like
that idea of being able to go from town to town,
So that's on the list.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Does your wife have the reason I asked this, My
wife is the complete opposite. She wants to go to
a beach and lay on the beach and do nothing.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I want to make sure I see everything in the
town around, and I want to make sure I have
a full itinery so I don't miss anything. So sometimes
it's like, Okay, there's a lot of compromise when we travel.
But is your wife similar to you, like, let's get
in and out of the museums, or is she I'd
like to spend some more time there.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Oh no, she she does herself talk that knows what
the experience is going to be like. And then she
tries to negotiate. All right, I gotta give on something,
but we work it out. She she's just sitting at
the beach kind of girl. And she likes to go
to a little shops and do her thing. And I
try and do those things as well too, because I
(15:05):
gotta do the next time.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
It's a give and take, yeap, all right. So you
know we did some icebreaker questions. Now I kind of
want to talk about your management flossphen. We've covered some
of that, so if you had to, you know, you
mentioned your your best advice earlier about surround yourself with
good people.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
But how would you describe your leadership style?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So let me back up a little bit. So when
I took over the job CEO in twenty fourteen, I
was the CEO and my boss, and then my CEO
boss retired and then I was fortunate off the board
hired me and the CEO in her place. When I
was COO, she asked me to kind of run the organization,
(15:49):
right mana is today, she'll be external. That's not my style.
I'd like a team approach. So I quickly got rid
of the ce position as it was and then created
a team of folks that I could rely on. And
it's it's all about hiring, having a diverse, experienced group
(16:13):
of leaders. I feel like my job is to create
an environment that foster's cor collaboration, innovation and just let
them them go. I am not ashamed to stay. I
rely on my team regularly for feedback in order to
make some decisions.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, well that's good too, because as you always want feedback,
and I think a lot of leaders are scared to
hear feedback because they think it may be negative, and
so they only want to hear the good things. Well,
when you only hear the good things and you only
see your highlights, it's kind of like, you know, not
to bring basketball back into it, but you know, you
see highlight videos all the time, and people like, well,
am I not getting recruited? You're like, well, because they've
seen your full game and they know you took fifty
(16:51):
seven shots to hit those three miraculous layups you did.
So if you're missing fifty four shots and making three,
that might be the reason.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
So, but it's good that you're in urging that.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, my I don't ever worry about my team not
giving me feedback. If they could tone it.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
Down a little bit every now and then, i'd be
feedback back a little bit.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
That'd be great.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Do you have one? And if you do, what do
you consider to be your superpower? And in a business
situation or a business standpoint.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Well, I mean, I don't keep repeating myself, but it
is the ability to rely on others. I try and be.
I don't always view myself as the CEO. I'd like
talking with our staff hearing what their ideas are. You know,
when I ask staff about me, you know, what are
you hearing? You know, you always have an open door,
and I believe in that. I don't. I don't see
(17:49):
it as like a choice. That's just how we operate
an alliance, right, That's part of the culture that you
talked about that we shouldn't. We want to be transparent.
We want people to be able to say what they're feeling,
what's working, what's not working. I want to hear that stuff,
and you know, I think that's been a benefit in
how Alliance is achieved. What is achieved?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
All Right, So here's here's a question. I'm going throw
in there because I asked this a lot. But we
were You and I are at a conference and the
conference ends, and as many conferences do, like hey guys,
there's a mixer afterwards. So you and I are introduced
each other. What drink is in your hand? And how
would you explain to me what your organization does.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
What drink is in my hand?
Speaker 5 (18:34):
So, just for the record, because this is an audio,
we have other members of Alliance Health just shaking their
head in the background, how they think this question may go.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
This is not going He's seeing how we treat people
with addiction, usually a soft drink.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Love it, love it, great answer. Great answer.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
And then how would I describe Alliance, So Alliance Health
we are a managed care organization responsible for ensuring care
for people with severe mental health, severe substance use disorder,
people with intellectual developmental disabilities, and people with traumatic brain injuries.
Right that are medicaid or uninsured. So the way that
(19:17):
I describe it, we are given the responsibility and I
think the privilege of serving the citizens of North Carolina
with the greatest needs in our state is it is
challenging work. It is very difficult at times. You have
to rely on other entities, other people to help support you.
(19:39):
It's not just giving someone here's an outpatient a treatment appointment,
Go be successful, right, It's about these folks don't have food,
these folks don't have places to live, that there's family dysfunction,
they don't have a positive social support. We feel like
that's all part of our job in addition to addressing
(19:59):
the behavior the physical health of their needs in order
for them to be successful. So we gear ourselves around
trying to address the whole person.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Well, I think I think the thing that resonates with me,
and obviously not not being day to day in your
guys business, but hearing what you're saying. The thing that
resonates with me the most is you can fix or
attempt to help somebody with the mental and the physical
things they're going through, but their environment is ultimately going
to be another huge obstacle or hurdle.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
After the fact, you.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
May say, hey, listen, okay, I'm good now, and then
you go back and all of those things that have
been the problem are still surrounding. That is much more difficult.
And I think that's probably you know, kind of leads
to my next questions. Outside of that, what are some
of the biggest challenges you guys face at Alliance Health today?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Well, I still think stigma is a big issue people
wanting to come access services. In some cultures, people feel
like behavioral health services are forbidden. That's not something you
do willing to come and seek out treatment. Right. We know,
at least from the COVID experience, behavioral health, particularly in
(21:08):
kids is skyrocketed, right n See, state is feeling some
of the pain around that, and I think people don't
get services because of stigma and feeling like it's a
bad thing. It's personal, right, we're trying to say. It's
just like on the physical health side, if you have
a broken arm, you go to the doctor, you don't
feel bad because, oh my god, people are going to
(21:29):
judge me. Same thing of behavioral health. If you're not
feeling your best, you know there's something going on with
how your behaving due to how you're thinking or acting,
then you go get treatment and that should be a
normal process. So I think we've got to keep working
on that as a community. The folks that we serve
(21:49):
have such tremendous needs. I bet if we could get
half of them in earlier before they're in crisis, they
end up in jail, end up homelessness. I think they
could have been better off a long time ago. So
I think that's one of the biggest challenges.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, I mean, and I think that's the stigma around
a lot of that stuff. You're one hundred percent right,
it's still the suffering silence.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
I think a lot of it too.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
We mentioned highlights earlier, but in my for what it's
worth two since on is when you look at how
social media has crafted the way we compare our lives
to everybody. We look at other people's highlights, which can
sometimes alienate us, whereas communication in itself was supposed to
bring us together. You're looking at oh my gosh, they're
(22:35):
on this vacation and they just did this, and they
just did this, and I'm over here and you know,
I'm struggling with some stuff and that can compound that
as well. So you know, and that's the difficult part
about social media as a whole, which you've done a
great job of avoiding. So congratulations to you. What are
some initiatives, what are projects? What's going on with Alliance
(22:56):
Health that you guys are particularly excited about right now?
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yeah, so, so up until July first, we've normally just
dealt with behavioral health issues, behavior health and IDD issues.
The state has made a change in Medicaid. We are
now responsible for not only the behavioral health and IDD services,
but we're also responsible for the physical health and the
pharmacy management of the population that I described with the
(23:23):
severe needs. We've always wanted to do a whole person care.
You know, the system was fragmented and that we'd be
doing behavioral health and you know, medical providers. We've been
doing this and there was no coordination, and we know
now there's lots of evidence addressing behavioral health will help
ultimately result in better outcomes on the physical health side,
(23:44):
and so do Having that whole person care is going
to be critical to our success and meeting our managed
care goals. And we've got some really good providers. We
are not a service provider. We contract with over four
thousand providers who actually deliver the care, and we're working
with them on integrating care so that you can match
(24:04):
up the behavioral health providers with the physical health providers
and make sure there's clear coordination of care. Everybody's on
the same page. And I think that we're going to
see much different and better results of that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
And that's just really changing over the past couple months.
So five years from now, where are we going to
see alliance?
Speaker 3 (24:24):
You know, I integrated care is the big thing. I
still think we have steps to take to incorporate addressing
the social determinans of health, food and securities. You know,
I'd still like to see a lot more prevention, early intervention.
The people that we get have been through everything, right, jails,
kicked out of school, abuse, everything. How do we get
(24:46):
upstream and help prevent these people from becoming us, putting
Alliance out of business because people are getting better and
don't need these high intensity services. Is I could live
with that all day, all day long.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So well, Rob, I think I mean, we've we've covered
a ton here. I always I always want to rap
with what did we miss? Did we miss anything? Did
you have anything that we need to know that I
didn't ask you?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
You asked a lot. The one thing that I do
want to know and just emphasize that people helped address
some of the stigma issues is that people can and
do recover, and people do have the right to self
determination and to live as independently as possible, and our
job is to help support them, help help them access
(25:34):
the needed services, both the treatment services as well as
the community supports to be successful. We think that's a
model that works. We're going to we keep refining and
keep trying to get better at it, but ultimately we
hopefully people are going to get better and that's what
this is all about.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Well, Rob, I appreciate you and your team joining us today.
I think this has been Hey, we learned a ton
about you. I didn't know you Like Michael Jordan, We
don't we know that now. I love your analogy about
people don't have any stigma about breaking an arm and
going to a doctor. There shouldn't be any stigma about
some of these other things. I love the fact that
you guys are trying to get out in front of
them be as preventive as possible, because I do think
(26:12):
you know downstream that does help. And I do love
the message that you can recover because I think in
the end that plays to something that we all want hope,
We all want to know, Hey, there's there's a better
day tomorrow and it's not going to be the same
or worse. So I appreciate you sharing some time with us.
We are appreciative of you being here, and we.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Wrap the thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
It's good to be here, Michael.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Thanks sir CEOs You Should Know is a production of iHeartMedia, Raleigh.
Thanks for listening.
iHeartMedia Rollie presents CEOs You Should Know, where we shine
a spotlight on decision makers from all corners of the Triangle,
showcasing the leaders and companies that drive our local economy.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome back to another episode of CEOs You Should Know.
With iHeartMedia, I'm your host Michael Berger, and we have
the opportunity to have some amazing executives come in and
not only share their story, but their company's story and
what they're trying to do and how they're making an
impact not only in the Triangle but across the entire country. Today,
I'm very fortunate to be joined by Rob Robinson, the
(00:33):
CEO of Alliance Health. Welcome, It's good to be here absolutely. So.
You know, we talked right before we started recording and
we said this is going to be very conversational. One
of the things I always like to do is I
like to ask some icebreakers just to kind of to
get everything set to no tension. So, first one, outside
(00:53):
of work, what's a typical day look like for Rob Robinson?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
A typical day? So, I have two daughters. One is
a college one's a wolf pack. Right. So, being from
Upstate New York, I grew up in Syracuse. Hard to
root for any team down here. But I have joined
the wolf Pack because that's where my daughter goes. So
I get to spend time with her. My youngest daughter
still in high school. She competes softball, so I spend
(01:18):
a lot of time with her working out pitching. She's
a pitcher for Cardinal Gibbons High School.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
What year is she?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
She is a senior senior this year, and so I
have to spend time with her working out. I have
to exercise myself. This work we do is a grind,
and I got to keep myself saying, and so exercising
is part of that. And then me and my wife
like to go out to dinner and do walks and
those kinds of things, vacation when I can.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That sounds well balanced, and I think your point there
is like sometimes exercises some of the things people think of,
well the external I look better when I do that,
but really just the endorphins and the stress release that
comes from that can sometimes be just as important.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Absolutely when I don't. When I go a few days
without exercise, my wife tells me you better go. I'm
starting to get a little squirrely.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
It's like get out of here, go take an hour
and a half, go do some bicep curls.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
I'll see it a little bit.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And you mentioned how how time intensive youth sports can be.
I personally have a twenty three year old daughter. I
also have an eleven year old son, a nine year
old son, and a five year old.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Son, all of them at some level of sports.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
We just launched a nonprofit AAU basketball team, so now
travel basketball as well as recreational sports with soccer and
youth group and all the other stuff mixed together.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
It's it's a good time. And everybody says you're.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Going to miss it, but it can be. It can
be to find time to work out and do those
things exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I love it. I grew up playing sports. It was
part of what I think put me on the right path.
That camaraderie, the teamwork, and I've tried to distill that
into my daughter and she's definitely gravitated to that, so
that's awesome. My oldest was a gymnast. Now she got
you know, that caught up with her injuries and that
kind of stuff. She still likes to exercise and work out,
(03:05):
but gymnastics she ended.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That gymnastics like a whole other level of intensity.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Absolutely, it's it's an incredible sport. It is definitely one
of the most difficult sports you can play, and it
takes a toll on these kids and their bodies. And
she's fine, but you can tell every now and then
she'd walk with it, you know, her back hurting or something.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
But I remember when I was younger, my mom had
me in gymnastics and I showed it for like one time,
and all I wanted to do was jump on the
trampoline and I think I officially got a sumrsault down.
That was like the extent of it. I can't even
do it full partwheel, like I was never a gymnast.
But yeah, then you just hear about the eight ten
hours some of these gymnasts are putting in.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
It's that's that's.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
So much you're putting on your body at such a
young age to be so driven. But that's that's great.
All right.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
So changing topics just a little bit.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You mentioned a lot of stuff, so you're gonna have
to think deep on this one, But can you share
a fun fact about yourself that most people don't know?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
A fun fact about myself that most people don't. No, Michael,
that should be an easy one. I'm thinking hard. Well,
you brought up you couldn't find me on social media.
I'm not big into social media. I do like to
look and see what other people are doing, but I'm
not a big poster. But that's probably not what you're looking.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
No, No, that's that's great.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean I think that's I think, particularly for somebody
in your position, it's probably unique. Not a bad way,
but I think so many people have been Hey, listen,
you've got to self promote. You've got to talk about
yourself and share what you're doing, and you know, it's
very unique. So I think I think that's great because
I as we were talking previously, I was like, man,
I can't find a whole lot about you. I was like,
I know, the first three letters of your your name
(04:42):
are the same as the first three of your last name,
but other than.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
That, we're not finding out a whole.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Lot of that's right.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Do you have a favorite book or a movie? And why.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Do I have a favorite book? Goodwill Hunting is definitely
my favorite fe movie. I've seen that several times. I
just thought that was a powerful story. I think that
Matt Damon did or it was a Matt Damon job
and Robin Wood. I thought that was an incredible story.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Yeah, it's a good movie.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And yeah, you know, dealing with a lot of mental
health issues in that whole thing too. I actually just
watched the clip of him and Robin Williams and Matt
Damon sitting on the bench and him saying like you've
never really experienced anything a couple of weeks ago on YouTube. So, yeah,
that's funny. You mentioned that's a great movie. Yeah, this
is This is kind of those cliche questions. I think
my wife and I both asked each other this when
we first met each other. But if you could have
(05:35):
one dinner or dinner with any historical figure, who would
it be?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
And why I wouldn't call that I'm not sure if
you calls the historical dinner, it would be Michael Jordan's.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
He changed my life and how I looked at sports
and how I looked at how to become the best
at what you do. He he was incredible. He will
forever be my all time favorite and I love to
sit down with him and and pick his brains. Now,
I did watch the Netflix special.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
So it kind of the last dance.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, the last dance. And uh, you know, he was
a tough guy, but he made the best out of
everybody that he that he played with and made certainly
made the best himself. Definitely the best.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
We'll see later on when we get to the questions
about your management philosophy, if your management philosophy aligns with
how Jordan for his teammates. Have you ever punched anybody
in the face like Steve that.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I may plead the fifth.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
No, Michael Jordan was phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I grew up, I have a basketball background, played had
an ability of coach in college for a couple of
years before I got into TV and then into into
audio with iHeart.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
So yeah, Michael Jordan was the guy.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Go watch his games, go outside in the driveway, shoot baskets,
go back in and watch the NBA on NBC, go
back out. So no, And now I just have conversations
with my kids about is Lebron or Jordan better? That's
like half of our dinner conversation. And so I'm an
old school Jordan guy. There a new school Lebron guy,
and we're never gonna be able change each other's minds.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Surround yourself with good people. I can't emphasize that enough.
When we've had you know, I've I've had been very
fortunate to be able to work with a lot of people,
and the teams that I've worked with, you have one
egg that just doesn't fit with the culture, or is
not the right person, doesn't bring the right skill set.
(07:29):
It throws off the whole dynamic of the group. And
I was taught that early on, and I definitely that's
a piece I live by. You talk about my management style,
but management's style is creating team, hiring the right people
that align with the culture of our organization and we
do have a specific culture, and then let them go.
(07:52):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, I think I think that's important. I think it'll
we'll get to that. I want to come back that
a little bit later on what culture means to you,
because I think that is important. But I think so
many times people are in a position similar to you,
and they feel like I've got to do everything, and
I've got to show put great people around you and
let them do their job, and you will look like
a rock Star as the team succeeds together.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
So where'd you go to college?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I've got my undergraded a college called the Sweedels State,
New York. It's on Lake Ontario. It's Jerry Seinfeld went there,
NOL Roker, Steve Levy for me, ESPN, Linda Cohne from ESPN.
So there's a few folks okay there. And then my
masters I got in Norfolk, Virginia.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Okay, say that again. Where did you go? Where did
you get your master's from?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Norfolk State?
Speaker 4 (08:42):
All right?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
I just so I moved here from Missouri about four
years ago, and Norfolk is how I pronounced it before
I got here. It's kind of like I think it
should be top sail, and it's not. It's topsail. So
that's just one of the one thing I wanted to
hear you say, because everybody I know who's lived there
for any period of time they pronounced it far differently
than I do. Nobody cares about my opinion, but I'm
on record now first saying that. All right, if you
(09:06):
weren't in healthcare right now, what career do you think
you would have pursued?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
You know what's interesting, I think I would have stayed
in upstate New York and done some sort of blue
collar work when I before I got there was a
nuclear plan up there. I applied for about every position.
Those are like the most demanding job. I literally applied
for the guy out of college applied for the janitor
job and you get paid like twenty two dollars an
(09:35):
hour or something. And never got any of the jobs
up there. So I had to figure out I was
going to do, might as well use something with my degree,
and so it went on to the field. But I
think I would have ended up in a blue collar
job work. And I did a lot of that during
you know, pay for you for college, and did some
of that in high school.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, that's that's a that's a unique pivot. That's a
blue collar to CEO. That's a But I'm sure a
lot of that that that color and that grit and
that work ethic probably is part of what got you
to where you are today. Got it for my dad?
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Did you?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Did? You?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Hard working man?
Speaker 4 (10:12):
We kind of talked about this, So what.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Is the most memorable moment you've ever had with a
client or colleague? Does one stick out? That's that's a
tough question. That's I'm asking you scan the entirety of
your your life and your professional career.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You know. What's so I used to in Norfolk. I
used to work with kids involved in the court system.
These were your tough kids. This was the last resort program.
We tried to do some community based work. The one
that probably touched me the most there was a kid
that just didn't have a family life, dysfunctional, but the
(10:51):
kid gravitated somehow. He and I connected over sports and
he he says, he played baseball and all these guys
you know, like I played baseball. So we went out
kid through ninety two miles an hour, like seventeen years old.
The kid was a stud in yeah, trying. And the
thing that I liked is tried to work with him
(11:12):
to find to get a degree so that he could
go play college ball. And he wanted to do that.
There was never anyone's life to guide him to do it.
The disappointing part is we never got there. So, you know,
I did some work to try and reach out at
a friend as a coach and those kinds of things,
but never worked out. But that was a moment I remember,
and that's why we do stuff right, some of these
(11:34):
kids just need a chance, and we're the people to
try and do that, and that I will always remember.
I always wonder what happened to that kid, you know,
because back, you know, once you go, you're not supposed
to stay in touch and all that other stuff. But
I always wondered what happened.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Well, it's it's funny.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I mean, I think anytime you have a conversation like this,
you're going to know a little bit about me. I'm
going to know a little bit more about you. And
I actually had an AAU basketball team that I started
in Columbia, Missouri, my hometown, University of Missouri, I started
there and I started an AAU team. It was for
seventeen year olds and younger, but several of the players
on the team their parents were working three four jobs
(12:12):
a week. They were kind of on their own, and
there would be conversations like, hey, when's the last time
you had a chance to eat. He's like, well, I
found two dollars, so I grabbed him a chicken yesterday
type of thing. And so I think for me that
was also very rewarding that we were able to help
get some of those kids to the next level. In scholarships.
And now one of those kids that I actually helped
has started his own organization in Columbia, Missouri. He's got
(12:33):
like seven teams and he's helping people and he's in
the community, and like, that's the stuff that you know,
I think when you can pass down and listen, I'm
not even close to responsible for all the success he's had,
But seeing him do something similar and kind of carry
that on.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Is it's a cool fe I love that story, and
I love that you stepped up and it made a difference.
I mean, it clearly made a difference for others. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Well, I think sometimes too, when we look at sports,
you look at like a, well did I affect one
hundred people? You're like, yeah, you can affect one person
like and then that one person affects ten people like.
It's it's there's some downstream benefit from that. So you
mentioned earlier, when you travel, you can first question where's
the favorite place you traveled, and where's the place you
(13:14):
would most like to travel.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
We did our first cruise last year with the family.
My wife and my two girls went on our cruise
and and you know, we we did We did it
right and so my kids loved it, and you know,
and that's made it most memorable. And you know, you
get all the cruise, you can't get in the pool,
you know, all the other things with it. But it
was awesome. We had a fantastic time. And that's one
(13:40):
I'll always remember.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
That trying to get you an endorsement deal. Was it Viking?
Was it was a carnival? Was a Disney cruise?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Do you Royal Caribbean?
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Okay? Okay, so you're on one of the huge We
took our first cruise on Royal Caribbean last year too.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
There you go, there you go, right, how about that?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
So okay, so you took a cruise that was great.
Where's the next place you and the wife want to go?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Europe? We haven't been, and you know, I the looking
at maybe the Viking cruise, one of those going down
the river and stopping because you know, I'm not a
sit in a town and just kind of go to
a museum for eight hours, like I'll be in a
museum for twelve minutes and then I'll be on where's
the next thing we're going?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
I've seen it all.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Let's go, let's go, let's go. And so I like
that idea of being able to go from town to town,
So that's on the list.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Does your wife have the reason I asked this, My
wife is the complete opposite. She wants to go to
a beach and lay on the beach and do nothing.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I want to make sure I see everything in the
town around, and I want to make sure I have
a full itinery so I don't miss anything. So sometimes
it's like, Okay, there's a lot of compromise when we travel.
But is your wife similar to you, like, let's get
in and out of the museums, or is she I'd
like to spend some more time there.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Oh no, she she does herself talk that knows what
the experience is going to be like. And then she
tries to negotiate. All right, I gotta give on something,
but we work it out. She she's just sitting at
the beach kind of girl. And she likes to go
to a little shops and do her thing. And I
try and do those things as well too, because I
(15:05):
gotta do the next time.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
It's a give and take, yeap, all right. So you
know we did some icebreaker questions. Now I kind of
want to talk about your management flossphen. We've covered some
of that, so if you had to, you know, you
mentioned your your best advice earlier about surround yourself with
good people.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
But how would you describe your leadership style?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So let me back up a little bit. So when
I took over the job CEO in twenty fourteen, I
was the CEO and my boss, and then my CEO
boss retired and then I was fortunate off the board
hired me and the CEO in her place. When I
was COO, she asked me to kind of run the organization,
(15:49):
right mana is today, she'll be external. That's not my style.
I'd like a team approach. So I quickly got rid
of the ce position as it was and then created
a team of folks that I could rely on. And
it's it's all about hiring, having a diverse, experienced group
(16:13):
of leaders. I feel like my job is to create
an environment that foster's cor collaboration, innovation and just let
them them go. I am not ashamed to stay. I
rely on my team regularly for feedback in order to
make some decisions.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, well that's good too, because as you always want feedback,
and I think a lot of leaders are scared to
hear feedback because they think it may be negative, and
so they only want to hear the good things. Well,
when you only hear the good things and you only
see your highlights, it's kind of like, you know, not
to bring basketball back into it, but you know, you
see highlight videos all the time, and people like, well,
am I not getting recruited? You're like, well, because they've
seen your full game and they know you took fifty
(16:51):
seven shots to hit those three miraculous layups you did.
So if you're missing fifty four shots and making three,
that might be the reason.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
So, but it's good that you're in urging that.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, my I don't ever worry about my team not
giving me feedback. If they could tone it.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
Down a little bit every now and then, i'd be
feedback back a little bit.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
That'd be great.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Do you have one? And if you do, what do
you consider to be your superpower? And in a business
situation or a business standpoint.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Well, I mean, I don't keep repeating myself, but it
is the ability to rely on others. I try and be.
I don't always view myself as the CEO. I'd like
talking with our staff hearing what their ideas are. You know,
when I ask staff about me, you know, what are
you hearing? You know, you always have an open door,
and I believe in that. I don't. I don't see
(17:49):
it as like a choice. That's just how we operate
an alliance, right, That's part of the culture that you
talked about that we shouldn't. We want to be transparent.
We want people to be able to say what they're feeling,
what's working, what's not working. I want to hear that stuff,
and you know, I think that's been a benefit in
how Alliance is achieved. What is achieved?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
All Right, So here's here's a question. I'm going throw
in there because I asked this a lot. But we
were You and I are at a conference and the
conference ends, and as many conferences do, like hey guys,
there's a mixer afterwards. So you and I are introduced
each other. What drink is in your hand? And how
would you explain to me what your organization does.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
What drink is in my hand?
Speaker 5 (18:34):
So, just for the record, because this is an audio,
we have other members of Alliance Health just shaking their
head in the background, how they think this question may go.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
This is not going He's seeing how we treat people
with addiction, usually a soft drink.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Love it, love it, great answer. Great answer.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
And then how would I describe Alliance, So Alliance Health
we are a managed care organization responsible for ensuring care
for people with severe mental health, severe substance use disorder,
people with intellectual developmental disabilities, and people with traumatic brain injuries.
Right that are medicaid or uninsured. So the way that
(19:17):
I describe it, we are given the responsibility and I
think the privilege of serving the citizens of North Carolina
with the greatest needs in our state is it is
challenging work. It is very difficult at times. You have
to rely on other entities, other people to help support you.
(19:39):
It's not just giving someone here's an outpatient a treatment appointment,
Go be successful, right, It's about these folks don't have food,
these folks don't have places to live, that there's family dysfunction,
they don't have a positive social support. We feel like
that's all part of our job in addition to addressing
(19:59):
the behavior the physical health of their needs in order
for them to be successful. So we gear ourselves around
trying to address the whole person.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Well, I think I think the thing that resonates with me,
and obviously not not being day to day in your
guys business, but hearing what you're saying. The thing that
resonates with me the most is you can fix or
attempt to help somebody with the mental and the physical
things they're going through, but their environment is ultimately going
to be another huge obstacle or hurdle.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
After the fact, you.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
May say, hey, listen, okay, I'm good now, and then
you go back and all of those things that have
been the problem are still surrounding. That is much more difficult.
And I think that's probably you know, kind of leads
to my next questions. Outside of that, what are some
of the biggest challenges you guys face at Alliance Health today?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Well, I still think stigma is a big issue people
wanting to come access services. In some cultures, people feel
like behavioral health services are forbidden. That's not something you
do willing to come and seek out treatment. Right. We know,
at least from the COVID experience, behavioral health, particularly in
(21:08):
kids is skyrocketed, right n See, state is feeling some
of the pain around that, and I think people don't
get services because of stigma and feeling like it's a
bad thing. It's personal, right, we're trying to say. It's
just like on the physical health side, if you have
a broken arm, you go to the doctor, you don't
feel bad because, oh my god, people are going to
(21:29):
judge me. Same thing of behavioral health. If you're not
feeling your best, you know there's something going on with
how your behaving due to how you're thinking or acting,
then you go get treatment and that should be a
normal process. So I think we've got to keep working
on that as a community. The folks that we serve
(21:49):
have such tremendous needs. I bet if we could get
half of them in earlier before they're in crisis, they
end up in jail, end up homelessness. I think they
could have been better off a long time ago. So
I think that's one of the biggest challenges.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Yeah, I mean, and I think that's the stigma around
a lot of that stuff. You're one hundred percent right,
it's still the suffering silence.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
I think a lot of it too.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
We mentioned highlights earlier, but in my for what it's
worth two since on is when you look at how
social media has crafted the way we compare our lives
to everybody. We look at other people's highlights, which can
sometimes alienate us, whereas communication in itself was supposed to
bring us together. You're looking at oh my gosh, they're
(22:35):
on this vacation and they just did this, and they
just did this, and I'm over here and you know,
I'm struggling with some stuff and that can compound that
as well. So you know, and that's the difficult part
about social media as a whole, which you've done a
great job of avoiding. So congratulations to you. What are
some initiatives, what are projects? What's going on with Alliance
(22:56):
Health that you guys are particularly excited about right now?
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yeah, so, so up until July first, we've normally just
dealt with behavioral health issues, behavior health and IDD issues.
The state has made a change in Medicaid. We are
now responsible for not only the behavioral health and IDD services,
but we're also responsible for the physical health and the
pharmacy management of the population that I described with the
(23:23):
severe needs. We've always wanted to do a whole person care.
You know, the system was fragmented and that we'd be
doing behavioral health and you know, medical providers. We've been
doing this and there was no coordination, and we know
now there's lots of evidence addressing behavioral health will help
ultimately result in better outcomes on the physical health side,
(23:44):
and so do Having that whole person care is going
to be critical to our success and meeting our managed
care goals. And we've got some really good providers. We
are not a service provider. We contract with over four
thousand providers who actually deliver the care, and we're working
with them on integrating care so that you can match
(24:04):
up the behavioral health providers with the physical health providers
and make sure there's clear coordination of care. Everybody's on
the same page. And I think that we're going to
see much different and better results of that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
And that's just really changing over the past couple months.
So five years from now, where are we going to
see alliance?
Speaker 3 (24:24):
You know, I integrated care is the big thing. I
still think we have steps to take to incorporate addressing
the social determinans of health, food and securities. You know,
I'd still like to see a lot more prevention, early intervention.
The people that we get have been through everything, right, jails,
kicked out of school, abuse, everything. How do we get
(24:46):
upstream and help prevent these people from becoming us, putting
Alliance out of business because people are getting better and
don't need these high intensity services. Is I could live
with that all day, all day long.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So well, Rob, I think I mean, we've we've covered
a ton here. I always I always want to rap
with what did we miss? Did we miss anything? Did
you have anything that we need to know that I
didn't ask you?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
You asked a lot. The one thing that I do
want to know and just emphasize that people helped address
some of the stigma issues is that people can and
do recover, and people do have the right to self
determination and to live as independently as possible, and our
job is to help support them, help help them access
(25:34):
the needed services, both the treatment services as well as
the community supports to be successful. We think that's a
model that works. We're going to we keep refining and
keep trying to get better at it, but ultimately we
hopefully people are going to get better and that's what
this is all about.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Well, Rob, I appreciate you and your team joining us today.
I think this has been Hey, we learned a ton
about you. I didn't know you Like Michael Jordan, We
don't we know that now. I love your analogy about
people don't have any stigma about breaking an arm and
going to a doctor. There shouldn't be any stigma about
some of these other things. I love the fact that
you guys are trying to get out in front of
them be as preventive as possible, because I do think
(26:12):
you know downstream that does help. And I do love
the message that you can recover because I think in
the end that plays to something that we all want hope,
We all want to know, Hey, there's there's a better
day tomorrow and it's not going to be the same
or worse. So I appreciate you sharing some time with us.
We are appreciative of you being here, and we.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Wrap the thank you.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
It's good to be here, Michael.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Thanks sir CEOs You Should Know is a production of iHeartMedia, Raleigh.
Thanks for listening.
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