A Dream Job with Purpose, Passion, and Psychedelics

My Dream Job is Dreamy

There’s this thing about alignment that’s unmistakable. The energy is clear, clean, and undeniably purposeful.

A recent podcast interview led me to connect with Gary Roberts of Promises Innovative Recovery (PIR). Gary and his wife Pam suffered an unimaginable loss. Their 27-year-old daughter died from an opioid overdose. Gary is also a firefighter. He’s surrounded by burnout and suicide; daily, he saves the lives of others who could’ve had the same fate as his daughter.

Gary and Pam’s daughter, Lauren, died on her 27th birthday.

Gary and Pam are on a mission to help individuals with addictions using cannabis and psychedelic therapy. They’re building a medical resort in Costa Rica focusing on precision medical delivery of natural medicines with real-time technology and individualized data to make treatment decisions. Think Nine Perfect Strangers without the creepy Nicole Kidman vibe.

Even before watching that show, I’d decided I wanted to work for an organization like Tranquillum, the fictional yet dreamy luxury resort where people went for personal transformation. I even declared it my dream job. In my TEDx talk, I mentioned Paul Tokuzolu’s vision to employ his entire network with their dream jobs because helping others get their jobs is also important to me.

Paul is making good on his promise. He introduced me to Gary after I published the Sacred Medicine Companion Journal. During the podcast interview, there was a moment when things lined up for Gary and me, and an entire warehouse of light bulbs lit up. While talking about healing, recovery, and plant medicine, Gary noted that PIR is working with biomedical companies to individualize medication, deliver it safely, and manage the integration process. This technology predicts what each psychedelic will do and the exact dosage to produce the best outcome and recovery for community members. This is important because, as Gary noted, “The last thing you want to do to a firefighter looking down the barrel of a gun is do something that throws them over that edge…If you go in with bad thoughts, psychedelics will enhance those bad thoughts.”

I can confirm this to be true. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a trip and spiraling downward with your destructive thoughts.

That’s precisely why Gary and Pam are so passionate about establishing a medical center where individuals can receive psychedelic treatment that’s safe, effective, and compassionate. Even better, the resort is as luxurious as it is technologically advanced. If you know anything about how I feel about data, you know I was totally excited by the idea of using data to create safe alternatives and constantly improving the plant medicine experience for better breakthroughs.

Then, I chimed in by suggesting the plant medicine integration process would be greatly enhanced with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) processes before having a psychedelic experience. NLP is designed to align language, mindset, and actions. We know from the placebo effect how powerful beliefs are. I told him that if I had my way, I’d do a series of NLP processes before individuals ingest plant medicine so that a person’s brain is already set up to accept the experience as valuable, helpful, and something that will positively impact their life. I’d work with the client to change their limiting beliefs, rewire their trauma, and clear their body of negative emotions before they even consider taking a psychedelic. And then, afterward, I’d implement daily integration practices, which is what the Sacred Medicine Companion Journal is designed to do.

Of course, I was thrilled to hear Gary’s response to my integrated solution. He said, “We may have to talk more about that because you and I…we might end up dancing in the boardroom together because that’s what we do. That is my dream.”

Dancing in the boardroom—are you kidding me? That’s my dream! I’m elated to say that Gary, Pam, and I have been collaborating to launch the medical resort in Costa Rica for the last several months. I’m also a PIR board member serving strategic operations and partnerships. I have been so blown away by the intentionality of this project that it’s brought me to tears on several occasions. Gary and Pam have huge hearts and intend to help millions of people, not just those who need healing from addiction, depression, PTSD, and brain injuries—but their families, the systems at large, and most certainly, the staff and communities serving the medicines. They’ll be doing clinical trials, setting standards of use, creating treatment protocols, and certifying physicians worldwide to deliver effective and safe plant medicine experiences. PIR will also use customized data sets and eco-friendly materials, helping the Costa Rican community and maintaining a 5-Star luxury medical resort with cutting-edge medical technology.

This dance with Gary has been exceptionally fun and will undoubtedly be collectively beneficial. After our first meeting, I told Gary that while I wasn’t comfortable sharing this tidbit on the podcast and never shared this news publicly, I nearly lost my son to an opioid incident last year. Thank God the EMTs were able to revive him. I was beside myself. I can’t imagine how I would’ve managed any different outcome.

While I’m elated to report my son Johnathan is doing amazing, and I now refer to him as the happiest man I know, I can viscerally feel how those deepest, darkest moments we experience aren’t for naught. God uses every inconceivable happenstance for good.

When I lost my corporate job, I had no idea what I was going to do for work. I knew three things: 1) I had no interest in staying in the insurance industry, 2) I wanted to write, and 3) I wanted to help individuals with mental illnesses.

I’m not just ecstatic about the ability to work for Promises Innovative Recovery. This work is personal. Plus, I get to write, help people achieve mental wellness, and put my insurance skills to task in a new way.

I have no doubt that the launch of Promises Innovative Recovery is personal for Gary and Pam, and I’m beyond grateful to be part of an organization that’s like-minded, open-minded, and holistically based on wellness.

Like my friend Paul who connected me to PIR, Gary and I will call on our best collaborators to work their dream job and make a massive impact with Promises Innovative Recovery. If you’re interested in learning more, join our email list.