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Writer's pictureAlex Shohet

Red Door Life: 12 Traits of Entrepreneurs in Recovery

By Alex Shohet 


At the intersection of recovery and entrepreneurship lies a powerful opportunity for transformation. The 12 Dimensions of Human Health and Wellness model, created by entrepreneur and addiction specialist Alex Shohet and Berni Fried, an LMFT specializing in addiction and trauma, as a holistic framework for Red Door Life’s model of care highlights the importance of addressing multiple areas of life, including finances, education, and career.   At Red Door Life, each individual has immense, unique beauty. Our goal is to help unlock the goldmine of human potential of our community by inspiring passion and purpose and then complementing that with educating and supporting entrepreneurship. 


One of the dimensions in our 12 Dimensions model of care, "Finances, Education & Career," specifically recognizes that financial independence and meaningful work are central to recovery. This blog series explores the “12 Traits of Entrepreneurs in Recovery”, showcasing how the skills and strengths honed through recovery can be applied to entrepreneurial ventures. 


In our community, we emphasize that entrepreneurship does not have to be a lofty concept of grand scale. Those who dream one day of starting something but may not know what or work within a corporate framework while rebuilding their lives in new ways to be more self-led are also welcome in our entrepreneurial community.


By cultivating these traits, we aim to increase job opportunities and promote entrepreneurship within the recovery community, allowing individuals to not only rebuild their lives but also have a positive impact on others. 


The following 12 Traits of Entrepreneurs in Recovery, such as passion, resourcefulness, and a willingness to fail, are directly tied to the lessons learned in recovery. When we take our struggles and convert them into our strengths, we begin to flourish. Each of these characteristics equips people in recovery to become successful entrepreneurs, providing them with a pathway to independence and a unique purpose while also contributing to the broader recovery community by igniting inspiration in others by example, creating jobs, and fostering opportunities.


We hope you will help us create more opportunities to help those in recovery through connection, collaboration, referrals, and donations. Please feel free to contact me at Red Door Life. Here are the 12 Traits of Entrepreneurs in Recovery.  


1. Passion & Purpose

Recovery allows us to explore our interests and discover what matters to us. When we align these things, we can build remarkable businesses with passion and purpose.


2. Ability to Work Hard

Recovery assists us in developing a solid work ethic and resiliency, which is very helpful in building a successful business.


3. Humility 

Being an entrepreneur takes humility. We acknowledge our challenges, explore the lessons learned from our setbacks, admit when we are wrong, and acquire wisdom when we ask for help.  


4. Flexibility

To thrive in business and recovery, an entrepreneur must stay open-minded and willing to the changing circumstances we encounter growing our companies.


5. Life Balance

Balance is essential to well-being.  As entrepreneurs in recovery, we must be careful not to overwork or lose balance, as this may endanger our recovery and business.


6. Willingness to Fail

Recovery has lots of ups and downs and sometimes relapses. Most successful entrepreneurs have at one or more times known failure.  Willingness to fail and get back up is indispensable to entrepreneurs and those in recovery. 


7. Drive

People with addictive personalities have tremendous drive.  In recovery, we channel our addictive personalities into productivity, perseverance, passion, and purpose.


8. Creativity

The recovery community comprises creative individuals who use their imagination and vision to create remarkable businesses.


9. Resourcefulness

Many of us rely on our resourcefulness to overcome many difficulties caused by our addiction.  In recovery, our ingenuity helps us find solutions to problems that become the foundation of the products and services we provide in our businesses.


 10. Commitment

Recovery requires a commitment to living a life of honesty, integrity, and serving others; entrepreneurs in recovery build businesses based on the values they developed in recovery.    


11. Mentorship

Working with sponsors is an integral part of growing in recovery, which in business translates into finding and building a relationship with a career mentor.  


12. Impact

Being of service is critical to recovery.  In our businesses, we improve the lives of our team members, provide value to our clients through our products and services, and strengthen the communities in which our companies operate.


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