The Let's Get Comfy Podcast
Hosted by Founder and CEO of Comfort Measures Consulting LLC, Norman Harris. The Official Healthcare Edutainment station. Empowering listeners with the knowledge and resources to age comfortably. The podcast platform will uniquely provide laughter, peace, joy, resources and most of all COMFORT. Fostering professional partnerships and engaging the audience by providing them access to a REAL family-like conversation. That gives them the REAL reasons. Connects them to REAL reliable resources. To get REAL results. For REAL Comfort! Through interviews with C-suite healthcare leaders, experts, caregivers, founders, authors, educators, and thought leaders who are doing incredible work for older adults, family caregivers, and the healthcare community.
The Let's Get Comfy Podcast
Turning Lemons to Lemonade | Karen McGinnis Vaughn’s Powerful Recovery Story
What happens when survival turns into purpose?
In this deeply moving episode of Let’s Get Comfy, we sit down with Karen McGinnis Vaughn, CRPS, a Tampa native whose life is a testament to resilience, recovery, and redemption. After more than two decades battling substance use disorder, homelessness, incarceration, suicide attempts, and profound personal loss, Karen made a life-altering decision that changed everything.
Her turning point came in 2013 with the birth of her son, Owen, and her entry into Hillsborough County’s Drug Court Program after losing custody of him twice before he turned two. Today, Karen has full custody, a thriving career in behavioral health, and a powerful voice in the recovery community.
Karen shares her journey from active addiction to becoming a Florida Board Certified Recovery Peer Specialist (CRPS), using lived experience to help others navigate substance use and mental health recovery. She reflects on working as an Outreach Coordinator with American Addiction Centers, serving on the board of Dress for Success Tampa Bay, and recently being appointed to Hillsborough County’s Historic Resources Review Board.
The conversation also explores unimaginable trauma. In 2022, a fire destroyed Karen’s home and nearly took her son’s life. Thanks to first responders, community support, and faith, Owen made a miraculous recovery. Karen opens up about grief, gratitude, and how community can carry you through the darkest moments.
This episode is about recovery, motherhood, accountability, faith, and what it truly means to turn pain into purpose.
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Facebook: Karen Waters Vaughn
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Thank you for joining us again. Another episode of the Let's Get Comfy Podcast. Uh, your host here, Norman Harris, also owner and CEO of Comfort Measures Consulting. We thank you for joining us. And once again, we're providing knowledge and resources so that you can age comfortably. But today, we're on the road of journey of recovery with Miss Karen McGuinness Vaughn. She's here today to share her story. Let's give her a round of applause. Thank you. Well, Ms. Vaughn, thank you for joining me today.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_02:I'm honored to be here. Yes, it's an honor to have you for sure. Uh so I always let uh my guests introduce themselves. So you tell us about you.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, where to start. So my name is Karen McGinnis Vaughn. Um, I just recently became a Vaughn. I got married in February to a wonderful man. So so yes, I'm excited about that. I'm uh gosh, I'm multi-generational Hillsborough native, lived here in Florida my whole life, and uh I have a 12-year-old son. And yeah, um, I don't know exactly what all where to start because I think to myself, 47 years of information about myself, it's like, okay, well, we could be here for a couple, we could be here for a couple days. Where do you what avenue do you want to let's go down?
SPEAKER_02:One that tells me a lot about you started with family. So family's first with her. Yeah, so we're really good, but let's talk about your accolades. I know uh when we're in a service business like we are, we we don't get we're uncomfortable talking about ourselves, but I want you to brag on yourself, your accomplishments, credentials, line it up for us.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so so it's interesting because like I want to tell you what happened first as to why I get to do what I get to do today. So usually we're gonna get there. This is yeah, so so so I love this. We're gonna do it backwards because usually I talk about what happened, what was like, what happened, and what's like no. So yeah, so my um I am a strategic account manager for the treatment placement specialist team for Acadia Healthcare. Acadia Healthcare is the leaders in behavioral health in the United States. We have 39, um, excuse me, we have over 250 behavioral health facilities in 39 states in Puerto Rico. Okay. Um, my job really is to help people get into treatment and and into treatment, whether it's for primary mental health disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders. It's really navigating the healthcare system for those individuals and their families because it's a family disease and really trying to figure out what what's gonna be best for that person to recover.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right. And you're the perfect person for that. Congratulations to you on that new start. Yes, right. I'm very happy for you. But uh, we're gonna get into your journey and how why one that organization said you are the perfect person to join our team. All right. So after battling substance uh abuse for over two decades, um, what does the statement mean to you of substance abuse, right? Uh and uh one is too many and a thousand never enough.
SPEAKER_03:One is too many, one is too many and a thousand is never enough. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:What does that statement mean to you?
SPEAKER_03:So for me, because I am a person in recovery, I'm coming up on my 10 years of recovery this year by the grace of God. I was in my active addiction for over two decades. We can get into that a little bit later. But to me, what that means is one is too many, a thousand is never enough. For me, I cannot drink one drink. I cannot have a glass of champagne at a wedding. I cannot take I cannot have a surgery and have a prescription of opioids because for me, when I put a substance like that into my system, it sets off a euphoric effect and I want more. When I take one of something, it opens up kind of a Pandora's box, if you will. And I never know what's gonna happen because I I typically won't be able to stop.
SPEAKER_02:How did substance abuse, how would you say it transform your life?
SPEAKER_03:So, how did it transform my life? It transformed my life in many ways. It transformed my life when I was in my active addiction to become a monster, really. Um in the grips of the disease is not a good place to be. And it's you'll hear often with alcoholics, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, like uh there's a lot of there's a lot of personality things going on when people are under the influence. So on that side of the token, it changed my life that way. But when I finally did get into recovery and stayed in the solution, I'm living a life beyond my wildest dreams today. Never did I imagine that I would be living the life I am today. So it has changed me.
SPEAKER_02:That's a blessing. That's a blessing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, did you uh when did you first uh I guess identify, recognize that or did you ever refer to yourself as an addict?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. But I can tell you, being in my active addiction for over two decades, the first the first 10 years, it was a party. It wasn't I'm an addict. It was more of a this is fun, we're going to the club, we're we're drinking, we're doing this. It was more of a social thing, even though there were consequences. But the next the next decade was very consequential. The party was over. There was one DUI, two DUIs, three DUIs, and you know, towards the end of that, there was homelessness, things of that nature. So so I would say during that second second um uh decade of the substance use is when I could raise my hand and say, Yes, I'm absolutely an addict.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right. Now, is that word uh addict? Is that offensive at all?
SPEAKER_03:You know, I thought about this many times, and it's very debatable because when you think of the word addict, most people when you think of the word addict, they go straight to that person on the side of the road, addicted to drugs, talking to themselves. But really, if you think about an addict, let's talk about food addiction. Let's talk about addiction to my phone and staring at my phone, let's talk about addiction to pornography, let's talk about addiction to um watching too much Netflix or binge watching those shows on TV. So, really, addict, if you get down to the core of the word addict, is a person who has an unhealthy relationship with a substance, person, place, something. I I could be an addict of the get comfy show and like not be able to turn it off.
SPEAKER_02:Well, right. Well, please, hey, we need some addicts, really. Yeah, we need some big time addicts.
SPEAKER_03:Addicted to get addicted to it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Uh that might be the name of this show. No, that would be too much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there you go, though.
SPEAKER_03:Addict. You think addict, you think bad.
SPEAKER_02:You do. That's why I asked that question. Yeah. I did want to answer, but thank you. That was a good answer.
SPEAKER_03:But no, I don't get upset when people refer to me because I say I'm a recovering addict, I don't, and I really don't say I'm a recovering addict. I I typically have tuned tuned it into more of I'm a person in recovery.
SPEAKER_02:Got it. That's I love it.
SPEAKER_03:To eliminate that whole stigma thing.
SPEAKER_02:Gotcha. Okay. Uh, so what was the moment uh you knew something had to change? What was that feeling?
SPEAKER_03:You would think multiple times over that 20 years. When I tell you it there was it's almost like sometimes with addicts, alcoholics, I refer to alcoholics the same because I did, I struggled with both substances, drugs, like street drugs and alcohol, and alcohol is a drug. There were times throughout that period where I got fired from a job, a very good job. City of Tampa executive for the water department. Wow. Um, or I got one DUI, or I got two DUIs. Oh, I got three DUIs, I'm about to lose my license for 15 years. That wasn't enough to stop.
SPEAKER_02:It wasn't enough.
SPEAKER_03:Homelessness. Um, husband sent me divorce papers while I was in treatment. Um, family wanted nothing to do with me. You would think the normal person would go, ouch, this hurts. I don't want to live like this, I can't do it anymore. But that's how cunning, baffling, powerful the disease of addiction is. It's greater than the love that a mother has for a child. And for me, wow, I ended up having a child in my active addiction. And that for me was the catalyst because I had lost him twice to the Department of Children and Families before he was two years old because I was an unfit mother. And that really was the that was the end of the end for me. That was at 37 years old, me coming to my senses and going, Oh my gosh. The only thing I've ever done perfect in this life, I've given everything else away from from my addiction. The only thing I've ever done perfect is a beautiful little bouncing baby boy. And I'm about to let the disease of addiction take that too. And that is when I came to my senses and said, Father God, I don't want to live like this anymore. I don't care if you put me in prison the rest of my life. I don't care if you take my life, I don't want to do this anymore, and I I want to get help. And then that's when that's when the changes started to happen. And it wasn't overnight, it took some time to do that.
SPEAKER_02:It took some time, yeah, yes. That is that is good. Um, so I also uh you indicated here and just re-reviewing you, uh you also did lead uh and participated in the Hillsborough County uh drug court program as well. What was that time period like for you?
SPEAKER_03:So that was I was still very much so in my addiction. That was at the point where Owen now was not quite. I was at the spring of Tampa Bay. I was in a relationship with his father, it was very unhealthy. And I was at the Spring of Tampa Bay, which is a shelter, a domestic violence shelter here in the Tampa Bay area, which is a great resource. And CPI, child protection investigator, came into the Spring of Tampa Bay and removed Owen from my hands. Oh wow. And at that point, that's when the judicial system and everything got in came into my life.
SPEAKER_02:Spring of Tampa Bay, that's an event.
SPEAKER_03:Spring of Tampa Bay, no, that's an actual um it's a nonprofit that helps battered women across the Tampa Bay area.
SPEAKER_02:Well, see, I need to educate myself, huh?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, yes, I they they helped me in my time of need. Spring of Tampa Bay. Spring of Tampa Bay.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, they say health care is not interesting. I beg to differ. That comfort measures me. We're proving every day that healthcare is entertaining, educational, and full of stories worth telling. We deliver knowledge, resources, and real advertising in a way that engages, inspires, and connects. Florida, number one, healthcare entertainment station. I am Norman Harris, the networking solution. Let us highlight the organization and give it the voice it deserves. Owing.
SPEAKER_03:So here in Hillsburg County, we have the 13th Judicial Problem Solving Courts, which really encompasses the drug courts, family courts, people who have lost their kids to the department trying to go get their kids back for whatever reasons. So, yeah, so when I was at the Spring of Tampa Bay, CPI came in and took Owen from me. And at that point, now the the system is involved. So I got thrusted into having to go to treatment at the cove of Tampa Bay, which um was court ordered. In order for you to get your kid back, you you gotta show us that you are willing to go get some help. And I did. I went to treatment for about six months, checked all the boxes, still very much so angry and resentful in my act of addiction. And we'll get into that in a little bit because it's not just the drugs. The drugs and the alcohol and the drugs are just a symptom of what's going on. It's much deeper than that. There's trauma, there's anger, there's resentment, there's shame, there's guilt, there's all kinds of things. I don't just pick up and drink. Most addicts and alcoholics don't just pick up and drink because we just want to get tipsy. There's there's some deep-rooted things that we're trying to self-medicate with. So, anyways, yeah, so I went to, I got involved with the drug ports here in Tampa, went to treatment, checked all the boxes, didn't do a lick of work on peeling back the layers of the onion to try to figure out what was going on with me. Signed all the papers, graduated, give me my kid back. And within, I guess, maybe six months or so, I was off to the races again. Now DCF has come into my life twice and removed Owen from me, and he's not quite even two years old yet. That thrusted me into a very deep depression, guilt, shame, embarrassment, frustration. I was suicidal. I I went I went on a downward spiral. I relapsed. I had warrants out for my arrest.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:I was baker acted within a three-month period about 30 times. 30. Yes, 30 times. Maybe it wasn't more than three months, because that doesn't sound right. That's like three a month. That's like through 10 a week. You was, yeah, you was. But it was something, you know, it was something. I have been, that's what it is. I've been baker acted in my active addiction over 30 times. That period of time where I relapsed and they were about to terminate my parental rights, I think it was like five or six times, additional times I was baker acted. Yeah. After I said that, I'm like, there's no way you can get baker acted 30 times in three months. Um so it was bad. It was bad. It was real bad during that time. I was on a mission to kill myself, and my parents eventually stepped in and filed what's called a Marchman Act. Are you familiar with the Marchman Act? No. Okay, so here in the state of Florida, if you have a loved one or a family member that is a threat to themselves or society as a result of drug and alcohol addiction, you go down to the courthouse, whatever county you live in, let them know you want to file a Marchman Act. And a Marchman Act, what at that point, it's a stack of paper they give to you and they say, Tell me why your loved one needs help. And you paint it as colorfully as you can, and you can say, Well, Karen was arrested for DUI, she's had three DUIs, she's been to jail, she's been using drugs and alcohol since the age of 14, and just paint it masterfully. Right. And then it goes in front of the judge that very day, and the judge says, Holy smokes, Karen needs treatment. And then a sheriff's officer goes and picks you up from wherever you're at, and they bring you down to like a central receiving unit where they give you a substance use and mental health evaluation. And at that point, the judge says, Yeah, Miss McGuinness, you need treatment, and you're going to treatment, and if you don't, you're gonna go to jail for six months.
SPEAKER_02:Got it.
SPEAKER_03:So uh so my parents did that, which told me they still loved me. Some you know, they still have the love for you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, that's good parents there. Uh so all right. So that sound there uh is uh comfy comedy moment. All right, okay, comfy comedy moment, and uh we'll we have something special here today. Uh, two things, all right. You came with something that I thought was really, really valuable. Yeah, all right, right. Thank you. So this um bag right here, you you just tell the audience what I'm holding in my hand.
SPEAKER_03:You are holding a beautiful red Louis Vuitton. I'm not sure the name of that particular style. I can't remember what it is. I just love it. Yes, yeah. This is one of my fancy little bags from my collection. Uh-huh. Yeah. And I and I love this bag. Tell what that bag means to you though. Purse is just not a like a fashion statement for me. There, this has meaning to me. And the the reason I'm so big on my purses, especially my designer purses, because they're just so pretty. I mean, what woman doesn't love designer purses? But for me, they're important because towards the end of my active addiction, I didn't have a pot to pee in. I was walking the streets homeless with one flip-flop on from Walmart. You know, that's that's that's the disease of addiction. It's progressive, it's permanent, it's predictable, and it will result in premature death if not treated. So towards the end, when I knew the end was coming and it was pretty bad, towards the end, I didn't have anything. So I went to treatment for the very last time when my parents march menacted me. And I knew that I didn't want to lose custody owned. I knew I didn't want to live that life. And I really didn't have anything. So when I went to treatment, uh, there was an organization called Dress for Success Tampa Bay. Love them. And they don't just provide clothing for people, they they help women like myself that were in domestic violence relationships coming out of substance abuse. I think they help women coming out of prison. They help all sorts of different women that just need that lift. And they guided me early on in my recovery on how to go back into the workforce and all those things. And I didn't have a purse at that time. So they gave me a really nice leather bag and they suited me up, and I went to an interview and I landed a really nice position. And so purses to me are like important because there was a time where I just had the one purse left. And I have really worked hard at my recovery and in my career and in my life to be where I'm at today to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_02:So it's a wonderful give a reminder. Uh and do you collect uh additional purses as well?
SPEAKER_03:I do, it's ridiculous. I have a shoe and purse problem.
SPEAKER_02:Really? How many purses do you say you have?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I have three bedrooms in my home.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_03:And the third bedroom I've turned into like a walk-in closet. And I've got quite the collection.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. All right. Well, that's what you earn, right? You deserve it, you earned it. Uh, and you have the store to share why you deserve it and earn it as well. So I wanted to highlight that. So, one more thing uh we have here. Um, so we believe in comfortability all over the rural. So we're trying out some new fun games. Okay. So I want you to take this globe here. Okay. Take the globe. Yep, take it in the globe. It's comfy all over the rural. All right. So I want you to spin the globe. You got the glasses on.
SPEAKER_03:Let's see.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'm getting older. I can't see like I used to.
SPEAKER_02:All right, three spins and then stuff with your finger. All right. Boom.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I am in the Pacific Ocean.
SPEAKER_02:Pacific Ocean. Have you ever been to the Pacific Ocean?
SPEAKER_03:You know what? I have not. Actually, that's not true. In 1999, me and my mom we flew, because I'm Florida native. I've lived in Tampa my whole life. Um, me and my mom flew to California, and this was around the time there was a thing called West Coast Choppers. A guy was building chopper motorcycles, and they were real famous over there. Anyways, we flew there to go to Las Vegas, and then we flew over to California to be on the Prices Right. The prices. And then we went to Long Beach. So technically, I remember looking out at the ocean and going, That's the Pacific Ocean. And that's about the closest I've been to the Pacific Ocean.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, well, give it one more spin. Let's try to land on land.
SPEAKER_03:Let's try to land on land. One, two, three.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my goodness gracious. Um I've landed in Finland.
SPEAKER_02:Finland. What you know about Finland?
SPEAKER_03:Um, I know that Finland is at the tippy top of the globe, and it's out there, and it's pretty. That's about it. That's about it. And will I ever go to Finland?
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Probably will be. I don't know. I'm not a big traveler.
SPEAKER_02:You're not a big traveler? No. Well, Finland, we're gonna shout you out, Finland. Let's get comfy show, man. Yeah, follow and subscribe. Thank you. Thank you for doing that. I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_03:I'd love that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_03:That's a big, great world for all of us to get comfy in.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yes, it is. With the Let's Get Comfy podcast, too.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:All right, we're back in it. All right. So now we're gonna talk about uh you mentioned uh earlier, uh, you stated uh about peeling back that onion. So I want to ask you um, do you feel like there's something, anything from your childhood that contributed to uh uh your addictions at all?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, of course. I I truly believe that all of the challenges that we have as adults, at the core of that is some form of trauma from childhood. I really believe that.
SPEAKER_02:Me too. I do too.
SPEAKER_03:And I'm not clinical, I'm not a doctor. I didn't go to school for my PhD or anything like that, but I know enough about this about addiction. Why no?
SPEAKER_02:I know individuals still seek counseling, go to see therapists uh from an age 60 years old, 50 years old about trauma that happened when they were eight, nine years old. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so here's mine. Here's my trauma. And and so I was I I was born 10 pounds, 8 ounces. And I was born large in kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, I was always the biggest kid.
SPEAKER_02:My little brother was late then.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, I was always the biggest girl in class. So you figure in elementary school, I'm getting picked last on the team. You're ugly, you're fat. Oh man. You know all the things. You're not good enough. And really, I believe at those core developmental stages of your childhood, that's gonna set the tone because I'm learning. I don't know any better. All I know is that I'm being told you're fat, you're ugly, you're worthless. So by the time I was 13, 14, I wanted some form of social acceptability. So I started hanging out with the other misfits that were getting bullied and picked on, and they were turning to drugs and smoking a little and doing a little drinky drinky here. And that kind of started the cycle of the bad behaviors and hanging out with people that weren't of good quality. And you know, even I can't I carried that guilt and everything into my adulthood, and I finally ended up having gastric bypass surgery in 2001. So even though like I look thin today and all the things, inside me, there's still deep-rooted trauma that I haven't quite been able to at fit almost 50 years old, go, that's not who you are today. Right, you're a beautiful, strong woman.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You know, and like yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so where are you from? Tampa. Tampa, Florida. Yes, born and raised. Born and raised his.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I was born in Tampa, but really raised in the Branton area. But I consider Tampa Bay Tampa Bay.
SPEAKER_02:All right. And you just mentioned about uh your younger self, right? If you could speak to your younger self uh based on your journey, what would you tell your younger self? What message?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, you sweet, precious little, kind little thing. You're so vulnerable to all the things that are gonna happen to you in this world. You know, just go through what you're gonna go through, but just know that by the time you're 45, 50 or so, you're gonna be living a life beyond your wildest dreams. You're gonna own multiple homes, you're gonna have collector Hondas, because I love collecting classic Hondas, CRXs, and old civics. Um, you're gonna have a wonderful husband, you're gonna be so beautiful, and you're gonna have a little boy, his name's Owen, and you're gonna be helping thousands of people, and you're gonna be on the news, and you're gonna be doing this and doing that. Like, keep your chin up, kid.
SPEAKER_02:Keep your chin up.
SPEAKER_03:You keep on being kind because the world is gonna be cruel to you. But keep on being kind. That would be a great message. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Hey friends, Jennifer Eddings here. The heart behind the call-like collective. You know, I created this space for you, I created this space for me, I created this space for all of us. This is a space that is designed for us to come in and speak about the things that are heavy. For anyone that is navigating a difficult situation, for anyone that has found themselves standing in the middle of life just looking at the light. Around here, we talk about the things that aren't easy to talk about. We talk about the things that people typically are quiet about or whisper about. We talk about the things that literally can set someone free once they know that they're not the only one going through it. So, this is my ask of you. I want you to be just as much of this woman as I am and the women that sat in the chairs before you. I would love for you to share your story with me. Write to me. Tell me what you're going through. Share a situation that you've been navigating through and you just would love some outside perspective on it. Or if you just really need to know the album, you can email me at ComeFromEdgures24 at gmail.com. I would love to hear from you. Whenever you need something or you need someone to be there for you, I beg of you just to hit the call out. And I promise I'll answer. Because at the end of the day, all of us are just walking each other home one conversation at a time.
SPEAKER_02:So your journey, uh, just from childhood, you talked about uh just uh as you uh you know travel through uh life, right? Um, but I want to take us to your career path, right? So you went through the recovery, uh, you came back, you said, Hey, I'm a fighter, right? I recovered, moving forward with my life, my kid is very valuable to me. I deserve to have a life of happiness. Uh included your career journey included roles with uh as Healthcare Connection of Tampa, Riverside Recovery of Tampa, and the American Addiction Center. Yeah. Right. If you could tell us about uh briefly, if you will, uh each one of those stops and how it impacts how you were an impact to the community.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, of course. So it's it's interesting because I never, I mean, obviously I was in my active addiction for over two decades. Before that, before my active addiction, I really wanted to get into law enforcement. I wanted to be Marine Patrol. And then unfortunately, I got involved in law enforcement, but not as an employee. So, really, I guess it was a couple years into my recovery that I thought to myself, you know what, like you were in your active addiction for over two decades. You had some good college experience on how to be a drug addict. Then, on top of that, for 10 of those years, you were in and out of treatment from here to West Palm Beach, state-funded, private facilities, trauma-based, eating disorder, all these treatment modalities and places you went to. Why don't you go work in that line of work? So, a couple years in my recovery, I started with Healthcare Connection of Tampa, and they were an organization that catered to impaired professionals, doctors, nurses, lawyers who were in jeopardy of losing their license to practice because of drugs and alcohol, because the disease doesn't discriminate. Park Avenue to Park Bench. I've seen executive multi-million dollars and multimillion, multimillionaires in treatment. So, anyways, I started working there as a little receptionist type position, quickly observed my surroundings, got promoted to admissions, and then got it promoted to an admission, a director of admissions within the company. And then I did very well with outreach and marketing and going out in the community and promoting and going to the hospitals and getting patients to come to us. So I did that for a while, and then I got picked up by a larger entity, American Addiction Centers. Um they had treatment centers pretty much all over the United States as well as a outreach coordinator. So my job at that point was to go where the sick people go. I went to hospitals all over Florida. I went to DUI attorneys, I went to therapists, I went to crisis stabilization units and people who actually needed treatment. Um, I would develop relationships with the case managers. And when someone needed treatment, they would call me and I'd get that person into treatment. And that meant if I had to go bedside and to the hospital and sit with them and say, I know what you've been through. I've been there too. You know, I was in, I had a fatty liver too, so you know, cirrhosis. I lost my kid too. I was walking the streets home. So being able to be that person with lived experience also helped me in my career to get those people into treatment. Um, so I did very well there. And then two weeks ago, I started my new position with Acadia Healthcare, which is the leader of behavioral health and here in the United States. Um, and I love them because they really have a full continuum of care, detox residential, outpatient services. They treat primary mental health, they treat eating disorders, they treat substance use. So it's a very well-rounded machine of really good quality clinical care. Um in my job is very much similar to what I was doing at the former role, but more of a strategic partnership, working with EAPs, working with colleges and universities. We have a really good track that we're about to start at Sable Palms. Um, it's going to be it's it's Thrive, I forget what we've we're naming it because it's so premature. Thrive Forward. And it's really for to target the younger generation, 18 to 24, that are struggling, that went through that funky COVID period that kind of threw them for a loop, or they're in college and they're abusing their Adderall. Right.
SPEAKER_02:So with Arcadia, I'm sorry, Acadia. Are you able to kid are you able to share with the audience where they can find their uh website? Just they want to search more information about the organization. As well as American Addiction Center as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, of course. So Acadia, you can always go to Acadia.com. Um you can always call me, my cell phone, I have it attached at my hip, 365-247-813-770-5976. And then that way I can get you connected with all the resources that you need. Um, or if you just need someone to facilitate an intervention or just someone to talk to, you can always, always, always call me. Um, but yeah, that's gonna be the best way is to go to our website, which is acadia.com, and kind of just put in your zip code, figure out what location you need to go to, what services we have, or like I said, just call me directly.
SPEAKER_02:Got it. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Now, uh, just in your, you know, in your roles, uh, have you encountered any seniors uh that deal with addiction as well? Should you share with that?
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. There's always outliers. And what I mean by that is usually when you go into a treatment facility, you usually see people in between the ages of like 22 to 54, usually, but there's always outliers. And I can remember working with a gentleman 82 years old. And and yes, so to answer your question, yes, there are there are people that are still have gone through their whole life and not quite ever gotten the help that they need, needed, but still managed to like live and function.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_03:Um, and then also, too, I've noticed an influx in the elderly geriatric population that are struggling with depression, you know, for mental health reasons. You know, they've got Parkinson's disease, they're depressed, they're not the man they used to be, and they're taking their lives.
SPEAKER_02:Would you say that's more so uh I know you indicated like outliers, but is the senior population more so you like, I guess, uh not you know, a higher percentage in regards to addiction?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I would say it's a lower percentage of addiction, and that's as a direct result of alcoholism, drug addiction results in premature death. So it's not common for someone like me that was so active and hardcore in my active addiction. It was it's not likely that I could have continued to do that until I was 82 years old. It's very common that I probably would have been dead by now. So to have an elderly geriatric patient that is struggling with drugs or alcohol, it's not uncommon. Right, but it's not as common.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. But there are organizations that you like Arcadia, those uh they still assist like that for seeing for the senior community. Okay, yep. There's a it is a resource uh for our seniors out there, uh caregivers as well. Yep. What message you would have to a caregiver that is actually have a family member, a loved one that is battling addiction or substance abuse?
SPEAKER_03:It can be a challenging subject. It can be a hard subject to have with your loved one because there's a lot of emotions and feelings involved. I would encourage if you do have a loved one that's battling with a primary mental health disease or substance abuse, and you're not comfortable with having that conversation, I would advise calling someone like me. I'm I'm a certified recovery peer specialist, meaning I'm a person with lived experience who is not in your circle, but I'm outside the box that I can understand the disease and I can understand what the family dynamics of it, and I'll be that person and not just me. There's plenty of certified recovery peer specialists or interventionists. And when you hire an interventionist, you're gonna pay a little bit more money. Just having a professional outside of your family coming in and educating you and educating your loved one on the resources that are out there, okay. Because some oftentimes it's it's shame-based. Mental health disorders and substance use disorders are shame-based. So I'm not gonna, if you're my brother, I'm not gonna openly just want to come to you and go, Norman, I have been snorting a lot of cocaine and and it hurts. No, no, it's very shame-based. I'm embarrassed to tell my brother who's got his MBA and who has a podcast and he's very successful in the community that I have a problem and I need help. So usually I'll suffer in silence.
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SPEAKER_02:If you had to put your life as a book, right? You had your life a book, what would be your next chapter uh in life?
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. For whatever reason, Thrive comes to mind.
SPEAKER_02:Shut up.
SPEAKER_03:The season of thriving. I'm not quite sure what this chapter is gonna look like, but it's gonna be really good.
SPEAKER_02:It's off to a good start. You know, that's my little motto I have for 2025, Thrive in 2025.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, okay. I like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So we're thriving together. We are, yeah. All right, and I know I was supposed to ask this during the comfy moment, but I had to throw this in here. Um what did the uh whole like the rural, you know, Karen became a thing, right? Right. So Karen came to the thing. Yes, let's talk about that. Yeah, so how did that affect your life?
SPEAKER_03:Um, well, and interesting enough, as a person, like I said, I still have that deep-rooted, you're not good enough, people don't like you. Yep. So when it first happened, it wasn't so much of a sh I didn't really think too much of it. And I was driving, I think it was at Taco Bell or something one day. And I went through the drive-thru. This is when it first happened. And I the guy said, What's the name on the order? And I said, Karen, and he laughed. He was like, uh, and I was like, That's not funny. And then I was like, Oh my god, this is a thing. And then I started hearing that Karen is not a nice person, Karen is racist, Karen is wants to talk to your manager, and I'm like, Oh my God. So like I would go to Starbucks and I would come home with my boyfriend at the time, he's my husband now, with his name on my cups. And he'd go, Why does your cup say Roy? And I'm like, Don't worry about it, don't ask. But now I've kind of made lemonade out of lemons because I joke with people now. Like when I meet people for the first time and in my line of work, I'm meeting a lot of new people and developing relationships. They'll say, I'm sorry, what is your name? And I'm like, it's the worst name ever. It's Karen. And they're like, and they laugh and all of that. So so it's kind of funny now.
SPEAKER_02:Is it annoying though at all?
SPEAKER_03:It is because I always have it in the back of my mind. And if I'm somewhere and they say, Karen, your order's ready, and the whole I feel like everyone looks at me. And they're like, Oh, I'm sorry. You know, like God.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm sitting here laughing too.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, but it's kind of funny now. It's like whatever. It's an extra layer of fun in my life.
SPEAKER_02:Got it, got it. Yeah. Like you said, take the lemons and turn it into lemonade. Lemonade. And honestly, I don't know. We might even title the show that you took lemons.
SPEAKER_03:Lemons. And you made it into lemonade. You did that. It's so cliche, but it's so true, man.
SPEAKER_02:That's what you did. Yeah. You did. It took a lot of fight, a lot of courage. Um, just and then how honest you are about it. Yeah. Like, do you you're not embarrassed at all? No.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I read my audience sometimes. I'm not gonna be standing in public's line and telling people that I was walking the streets homeless. Then I will too, because I'm breaking the shame.
SPEAKER_02:Breaking the shame.
SPEAKER_03:I want to break the shame because we're all human beings and we all have some skeletons in our closet.
SPEAKER_02:We do, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You know what I mean? Like, and if I walk around town like everything's fine and I never struggled, who am I helping? Right, right. And by me being um open and transparent about the pain and the ugliness and the dirtiness of the pain, yeah, it lets people know that she's human, she's not perfect, and I'm open to talk.
SPEAKER_02:It helps to break down that barrier that they may have up, especially when you say about the one flip-flop thing, you know, because some people laugh at that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's not funny, it's not funny, it's not funny, but it needs to be talked about because there's a lot of it going on. And I can't even begin to tell you.
SPEAKER_02:I did laugh though, I'm sorry. No, in my head, in my head, I did. Yeah, because I don't know why you chose to say that. It was funny.
SPEAKER_03:It is kind of funny, and I think I add a twist of I add a twist of humor to my own.
SPEAKER_02:I can tell you that I know you one flip-flop walking the street.
SPEAKER_03:But it was only for like one night, it was like a 24-hour thing. It wasn't like two two months or anything, it was a one-time thing.
SPEAKER_02:I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_03:No, that's okay.
SPEAKER_02:It's not fun at all, guys. Uh, but okay, so um, so uh what if someone said to you, like, and these are all jokes right here coming to my head like are you a Karen? Do you have that at any point? Have you ever had a Karen moment in public?
SPEAKER_03:Oh god, almighty, yes. Really? Yes, I've had a Karen moment, especially like, yeah, and when I have to have a Karen moment, because truly, like, someone's done something at Home Depot or whatever, they've messed up, and I have to ask to speak to a manager, I go, Oh my god, I can't believe I'm asking to speak to a manager, my name is Karen. No, but most people I run into, they're like, You are such not a Karen. And I'm like, No, I'm not.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, you're not at all. I can attest to that for sure. You're very down on the earth. Um, I can tell you, like, um, and this is my last question, we'll wrap up the show. Uh, in your experience with someone that is battling substance abuse or any type of addiction, not just drugs, this food in general, like, is it, I guess, uh less impactful when they are having encouragement or you know, being sort of given education from someone that's never been through it before? It's a difference. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So that's that kind of leads me to talk about a CRPS, a certified recovery peer specialist. It's a movement, it's not a new movement, it's been around for maybe a decade or two decades, especially. Well, it's new in the Florida area. It's new in Florida. So I am a Florida board certified recovery peer support specialist, meaning I've gone and I've got credentialed. I'm a person with lived experience.
SPEAKER_02:Lived experience.
SPEAKER_03:That has gone through the ringer, that has turned, done the hokey pokey, turned my life around, knows what it's like to be an active addiction, knows what it needs to happen in order to get recovery and sustain recovery. So all day long, if you were in the hospital struggling with addiction or whatever, whatever your challenges are, if I was a medical professional from Harvard and I come in and I say, Norman, you've been here one too many times. You need to go to treatment, sir, because you are an alcoholic. Right. Versus me coming in and going, Norman, you know, my name is Karen. Um, not a Karen. Um, you know, I'm I was in an active addiction for a long time. I know you're a man, I'm a woman, but guess what? I had fatty liver too on my on my on my liver. I was in the premature stages of cirrhosis too. Yeah. And you know what? I had a I had a daughter. I I have a son, or I would build, I would get that common bond with you and you would start trusting me, versus a Harvard doctor saying, You're an alcoholic and you need to go to treatment. So it's really cool. I love being a certified. I love being a peer. A peer, they're starting to put them in hospitals, they're starting to put them in EAPs, they're starting to allow them to shadow with the police department's narcotics task force.
SPEAKER_02:Really good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So they're really, they're really valuable. They're starting to see that hospital recidivism is lowering because these peers are in the hospitals. So it's a very good movement.
SPEAKER_02:Very good movement. So, Ms. Vaughn, last message to the audience, uh, where they can find you, resources, do a wrap-up for us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So, so I encourage people to, if you're, if you're struggling with substance abuse, I really encourage you to look at Acadia Healthcare. Um, again, you can call me at 813-770-5976. I'm available anytime. Um, I encourage you to go to like a full continuum of care, meaning a detox level of care, residential, do some intensive outpatient, go see a therapist. Usually when people leave treatment, that's when the rubber meets the road. So I encourage you to find a 12-step meeting, whether it's an NA meeting or alcoholics anonymous meeting or an overeater's anonymous. I I couldn't I can't emphasize that more to get kept connected with community. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I also take community for sure. Anything.
SPEAKER_03:I also, too, I haven't given a shout-out to my higher power, my my love for Christ.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I mean, everyone is different. If you don't believe in whatever you believe in, if if if it brings rainbows and puppy dogs and it's better for you, that's that's your higher power. And we'll just leave it at that if you're struggling with anything else. Having that strong presence in my life, a higher power is very, very, very important. Um, dress for success, Tampa Bay. For if you're trying to get back into the workforce, you know, a lot of people have criminal charges and they'll be able to help you with that. Yes. Spring of Tampa Bay, if you're battling any kind of domestic violence, that was a huge help for me. Yeah, so there's a lot of resources, a plethora of resources. I love it. You just gotta know. And you can call me and I can help you.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. And she's not a Karen. Not a Karen. Uh, turning lemons into lemonade with Miss Karen McGuinness Vaughn. Uh, thank you for joining us here on the Let's Hit Comfany Podcast. Uh, be sure to follow us uh on all of our social media platforms that's LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. Uh, also be sure to uh subscribe to our YouTube platform. Uh, you can find us on any of your podcasts, favorite podcast platforms as well. Uh like, comment below. I'll be responding to you directly. Join us on our next episode, the Messenger Comfany Podcast.
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