Well, my travel schedule has been so crazy that I have not been able to stay up to date on my speaking endeavors. The dust has settled, kind of, I’m at least not on the road for over a week at a time before getting an opportunity to breath and write about my past events I’ve presented to. This one was kind of a last-minute booking since funding for this group worked in such a way that they didn’t have approval a year out or even 6 months ahead of schedule. Luckily, I was able to make travel plans to accommodate them into my already crazy September speaking month. I’ve spoken in the Detroit area a couple years prior at a recovery walk event that literally had so many people in recovery attending, it was amazing. Some individuals that were a part of that walk were also apart the board for Community Mental Health Association of Michigan and pushed for me to come and keynote this year’s substance use disorder and mental health conference. I’m so glad they selected me because I feel strongly my message is perfect for this type of audience.
I brought Marcus my film guy out with me to catch a couple more segments that we needed to get for my mini documentary coming out later this week and as usual were able to catch some really impressive shots. In terms of speaking, it was business as usual, only this time there was 1,300 people in attendance. This was definitely the largest conference I’ve spoken at. The response was overwhelmingly positive and the outreach following on social media was also very positive.
I personally consider Michigan one of the most progressive states concerning mental health and addiction. They seem to be tackling issue earlier on and making those changes faster than I hear other states talking about. They seemed to be the first state that changed the term from addict, to person in long term recovery. I like things like that because it really helps us reduce stigma related issues around recovery and addiction.
I’m grateful to everyone in the great state of Michigan that supports my speaking and continues to invite me to their communities to speak to communities, schools, conferences and more. Thank you to the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan, I’m extremely grateful!