Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Vickrey.
Hi Tyler, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have struggled with addiction for the last 12 years of my life from when I first began using marijuana at the age of 13 and drinking alcohol regularly. I soon began living a negative lifestyle not focusing on what’s important and once bad things started happening. I just continue trying not to deal with them by using or drinking. Finally, I decided to give my life to my higher power that I called Jesus in all things, and since then my life has been tremendously less stressful being able to manage my anxiety if I even have it. I have not had the urge to use an almost 11 months since I made that decision I love helping others and I am very adaptable to all kinds of situations and I’m very solution oriented when face with problems or challenges. One of the biggest steps of working a recovery program is giving back to others by doing service work and I’m able to do that with my nonprofit so not only is it something that I love and enjoy doing I’m able to help others when they have nobody or just don’t know the next step or direction to take.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to recovery was not easy by any means I have been faced with a lot of obstacles and challenges from learning how to properly deal with an express my emotions after masking them for so many years. Learning how to live like a productive member in society and just living, everyday life, being uncomfortable accepting change and being willing and open to wanting something better and trying new things out as my way in addiction did not work. Doing a daily/weekly inventory and being very self-aware and mindful of not only myself but others I think is a very useful tool to have while in recovering all these things that I have learned I am able to pass on to other others and help them when they are struggling..
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I enjoy the fast pace environment, and the customer service as an associate manager for Sonic. Working with my nonprofit (Parsons Addiction Recovery Association) allows me to help others struggling with addiction to get back what I have received. At the moment, I am mainly doing outreach to help individuals struggling with addiction to take the steps to begin their Recovery journey after making the life-changing decision to live a clean and sober life.
I think that my adaptability and solution-focused mindset to all kinds of situations sets me apart from others. I am easy to talk to and willing to help anyone willing to help themselves. Recovery is a daily struggle a lot of the time, especially in the beginning but hard work definitely pays off. I created my non profit to be able to use my life experiences and knowledge to help others.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
The best advice for finding a mentor that I can think of is seeing somebody living the life and doing the things that you want nothing is easy, but having somebody that’s been through what you’ve been through in addiction or can relate to the situation and kind of understand you makes you feel welcoming, and you know gives you hope. There are so many people Willing to help people who struggle with addiction and it gives others hope seeing the success in recovery
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pararecovery.org
