Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Vickers.
Hi Jeffrey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
After struggling with addiction for 30 years…I had a moment. I’ve suffered from suicidal ideation since I was a teen. On August 13, 2020, I attempted suicide by stepping in front of a bus on Fulton Industrial Blvd. Someone pulled me onto the sidewalk as the bus hit its brakes.
I was admitted to Grady hospital’s psyche unit on the 13th floor. It was there that I had my talk with God, which lasted several days. Watching the GA sunrise, I fully accepted Him in my life. Then the journey began…..
After being released from the hospital, I made my way to M.U.S.T. Ministries in Marietta for shelter. I was a month shy from being able to receive their resources, having been a client only 11 months prior. My former counselor paid for an Uber and sent me to “Sober Living of America” on Buford Hwy. The culture there was so toxic I would call friends crying on the phone that I needed to leave but didn’t have anywhere safe to go.
One of my friends was at “My Brother’s Keeper” in Morrow and suggested I get there. First, I had to get admitted to the Dekalb Crisis Center. Once there, I was almost guaranteed to get released to ‘MBK.’
But I had two concerns:
(1) I heard ‘Sober Living’ was known to drop people off at the door and leave.
(2) I didn’t know if the Dekalb Crisis Center staff remembered me from a few years before. (I was tweaking on cocaine so bad in the waiting area they told me to leave.)
But I followed the plan and made it to ‘MBK.’ And that’s when life changed…..
I honestly believe the experience I had that led me to ‘MBK’ is what put me in position to start receiving blessings. I chose to keep my word to my Higher Power by embracing Recovery. I had to leave ‘Sober Living’ because both of my roommates were using! Many of the “clients” and “staff” were using. I’m not talking about speculation. I witnessed some stuff there that made me wonder why an addict would “pay” to live in a sober milieu. What broke my heart was the fact that it was a part of the culture there. One minute I’m watching a guy run a meeting, then later that night he’s in his room using with a prostitute. It broke my heart and scared me….
While at “My Brother’s Keeper” I experienced a revelation. We were at a celebratory meeting for people in Recovery. I’ve been to many of those kinds of meeting, but that day it was different. That day I heard the “slogans” and “mottos” in a different way….
In Recovery, we use slogans like “Keep Coming Back” and “Thanks for letting me share!” Some people take on these slogans as mottos. My fave is “Recovery is a journey, not a destination.” I’ve heard these over the years, but it was that meeting that changed how I viewed them. There was “life” in these words because this group of people gave them life. But not just those people, millions of people in Recovery!!! The love I felt watching these people celebrate each other and shouting out these slogans—just did something to my soul. This was language at its best, doing what language is supposed to do—connect people. It literally made me cry.
Over the next few months, I started dreaming about the slogans that touched me. I felt like I was supposed to do something about it but had no idea. I had a visualization while reading “Recovery” by Russell Brand and chuckled at it. It was a flash, nothing more, but in it I saw myself holding a book and apparently, I was the author….
While I was only there for a few months, the spiritual awakening I experienced transformed me forever. I was blessed to have the space necessary to create once I left treatment. My new partner understood the gravitas of what I believed my mission to be. I asked that she allow me three months to write the book before I would have to get a job. During that time, I experienced….me. That was the first time in my life I allowed myself to truly get to know who I was through an expression of my own creation.
It was so much more than “writing a book.” It was a journey of getting to know myself while I penned a book that would help transform my life and the lives of the thousands of readers since. It was about me being true with the relationship with my Higher Power. It was about “choosing” to become who I believe I am. And now with a little over two years clean and sober, I know who I am.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing has been easy!!!! And I wouldn’t change a thing….
Being abandoned by both parents at age nine and left to care for my three younger siblings wasn’t easy. Watching my mother prostitute for drugs wasn’t easy. Doing 10 years straight in prison wasn’t easy. Doing 3 of those years in a supermax—with only one hour outside a day—wasn’t easy. Being a teenaged drug addict wasn’t easy. Not seeing my two youngest children—isn’t easy.
Since the book: “Sober Slogans: Recovery Mottos We Love” has come out, I’ve been living my best life. Having said that, I’d like to highlight a few areas that have been “a struggle” but also a blessing:
A. Social Reputation: After the book came out, I became a “Recovery Advocate.” I didn’t even know what that meant. I just started saying, “I Recover Out Loud because I Used Out Loud.” That was my way of honoring my Higher Power. He delivered me from darkness. I figured if I had the gall to be in public looking like a zombie while using, then I’d better have the gall to tell the world about my story. So, the “tagline” was made. But it’s taken time to figure out “how” to express my personalized “motto” in my content. It’s also taken time to tell my story in a genuine and authentic manner to “real people in the Recovery community” online. On top of that, I’m an author…. So, how do you sell your novel idea to a community of former “hustlers” without them thinking they’re being hustled? I chose to talk less about the book and more my perspectives on Recovery; more about people who inspire me. I would still get posts rejected from Facebook admins if it was about my book, so I learned how to network appropriately. Now several large groups on Facebook will be featuring “discount codes” for products on my website.
B. Real Life Reputation: Georgia Council on Substance Abuse is the legislative body that seeks to increase the impact of Recovery in communities through advocacy and education. I happen to have an authentic connection with them. I was first exposed to them at a function they held while I was at My Brother’s Keeper, where I briefly met Jeff Breedlove, who is the Chief of Communications. Since reconnecting with Mr. Breedlove—who’s a former GA Senator—the GA Peer Recovery community has embraced me. I’ve been invited several times to the GA capitol for Recovery Advocacy News that I share with my community. The new cover of my book has Mr. Breedlove’s quote on the front. That humbling gesture on his part tells the entire GA Recovery community who I am without them even knowing me. I’m still in awe that he allowed me the privilege.
C. Real Life Relationships: People look at me differently now. People who knew the ‘old’ me are having a hard time acclimating to this new version. I’ve even had to pause relationships with close family members because of my requirements. I don’t have expectations in relationships, I have requirements. I see life from my heart, so I always see “love” by default. When I’m in a relationship and there is an absence of transparency and honesty—I sever ties, no matter who it is. Those are my only two requirements to have an “intimate” relationship with me: transparency and honesty. That’s hard to swallow for some people who may have witnessed me nodding in a corner with vomit on my shirt. I understand that difficulty; however, I will not placate it. It’s also difficult to accept my requirements if a person hasn’t grown spiritually since the last time we met. No one is exempt; I live a “principled” life.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Presently I am a “Recovery Content Creator.” I’m learning how to use my skill of storytelling in multiple formats, which includes: books, videos, courses, speaking presentations, and audio content. The various titles, etc. that I presently have fall under this meta title because all of my content is Recovery based.
I’m presently studying to receive a National Recovery Coaching certification. By 2025 I will complete the education necessary for my future career goals. I believe receiving professional training will enlighten me from a top-down perspective, which will only add value to future content. I will receive three professional certifications and I’m thinking about going to SCAD for their screenwriting degree.
I’m known as the guy who thinks the slogans and mottos in Recovery are empowering affirmations. I’m not the only one who believes this, just the first to start a whole brand around the concept. If Recovery empowers, let’s talk about the “how.” That’s where I come in. My goal is to prove the “empowering” part is true. But what does that look like?
The trifecta of my content: Positive affirmations, visualizations, and manifesting. These are the conversations I simulate through my content. All three of the aforementioned “methods of empowerment” are spoken about in multiple sectors, but not enough in Recovery. This is the only reason RCOs (Recovery Center Organizations) are buying my book in bulk. This is why I’m being asked to speak in public. This is why several RCO blogs require my writing services. The Recovery community wants to hear more about the “empowering” part. “Show me the money?”
Not enough people in Recovery speak about being “empowered to find their greatness.” Do a Google search about empowerment and manifesting and the results are staggering because millions of people are still seeking. I’d like to see more people in Recovery in those search results.
I think what sets me apart is the amount of success I’ve had in a relatively short timeframe. We’ve sold thousands of copies on four continents. We have several RCOs who purchased multiple copies and are awaiting the workbook. I’m also in talks with the Accountability courts where I will speak on behalf of the accused, who have substance use disorders.
The quality that I’m most proud of AND that sets me apart, I think, is Love; genuine love for the Recovery community. I’ve been through it, so how can I NOT relate to the struggle? I was down bad, real bad. My addiction had me sleeping inside trash dumpsters in the back of fast food spots. I know despair. I know what it is to battle a voice that keeps telling you to “end it already.” So, my message comes from a place of love. I still cry when I’m driving in Atlanta and see a distraught soul shaking a cup. I do this out of love, hoping to assist others in their spiritual journey like so many helped me get here. That’s an honor, gifted to me from my Higher Power. I do this for the culture….
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I don’t have many but I loved playing Backgammon in the park with my mother in Harlem, NY.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://soberslogans.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sober_slogans/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soberslogans/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiaGW1PyS6UVwspr9b1s5ig
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Sober-Slogans-Recovery-Mottos-Love/dp/1737194007
Image Credits
Most High Media, Inc. photo by Christian Janson, owner, Most High Media.
