Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Kantor.
Marc, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 1994, during my second year at American University, I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin to cope with the symptoms. I spent most of my pre-college education feeling broken as I struggled to concentrate and keep pace with my classmates. A doctor prescribing me Ritalin and later Adderall changed all of that and gave me abilities and confidence I often described as superpowers.
After graduating college in 1996, I got a job at a small commercial real estate firm in Washington, D.C. I realized I had potential in this field and decided if I am going to be in commercial real estate, I should to New York City. I grew up on Long Island and was familiar with the city. Just before leaving Washington I met my wife, Julie in traffic during a bomb scare a couple of blocks from the White House. I still moved to NY but found myself commuting between the two cities every four days. I would take the 4:20 train to D.C. on Friday afternoons and the 4:40 am train back to NY on Monday mornings. Ultimately, the commute became too exhausting to continue and I moved back to Washington.
I continued taking amphetamines off and on for several more years, until, like all addicts and alcoholics, I crossed an invisible line in the sand and lost the power of choice. As the years continued so did my addiction to amphetamines, then ultimately drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and sugar. In 2004, I was admitted to the Betty Ford Center to treat my acute addictions. Having almost lost everything, I turned my life around and in 2013, started working as an addiction interventionist.
Today, I work with families struggling with the devastating effects of drug and alcohol addiction by helping them get their addicted family members into rehab. This work gives me a front-row seat to the opioid epidemic destroying communities across the United States. The legalization of marijuana and newly discovered vaping phenomena will undoubtedly contribute to the already exasperated addiction problem were facing.
In 2018, I relocated from Washington to South Florida with my wife and our seventeen-year-old daughter who attends Boca Raton Community H.S. After briefly attempting to return to commercial real estate in Florida I quickly became depressed and started feeling hopeless. I had been feeling this way for a long time back in Washington, but this time, I could barely make two months before quitting and starting South Florida Intervention the very next day.
I had been yearning for a meaningful career for years. When people asked me what I wanted, I told them passion and purpose. Five minutes after flipping the switch on South Florida Intervention, I felt like I was alive again. I realize now how ridiculous it was for me to continue holding on to a career that had died years ago. It was like being in a loveless marriage and keeping up appearances for the sake of outsiders.
Today, my life is completely different and I am completely transparent; I want people to see what I am doing and ask questions. Before I hid in the shadows choking on my own shame. Helping families regain hope is completely addicting.
Great, 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?
Despite the number of people affected by addiction in South Florida, it has taken a lot of time to figure out the right marketing platform for this business and to get clients. I have tried several marketing ideas but it keeps coming back to personal relationships. The more opportunities I have to be face to face with families and referral sources the more my business grows. People who hire or refer an interventionist have to like me and trust me. I found myself asking God to show me the evidence I was on the right track.
Please tell us about South Florida Intervention.
South Florida Intervention offers individualized solutions for families struggling with the devastating effects of addiction. Our services are customized to help solve your family’s unique problems. Our experienced professionals eliminate the confusion of selecting the best treatment program for your family members and remove the chaos of delivering them there safely. South Florida Intervention will provide ongoing support of your family and in-person consultation even after inpatient treatment is completed.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories is of my dad taking me to the TWA training center at Kennedy Airport and flying in a Boeing 727 flight simulator. I crashed the plane but lived to talk about it.
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