Build Anyway · Level 1

Foundation

An 8-session group program for people in recovery who want to build something — a business, a side income, a practice — and need structure, accountability, and someone who has actually done it.

8
Sessions
4 wks
Duration
75 min
Per session
IOP
Setting
Session 1Week 1 · Identity & Foundation

Your Origin Story

Before we can build something new, we have to know where we're standing.

  • Grounding practice
  • Room agreement & introductions
  • The Builder's Identity
  • Exercise: The Builder's Timeline
  • Pair share & group discussion
  • Closing reflection
Session 2Week 1 · Identity & Foundation

Systems Thinking for Humans

One day at a time is also a product roadmap.

  • Homework debrief
  • What is a system?
  • Your recovery program as a business blueprint
  • Exercise: Side-by-side system map
  • Group discussion
  • Closing practice
Session 3Week 2 · Finding Your Idea

What Broke You Might Be Your Business

The most valuable problems are the ones you've already lived.

  • Compassionate witness practice
  • Homework debrief
  • Pain as market signal
  • Exercise: The Anger Inventory
  • Idea mapping discussion
  • Closing reflection
Session 4Week 2 · Finding Your Idea

Who Else Has This Problem?

A business is a problem someone else also has and will pay to solve.

  • Homework debrief
  • Teaching: Customer discovery basics
  • The five questions you ask before you build anything
  • Exercise: Three interviews in five days
  • Group debrief
  • Closing practice
Session 5Week 3 · Building Without Overwhelm

The Smallest Version That Works

You do not need to build the whole thing to know if it works.

  • Homework debrief
  • Teaching: What an MVP actually is
  • The difference between an experiment and a product
  • Exercise: Shrink it down
  • Accountability pairs
  • Closing reflection
Session 6Week 3 · Building Without Overwhelm

Accountability Structures That Actually Work

Motivation is a weather pattern. Structure is infrastructure.

  • Accountability check-in
  • Teaching: Why willpower fails and systems win
  • Designing your work rhythm
  • Exercise: The weekly operating plan
  • Peer accountability pairing
  • Closing practice
Session 7Week 4 · Pitch, Plan & What Comes Next

Your Two-Minute Story

If you can't explain what you're building in two minutes, you're not ready to ask for anything.

  • Homework debrief
  • Teaching: What a pitch actually is
  • The structure of a simple, honest business story
  • Exercise: Draft and refine your two-minute pitch
  • Peer feedback rounds
  • Closing reflection
Session 8Week 4 · Pitch, Plan & What Comes Next

Graduation — The Real Work Starts Now

Completion is not the end. It's the proof of concept.

  • Final pitches to the group
  • What comes after Foundation
  • Certificate presentation
  • Letters to your future self
  • Community commitments
  • Closing ceremony

Who Foundation is for

Foundation runs inside IOP and outpatient programs. It's designed for people in early-to-mid recovery who have something to build — and need the structure to actually start.

IOP Programs

Integrates directly into existing group schedules. Two sessions per week, four weeks.

Outpatient Facilities

Flexible format. Can run as a standalone cohort or alongside existing programming.

Recovery Housing

Designed for where people live and work in early recovery — practical, grounded, real.

Bring Foundation to your program

I work directly with program directors to implement Foundation. Reach out and tell me about your setting and population.

Get in touch