How Kelly Mahana Built a Sober Living and Real Estate Business

Kelly Mahana (00:00)
And don’t get caught up with the people who are like, yeah, well, rates, rates, or whatever excuses people find, let that let those be their reasons. Don’t let that be your reason. And fear. Get away from fear. I say like this. I went all in on myself because what was the worst that was going to happen?

I was gonna be broke working at fast food. Well, that’s where I was already at. I think and that’s not

Issa Hanna (00:22)
Yeah, but that’s not

Kelly Mahana (00:24)
what I wanted for my whole life. So I try and also let people know like, hey, there’s always the next job.

Issa Hanna (02:02)
Welcome back to another episode of the *Real Estate Pros Show*. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have Kelly Mahana here, the owner and founder of Authentic Recovery Services, here to share his story and his knowledge with us. Kelly, welcome.

Kelly Mahana (02:14)
Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Issa Hanna (02:16)
so I’m super glad to have you. Like I said, we don’t have a lot of people in your space come onto the show. I feel like you could bring a lot of different knowledge onto the show and I’m super excited. So with that, can you kind of run down Authentic Recovery and and what you guys do?

Kelly Mahana (02:32)
Yeah, so initially when we started out, we were just men sober living, right? I’m a man, I’m in recovery. I felt like that was an area of expertise that I had. As we’ve grown and evolved now, we offer more than just sober living. So we do IOP, which is intensive outpatient. It’s a step down from inpatient treatment or rehab, more widely known. And we also do

Group therapy, individual therapy, telehealth services. So if you don’t have a vehicle or you live like thirty miles away from where we’re located, that doesn’t matter. We can get you going through online as well. So we have options available.

Issa Hanna (03:10)
I love that man. you’re a passionate guy. You’re into real estate. You guys own the the sober living houses, but it it you know, you got into it because it’s a passion of yours. And and somebody who’s super passionate about about this kind of business and and and what you guys do, you’ll always be able to help people. I also was talking to you earlier and you said one of your strengths and and one of the things that gets people to

to to use your services is you yourself have a very impactful story. so do you mind sharing it with our our people?

Kelly Mahana (03:46)
Yeah, so it’s like and w what I’ve realized more and more over the last few years is that what was normal to me is like not normal at all. So I come from, you know, poverty, broken home, single parent home. My father passed away when I was really young. I’m from Southern California originally, so we grew up and just in a bunch of different neighborhoods all over the place, from the I E to

Southeast Los Angeles. We’re just always moving around. Like every few months, we’re living with my mom’s sister, me and my brothers, my sister and my mom and my aunt’s house, with a couple of my other uncles, or we’d be at my grandma’s house, or with my grandpa, just always moving around, not not no no stability, right? Some things that happened were really impactful was my father passing away, more my

One of my childhood friends ended up getting kidnapped, molested, and murdered. And just a lot of bad things were always occurring around me and in my presence, a lot of drug use, alcohol abuse, gangs were a big deal back then. And so for me, I gravitated towards that very young. And at age ten, I caught my first felony. And I became I was like a little gang member and

I just thought that’s what I was and what I wanted to be. And so I ended up getting sent to, you know, there’s different levels of facilities. So there’s juvenile hall, which is like a county jail, and then there’s juvenile prison, which is like adult prison. So I was in group homes and prisons and juvenile prisons throughout my childhood, teens, and then I was incarcerated.

All my twenties, I didn’t even get out until I was 32. So I spent most of my life incarcerated in facilities and being a gang member, not really having that like formal education or opportunities or stability. And to be honest, when I got out of prison when I was 32, I I thought that’s who I was and what I was always gonna be. I didn’t have no hopes, dreams, aspirations. I didn’t know it.

There was anything available outside of that.

Issa Hanna (05:55)
Definitely, man. what a what an impactful story. And from that to to where you are now, for people at home who who are in that situation, you know, there’s a way out. You know, you are not that. everybody when they’re younger makes mistakes, they they go down the wrong path, they grow up around the wrong thing sometimes, and it it impacts them. but but doing what Kelly’s doing, you know, giving back to the community.

being able to identify with the people, very, very, very impactful, man. I just I really respect what you’re doing. thank you. I wanted

Kelly Mahana (06:31)
Also

Issa Hanna (06:31)
to ask you, legislation, right? it’d be tough sometimes when legislation changes, not just in your field but in everything. But kind of explain to me how legislation can affect

Your the b behavior of health services.

Kelly Mahana (07:37)
Right. So a lot of what we do, how we generate revenue or how we’re able to stay afloat and pay ourselves, pay our staff and our team is through grants and reimbursement insurance. And so with new legislation that has come out and changes in administrations, what has happened is a lot of grant funding has been cutted and a lot of things that were previously reimbursed through insurance are no longer being

reimbursed. and some of the things that are currently being reimbursed are being reimbursed at a much lower rate. And so it has a tremendous effect, right? Not not everyone who is struggling with substance abuse or alcoholism or mental health comes from like a middle class suburban home where they have like, you know, Aetna or Blue Cross or some of these things. You know, some of some of the individuals who we serve,

come from low income and so they’re on Medicaid. And I I feel like with some administration changes and some legislation, they may look at certain populations as like,

They don’t want to help, if that makes sense. And so it’s been a struggle. It’s affected not just me, but a lot of organizations throughout the country. So

Issa Hanna (08:52)
Definitely. And and you know, everybody, especially here in our country, deserves you know, the the same care, the same health. So for people that can’t afford it, you know, when this legislation changes, it really throws them off. So and you gotta know how to maneuver around it. So so I love that you brought up that point because yeah, not everybody has the resources available to them that that others do. You know.

Not not gonna get either way. with that though, I I wanted to talk a little bit of future, right? You got like a national expansion plan. can you share a little bit more about the national expansion?

Kelly Mahana (09:30)
Yeah, so we’re actually in the process right now. we’re just we’re looking at my wife is from one of the poorest cities in our country. It’s called Youngstown, it’s in Ohio. You know, you’re from Ohio, so you know all about the struggles that can be seen in Ohio. And I think that it’s just really impactful for for us and for her specifically to be able to go back to her hometown and just give hope and show something other than

what you’ve seen your entire life, right? We all know the struggles that are going on out there. so we’re just working to go out there and give opportunity and show people a different way, right? And I think it it also speaks more to the individuals who come from that community when they see someone who’s born and raised their entire life in that same community who’s now overcome the obstacles some of them may still be facing daily. And

For me, I’m a visual learner, right? So like when I see something, I’m like, wow. You know, and so I think that’s kind of the aspect we’re trying to bring into it. So we’re gonna look into Ohio and a couple other states along the way, but we’re just ready to like give people opportunities and present them with information they may have never been presented with before or opportunities they didn’t even know exist. Right. I didn’t know treatment was a thing. I didn’t even know I was a drug addict and I overdosed three times. So it’s all about like

making people aware and and just giving information and showing up.

Issa Hanna (11:35)
And I love that. And as somebody who who grew up right up the road in Cleveland, Ohio, who faces the same kind of struggles that Youngstown does, I I love that you guys are coming out to Ohio. I know you guys are gonna do great work out there. props to your wife for going back and giving back to her community, man. That is that is unbelievable, man. I love that. I I wanted to kind of get your advice now on

or for our younger viewers, for our people who may be in that situation that you were in, right? and and I know you kind of touched on it with your story, but I want to get your advice for them on how to start climbing out of that hole. You know, how how do they get up out of there?

Kelly Mahana (12:14)
So honestly, I d I think and I really think and I say this all the time, I think people who come from like poverty and having to live in Section 8 and maybe food insecurity, I think we’re well more equipped to handle success than most people, right? Because a lot of things you hear in business that I hear often is pivot, pivot, pivot. Well, we grew up, we were pivoting every day, right? is the electricity on today? No, let’s go steal some candles so we can turn the light on.

The water’s off. How are we gonna shower? Let’s go to the neighbors. Let’s have them put hot water in the pan for us and we’ll birdbath it. Like those are pivots. Whether you realize it or not, those are pivots, right? Having to, you know, go steal food from the gas station or like befriend a female at a fast food restaurant so you can get a female, those are all strengths and talents. So like what I like to say to the younger people and the younger generation, and whether you have that particular struggle or not,

If you have a desire, man, if you just chase that desire and and you’re persistent and you’re consistent, you you will achieve what you set out to achieve. Now it may not happen in a day, a week, a month. It is a process. Sometimes the process takes longer than other processes, but believe in yourself and keep going. One thing I’m really big on nowadays is like protecting my vision and my dreams.

So what that looks like to me and what I say to younger people is like you, your dream is yours. Okay. And so you got to protect that. If you’re sharing it with someone who’s never accomplished anything or they’re still stuck in a place that you’re actively trying to get out of and avoid, and you share that with them, of course they’re gonna laugh at you, of course they’re gonna clown you, of course they’re gonna put you down, right? You do that often enough and you you’re gonna start to believe that. So protect that.

You know, you don’t want to be around people who aren’t where you’re at, where you want to go or above. So, but I just think it’s it’s really and we can do it. Like I did it working too regular ass jobs. I don’t have no degrees, no education. I didn’t have a family friend, no I got out of prison when I was 32. I had to get clothes from a donation closet. You know, they had two pairs of shoes. One was half a size too big, one was half a size too small, right?

I no one would hire me like McDonald’s. I tell people because I always hear people say, I don’t want to work at McDonald’s. McDonald’s wouldn’t even hire me. Right. And so eventually I was able to get that fast food job at Taco Bell. Shout out Taco Bell because they gave me an opportunity. And that’s the thing. People don’t see certain things as opportunities and they are. You know, and I just parlayed that from one job to the next. And then I ended up getting two full-time jobs. I realized like, whoa, I’m never gonna be able to have like

a job that pays me 80 or 100k a year. But if I can get two jobs that pay me 40K, well there’s my 80K. And so that’s what I did. And I was just saving money. It’s it’s a process and it takes time. And the thing is is if you invest in yourself and you put in that work, it’s gonna happen, right? And you have to educate yourself. I learned pretty much everything I learned, I learned on YouTube for free. Right. I learned about real estate on YouTube, you know, like

on accident. So there’s so much information out there on how to become successful. It’s really just up to you. And don’t get caught up with the people who are like, yeah, well, rates, rates, or whatever excuses people find, let that let those be their reasons. Don’t let that be your reason. And fear. Get away from fear. I say like this. I went all in on myself because what was the worst that was going to happen?

I was gonna be broke working at fast food. Well, that’s where I was already at. I think and that’s not

Issa Hanna (15:53)
Yeah, but that’s not

Kelly Mahana (15:55)
what I wanted for my whole life. So I try and also let people know like, hey, there’s always the next job. Whatever job, if you’re a teller at a bank and you decide to go all in on yourself, even if you quote unquote fell, there’s always the next bank, there’s always another teller job. Like whatever craft you find yourself in, that’s always gonna be there to fall back on. But I

highly suggest just giving it all you got for yourself.

Issa Hanna (16:19)
Hundred percent. Keep your eye on the vision. You know, you keep walking that forward path. You keep trying to better yourself. I I love it. You said I could never get a job making eighty K, but I could get two making forty. you know, this is the resourceful, this is the pivots you’re talking about that you know, people like us had to make growing up. So man, I mean just golden knowledge coming out and not this is not real estate knowledge, guys. This is life knowledge. So this is investor fuel, real estate Pros.

Life knowledge show today. brought to you by Kelly.

Kelly Mahana (16:50)
Well and I wanna let the audience know too, right? So I got out of prison when I was thirty-two years old. I didn’t couldn’t even buy a t-shirt, didn’t have nothing. I now own all my own real estate. I have two multifamilies and I have three single families. I got out when I was thirty-two, I’m thirty-eight now. So if you stay focused, you can achieve, you will achieve.

Issa Hanna (17:10)
See that guys from the Taco Bell all the way to owning his own properties, doing something impactful and now going to his wife’s hometown and and doing the same thing there, man. truly an honorable man, an honorable couple you you two are, man. I the utmost respect I have for you guys. now if people wanted to get a hold of Authentic Recovery services in Colorado, where could they reach you guys at?

Kelly Mahana (17:36)
Yeah, follow us on TikTok, authenticrecoveryhomes.com on TikTok, authenticrecoveryhomes.com on IG, on on all platforms essentially. and then you could also visit our website, authenticrecoveryhomes.com. send us a text, shoot us a DM. That simple.

Issa Hanna (17:53)
I love it. Slide into those DMs, guys, if if you need their services. like I said, an honorable man that cares about what he does and and and got it from the ground up, built it all from the ground up and he he’s not done yet. You guys, six years. I’m I I wanna bring you on in like two more years just to see where you’re at, man. I I know you’re gonna do big things.

Kelly Mahana (18:14)
Yeah, I’m excited.

Issa Hanna (18:15)
And Kelly, I’d like to thank you so much for coming on the show today. You brought it such a different perspective than our normal guests. And and I’m so thankful that we’re that man. Thank you.

Kelly Mahana (18:26)
Thank you. I appreciate you guys. I I I’m grateful to have the opportunity to speak with you and your audience. So thank you as well.

Issa Hanna (18:34)
And to our audience. If you guys enjoyed my conversation with Kelly and want to see more like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry and even life. Until next time. The Pros are out.