Employee Spotlight Series featuring Footprints to Recovery’s Rockstars!
Beyond our degrees and titles, we’re also real humans endlessly passionate about the fight for those struggling with addiction. Our DreamTeam is made up of many hardworking, talented individuals with interesting stories to tell. In our Employee Spotlight series, you’ll meet some of these people and learn what they do (on and, perhaps, off the clock) and how they keep Footprints to Recovery growing and flowing—just the way we like it.
This month\’s Employee Spotlight features Footprints to Recovery’s Business Development Officer, Alia Green. As a National Certified Counselor, Alia utilizes her understanding of mental health and addiction to connect individuals and family to providers in their area. Alia brings a tremendous amount of passion, experience, and kindness to our team, and we’re so very lucky to have her!
What’s a typical day in your role?
There’s not really a typical day, as I am finding out, but there are certain things I do every day. I normally start out by checking my email and looking at my calendar to see what I have planned in advance, and then I look for opportunities to add to it. I typically make some calls right away in the morning and then try to have a couple meetings and/or tours scheduled every day. I enjoy meeting up and building relationships with various providers and other treatment centers. In Colorado, we have a pretty collaborative group, which is refreshing. I know that we are trying our best to find the right treatment for the client.
What makes Footprints to Recovery’s Denver Programming stand out?
Honestly, the first thing that I think stands out is how new, clean, and modern our facility feels. To me, my surroundings are very important, and when I think about referring folks to our center, I know that I would feel comfortable getting treatment here, and therefore I feel confident that other folks will feel the same way. In addition to the center itself, I appreciate the different treatment modalities that we use to individualize treatment for each person. There is definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach, so it’s important to learn about what will be most effective for each person, and we do that!
In your opinion, what’s the most important thing for addiction treatment centers to provide?
I think, first and foremost, it is a safe and monitored space where one can focus on their treatment plan. In addition to that, it’s having qualified, credentialed, and compassionate staff who have had the experience working with substance use disorders.
If you could give family, friends, and loved ones of those with a substance use disorder a message, what would it be?
Things can change for the better, no matter what you’ve done or been through. Taking that first step to talk to someone who is knowledgeable about substance use disorder treatment might be the hardest thing to do initially, but it can also be the most rewarding thing you can do to get on to a healthier and more fulfilling life path.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
My almost-12-year-old daughter, Alexa (Lex – pictured above!). She gives me purpose to get up, be a respectable role model for her, and enjoy our time together (mostly…lol)—she is a tween now!
If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as a mentor?
My Grandma Agnes was my role model and still is, even though she died in 2008. She was smart, loving, and so incredibly funny and sassy. She was a woman of integrity and compassion.
What’s your motto or personal mantra?
Courage is the ability to act in spite of fear. We will always be fearful of things (and for a good reason sometimes), but I try my best to not let most fear get in the way of living my life the way that I can respect and feel proud of.
What’s your favorite Disney movie & why?
There’s so many, but I think my favorite more recent Disney movie is Inside Out. I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and the mind, and I think this movie does a great job capturing and normalizing the different emotions that we all experience as humans.
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