Elevator Mechanic to Addiction Recovery Advocate | Stephen Hook’s Story of Resilience
TW: suicide, depression, substance abuse
In this episode, I sit down with Stephen Hook, a former elevator mechanic with 36 years in the trade, to talk about his journey through the industry and his long struggle with addiction and depression. Stephen shares how his father’s pride in the union first drew him into the profession and then how he battled internally for years before seeking help. Stephen speaks openly about resilience and honesty in recovery, the power of community and the construction industry’s growing willingness to address mental health. Now a recovery advocate, his story is a reminder that asking for help is strength, and that recovery is a lifelong process.
To get in touch with Stephen, email Stephen.Hook@RecoveryUnplugged.com or call 347-939-8551.
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Transcript:
Stephen Hook (00:00)
A dear friend of mine, He called me one day and I don’t really think he knew what he was doing when he called. But he called and I could remember the conversation and we talk about it. He’s like, hey, we have to talk.
And there was a pause and he goes, listen, there’s a lot of, a lot of people who are worried about you. And right away.
I was like, I’ve been waiting for this phone call. I think I need help. I start crying. And the beautiful thing about this, when you do something like this to someone else, like we don’t do it in front of a whole bunch of people. And, you know, he did it through a phone call. And the next thing he said was, what do you need me to do right now? How can I help you?
Matt Allred (00:29)
Sure.
Stephen Hook (00:39)
that conversation that we had, then allowed me the next day to go and to tell the truth, that this is what’s been going on in my life.
Him calling me, right? And let me just say this, Matt, there were so many people saying the same thing Especially my wife. I mean, there were so many people, but just the manner in which he said it coming from him, it just changed everything.
Matt Allred (01:03)
Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast brought to you by the Allred Group. I’m your host, Matt Allred. When talent is mission critical, call the Allred Group. With industry expertise, top talent, and exceptional customer service, you need the Allred Group on your side. Your priority is our priority. Call now, 404-890-0445.
In this episode, I sit down with Stephen Hook, a former elevator mechanic with 36 years in the trade, to talk about his journey through the industry and his long struggle with addiction and depression. Stephen shares how his father’s pride in the union first drew him into the profession and then how he battled internally for years before seeking help. Stephen speaks openly about resilience and honesty in recovery, the power of community and the construction industry’s growing willingness to address mental health. Now a recovery advocate.
His story is a reminder that asking for help is strength and that recovery is a lifelong process. To get in touch with Stephen, you can find his contact information in the description below.
Matt Allred (02:08)
Stephen, welcome to the show.
Stephen Hook (02:10)
Thank you. I appreciate the invite to be here. Thank you.
Matt Allred (02:15)
Thank you. No, I appreciate your willingness and I’m excited to share your story. It’s honestly it’s touched my heart just getting to know you and I think there are a lot of people that could benefit from from hearing us So let’s let’s start beginning of your your time in the elevator trade you gave 36 years right to the trade
Stephen Hook (02:34)
to an incredible trade. Yeah, an incredible trade. So my dad was employed by Otis Elvator. was a Local One member. what are you going to do when you grow up? Of course, that’s the question when you’re in eighth, ninth, tenth grade.
Matt Allred (02:36)
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Stephen Hook (02:52)
wasn’t much of a student, to be honest with you. And my dad had asked. And I guess I was blessed enough to be in an era where we still had electrical shop in high school and we still had woodwork and metal shops. So I enjoyed working with my hands and my dad had said, Do you want to come and try? And I was like, absolutely.
Matt Allred (02:54)
Mm-hmm.
Sure.
There was no resistance on your part? I mean, did you think, I don’t want to do what dad does or I mean…
Stephen Hook (03:20)
There was, let me say this, like I’m in 1980, the Olympic hockey team, right? They won that, there was a glimmer that maybe I wanted to be a professional hockey player, but I started playing high school hockey and I realized I wasn’t that good. So no, there was, there was really no resistance. My dad was just such a proud union IUEC member, man. I can remember as a kid, Pepsi had gone on strike to drivers.
Matt Allred (03:29)
Right?
Hahaha.
Stephen Hook (03:48)
And as a kid, I mean, we drank a lot of Pepsi at my house. And, you know, once my father found that out, like for months, we could not drink Pepsi at my house, you know? So he was just a very proud IUEC member It’s shown in his work. He was a phenomenal elevator mechanic. He cared about what he did. And the reality was he gave me the blueprint of how to be.
Matt Allred (03:56)
.
Stephen Hook (04:15)
a good elevator mechanic. And unfortunately, just being at that age, he told me to go left. I went right, you know? And that’s, it’s unfortunate now. And you know, my father has since passed from cancer. And I was able to make peace with that. I told him, you know, how fortunate I was to have him as a father and honestly, how fortunate I was to be introduced into the elevator trade.
Matt Allred (04:17)
Right.
No, I hear you. ⁓
For sure.
Yeah,
yeah. Well, I mean, it sounds he invited you, you that was one time you didn’t, know, go the opposite direction. You came in, you dad’s path and it sounds like it’s been a real gift to you.
Stephen Hook (04:49)
Yeah.
As it was
to my brother too, I have brother who’s four years older who is the safety coordinator for a local one in New York. So we both followed. And I have multiple cousins too, let me say that. It definitely was a family tradition.
Matt Allred (05:01)
Pickle.
For sure, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so let’s talk a little bit know, I do want to get to the work you’re doing now, you know, after 36 years. And so I want to talk a little bit about the part that people don’t see, right? When you were, people would ask you, you know, how are you doing? And you say, hey, I’m doing fine on the outside, you know, working, providing, showing up. What was really going on on the inside for you?
Stephen Hook (05:33)
So from a young age, I knew that like, I mean, of course I didn’t know it was depression and I didn’t know it was anxiety. You know, during that time of the seventies and eighties, I mean, I hate to say it, but those were words really weren’t used especially for children. ⁓ I know now what it was, and I knew when it came to alcohol and drugs, my body definitely
Matt Allred (05:48)
I didn’t know those words. Sure. Sure.
Stephen Hook (06:00)
definitely reacted differently, you know?
By the time I got out of high school, I knew, and this is an honest thing to say, I knew that I would have to be in a 12-step fellowship to have a productive life. It’s kind of scary that I knew
Matt Allred (06:14)
Wow. Wow.
Stephen Hook (06:17)
and I still led this life of active addiction for quite some time.
Matt Allred (06:22)
Yeah, well you told me, you when we talked before that it’s like you could see a cliff and you knew, hey, if I step off that cliff, it’s going to hurt and you’d still kind of walk towards the cliff. What does that feel like inside?
Stephen Hook (06:37)
It’s like a vicious cycle. You know what’s gonna happen, right? And they say insanity is doing something and doing it and knowing the results, Well, insanity sometimes for me is doing something, knowing what the consequences are, right? But convincing myself I can handle it this time. And I just went through that vicious cycle and I would…
Matt Allred (06:56)
Sure, sure.
Stephen Hook (07:01)
tell myself I only go out on Friday night. And like that was never my story, unfortunately.
Matt Allred (07:08)
Yeah, I mean, and
you even said, you know, kind of the early on, right? Even in high school, you knew, hey, I need some help with this. I haven’t hit this wall yet, but I can see this wall coming, this cliff, this, you know, whatever it is going to be. I already know I need help with that. How long did it take you to actually find some help?
Stephen Hook (07:27)
I was in my 18 or 19 when someone, a family member was like, listen, it’s a good idea that you, you know, maybe you go to a 12-step fellowship.
And of course, back then, I mean, it was a much older crowd. So I would go to these meetings and I just, and I was.
Matt Allred (07:49)
Probably hard
to connect with the 50, 60 year old when you’re 18 years old.
Stephen Hook (07:53)
Let
me say this, Matt, even if I did, they were so nice to me, ⁓ I just wasn’t ready. It’s the bottom line.
Matt Allred (07:58)
Yeah.
Stephen Hook (08:01)
I did not hit the bottoms and I’ve hit multiple bottoms. I hit bottoms in active addiction. I hit bottoms clean. What I’ve realized is every bottom had a trap door, unfortunately, and I just kept on.
going and going and going.
Matt Allred (08:21)
Yeah, I hear you. What about being in the construction elevator world? Do you think that made it hard for you to say, I’m just not okay? And nothing against the industry or the culture, but you had kind of brought that up, that it was really hard to say that.
Stephen Hook (08:43)
You know, you work in an industry that’s very fast moving, right? And when, just say when lunchtime comes and guys want to eat lunch, listen, we’re usually making fun of each other
Matt Allred (08:49)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Hook (08:54)
you know, you have a half hour for lunch and the stigma of, I’m going to keep this on me, of me telling someone at lunchtime, you know what, like I’m suffering with depression or I’m suffering with anxiety.
Unfortunately, what I did was, is I used substances to numb
feelings. And for a very long time, I did that.
Matt Allred (09:14)
Sure, sure.
Yeah. Yeah. So to your point, right, it’s hard to say I’m not okay and just be open, vulnerable about it. And I’m sure it’s not just the construction industry. Probably it’s probably everywhere, right? Somebody’s gonna have a hard time.
Stephen Hook (09:31)
Yeah.
say anywhere
in any kind of male dominant I would think, I mean a male dominant field,
I feel like the last maybe three, four years it’s getting a little more acceptable.
the mental health aspect and the substance abuse aspect of this, the stigma is starting to be taken away is how I feel. More people are open to talk about it, right? We have safety stand downs and it’s so important. Look, my brother’s a safety coordinator. The safety aspects in any construction field is so important, but in the elevator industry, it is so important.
For me, I remember when I started working for Otis, the safety bag was real small, right? I mean, it was so small. yeah. so over them being, you know, it’s a moving,
Matt Allred (10:23)
It’s like a band-aid and a piece of gauze.
Stephen Hook (10:33)
everything’s moving. So they went from a smaller to a mid-size bag. I mean, the safety bag you get now is like the size of a hockey bag. And it just lets you know how everything’s evolving. And I feel like if…
The construction industry in a whole, if we use that same urgency that we use for safety, right? And every day safety huddles and every day, and I know mental health and substance abuse cannot be an everyday thing. I’m well aware that. But if we use the same urgency that we’ve used for the safety in the over the last three decades, I think we would see more people,
being open to having a conversation about this. But that’s really what you want to do. You want to open up a conversation. Unfortunately, we can’t wave a magic wand or give somebody a pill to say, you need help. It has to come from that person on the inside. And
more we speak about it, I think we’ll see a huge change in that.
Matt Allred (11:39)
absolutely. Well, I mean, even the work you’re doing sharing your story, you’re permission and you’re showing them that, hey it’s safe to allow myself to be known, to be seen, even though I may feel some regret or some shame about what I’ve done. That’s where I’m at, right? That’s my story. And so you’re kind of opening that door and really inviting others to…
to seek for help, right? And I love the way you kind of it to first aid and safety, right? If I cut my finger, don’t have any problem saying, hey, I need a band-aid, right? But if I’m struggling with something else because of the stigma, because of the shame, because of whatever’s acceptable society, it’s a little harder to say, hey, I’m struggling with depression or I’m struggling with substances or I mean, some of the… It’s not treated the same.
Stephen Hook (12:10)
Yeah.
Bye.
No. Again, I feel like it’s changing, but listen,
it can be embarrassing. mean, listen, I was an embarrassment to myself, my family, right? The local I worked for, the company, you name it, I was an embarrassment. I put my family through a lot of pain and a lot of suffering. And I feel like today,
Matt Allred (12:52)
Sure. Yeah.
Stephen Hook (12:56)
Working for Recovery Unplugged, I’m able to get up and I have a purpose. maybe I talk to someone today and I’m just open about it. And I heard this so long ago, a message from the heart touches the heart, right? When you’re in a room and people start sharing honestly, it changes the whole dynamics and atmosphere of a room.
I see it all the time. And some people are open and some people aren’t. But someone might hear something today and in six months from now they’ll be like, you know what? I remember I
this. This guy went through all this trauma and he went and he sought help and it worked.
Matt Allred (13:41)
Well, and you’ve mentioned that when you speak with a crowd and you maybe give them your business card, you’re going to get a phone call or an email or something. Somebody may call you just because they know that you’re safe. It might not be safe to tell their spouse or their boss the police that, I’m struggling with this, but Stephen is safe and I’m call him.
Stephen Hook (13:55)
Thank
And it’s
a great, it’s a great, I love getting texts like that. And maybe it’s just an email. I get
very vulnerable, right? I speak about finding my wife dead of a drug overdose and my son being four years old and the whole dynamics of becoming a single father and trying to navigate, right? I really wasn’t a good father in active addiction. Now I’m a father, right? And,
Matt Allred (14:12)
Mm.
Stephen Hook (14:30)
And people can identify with that. They identify the emotions. Maybe they didn’t lose their wife, or just someone sharing a heartfelt message.
It resonates with people. And I love getting emails like that. Just to say, maybe someone just says, thank you.
Matt Allred (14:48)
Yeah, yeah. I mean, just you sharing that, I mean, it’s heartbreaking, right? It’s like, can’t even imagine the kind of pain you went through and, you know, in some ways it justifies, you know, using substances or the depression or, you know, just the trauma, right? It must have been enormous.
Stephen Hook (15:09)
so when that happened, I was kind of like in a emergency crisis, right? I really couldn’t comprehend. And unfortunately, like seven months later, my dad died of cancer. So we have all this stuff going on. And I would say about two years after that, I really started to get so emotional
Matt Allred (15:20)
Mm, right.
Stephen Hook (15:32)
and unfortunately children and families are innocent victims.
Matt Allred (15:36)
for sure.
Stephen Hook (15:37)
when it comes to, man, I can remember this vividly and it sounds horrible. I wish I recorded it and I wish I could play it to anybody struggling with substance abuse. My son was, six years old, it was Christmas Eve and he comes to me just crying, know, why did
mommy have to use drugs?
And then he goes, daddy, I know you go to those meetings. Are you going to die too? And this is a six-year-old kid and you, right? And that’s one thing I have to say with being a member to IUEC, I was so blessed to be able to surround all
Matt Allred (16:04)
wow.
Stephen Hook (16:17)
children with incredible therapists. ⁓ if I did anything right, I surrounded my family.
At times I didn’t take what I was doing for my family and we’ll talk about that later, but through the IUEC I was able to just provide them with the best clinical
therapy that was out there. And it says a lot because my son is now a freshman in college and he’s well adopted a lot. Well, because of his faith, that’s a huge, huge.
Matt Allred (16:47)
awesome.
Stephen Hook (16:54)
You know, he definitely, he has his own relationship with God, but it also has to do with being able to surround him with the right people.
Matt Allred (17:03)
Right, right. That’s awesome that you had the resources to really get him the help he needed. It’s not like you yourself, even as his father, didn’t have all you needed to get him what he needed to recover and to get pointed in the right direction.
Stephen Hook (17:15)
Nah.
It’s, you know, when you, when you think about it, you, and that’s another thing with recovery unplugged. was so, I loved the idea of the family program, you know,
you send a client to treatment and they’re in treatment and they’re, they’re getting the best doctors, the best therapist and the, I’m going to talk about my family, right? And when, when I got out of a treatment facility, I come home and every time I left the house for months, my kids
because they didn’t know the next time they were going to see me.
And just like I was recovering, my family needs to recover. And that’s a beautiful thing about Recovery Unplugged, they have a family program. ⁓ And again, this is for me, my experience is how this really works is everybody recovers.
Matt Allred (17:55)
No, for sure.
Yeah, yeah. Well, let’s talk for just a minute said, you know, it just a few years ago that kind of you know, rock bottom that it kind of brought you to where you are now. me, tell me about, as I recall, there was a phone call or something, right? Somebody had asked you, you needed help and this time you had the courage to say, you know, tell me that story, if you will.
Stephen Hook (18:18)
no doubt.
Yeah.
Absolutely. ⁓ In 2020, my oldest son Sean passed away from complications of COVID.
so it was a, not only are you dealing with the atmosphere, right, of the country during COVID, you’re dealing with it that then you, I felt like my heart was amputated that day. And there’s,
You know, and I’ve read a ton of grief books and I enjoy reading but there’s no words that can, that you can read that really, you can understand what happens when you lose a child. There’s just not. So I’m going through this troubling time and everyone around me is asking me if I’m okay. And I just do the generic, I’m okay.
right? something I was trained to do. But on the inside, right? And this is weird, right? On my heart and like you’re talking spiritually. Listen, spiritually I was questioning the goodness of God. I
everything that was ever told to me. Physically, the anxiety had gotten so bad that one day I went to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack. I never experienced anxiety like that.
Matt Allred (19:44)
Right.
Stephen Hook (19:49)
The depression was so bad and the only reason I was getting out of bed, Matt, was because I knew people were watching me. They were worried about me. It’s
Matt Allred (19:56)
Right.
Stephen Hook (19:57)
the only reason and mentally, and this is where really it started to play into my life. I would say this was about six months after my son had passed away and I was in so much pain and I wouldn’t really tell anybody what was going on. And I started to question
how long I could go on with this pain. And then I started to question, was I gonna go back to doing the only thing I knew what to do, how to subside that pain, and that was to go back to using.
Matt Allred (20:20)
Right. How to numb it. Right.
Stephen Hook (20:32)
And this went on longer, and then I would get so upset, right? And my son Sean, and as do everyone in my family, they were so proud of me. They come to my anniversaries,
And then it got to the point where I was contemplating, would the world be a better place without me in it? And I’m going in this vicious cycle in my, and this is every day. And I might not be a good guy all the time, right? But I’ve been told that I’m a really nice guy. And I was so mean. And we talk about that sometimes, like people’s behaviors change.
Matt Allred (20:47)
Mm.
Sure. Right. Right.
Sure.
Stephen Hook (21:12)
somebody I worked with who’s a dear friend of mine, ⁓ we worked down at the financial center in New York together. He called me one day and I don’t really think he knew what he was doing when he called. But he called and I could remember the conversation and we talk about it. He’s like, hey, we have to talk.
And there was a pause and he goes, listen, there’s a lot of, a lot of people who are worried about you.
right away.
I was like, I’ve been waiting for this phone call. I think I need help. And I start crying. And the beautiful thing about this, and this is, like, when you do something like this to someone else, like we don’t do it in front of whole bunch of people. And, you know, he did it through a phone call. And the next thing he said was, what do you need me to do right now? How can I help you?
Matt Allred (21:51)
Yeah.
Sure.
Stephen Hook (22:16)
And the next day I went
and sat down in a facility with some trained professions. that conversation that we had, then allowed me the next day to go and to tell the truth, that this is what’s been going on in my life.
And let me just say this, Matt, there were so many people saying the same thing that he was saying, especially in my home, Especially my wife. I mean, there were so many people, but just the manner in which he said it coming from him, it just changed everything. And I was there. And that’s the whole…
Matt Allred (22:38)
Sure. Sure.
And maybe you were ready, right?
Stephen Hook (22:57)
premise of when you’re speaking to someone, I wish I could have the magical word to say something or to do something to get someone in treatment. it’s for me, I just, I’m available, right? I wake up every morning saying, I don’t know who I’m going to meet
but just maybe I’m going to say something that’s going to be able to. ⁓
these people to go seek treatment.
Matt Allred (23:28)
Right, right. So, remind, you’ve been working as a recovery specialist for how long now?
Stephen Hook (23:33)
Well, I’ve been doing business development. My last day working in the elevator industry was Halloween. So yeah, I retired. I wasn’t sure if I was going to retire. I did not know what, after being in the IUEC for 36 years, I did not know what this job was going to entail.
Matt Allred (23:41)
Okay, not that long, right?
Sure.
Stephen Hook (23:54)
And
Recovery Unplugged has just been so good to me and so open with me and made me feel part of the family that I just, I knew after about six weeks, so I put my retirement papers in. So I’ve been doing business development with them for maybe two and a half months now, right? We’re in the second year.
Matt Allred (24:14)
Okay, yeah,
Matt Allred (24:15)
So Stephen, tell me a little bit more about Recovery Unplugged. mean, you mentioned wanting to get into this side of helping people. What’s the organization about?
Stephen Hook (24:25)
So, and for me, there was a process. I was looking, I was, of course you do a lot through Google and you start to reach out to people and just the name itself, I don’t know about for you Matt, but for me, there’s a healing part of music and it always has been in my life. the name was kind of, I was like, oh, let me, and for me there was some things that,
Matt Allred (24:42)
absolutely.
Stephen Hook (24:51)
the place the organization had to have. And that was, it had to have a faith, it had to have the option. Let me rephrase that. The option, and faith is not for everybody. I, all, everybody has choices. And I wanted who I work for, have a faith-based program that if people were willing for it, God is a big part of my life, a huge part of my life. So I wanted that,
And the other part was the family. They have a family program. And if I was to be an advocate, and I am an advocate for people with substance abuse and mental health, no doubt.
But I’m really an advocate for the family, man. We spoke about my son and what they went to. And I wanted them, they have a program for the families that the families can go on once a week. And I just feel that that is so important. And I guess the other really cool part of it, since I’m a dog person, is that they allow dogs, which is very uncommon.
Matt Allred (25:48)
Nice.
Stephen Hook (25:51)
And it’s a facility that if someone dear to me, right, was in trouble, I wouldn’t even hesitate to take how I became on Recovery Unplugged. They were so open with me. They put me in a group chat early on and they would listen, call, text and call whoever you want. You know, usually it’s not
When you start with a company, they expand a little and a little. This was the first day, call and ask any kind of questions you want. I like that transparency. They were very open. They treated me like family from the first day in it. Two and a half months later, it hasn’t changed.
Matt Allred (26:25)
Wow. Right.
Awesome.
Matt Allred (26:36)
so tell me tell me a little bit about you know, just Think sometimes people perceive, you know Recovery and hey clean. I’m you know, all better. I mean, but but you’ve had some horrific
bottoms that you’ve hit, right? Honestly, I haven’t experienced those. So I don’t even know how to kind of comprehend that. it seems like recovery is not like a once-and-done thing. It’s more of a process and maybe even you’re doing now almost seems like it’s part of not only others recover, but it’s also part of your recovery.
Stephen Hook (27:01)
out.
It’s no doubt helping me. And I say this sometimes I feel guilty because I get up and I know I’m getting so much out of this, like just the ability.
Matt Allred (27:19)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Hook (27:21)
bring it back to elevators. I mean, you need a lot of maintenance, spiritual maintenance. And this is for me. I’m a believer. God’s been so faithful for me.
Matt Allred (27:26)
Sure. Sure.
Stephen Hook (27:31)
It’s a huge part of my life. 12-Step Fellowship, I attend 12-Step Fellowship meetings. I have 14 years and six months and a couple of days, and I still believe making
makes sense to me. I speak to someone, I’m not gonna say I speak to them weekly, but I have a professional that I speak to.
which is another, you know, a maintenance part for me. And
Matt Allred (27:57)
Right. Right.
Stephen Hook (28:01)
on the physical part, I love to walk. Me and my wife walk our dogs for 45 minutes to an hour a night. It’s something we really enjoy doing.
Matt Allred (28:05)
Nice.
Stephen Hook (28:12)
And the thing about that is, and I could see this happening, I work so hard. You do all this maintenance, spiritual, and you get to that point in your life where you’re at that balance, where I always wanna be, right, at that balance.
Matt Allred (28:24)
Right.
Stephen Hook (28:25)
And the minute I achieved that,
I stopped doing something. And then I’m scrambling,
Matt Allred (28:29)
I hear you.
Stephen Hook (28:31)
right? Maybe it’s my prayer life, right? Maybe it’s my meeting attendance. And I could feel it, right? And if I can’t feel it, the people in my house definitely let me know. And they’re not afraid to say, when was the last time you were at a meeting? And I can’t get mad.
Matt Allred (28:34)
Sure.
You
Right.
Stephen Hook (28:52)
But I gave them the okay to this a very long time ago. And it’s about being transparent.
Matt Allred (29:00)
I love it. Yeah. What would have become your non-negotiables, right? As you look at your recovery, I you talked about your prayer life, your exercising, your meeting attendance. What does that look like for you?
Stephen Hook (29:14)
On a daily basis, I I love waking up. I don’t pray for a very long time, but I do pray.
I like going for a quick the morning too, just to breathe, just to get out, get some fresh air in me and usually by then I could see how I’m feeling.
and some days I know it’s gonna be a good day and then there’s days that I get up and I think about my son Sean and I just know, you know, and I could see what kind of day it’s gonna be if I think about all the good times and what a good father I was and we loved NBA basketball, we had season tickets and we went to all these
Or if I think about how when I was in active addiction and what a bad father I was, right, I could gauge how my days gonna go. And those are the days that it’s real important that I call someone and let them know exactly where I’m at.
Matt Allred (30:00)
Right.
Nice, nice. So did you ever think you would go from elevator mechanic to recovery advocate?
Stephen Hook (30:14)
No. Let me say this. God had put this on my heart a long time ago. I
Matt Allred (30:16)
You
Stephen Hook (30:25)
realize.
just being honest with people, And telling your story. I noticed it when I started going to a grief group, And just how transparent everybody was and you’d see somebody new come in and just their story would make somebody else feel
for ends.
Matt Allred (30:47)
Sure.
Stephen Hook (30:49)
So right after my son’s death, I seeing it being as a possibility. I didn’t know
Matt Allred (30:54)
Okay.
Stephen Hook (30:55)
where it would take me, but I knew that.
the healing process for me is telling a story.
Matt Allred (31:04)
Sure.
I get it. mean, you we all have our stuff, right? And sometimes it may look very different. And, when I say stuff, I know even for myself, right? There are things that, you know, maybe I’m in pain and I want to numb it. so, you know, wolf a bag of chips and help me forget, you know, that I’m dealing with something that’s painful. you know, like you and I have talked before, certain behaviors have more stigma. Some of them will get you locked in jail. Some will get you…
Stephen Hook (31:27)
Yeah.
Yeah?
Matt Allred (31:33)
You know, some people will laugh at it or whatever, right? But I think everybody’s got something that really challenges them. the question is always, okay, how am I going I numb it? Do I ignore it? Do I address it? I think we’ve all got something to various extents. Well, and yet that’s probably, at least it’s more legal than some of other things you’ve done.
Stephen Hook (31:49)
No, mine’s crumble cookie. So we.
Right.
Yeah. No, no doubt. The crumble. Yes, no doubt.
You know, unfortunately, Matt, in life, every decision I make in life, there’s consequences, right? Now I can reset my life and I have reset my life multiple times. Let me just say that. But unfortunately, there’s no reset on
Matt Allred (32:17)
Mm-hmm.
Stephen Hook (32:22)
Cemetery’s…
Matt Allred (32:22)
Mm, yeah.
Stephen Hook (32:25)
Prisons and hospitals are filled with people who made one bad decision, And it’s so sad. It is so sad.
Matt Allred (32:30)
So true.
Yeah, yeah, that’s a good you mentioned your love for the IUEC for your brothers, I guess my question is, if there’s a brother sister listening, maybe they’re sitting in the truck, stressed, depressed, maybe they’re using, maybe they’re thinking of giving what would you say to them?
Stephen Hook (32:54)
You know, the first thing I would say
that they’re not alone. definitely not alone. They’re a phone call away from getting all the help they need. And I know how hard that is to make that first phone call. You know, it’s very hard. there’s, after you make that phone call, for me, my experience is it gets easier.
⁓ It’s like the world was lifted, you know? There’s just so many people willing to help.
Matt Allred (33:18)
Sure. Right.
Stephen Hook (33:27)
And I would hate to see anybody, you know, there’s a look in people when you, and I know because I’ve seen it in myself, there’s a look of loneliness and desperation and hopelessness in people’s eyes. And they don’t even have to tell
I know because I’ve seen that look when I look in the mirror some days and I’ve seen that look in my family’s eyes and I go out and I do these presentations and I look around and like you just know. You know you look at somebody’s and it’s just look and there’s there is support and help out there.
Matt Allred (33:48)
Right.
Yeah, yeah, it’s interesting to hear you say that because I think the the elevator industry overall has a lot of people willing to help right and and we hear that I hear it a lot in these interviews and people I talked to it’s like hey, you know, they’re ask the question right? There’s a lot of people willing to help teach you about elevators but what I’m hearing you say is there’s a lot of people willing to to help you bear the
of addiction or or
grief or loss or whatever it is that you’re struggling with.
Stephen Hook (34:34)
There is, and you know, elevator industry is just an incredible industry, right? It’s some of the most generous people, if you
me, in the world. I’ve been on multiple construction jobs when something happens and collections are made. I mean, even in when my son passed away, you’re talking during COVID, I mean, within 72 hours, you know, a very generous
check showed up at my house from people that you know and that just tells you what kind of people are in the IUEC and there are so many people willing to help.
Matt Allred (35:03)
Wow.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think to your point, I think we all need help in just maybe in different ways. So it does take some courage to ask and it takes some humility to say, I need some help.
Stephen Hook (35:28)
And you know, the humility part, it’s funny, that like somebody did this, somebody showed some humility and took me to the side years ago. And it’s kind of like the old saying, you know, pay it forward.
Matt Allred (35:43)
for sure.
Stephen Hook (35:43)
since retirement, it’s just, I never thought, first of all, I never thought I would retire, let me just say this. If you talk to me in the definitely did not think that I would be retiring and have an annuity fund and have a pension and still being able to provide for my family. But to give back, not only do.
to the whole, you know, I do presentations to a whole bunch of of my son’s story is his mother was an RN nurse, right? And then that’s a whole nother field that, substance abuse and it’s everywhere. I’m not just going to zone in on one industry, but unfortunately, it’s
Matt Allred (36:30)
Yeah.
Stephen Hook (36:31)
It’s just who’s being, if you ask me, who’s being more honest about it.
Matt Allred (36:36)
Yeah. Well, and it really has to be one person at a time, right? I mean, everybody who wants the help has to be honest and open up. And like you say, the help is there. well, Stephen, thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you taking time to share your story, to share your new adventure after being an elevator mechanic for 30 years. And yeah, I wish you the best as you continue to bring recovery and invite people into that honesty.
Stephen Hook (36:40)
Yeah, absolutely.
I appreciate that, Matt. And thank you. I love the podcast. I love seeing everyone else’s perspective on the business.
Matt Allred (37:14)
Well, thank you. Thank you. It’s a lot of fun. We’ll keep at it, right? All right. Take care.
Stephen Hook (37:18)
without a doubt.
Take care now.
Matt Allred (37:23)
Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the Allred Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting. Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net. Please like and subscribe and until next time, stay safe.