Chiseled Ep 62 Never Quitting on Yourself - Michael Schiff

Chiseled with Rob Commodari

Michael Schiff admits he could have been in the criminal Hall of Fame by the time he was in 8th grade. Arrested six times before age 16 on drug possession, shoplifting, destruction of property, and other charges, he ended up in a juvenile detention center followed by a rehab center followed by a state-run military school.
It was there, in 11th grade, that Mike found his first mentor, a football coach who taught him and his teammates their first lessons in self-respect.
"He was a father figure to me. He was a father figure to many other guys. He really taught me that relationship between coach and coachee," Mike said.
Mike rose in the ranks, becoming captain of the football team and a battalion commander in charge of 250 corps cadets. But after 19 months clean, he fell backward again when he started taking medicine to manage the pain of a root canal.
"I thought it would be a good idea to double up on my meds — what the nurse would dispense out — and save them all for a Friday night, and by doing so ... I released my addiction all over again," he said.
After a second attempt at recovery, Mike was accepted to the University of Florida in Gainesville. There, he relapsed once more and started down another dangerous path. Arrested again, he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. As an imprisoned senior fearful for his future, that was the final straw. Mike has been in recovery, clean and sober since Nov. 18, 2003.
Mike eventually graduated college, a day he calls one of the top five of his life. He also succeeded in getting his record expunged. He considers himself extremely lucky and tries to pay it forward every day.
Mike is someone whom I call a friend, and I am inspired by his leadership. Earning his real estate license in 2004, he now owns a real estate team that sells $100 million in real estate and 350 homes a year. He works to find recovery housing space in the Baltimore metro market for others dealing with addiction, and he runs a private Facebook group for real estate professionals who are active in recovery.
Mike has faced setbacks, but he says they are no longer a trigger for relapse. Even so, he says when he thinks he's got it all figured out, he knows he, like all of us, is still a work in progress. That's one reason why I am so happy Mike is my guest this week on Chiseled.

If you'd like to reach Mike, you can find him on Instagram or through his closed Facebook page REPAIR: Real Estate Professionals Active in Recovery.