My story
My story
Hey everyone. I want to tell you a little about me.
This is the PG-rated and condensed version, but it'll give you some sense of who I am—and why I'm building this.
I started in the bar business not long after high school, with very little experience in life or otherwise. Shortly after that, the coolest of the uncool kids found his calling and, eventually, his tribe.
I learned how to talk to people and, more importantly, how to listen to them. I moved to Vancouver in the '90s, became very good at what I did, and discovered a confidence and personality I didn't know I had.
For a long time, it was glorious.
But early on, I found myself wanting more—not more excess; that came much later. More meaning.
I found it with a camera.
My first real camera was given to me by someone who knew I was struggling. It had belonged to his father, who had recently passed away, so it carried meaning from the moment it landed in my hands.
Photography gave me another craft to hone, and it was beautiful.
My tagline became:
"I want to give people memories instead of hangovers."
That camera became a vehicle I didn't know I would love driving, and the beginning of many creative journeys—photography, art and eventually entrepreneurship.
I've built, lost, rebuilt and started over more times than I care to count. Looking back, every one of those experiences became part of what brought me here.
Alcohol had always been around. I was just living the life, as they say.
The strange irony is that I had to leave the bar business to become an actual alcoholic.
I stopped drinking because it was fun.
I started drinking because I needed it.
What followed doesn't need a highlight reel. There were attempts to stop, periods of sobriety, relapses and, eventually, consequences I was fortunate to survive.
The last time was enough.
I realized I didn't need a new chapter.
I needed a new fucking book.
Turns out, I wrote one.
With help from my family, friends and a therapist, I got sober. That therapist eventually asked me a deceptively simple question:
"What would you say to five-year-old you?"
I started writing.
Those scattered thoughts became Things I Would Say to Five-Year-Old Me. Then came Things I Would Say to Thirteen-Year-Old Me. Then poetry, which will become another book.
And then came these apps.
Somewhere among all those successes, failures and second chances, I finally realized something:
I am a builder. I am an entrepreneur. I am a creative. And regardless of my failures, I am worth it.
I want other people to have the opportunity to discover some of those things about themselves too—and to help where I can.
The guy who had always dreamed up the next thing hadn't disappeared.
Sobriety gave him room to work again.
At 52, after watching a webinar about building apps, I got that familiar feeling.
I started wondering if I could give back with more than words. If my experiences with addiction could somehow help someone the way other people had helped me.
So I started building R.U.F.U.S.
Then came R.I.S.E.
Then SoberGPS.
And now, SoberMedia.
I didn't get here alone.
That's probably the most important thing I've learned from any of it.
People helped me when I needed help.
So I'm building again.
Only this time, I'm trying to build something that might help somebody else find their way too.
People helped me when I needed help. SoberMedia is my attempt to build more ways for people to find that help—and this is only the beginning.
R.U.F.U.S., R.I.S.E. and SoberGPS are the foundation. As our community grows, I want the support around them to grow with us: live conversations with qualified counsellors, greater access to one-on-one support, better resources for families, and new ways to help people wherever they are in their lives.
Some will be fighting addiction. Some will love someone who is. Others may simply be trying to change, rebuild, or find their way.
I know what receiving help made possible in my life.
Let's see how many lives we can reach together.
Help me build this big enough to matter.
Sincerely and Soberly,
R. Brian Mosby
Founder & CEO, SoberMedia™