The Surprising Way Meridee Hlokoff Beat Addiction

Rich & Wendy 0:00
Hey, everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning 10 this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we've shared laughs, tears, and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next 10 years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios Hartford County living presents 

Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

No, no, no, nothing is. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
So what if the key to quitting smoking wasn't another patch, prescription, or pep talk, but something completely different? Today, I am speaking with Meredith Luckov. She knows that struggle all too well. She started smoking at just 11 years old, despite a family history devastated by cancer. She tried everything to quit until one 

unexpected method finally worked. But her story doesn't end with her recovery, it begins there. Now she's helping others break free from addiction by filling the gaps that traditional stop 

smoking campaigns miss. Grab your Kleenex, grab your coffee, whatever you're drinking, because we've covered addiction a lot, but we really haven't talked about 

smoking addiction. And this one, those of you listening here or that are here Romott, you're going to want to listen to this, because I know the cancer rate here is very high, very high. So how are you doing, Meredith? 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:12
I'm fantastic, Grace. Thank you for having. 

Rich Bennett 2:15
Oh, to 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:16
I just want 

Rich Bennett 2:16
thank you for your patience. 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:19
It's definitely been a challenge. It's been a challenge for us to get together, but here we are. 

Rich Bennett 2:24
Yeah, so those of you listening just to let you know, we, I think we scheduled, well, I know you ran into some problems, so we had to reschedule a couple of times and then there was another time something happened on my end. We had to reschedule. 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:40
I feel like there 

Rich Bennett 2:41
I 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:41
was two 

Rich Bennett 2:41
forget. 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:42
on you and two on me, and then this is the fifth one. 

Rich Bennett 2:46
So we finally made 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:46
it. Did. 

Rich Bennett 2:48
Yeah, there's a new saying out there, five 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:50
charm. 

Rich Bennett 2:50
times the Not the third time. 

Meridee Hlokoff 2:53
For us, definitely. 

Rich Bennett 2:55
All right, I want to jump right into this, because I know this really hits him with me. My 

mother passed away from cancer, smoked like a chimney. My father always said if he even expected that he had it, he didn't want to know. But he smoked, I know at one point he was smoking five packs of the can. I believe it was the camel cigarettes, nonfilter or rally, nonfilter a day, and a pack of health productive blends. So he smoked a lot, my older brother smoked a lot. My sister smoked. Now me and my younger brother, I mean, I smoked briefly, but I like it thought me was doing the chewing tobacco and then the dip, and I quit that 15 years ago. My brother's still doing it. And my first cigarette was probably the same age as you. We're on 10 or 11. Those of you who listen, I'm not saying she's 10 or 11. She's 25 now. 

Meridee Hlokoff 3:57
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 3:58
So I want to go back to that time. At 11 years old, what was it that made you just you decided to pick up that first cigarette? Was it like everybody else? 

Meridee Hlokoff 4:09
No. 

Rich Bennett 4:10
For what? 

Meridee Hlokoff 4:10
You're gonna love this story. Okay, so I have an older sister. She's 

Rich Bennett 4:14
okay. 

Meridee Hlokoff 4:14
She's been mental to me. So I just loved her. I just wanted to do anything that she did. I all of the things like she was the coolest sister. So she started smoking. She was 12. And I think honestly was so gross, but I think we started by smoking butts. Like my family smoked, so we'd smoke like the cigarette butts. 

Rich Bennett 4:35
Oh wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 4:36
I remember like a lot of times. I can't believe I'm even telling you this story. So we lived- From the border. And at the border, there's the duty free shop. And a lot of people get out of the car light a cigarette, smoke enough of it to the door and then put it out in the ash tray. Well, there's like an entire cigarette being put out. So my sister would run down there. It was four blocks from where we lived. It took us five minutes. She'd run there, grabbed the cigarettes out of the, out of the ash tray and those were the cigarettes we'd smoke because they were pretty much full. 

Rich Bennett 5:10
Wow, 

Meridee Hlokoff 5:11
So gross. Anyways, then she started stealing from my parents and things like that. And so she one time I was sitting with her and I was like, I want to try and she was like, okay, but you actually have to smoke it because they're really hard to get. And I was like, okay. And so I like took it and I take a puff and I blost like not 

Rich Bennett 5:28
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 5:28
even in my lungs. They would go in my mouth and I, and that's how I smoked and my sister was like, do you know how hard it is for me to get like, you're wasting it. And I was like, wasting it. Like, it tastes like crap. 

Rich Bennett 5:39
They're no bad inhale. 

Meridee Hlokoff 5:40
Yeah, like, what am I doing? Let me show you how to do it. So she's like, okay, take a puff. So I stick it in my lips and I put it in my mouth and she punches me in the stomach and I go and she 

Rich Bennett 5:52
oh 

Meridee Hlokoff 5:52
goes, 

Rich Bennett 5:52
my 

Meridee Hlokoff 5:53
god, I you smoke. 

Rich Bennett 5:55
Oh my god. 

Meridee Hlokoff 5:58
And so, 

Rich Bennett 5:59
oh wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:01
That what he says through he said, just imagine. 

Rich Bennett 6:03
That would have made me want to quit right then and there. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:07
The beauty of addiction, I do want to clarify, my business is not solely for smoking. My business is in a 

Rich Bennett 6:14
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:15
This business we do every addiction under the sun. We do heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, alcohol, 

porn, phones, food, sex. Like you name it, we do it. It's 

Rich Bennett 6:28
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:28
free. People from addictions using Godly is a therapy is what I do. 

But this is how addiction works. Think about it. The first time you had a drink, tell me you enjoyed the taste of alcohol. 

The first time you had a cup of coffee, tell me you 

Rich Bennett 6:47
Oh 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:47
enjoyed 

Rich Bennett 6:48
yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:48
it. 

Rich Bennett 6:49
That was nice. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:50
So here's the thing 

Rich Bennett 6:51
Yeah, 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:52
though. 

Rich Bennett 6:52
alcohol porn, I can't remember. That was a long time ago. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:55
Once enjoyed the taste of alcohol, never. Like, I never accustomed, 

Rich Bennett 6:58
yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 6:58
I'll do it. They said you have to with red wine. I never, I just found I never 

Rich Bennett 7:01
did. I won't. Nah, 

Meridee Hlokoff 7:02
I don't. 

Rich Bennett 7:02
that 

Meridee Hlokoff 7:02
I've only drank maybe 30 times in my life and I haven't drank since my 

Rich Bennett 7:05
drink. Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 7:05
third Birthday. 

And it's been a while. Let's just put it that way. 

But like that was my process, right. So the first time you do something, it's not that you even enjoy that. You enjoy the result of what you did. So you take a puff of nicotine and the crazy part is this though, because then I watched it again just a couple years ago when I took my kids on vacation. You take that puff, and it makes you feel nauseous. It makes you feel light headed. It gives you a head rash. You're kind of off. But then you go back for more. 

Rich Bennett 7:41
Yes. 

Meridee Hlokoff 7:42
What? Tell me how Bobbie said! Like you just 

Rich Bennett 7:45
it 

Meridee Hlokoff 7:45
know 

Rich Bennett 7:45
doesn't, 

Meridee Hlokoff 7:45
Who can your guts out? And the story we, I took my kids to Dominican and it was, they actually graduated in 20 and 21. So they didn't get a graduation. And so I and I had told them like the summer or the the the following winter after they graduate, I would take them away. Well, we couldn't really travel and 

Rich Bennett 8:06
right? 

Meridee Hlokoff 8:06
and all the things. So we waited. So January 2023 I take my children and their best friends and we go to the Dominican. And in Canada and I believe in the States, the maximum you can get I think in Canada is 20 Nick on those vapes. 

Rich Bennett 8:20
Oh, those I have. No, 

Meridee Hlokoff 8:22
Okay, 

Rich Bennett 8:22
I 

Meridee Hlokoff 8:22
so I'm pretty sure 

Rich Bennett 8:23
say it 

Meridee Hlokoff 8:23
I 

Rich Bennett 8:23
might. 

Meridee Hlokoff 8:23
think it might even be 30 in the States and 20. And it might even be more I don't know. But in Canada, they limited it. You cannot get what's called 50 Nick. 

Rich Bennett 8:31
Okay. 

Meridee Hlokoff 8:31
But in the Dominican, you can get 50 Nick. And in our two weeks of being there, we decided one day we would go check out the mall. We'll let them all they have this big kind of like kiosk vape store. So the kids stop. And they're all excited about this 50 Nick and I have no idea why. So they buy the 50 Nick. We go back to the hotel and we're on our way back to the hotel and he like fills up his vape thing with it. 

And they start pefin on it in the in the cab. And it was the craziest thing because you watched like this kid did it. And then this kid did it and then this kid did it. And you'd watch like that one like just like it was like they crashed. Like she'd be sitting there talking to me and all of a sudden she'd be like really quiet and just be like oh she'd slump down in her seat and you could just see she'd feel like crap. And then the next one beside her that was also talking like it was like you watch them in a row go down as they hit off this vape. And then we get back to the hotel and we do we're doing whatever and we're in the room and they all take another hit off this 50 Nick. And they're all they all end up going from like standing there talking to me to laying on my bed while we're getting ready to go for dinner. And I'm like what is happening right now 

Rich Bennett 9:38
like oh 

Meridee Hlokoff 9:39
and they're 

Rich Bennett 9:39
it's wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 9:39
Like a high you get from it and I'm like we need to have a conversation about this. Can we 

Rich Bennett 9:45
conversation? 

Meridee Hlokoff 9:45
have a about this. So we did. And it was like, the 50 net gave them this, this extra boost. But that extra boost made them so light headed that they were like stoned. 

Rich Bennett 9:55
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 9:56
But it made them nauseous because it was so potent. So then it was like, we sat down. We went down and we had dinner and we were having our conversation. It was like, can we just, can we talk like, can I talk from an addiction standpoint? 'Cause you know, like, it's been, it's been 13 years now, 14 years. Now that I've been doing what I'm doing. So I was like, I just, from an addictions point, can we talk about this? And they were like, yeah. So we actually like sat down with these kids and had a conversation about what it looks like now out of the four of them that were vaping, there's only one still vaping. And he's in 

Rich Bennett 10:29
Okay. 

Meridee Hlokoff 10:29
the process of quitting again. I mean, addiction. But 

Rich Bennett 10:33
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 10:33
it's just such an interesting thing. Like, to watch them, like, they dominoed down energy 

Rich Bennett 10:39
crowd. It's kind of scary. 

Meridee Hlokoff 10:40
Couldn't speak. Like, they probably could have spoken, but because they were comfortable with me. They just kind of sat there and they were just like, my daughter, it was the one who I was like, why are you guys even doing this? Like, look at you guys. And she was 

Rich Bennett 10:52
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 10:52
like, I don't what makes me feel so terrible. But that rush. And I'm like, I just don't have anything to say. Because already I disagree with you guys vaping in the first But 

Rich Bennett 11:01
yeah, the thing is today, today's generation, it really scares me because the vaping first of all, I mean, you have all the metal and all that in there. The energy drinks. 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:16
one, well, 

Rich Bennett 11:17
Another 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:17
okay. So can I ask you a question? I have to, 

Rich Bennett 11:19
sure. 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:20
Okay. So 

Rich Bennett 11:21
Okay. 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:21
first question. 

Yeah. I gave you a piece of it as best as it says. And said, Will you eat this? Would you do it? 

Rich Bennett 11:30
Oh hell no. 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:31
Okay. So then why you put an alcohol in your body? Because it's this exact same, 

Rich Bennett 11:37
right? 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:37
It is a class one carcinogen in the class of asbestos. And you put that in your body, it turns 

Rich Bennett 11:43
into. 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:43
straight 

Rich Bennett 11:43
I did not know that. I did not know 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:46
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:46
that. 

Meridee Hlokoff 11:47
It's wild. So that leads me to give you some information that I love this kind of information like brain things are really like, I'm kind of dorky that way. So I know, I know, I'm dorky this way. So when I found out that asbestos essentially is in the same class, I just kind of kept digging because seriously. Like it's a class one carcinogen. They're saying that the amount of alcohol you drink leads to women and breast cancer because of the what it releases in your body and all these other things, it's the number one cause of breast cancer they're saying in women. So 

Rich Bennett 12:20
Wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:21
there's all these really cool things that are coming out. Now of course, I don't know how substantiated some of the information is. They say they're doing 

Rich Bennett 12:27
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:27
studies, but I'm not sure if you've ever tried to read one of those studies, but they will put 

Rich Bennett 12:32
Oh, 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:32
you to sleep. I have read a few 

Rich Bennett 12:33
them. 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:33
of 

Rich Bennett 12:33
Even lawyers 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:34
I 

Rich Bennett 12:34
care. 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:34
will tell you I've read a few of them. And I, oh, yeah. 

So another cool thing that I found out, if you drink, say just on a night, you have one glass of wine, maybe a couple beer, not even a lot. Did you know that it takes your brain eight 

days 

Rich Bennett 12:57
to recover? Eight days. So 

Meridee Hlokoff 12:59
you do not act like your best self. You don't feel like your best self, your brain's chemicals take eight, eight days to recover from what you did on Friday, which means that 

Rich Bennett 13:10
did I know that 

Meridee Hlokoff 13:11
when you start drinking again, next Friday, your brain hasn't even fully recovered yet. So when do you ever live in the best version of yourself or when you actually feel good because in that eight day period, you are not feeling, you're starting to recover the day that 

Rich Bennett 13:28
again. 

Meridee Hlokoff 13:28
you drink 

Rich Bennett 13:28
Right. 

Wow. Holy now, I did not know that because yeah, a lot of people think it's just one days that hangover day. And then what do a lot of people do if they have that hangover? 

Meridee Hlokoff 13:41
You know the dog 

Rich Bennett 13:42
drink, yeah, yeah, I did not knew 

Meridee Hlokoff 13:45
I've 

Rich Bennett 13:45
that 

Meridee Hlokoff 13:46
and I've never been a, I've never been a one day hangover person. I think this is why I've only drank as many times as I have is because I'm like a 

Rich Bennett 13:52
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 13:52
three day hangover person. Like I feel it. I feel like crap for three days. The first day, like barely get off the coach, what a waste of a day. The second day, like I just don't feel good. I'm not as productive. The third day, I'm starting to bounce back and then by day four, I'm back to myself. That's. But even then, the science says that by day four, and I may just be more in touch with certain things with my body. So I notice them. Um, but again, day four, I'm only halfway to feeling like my best self. 

Rich Bennett 14:23
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 14:24
So interesting facts that come with this stuff. And we don't. 

Rich Bennett 14:28
Yeah, I had no idea that 

Meridee Hlokoff 14:29
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 14:29
old. 

Meridee Hlokoff 14:30
Isn't it interesting? 

Rich Bennett 14:32
It's scary. 

Meridee Hlokoff 14:33
And I think if we knew, like for example, say that alcohol was invented right now, tell me that shit would be legal. You know, as well as I do that, that would not be legal if it had been invented now because it kills 

Rich Bennett 14:47
No. 

Meridee Hlokoff 14:47
you. It causes drinking and driving, it causes fights. And then there's my one argument that I've always got, 'cause this is a real thing, like I don't drink. So people always ask, you know, I go to a party and they're like, "Do you want a drink?" They'll think that I've got, like, my dietary pats, yeah, I'm good. 

Rich Bennett 15:02
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:02
And they'll always be like, "Well, why don't you drink?" 'Cause I'm like, "Well, why don't you do heroin?" 

And they're like, "What?" That's not even the same. I'm like, "It's the exact same. I don't drink." Why does it matter? Why can't it be normal that I don't drink? 

Rich Bennett 15:16
Right. Then you don't have to have fun at a party and drink. 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:21
No. 

Rich Bennett 15:22
I mean, I'll never forget this. 'Cause I used to DJ and one of the weddings we DJed was a dry wedding. Probably one of the best weddings we ever 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:31
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 15:31
did. 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:32
And one of 

Rich Bennett 15:33
And 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:33
my 

Rich Bennett 15:33
then... 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:34
favorite sayings is just this. Have you ever seen someone get high and cause a car accident? 

No, 'cause they're at home on their coach eating snacks. 

That mean- Could 

Rich Bennett 15:49
you get me more Doritos? 

Meridee Hlokoff 15:52
What are you doing? No, you can't. Actually, I don't need to drive to get their stoner chips and stuff. They're coming to them. 

Rich Bennett 15:57
Do you know, that's a funny thing. I don't know how it was in Canada, but during COVID, one of the things they kept hoping, open here in the States, was the liquor 

Meridee Hlokoff 16:08
Tell 

Rich Bennett 16:08
stores. 

Meridee Hlokoff 16:08
me that's not interesting. 

Rich Bennett 16:09
And they even allowed restaurants to where they would deliver alcohol to Yes. 

Meridee Hlokoff 16:16
Tell me that's not interesting. 

Rich Bennett 16:18
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 16:18
You know. Class 1 carcinogen, it's legal. And why would they keep those stores open and increase addiction? And it literally has ex or what's the word I'm looking for? It is like exacerbated. It is the word I'm looking for addiction. I have people who used to drink and know a glass of wine all the weekend that they were stay at home moms because they had just had babies kind of thing. And now they have a five year old and they're in alcoholic. 

Rich Bennett 16:44
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 16:45
And they're like, I didn't even realize I had a problem. But now I drink a bottle a night. So now I'm dealing with like a mom with a five year old kid who's in alcoholic. 

Rich Bennett 16:55
People don't realize, especially when it comes to alcohol or even drugs. That one that will never happen, it can creep up on you very, very easily. I've had, I've talked to people that are in addiction recovery. Mainly, with drugs and most of them. 

The gateway drug was either alcohol or marijuana. Sometimes prescription drugs for the 

Meridee Hlokoff 17:24
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:24
pain. But most of the time it is marijuana or 

Meridee Hlokoff 17:27
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:27
L. 

Meridee Hlokoff 17:28
And that's the slow stepping stone. And usually if it's by prescription, you're already at such a high opiate level that like there's no stepping stones that you go from your opiate to your heroin or your fentanyl because it's the cheapest thing and it's the easiest to access. So addiction has just gotten out of control. 

Rich Bennett 17:45
Oh, it has all types of addiction. I mean, the, you mentioned when we start food addiction sex addiction. 

Meridee Hlokoff 17:53
Let's go back to the food addiction for a second. Because if you look at, actually, let's just go back to all the addictions. If you look at what we're doing, we are covering up the feelings. We don't want to feel with the shit we want to 

Rich Bennett 18:05
money. 

Meridee Hlokoff 18:05
put in our 

Rich Bennett 18:06
Yes, you're right. Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 18:07
So instead of me feeling my feelings and healing my trauma, which is the actual problem, I've created a solution that is killing me, which is drugs, alcohol to mood. We have an obesity problem. And yes, I'm all about body positivity because we don't have a choice. I have lots of people who are super, super healthy people. They eat very well, they're vegetarians. And yet their body composition is the way it is. They go to the gym and do all the things. So I'm all about body positivity. Morbidual BC is killing you. That's not okay. So no, that's not body positivity. Now, what you're doing and the reason you're so big is because you eat your feelings. Now, there's two different ways it goes. And I am the opposite. So your stress Meridian and your your appetite Meridian run along the same, they're the same Meridian and they run from the bottom of your, like under your finger, your pinky, down kind of the inside of your arm and under. Now, because they are the same Meridian, if you're feeling stressed out, you're going to either eat a lot or eat nothing at all. And I'm the person who when I get stressed out, my stomach bothers me. 

Rich Bennett 19:24
And 

Meridee Hlokoff 19:25
now I'm not eating anything at all. 

So people are doing the opposite, which is why they're obese, because they're stuffing their feelings down by releasing endorphins because they're sticking food. You need to remember your stomach is a second brain. It tells your brain what to do next, how to function, what nutrients it has. If we're eating super ultra-prus and processed foods, you're creating a totally different addiction, and your cravings are withdrawal symptoms. 

Rich Bennett 19:58
It's funny how when I started losing weight and I did it because my A1C was how diabetes runs in the family. I said I'm the both of my brothers and my sister have diabetes I said I'm not getting 

Meridee Hlokoff 20:13
it. 

Rich Bennett 20:13
so 

Meridee Hlokoff 20:13
It's a dangerous 

Rich Bennett 20:14
that's why 

Meridee Hlokoff 20:14
disease 

Rich Bennett 20:14
I started losing it. Yeah, but I stopped eating a lot of the processed foods. I started eating like fresh vegetables fresh fruit. 

I was always like my meat and my fish but I was watching what I was getting. I tried I tried all the time to get the fresh stuff as much as possible but the only thing I get frozen sometimes I'll buy the frozen fruit to make sure there's no sugar in it. 

Meridee Hlokoff 20:42
So actually frozen fruits and vegetables because they they have more nutrients in them than fresh because fresh lose some of their nutritional value during transportation. Whereas the other ones are flash frozen so the vitamins and stuff inside them are frozen into the vegetable. 

Rich Bennett 21:03
So if you get fresh get it from a local farm. 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:06
Of course and I mean fresh is always 

Rich Bennett 21:07
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:07
going to be best but just know that if you don't have fresh as an option or you can't afford fresh the option of frozen is not a bad option. It's an excellent option. 

Rich Bennett 21:17
Okay, you're 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:19
Oh, it's an 

Rich Bennett 21:20
scared 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:20
excellent 

Rich Bennett 21:20
you're scared me 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:21
option. 

Rich Bennett 21:21
there. 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:21
It's got more than 

Rich Bennett 21:22
2 to say I don't want to give up my smoothies. 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:25
No, this is good. 

Rich Bennett 21:28
I love my smoothies don't take my breakfast away from me Mary I don't want that. 

Oh God. No, it's just addiction is scary and people don't. I want to say yeah, and I want to say I don't care who you are I guarantee you. 

If not now some point in your life you are addicted to something. 

Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:55
Okay, 

Rich Bennett 21:55
Oh yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 21:57
let's look at it in a different way because if you think about it this way you're going to be like oh wait what if addiction is just super focused energy. 

You're 

super focused on avoiding something. So you're super focused on think about this like really think about it. They're so focused. Let's go to people on the streets they're so focused on getting drugs they get drugs at any calls 

Rich Bennett 22:24
right 

Meridee Hlokoff 22:26
super focused behavior. That's what addiction is. So now we need to the key to getting through addiction though is you need to heal your shit. Excuse my 

Rich Bennett 22:35
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 22:35
language for those of you guys who don't want to hear that but the truth is true 

Rich Bennett 22:39
fine. 

Meridee Hlokoff 22:40
We have to work on our childhood trauma essentially all of our childhood trauma is the same I'm not enough. 

Okay, we need to work on that part that allows us to live in a different way. So I have had to I don't drink obviously I don't smoke. 

I was occasionally smoking marijuana. I smoked marijuana for years before that because I was in chronic pain hired myself 

Rich Bennett 23:05
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:05
to rehabilitation, rehabilitation coach who changed my life. So I was like I'm going to try putting smoking pot almost 18 months later. I was just like this is amazing. 

I actually have to sit and feel uncomfortable when I feel uncomfortable. 

Rich Bennett 23:21
Huh? 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:22
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 23:23
you have women explain that 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:25
I 

Rich Bennett 23:25
one 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:25
need 

Rich Bennett 23:25
yet this 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:25
You know when you're sitting there and you're your something is said and you don't like the way it feels and or 

Rich Bennett 23:31
yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:31
you hurt or you're stressed out and there's things you need to feel so we go. You know I need to go have a drink. Oh my God, I need a cigarette I can't do this you know I need to get me a chocolate bar. You are trying to stuff how uncomfortable you are down so you don't have to feel it anymore. So you're not sitting in discomfort because the minute you feel uncomfortable you go do something to get rid of the discomfort 

Rich Bennett 23:59
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 23:59
So what if we don't have cigarettes alcohol food marijuana all these things to go to you have to sit and I mean I used to I went from like okay fine cigarettes to marijuana to food to the gym. That was my that was my favorite addiction I'm going to the gym to you know like it was one extreme to another to another to another I was always bailing on sitting with my feelings. 

Rich Bennett 24:24
Right 

Meridee Hlokoff 24:24
and then I actually had to sit with my feelings and it was it's been a game changer it's uncomfortable sometimes but my levels and where I go to and grow as a human being like a different level of a human. I I just I don't have anything to go to to to upon myself all on don't have anything to cover that feeling up with so you have to sit with it. And there's a really interesting saying that if feeling last 90 seconds a feeling does now say you get some kind of sensation typically a feeling say an emotion. is typically brought on by a sensation in your body, so if I feel anxious, normally it's brought on by this weird sensation that I get in my belly. That's how... But what it is is I got a weird sensation in my belly and I attached a story of I'm anxious and decided what that feeling was. So instead of this feeling just moving through my body and being gone in 90 seconds, I've attached some kind of something to it, some story to it. Now, I'm going to chase that thing down a rabbit hole of what ifs, 

right? Think about how many times we sit here and think about, "Oh man, what would happen if I crashed? What would happen if I did this?" Our thoughts are always on the what if the bad happens. What if... 

Rich Bennett 25:49
Right. 

Get that negativity out of head. 

Meridee Hlokoff 25:57
So instead of attaching to all of these feelings that are surfacing and creating a story so that I can rabbit hole that freaking story, sitting on your couch doing nothing. You can rabbit hole story and screw yourself right up in your head. 

Rich Bennett 26:11
Oh yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 26:12
So instead, let the feeling go. Okay, so my body felt something interesting because the thing with my kids was my kids started to tell me, you know, like I'm anxious. Like, and I noticed it would always happen like, say right before we went through biking. And I would say to them, it's odd to get anxious too, but it's not actually anxiety. And if you pay attention to the sensations in your body, your anxiety and your excitement feel the exact same way. And it's funny because my kids would always say, well, I got the poops. The anxious poops. And I was like, that's excitement too. Like, okay, so we're going to California, do you have the anxious poops now? And they're like, yeah. And I was like, 

Rich Bennett 26:50
oh, 

Meridee Hlokoff 26:51
sensation in your body, what is it? Because when I feel anxious, I often will be like, oh, I'm excited about something that's going to happen, 

Rich Bennett 27:00
right? 

Meridee Hlokoff 27:00
What a way to switch your negativity into a positive. Oh, yay, something's going. Now that feeling's gone in 90 seconds. 

Rich Bennett 27:09
See, and that positive, when you can sit there and trigger and start thinking of stuff that's positive, that's probably the best, well, besides love, one of the best, yeah, I would say one of the best addictions 

Meridee Hlokoff 27:22
can

Rich Bennett 27:23
you just align yourself with positivity. 

You're listening to the conversations with rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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Meridee Hlokoff 28:44
I will tell you, when I first started this whole journey of like positivity back in 2005 when I watched the secret. 

Rich Bennett 28:52
Oh me too, I 

Meridee Hlokoff 28:53
it, 

Rich Bennett 28:53
loved 

Meridee Hlokoff 28:53
reached my life, changed. 

Rich Bennett 28:57
Likewise, 

Meridee Hlokoff 28:57
when I first watched it, I saw the 

woman, remember she gets out of bed, she stubs her toe, rips her nylons like it was just like this perpetual bad day, and I was like, that's me. That's what my life looks like every day. It was, and I'm not joking, that's how I felt about my life. And I was so miserable and they took everything so personal and all these things, and then that basically what I took from watching the secret initially was no bad thoughts, no negative, nothing time to switch to positive. So we have say 60,000 thoughts in our head and there's only maybe 10,000 that are controlled. So if there's 10,000 that are controlled, that means there's 50,000 random thoughts going through your head, which means I listen to myself more than I speak to myself. 

And I'm sorry but have you listened to that person in there because they talk a lot of shit? 

Rich Bennett 29:57
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 29:58
So I also, I was like okay, I'm gonna speak to myself more than I listen if I can, and every time I have a negative thought I'd replace it with a positive one. So stop my toe in the morning, my nylons. I'm like well, get some muscles to wear nylons today and throw them in the garbage and move on. 

Rich Bennett 30:15
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 30:15
I don't know. Somebody did something that pissed me off. it's okay they did that this is an opportunity to grow trying to take whatever shitty thought I had and turned it into a positive one that would allow me to then find some kind of peace in it and positivity. And I will tell you it took me one year to get to 50% positive thoughts. But what I noticed was once I hit 50% it was just a snowball like once you hit 50% you hit that 51 as the negative comes your brain automatically is switching 

Rich Bennett 30:48
right 

Meridee Hlokoff 30:49
so I will tell you it's worth it because it changed my life and I'm always often told by a lot of people you're the most positive person I've ever met in my life. 

Rich Bennett 30:58
I hear that too. Well people don't realize it takes practice it takes a lot of practice to align yourself with positivity and the sad thing is 

it's like devil and god you know 

negativity seems to breed a lot more than positivity and I think that's because for some strange reason it's too easy to accept 

Meridee Hlokoff 31:27
it feeds the story that we built in our subconscious to be less than enough and then we go down that road 

Rich Bennett 31:37
yeah 

Meridee Hlokoff 31:38
right 

Rich Bennett 31:38
it's I god when I watch and only realized that the movie came before the book the secret 

Meridee Hlokoff 31:46
yeah 

Rich Bennett 31:46
and I watched it and it did it because at the time I when I saw it 

I was happy anxiety was bad depression was bad I the suicidal thoughts were gone but it's just I was having panic attacks a lot and it it did it it changed two books that one and the other one I always mention is um who were they out my oh two seas with mori 

Meridee Hlokoff 32:15
oh god I love to 

Rich Bennett 32:19
that book oh now the funny thing is I saw the movie first 

which was good when I and then I read the book that's the first book I ever read that literally made me 

Meridee Hlokoff 32:31
my god it was amazing I have a friend my actually my tattoo artist you can see I have a ton 

Rich Bennett 32:35
cry 

Meridee Hlokoff 32:35
of tattoos my tattoo artist actually has ALS she's in the last 

Rich Bennett 32:38
oh 

Meridee Hlokoff 32:39
stages of it right now um it's been it she's she's actually one of my best friends she's not just my tattoo artist and so she's been in the last stages of it for the last so it's been a challenge for sure um but yeah like that that book I read it actually in Vegas poolside and I was crying and people were like 

Rich Bennett 32:55
oh yeah 

Meridee Hlokoff 32:55
we're in Vegas we wonder what that girl's cry 

Rich Bennett 32:59
what 

Meridee Hlokoff 32:59
mean 

Rich Bennett 33:00
story yeah 

Meridee Hlokoff 33:02
that 

Rich Bennett 33:02
it is and now 

I read that when my mother had cancer 

yeah and then I pissed it onto her and then she went into remission yeah so that book I pissed it ran a lot that's why I tell everybody nowadays 

especially when I have authors on I tell the listeners if you purchase the book leave a four review I purchase more books for people don't pass the book 

Meridee Hlokoff 33:31
lot 

Rich Bennett 33:31
a 

Meridee Hlokoff 33:32
yeah 

Rich Bennett 33:33
I wanted to read it again I couldn't find 

Meridee Hlokoff 33:34
yeah 

Rich Bennett 33:35
you know but oh my god it did that in the secret changed my life completely for you know as far as the emotional value and actually also that's when I 

I think that's when I quit dipping quit tobacco if I'm not mistaken was shortly after that and I want I knew that helped a lot but one of the things that really helped me quit dipping was and it broke my heart my daughter was young at the time and I was going somewhere and I asked I told her my niece I said give me kisses and I went to get a kiss and they're like oh no your breath stinks and that hit me hard and I told what I said I got a quit and my wife quit smoking and I quit dipping it at the same time but yeah 15 years maybe I quit a little bit after 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:26
her 

Rich Bennett 34:27
I can't remember you know look when you get my age you forget those 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:35
hey I don't really remember what happened yesterday 

Rich Bennett 34:38
this time yeah me 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:39
for 

Rich Bennett 34:39
neither 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:39
me because I will miss this time of year I for I don't know what happened yesterday so don't ask me never 

Rich Bennett 34:43
mind 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:45
I don't 

Rich Bennett 34:46
I actually I want to get into your business but but not yet I didn't I'm going to ask 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:51
know 

Rich Bennett 34:51
you this 

Meridee Hlokoff 34:52
okay 

Rich Bennett 34:52
because when it comes to the smoking part and the cancer do you mind sharing with the listeners the family your family history 

and everything 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:02
with you I absolutely can 

Rich Bennett 35:03
how do we go from positivity 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:05
to me all right 

Rich Bennett 35:06
mean 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:06
I 

Rich Bennett 35:06
well it's raising awareness 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:08
yeah and we need we need the contrast to understand which 

Rich Bennett 35:11
yeah 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:11
one we actually want so agreed um it's interesting so let's start on my dad's side my dad's um mom 

died in her very early 50s and she had never smoked a cigarette in her life and she had cancer throughout her entire body 

So she died when I was 

6. So I'm not even going to put a date, because just let's say she died when I was 6. 

Rich Bennett 35:42
Do they know what caused the cancer? 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:44
She just had the gene or something. And I mean, this was a long time ago. I was sick. 

Rich Bennett 35:50
Right, okay, 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:51
So they probably didn't have quite as much information as they have now. 

Rich Bennett 35:54
yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 35:55
So it started with one thing and then kind of moved to another and then moved to another lymph nodes and they just kept going. So she passed... No, let's put dates. She passed in 1986, I believe. It might have been '84, but I believe it was '86. 

My dad's dad got cancer. He did smoke for like all of his life. And he would roll them and smoke them without a filter. He died of lung cancer. And I want to say it was like early 1996. It might have been 1995. 

Rich Bennett 36:26
Okay. 

Meridee Hlokoff 36:26
Then if we go over to my mom's side, my mom's dad had eight brothers and sisters. 

Rich Bennett 36:33
Good Lord. 

Meridee Hlokoff 36:34
Every single one of them is dead from cancer. 

Rich Bennett 36:39
What? 

Meridee Hlokoff 36:40
Every single one. 

Rich Bennett 36:42
Wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 36:43
Now they all died at different ages with 

Rich Bennett 36:48
Right, 

Meridee Hlokoff 36:48
different types of cancer. Like my grandfather died from stomach cancer. His sister died from breast cancer, one of his sisters, sorry. His other sister, who is my favorite aunt in the entire world, she started with breast cancer. Then it moved to something else. Then it was in her hip. Then it was in her bones, her spine, her pancreas. It just moved through her whole body. And she was my favorite person on the planet. And 

Rich Bennett 37:13
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 37:13
she died in 1994, I was 14. 

She... And it was like her brothers and sisters. There was eight of them. And every single one died from a different kind of cancer. 

My mom hasn't had cancer yet. My grandmother ended up dying from cancer, but that was on her mom's side. She ended up old age, I'm gonna say, as well as colon cancer. It was like the finisher. 

Rich Bennett 37:44
Ooh, yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 37:44
So the cancer is like rampant in that side of the family, that being said. So is the addiction to drama? 

So is the addiction 

Rich Bennett 37:52
Drama. 

Meridee Hlokoff 37:52
to stress. So is the addiction to chaos. And that releases massive amounts of cortisol, which is the stress hormone. And that will kill you. And that's the number one cause of cancer is stress. As well as bad eating, but...

Rich Bennett 38:09
Right. Wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 38:11
Yeah. And so there was so much cancer through my family that...

I mean, come on, my parents smoked, which is why I smoked. If my parents smoked, I probably wouldn't have. My 

Rich Bennett 38:22
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 38:22
sister never would have started it and then I wouldn't have started. But they're family smoked and they're family smoked and they're family smoked. So like generations and generations smoked. And then I started when I was 11. I quit when I was, I wanna say it was like 18. And then I started again. And then I quit. When I got pregnant I stayed quit. And then when I got divorced. 

My middle finger to him was drinking poison and expecting him to die by lighting a cigarette. 

Rich Bennett 38:53
Oh God. 

Meridee Hlokoff 38:54
So I decided to basically kill myself because I hated him. And that, like, 

Rich Bennett 39:00
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 39:00
tell me how that makes any sense. So I smoked for about three years and then I tried everything. I tried the pill, the patch, the gum, the... Oh I'm everything. Everything. And I failed, failed, failed, failed. And I was on the pill, this... You guys, I think you guys call it chantix. We call it champix. 

Rich Bennett 39:20
Okay. 

Meridee Hlokoff 39:21
It's an acquit smoking pill. They have an average of 17 to 20% success rates and I was on it and every time I took the pill within 30 minutes I wanted to throw up. 

And I would spend the entire day wanting to throw up, like nauseous because of this pill 'cause it's a slow release. You take it every 12 hours. And so it was terrible. I just spent the entire, I spent eight days or seven days on my couch puking my guts out. So of course I didn't smoke. But the minute I stopped taking the 

Rich Bennett 39:47
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 39:48
pill, I started smoking again. 

So I posted on my Facebook and was like, "You guys I need help, I can't do this." Like I just took a week off work to take these pills that didn't work. Now I need something and one of my friends was like, "You gotta try to pull the leaves of therapy." I didn't even ask questions. I was like, "Tell me who to call."

Rich Bennett 40:04
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:04
And it was three hours away from my home. But I drove down. I went to a concert on my way back home. I stopped. I had a treatment. The lady basically said, okay. Now don't pick up another cigarette. And I was like, this easier said than dumb lady. Bye. 

Rich Bennett 40:16
(laughing) 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:17
And I drove away. I drove home for three hours. The guy that was with me was like, holy crap. We were almost home and he's like, when are you gonna quit smoking? I was like, wait, what? And he's like, when are you gonna quit smoking? I was like, I haven't thought about it the whole way home and he's like, there's no way. And I was like, I haven't and he's like, 

Rich Bennett 40:33
wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:33
Interesting. 'Cause you keep reaching in the center console for your cigarettes and then rolling down the window. So I'm doing all the habits, but I'm not

the thought hasn't crossed my mind in that three-hour drive. And when we're 

Rich Bennett 40:49
what's 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:49
bored

Rich Bennett 40:49
your 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:50
When we're 

Rich Bennett 40:50
stain? 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:50
driving, we smoke a lot more. 

Rich Bennett 40:52
Yeah! 

Meridee Hlokoff 40:53
It's even crossed my mind. So then we got home, I quit for five years, I did amazing. 

And then everyone was in my backyard and I was like, "oh, just give me one puff, it burnt, it tastes like crap, and the next day I wanted to smoke." So one puff is exactly like doing one line of cocaine, if you're a cocaine addict, or just one bit of heroin or just one drink front, like it's all the same thing. So it messed me up and off that I was like, okay, no more, I'm done now. I'm not 

Rich Bennett 41:21
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 41:21
doing this. And just kind of like... 

I can't even explain. I knew it was

I was done with it because even in the few weeks I was doing it, it was so disgusting. 

Rich Bennett 41:35
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 41:35
Like this, again, let's go back to that coffee, the first taste of coffee, first taste of alcohol, first cigarette. They all taste like crap. So even as I was smoking it, I was like making like the "ick" face and smoking it, feeling like, "why am I doing this?" So it was just a really 

interesting thing to watch myself do these things. And then I was like, I want to buy this, when I started smoking and I went down and I was like, I want to learn how to do this. So I paid this woman and then it was like, I don't even know what I'm doing. She literally spent an hour with me and was like, this is what you do and I was like, but I don't get it. So I really started digging in, I really started like studying it. What is cold leaves are therapy. So I found out, you know the red light therapy that is a trend now now. You guys need to remember, I've been doing this for 14 years. So 14 years ago, not much was known about this. 

Rich Bennett 42:26
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:27
It's... For about 50, but it's not well known. 

Rich Bennett 42:30
Fifty. 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:31
It's been around for about 50. 

Rich Bennett 42:33
Wow, 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:33
On not being said, we're combining Western Medicine of this modern laser to Eastern Medicine that's been around for thousands and thousands of years. Acupuncture. 

Rich Bennett 42:43
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:44
So we're combining 

Rich Bennett 42:44
Oh 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:44
these. 

Rich Bennett 42:45
yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:45
It's great. It's just amazing outcome. And what is it? So cold laser therapy is that red light therapy that you're seeing everywhere that's this new trend that everyone is just like, oh my god, it's so amazing. Red light, so good for you. It is. 

Rich Bennett 42:57
Mm-hmm. 

Meridee Hlokoff 42:57
Has been forever. And that is, it's that and a combination of low level radiation. Everyone freaks out as soon as I say radiation. It's low level radiation. You can't see it. You can't, you can't feel it. Like it's, like it doesn't exist. 

Rich Bennett 43:14
Think 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:14
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 43:15
of something small, a lot smaller than a microwave. 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:17
I mean, quite a bit. 

It's, so I don't know if they have these down there, but do you remember when you're a kid you went to the fair? I'm going to say like the 80s and 90s. You went to the fair or you went to the carnival ride or whatever and they 

Rich Bennett 43:32
a 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:32
used to 

Rich Bennett 43:32
right 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:32
have big pencils that were like that big around. And like, 

Rich Bennett 43:37
oh, yeah, 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:38
14 inches long. That's what my 

Rich Bennett 43:40
The 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:40
laser. 

Rich Bennett 43:41
big, 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:42
It 

Rich Bennett 43:42
really. 

Meridee Hlokoff 43:43
is, it's really, it's quite interesting. It's just like a big pencil. And so we take that. And if you have energy, meridians running through your body. This is the acupuncture side of things. So if there's a meridian that runs through the center of my finger, and I mean like the center, like if I had like a piece of metal, I'd have to run it from the tip down to the knuckle. But imagine that that's where your energy meridian runs right down the center. 

Rich Bennett 44:07
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 44:08
So if I take a needle, basic acupuncture, we just barely pierce the skin when the inner energy meridians in the inside. So it just pushes and puts a little bit of pressure on which is why they have to leave you sitting there for about five minutes because it's, or four or five minutes, sorry, 

Rich Bennett 44:24
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 44:24
Stimulating the energy in that to start spinning to start moving through your body. Okay. And there's various ones along there that they're stimulating that energy. 

What we do with the cold layers of therapy is when we put it on your finger, you can see it on the other side. 

Rich Bennett 44:40
Oh wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 44:41
Because it penetrates all the way through the meridian, which accomplishes more in less time and creates a better outcome than it's slowly starting to release. It actually stimulates it to go real fast and creates the outcome way faster. So like I said, kind of at the beginning, we're just the instructors. I'm going to tell 

Rich Bennett 44:58
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 44:58
your body what I want it to do by providing it this information using the energy meridians in your body 

Rich Bennett 45:06
almost sounds like, almost sounds like crystal rakey, but with the laser, 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:13
Kind of. So crystal rakey and rakey in general is more of 

Rich Bennett 45:17
right? 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:17
an energy medicine, 

Rich Bennett 45:20
right? 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:20
Whereas we're doing, I mean, it is a type of energy medicine because of what we're doing. What we're using the most centralized, 

like highways in your 

Rich Bennett 45:35
you. 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:35
body 

Rich Bennett 45:35
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:36
to 

Rich Bennett 45:36
And 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:36
provide 

Rich Bennett 45:36
it works faster. 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:37
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 45:39
It works a lot. Well, I mean, that car ride, hell, you weren't even thinking about the cigarette. And that was your first 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:46
And 

Rich Bennett 45:46
treatment. 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:47
that's exactly and so for 85% of my clients on someone who this is the first time I've ever have a lazy with here, the 85% of people walk away like that. 

Rich Bennett 45:55
Wow. 

Meridee Hlokoff 45:55
They walk away and they just forget. The other 15% 

100% of your craving is gone, but the thought is not and the thought is the hard part to get past. Because what's and now that the cool part of what was happening there is the bugs in your stomach are the ones addicted to nicotine and when you smoke you feed them. When you stop smoking they take five days to die. And while they're dying they screen bloody murder saying, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need and being it's your second brain, it's sending to your top brain saying, I need, I need, I need cigarette, cigarette, cigarette, cigarette, cigarette, cigarette, or what cigarette, like that's what you hear 

Rich Bennett 46:38
right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 46:38
And that part is the part that makes it so hard to stop addiction. Is that 

Rich Bennett 46:43
it's hard to rewire 

Meridee Hlokoff 46:43
your days that these bugs need to die and then shut up. 

Rich Bennett 46:48
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 46:48
Once they've shut up people feel like they have control now. But the cravings gone. So even people that are struggling those 15% that struggle, most of them are still successful because I also provide them with some support and coaching as to how to cope with life without that. Here's some new coping mechanisms for when that happens. You would have went outside and had a third a cigarette which is about 30 pups go stand outside and have 30 pups of fresh oxygen. You'll be high. It's when you come back inside. 

Rich Bennett 47:17
All right, so with you when you did you went took that three hour drive, how many sessions they run at lips here? How many sessions did it take you before you finally said 

Meridee Hlokoff 47:30
one. 

Rich Bennett 47:30
That's it. Just that one. 

Meridee Hlokoff 47:32
And 99% of our clients stop on the first one. The problem is staying quick. But that's where I'm different than the majority of the people that you're going to find that do what I do. 

Rich Bennett 47:43
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 47:44
I don't give you like you're going to find a lot of these places that are cold laser therapy places. It's unlimited treatments for eight weeks because most people don't need treatments over the next eight weeks because your endorphins are climbing. 

Rich Bennett 47:56
Yeah. 

Meridee Hlokoff 47:57
It's after they start to crash we can't retreat for a while. We're going to let you crash another eight weeks and then we can retreat to spike you back up again. But if we retreat and create a new level of normal and teach your brain how to make this new level of normal you'll feel better. And so this kind of leads me into this is the coolest at you're going to find really interesting. So if you have used any substance for extended period of time. So even 30 days to 30 years, it does not matter. When you've used a substance for a long period of time you have actually changed the chemical and physiological makeup of your brain and then when you... 

Rich Bennett 48:43
I 

Meridee Hlokoff 48:43
that. 

Rich Bennett 48:43
believe 

Meridee Hlokoff 48:44
And then when you stop the chemicals that you've been forcing to happen crash they need to recover. So they just completely crash because your body has to find a way to regulate and bring you back. 

Rich Bennett 48:55
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 48:56
Did you know that that regulation period is 14 to 18 months? 

Rich Bennett 49:01
Whoa. 

Meridee Hlokoff 49:02
So what happens? Because we're taking people putting them in detox seven to 14 days and then pulling them out of detox and popping them into a rehab center. And when we pop them in that rehab center because the rehab center treats their addiction it treats their habits it treats their trauma. But we pop them into this addiction center probably at the lowest low that they'll have in their lives. Probably feeling just above where they started using in the first place. 

Rich Bennett 49:33
Right. 

Meridee Hlokoff 49:34
So now have you been depressed? 

Rich Bennett 49:37
Me in the past year. 

Meridee Hlokoff 49:38
Okay. When we're depressed everything is so much worse than it is. Everything is so much more personal than it is. Everything hurts way more than it should. And it's not that someone was extra mean to you. It's literally that in this moment 

it's my depression everything is 

Rich Bennett 49:59
worse. 

Meridee Hlokoff 50:00
So when we start dealing with their trauma from this depressed place no shit they can't make it three weeks three months or a year because they're incredibly depressed and now you want to start surfacing trauma. So what happens with laser quit we actually regulate your endorphins for you immediately 

and then they slowly continue to get better and better and better as we continue to treat you in any addiction. So now instead of someone needing this 14 to 18 months to be depressed deal with their trauma I'm actually giving the the ability to feel almost normal to start to deal with their trauma. Now they're not in a depressed state. Their dopamine levels are almost normal. They're tonal levels are almost normal. Their other endorphins including the bliss molecule are almost 

Rich Bennett 50:56
normal. All right. So with that and and trauma is the number one 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:01
you. 

Rich Bennett 51:02
issue for 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:02
Yep. Yep. 

Rich Bennett 51:04
Now do you also do the therapy part? 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:07
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 51:08
Talk it to it. 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:09
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 51:09
really. 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:10
So I'm also I'm certified life business addictions hang on there's more 

business life addictions coach 

I am an energy healer I I have a lot of certifications okay 

Rich Bennett 51:29
damn 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:30
I used to think that education was like the only way to get through life and now I'm realizing 

experience is the most important 

Rich Bennett 51:39
part experiences put that education 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:41
it doesn't as long as you're willing to learn also an experience I think my experiences 

Rich Bennett 51:45
ever yeah 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:45
taught me a lot more than my education ever did 

Rich Bennett 51:49
wow so what made you decide to start the 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:51
then 

Rich Bennett 51:51
business 

Meridee Hlokoff 51:53
I went to school so my parents are both entrepreneurs it's just kind of a thing and then um I went to school 

and I became a legal secretary and an administrative assistant and then I realized as a legal secretary that I would be paid 20 dollars an hour so that I could be built out at 400 

Rich Bennett 52:18
oh no 

Meridee Hlokoff 52:19
and I thought 

no this is not the life I want I'm out 

Rich Bennett 52:25
isn't that like being a slave more alive 

Meridee Hlokoff 52:27
yeah people 

Rich Bennett 52:29
know don't look at it that way but technically 

Meridee Hlokoff 52:32
yeah I didn't want to build someone else's dream anymore I wanted to build my own 

Rich Bennett 52:35
right wow so what and what year did you start this 

Meridee Hlokoff 52:39
so this one I started in 2011 and my bookkeeping business I started in 2005 

Rich Bennett 52:47
all right now how businesses do you actually 

Meridee Hlokoff 52:50
have so I have let's just say I have two businesses one 

has and locations one has seven staff 

Rich Bennett 52:58
you have ten locations 

Meridee Hlokoff 52:59
a 

Rich Bennett 53:00
and 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:00
laser 

Rich Bennett 53:00
that's for 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:00
you 

Rich Bennett 53:02
okay all right when you going to bring something 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:04
we're working on it 

Rich Bennett 53:05
are you really 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:06
on it I'm even working on my nexus which might help make it so that I get my visa better so I look we're working on it but all your listeners reach out I'm doing this partnership thing which basically have you ever heard of like that sono bello fat melting machine where they like drop it off in all these spas and then the spas offer it 

Rich Bennett 53:24
is that the em sculpt 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:26
something like that yeah 

Rich Bennett 53:27
yeah em sculpt near 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:28
yeah so they dropped that off they train the person then they take a commission that's what I do you have a business and you want to start offering some of these services call me we can partner I only take a commission when you make money 

Rich Bennett 53:41
all right when you come into the east 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:44
coast make this happen 

Rich Bennett 53:45
you 

actually yeah here's because your story is amazing 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:50
thank 

Rich Bennett 53:50
I think and I know we didn't even there's a lot we didn't 

Meridee Hlokoff 53:54
I know and I'm like literally running late for my next appointment 

Rich Bennett 53:58
well I want to you this though when's the book coming 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:02
we're not there 

Rich Bennett 54:03
out 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:03
yet I'm a little too all over the place in my thinking it's something I thought about but I feel like I even in the stories I start telling I like drift off and then I come back I don't know if I could write a book don't know if I could write a book but I do want to be a speaker I want to speak on stages 

Rich Bennett 54:18
I was going to ask you about that too so what's stopping you 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:23
I got to get something sorted in my other business first 

Rich Bennett 54:26
okay 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:26
like right now this it's tax season for 

Rich Bennett 54:30
us and 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:30
I work right I work probably 14 hours at the office and then I come home and work on the laser quit business so I'm to say that I'm exhausted right now is the biggest understatement of my life but 

Rich Bennett 54:42
you guys 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:42
I will be in Mexico on a beach in less than 10 days so 

Rich Bennett 54:48
I don't forget you got a train for that five 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:50
i know i'm working on it 

Rich Bennett 54:54
all right so something very important tell everybody the website and how 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:58
get 

Rich Bennett 54:58
they can 

Meridee Hlokoff 54:58
so if you guys want to find me look up laserquit therapy dot c a or laserquit dot net and laser spelled L. A. S. E. R. not L. A. Z. 

Rich Bennett 55:11
And 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:11
then if you want yeah L. A. S. E. R. Q. 

Rich Bennett 55:15
T. 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:15
U. I. dot net if you want to find me on socials you can find me at laserquit dot net or sorry no laserquit dot therapy and if you want to find me personally it's sober coach mayor. 

Rich Bennett 55:28
Wait a minute I'm confused there's another way to spell laser 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:31
there's only one way in it's 

Rich Bennett 55:35
L. A. S. Yeah 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:36
everyone else thinks it's L. A. Z. 

Rich Bennett 55:39
What the? 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:39
uh huh it's shocking 

Rich Bennett 55:41
They don't know how 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:41
so 

Rich Bennett 55:41
to 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:41
many people put in L. A. Z. E. R. 

Rich Bennett 55:44
They don't know how to spell 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:45
yeah. 

So 

Rich Bennett 55:49
when you go to Mexico did kids going with you? 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:51
Uh not this time I mean that being 

Rich Bennett 55:53
No 

Meridee Hlokoff 55:53
said my children are 23 and 22 so 

Rich Bennett 55:56
right. 

Hell then when I was at y'all well never mind I couldn't go away with my parents I was in the Marine Corps so I mean I know 

Meridee Hlokoff 56:06
we were just talking we need another family vacate so we're gonna do it soon but this time no mom needs to escape and like get away from everyone in the whole world

Rich Bennett 56:14
well if you ever decide to take a vacation and come out to Maryland let me know and I'll will show you guys what true steamed crabs taste