Alex Kaplan
Co-founder
Executive Director
& Chief Vision Officer
Having survived his own challenges with substances, Alex considers himself living proof that by changing your relationship with struggle, you can build the life you envision. Now, he supports others in doing the same.
In his early 20’s, Alex started a promising acting career in Manhattan while bartending at night to get by. The unexpected death of his father sent him into a tailspin and he began to numb himself with substances to ease the pain. This turned into a full-blown addiction that lasted almost 4 years. Disconnected, disillusioned, and plummeting ever deeper into crisis, Alex was finally convinced by his closest relationships to leave New York and seek help. Over the past five years, surrounded by the steadfast support of family, friends, and colleagues, Alex has climbed his way out of addiction and into a very successful career as a writer, director, and producer, and is now the Executive Producer of a well-regarded commercial production company on the East Coast.
On his journey, Alex saw that his issue was far less about using substances than it was about WHY he used substances; it was about shame, isolation, a fear of not belonging, and a fear of not being good enough. But that’s not unique to addiction, we all experience these feelings. It’s part of being a person! Alex believes that, no matter what we struggle with, when we all feel more seen, heard, and loved, the world will be a better place. And he’s doing this through movies.
In everything he does, Alex works to transform people's relationships with themselves, others, and their belief in what's possible.