Broken-ish

What happens when you spend years building trust, creating hope, and preparing to deliver something your community desperately needs... only to hit a roadblock you never saw coming?

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, Roman Braly and Christopher Bennett pull back the curtain on one of the most challenging chapters in Ava Health's journey so far.

After years of building relationships across Mesa County and the Western Slope, the vision was working. People were calling. Referrals were coming in. The community was ready. Then, just days before opening, everything got more complicated.

...

In this episode of Brokenish, we sit down with a clinician who was helping people recover from addiction… while quietly struggling with his own.

This is the reality most people never see.

We talk about:

One of the most powerful moments in this episode:

“I used heroi...

What if everything you’ve been told about marketing in behavioral health is wrong?

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, we break down how we launched a treatment program in a community that didn’t trust providers… without relying on ads, big budgets, or traditional marketing strategies.

No Google campaigns. No massive ad spend. No shortcuts.

Instead, we focused on something most organizations ignore: real community engagement and trust.

And the results speak for themselves: • 168 qualified referrals in the first 90 days • 47 employees hired with no hiring struggles • Near-perfect early retention • Clients and st...

“I went hard for a life that destroyed… now I go hard for a life that creates.”

This episode of Broken-ish is raw, unfiltered, and real.

Hectik shares his story of growing up surrounded by addiction, getting his first charge at just 8 years old, and spending 17 years behind bars. What started as something that looked “cool” quickly turned into a cycle of destruction, prison, and losing the people who mattered most.

But this isn’t just a story about addiction.

It’s a story about choice. About rock bottom. About what happens when y...

Most people aren’t fully honest. Not with their family. Not with their therapist. But put someone in a barber chair… and something changes. In this episode of Broken-ish, we sit down with a barber who believes he’s saving lives one haircut at a time and he might not be wrong. From everyday clients quietly carrying pain… to cutting hair for the unhoused and restoring dignity… to deep conversations about mental health, purpose, and what it really means to live… This conversation goes way deeper than you’d expect. What starts as a haircut often turns into something else entirely...

What if the person you’d write off… became the person who saves others? In this episode of Broken-ish, we sit down with a woman who spent 13 years in prison for a crime she didn’t physically commit… after a life shaped by addiction, people-pleasing, and one decision that changed everything. She was: A high-performing athlete Using meth in high school Running with the wrong crowd Charged with murder under the felony rule Pregnant… and on the run Then everything collapsed. Prison. Homelessness. Losing control. But what happened next is the part nobody expects. Today, she works on criminal defense te...

What does it actually take to forgive someone who took everything from you?

In this episode of Brokenish, we sit down for a raw and honest conversation about grief, anger, and the kind of forgiveness most people believe is impossible.

After losing her sister in a tragic accident, today’s guest carried years of hatred toward the man responsible. The pain was overwhelming. The anger was real. And for a long time, forgiveness felt completely out of reach.

At the same time, Roman shares his own story growing up in foster care, carrying de...

This episode is different. Nine days before opening our doors, the largest payer in our community paused providers. Everything we built for over two years… gone overnight. Most programs would panic. Some would blame. Others would quietly fail. We did something different. In this episode of Inside Ava Health, we take you behind the scenes of one of the hardest moments we’ve faced and how it forced us to: Rethink our entire strategy in real time Get out of the “ivory tower” and onto the front lines with staff and clients Build tighter systems, better care, and stronger culture...

9 days before we opened, we got denied a contract to serve the exact community we were built to serve. Everything in place. Every box checked. And it didn't matter. This episode is for the operators, clinicians, and executives who are tired of pretending the system rewards integrity. It doesn't. Not automatically. Not without a fight. Christopher Bennett (CEO) and David Purinton (CFO) of Ava Health sit down to unpack what actually happened — the operational reality, the financial exposure, and the decisions we made when the ground disappeared beneath us. No spin. No retrospective wisdom that makes us sound smarter th...

We’ve been open for 30 days, and the reality of healthcare leadership is a lot more like a chess game than we expected. From the "friction" of accountability to the hope of seeing "Patient One" finally walk through the door, this is the raw truth of building Ava Health.

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, our leadership team goes behind the scenes of our first month post-opening. We’re moving past the "polished" brand image to discuss the actual operational challenges of navigating state contracts, managing provider networks, and the mental shift required to move from bein...

What if everything you’ve been told about addiction treatment is wrong?

The rehab industry is worth billions… yet nearly 90% of people relapse. So the real question is:

Is treatment failing… or are we defining success completely wrong?

In this episode of Brokenish, we unpack the uncomfortable truth about addiction, recovery, and why the system might be measuring the wrong things entirely.

This isn’t a conversation about quick fixes or perfect sobriety. It’s about reality.

You’ll hear:

Everyone talks about chasing your dreams.

Nobody talks about who pays the price.

In this brutally honest episode of Broken-ish, we pull back the curtain on ambition, purpose, and the quiet casualties that come with building something that matters.

The world sees the momentum. The business growth. The mission. The impact.

But behind every dream is a harder truth:

The people who love you the most often carry the heaviest cost.

Late nights. Missed dinners. Phone calls from your kids saying they miss you. Partners holding down...

Behavioral health care in rural communities is messy, complicated, and often misunderstood.

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, we pull back the curtain on the realities of community mental health. From fractured systems and stigma to funding challenges and the everyday work of rebuilding trust, this conversation explores what it actually takes to support people struggling with addiction, mental health, homelessness, and instability.

Our guest shares his journey from working as a community employment specialist helping individuals with mental health and addiction find work, to stepping into leadership during one of the most turbulent...

What if grief isn’t just about death? What if it’s about identity, addiction, relationships… and the parts of ourselves we have to let go?

In this episode of Brokenish, we dive into one of the heaviest and most avoided subjects in life: grief.

After experiencing a recent loss, we sit down for an honest, raw conversation about death, fear, avoidance, and what it really means to move through pain instead of numbing it. From losing parents to putting down a beloved dog, from addiction recovery to the “absence of presence,” this conversation challenges the way we...

Homelessness is one of the most talked-about issues in America.

But how much do we actually understand about it?

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, we sit down with leaders working directly on the front lines in Grand Junction, Colorado to unpack what’s really happening behind the scenes. No politics. No headlines. Just real conversations.

Here’s what we explore:

• Why 75 to 90 percent of people living on the streets do not actually want to be there • The real barriers beyond “mental health and addiction” • Why “housing first” isn’t the full solution •...

Most people only show the highlight reel.

This episode is about everything they hide.

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Chris sits down with David Purinton, CFO, partner, and one of the most quietly resilient humans he knows, to talk about what success actually looks like when you zoom out.

Not the wins. The failures. The shame. The jobs you never put on your resume. The moments where you’re convinced you are the failure.

From working in plastic factories and picking up dog shit… To eviction notices, food banks, addiction, and star...

What if the biggest problem in behavioral health isn’t lack of care, but monetized chaos?

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, we have an unfiltered conversation about how confusion, vague timelines, hidden rules, and “clinical complexity” are often built into the structure of treatment systems and how that chaos dysregulates families before care even begins.

We explore why transparency is not a marketing tactic, but a form of care.

This episode dives into:

In this episode of Brokenish, we ask a question a lot of men quietly feel but rarely say out loud.

What if communication isn’t the problem… but expectations are?

We dig into why so many men struggle with communication, especially in relationships, and why “just talk more” completely misses the point. From avoiding emotional conversations, to assuming our partners don’t care, to believing we’re supposed to carry everything alone, this episode goes straight at the modern male identity crisis.

We talk about: • Why communication is really about what lands, not what you think...

What does recovery really look like when it’s rooted in connection, service, and meeting people exactly where they are?

In this episode of Broken-ish, we sit down with Angie, Executive Director of Peer 180, the largest recovery community organization on Colorado’s Western Slope, to talk about the long road from survival to service.

Angie’s story starts far from where she is today. At 19 years old, newly sober and running from guns, gangs, and chaos in Detroit, she believed staying clean was enough. What she learned instead was that recovery is about far more than a...

In this episode of Broken-ish, we move out of the heaviness and into the hope. Not the fake, motivational quote kind. The real kind that comes from doing hard things, telling the truth, and staying in the work long enough to see something take shape.

Using Tupac’s The Rose That Grew from Concrete as a backdrop, we get into what happens when passion and purpose finally line up, and why most people don’t “find” their passion at all. They build it through service, skill, relationships, and repetition.

We talk about:

What happens when an idea turns into something real? When comfort disappears and growth takes its place?

In this end-of-year episode of Broken-ish, we sit down to reflect on everything 2025 brought, both personally and professionally.

We start light with a surprisingly passionate debate about The Nightmare Before Christmas, then move into deeper conversations about fantasy vs realism, creativity, and how those same themes show up in real life.

From there, we unpack what it actually looked like to build Ava Health from the ground up in one year. The wins, the chaos, the...

What happens when the spotlight fades—and purpose shows up?

In this unforgettable episode of Broken-ish, we sit down with a man whose life reads like a movie script: from touring as a rapper inspired by 8 Mile, to jail, to rebuilding his life—and now leading frontline outreach for the unhoused.

This isn’t a “feel-good” story. It’s a real one.

You’ll hear what the music industry doesn’t prepare you for. What jail can take from you—and what it can give you. And why listening might be the most powerful tool we h...

In this powerful and brutally honest episode of Broken-ish, we dive into the silent crisis shaping an entire generation of men. From abandonment to emotional abuse, from addiction to incarceration, from chasing approval to losing ourselves completely, we speak the truth that so many men live but never talk about.

🎙 In this episode: • What really happens to boys who grow up without strong male role models • How distorted masculinity forms and destroys lives • The deep need for approval that can never be filled • Why gangs, addiction, and crime feel like masculinity to fatherless boys • Generational trauma and the men who c...

Families don’t come to treatment looking for education — they come looking for answers.

But what if the most ethical thing we can say is: there is no single answer?

In this episode of Inside Ava Health, a panel of experienced therapeutic consultants challenges long-held assumptions about treatment, cost, outcomes, and control. From private-pay vs. community care to data transparency and long-term wellness, this conversation asks the harder questions the industry often avoids.

You’ll hear real insights on:

The holidays are supposed to be about gratitude, family, and togetherness — but for a lot of people, they’re the hardest time of the year.

In this episode of Broken-ish, we strip away the Hallmark version of Thanksgiving and talk about the reality no one wants to post about: loneliness, addiction, incarceration, homelessness, and the quiet pain that spikes when the days get shorter and the world gets louder.

We share personal stories from foster care, jail cells, solitary confinement, and moments so small they almost get missed — moments that literally changed lives. This is a conv...

The mental health system is broken-ish—and we’ve felt the weight of it for years. In this episode, we talk honestly about burnout, deaths of despair, and why fighting the system felt like swinging in a dream.

But we also share the shift that changed everything: choosing curiosity, partnering with communities, and building real solutions from within a fractured system.

From Western Colorado to the birth of Ava Health, this is a story of purpose, alignment, and the sparks of hope that are already catching fire.

Welcome to Broken-ish. Where we hold hear...

From surfboards to boardrooms, he had it all — talent, drive, and the dream of going pro. But when addiction wiped out his surfing career, he found himself homeless on the streets of Colorado. What came next was a transformation no one saw coming: from panhandling for booze money to working in investment banking, earning an MBA, and building behavioral-health programs that change lives. This episode dives deep into resilience, purpose, and the wild detours that lead us exactly where we’re meant to be. The story of Ava Health's CFO David Purinton

In this solo episode of Broken-ish, Chris opens up about what it really means to lead with honesty — even when it’s uncomfortable. He shares how transparency can transform leadership, relationships, and entire organizations, especially in a behavioral health system built on facades. Chris reflects on his evolving friendship with Roman, the lessons learned through failure, and why “hitting rock bottom” isn’t the only path to change. From exploring what it means to be “broken-ish” to redefining fatherhood and love, this raw and reflective episode is a masterclass in vulnerability, purpose, and growth.

After 25 years in behavioral health, Ian found himself wondering if all he had left to offer was a bowl of candy on his desk — a small gesture in a system that had lost its soul. What followed was a reckoning with profit-driven treatment models, personal burnout, and a rediscovery of what real recovery work looks like.

In this deeply honest and thought-provoking conversation, Ian shares how being fired from a for-profit program became the catalyst for transformation — leading him to embrace trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, and a radical truth: the expert on the client is the client.

He lost his job, his home, and his car—all in one freezing Wyoming day. Homeless, addicted, and out of options, Chris stood at a crossroads: live or die.

What happened next would change everything.

From relapsing after his grandmother’s funeral to sleeping in fields and shelters, Chris’s story isn’t just about survival—it’s about rebirth. He went from hopelessness and addiction to leading one of Colorado’s most impactful nonprofits, helping others rise from the same darkness he once lived in.

This is the story of what happens when you refus...

From a childhood of trauma and abandonment to addiction, prison, and ultimately purpose — this episode is a raw and inspiring conversation about resilience and redemption. Roman opens up about how pain shaped his identity, how love shattered his beliefs of unworthiness, and how becoming a father ignited his mission to help others heal.

If you’ve ever felt broken, hopeless, or unseen — this episode will remind you that even the deepest wounds can lead to the greatest transformations.

🎧 Listen now to hear how one man’s story of survival became a movement of hope.

Imagine being CEO of your dream program, only to get kicked out! 😱 In this intense episode, Chris talks about the moment he felt his life fell apart. He discusses ego, loneliness, success and failure. Hard truths, real conversations and sparks of possibility from a world that's a little.... broken, ish.

Teaser for ep 1