What do you do when you're tired of the life you're living but have no idea where to start? Paradise Adamson asked that question in a prayer on a dirt hillside beside the freeway, at what she calls her rock bottom. What followed was an arrest over a missing TAP card, time in county jail and in treatment, and a string of people telling her she should check out Homeboy.
In this episode, Tom Vozzo sits down with Paradise, now a navigator at Homeboy Industries who went through the 18-month trainee program herself. She shares how she went from rock bottom to walking through Homeboy's doors for the first time. She talks about what it meant to be honest in an interview when every past job had taught her to hold something back, and how she learned to treat anger as a signal instead of a flaw. She also explains why she believes healing works best as a toolbox rather than a single fix, and what it takes to guide new trainees through the same fears she once had.
Her story is a reminder that transformation doesn't require a plan. It can begin with showing up, telling the truth, and letting yourself be accepted as you are.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:00] A prayer near the train tracks, and an arrest over a TAP card
[04:24] Hearing about Homeboy in jail and in treatment
[06:27] Showing up for intake and interview
[07:10] Being honest about her past for the first time
[08:38] Celebrating one year of sobriety at Homeboy
[10:09] What was different about this prayer
[13:15] Learning through hardship and changing how she prays for her siblings
[14:42] Advice for avoiding addiction: everything in moderation
[16:04] Why she vents out loud in the morning
[17:41] Being tired of the life and having no starting point
[19:23] Still working on her emotions as a trainee
[20:58] Understanding anger as a secondary emotion
[22:01] Embracing grief instead of trying to stop it
[23:26] Building a toolbox from Homeboy's classes
[24:15] Working in the Homeboy Cafe
[26:05] Why trainees should embrace the social enterprises
[27:11] What keeps her grounded
[27:48] Why navigator may be the hardest job at Homeboy
[29:23] Where she sees herself in the next few years
[30:31] What Father Greg means to her
