On episode 30, Dr. Amy Sapola talks with Mickey Bakst. In 1982 Mickey lost his first restaurant to alcohol and drug addiction, It was in that year that he found sobriety after a long and painful struggle. For the next 40 years Mickey watched countless peers lose their lives or destroy their careers due to their addictions and for 40 years he asked what can I do.

In 2016, after witnessing the deaths of one too many industry pros, he and fellow restaurateur Steve Palmer, of the Indigo Road Hospitality Group, founded Ben’s Friends, a support group for members of the food and beverage industry battling substance abuse and addiction. The mission of Ben’s Friends is to offer hope, fellowship, and a path forward to anyone, in the industry, who struggles with substance abuse and addiction. The organization is named in honor of Ben Murray, a chef who took his own life in 2016 after struggling with alcoholism. With decades of sobriety under his belt, Mickey believes that there are countless members of the restaurant industry in need of help combating the effects of alcohol and drugs.

Mickey has dedicated himself to Ben’s Friends and, in his role as Executive Director, is focused on spreading the word about Ben’s Friends to existing and emerging chapters across the country.