Welcome to The Branding Laboratory, where host Deevo speaks with Lee Black about building a business driven by genuine purpose, especially within the challenging mental health and substance abuse (SUD) industry.

Lee, who tragically lost loved ones to addiction, realized that many successful businesses "look successful, but somehow they feel hollow" . This drove him to open a substance abuse and mental health facility in Charlotte. When asked when marketing stopped being about "clicks and data and conversions and really start being about saving other people's lives" , Lee responded with a powerful shift in perspective: "I can shift it from a client to and put a face to it, put a family to it, put a story to it" .

💡 In this episode you will hear:

1. Most people don't really have any idea why they're doing any of the things that they're doing.

2. We always know. I mean, we do a lot with with veterans and 22 veterans, you know, commit suicide every day.

3. Every single successful business person... never became successful doing what they started out to. There was always a pivot at some point.

4. People assume everyone in the marketing world around SUD and mental health is a scumbag chasing profit over people.

5. It's not an individual you're targeting. it's a family member or a loved one.

6. Lee's refusal of a corrupt, $150,000/month client because "I just can't do that.

7. Lee’s company is built on "business, soul, integrity, and community" , proving that ethical marketing can achieve genuine, life-saving results.