Michael Schiff admits he could have been in thecriminal Hall of Fame by the time he was in 8th grade. Arrested six timesbefore age 16 on drug possession, shoplifting, destruction of property, andother charges, he ended up in a juvenile detention center followed by a rehabcenter followed by a state-run military school.
It was there, in 11th grade, that Mike found hisfirst mentor, a football coach who taught him and his teammates their firstlessons in self-respect.  
"He was a father figure to me. He was afather figure to many other guys. He really taught me that relationship betweencoach and coachee," Mike said.
Mike rose in the ranks, becoming captain of thefootball team and a battalion commander in charge of 250 corps cadets. Butafter 19 months clean, he fell backward again when he started taking medicineto manage the pain of a root canal.
"I thought it would be a good idea to doubleup on my meds — what the nurse would dispense out — and save them all for aFriday night, and by doing so ... I released my addiction all over again,"he said.
After a second attempt at recovery, Mike wasaccepted to the University of Florida in Gainesville. There, he relapsed oncemore and started down another dangerous path. Arrested again, he was sentencedto one year and one day in prison. As an imprisoned senior fearful for hisfuture, that was the final straw. Mike has been in recovery, clean and sobersince Nov. 18, 2003.
Mike eventually graduated college, a day he callsone of the top five of his life. He also succeeded in getting his recordexpunged. He considers himself extremely lucky and tries to pay it forwardevery day.
Mike is someone whom I call a friend, and I aminspired by his leadership. Earning his real estate license in 2004, he now owns a real estateteam that sells $100 million in real estate and 350 homes a year. He works to find recovery housing space in the Baltimoremetro market for others dealing with addiction, and he runs a private Facebookgroup for real estate professionals who are active in recovery.
Mike has faced setbacks, but he says they are no longer atrigger for relapse. Even so, he says when he thinks he's got it allfigured out, he knows he, like all of us, is still a work in progress. That'sone reason why I am so happy Mike is my guest this week on Chiseled.

If you'd like to reach Mike, you can find him on Instagram or through his closed Facebook page REPAIR: Real Estate Professionals Activein Recovery.