Ashlee Krichmar

Our Story

Like a lot of people, I struggled with fitting in from a very young age. All I wanted was to not feel anything and eventually I found a solution to my problem. Most people couldn’t understand my desire to not feel. They looked at me, my life, my family, and it all looked so normal. I have two parents who love me and my two other siblings. We grew up in an upper middle class household. Going to private schools and involved in extracurricular activities. My dad owned his own business. My mom took care of us kids. We had a nice house, nice cars in the driveway, and had everything we could need in life and most of the things we wanted. Unfortunately, none of those things filled the gaping hole I felt inside of me.

As I began to build my new sober life, I struggled with learning how this new “sober Ashlee” fit into the world. What would I do for work, how would I show up in my new family dynamic, what role would I play, what kinds of things did I enjoy doing, what were my passions in life, and what would this all look like on the outside. At the time I didn’t know much, but I did know that my life was forever changed because of the hundreds of hands that had helped to shape this new young woman. I decided that I wanted to work in the treatment industry. I wanted to help young people just like myself to find the freedom that I did. I wanted to reach out to other addicts labeled “hopeless.” Other addicts who have had backs turned on them and doors slammed in their face. I wanted to ensure that no addict ever felt alone or without hope.

I began working in the recovery field and with other addicts in 2014. I gained more experience and knowledge by working at two well-respected treatment centers in Los Angeles. Working my way from the bottom to various high level roles.

Within a few years, I had a firm understanding of what was working and what wasn’t working in this industry. In early 2016 I opened my own sober living company, Chateau Recovery. Chateau Recovery carried out its mission by offering affordable transitional living to people in early recovery. The model was based on providing a very structured living environment while building a community of love and support, all while having fun and finding individual passion. The combination of structure, accountability, community, love, and laughter proved a huge success. Chateau Recovery received multiple accolades in the news and in the treatment industry for its success in treating men and women struggling with addiction. The success of Chateau led to me joining forces and partnering with another recovery program in LA to open a licensed treatment center. I felt empowered through the process of owning both a flourishing and effective sober living program as well as a treatment center.

However, in early 2019 I decided to sell my stake in the company I helped to grow and change course. I wanted to pursue my dream of creating something that would uniquely position me to work closely with clients early on in recovery. I knew my talents were best utilized when working closely and 1 on 1 with clients. I wanted to use my gifts of connecting and helping those who had been failed by the traditional treatment industry and show them the amazing life that could still be theirs. As this new chapter in my career began to take shape, I took all of my life experiences and training in recovery to build something that gave each person a tailored program made to fit them and only them. With that thought in mind, LA Recovery Project was born.