Amid the many stresses and challenges of running a family business, there’s one surprisingly common complication that damages personal relationships and business performance: addiction. James Olan Hutcheson, founder of Regeneration Partners, a family business consulting firm in Dallas, says substance abuse disorders are a frequent source of conflict in family-run businesses. His firm has developed a subspecialty in assisting those dealing with addiction within the family. Across the 270 clients he’s worked with over 30 years, addiction was a factor in over 55% of cases, Hutcheson said in a Fortune magazine article last year. “It was eye-popping to see just how frequent this issue is,” Hutcheson says.
His managing partner, Elle Hansen, adds that while addiction affects about 25% of the general population, Regeneration’s data shows it impacts 63% of family businesses. Rusty Isaacs of Isaacs Pools and Spas in Johnson City, Tennessee, is no stranger to this struggle. Though his story became one of resilience, redemption and the strength of family, his road to recovery and reconciliation wasn’t easy — it took decades of pain, hard lessons and the unwavering support of those who refused to give up on him.
Addiction takes hold
Rusty grew up with the “perfect childhood,” he says. His father and grandfather started Isaacs Pools and Spas in 1978 and grew it into a thriving family business. Rusty and his brothers David and Richie were all involved from an early age. By 1998, Rusty and Richie were working full time, while David had gone to college to pursue teaching. The family was close, and the future looked bright.
But everything changed in 2002 when their father passed away unexpectedly. Rusty, who had just welcomed his first son, was hit hard by the loss, and his struggle with addiction began.
“I didn’t deal with [the grief] because we were overloaded with work, trying to fill in the gaps, and it was really crazy at the time,” Rusty recalls. Finding it hard to talk about what he was going through, he buried his emotions in his work. The relentless pace of the business, the weight of grief and the demands of new fatherhood drove him to substance abuse.
Over the next decade, Rusty spiraled deeper into addiction. What started as a way to numb the pain turned into a force that consumed him.
“Addiction took me from someone hard-working and dependable, and I destroyed everything in my path,” Rusty says. He lost his wife, his children and eventually, his place in the family business. Even as he watched his world crumble, Rusty couldn’t stop. “You think you’re hiding it; you think you’re doing good,” he explains. “But in reality, I started taking stuff, selling it. I felt entitled to the [company], like it was mine [instead of] ours. There’s no excuse, but addiction dilutes the way you think.”
Hansen of Regeneration says this kind of thinking is common among those struggling with addiction, especially someone in a leadership or ownership role.
“There’s an arrogance or an ego that says, ‘I’m above this. I’m above consequences. And I can get myself out of it,’ ” she says.
Despite the family’s efforts to get Rusty treatment, “it didn’t help because I wasn’t ready to quit,” he says.
Discovering Rusty’s addiction was “devastating,” David recalls, but the lack of a straight path out of addiction was an even weightier realization.
“Even the doctor told us that fewer than 10% of people who are addicted to opiates recover,” David says. “It’s not that I didn’t believe him; rather, I thought, ‘My brother loves his wife, his two boys and his career as owner of a well-respected family business. He will recover because he has so much to live for.’ I literally thought his situation was different, and that because of that, his outcome would defy the odds.”
Unfortunately, rehab was not the fix for Rusty, and out of care for both him and the business, David asked him to leave.
Hutcheson says sometimes strict boundaries and hard decisions like the one David and his family made are needed. “You may or may not get a better outcome,” Hutcheson says, “but at least you’re not allowing the business to suffer, and that would be the rationale for drawing hard boundaries.”
Eventually, Rusty’s struggle with addiction led him to prison. “Addiction took everything,” he says.
The business in crisis
Hansen says that in cases of addiction in a family business, bolstering the family unit is crucial. Families must improve communication, rebuild trust and navigate the impacts of addiction on the relationships and business. It’s important to also manage feelings of inequity among siblings, especially when a significant amount of money has been spent on rehabilitation for one family member or when the other has been left to shoulder the burden of running the business.
David understands this burden well. As Rusty’s life unraveled, his departure in 2008 left the business in a precarious position, and David was suddenly thrust into running it.
“From 2009 to about 2014, those were the toughest years for me,” David says. “My mom was by my side, and she retired in 2016. When she left, I remember thinking, ‘I can’t be the last Isaacs standing here.’ I didn’t like the idea of it just being me with our name on the building. But I basically had to say, ‘That’s just what it is.’ ”
After Rusty’s departure, the business was left with a mountain of debt. One vendor alone was owed $150,000. “We were not people who didn’t pay our bills,” David says. “Dad raised us to be honest, to pay our bills and to treat people right. It was very difficult knowing it was almost impossible to pay everyone.”
To make matters worse, Rusty had sold several pools before leaving the company, meaning David had to deliver on promises with no money to back it up. “We paid the vendor we owed, and they released the very first pool kit that Rusty had sold. From there, we built that one, got the second payment, and used that to pay for the next kit,” David says. It was a constant juggling act — chasing money with money, as David says — just to keep the business running.
David moved the business from Elizabethton to Johnson City in 2011, a risky decision that nearly cost him everything. “I didn’t realize how complicated it would be,” he admits. “I was in survival mode. My mom wanted to continue the business, so I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ But I didn’t realize how big the mountain was in front of me.”
Rock bottom and recovery
Meanwhile, Rusty began to reflect on his life and his past while in prison. “When I was locked up, I knew I would never go back to the drugs,” he said. “It sucks that it took three years of prison to realize that, but it’s what I needed.”
During his incarceration, Rusty entered a drug rehabilitation program and began to understand the behaviors that had driven him to addiction. He also started thinking about the family business he had left behind. “I would talk about the business and how I’d love to go back to it because that’s what I was born to do.”
In 2021, after over a decade away from the business, Rusty was released from prison. David, who had not spoken to his brother in years, gave Rusty another chance. “Rusty wasn’t able to work with us right away when he got out of prison, as he was on supervised release,” David explains. But when Rusty entered a reentry program called 180, which helps people transition back into society, David, who was a board member of the program, arranged for Rusty to work at Isaacs Pools and Spas.
The program covered Rusty’s insurance and provided other support, allowing him to slowly rebuild his life. Rusty completed the program in the summer of 2022 and was rehired full time by Isaacs Pools and Spas. “From 2008 to 2022, Rusty was gone, which was quite a long time,” David says. “But giving him that opportunity to come back has been important for both of us.”
A new beginning
Rusty’s return to the business wasn’t easy. The company had changed drastically in his absence. “It was a whole new building, a new crew, a new way of doing things,” David says. For Rusty, it was like starting over. “I started at the bottom and slowly worked my way back, earning the trust I’d lost,” he says. Rusty knew that rebuilding his reputation would take time, but he was committed to proving himself. “It was a mutual thing,” he said about his return to the business. “I would never ask David if I could come back because my whole goal was to come back as a brother and not as an employee and to try to build that back before I ever came back to work.”
David confirms that Rusty never asked for his job back, but when the opportunity arose, David took action. “They were going to put him with a contractor, but I called and had them switch it so Rusty could work for me instead,” he says. Rusty worked with Isaacs Pools and Spas for a short time, left to work with a contractor — a friend of David’s — for several months and then returned to Isaacs full time as a construction manager.
The reunion was moving for the entire team, especially for Tracy, an employee of 30 years and the only other team member who had previously worked with Rusty. “When he came back here, it was very emotional,” David says. “She loves our family and loves Rusty like a brother. It’s hard to explain how emotional that was for her, too.”
Even with the heartwarming reunion, David offers words of advice for others who may find themselves in a similar situation.
“You can’t view addiction through rose-colored glasses,” David says. “You can’t love it out of them. You can’t force it out of them. You must accept that and move on with your life and your business. I honestly can’t believe how naïve I was to the process, and I can’t believe it took 16 years for him to figure it out. Fortunately, in his case, he did. I am elated for him and grateful that he is back in business with me.”
The road to redemption
Today, Rusty and David work side by side. Rusty’s journey through addiction and back to the company has given him a unique perspective. “I was a bad influence,” he says. “I was doing drugs and encouraging the guys with me to do the same. It’s not easy to get over that.” But he’s determined to make the most of this second chance. “It’s been three years now and he’s been rock solid,” David says of Rusty.
“Redemption is one of the most powerful forces,” David says. “You bring back somebody redeemed, somebody that looks at the world again with a fresh perspective after losing everything, almost losing his life — there’s nothing like that. That story happens to be part of Isaacs Pools and Spas. And there’s not been a story that powerful in this business, period.”
The road to recovery is rarely a straight line, but for the Isaacs brothers, the bond of family proved stronger than the challenges they faced. Rusty’s return marks not just a new chapter for the business but a fresh start for a man who once thought he had lost everything. “I couldn’t be more happy,” Rusty says. “I’m glad I’m here.”
