Meet Michael S. Oden and Alina Ugas of The Final Step in Redondo Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael S. Oden and Alina Ugas.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I come from a family of African-American (Black) descent which include 10 other siblings  (8 brothers/2 sisters) and 173 foster boys/girls planted in the rural environment of Woodbury, MN.

We happened to be the first family of color to ever reside in that county during the late 60’s and 70’s and we paid for being who we are-different. I was the extreme middle child being a twin and having 5 siblings older and 5 siblings younger than me. If you include the 173 foster children/roommates, I can tell you I learned a lot about childhood suffering, at an early age, when my mother would describe the upbringings about our wounded guests. To add more to this complicated equation, I had a brother who was two years older named “Moose,” who had “Down’s Syndrome,” which made me appreciate that we are human no matter what and our lives more interesting. I viewed myself as a “caretaker” back then which is making sure all is right with the world, which is what I do now as an adult. After college, I had various jobs before I landed in Phoenix, AZ where I spent 4 years studying theatre and film. I moved to LA to try my hand in the “business.”

That experience lasted another 6 years before my son threw up on my pant leg during an audition which made me rethink my role as a father and my future with my child. By sheer luck or timing  it was highly suggested by a co-teacher that I become a Probation officer. Now, 20 years later, I can honestly say it has been one of the best decisions I ever made.

During a time of self discovery, I wanted to learn about the “why” I continue to pick certain types of women, situations, or  moments that were not enhancing my life. This journey lead me to my future mentor and friend. As I was learning about human behavior and the direct correlation between the decisions I made and who I associated with these experiences allowed me understanding who I became in the present day. With the behavioral knowledge I gained through self-discovery and being a deputy-probation officer for over 20 years, I had the fortunate opportunity to apply this newfound information to my clients who happened to be drug and alcohol offenders. Over the next 7 years of listening, observing and writing, I created a methodology called, “The Needs Based Method®” which I applied to my clients (8500+) and discovered the outcome of this process was quite effective. I documented that 85% of my clients stopped using illicit drugs when applying TNBM because the client had an answer to the “WHY” to their behavior. From that experience, I wrote and published a book titled, “When Nobody’s Home” with a soon to be published workbook. I wrote the book to help enlighten people and to get them to understand how not getting specific needs met during childhood directly impacts the decisions (using illicit drug/alcohol, anger issues, lack of self-worth, bullying, DV, and more) we make in the adult world, how we see ourselves, why we don’t fulfill our potential or why there may be an internal anger that burns within us and we are unable to make sense of it. Due to my client’s pressuring me, they decided that I needed to take this message of healing and hope to a larger platform. So, with the contribution of my co-founder Alina Ugas we created the “Final Step” a “7-step Bullet Proof method” that will give you the answers to past painful experiences, the Anger, Frustration and Powerlessness that you have been carrying with you for most of your life. We will walk with you throughout this process to dig deep and find the “Why” of your behavior. And, to provide you with the ability “To think to be Different™” Together we will break through whatever is blocking you or holding you back from living your own personal dream and get you to the next chapter in your life.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a long bumpy, frustrating, costly, rewarding, learning, moments of enlightenment, filled with successes and failures experience. Alina and I have been at this for the past 7 years trying to find the best way to get our message to the public. We have invested in business classes, experts, public speaking seminars, networking groups, support groups, incubators, or what we believed would gain some sort a foothold as to what direction we need to take the business. What is frustrating is that we know we have a great product that could change lives by giving people the information they need to shift a thought or unwanted behavior. However, we have not been able to monetize the business. It is this portion of the business that we are now gaining insight and getting information about how to strategize the direction we need to take and the systems we need to create in order get the notoriety we need to fulfill our ultimate goal which is to empower as many people as we can.

What keeps us a float is my day job as a deputy probation officer and the few clients we get from time to time. Because we made a shift in our business plan we minimized working with individual clients to focus on a speaking platform, family owned businesses, and corporations.

To date, we are looking at the best way to market and brand our product. How can we make the biggest impact in society? Something we did not think about at the beginning of our journey to bring awareness to the individual. I must say, branding and how to say what we do, how we do it, and why we do it, seems like the best investment we have made thus far.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about the Final Step – what should we know?
What we do is get individuals to move forward in life with confidence, fully awake and living consciously in the moment.

We specialize in transforming the human condition (experience). We get people to think different by uncovering what unmet needs (pulling down the personal curtain) have negatively impacted them over their lifetime and give them the tools to heal so they can empower themselves.

We are known as the company who gets to the “root” of the problem by exposing the painful truth that caused the individual to not be able to fulfill their potential. We make sense of your unwanted behavior or complicated situation so you have the ability to feel different, behave different, do different, so you can be different.

I can say with pride that we are most proud of the tens of thousands of lives we impacted of the past 17 years. We still get calls and letters and friendly reminders that our program has helped them navigate their world with more awareness, confidence, and understanding.

Mission

To create a better you so you can have a better life! Getting the answer to ‘the problem.’ Pulling down your personal curtain, moving forward and doing something different.

Being unafraid to take risks. And that’s only the beginning. We will make sense of your life and you will embrace the ‘new you’ … feeling relieved, fully confident, and filled with hope for a brighter future you deserve. We want you to have the courage to say “no” and the confidence to say “yes.”

What sets us apart from the others in the same field of expertise is that we give the client a three-dimensional view of their world. They will literally and figuratively be able to “catch the bullets” of shame, blame, criticism, and judgment when they go through our training or individual sessions. We make sense of the impact of past traumas and how that relates to future behaviors so they can put the past to rest and not allow the past to dictate the present and future beliefs and behavior.

Any shout outs? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The biggest contributor to the Final Step is Alina Ugas, co-founder. She is the backbone of the company. Alina is the unsung hero who does all the grunt work that no one sees.

She is the one who makes me look good in front of the audience. Without her, this company does not breath and will not have a life of its own. She is constantly battling with publishing companies, marketing companies, internet companies, phone companies, any threat to our existence, even the cleaning lady. She makes sure no one is taking advantage of us, our reputation or me. She makes sure all documents are in order and signed appropriately. If we were giving out corporate titles she would be the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Vice-President of Marketing/Branding. One day I want to give her a big fat raise.

All the organizations we belonged to such as the SBEC, SBDC, CSUDH Entrepreneur program, CEO Space to name a few……

My former mentor, Bill Sterlie, if it wasn’t for him teaching his gift in my acting class and me going up to and asking him about his particular subject matter I would not be as knowledgeable and insightful about human behavior as I am. He suggested that I write a book about my experiences.

I also like to mention all the books on psychology, behavior, parenting, relationships and more I read from various experts who know a lot more than me. There research and insight allowed me to apply what I learned and put in my own words their collection of information.

I cannot forget what my parents didn’t say. They never told me that I couldn’t do anything. They never held my GPA in high school or college against me. They said whatever you do, do your best. Because of those words of encouragement and support I believe I can do anything whether I fail or not.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2390 Crenshaw Blvd., #405 Torrance, CA 90501
• Website: www.michaelodenlive.com
• Phone: 310-612-7022
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @michaelodenlive
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Michaelodenlive/
• Twitter: @michaelodenlive
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-final-step-redondo-beach
• Other: www.authormichaeloden.com

Image Credit:
CSUDH and CSULB

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