Doug Wenz
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Doug grew up in Trumbull, Connecticut, and earned a full baseball scholarship to the University of Bridgeport. By 24, addiction had taken total control. Released from a psych ward and left at a mall with $7 and the clothes on his back, he did not know if he would make it through the night. With a six-month-old son and another child on the way, he walked four miles to an AA meeting that evening. The men there found the state's only open shelter bed and drove him to it, expecting nothing in return. That shelter became his home for the next five months. Recovery was not a single breakthrough. It was a foundation built on daily, disciplined choices, taking absolute responsibility, and listening without judgment. He spent the next several years regaining his footing through mortgage lending and digital advertising sales before entering the insurance industry in 2017 to sell personal lines.
In 2020, a divorce at 33 stripped away his remaining ego, providing him with profound humility and the self-awareness to see himself clearly as he rebuilt from scratch. With children to provide for and no backup plan, he walked away from the corporate world to join an independent insurance agency. He earned his real estate license and networked like his life depended on it, selling millions in real estate on top of his day job simply because he had to figure it out.
During this transition, he began building his insurance book around the complex, hard-to-place accounts that most producers avoid. His strategy was a direct reflection of the shelter years, built on getting the full story, doing the unglamorous work completely, and helping people without a hidden agenda. Over time, this raw approach scaled into a repeatable methodology.
In 2022, he brought that same discipline to esports by founding Electrify Steel Gaming. ESG grew into a top-tier Call of Duty program and secured a historic partnership to operate the Minnesota RØKKR academy team before being acquired by the esports organization OMiT in 2024. Today, that drive fuels two companies. He is the CEO of AURA, a platform transforming his sales methodology into software for professionals, and the CEO and co-founder of Veris Risk, an independent Connecticut brokerage he runs alongside three partners.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:
- That hitting rock bottom with $7 and a shelter stay can become the foundation for lasting discipline and accountability.
- How daily, unglamorous choices like walking to early meetings rebuild trust and credibility faster than grand gestures.
- Why taking absolute responsibility for your life, instead of blaming circumstances, is the first step toward meaningful change.
- That helping others without keeping score creates genuine relationships and long-term professional trust in business and life.
- How owning your mistakes and having hard conversations early stops small issues from becoming major risks.
- Why ignoring reality widens the gap between what you want to be true and what is actually true.
- That you can carry shame, still struggle, and choose a different path without losing worth or trust.
- How replacing ego with humility after a divorce at 33 unlocked self-awareness and a stronger personal foundation.
- Why building a business around complex, hard-to-place accounts can become a repeatable, scalable methodology.
- That discipline from early recovery can fuel multimillion-dollar results in insurance, real estate, and esports.
about the show
Overcoming addiction requires discipline, clarity, and resilience — the exact qualities needed to build a successful commercial business. Clean and Thriving TV reveals how business owners in recovery translate their personal transformation into building and running real commercial enterprises.
Clean and Thriving TV is a premium television docuseries spotlighting business owners who refused to let their past define them. Honoring the grit required to overcome addiction and build a business, the series focuses on operational growth, daily execution, and commercial success beyond recovery.
The series takes viewers inside the authentic stories of business owners who turned their lives around and built thriving companies. Clean and Thriving TV serves as the definitive national stage for these entrepreneurs to share their business insights and inspire others.
