Since high school, Kayley Jones has confronted addiction and her journey to sobriety has made her question many of the current recovery standards that modern rehabilitation provides. Though her journey was challenging, it has helped her develop the strength to empower teenage girls as the Redwood junior varsity (JV) softball coach. She also leads Addicts Anonymous (AA) discussions and is in the process of developing a women-based wellness center called Honeycomb Wellness with co-owners David Ford and Kira Anderson.

The Honeycomb initiative focuses on fostering an environment that rebuilds life skills after achieving sobriety. This form of aftercare is something Jones and her partners have noticed the treatment field is lacking.

“A pattern I was noticing was that a lot of women who get sober have a couple of months when life gets better, but they don’t want to get a job. They don’t want to be self-supporting [because] they aren’t motivated to do any hard work,” Jones said.

Jones wished to fight this recovery cycle by implementing an encouraging environment as a leading principle of Honeycomb. 

“We need to nurture that self-worth [in women] because we lose it through addiction,” Jones said. 

She attributes her own regained confidence and self-worth to the community she built in recovery and her experience coaching softball. 

“I loved the game and I didn’t continue with it because I cared more about drinking,using and having fun. I was afraid to do hard things, and so today, [coaching softball] is a symbol for me [that I can do] hard things,” Jones said. 

Honeycomb nurtures self-worth through experiences like caring for animals, plants and people in the treatment center. This rebuilds patients’ lives, instead of only guiding them to sobriety with no future direction. One service they provide is gardening. 

“The act [of] caring for a garden and harvesting a garden is very similar to how we [should] take care of ourselves,” Jones said. 

When Jones was first in recovery she adopted a stray dog. This partially inspired her idea of implementing nurture-affiliated activities at Honeycomb. 

“Having that unconditional love [from] that dog, and taking care of something really helped me [regain stability],” Jones said. 

Essentially, the lives and experiences of Jones, and Honeycomb Wellness’ owners have manifested in their business initiatives to foster a supportive environment. However, battling addiction is not the only place where Jones implements this encouragement. It’s also a key factor in her coaching tactics.

“Something I bring to the table [with] my team, is the things I’ve learned in recovery and the way that I treat people because of recovery. I try to help [my players] find their self-worth,” Jones said. 

Sophomore Kate Winter, a player on Jones’ JV softball team, explained her experience with her coach as more than just softball, but a close relationship. 

“[Jones] always checks in with us [during] stressful situations or even during practice, she takes time with us. I always feel safe telling her things and telling her how I really feel,” Winter said. 

Jones is also an avid teacher of wellness and fitness on the softball field, teaching her players how to take care of themselves and health.

This environment that Jones has fostered on the softball field is a continuation of her work in recovery and motivated her initiative to develop Honeycomb. Samantha Peach, Jones’ best friend and recovery and coaching partner last year, explained that Jones’ experience coaching played a monumental role in her deciding to embark on the Honeycomb project. 

“Being able to have a positive impact in the lives of younger girls definitely influenced [Honeycomb]. [Jones was] coaching softball, and then three months later [Ford, Anderson and Jones] came up with this idea to make [Honeycomb] happen,” Peach said. 

Rather than just a business project, Honeycomb stands as a testament to Jones’ passion for wellness and recovery. 

“[Jones] is a really great person, and I think that she really is doing this because she cares about people and their well-being.  I think that’s not a common trait in the recovery and rehab industry. She really has that altruism too,” Peach said.