Trejo is now 73 years old, but as a young kid, he started doing drugs at 8 and was in and out of juvenile detention centers for most of his teens and into his mid-20’s. It wasn’t until he was about 24 that he was in a riot at Soledad prison where he threw a rock and it hit a prison guard.
“I was in the hole [solitary confinement], and I made a deal with God. I said, ‘let me die with dignity and I’ll say your name every day and I’ll do whatever I can for my fellow man.’ I thought it’d be a couple of years, and then they’d kill me, but God kind of fooled me. I got out. So everyday all I want to do is God’s work and I’ll help anybody, at any time,” Trejo says.
That’s when Trejo decided that he had to change his life. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous, got sober and became a drug and alcohol counselor–work that he still does today. He still volunteers at several Western Pacific Med Corp., which are drug addiction treatment facilities with locations all over Los Angeles.
He’s even helped employ people who want to turn their lives around, he calls them “second chancers,” people who he’s met along the way, most who come from troubled backgrounds. “My message is that any problem you have will get worse with drugs and alcohol, and education is the key to anything you want to do,” he says.
“I give people who think they can’t do anything, hope. They got into trouble or didn’t go to school and they can’t see a way out. I’ve had people come up to me like five years after hearing me speak and tell my story, and it made them turn their lives around. God has blessed me and I just love what I do,” Trejo says.
According to Forbes, Trejo’s brand is valued close to $100 million, which shows you how it’s never too late to follow your dreams!
