bathum has no college degree. he says he spent years at the ashram depicted in the book "eat, pray, love." then he ran a pool cleaning business. and there's something else in his background. in 2002 he was convicted of mail and wire fraud for selling computers and exercise equipment on ebay and not delivering the goods. you were convicted of a felony, i think -- >> in fact, yeah -- i'm not proud of that. but i'm also not ashamed to talk about it. >> reporter: bathum says after serving house arrest and probation, he decided to turn his life around, getting certified as a hypnotherapist here at the hypnosis motivation institute. >> but i really wanted to do something bigger. >> reporter: he says he then decided to open a sober living house, followed a decade later by community recovery with a focus on keeping clients in a supportive social network. some working in internships in the office and jobs on site, like this community recovery coffee shop that employs clients. >> i think we're doing well because we're build