What this is and what it is not.

Author identity disclosure

Brick by Brick Strategy, LLC is the personal company of Mike Thibideau, who also serves as President & CEO of Invest Hamilton County. The work published here is Mike’s personal work and does not represent the views or positions of Invest Hamilton County, its Board of Directors, or any other organization with which Mike is affiliated.

The two roles share an audience overlap. The Brick by Brick book and platform are personal IP. The Invest Hamilton County workforce programs are an employer responsibility. The recusal protocol structures every interaction where the roles touch.

This is not clinical, medical, or legal advice

The book, the platform, and the public pages here are for personal reflection, education, and self-exploration. They are not clinical assessments, diagnostic instruments, treatment plans, mental health interventions, or substitutes for sponsorship, counseling, or credentialed care.

They are also not legal advice. Employment law, drug-testing law, expungement law, the ADA, FMLA, and FCRA all vary by jurisdiction and change over time. For your specific situation, consult an attorney admitted in your state. Free legal aid options are referenced in the platform where applicable (LawHelp.org, ABA Free Legal Answers, 211) and do not substitute for counsel.

The composite-character disclosure

Every character in the book is a composite. The experiences are based on real people the author has known, and real conversations the author has had over a career in workforce development and a decade in recovery. The composites protect privacy and let each character carry the weight of the situation the chapter is teaching.

The framework is real. The math is real. The road is real. The specific person on the page is a composite.

Crisis resources are non-negotiable

If you are in crisis, call or text 988. SAMHSA: 1-800-662-4357. The resources page lists Indiana-specific and national lines, never gated, never email-required.

On the platform, the Readiness Assessment and other reflection-heavy applications carry an active-use trigger. If a user indicates active use of drugs or alcohol, the application interrupts immediately, routes to crisis resources, and does not save the session. This is the safety floor; it cannot be bypassed.

IP and content licensing

© 2026 Brick by Brick Strategy, LLC. Public content on this website may be quoted with attribution and a link back to the source page. Commercial reuse, AI training, and republication require written permission.

The platform’s Recovery Career Compass framework, the principle-by-principle commentary library, and the proprietary rule-based scorer are not licensed for reproduction. Subscribers access these surfaces under the platform’s Terms of Service.

Trauma-informed posture

The audience includes people in early recovery, people navigating relapse, people with histories of incarceration, and people doing this work alongside ongoing treatment. The site, the book, and the platform are written with that audience in mind.

Specific disciplines:

• Crisis resources are persistent and one click away from every page.
• Reflection-heavy screens carry the active-use trigger described above.
• No stigmatizing language; no clinical framing; no recovery as metaphor.
• The reader’s autonomy is honored. Pause, return, change your mind, decline to answer.

Updates

This disclaimers page may be updated as counsel review proceeds and as the platform evolves. Material updates are dated in the page footer below. The current version is dated 2026-05-12.