Marla Corburn

Marla’s road to BLVD began with her mother.

As she attempted to manage her pain as a victim of breast cancer and the veteran of quadruple bypass surgery, Marla’s mother would become physically and psychologically dependent on prescription pain medication and sedatives. Through her mother’s medical journey, Marla became an intimate witness to the destruction inflicted by addiction and the often poorly understood co-occurring disorders behind it.

Because of this experience, destigmatizing both addiction and its treatment would become Marla’s passion and much of her life’s work. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Ohio State University,  Marla would eventually enter the pharmaceutical field.  Here she became a Clinical Liaison and part of a team that would help to introduce Suboxone, a drug treatment for opioid dependence, to the medical community.

From here she would make her way into the rehabilitation side of addiction treatment and BLVD.

Ohio native Marla has been living in California for over 14 years. She also has a twin brother, sister, husband, and a son in elementary school. In her spare time Marla enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Todd Reber

As we hear so often at BLVD, sobriety changed Todd’s life: Before achieving sobriety in 2008, Todd owned and operated his own event production companies. After sobriety, he saw a need for large scale events in the sober community where people could gather and enjoy themselves as they had before their recovery. This matched with another of Todd’s passions: being an advocate for big goals. In his own work in sobriety Todd often encountered those who seemed complacent with only maintaining their equilibrium, not dreaming of bigger things. Very much driven by the limits of his own modest beginnings, Todd dreamt big: Returning to event production, Todd would go on to put together some of the largest scale sober events in the world.

It was also the same year that Todd took his first job in the treatment field. In 14 months Todd had gone from being a driver to acting as Program Advisor. Soon after, he helped open a flagship sober living location in Beverly Hills. Todd would return to school to train for his alcohol and drug addiction counseling certification and took a CADC internship.

Todd is also one of BLVD’s founding members, an avid golfer (many he’s sponsored were introduced to the game by him), and a father.

Matthew O’Neill

For Matthew, the greatest reward of working in the recovery field comes when he’s able to see an addict completely turn their life around with sobriety. It is for this reason he is so committed to changing the lives of addicts in both his professional and personal lives.

Eleven years sober himself (Matthew got sober young), it was his own battles with addiction that continues to inform his work today. Because of this experience, his clients are able to relate to him and are put at ease when it comes to committing to their own treatment.

Matthew was born in San Diego and raised in South Florida (“the recovery capital”) and worked in the recovery field there for six years. Previous to his move back to California, Matthew worked as an Admissions Coordinator for Transformations Treatment Center and Palm Partners Treatment Center, both in Delray Beach.

When not helping others achieve their own recovery Matthew is interested in music, art, travel, hiking, baseball, and being of service to people however he can.

Emily Taylor

Emily’s won’t be the first voice you’ll hear when you contact BLVD, but hers may be the most diligent when it comes to working on your behalf. It is Emily’s job to make sure you receive the full benefit of your treatment experience. She will take you through the pre-screening process and help you design the most appropriate individualized care program for ensuring the best possible outcome. 

Long before her career began in recovery, Emily’s interest in addiction and mental health began when a childhood friend’s life spiraled down into opiate addiction. Her interest in substance abuse continued as she watched loved ones win and lose battles to addiction. From this experience she was inspired to pursue a degree at the University of Colorado Boulder. She studied Psychology and explored the relationship between drugs and social contexts, why people find an altered state of mind meaningful, and the negative experiences that can happen in substance abuse.

Her career began in earnest when she took as job as a Web Chat Representative at Elements Behavioral Health. She would quickly advance to Intake Advisor.

Personally, Emily comes from a family of musicians. From the time she was a child she sang, studied piano, and did theatre. In her free time she loves playing and listening to music and exploring new hiking trails.

Paula Torres

It was the opiate addiction of a loved one that Paula experienced at a young age that began her on the path to BLVD. Paula studied addiction and attended NA meetings in an effort to understand and accommodate the condition. Later, Paula would continue her education by majoring in Psychology at California State University, Long Beach and interning at various non-profits.

In her previous position as Director of Operations and Systems at Elements Behavioral Health, Paula was the first hire to begin building an incipient call center that would grow to 75 employees. Now, in her role as BLVD’s admissions director, Paula’s challenge is no less ambitious: to build a young company into an industry leader. 

We believe it’s a goal she’ll achieve: Paula doesn’t do things by half-measures. A self-admitted adrenalin junkie, Paula has bungee jumped, skydived, shark-dived, and hang-glided. As a traveler Paula has seen four continents. When she’s at home Paula shares her apartment with a sweet pit bull named Brooklyn.

Andrew Cardillo

It may have been Andrew Cardillo’s destiny to follow a career in public relations. Throughout his childhood, his family moved often. By the time he was 18 years old Andrew had lived in three countries – the United States, France, and the Netherlands – and five American states – Kentucky, Iowa, California, Texas, and Washington. It was this peripatetic upbringing that helped Andrew develop the agile social skills and desire necessary for connecting and building bridges with people of all stripes.

Andrew’s passion for the recovery industry grew while he was volunteering with the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition. He discovered how integral mental health issues were with addiction and homelessness and how drugs are too often used as an illusory, all too brief relief from the pain. Working with this community forever changed his perceptions and perspectives on how he could direct his energies to help those in need.

As a student at the University of Washington, Andrew pursued a dual-major in Journalism and Drama while freelancing for Seattle area newspapers. After moving to Los Angeles, he began working for a PR firm on the city’s Westside. With his work at BLVD Andrew is excited for the opportunity to create more awareness about mental health, substance abuse, and how recovery can profoundly transform lives.

Among his accomplishments, Andrew holds the title of Seattle University District Karaoke Champion of 2009. He’s also an ardent aficionado of art, music, and film.

Chris Heath

A native of Southern California, Chris realizes his good fortune in growing up surrounded by the cool ocean breezes of San Clemente and Palos Verdes. Chris would attend California State University Long Beach as an undergrad and pursue his MBA at California State University Channel Islands.

Chris’s passion and acuity for marketing began early in his career as he worked as a bartender while in college – If you’ve ever tried to cut-off someone who’s convinced that they still haven’t had too many you know that it requires superior marketing. After graduating, Chris’s introduction into business came as the marketing manager for a company that sold air purifiers. Subsequently, he worked for five years creating marketing strategies and lead generation for a business loan lender. These jobs proved to be a fine education but Chris found something missing. This is when he discovered his passion for the addiction recovery industry. For Chris, working in an industry that serves those in such a time of need gave the work so much more urgency and purpose. Chris knew he had finally found his home.

Aside from his work Chris is also a sports fan, a cook, and a family man: he has two daughters and a son.

Chris Pruneda

In his 11 years in the field as a professional associate, Chris has gathered a deep range of experience. Chris hit the ground running after graduating from California State University, Fullerton when he went to work for a multi-billion dollar subsidiary of The Home Depot. Later, he would become a senior analyst and then a Manager of Finance for Moark, LLC (a division of Land O’Lakes).

More recently, Chris acquired years of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions and has helped to close over 10 transactions. In every transaction he was a part of he was able to add a substantial value. Chris has also helped to arrange financing for growth initiatives and has assisted in both buy and sell side diligence.

In 2014, Chris obtained his MBA from Syracuse University. 

Among his passions, Chris loves travel. Recent memorable trips include visits to Scandinavia and some remote spots in Eastern Europe, including the Balkans. Chris lives in downtown Los Angeles.

Ashley Dane

As Creative Director, Ashley Dane drives the overall brand and vibe of BLVD Centers. Her philosophy, and one that this company was built upon, is that sobriety is a lifestyle of infinite possibility, creativity, and unshakable joie de vivre. This unique approach puts hospitality and client experience front and center, second only to clinical excellence. BLVD’s interiors are lovingly appointed like a hip boutique hotel, with the notion that everything that the client sees, feels, touches, tastes, and hears should instill in them the feeling of a lifestyle that is desirable. At BLVD we want them to lean into it, to look forward to being there and being sober and to know that the process of self-discovery can be challenging but also exciting, cool, and fun – and everything about BLVD invites them to explore this reality. Ashley feels that being mindful of the client experience on all levels gives them a sense of belonging, and of being in the right place – which is right at the beginning of their new adventures in sobriety.  

Elizabeth Bedart-Ghani

Elizabeth’s story begins in the tiny town of Arbuckle in California’s agricultural north. Raised in a family of farmers she would grow up hunting, driving trucks at age 11, and attending a small country school.

From those salt-of-the-earth beginnings Elizabeth would go on to attend the University of Southern California and pursue a degree in religion (considered a good strategy for a pre-law student). Preferring a spiritual view of the world that was more open and inclusive, Elizabeth’s degree led her to study at a local convent, a Buddhist monastery, and a Hare Krishna Temple.

Whatever path her career took – be it real estate, non-profits, or her own small businesses (including a pound cake bakery, “Lizzy by the Pound”) – all paths would lead Elizabeth back to recruiting. It was a field not only suited to her love of people but it also gave her the chance to help others reach for better lives. But it was Elizabeth’s own youthful eating disorder and experience growing up in an alcoholic family that would eventually bring her to join the staff at BLVD: a place where she could express all of her personal and working passions.

For fun Elizabeth loves to swim in the ocean (year round – no wetsuit required), enjoys good food with friends, and watching sports – as the mother of three college athletes you won’t be surprised that she’s a big sports fan.