When you think of an addiction specialist, what comes to mind? Business casual? A fancy PhD? While Robb Kelly does hold a PhD from Oxford, I was not expecting the doctor to greet me wearing neon green glasses, plaid green trousers, and matching green monogrammed moccasins. He owns 18 pairs of glasses in various colors including green, red, and even rainbow. “When I first experimented with red glasses, I noticed that it was a great conversation starter,” Robb told me. “My favorite pair is the green since they match my favorite shoes.” His arm stretched to highlight his tattoo which read “Recovered” in large red serif to reference his sobriety with an understated “By God” in black. Between his stressful practice and fast-paced restaurant, Robb finds peace in music, yoga and prayer. Our email correspondence was filled with upbeat slang such as “ty” for “thank you” and “so” with 10 extra o’s. Robb wears many hats – recovery specialist, restaurant owner, musician and philanthropist – yet carries himself with a fun and eccentric nature few can emanate.
Robb grew up in Moss Side, an inner city neighborhood of Manchester, England, where he fell in love with music. He first picked up a guitar at age 3 and was playing on stage by 9. “The only thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a musician,” Robb said. He started his own band as a teenager where his father, who fixed gas lines and was often on call, would call in reports at venues where Robb was playing to see him. He was hired by Abbey Road Studios in the ‘70s to play bass guitar for albums by Queen, David Bowie and Elton John. “Back then, you either got credited or paid, so I know what songs I worked on, but it was common to replace players. I don't know what made the final cut.”
While music was his dream, it also introduced Robb to alcohol. “I had my first drink at 9,” Robb said, “Ended up not being good for me.” One night after a session with Elton John plagued by stormy power outages, Robb and the musicians went back to John’s penthouse hotel room. “There was drinking, drugs, women, and it was still raining and thundering. Elton calls the lobby and screams ‘If you don’t stop the rain, I’m never coming back here,’ and I thought, I’m in this crazy world. People don’t live like this.” Robb was fired due to his alcoholism, but it would become a blessing in disguise. “The best thing I did was get fired,” Robb told me mournfully. “I was disgusted they called me an alcoholic. But if I hadn’t been fired I’d be dead.”
After being fired from Abbey Road Studios, Robb graduated from Oxford University with a PhD in Psychology in 1984. He became a practicing psychologist until he was kicked out due to alcoholism. Robb lived on the streets of Manchester for 13 months where he had multiple near death experiences. One night when his shoes were stolen off his feet, Robb prayed for a way out, and a man holding a Bible turned the corner and offered him a place to stay. At the AA meeting the man forced him to attend, Robb met an angel. His AA mentor John helped him immensely in his recovery, but once their time together had ended, Robb was unable to find him. He asked the group if anyone knew John but no one had met him. He stopped by John’s house to find someone else had moved in. He hired the best PI in England who came up empty-handed. “John was an angel, no doubt about that,” Robb shared, “God saved me.”
Robb moved to Dallas in 2007, where he was invited to be a motivational speaker for a recovery group in Plano. He realized the need for recovery coaches in the area, so he opened the first location of the Robb Kelly Recovery Group to help alcoholics and addicts that struggled like him. Robb has worked as a recovery specialist for decades filled with various radio and television appearances. His high-profile clients include multiple rock stars and actors. “I met a singer at the airport who told me ‘You’re Doctor Robb from TV!’ And I thought, Shouldn't this be the other way around?” Robb’s practice has broadened over the years. He additionally works with trauma patients, eating disorders and business owners. “I had a patient who was a failed business owner, and when I asked about his hobbies, he was very embarrassed that he knitted socks for friends and family,” Robb began. “Our goal became for him to sell a few socks. He went on to create one of the biggest sock companies in the world.”
Robb released a memoir detailing his recovery journey in 2019. “For years, everyone’s told me I have a great story and I need to write a book,” Robb said, “but I never thought I could until my wife convinced me.” They co-wrote the memoir for two years. When they were stumped on the title, they consulted his daughter Charlotte. Robb had missed most of her life due to his alcoholism, and her last words to him as a child were “Daddy, Daddy, please stop drinking,” which became the title of the memoir. The book is dedicated to her.
Robb believes that addiction recovery should be offered for the entire family unit. “For treatment we would have married men come in seven days a week for a 90 day period, and when we brought the wife in for two days a week, the recovery rate went up by 42%,” Robb shared. “Addiction is a family illness, which makes it a family recovery.” It’s why he created the Robb Kelly Foundation, a charity that helps recovering addicts and their families with housing, healthcare and school lunch debt.
While Robb loves American food and turning right on red, he missed tea shops scattered across England and vowed to open one. “During my sister’s first visit here, we’re sitting by the pool and I jokingly told her to move here and open a tea shop with me,” Robb smiled, “then I get a call six weeks later that she’s sold her house with a one-way ticket here.” Their childhood kitchen was filled with their grandmother’s recipes – scones, beans on toast, chips, macaroni cheese – all sold at The Olde English Tea Shoppe on Stone Oak Parkway.
Robb keeps himself busy between his businesses. The Robb Kelly Group has recently taken large strides in Alzheimer’s research to increase short-term memory by 13%. The Robb Kelly Foundation continues to help families impacted by addiction and is currently planning a 100 unit apartment complex to offer affordable housing to beneficiaries. Between appointments, Robb can be found behind the counter at his tea shop next door – He recommends trying the fish and chips or afternoon tea. When not working, Robb takes care of his English bulldogs and browses beach houses online. “I don’t think I’ll ever truly retire,” Robb predicts. “Being able to help people is the foundation of my life.”
With more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Robb Kelly specializes in empowering people to unlock their brain’s potential and transform their lives for good.
When you have the ability to help people at my level, it's a gift from God and you should never ignore that.
“When I first experimented with red glasses, I noticed that it was a great conversation starter. My favorite pair is the green since they match my favorite shoes.”