Zac Clark
Zac Clark, CEO of Release Recovery. Source: Release Recovery

Zac Clark has not slowed down. The Bachelorette alum and founder of Release Recovery sat down with Forbes' Talks Shop series in January 2026 to walk through the routines and tools behind his life as a CEO, a marathoner and a man 14 years into sobriety.

The conversation covered everything from cold brew rituals and compression socks to how he reviews his day before bed. It also included one admission fans did not see coming.

Zac Clark Is Running a 125-Person Healthcare Company

Clark founded Release Recovery in 2017 after five years working in the field. He started with a small team and a coffee pot. Today, the organisation employs around 125 people across multiple facilities in New York, offering transitional living, therapy, family support and treatment scholarships.

He also sits on the board of trustees of Caron Treatment Centers, where his own recovery began, and is founding board member of the Release Foundation, which funds treatment for those who cannot afford it.

When he appeared on Season 16 of The Bachelorette, Clark was open about his history with addiction and his journey to sobriety. He left the show engaged to Tayshia Adams. The platform he built from that visibility he now uses deliberately, speaking about recovery and mental health particularly to younger audiences.

Seventeen Marathons and Counting

Clark's running life started in rehab. In 2011, at Caron Treatment Centers, he decided he might be able to run. He has not stopped since.

Seventeen marathons later, he describes running as one of the most valuable tools in his toolkit. He has also completed the Goggins Challenge, a 48-mile effort across 48 hours that raised close to two million dollars for the Release Recovery Foundation and Caron Foundation.

His morning routine starts at 6 a.m. with water and electrolytes, and on a good day includes prayer, meditation and a run before he touches his phone. He told Forbes the dopamine hit from an early run sets the tone for everything that follows. He is a Reebok man, swears by Maurten gels and travels everywhere with CEP compression socks.

How Zac Clark Actually Winds Down

Clark's ideal evening looks like this: contrast therapy at Bathhouse in New York City, reflective writing, meditation and phone down by 9 p.m.

Then he told Forbes what actually happens on the less disciplined nights. He has been playing Blocky Blast, a free puzzle game on poki.com, with the phone in his face until the moment he decides to sleep. Delivered with the same directness that has defined his public persona, the admission landed exactly as intended.

What He Took From 'The Bachelorette'

Clark told Forbes that the biggest lesson from his time on the show was simple: authenticity is undefeated. He went in knowing that his closest friends were the same people he went to high school with, and that they would call him out immediately if he performed rather than showed up as himself.

He was upfront with every date about his sobriety and his running. If that information turned someone off, he wanted to know early. That same philosophy — be clear about who you are and let the chips fall — runs through everything he has built since.

On dating in New York City, he offered one reframe: go in without the end game in mind. Marriage and kids as an objective, he said, gets in the way of genuine connection. Some of the people he met on dates with no romantic future became friends or business allies.

In 2026, Zac Clark is exactly where he said he would be: leading something bigger than himself, running toward the next finish line and honest enough to admit when the meditation gets skipped.