BILLINGS — A new Billings business is preparing to join the downtown nightlife scene but in a nontraditional way.
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The Good Wolf, a sober social club, is getting ready to open its doors and welcome all those wanting to have a fun time without alcohol, and a safe space for healing, connection, and community. At the heart of this new venture for co-owners Chase Pereau and Carson Rose is a powerful mission of redefining how people gather and support one another without the need for substances.
“We really wanted it to be a place where you could dance kind of like a nightclub. That was kind of my vision behind it, right? A place where you could have sober raves and have fun and kind of get a fulfilling kind of nightlife being sober, challenging those social norms around that nightlife and recovery,” said Pereau.
Located in the basement of the Hart-Albin building at 209 N. 29th St., The Good Wolf will operate as a community hangout by day, offering family classes, support meetings, doula services, yoga, and even a photography studio for families who cannot usually afford professional portraits.
“I noticed a need for family-friendly meetings and just having that stigma of shame and guilt already,” said Rose. “Building that village, everybody talks about, especially in parenthood, you know, it takes a village, but if you don’t have that, then how do you create it if we’re not giving you a space to do that?”
When the sun sets on Fridays and Saturdays, the space will transform into a vibrant alcohol-free nightclub. They also hope to open the door for a variety of events with their large dancefloor space and stage. A sober drink bar will operate all day, serving non-alcoholic mocktails, sodas, and coffee.
“There’s just a lot of different and fun things to kind of reach out to and see what fits and what doesn’t,” said Pereau. “A place to foster connection and creativity and community.”
The name, the Good Wolf, comes from a Native American proverb about the internal battle between a good wolf and an evil wolf with the lesson that the one who wins is the one you choose to feed.
“It’s kind of like the spirit of everything that we’re trying to do here. It’s about feeding the good within,” said Pereau. “Because there is a choice you can make daily, right? Between good and bad.”
That philosophy resonates deeply with the couple, who have each walked personal journeys of sobriety. Pereau began his recovery in 2018, working in peer support and organizing activities for others in recovery. He first created the idea for a sober club after enjoying being able to still have fun with social activities that normally are associated with alcohol.
“You’re shaped by your experiences,” said Pereau. “In a way, you kind of create what you need the most.”
Rose, who holds certifications in peer support, lactation, and perinatal mental health, and previously was a behavioral health care support specialist recovery doula, was inspired by her own experiences with postpartum depression and a lack of family-friendly recovery resources.
“Before I got sober, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression, and what led to that was very scary,” said Rose. “Even after I was released from the hospital, I still wasn’t left with any resources, and so creating that space where people can come and not feel so alone and not be stuck in that shame and guilt cycle is what was really important to me.”
The social club has already begun one of its services with hip-hop classes from longtime Montana dance crew The Wrecking Clowns on Monday and Friday nights.
For founders Jeff Lakel-Taufagu and Precious Anderson, The Good Wolf is not just a club, but a second chance. After losing their own dance studio during the pandemic, the duo is finally setting down roots again.
“I wasn’t planning on starting another studio because I’ve sort of been just bouncing all over Montana, teaching at all these different studios, and sometimes God just says, ‘Hey, I got something for you. You want to take it?'” said Lakel-Taufagu.
The couple have taught hip-hop to all ages for over 15 years in Billings, taking youth across the country to dance competitions, even auditioning for the final season of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, putting Montana on the national map for hip-hop.
“It wasn’t about winning. It was more about going there, giving these kids an experience, let them know, ‘Hey, there’s a big world out here,’ and if you work hard, you can go to these places and be an actual competitor,” said Lakel-Taufagu. “I like to remind them that they have a heartbeat beating in their chest and you got rhythm in you. Our job is to help sort of pull that out and then you find your identity.”
Despite the triumphs, their story began with heartbreak. In high school, Lakel-Taufagu’s best friend went missing due to an alcohol-related tragedy near the Yellowstone River, an experience that shaped his current mission.
“I made a promise to God, like, if you help find my best friend, I’m going to do something for you, and Garrett always loved me dancing,” said Lakel-Taufagu. “I’m going to do something with it, and that’s what we did. He’s still missing to this day. It’s been 16 years.”
The Wrecking Clowns have since operated by a clear set of rules: no gangs, no violence, no drugs, no alcohol.
“That was sort of just something to hold all of us accountable and together because I didn’t want to see another friend go down like that or somebody else have to feel what I had to feel when I lost my friend,” said Lakel-Taufagu.
It’s a mission that aligns perfectly with The Good Wolf’s, and an opportunity from Rose is what the crew needed to revive it. This time they have a nonprofit in the works, the Dance to Live Foundation, that will make their dance courses accessible to all kids, no matter their background or income.
“I came from a background where my parents were abusers of alcohol or drugs. I was through the foster care system, and so I see that in the sense of me coming in and seeing that from the other people and wanting to help them because I was there. I was that little kid and now growing up choosing not to indulge myself in that, I can help,” said Anderson. “I feel like working with The Good Wolf, we can get a lot accomplished.”
“It’s just ying and yang. It was perfect. We came together and now we’re here,” added Lakel-Taufagu.
Dancing can be a positive way of healing, but for The Good Wolf, it is about the connections made with others. No recovery journey is the same, but this group hopes no one has to go through that alone.
“I haven’t heard of anything that’s like quite like what we have cooking here, so it’s going to be pretty cool,” said Lakel-Taufagu. “Our mission is just to help the community and help the youth here.”
The club is waiting on final permits and hopes to fully open in the near future but has already started hosting events, including planning sessions for the Postpartum Support International Montana chapter. The Wrecking Clowns are accepting new members of all-ages and meet on Mondays and Fridays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
For all involved, it has become a calling to feed the good wolf within, for themselves, and the community.
“We chose to feed that good wolf,” said Rose. “We want everybody to make that choice, but we understand that sometimes the bad wolf gets fed and we want a safe place for people to come when that happens to get out of that funk.”
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