Fashionably Sober

Chris Johnson knew something wasn't right when he found himself breaking down and crying at work as a crane operator in the oil fields.  Since that event, he chose to take a deep look at his mental health.  We sit down to discuss his diagnosis with Bipolar disorder, becoming a Bell Lets Talk Ambassador and how he has turned these experiences into helping men work through toxic traits within their own masculinity.  

Tilena Read and I met through the Universe....don't stop reading! I have been wanting to sit with her since coming across her minimalist art and creative brand on Instagram; One day, her name was casually mentioned through my nutritionist who knows her!  I can't ignore it when things line up like that and by that afternoon, she was set to be my next guest.

Tilena and I share our experiences navigating our relationship with food and body image.  Much more prevalent than in the past, it is still something that deserves a bigger platform.  Tilena opens up about her first known memories with adverse eating behaviors, major moments in her life, taking back the enjoyment and control over the food and how art has carried her through her journey.

Ask and you shall receive.  It took lots of back and forth with her PR team but I did it- Nicole Walker Lyons is my first ever special guest host!!!!!

You know her from her Alcohol free lifestyle and travel journal, but she took time out of her sunrise hikes to dive into my experiences within my first five years sober.   Listen in as we talk about topics ranging from Covid fashion and style regrets to my experience with rehab and losing loved ones. 

 

I get to connect with April Hicke.  She recently celebrated 6 years Sober and sits down to share her experiences of motherhood and owning her sobriety.  She opens up about how she ended up in treatment (spoiler: she booked it while blacked out) and the opportunities she's been given since prioritizing her sobriety.  In order to be there for her family- she has learned that she needs to put herself first.

I get to sit down with Michelle Ivanek.  Expressing her passion through the Performing Arts, she advocates for mental health and often shares her own journey about navigating the confusing world for a proper diagnosis; after years of medical appointments and troubleshooting, she was successfully identified with ADHD.   Try to  follow along as Michelle and I discuss:
1) The tools she uses on the daily
2) The connection sobriety has with mindfulness
3) How I came to be thrown from a vehicle

All while having a ton of laughs throughout the interview!  She is a beautiful example of taking heavy topics with a light heart.

I am honored to connect with Jonny Grothe and Sean Lee - two members from the Canadian rock band, Wild Rose County.  They are a group focusing on helping those in recovery!  Having met while in treatment and surrendering to a higher power, they each bring years of experience from within the local music scene and decided to join together to create their strongest sound yet .   We sit down to discuss how their roots from Alberta not only inspire their wardrobe, but also their creativity and how the guys are navigating the music industry.

Click the link to listen to their latest release, Diesel and make sure to follow  their creative process on Instagram: @wildrosecounty 

In this episode: I sit down with Ainsley Wilkinson, who brings her experiences of having her father pass away from alcoholism.  Together, we uncover how diverse alcoholism is and the contributing factors that increase the possibilities for abuse.  She shares about identifying trending behaviors from past relationships and how her family has turned her fathers passing into opportunities for uncomfortable conversations in order to prevent similar outcomes with loved ones.   Sprinkle in our deep dive into defining "comfort" and a challenging lightning round and I hope you take away some tips for opening the dialogue of addiction.

Carl Abad (https://www.carlabad.com/) is a veteran in the Fashion industry (and my old boss!).  With over 20 years, he's brought his experiences back to his home city.   As knowledgeable as he is with Fashion, he has figured out that sobriety can be just as transformative. 

I sit down with Carl to talk growing up in the LGBTQ+ community in a conservative city, while trying to navigate his sexual identity, cultural boundaries and his years as a Personal Shopper helping clients understand how to best represent themselves.  After a reality check from his Doctor, Carl then decided to pursue sobriety.  With over 2 years under his belt, we dish about how to navigate social situations,  triggers and the biggest lesson he's learned- how to love yourself and stop giving a f*ck what others think.

In this episode- I sit down with Sam Towns (@sam.towns92).  Team Bam is back! Him and I met through a serendipitous blind pairing for our very first CrossFit competition.  In between sets of lifting things fast and dropping them quick, we found out we were both sober.  Together, Sam and I discuss the power of mullets, our personal outcomes from the competition and how his non linear path of sobriety has brought him back to education and to being a stronger person for his family.

Sarah Stokes @glammingguru is a well established makeup artist in the city.  Through her journey in the beauty industry and behind her strong pallets- rests a sibling living with inspiration from her brother who passed away from substance abuse.  

Listen in as she shares how she creates "lewks" with her clients and opens up about her experience with addiction.  How it's not always easy to spot warning signs and how she went about supporting her brother through his process.