What if getting sober didn’t mean leaving the party—but finally becoming fully present for your own life?

In this episode of Rewired Sober, I’m joined by Claire Comai, founder and creative director of Rehab Studios and Vice President and Creative Director of Break Free NYFW’s Recovery on the Runway.

Claire and I talk about the intersection of fashion, recovery, identity, creativity, and reinvention—and why the old image of sobriety as staying home and playing it safe simply doesn’t fit everyone.

After getting sober at 24, Claire found herself trying to figure out who she was without alcohol. Instead of suppressing her love of excitement, fashion, travel, risk, and a little bit of chaos, she began finding healthier places to put that energy. That journey eventually led to Rehab Barbie, her own fashion collection, and now Rehab Studios—a creative studio and PR firm working with designers and producing Break Free’s growing New York Fashion Week showcase.

We talk about why fashion and alcohol have historically been so intertwined, the fear that sobriety will make life boring, and the reality that neither of us could live the lives we have now if we were still drinking.

We also get into Recovery on the Runway, how Break Free is changing the visual identity of recovery, why representation matters, the importance of supporting emerging designers, and Claire’s belief that relationships can become their own form of currency in an industry that can often feel incredibly pay-to-play.

And yes—we discuss the ongoing declaration that “New York Fashion Week is dead.” Claire and I have some thoughts.

This conversation is about refusing the idea that recovery requires becoming quieter, smaller, safer, or less yourself.

Sometimes recovery isn’t about subduing who you are.

Sometimes it’s about finally becoming capable of being more of who you are.

In this episode:

• Sobriety, identity, and rediscovering yourself
• Fashion as creativity, expression, and community
• Why sobriety doesn’t have to mean giving up nightlife or glamour
• Replacing destructive chaos with creative risk and adventure
• Claire’s evolution from Rehab Barbie to Rehab Studios
• The growth of Break Free NYFW and Recovery on the Runway
• Alcohol, drugs, eating disorders, and mental health within fashion culture
• Why sober representation matters
• The changing culture around non-alcoholic drinking
• Why New York Fashion Week still matters
• Supporting emerging designers in a pay-to-play industry
• Building a career through relationships, collaboration, and community
• What’s next for Rehab Studios and Break Free

Connect with Claire & Rehab Studios

Instagram: @clairecomai

Rehab Studios: @rehabstudiosny

TikTok: @rehabstudiosny

Website: rehabbarbie.com

Follow Break Free NYFW

Instagram: @breakfreenyfw

Designers, models, stylists, press, makeup artists, sponsors, and other creatives interested in participating in future Break Free NYFW events can connect with Claire and the Break Free team through their social channels.

Connect with Kate

Instagram: @katevitela

For speaking, workshops, collaborations, or podcast inquiries, connect with Kate through social media or katevitela.com.

What do we actually mean when we say we believe people can change?

The controversy surrounding the canceled John Galliano exhibition at the Met sent me down a rabbit hole—not because I think Galliano is owed a museum retrospective, and certainly not because addiction erases the harm someone causes.

It doesn’t.

But after years working in psychiatry and addiction—and after eight years of sobriety myself—I can't listen to this conversation without noticing what seems to be missing from it: addiction, impairment, recovery, accountability, rehabilitation, and the possibility of genuine human change.

Galliano's antisemitic and racist remarks were horrific. He faced enormous consequences for them. But his collapse also happened during a period of severe alcohol and polysubstance dependence, blackouts, grief, chronic sleep deprivation, extraordinary professional pressure, and profound deterioration.

Context is not acquittal.

Understanding why someone behaved terribly is not the same thing as saying the behavior was acceptable.

So in this episode, I'm asking the harder questions.

What actually happens to judgment, memory, inhibition, and executive functioning during severe addiction and blackouts? Is the old idea that "drunk words are sober thoughts" even neurologically accurate? How much should impairment matter when we're talking about responsibility?

And then there's Dior and LVMH.

Galliano was reportedly producing an extraordinary number of collections while his addiction and mental health deteriorated. So where does individual responsibility end and institutional responsibility begin? What happens when someone's pathology is incredibly profitable—right up until it becomes publicly unacceptable?

But the question I keep coming back to is even bigger:

If someone's deterioration counts as evidence that they changed for the worse, shouldn't years of sustained behavioral change at least count as evidence that they may have changed for the better?

Galliano has now spent years sober, acknowledged the harm he caused, educated himself, expressed remorse, and publicly accepted that atonement does not entitle him to institutional celebration.

That doesn't mean anyone owes him forgiveness. It doesn't mean the Met owed him an exhibition. And it doesn't erase what happened.

But if nothing a person does after their worst moment can ever meaningfully alter how we understand them, then what exactly do we mean when we tell people to get help, take responsibility, recover, make amends, and change?

Because recovery cannot simply be a lifetime probation sentence in which the sickest version of you remains the only version of you society considers real.

This episode gets into John Galliano, the Met controversy, addiction and the brain, blackouts, Dior and LVMH, institutional responsibility, accountability without absolution, forgiveness, rehabilitation, and what redemption might actually look like.

And ultimately, this isn't really an episode about whether John Galliano is a good person or a bad person.

It's about something much more uncomfortable:

Do we actually believe human beings are capable of change?

Because if we believe people can deteriorate, intellectual consistency requires us to leave room for the possibility that they can recover, too.

What happens when life strips away the things you thought made you valuable?

In this episode, I sit down with model, author, breast cancer survivor, and executive producer Christine Handy, whose bestselling novel Walk Beside Me was inspired by her own experience with breast cancer and has now been adapted into the feature film Hello Beautiful.

Starring Tricia Helfer, Hello Beautiful follows Willow, a successful model whose breast cancer diagnosis disrupts not only her body and health, but her sense of identity, beauty, relationships, and self-worth. The film is officially headed to theaters nationwide on September 25, 2026.

But this conversation isn't simply about surviving cancer.

Christine began modeling at just 11 years old, entering an industry where appearance wasn't only noticed—it had value. We talk about what happens when a woman learns to see herself through other people's eyes, and what it takes to rebuild an identity when the external validation you've relied upon no longer feels solid.

Christine shares a phrase I absolutely love: “I don't want to be a victim. I want to be a vine.”

We explore what that actually means—not pretending that terrible things don't happen, but learning how to grow around the things we cannot change.

We also talk about beauty after illness, aging and visibility, the complicated relationship women have with our bodies, and whether it's possible to enjoy fashion and beauty without asking our appearance to prove our worth.

And we get into something I think deserves a much bigger conversation: Have we turned resilience into yet another expectation for women?

Sometimes life is devastating. Sometimes we're angry. Sometimes we don't need to immediately turn pain into gratitude, purpose, personal growth, or an inspirational fucking Instagram post.

Christine and I talk about making room for that reality while still choosing hope.

We also discuss the surreal experience of seeing your own life transformed first into a book and then into a film—and how Christine keeps breast cancer from becoming another identity she has to live inside.

Because ultimately this episode is about something much bigger than illness.

It's about identity after disruption.

Who are we when the roles, bodies, careers, relationships, or identities we've depended upon change?

And instead of desperately trying to become who we were before, what if we allow ourselves to become someone new?

In this episode we discuss:

• Christine's journey from modeling at age 11 to redefining beauty and self-worth
• Her breast cancer experience and the identity shift that followed
• “Be a vine, not a victim”
• Beauty as pleasure versus beauty as proof of worth
• Women's bodies, femininity, aging, and visibility
• Returning to modeling with a changed body
• Why resilience shouldn't require pretending everything is okay
• The pressure on women to turn adversity into inspiration
• The difference between allowing an experience to shape you and allowing it to define you
• Turning Walk Beside Me into Hello Beautiful
• Who Christine is beyond the labels of model, patient, survivor, author, and advocate

Inspired by Christine Handy's novel Walk Beside Me, Hello Beautiful stars Tricia Helfer and is written and directed by Ziad H. Hamzeh. Christine serves as an executive producer.

After screenings and recognition on the film-festival circuit, Hello Beautiful has been acquired by Freestyle Releasing and will open in theaters nationwide September 25, 2026.

This isn't a story about cancer being the end of someone's life.

It's about what comes next.

Learn more about Christine and Hello Beautiful:

Christine Handy: www.christinehandy.com

Instagram: @christinehandy1

Hello Beautiful: In theaters September 25, 2026

Trailer: https://youtu.be/fVw3xG426-c?si=PhLyEAYtxzsiwfEn

What if beauty wasn't about fixing what's wrong with us?

What if it was about celebration, creativity, confidence, and feeling more like ourselves?

In this episode, I'm joined by Sarah Siegel-Kolodziejski, founder of Pure Clarity, for a conversation about the fascinating intersection of beauty, wellness, alcohol-free living, mindset, and reinvention.

Sarah and I both love beauty. We're not here to tell women to throw away the mascara, cancel the Botox appointment, and retreat into the woods. But we are interested in asking better questions about why we do what we do.

When does beauty feel like self-expression—and when does it become another way we're taught that we need correcting?

We talk about Chella, the clean, vegan beauty brand focused on brows and eyes, and the idea that beauty can enhance who you already are rather than create some supposedly "better" version of you.

But this conversation goes much deeper than makeup.

Sarah and I also talk about how dramatically we've both changed our lives by changing our thinking. We discuss rewiring old patterns, neuroplasticity, and studying the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza as part of understanding that we aren't sentenced to think, behave, or live the way we always have.

Our brains change.

Our beliefs can change.

And when we repeatedly practice new ways of thinking and behaving, our lives can change with them.

We also get into a contradiction Sarah has noticed within the wellness world: an industry obsessed with clean ingredients, longevity, mindfulness, nervous-system regulation, sleep and optimal health still routinely pushes alcohol.

We're scrutinizing what's in our moisturizer while somebody is pouring the third glass of rosé at the wellness retreat.

Maybe wellness deserves a bigger conversation.

This episode is about beauty without punishment, wellness without perfection, questioning the cultural scripts we've inherited, and giving ourselves permission to evolve.

Because maybe beauty isn't another project.

Maybe beauty gets to be a celebration.

Pure Clarity — Mindful Drinking, Mindful Living

Sarah's alcohol-free lifestyle, coaching and wellness community:

https://www.pureclaritynow.com/

Chella Beauty

Clean, vegan brow and eye beauty:

https://chella.com/

Is midlife too late to start something new?

Or have social media, hustle culture, and our obsession with turning every damn thing into an accomplishment convinced us that if we're not already good at it, making money from it, or building a personal brand around it…why bother?

In this episode of Rewired Sober: The Next Chapter, I'm talking about what it feels like to be 47 and suddenly obsessed with sewing, French, fashion, creativity, and parts of myself I thought I'd left somewhere along the way.

And yes, sometimes I look online and think: Well shit. I should have started this twenty years ago.

Social media can give us permission to imagine a different life. It can show us women doing fascinating, creative, brave things we didn't even know were available to us. But it can also create FOMO, urgency, comparison, and the nagging feeling that we're late to our own lives.

I'm not the woman I was at 27—and thank God.

I love her. But I don't want to go backward and become her again. Twenty years of mistakes, heartbreak, recovery, careers, relationships, failures, courage, ridiculous decisions, wisdom, and actual LIFE have shaped the woman I am now.

Maybe midlife isn't about reinventing yourself from scratch.

Maybe sometimes it's about bringing old pieces of yourself back—with twenty more years of wisdom attached.

And maybe sewing doesn't need to become a clothing line.

Maybe learning French doesn't need to become content.

Maybe loving fashion doesn't require me to prove that I'm important enough to belong in fashion.

Maybe we are allowed to be beginners. To follow novelty. To suck at something. To change our minds. To spend time on something simply because it makes us feel more alive.

Because joy doesn't need a business plan.

In this episode, I get into social media and FOMO, the fear of being behind, the pressure to monetize everything we love, why novelty matters, returning to forgotten parts of ourselves, and the strange freedom of realizing that at 47, I don't need every new interest to lead somewhere.

Sometimes loving the hell out of something is enough.

Connect with Kate @katevitela

What if getting dressed has less to do with fashion—and everything to do with identity?

In this episode, I sit down with New York stylist and creative director Kate Tricarico to talk about why personal style is so much deeper than following trends. From growing up in New York City to working with legendary costume designer Patricia Field on the Bowery, Kate shares stories from the city's unforgettable fashion scene and how those experiences shaped her understanding of clothing as self-expression.

Today, Kate styles everyone from celebrities to everyday women, helping people discover a wardrobe that reflects who they are instead of who social media tells them to be.

We also dive into one of fashion's most controversial conversations: John Galliano. Fifteen years into his sobriety, does one of the greatest fashion designers of our time deserve recognition from the Met? Can we separate extraordinary art from the deeply flawed human who created it? And what does accountability, forgiveness, and redemption look like in creative industries?

Whether you love fashion or have never thought much about it, this conversation is really about something much bigger:

Who are you?

And are your clothes helping you become more of that person—or less?

• Kate Tricarico's journey from growing up in New York City to becoming a stylist and creative director
• Working for Patricia Field on the Bowery and lessons from New York's creative scene
• Archival fashion and why fashion history still matters
• Why personal style is an extension of identity—not just aesthetics
• The difference between dressing for trends versus dressing for yourself
• Confidence, self-concept, and authentic self-expression
• John Galliano's extraordinary creative legacy and the controversy surrounding his career
• Sobriety, accountability, forgiveness, and whether redemption is possible
• Can we separate the artist from the art?
• Why the most stylish people aren't necessarily the trendiest—they're the most authentic

"Style isn't about becoming someone else. It's about becoming more recognizably yourself."

If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who loves psychology, fashion, or the lifelong process of evolving.

Because style isn't just what you wear.

It's one of the ways you tell the world—and yourself—who you are.

Connect with Kate Vitela @katevitela

Instagram: @katetricarico

Website: katetricarico.com

It's Time to Pivot: Why Rewired Sober Is Evolving

Eight years ago, getting sober changed everything.

For a long time, alcohol was the conversation because it had to be. It was the thing standing between me and the life I wanted. But here's what I've discovered after years of working with women in recovery, psychiatric nursing, coaching, and hosting this podcast:

We rarely stay talking about alcohol for very long.

Eventually, the conversations become about burnout.

Identity.

Marriage.

Careers.

Friendships.

Midlife.

Confidence.

Style.

Beauty.

Purpose.

The pressure of being a woman.

And the lifelong process of becoming ourselves.

That's where my curiosity lives.

In this short episode, I'm sharing why I'm pivoting the podcast and what you can expect moving forward.

We'll still talk about sobriety—because it shaped who I am, and it will always weave its way into these conversations—but this next chapter is much bigger than alcohol.

We'll explore:

• Why recovery is only the beginning—not the whole story
• The psychology of identity and reinvention
• Womanhood and the invisible rules we've inherited
• Fashion and personal style as forms of self-expression
• Beauty, aging, confidence, and the stories we tell ourselves
• Neuroscience, psychology, and human behavior
• Midlife as a season of evolution rather than decline
• The art of becoming who you actually are

If you've been with me from the beginning, thank you.

I hope you'll stay for what's next.

Because the goal was never to spend our entire lives talking about what we stopped drinking.

The goal was always to go out and build a life that feels honest, beautiful, meaningful, and completely our own.

So here's to Chapter Two.

Let's evolve together.

• Why I'm changing the direction of the podcast
• What years of psychiatric nursing and coaching have taught me
• Why conversations naturally move beyond alcohol
• What we'll be exploring in future episodes
• An invitation to keep growing with me

Follow along for conversations on psychology, identity, style, womanhood, neuroscience, and the art of evolving.

If this podcast has meant something to you, I'd love for you to stay for this next chapter. And if someone in your life is navigating change, send this episode their way.

Because reinvention isn't a detour.

Sometimes it's exactly where life begins.

Can healing happen in the very places where we once unraveled?

In this deeply personal episode of Rewired Sober, I share the story of returning to Portland—a city that once represented some of the most painful years of my life. It was the place where alcohol left behind professional wreckage, strained relationships, broken trust, and a version of myself I wasn't proud of.

Eight years into recovery, I returned not to erase the past, but to experience it as the woman I've become.

This episode explores how our brains attach emotions to places, why shame often convinces us to avoid certain people or locations, and how creating new experiences can help us rewrite the stories we've been telling ourselves.

Recovery isn't about pretending the past never happened.

It's about proving to yourself that your past no longer gets to define your present.

• My recent trip back to Portland and why it mattered so much
• How alcohol affected my professional life, relationships, and identity
• Why certain places can trigger powerful memories years later
• The neuroscience of memory, context, and emotional associations
• What memory reconsolidation is and how the brain updates old experiences
• Why avoiding painful places can unintentionally keep shame alive
• How creating new memories helps reclaim places once connected to addiction
• The difference between reliving the past and revisiting it as someone new
• Why I wasn't trying to erase my story—I was expanding it
• How recovery allows us to reclaim our identity, not just our sobriety

• "Recovery isn't just about changing your future. Sometimes it's about changing your relationship with your past."
• "I wasn't trying to rewrite history. I was giving my brain new evidence."
• "Portland didn't change. I did."
• "Healing isn't pretending the past didn't happen. Healing is refusing to let the past have the final word."
• "The places where you unraveled don't have to become places you avoid forever."
• "Sometimes the greatest repair isn't explaining yourself. It's becoming someone different."
• "I wasn't reliving my past. I was allowing my present self to meet it."

• Memory reconsolidation
• Emotional memory and place associations
• The hippocampus and contextual memory
• The amygdala and emotional learning
• Avoidance and the nervous system
• Neuroplasticity
• Creating new neural associations through lived experience

Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate

Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/

Email: [email protected]

What if the greatest thing you recover in sobriety isn't your liver…it's your brain?

In this episode of Rewired Sober, I share a deeply personal look at the ways alcohol quietly changed my thinking, attention, stress tolerance, curiosity, and ability to experience everyday joy. This isn't another episode about fear or shame. It's a conversation about hope and neuroplasticity.

As a psychiatric nurse, I've spent years studying how alcohol affects the brain. As someone in long-term recovery, I've also lived it. Looking back, I can see that alcohol didn't just take away hangover-free mornings. It slowly narrowed my world. It consumed my attention, shrank my capacity to handle stress, and stole the curiosity that makes life rich and meaningful.

The good news? Our brains are remarkably adaptable.

Recovery isn't just about putting down the drink. It's about giving your brain the opportunity to heal, reconnect, and rediscover parts of yourself that may have gone quiet for years.

• Why alcohol doesn't just affect the liver—it changes the brain
• The link between heavy alcohol use and long-term brain health
• How alcohol quietly steals curiosity and narrows your world
• Why I didn't really discover Instagram—or many new interests—until after I got sober
• The hidden cognitive load of planning, drinking, recovering, and trying to moderate
• How alcohol consumes your attention and mental bandwidth
• Why everyday pleasures can feel flat while drinking
• Dr. Anna Lembke's pleasure-pain balance and how the brain recalibrates
• How alcohol changes the brain's stress response through GABA and glutamate
• Why life eventually felt harder because I was drinking—not the other way around
• The concept of "capacity" and how recovery expands your ability to handle discomfort
• How neuroplasticity allows the brain to recover over time
• What I believe alcohol borrowed from my brain—and what sobriety gave back

• "Alcohol didn't steal my brain overnight. It borrowed tiny pieces of it for years."
• "The world didn't become harder. My capacity to handle it became smaller."
• "Recovery didn't remove difficulty from my life. It expanded my ability to meet it."
• "Alcohol occupied so much mental real estate that there wasn't much room left for curiosity."
• "I didn't just get sober. I got my brain back."

• Neuroplasticity
• GABA and glutamate
• Executive function
• Cognitive load
• The pleasure-pain balance
• Stress tolerance
• Curiosity and attention
• Dr. Anna Lembke and Dopamine Nation

• What parts of yourself have gotten quieter over the years?
• Where has alcohol—or any coping strategy—been borrowing your attention?
• What has come back since you've been in recovery?
• What are you curious about today that you weren't curious about while drinking?
• How has your capacity to handle life changed since you stopped drinking?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to share it with someone who needs a little hope today. And if you're enjoying Rewired Sober, leaving a rating or review helps more women discover these conversations about the neuroscience of recovery and what it truly means to rebuild a life.

Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate

Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/

Email: [email protected]

Most people think recovery is about quitting alcohol.

It's not.

Quitting drinking is the beginning. Learning to trust yourself again is where real recovery begins.

In this episode, I explore why self-trust—not willpower—is one of the greatest gifts of sobriety. We talk about why so many women lose trust in themselves, how years of self-abandonment quietly erode confidence, and why rebuilding that relationship happens through small, everyday decisions—not dramatic transformations.

You'll also learn how your brain literally rewires itself as you begin keeping promises to yourself, setting boundaries, tolerating discomfort, and living in alignment with your values.

If you've ever wondered, Can I really trust myself? this episode is for you.

• Why sobriety is the doorway—not the destination
• The difference between confidence and self-trust
• How alcohol and self-abandonment weaken our relationship with ourselves
• Why your brain needs evidence, not positive affirmations
• The neuroscience of building trust through repetition and neuroplasticity
• Why failure doesn't destroy self-trust—but abandoning yourself does
• The surprising role of boundaries, emotional honesty, and integrity in recovery
• Small daily promises that strengthen your capacity and confidence

• Self-trust is earned through repeated action, not wishful thinking.
• Confidence grows from evidence that you'll show up for yourself.
• Your brain updates what it believes about you every time you act in alignment with your values.
• Recovery isn't about becoming perfect. It's about becoming someone you can rely on.
• Every kept promise—no matter how small—is a vote for the person you're becoming.

• Where do I trust myself more today than I did a year ago?
• Where am I still abandoning myself?
• What is one small promise I can make to myself this week that I know I can keep?
• What evidence am I giving my brain that I am becoming someone I can count on?

"Self-trust isn't a feeling. It's evidence. You build it one kept promise at a time."

• The science of neuroplasticity
• The relationship between integrity, repetition, and lasting behavior change
• Emotional literacy and boundary-setting as essential recovery skills

Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate

Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/

Email: [email protected]