Lauren Welch never had the dramatic rock bottom she thought someone needed in order to quit drinking. She still had her career, her family, and a successful life. But for years, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something about her relationship with alcohol wasn’t right.

Then came a family wedding.

After drinking to calm her anxiety, Lauren lost control on the dance floor, yelled at people she loved, and woke up the next morning overwhelmed with shame, anxiety, and regret. She decided to stop drinking for seven days.

Seven days became 30. Eventually, Lauren realized she didn’t want to go back.

In this episode of The Sober New Yorker, Lauren shares her journey from questioning her drinking to embracing an alcohol-free life. She and Melissa talk about moderation, alcohol and anxiety, sober curiosity, socializing without alcohol, and why you don’t need to lose everything before deciding alcohol is no longer working for you.

More than three years later, Lauren has gone from sober curious to what she calls a “sober enthusiast.”

Follow Lauren:

https://www.instagram.com/lowelch/

Martin Lockett was 24 years old when one night of drunk driving changed multiple lives forever.

After drinking heavily on New Year’s Eve, Martin got behind the wheel and caused a crash that killed two women. He was sentenced to 17½ years in prison—and later discovered that both women had dedicated much of their lives to helping people in recovery.

That discovery changed the direction of Martin’s life.

In this episode, Martin shares his journey through alcohol addiction, prison, accountability, sobriety and redemption. He opens up about the weight of what he did, the promise he made to honor the lives that were lost, and how he now uses his story to educate young people and help others struggling with addiction.

This is a powerful conversation about how one decision can change everything—and what it means to take responsibility for what comes next.

Follow Martin:

https://www.instagram.com/martinllockett/

https://www.martinlockett.com/

Allie Clark thought she was drinking because motherhood was stressful. Years into sobriety, she began to understand that alcohol had become a way of coping with pain and trauma that went much deeper.

What started as wine becoming part of her daily routine eventually progressed into a dangerous cycle of alcohol and Xanax. Allie tried repeatedly to control her drinking, but by 2017 she couldn’t make it through a day without a drink or a pill.

After reaching a point where she was hiding boxed wine in her closet and trying to drink herself to death, her husband gave her a choice that changed everything: get help or he would take the kids and leave.

Allie entered medical detox, followed by inpatient rehab, and has now been sober for nearly nine years.

In this episode, Allie and Melissa talk about alcohol addiction, mommy wine culture, motherhood, trauma, rehab, marriage and what it takes to build a life in sobriety. Allie also shares why she believes lasting recovery requires support—and how her own experience eventually led her to become a sober coach and founder of the Sober Dream Team.

Follow Allie:

https://www.instagram.com/soberdreamteam/

https://www.thesoberdreamteam.com/

Lauren Fay spent years struggling with alcohol addiction while, from the outside, appearing to have her life together. A high achiever, fitness instructor and daily drinker, Lauren reached a point where she knew that if she wanted a different life, she had to get sober.

Now more than eight years sober, Lauren joins Melissa to talk about her journey from alcohol addiction to freedom, why she eventually moved away from the idea of being “powerless” over alcohol, and how sobriety helped her rebuild trust in herself.

They also talk about shame, addiction, the temptation to romanticize drinking, why sobriety takes time, and what happens when you stop focusing on what you’re giving up and start recognizing what you’re getting back.

Lauren is the bestselling author of Blurred Lines: My Reclamation of Power from Alcohol Addiction — P.S. You Are Not Powerless.

Lauren's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/laurenfaycoaching/

Get her book!

https://laurenfay.co/book

Lisa Smith is the author of the acclaimed memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar, a candid and powerful account of her journey from addiction to recovery. A former high-powered New York City attorney, Lisa struggled with a high-functioning alcohol and cocaine addiction before finding lasting sobriety.

Now 22 years alcohol- and drug-free, Lisa is a leading voice in the recovery community. She is the award-winning host of the podcast Recovery Rocks, co-creator of The Sobriety Deck, and a sought-after speaker and advocate. Through her writing, podcasting, and recovery work, Lisa continues to inspire others by sharing her experience with honesty, humor, and hope.

In this conversation, Lisa reflects on writing her memoir years after its publication, what recovery looks like more than two decades later, and why getting sober had to be something she did for herself.

Get her book:

https://lisasmithadvisory.com/about-the-book/

Follow her on Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/lisasmithwrites/

Jon Gustin didn’t lose his job, get a DUI or experience the kind of dramatic rock bottom we often associate with alcohol addiction. He simply reached a point where he knew alcohol was making decisions he no longer wanted it to make.

Known online as The Tired Dad, Jon spent years using alcohol and other substances to numb what he didn’t want to feel. After becoming a father and watching his drinking escalate during COVID, he began questioning the role alcohol was playing in his life.

On January 2, 2023, after waking up hungover from a night he hadn’t planned to drink, Jon decided he was done.

In this episode of The Sober New Yorker, Jon and Melissa talk about quitting drinking, sobriety, fatherhood, mental health, shame and why you don’t have to lose everything before deciding alcohol isn’t serving you anymore.

Jon also shares what helped him through his first year sober and how becoming more present has changed the way he shows up as a husband, father and person.

Jon's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/thetireddad/

Buy his book:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/784324/the-tired-dad-by-jon-gustin/

Alcohol put Adriana into liver failure at just 30 years old. Her liver, kidneys, and lungs were shutting down, doctors placed her in an induced coma, and her family was told to prepare for the possibility that she wasn’t going to survive.She made it out of the hospital. Eventually, she drank again.In this episode of The Sober New Yorker, Adriana shares the progression of her alcohol addiction, from drinking every night and hiding alcohol at work to physical dependence, liver failure, relapse, rehab, and finally finding lasting sobriety.Adriana opens up about surviving a two-month hospital stay, learning to walk again, returning to alcohol after more than a year without drinking, and why nearly dying still wasn’t enough to make her quit for good.She also shares what finally changed, why community became essential to her recovery, and how getting sober required changing her career, friendships, environment, and ultimately the direction of her entire life.Today, Adriana uses her platform, The Age of Sobriety, to talk openly about alcoholism, alcohol-related liver disease, recovery, and the reality of what excessive drinking can do to the body.Her message is simple: you don’t have to wait until alcohol takes everything before you decide you’ve had enough.Adriana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theadgeofsobriety/

Dr. Brett Kessler was building a successful career as a dentist while secretly struggling with cocaine and alcohol addiction.

His cocaine use often came in binges. During one of them, Brett disappeared for several days while attending a dental conference in Chicago, leaving his family searching for him and eventually leading him to treatment. But after getting sober, Brett began convincing himself that maybe he wasn’t really an addict. He completed a triathlon and remembers thinking, “Drug addicts can’t do triathlons.”

Within days, he was using again.

After another relapse caused him to miss his best friend’s mother’s funeral, Brett returned to recovery and began building a completely different life. He has now been sober for more than 27 years and recently celebrated 10,000 consecutive days of sobriety.

In this episode, Brett and Melissa talk about cocaine addiction, alcoholism, relapse, recovery, shame and the stigma surrounding addiction among healthcare professionals. Brett also shares how becoming open about his recovery led him to help other dentists struggling with addiction and ultimately become president of the American Dental Association.

It’s a powerful story of what can happen when someone is given a second chance—and decides to do something meaningful with it.

Follow Dr. Brett:

https://www.instagram.com/bikodds/

https://bikodds.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-brett-kessler/

Sydney grew up knowing alcoholism ran in her family—and for years, she found reasons why her own drinking wasn’t the same.

She was successful, living in New York City and building the career she’d always wanted. But what began as partying and a nightly glass of wine slowly progressed into hiding alcohol, lying about her drinking and taking shots on her commute home. During COVID, her drinking escalated even further, eventually becoming something she felt unable to control.

As her life revolved more and more around alcohol, Sydney made a decision she still speaks openly about today: she chose drinking and partying over her marriage.

After moving out, things deteriorated quickly. She began drinking around the clock, missing important events, hiding tequila from friends and repeatedly promising herself she would stop—only to find herself drinking again by the end of the day.

Her final wake-up call came after another blackout when her young nephew was afraid of her and her family told her something had to change.

Sydney took her last drink on April 19, 2024.

Follow Sydney:

TikTok 😜 www.tiktok.com/@sydleemac?_r=1&_t=ZT-91BjUm2me3z

https://www.instagram.com/sobersyd/

https://www.sydneymacalister.com/

Karolina Rzadkowolska is a bestselling author, alcohol-free empowerment expert, and founder of Euphoric, a global movement helping women transform their relationship with alcohol. She is the author of Euphoric and has helped thousands of women create healthier, more fulfilling lives without alcohol.

On a personal level, Karolina is also my mentor and the woman I completed my coaching certification with. I deeply connect with her approach to changing subconscious beliefs around alcohol and the empowering way she helps women redefine what’s possible alcohol-free.

Follow Karolina:

https://www.instagram.com/euphoric.af/

Join my Happier Hour group:

https://app.heartbeat.chat/happier/invitation?code=GC36CJ