The Sober New Yorker

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

Christina Horn grew up watching alcohol affect nearly every part of her family. Her father was successful, creative and deeply loved—but alcohol was also his primary way of coping, creating years of unpredictability that shaped Christina’s own relationship with drinking.

Christina experienced alcohol poisoning at just 14 and continued drinking throughout high school, college and into adulthood. After her father died when she was 23, she began questioning whether she wanted alcohol to remain part of her own story.

Her path to sobriety wasn’t one dramatic rock bottom. It was 13 days sober, then drinking again. Two weeks. Twenty-one days. Trying, stopping and starting until she finally decided she wanted a different life.

In this episode, Christina and Melissa talk about growing up with an alcoholic parent, grief, generational patterns, quitting drinking, building self-trust and discovering who you are without alcohol.

Now approaching 1,000 days sober, Christina shares how breaking the cycle became a way to honor her father while creating a completely different future for herself.

Follow Christina on IG:

https://www.instagram.com/itschristinahorn/

Melissa (The Sober New Yorker) and Rachel (Sober in Central Park) are fresh off their very first NYC sober retreat—and still buzzing.

In this episode, they share the magic of a weekend that brought women from around the country together for connection, laughter, breakthroughs, and experiencing New York City fully alcohol-free.

This is just the beginning.

✨ Want to join a future retreat?
Fill out the form below to get on our list and be the first to know what’s next:

https://forms.gle/CY1BgAdqeKEV9Zi29

Want to quit drinking, but only for 30 days? Jaime Andersen tried that on July 5, 2022. She's been alcohol-free ever since.

This one's for the sober curious, the weekend binge drinkers who "aren't that bad," and every mom who wonders if her kids notice. They do.

In this conversation:

• How a 30-day break turned into quitting drinking for good
• Binge drinking and the all-or-nothing brain
• Hiding beer cans on a 40th birthday trip
• Picking the brewery over a sick kid
• Getting sober when your partner still drinks
• Growing up with a parent who drank, then choosing sobriety together as adults
• How to get through the first 30 days without alcohol

If you've ever typed "am I drinking too much" into your phone at 2am, start here. You don't need a rock bottom. Curiosity is enough.

The Sober New Yorker is hosted by Melissa McGovern, a New York sober coach. Follow @thesobernewyorker on Instagram

Jaime's website:

https://www.amazinglyalcoholfree.com/about

And Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/amazinglyalcoholfree/

Nicole is a Northern California-based mom of five, recovery advocate, and a woman approaching four years of sobriety. After losing her father to alcohol use disorder, she made the courageous decision to change the trajectory of her own life in the middle of raising a busy family. Through working the steps and committing fully to her recovery, Nicole has built a life grounded in resilience, honesty, and purpose. Today, she uses her voice to support and inspire others navigating their own path to sobriety, proving that it’s never too late to choose differently.

Follow Nicole on IG:

https://www.instagram.com/cargonicole/