Annie Grace grew up in a cabin with no running water, no electricity, and a dad who never drank. A decade later, in a corporate job in New York City, she was pouring close to two bottles of wine a night, buying the boxed kind so nobody would notice when one ran out. In this episode, she sits down with Mike Marshall, CEO of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, on his podcast The Shift, to talk about what the alcohol industry doesn’t want you to know, and why “drink responsibly” was never really about you.

Annie and Mike discuss:

• Annie’s own story, from a childhood with no drinking in the house to two bottles of wine a night, and the moment that finally stopped her in her tracks
• Why “drink responsibly” sounds helpful but was never really written with the drinker in mind
• What a former alcohol industry executive admitted about targeting the heaviest drinkers, and building the alcopop to hook teenagers
• Why alcohol has carried a carcinogen label for decades, and why most of us never got the memo
• Annie’s “grace first” approach to changing your relationship with alcohol, and why shame just isn’t the answer
• And more on policy, parenting, and what real freedom from alcohol’s grip actually feels like…

Ready to take the next step on your journey?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Episode links:

This Naked Mind: https://thisnakedmind.com

Big Alcohol Wants Your Kids (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ubYky_zM

More on this episode: [full show notes URL — add once this episode is live on thisnakedmind.com]

Related Episodes:

Does Alcohol Advertising Really Work? | Reader Question | EP 184 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-184-does-alcohol-advertising-really-work-2/

Is Drinking In Moderation Possible? | Reader Question | EP 08 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-08-reader-question-moderation-possible/

How to Break Free From Rules Around Drinking | Reader Question | EP 482 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-482-reader-question-how-to-break-free-from-rules-around-drinking/

Why can’t I just have one drink? For Pamela, that question comes from her struggle to moderate her drinking, and for Claude, it sits in her fear of never being able to drink again. Same question but from two very different perspectives. Coaches Cole and Hayley work with Pamela and Claude to discover what sits behind these questions and to find out why one drink never stays one drink for most of us.

Pamela discusses:

• Fifty-three easy days, then a Friday night phone call from friends that flipped the switch

• Why the third night lined up with the anniversary of her ex-husband's death

• Why she uses alcohol to "let go of what's heavy," and what it's really protecting her from

• Coach Cole's question about her daughter that undid six years of believing she had to handle things alone

• Her real commitment for the next time the Ferris wheel comes back around

Claude discusses:

• Why the idea of "never again" feels like free fall and grief, not relief

• Tracing the "glitter" back to cocktails, galas, and a stressful career, and finding it elsewhere

• An experiment with an untouched glass of wine, left behind on an Adirondack chair

• Why a firm 30-day non-negotiable feels lighter than deciding fresh every single day

• The question Coach Hayley keeps circling back to: what if there's no such thing as failure?

• And more…

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Episode links:

nakedmindpath.com

More on this episode: https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/why-cant-i-just-have-one-drink-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-933/

Related episodes:

How to Control Alcohol Consumption | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 772 – https://thisnakedmind.com/alcohol-freedom-coaching-e772/

How to Stop Daily Drinking | Pierre's Naked Life | EP 790 – https://thisnakedmind.com/how-to-stop-daily-drinking-e790-pierre/

Is Drinking in Moderation Possible? | Reader Question | EP 08 – https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-08-reader-question-moderation-possible/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

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Judd never considered that he would quit drinking before turning forty. After all, for twenty-five years he would pick the idea up and put it down as regularly as if it were his morning coffee. But one day he picked up a receipt for a book he'd bought two years earlier yet never read. Suddenly the countdown was on, and he was no longer willing to keep the idea of quitting drinking before forty on the shelf. It was now time to change.

Judd and Coach Cole discuss:

• How buying The Alcohol Experiment in January 2020 and not reading it for months planted the seed that eventually took hold

• Why turning quitting into a 30-day, then 90-day, then six-month goal made an impossible habit feel achievable

• The moment his now-wife suggested he aim for a year instead of six months, and why he said yes

• How he used the rawness of his first alcohol-free months to write a novel exploring AI, free will, and addiction

• Why naltrexone and other medications raise real questions about free will, even when they work

• What it was like to travel internationally alcohol-free for the first time, from Sydney's hidden NA bar scene to San Juan's early morning joggers

• How realizing most people at parties were not drinking as much as he assumed changed the way he saw every social event

• And more on goal-setting, dating after quitting, and what it really means to find your own path to alcohol freedom…

Ready to take the next step? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Episode links:

alcoholexperiment.com

More on this episode:

https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/quit-drinking-before-turning-forty-judds-naked-life-ep-932/

Judd's Book - Syncope: https://amzn.to/44Y2964

When you buy something we recommend, we may get an affiliate commission — but it never affects your price or what we pick.  

Related episodes:

Escaping The Hamster Wheel of Drinking | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 847 - http://thisnakedmind.com/why-cant-i-quit-drinking-after-so-many-tries-afc-e847/ 

Beer at 10 – Jim's Story | Naked Life Stories | EP 383 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-383-naked-life-story-jim/ 

Reader Question – What are Naltrexone and The Sinclair Method? | Reader Questions | EP 82 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-82-reader-question-naltrexone-sinclair-method/ 

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

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What does it take to figure out how to stop relying on alcohol for confidence? Amy needed eleven months alcohol-free, followed by more stops and starts than a city bus has, to decide something needed to change. For Dee, it was an entire wedding weekend and the fear of being the only one without a drink in her hand that made her realize alcohol was holding way too much headspace for her. Coaches Zoe and Cole help both women discover the confidence that was already inside them all along.

Amy discusses:

Going 30 days alcohol-free, then 11 months, then letting red wine back in "on a limited basis" and watching it unravel

The cognitive dissonance between her morning self and her evening self, and why they actually want the same thing

An ADHD diagnosis at seventeen and a lifelong feeling of being unpredictable to herself

A snowy backyard, a hot tub, and proof that an urge really does pass if you outlast it

Dee discusses:

An entire wedding weekend built around alcohol, and the fear she hadn't said out loud yet

Why a glass of wine became her stand-in for confidence since college

The shift from "I'm not allowed to drink" to "I'm choosing not to," and why that one distinction changed everything

Visualizing the wedding ahead of time, the same way she used to visualize a swim race

And more…

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life's big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol. 

Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Cole Harvey is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. 

Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Episode links:

nakedmindpath.com

More on this episode - https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/how-to-stop-relying-on-alcohol-for-confidence-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-931/

Related episodes:

How Do I Become Socially Confident Without Alcohol? – Reader Question – https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-582-readers-question-how-do-i-become-socially-confident-without-alcohol/

Drinking Less in Wine Country – Alcohol Freedom Coaching – https://thisnakedmind.com/drinking-less-in-wine-country-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-740/

Feel Like Yourself Again – Alcohol Freedom Coaching – https://thisnakedmind.com/feel-like-yourself-again-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e756/ 

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

Deb's Naked Life | EP 920

If you're thinking about stopping drinking in your 60s but keep telling yourself you're too old, too set in your habits, or too far gone, Deb's story is the one you need to hear. She was a registered nurse who had directed a hospital addiction recovery program and still didn't see herself in it. She was caring for a dying parent, married to a heavy drinker, and drinking three to four glasses of wine every night before a single book changed the entire frame. She became alcohol-free at 62 and hasn't looked back once.

Deb and Coach Cole discuss:

Growing up alcohol naive, not drinking until her late 20s, and watching it quietly become a nightly habit, she barely chose

Directing a hospital addiction recovery program and still telling herself she wasn't like the patients in it

Reading This Naked Mind cover to cover with wine in hand, crying at the parts that felt like her own story

Stopping drinking while caregiving for her mother with dementia, and finding she could finally be present in those visits

Staying alcohol-free while her husband continued to drink, kept trying to pull her back, and what the honest reckoning that followed looked like

Talking herself out of the This Naked Mind coaching program four years in a row before finally committing at 62, after years of retirement

Why a slip isn't a relapse, it's a data point, and the language of growing and evolving versus changing

And more on curiosity, caregiving, and what it means to build a life you don't want to escape from…

Episode links:

thisnakedmindinstitute.comfullheartcoaching.net

Related episodes:

Self-Awareness Around Alcohol | Dr. Gina Slejko - Naked Life Story | EP 535 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-535-naked-life-story-dr-gina-slejko/

I Quit Drinking But My Spouse Has Not — Any Advice? | EP 48 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-48-reader-question-i-quit-drinking-but-my-spouse-has-not-any-advice/

Using Alcohol Over 60: Lorna Wilson | EP 418 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-418-coaching-questions-with-scott-pinyard/ 

CTA

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

Ready to take the next step? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains references to domestic violence and a mental health crisis.

Who am I without alcohol? Does that question sound eerily familiar? Steph and Nicole both find themselves grappling with that very idea and wondering what the answer will mean for them. Steph is 55, and alcohol has been by her side and has helped define her for most of her adult life.  Nicole looks to alcohol for the answers and to smooth the rough edges, and isn’t sure if she’s capable of being herself with a glass in her hand. Coaches Cole and Hayley help provide guidance and hope in this week’s episode.

Steph discusses:

Why "loss of identity" became the real subject of her coaching call, not just the drinking

The belief that she'd failed herself and her friends, and how that belief kept her stuck

Why chasing a "finished" identity by a deadline backfires

The threshold metaphor, and why stepping into the unknown feels safer than staying somewhere familiar but unwanted

Her plan to resign from teaching by May 1st, and what she's choosing to let go of first

Nicole discusses:

How alcohol became tangled with her identity before she ever turned 21

The seven-year relationship and the night that ended with her in a hospital for three days

November 5, 2025: the day she sat in her car and decided something had to change

Why grace and curiosity did more for her than willpower ever did

What she calls her "2D glasses" moment, and what she sees now that alcohol's gone

And more… 

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more.

Until next week, stay curious!

Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Episode links:

More on this episode: https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/who-am-i-without-alcohol-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-929/Join The Path: nakedmindpath.com

Related episodes:

How To Uncouple Alcohol and Identity | Naked Life Story | EP 549 -https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-549-naked-life-story-andrew/Who Am I Without Wine?: Identity & Sophistication | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E801 - https://thisnakedmind.com/creating-a-new-identity-after-quitting-drinking-alcohol-freedom-freedom-coaching-e801/Why Do I Feel Detached When I’m Not Drinking? | Reader’s Question | EP 122 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-122-reader-question-feel-detached-im-not-drinking/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

What does building a life you don't want to escape from actually take? Donna joined The Path in March 2021 after a COVID grocery store moment she couldn't unsee and hasn't had a drink since. Now five years in, she's back with Coach Hayley to share what's genuinely changed, what she's still working through, and a question that keeps getting more interesting.

Donna and Coach Hayley discuss:

• That COVID grocery store moment, four wine clubs in a week, and what she calls "the gift COVID gave her"

• The beta reader who said her memoir should have said more about her drinking, and what she heard two weeks later

• Why confidence was her number one benefit from stopping, and how alcohol was worsening her anxiety while she believed it was helping

• The 90-second rule for processing difficult emotions without numbing, and the morning practice she's built over five years

• Why building a life you don't want to escape from is still the deeper work at year five

• And more on forgiveness, gratitude, and what five years of alcohol freedom actually sounds like...

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related episodes:

Naked Life Story — Donna | NLS | EP 465 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-465-naked-life-story-donna

Why Does Drinking Alcohol Make Me Anxious? | Reader Question | EP 684 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-684-readers-question-why-does-drinking-alcohol-make-me-anxious/

The Cost of Fitting In | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 785 - https://thisnakedmind.com/the-cost-of-fitting-in-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e785/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains references to childhood abuse, parental alcoholism, and the death of a parent from alcohol-related illness.

Most of us were never taught how to give ourselves grace about drinking, only how to judge ourselves for it. Kelly and Amber are proof that the shame and guilt show up no matter how different the situation looks. For Kelly, it shows up after a weekend of drinking that went further than she planned. For Amber, it shows up the moment someone she's dating asks why she's not drinking, and a much older fear takes over.

Kelly discusses:

Why her biggest data point yet, a full night out at a friend's timeshare, left her more unsettled than any smaller one had

The real difference between "I've proven I can" drink moderately and "I've proven I can" have a great time without it

Why Coach Hayley adds the word "yet" every time Kelly says she can't figure out why she drinks

Admitting she's skipped a Path call because she didn't want to say out loud that she'd had a fun night of drinking

Using the ACT technique on the belief "it's part of my culture," and what that opens up

Amber discusses:

Why she can turn down a drink at work without blinking but freezes the second a date asks why she doesn't drink

The exact body sensation she calls "bracing for impact," and the part Coach Cole admits he carries too

Asking the part of her that calls itself broken what it's actually trying to protect her from

The Sharon Salzberg line about meditation that becomes her new mantra for catching herself mid-spiral

The exact phrase Amber swaps in for "I'm broken," and why it changes how she shows up on a date

And more…

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Coach Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach trained through the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Learn more about Coach Hayley: thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Coach Cole Harvey is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach and habit change and mindset coach. Learn more about Coach Cole: thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Episode links:

More on this episode: https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/how-to-give-yourself-grace-about-drinking-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-927/

The Path: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

Alcohol Addiction and Shame - Hayley's Naked Life - EP 679 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-679-naked-life-story-hayley-s/

Healing Through Self-Love - Cole's Naked Life - EP 737 - https://thisnakedmind.com/healing-through-self-love-coles-naked-life-e737/

How Do I Get Over the Fear of Being Kind to Myself? - Reader Question - EP 552 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-552-reader-question-how-do-i-get-over-the-fear-of-being-kind-to-myself/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA.

BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at ⁠betterhelp.com/nakedmind⁠

Quince: Get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/naked⁠

Shopify: Sign up for free trial at ⁠shopify.com/mind⁠

Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at ⁠zazzle.com⁠

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Trigger warning: This episode contains references to drunk driving, DWIs, and thoughts of not wanting to live.

Zita was in her kitchen in 2017, working up the nerve for a hard conversation with her boyfriend, when the thought arrived: "You know what would make this easier?" She took a shot to self-soothe before the conversation, and it worked so well that her brain filed alcohol away as the answer to hard moments from then on. She's a registered nurse in her mid-30s who felt nothing when she watched other people drink, all the way through nursing school, with no reason to think that thought would change anything. It did. Three years and several DWIs later, one blacked-out night finally made her stop and ask what she was doing. Now approaching five years alcohol-free, she shares her story.

Zita and Coach Cole discuss:

• How one shot before a hard conversation taught her brain a lesson it never unlearned

• Why year two brought DWIs and car accidents, then a family intervention she wasn't ready to hear

• The hiding stage, and what it costs to act unaffected while drunk around people who love you

• Waking up unable to remember the night she drove food to her sick brother

• Why she never missed a nursing shift while everything else came apart

• The promise to her mom she couldn't keep, and what that finally broke open

• How one addiction specialist's number, 90 days, became the only thing she could hold onto

• And more on faith, filling her own cup, and what it really means to find your own path to alcohol freedom…

Ready to take the next step? Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Episode links:

thisnakedmind.com/book

More on this episode:

https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/using-alcohol-to-self-soothe-zita-naked-life-ep-926/

Related episodes:

Naked Life Story | Simone | EP 207 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-207-naked-life-story-simone/

How Do You Deal With Stress Without Alcohol? | Reader Question | EP 158 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-158-how-do-you-deal-with-stress-without-alcohol/

When Alcohol Is The Only Coping Tool You Know | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 917 - https://thisnakedmind.com/how-to-stop-using-alcohol-to-cope-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-917/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains references to psychological and emotional abuse in a marriage. 

The answer to "why I use alcohol to cope" is rarely what you expect. For Will, it’s buried in a need for control he's carried since a chaotic childhood. For Kathleen, it comes from decades of being the one everyone else leans on. Coaches Cole and Zoe help Will and Kathleen take steps towards freeing themselves from that weight.

Will discusses:

Decades of using alcohol to quiet a busy brain, and what happens after the first beer

Why knowing the pattern isn’t enough

The childhood fear of instability that shows up as a desperate need for answers and control

Coach Cole’s reframe: curious versus combat, connect versus control

A body scan moment where he notices tension in real time and releases it

The video game map metaphor — taking the next step without needing to see the whole path

Kathleen discusses:

Being introduced to alcohol at 16 as a social crutch when she moved to a new town

What her mother modeled, and how she replicated it without realizing it for decades

The hero child dynamic — being her father’s favorite and her mother’s confidant, and what that cost her

A 28-year emotionally abusive marriage, and how alcohol became her numbing agent

Learning to ask for what she needs directly, rather than hoping her husband picks it up

The unexpected parallel: she’s now modeling her mother’s behavior by going alcohol-free

…and more

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning. Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life's big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol so you can feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually. Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Episode links:

More on this episode - https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/why-i-use-alcohol-to-cope-alcohol-freedom-coaching-ep-925

Start your alcohol freedom journey: https://nakedmindpath.com

Related episodes:

Healing Through Self-Love: Cole’s Naked Life — E737 — https://thisnakedmind.com/healing-through-self-love-coles-naked-life-e737/

Healing Emotional Pain Without Alcohol - Reader’s Question - EP 706 – https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-706-readers-question-healing-emotional-pain-without-alcohol/

Reclaiming Your True Self: Alcohol Freedom Coaching — E770 — https://thisnakedmind.com/reclaiming-your-true-self-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e770/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA.

BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at ⁠betterhelp.com/nakedmind⁠

Quince: Get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/naked⁠

Shopify: Sign up for free trial at ⁠shopify.com/mind⁠

Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at ⁠zazzle.com⁠

OSEA: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at ⁠OSEAMalibu.com⁠

Trigger warning: This episode contains references to the alcohol-related death of a family member.

Is it possible to build something meaningful out of the worst loss of your life? For Kelly, the answer arrived just five months after she got free from alcohol herself. That's when her brother died from the same thing she'd spent years measuring her own drinking against. She built Perfectly Made AF in response, a nonprofit funding alcohol freedom scholarships in his memory and an annual Boulder gala designed to prove an alcohol-free life is anything but boring. Kelly's Naked Life story traces how she got there, from years of comparing her own drinking to his, to the two days after his funeral when she had to choose what came next.

Kelly and Coach Cole discuss:

• What almost happened two days after her brother's funeral, five months into her own alcohol-free life

• Why "I'm not him" was the comparison that let her avoid her own drinking for years

• The message she wrote her brother a month before he died, and why it came too late

• How a scholarship fund turned into a full nonprofit with 18 people currently enrolled

• The thinking behind this year's Perfect Gala, from a mobile planetarium to a "grounding portal"

• Why Kelly keeps the scholarship recipients anonymous, even from herself

• What she's hoping to build next, from new partnerships to content for schools

• And more on decision fatigue, mommy wine culture, and what it really means to find your own path to alcohol freedom…

Ready to take the next step?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

Episode links:

nakedmindpath.com

https://www.perfectlymadeaf.com/

More on this episode: https://thisnakedmind.com/podcast/how-grief-built-perfectly-made-af-ep-924/

Related episodes:

Naked Life Story: Paul Churchill | EP 61 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-61-naked-life-story-paul-churchill/

Reader Question - Do I Need to Quit Drinking Forever? | EP 296 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-296-reader-question-do-i-need-to-quit-drinking-forever/

Reclaim Your Life | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E762 - https://thisnakedmind.com/reclaim-your-life-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e762/

Follow on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-naked-mind-podcast/id1287269357

Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0UB06sNguPjVvgAYFBcR9I?si=b7568f24c21249ff