More Life with Carl Radke - Starting a Mocktail Company from Scratch with Mingle's Laura Taylor

Episode Date: May 26, 2026

Exploring the Founder’s Journey: Laura left a successful corporate sales career, got sober, and sold her husband's wine collection to fund a mocktail brand now backed by Bethenny Frankel. Carl sits down at Soft Bar with the founder of Mingle Mocktails, Laura Taylor, to talk leaving corporate, betting on the non-alc boom early, and what it really takes to build something from nothing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey, guys, I'm Carl Radke, and welcome to More Life. with Carl Radke. I am super excited about today's episode. We've got an awesome guest. Her name is Laura Taylor. She is an incredible founder and entrepreneur. She started the brand Mingle MockTales who's partnered with Bethany Frankel. They are building something really special and unique. Laura's coming in today. I hope you guys enjoy this conversation. All right, Laura Taylor, welcome to More Life. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having me, Carl. It's good to see you here because I've seen you here in this space before.

But downstairs. Rocking it out. We had a crazy party. We did. And activated your amazing brand mingle. I mean, Ivan's been inspired by your story because I think you started the brand back in 2017. That's correct. And listen, back in 2017, I was still drinking and still partying.

So the thought of even an N.A. drink back then, I would have laughed. I have a saying, More Life, which is something that comes from Summerhouse on TV. I didn't know if there's a saying that you have, that you like to live by. Yeah. I usually end discussions with this. And it's, if there's something that scares you, you should probably do it. And so I think that's a great way to start off. But before we jump into me, I want to turn it back to you and share with you that I've been

inspired by your journey. I watched the softbar pop-ups happening when Mingle was building. And I was like, if only I could do something with softbar and Carl Radke. And so this has been a total full circle moment. And I think we've got a lot of similarities and a lot to talk about. No, absolutely. We seem to be in the right place. Yes.

So, okay, you're saying goes, what is it again? If it scares you, you need to do it. Yeah, and I like that. And scare, like, I mean, if it pushes you out of your comfort zone, obviously good things, you know, like starting a business or creating a non-out pop-up bar that turns into a destination. I mean, those are scary-ass things. I mean, just thinking about it, it makes me nervous. And so I use that as kind of a checkpoint when I do things throughout my work week because I don't know about. you, but I do things every day that I'm like, this is uncomfortable, so I should probably do it.

And it makes a lot easier. Yeah. I mean, usually on the other side of fear is like a lot of growth. Yes. And a lot of like things that you wouldn't realize is on the other side. I live with a lot of fear in my life. Who doesn't? Totally. But once you can kind of get one step through, like you break a fear down. It helps you break, I think, other ones down the line. But yeah, starting a business, raising capital, you know, asking people for money is all these things are stressful. I'm knee deep in that right now. And you mentioned raising, and then there's raising kids back then, which I've done too. And how many kids do you have? I have two kids.

Shout out to Laura's kids. I see you got your mingle mood, which I will say, I really love your product. I love the functional ingredients. And your product, you feel it. Take me back to when you were starting mingle. Like, what was the real impetus for kind of the origin story or what inspired you to build a moktail brand back in 2017 when those people are like. People think it's logical now.

So I love a comeback story. I love anybody that like goes through crazy stuff and comes out on the other side. And this is a true, pure example of that. So I gave up drinking alcohol 10 years ago. And that's a whole other podcast. But at the end of the day, we have time. Oh boy. Oh, I don't know. But yeah, it was something I had to do. It was right for me and my family. It took a while. It took me about a year to give up alcohol. It was hard. Was there a moment if you're willing to or comfortable sharing that was like kind of the catalyst for, okay, like I can't. continue to drink or do what I'm doing. I mean, one of the last things I remember, I was in Seattle,

I was working for my last company, Tablo, which I loved. I was in Seattle. I was like, I'm going to stop drinking alcohol. And our boss invited us to an Elton John concert. And he's like, we're going to grab drinks before, and then we'll head to the concert. I'm like, okay, I'm not going to drink. And then we get to the bar.

He's like, Laura, here's a white wine. I'm like, ugh. And I took the wine. I'm like, well, I guess we're not going to quit yet. And with so much going on in my life, like I had so many things going on, family, work, you know, life, I turned to alcohol to chill out, to quiet down, to celebrate. And so there were a lot of examples where I went too hard. But what did prevent me from giving up alcohol was there was nothing out there to fill the gap.

So I'd go to friends' birthday parties or Christmas parties, and I started bringing diet ginger ale. And I'm like, this is so uncool, but at least I have something in my glass. People don't know what is. They leave me alone. So that's kind of when things started turning around where I found ways to really put myself first, to take care of myself first in those situations and work on, like, living while not drinking. Did you notice like an immediate change in just how you were feeling when you stopped drinking? How hard was it initially?

It was very hard. You know, I had two kids, and I would say this is the hardest thing I've ever done. So when you're addicted to alcohol, some people don't think of it as a disease, but it is. So I come home and I want to reach for those three glasses of wine. And instead, I had to fill the time. So I would do stuff and I'd have to fill that gap with something to distract me. So it was very hard. And I just had to be really thoughtful in protecting my sobriety.

Yeah. Well, I think that's how a lot of people's stories are, at least for me personally. I mean, I had said out loud in 2019 to a friend, like, I think I need to get some help. It wasn't until 2021 when I really hit my rock bottom and was like, I cannot live like this anymore. Yeah. So I feel like you're, you know, it's not a linear path. No. At least for me, it wasn't either.

And so I shared all this with my husband and my very best friend from college. My kids were younger. I think they were like 13 or 14. So I wasn't, obviously that's not appropriate. But my husband was right there every step of the way. And so I know there were some false starts, but I did tell him I had to kind of withdraw from social occasions for like a few months. And he's a social animal. He's an extrovert.

So it was hard for him. But one thing that I shared this with friends at dinner last weekend, he's a wine collector. He's a connoisseur. He's a happy go lucky social drinker. He can do it and stop and whatever. I'm kind of jealous slightly in my brain of those folks. I mean, yes and no, right? Yes and no, but we sold a bunch of his wine to start mingle.

So when we did that together, when he was willing to do that, it was kind of like he's betting on me. I'm betting on him. We're doing this. So, you know, I do say like mingle, the initial start of mingle was a couple hundred bottles of wine. I love that you turned his wine inventory into your seed capital for your new business. You pull it where you can. Father's Day is coming up and it's the perfect time to give that kind of gift he'll actually use something that helps him feel confident, refreshed, and ready for whatever's next.

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So what truly sparked Mingle was I shared how I felt kind of left out, bringing Diet Gingerail, went to a Super Bowl party, I drank a two-liter bottle of Seltzer because there was nothing else there. That same hostess, Jen, she knows who she is. She invited all the girlfriends to a weekend in the Poconos. And she's like, you'll come up for the weekend. And I'm thinking, I know there's going to be drinking. What am I going to do? I'm going to bring my own macktail.

I'm sick of being stuck with seltzer. So for some reason, I was compelled to go to Whole Foods, mix up my own macktail, pack it in a one liter bottle and bring it on the trip. And looking back, this is like one of those magical moments of beautifulness because that's not my jam. I wouldn't have made a macktail. But it was such a game-changing experience when those corks started popping. I sat down with my girlfriends in a cozy place like this, have a wine glass with pretty pink, you know, bubbly drink, which is now the cranberry Cosmo.

And I'm like, this is amazing. This is a game changer. And so that moment, I walked outside and I'm like, I need to do something about this feeling and share it with others. So that was the spark that kicked it all off. And I came home from that trip. And instead of walking in to see my family, I went straight to my laptop in my office and was like, what's going on with mocktails, hospitality?

non-alcoholic drinks. And there were signs of life that restaurants, people like California Pizza Kitchen was serving mocktails. Interesting. CPK. CPK. I mean, I love their barbecue pizza. They do have a great barbecue chicken.

Yeah. But that's where I saw the opportunity. And I wasn't saying I'm going to start a mocktail company. I was saying I'm going to gather all this data. It ended up being like a 25-page business plan. Wow. And over the course of two weeks, I started on that, of what now is mingle.

So you weren't drinking at all while starting all of this. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend that. You know, I do say it's a hazard now. I am happy to be sober, but if I were to go back to drinking, it would sure mess up my company. Yeah, no. You know, I'm more ways than one. Totally.

I mean, I can relate to that. Yeah, right. I mean, back in 2017, 2018, do you remember, like, what the leader in non-alc was? It was seed lip. Of course I do, because I did all the research. Seedlip came over from UK. Diagio bought a stake in them. Ritual was not started yet. There was O'Dul's. Athletic was shortly after, and Bill Schufeld, you know, God bless.

Shout out to Bill. He's a good friend. I spoke with him yesterday. What do you think accounts for, I mean, I think I have my theories and opinions. I'm curious what you think about what is accounted for all this shift in non-alcoholic beverages, in kind of what we're doing at soft bar. Curious your take on just why you think there's this massive growth and shift. There was a better for you movement rolling into every category. There was kombucha, there was almond milk, plant-based meats were just coming online. And I swear to you, I was like, if this is happening to all those areas, boutique fitness was popping up. I'm like, people are going to look at alcohol and be like, this needs to change. And I also looked at all the celebrities that were sober to feel kind of cool about what I was doing. Because I felt alone.

I'm like, well, if Bradley Cooper is doing that, I can do this. I tried to attach myself to people where I'm like, they have a great story. They came back and look at them now. I follow people personally that I want to kind of be like. And a lot of those folks are sober and business owners or, you know, celebrity, sports, athletes. Is there someone other than Bradley that you really? Oh, my gosh. That's a tough question.

I do have a wall of people. But really, it's a combination of business leaders who are also drinkers and celebrities. And like, I love Pink's attitude. of being unapologetic. She drinks, but that's okay. You know, there are sober women out there that I admire, but I think it's a combination of all those folks. And Bill, from a business perspective, breaking out and following through on his vision, I needed that to stay committed because there were times where I'm like, am I crazy? So it kept me, kept me focused. I don't think you're crazy. Well, you can say that now. At the time, I think people were like,

what's a mocktail? Why wouldn't you drink? And I'm talking about people who worked at retailers who were buyers. Sure. Well, I ran into a friend and a colleague of yours. Recently, we were doing a pop-up at Hudson Yards with Outshine, which is a really cool fruit blend brand. And I was there and Bethany Franklin was there. And I remember seeing her do some videos on TikTok about Mingle. I'm curious about how you encountered her, you know, what's it like been working with her on the brand? And I know she's a powerhouse. I love Bethany. I mean, it's funny. Her skinny girl brand, love her boy. We were really inspired by her and what she did leveraging reality TV and building a business. So when I first signed up for Bravo almost 10 years ago, the only person I really knew was Bethany. Well, who else do you need to know?

I mean, when you think about a business perspective, she's the one shining example of how you do it. Yep. You know, we have a lot of parallels because I mentioned thought leaders and Bethany Frankel. I had a vision board that I created. She was on it three times. Love it. three times. And it was around Skinny Girl and her business, like, attitude of go big or go home. And she was an inspiration to me. So what happened was Shopify is our app for online ordering. And I don't look at it daily, but I happened to look at it. And I saw this order come through for Bethany Frankel under somebody else's name, but it had her name too. I'm like, is this real? I validated it.

And I'm like, that's cool. And a month later, she did a tip. TikTok of Mingle. I think that's what I saw originally. And when I saw that, I actually thought it was her brand. You know, so no offense. She's good at that. She knows how to sell anything and everything. It felt like hers.

She makes it her own. Exactly. So you see this TikTok video, do you DM her or message her or how did the connection happen? So I am a freak about LinkedIn and finding out who's who in the zoo and how to get to them. So within a week's time, I found out who her business manager was, got on the phone with that individual. And within a few weeks time, I spoke with Bethany. And it was like a couple quick shark tank discussions. What you see with Bethany is what you get.

She is who she is, unapologetic. She's very direct and strong-minded. And so we had a spirited conversation. She's like, I was going to start a non-alc. It's too late. I'm looking for one. Let's talk. And so six months later, we struck, you know, we finalized the partnership.

Amazing. Yeah, she's a powerhouse and you are as well. So I love that you guys are connected. On his podcast, Chasing Life, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. CNN's chief medical correspondent brings you the secrets of the happiest and healthiest people on the planet so that you can live your best life.

Are some people just born happier than others? And what might they be doing that the rest of us aren't? Follow Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Apple, Spotify, IHeard Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcast. I mean, I love talking about the corporate career. If we can go back to that for a second, because I worked in corporate sales, and I'm sure you experience a lot of business over cocktails.

And in the environment I worked in, it was almost incentivized. I worked in medical device sales. Fueled by alcohol, right? 100%. And I saw the top performing sales reps every year. They were always taking their doctors to dinners, buying big bottles of wine, taking them clients out, drinking and happy hours. It was almost like you felt like that's what you needed to do to.

achieve your sales goals. In your corporate world, I mean, was it a lot of business over cocktails? It was integrated. It wasn't like you had to, but it was a work-hard, play-hard mentality. I worked for Tableau. I worked at IBM. I worked at Accenture. And my vision for success from, as long as I can remember, probably in sixth grade, I was like, I want to make my own money. I want to be successful. I want to be able to buy my Jordas jeans, you know, that kind of thing. I think you're going to say Jordan sneakers. I do know the Jordas jeans. Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's a throwback, but that was my mindset. I always knew that I wanted to be a business woman, and my vision was corner office, business suit, buy my own car, have my own apartment. And so fast forward to that's what I was

achieving, had a great career, but I found that business dinners were very much part of it. There were receptions. There were happy hours. There were conferences. They're at Vegas. They're in New York. You know, 11 Madison Park was a very memorable place where I've drank a little and a lot. It was a It was exciting, but, you know, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. However, with that being said, there's nothing wrong with building relationships over dinner. It's just how do you moderate your drinking? Because the best relationships are built on conversations you can remember. 100%.

Yeah, I find, I think when you're having, like, you know, you're sipping on a mingle right now, I've got a functional drink. Like, I feel like the connection is stronger with the beverages we're having right now versus, yes, alcohol is going to fuel some of it. But after a while, you may say something you don't want to say. I don't know about you, but I've definitely done that. So I'm glad those days are behind me. Oh, I'm embarrassed myself many times. I mean, I actually was fired from two different companies, really because of my drinking. It was accounted for my sales performance. But if I'm being completely candid, it was definitely my drinking. And a lot of times I would go out with clients,

but then when the clients would leave, I continued the party. I can relate to that wholeheartedly. Yeah, which is, I think, in the corporate work, I feel like there is a shift happening, but probably from the 2010 to the 2020, corporate sales, corporate America, you know, business over cocktails was kind of how things are done. Do you think there's going to be a shift away from that? Like, yeah, I think there are people who will always drink, and that's fine. But because there's this movement for younger people drinking less, as they get into the workforce, they're going to drink less. And I don't know how many people you've talked to now, I hear it all the time. Like, whenever I'm in a conversation, somebody will say,

I can't process alcohol the way I used to. So now people are coming around to better for you and self-care is a priority, whereas back then it used to be like, anything to exceed your quota, do it. It's fine. We'll expense the dinner. So I think there's this whole movement where, yes, it's becoming far more acceptable to drink less or not at all in business and in life. And that's great for now. Yeah. Well, you said something just a second ago, which I think like the alignment in like being passionate and also like what makes you money. And I feel like you're truly aligned in your life, what you do with your lifestyle, but then how you look at business. And I think that's like the dream is starting a company, but it aligns so well with your lifestyle. And you almost don't

feel like you're working, right? You can say that because you've achieved that as well, right? I think so. That's what I'm trying to. That was the goal when I kind of got sober, got my shit together and started to really look at what I wanted for my future. And I was like, how do I live really fully authentic, but allow that authenticity to maybe fuel business and just the greater picture of it all? So I think that you have to put yourself out there and just, I can say that when I was coming up with the name Mingle, I was afraid to say mock tales. I was afraid to say I don't drink anymore. It was a huge. like moment for me to say, I'm effing sober. Like, get over it. And this is your business now. So embrace it. So I don't want to jinx it. But there are times when I'm overwhelmed yesterday even and where I just have to break it down and think about my why. And my why fuels me to go, F yeah. You wouldn't want to do anything else but this. So shut up. Get the work done and let's go. Yeah. You used to dream for the responsibility of this or, you know, it's like we forget sometimes. you know, you wouldn't trade places, honestly. But you have to remind yourself. So on a bad day, just remember you have this beautiful space soft bar where you're like, I'm doing it. I try to. You know, the why and getting back to like the bigger vision and the purpose of all this,

like it keeps me coming back. And it's, you know, at the end of the day, like I'm really proud to be able to lean in and really go for something I truly believe in. How did you navigate? Because I've been getting a lot of nose. And the response I get from friends or other mentors is, well, nose lead you to more yeses. How did you? How did you navigate? The rejection. Yeah, the rejection. So many rejections.

I focus on the wins. There were a lot of noes, but I focus on the yes. A big yes was Wegmans. Unbelievable. I'm a huge Wegmans fan. I went to Syracuse. Oh, yes, of course. And I remember my freshman orientation.

Every student and faculty was like, have you heard of Wegmans? And I'm like, no, what's that? And shout out to Upstate New York. Getting a lot of nose, I think, takes a toll after a while. But you seem to just keep coming back, keep going back to your why. You have to. I mean, we're crazy people. It's a work hard and see the results and keep it up, you know? Yeah. Thank you for all that. I kind of want to go into some more like of your story a little bit. You know, talk about moments of growth and change. Obviously, you've had an amazing career, it seems like, obviously I'm sure there were some ups and downs.

You know, as far as like your sobriety or not drinking, there's different terms that we use. I know we were talking about that before we got started. You know, I'm not trying to label anything, but how do you look at sobriety recovery or how do you define kind of your relationship with all of that? Because in the world with AA and obviously social media, there's so many people that share their alcohol-free lifestyles. I go to AA. That's what worked best for me. I try to approach people's stories with if that's what works for you. Amazing. I don't try to project.

But there is an element of nuance in the community of sobriety and recovery. I'm curious how you've looked at that. And especially how you've built a beverage brand. I'm sure you get people that email and say, hey, I'm 20 years sober. Can I drink this drink? Yeah. And I love that. So I'd like to preface my response by saying, I only talk about my sobriety in a way when it's amongst people that it will help.

So I'm happy to have this conversation with you. And I hope it does help people. But this is a very like, I'm opening myself up here and happy to because I wouldn't be here unless I was sober. So I'm a huge fan of the 12-step program of AA. I don't talk about it because I think it could be very polarizing. But I can tell you I wouldn't be sober without it. and I'm so grateful for it every freaking day. So you and I had a great conversation, and we agree that for each person, they may have

their own solution. But for me, I needed the discipline and the support of other people to show me how to get sober and stay sober. And without that, I wouldn't be here. So I owe all to Alcoholics Anonymous. And if people find that crazy and weird, you know, so be it. but I'm proud of my recovery and I've worked hard for it. And I'm grateful for that.

And hearing, you know, when you hear other people like yourself share and that experience of going to AA and how you've looked at it, like, I relate to that and I am inspired by people like that. I've met a lot of folks over the last five years where there is an element of like you're not as sober as I am or it feels competitive in some ways. And I've been trying not to subscribe to that. And I love kind of your approach to that. As far as like, you obviously friends and family, your kids.

kids, coworkers. How was that shift? Did you lose friends? Did relationships change once you kind of prioritize your health and wellness and started working steps and going to meetings? Definitely. So I remember this one moment. I was sitting on the back patio with my husband. It was like a Sunday morning. He's on his phone. He's like, oh, I said what? And he's like, group of gals are in New York at a taping of Kelly Rippa show. Those are like my group of friends, you know, and he's like, oh, and I said, oh, I didn't see it. And I said, I don't want to see it. And that was that was a moment where I'm like, I have to let go of this notion of who my real friends are. So for me, I found out who my real friends are and not to say that the people who fell to the wayside are bad people.

It's just that I found that a lot of my friendships were built on drinking. So if that's your primary activity and commonality, When you stop drinking, what is there to talk about? So it is really what I've found is the relationships I have now, even in our discussions, are so much more grounded on real good shit that I'm proud of the friendships I have today. And they're meaningful to the point that they're the best friendships I've ever had. Yeah, so I mean, losing friends is okay in essence. I mean, it sounds harder when you say it out loud, but like I lost friends. but to your point, some of those friends, the foundation of it was founded on drinking and spending

times at bars. And once you stop doing that behavior, there's people that I love. They were great people, but I'm just not really friends with them anymore. But early on, it was hard. Right. You felt like I felt like the kid going into the lunchroom and not finding a seat. I'm like, where do I go? So I would say to anybody who's going through that and afraid of losing their friends, just take it day by day. You know, you're going to be fine. But it feels like you're a that scurry kid in high school when you're going through it. Totally. And I would imagine seeing the or not seeing the post, but hearing about a group of girlfriends going to see, you know, Kelly and whoever's hosting. Ryan. I know. I'm like, who was it? And I felt like that at times even, I'll give you

an example recently. I saw some friends that had gone out for like a tailgating thing for a football game and I wasn't included. Now it was a big drinking environment and all that. And I was kind of bummed at first, but then I kind of was like, you know, it's all good. Yeah. I'm still working on that feeling of like being not included. And I think there's an element of when you get sober, stop drinking, you kind of feel on the outside. But now I actually feel like I'm on the inside. Well, and then the next morning, right, you feel like so much better. Oh my God. You said it pretty well with your Poconos trip. That first round, you brought some mocktails. Like, how do you, let's say you go to a place where you maybe didn't bring your mountain mocktails? How do you

navigate certain social situations? What are your tools? Do you have, like, go-to? I'm so happy that this is not, like, This is something that I find almost effortless because it's been 10 years. So I've been sober 10 years, which is amazing. Thank you. It's like another big milestone. It's so incredible. But, you know, I do bring cans of mingle wherever I can if I know they don't have a mocktail menu or a zero proof menu because I'm like, hey, I got to put myself first here.

If you're not going to cater to this population, I'll take care of myself. And you have to take that attitude because we deserve that. I just came over that idea for you. Oh, what? You need a cooler that looks like a purse. Oh my. Let's not talk. I'm going to take that off.

I mean, I love your Yeti, but I feel like, you know, you're so well dressed. You have great style. It'd be cool if you had like a fashionable purse that also doubled as a cooler. I love that. You guys are going to see this down the road. Yeah, I also do this too. It's called, I joke, B-Y-O-N-A, and I'll bring your own non-out. And I generally, when I'm going to a house party, even in the Hamptons in the summer,

I will pack a cooler to start the summer with energy drinks, non-alc, canned drinks, even seltzer waters, different flavors. You're putting yourself first, and you have to just to know, that's how you protect your sobriety. Yeah, and I almost kind of take a lot of pride and kind of BIO. I've had people come up to me like, what do you drink it? And I'd be like, it's a soap water. They're like, why? And I look at them in the eyes, I'm an alcoholic. And then they're like, oh, I'm sorry.

And then you go, this is what it looks like. And they're like, oh. This is what it looks like people. Do you have any funny things you say to people? Because I'm certainly very social. I meet a lot of folks. For the most part, everybody's very complimentary. But occasionally you'll meet someone who's not aware of what my story is.

And they'll say something to me that'll be like, oh, what? You don't drink? And it's, I don't know if you have anything funny or interesting to say back to those people. It's been so long now people know me as alcohol-free. I just want to share a story at the Poconos. When I launched Mingle, I went to a beer festival with our distributor. And I'm like, okay, we'll see how this goes. And Mingle was wildly popular.

And at the beer festival. At the beer festival. So I was shocked. I love it. And there was a line, a lot of guys, and we kept, like, serving the samples. And then a girlfriend came over, and she's like, all these guys think Mingel has alcohol in it. And the girlfriends were laughing because the guys were like, this is amazing. And then they came back.

They were like, we didn't realize. So to me, I'm like, I'm breaking down the stigma, like, front and stuff. center. So that was super fun because I wanted it to look fun, like, whether you're drinking or not, you're having fun. And I'm like, check. I love hearing that because, like, I have this crazy idea of throwing a party and getting a keg of beer and not telling anyone that the keg is actually non-alcoholic beer. Carl, you've got a lot of ideas. I do. I think I need to talk. I got to get them out. That's why we're doing this podcast. I love that. Is there any moments like you're very confident? It appears to me. And I'm sure you have moments where you're not as confident. Is there been any

moments where you really doubted this journey you've been on with Mingle or doubted yourself and your abilities. It sounds like you were in the car with me this morning when I was driving. I was. Coming up to speak with you, I'm like, how do I want to talk about my sobriety? So I'm constantly doubting myself. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, but what I would say is I have to stay in the moment. And that was the advice I got from my girlfriends. And my sister is like, you're fucking killing it. What do you say? So I need that once in a while. Yeah. I love. I, I love it. I like staying grounded, staying present. It's easy to future trip or, you know, doubt yourself in that way. But I try to, you know, just remaining present. You have the goods. It's just, you just got to dial it in.

Yeah. Is there anything you do daily or weekly, you know, therapy, working out? Is there things in your kind of Laura Taylor toolbox that you tap into daily weekly to help the doubt or to help maybe your health and wellness, all of this? I have a lot of different things that I pull from. Exercise is a big one that's been. taking the back seat. I'm trying to get back into it. No judgment here. As I just ran a marathon. I know. I know. No big deal. There's a gold medal sitting right there and just stare at it. Yeah, no big deal. I mean, I've ran two marathons. You and I talked about this. Hey, I want to high five for that. But I drank a lot after each one. You did not. So, you know, it is. It's a mental journey. And, you know, you learn about yourself during those 26 miles.

But things that I do do is I try to prioritize my relationship with my husband, you know, at the of the day. He's my partner in life. I don't want to screw that up. And the other things are really trying to meditate at least three days a week. Spend time with my girlfriends, go to meetings. You know, there's about 10 other things, but I'm not perfect. What I would share with you is I don't meditate every day because by the time I wake up, half the time I'm on to the next thing, so I'm not perfect. But I know it's there. And when I do it, I feel a lot better. And I appreciate you saying that because I think even when you do meditate, there's this, I think, perception that you're sitting cross-legged like a Buddha and you're like completely Zen. That's not my experience with my meditation.

However, I turn it on. I try to be seated or stretch or just be grounded. But I'm thinking about other stuff. I'm distracted. My phone's vibrating. But for me, just turning it on for 10 minutes, just having something that grounds you for a moment has been really helpful. But I'm similar to you where some days I miss. Yeah.

Some days I'm on to the next thing. But you know it's there. Yeah. It's good to know it's there. And I actually have a friend of mine who always reminds me, like, use your app. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you're right. Was there anyone that you listen to or, I don't know, heard speak about sobriety?

I mean, I know Bradley Cooper sound like earlier, but I've read some books. Like there's an example is David Gaggins. It's called You Can't Hurt Me. And it's an audio book. And David Gagins is a Navy SEAL. He had addiction and alcoholism, but has turned his life around. And he's like an ultra-marathon runner. He's an overall badass.

He's like a crazy, but in the best way. his book was one of the first things that really shook me in a good way. I didn't know if there's any thing for our listeners or watchers. It's been a while. When I first got sober, I was contemplating sobriety. I read all the books that were out around women who were getting through it. And I needed those books to know that I wasn't alone. But those helped me kind of like the Bradley Cooper reference, like, okay, I'm not the only one out there feeling this way. And that's, I think, half of the battle is understanding you're not alone. Yeah. And once you kind of get that realization. I mean, I love Bradley Cooper. He's an amazing actor. In hearing, like,

stories about him, I'm like, what? Like, it just helps Anthony Hopkins. Yeah. Other athletes. Now even in entrepreneurship, I mean, you've seen recently, I'm sure Charlie Sheen's launching a non-out. Oh, yeah. John Malaney's got one. It's now like the thing to do. Right? Yes. I mean, is there any piece of advice that you've ever gotten about reinventing yourself or starting over? And the reason I ask that, and it's a big part of kind of my whole ethos is I've really reinvented my life. I've really gotten honest and authentic. I'm curious if there's anybody or any advice you've gotten about starting over. I mean, I'm 40 years old. Part of my body says I'm getting older. I'm not married. But it's I everybody goes, you're young. You're so young.

What are you worried about? But I'm like, I've got kids that are, you know, of legal drinking age. I think about that too. But what I've told myself is I'm 37. I'm doing it. That's that's why I tell myself. And then I look at people like Martha Stewart. I mean, she's the queen of reinvention. So I think the advice I would say is, and I have to tell myself this, don't limit yourself with negative self-talk or rules that you put on yourself. Like I do feel like as I was driving up here, I'm like a lot of this concern and anxiety is me bringing up with myself like, what am I going to talk to Carl about? So I was like, well, just have a conversation. So I think that as long as you just take a step back and don't overthink it, follow your gut. That's another thing. Follow your gut.

I like the following your gut. We're feeling pretty good here coming up to a wrap up. I've been inspired by you in a lot of different ways, but even more so now because you're honest and you're very vulnerable and that's a big part of how I look at my life. And people that are that honest and vulnerable, it reels me in. So I'm even more in love with you than I was before. But we talked about the concept of more life and something like I said, I subscribe to. What's giving you more life right now. I mean, this is kind of sad than happy, but I lost my mom a couple years ago to cancer, and she was like my rock. Sorry to hear that. Thank you. And then I lost my dad this year, which was not unplanned or it was. Not planned. Yeah. So what I would say is I want to live with

no regrets. Like when that time comes for me, I want to look back and go, I did it or I tried it. You know, I tried, you know, and not just be on the sidelines of life. So more like, I think is great because we're not here to just sit on the sidelines. And if you're going to be sober, frickin' do it. You know, like, do life. Love that. Do life. More life. An iteration. No, I love that. I think that's so inspiring.

I'm so thankful for you coming in. Congratulations on all your success. It's well-deserved. I love hearing people that have turned their life into a different way and have gone full speed ahead. And you're bringing people along for that ride. And even working with your children, working with your husband,

I would imagine our listeners and viewers are going to love, you know, seeing what you've shared because it's so cool just to hear someone pivot their life and see an opportunity and go for it. Well, back at you, Carl, you're doing it. And thank you for your support. I mean, I feel equally grateful for this opportunity. And it's been a pleasure to share this with you. Yeah, and if I never got sober, I never would have met you. And that's like, the one thing I have to reconcile sometimes at the end of the day is, like, I meet people. I've, I recently talked to Jason Waller, who's a big former reality TV guy.

And we had an amazing just kind of catch up. I'd never met him before. And I was like, this is the call I'm supposed to be on. And this is the conversation I should be having. And if I never turn my life to the other side of this, well, I wouldn't have met the amazing stories and all the different individuals that I've encountered in the last almost five years. It's like hard to like think about that in a way.

And the impact you're having just with soft bar so people can physically see your vision. Yeah, it's manifested. To bring that to life is insane when you think about it. I appreciate that. Well, I was inspired by the beverage brands, but what I thought to myself was how do we create a space where you can come and drink all of these amazing new products? And where do these products really come to life? And I believe you needed a spot like what we have here for those brands to really feel their full potential. I want to plug softbar because this is the most beautiful non-elk space I've ever seen. It's not non-alc. It's just cool.

So thank you for bringing that space to life for everyone to connect. It's a lot. gorgeous. No, thank you. I like to think I built it with my bare hands, but I had a lot of help. Well, Laura, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for hanging with me on More Life with Carl Radke. Check us out wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Like, subscribe, comment. Let us know what gave you more life this week. Cheers. More Life is produced by Annie Siegel and executive produced by Adam Reynolds of Denham Pictures. This episode was directed by Annie Siegel, edited by Mikey Ortiz, and recorded at softbar studios in Brooklyn, New York.

More Life is a production of Sony Music Entertainment. From Sony, our executive producers are Chris Skinner and Joanna Clay. Original music by Function Adams. Sound mixing by Ian Sorrentino. Set design by Michael Ignacio. Publicity by Caitlin Healy. Additional support from Abby Sharp. And a special thanks to Alison Shano and Joanna Orland.

New episodes drop every Tuesday. We'll see you next time.