Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories - Rebecca Quit Alcohol And Never Looked Back.

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

In this heartfelt episode, we welcome Rebecca, who shares her inspiring journey from a challenging childhood to building a thriving bakery business. Despite her success, Rebecca struggled with alcohol and sugar, which she realized were masking deeper emotional traumas. Her unique story demonstrates that one doesn't need to hit rock bottom to make life-changing decisions. Rebecca dives deep into the cultural and societal norms that surround alcohol and her transformative path to health and wellness. She offers actionable insights and words of encouragement for anyone looking to live a more intentional and fulfilling life. This is Rebecca’s story on the sober motivation podcast. 👉 Check out Rebecca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebecca.hamilton.co/ 🤗 Check out the SoberMotivation Community: https://sobermotivation.mn.co/ ❤️ Donate to Support the Show: https://buymeacoffee.com/sobermotivation 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast 00:46 Rebecca's Tumultuous Childhood 02:37 Starting and Growing a Bakery Business 04:13 The Role of Alcohol in Social Life 07:58 Meeting Her Husband and His Sobriety Journey 20:19 Health and Wellness Journey 31:16 Struggles with Quitting Alcohol 32:01 Finding New Ways to Cope 32:53 The Turning Point 35:48 A Pivotal Moment 40:09 Life After Alcohol 47:34 Empowerment and Belief Systems 51:17 Advice for Those Struggling 56:33 Raising Awareness and Final Thoughts

Welcome back to season four of the Sober Motivation podcast. Join me, Brad, each week as my guests and I share incredible and powerful sobriety stories. We're here to show sobriety as possible, one story at a time. Let's go. In this heartfelt episode, we welcome Rebecca, who shares her inspiring journey from a challenging childhood to build in a thriving bakery business. Despite her success, Rebecca struggled with alcohol and sugar, which she realized were masking deeper emotional traumas.

Her unique story demonstrates that one does not need to hit rock bottom to make life-changing decisions. Rebecca dives deep into the cultural and societal norms that surround alcohol and her transformative path to health and wellness. She offers actionable insights and words of encouragement for anyone looking to live a more intentional and fulfilling life. And this is Rebecca's story on the Subur Motivation podcast. How's it going, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I just want to share a few thoughts with you before we jump into this episode,

been having a lot of conversations with people. And it seems like when they want to get started on sobriety and alcohol-free life is they'd feel like they don't have many answers. The good news is you don't have to have all of this thing figured out to get started. You don't have to have all of the answers.

You don't have to have a massive plan. You don't have to worry yourself about that next wedding, about the summer vacation, coming up and what you're going to do in this situation and worrying about you're going to miss out on everything. All you literally have to do is just not drink for today. That's where it all starts. And it might even be for half a day or it might even be for an evening. And that's how you build the momentum. You just have to get started. That's sort of the key of all of this is the rest of the

magic can't happen if we're still drinking. It doesn't allow for it. And I was talking with some people and it's just like, well, I don't know what I'm going to do then, and I don't know what I'm going to do in that situation. Guys, guys, let's just take it a day at a time. Let's slow it all down a little bit. Because even when we get to those other situations, we're going to be a new person. We're going to be working on ourselves throughout this entire process.

So when that wedding comes or that vacation comes or that work party comes or whatever it is, you're going to be prepared. And I would highly, highly encourage you to get involved with some sort of community, some group of people that are living this way so that you can pick up some tips and tricks and support and some support along the way. What we got going on over at the Southern Motivation community is incredible. It's a place where we come together in our meetings. You know, sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry, sometimes we're sharing wins, sometimes we're sharing struggles. We've got people in there from their first day all the way up to many,

many years. And we all work together. And what brings us together is our desire to live a sober life, an alcohol-free life, and have a shot at living our best life. And we just know at some point, I think we see through the BS that alcohol is literally just taking and taking and taking and taking from our life. So if you're interested in a virtual community that meets every day and is a really, really incredible, inspiring group of people that are working hard on this stuff and you feel like you could use some support on your journey, check us out. I'll drop the link down on the show notes below. You can grab a free trial, see if it's for you, join some meetings. I'm over there three days a week. I love it. I love connecting with the community. I love seeing all the progress that

they make it uh it brings a big smile to my face and i love the people as well if they do slip they come back they're honest about it and they get right back to work um not everybody gets this their first try uh you've been listening to the show we're almost up to 200 stories i can't count on one hand how many people got it on their first try it's a it's just showing up one more time that seems to make all the difference so if you could use some support join us If you're enjoying the podcast and you love to support it and you're in a position to do so, be sure to check out Buy Me a Coffee.com slash Sober Motivation and you can donate to help cover the cost of this incredible podcast.

Got some really cool stories coming up, but I won't keep you any longer. Let's get to Rebecca's story. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Sober Motivation podcast. Today we've got Rebecca with us. Rebecca, how are you? I'm great, Brad. Thanks for having me. This is awesome.

Yeah, of course. you know, after we connected and I came on your show and heard a little bit more about your story, I was like, you know, it would be great for us to collaborate here on the podcast and for you to share your experience with everybody. Yeah, I'm super excited. I loved having it on the podcast. I got so much good feedback from it and it was amazing. I just loved hearing all of your insights.

It was fantastic. So. Yeah. So what was it like for you growing up? Growing up for me, I had a rough childhood. You know, my parents were to take. together, but there was a lot of tumultuous relationship there. And so it was a really, like, it was really stressful and not a good environment. I talk about that in my first book, The Million

Dollar Bakery, how, you know, I got kicked out of my house constantly because my parents would always fight and I would find myself in the middle of their arguments trying to defend, you know, my mom and my dad had a lot of anger issues. And so I grew up in that kind of tumultuous household environment. And so I ended up moving out on my own when I was 16 years old. I ended up dropping out of high school at that time. It was just very, very dark and stressful time for me. I was very much in survival mode. And I had to think about a lot of things, like a lot of adult things and figure out adult situations when I was 16 years old, which to me sounds crazy now because I look at kids that are 16 years old now. And I'm like, oh my God, I was actually such a baby. At the time,

I was like, I just needed an environment that is, you know, kosher, that is calm, that is out of that tumultuous environment. So, yeah, so I ended up moving out. I moved out with my boyfriend at the time. And yeah, that was pretty much my childhood. Yeah, well, thanks for sharing that. Where, where did you grow up? I actually grew up in Cambridge Kitchener area. So I'm very familiar with that area. I know you live in the Kitchener area. So yeah, Cambridge is where I grew up. And so I ended up like when I dropped out of high school, I tried to different high schools. I just, I couldn't, I didn't really enjoy school. And so I ended up, you know, in my early 20s, I ended up starting and growing a bakery business from the ground up to over a million in sales, which was a really big deal for me.

because I felt so shitty my whole life because I, you know, when people make you feel so bad for not pursuing further education or not going down the stereotypical right path, which who knows what that, everybody has their own definition of that. But yeah, I just felt really, you know, I felt like I would never really amount to anything. And then so being able to come out of such a tumultuous childhood and, you know, teenage years were super rough, a lot of partying, a lot of crappy situations I found myself in and to be able to like, you know, kind of pull myself out of that and starting grow a bakery business from the ground up with no education or experience was, is something that I, you know, later down the line became really proud of. I've since closed

it and moved on from that chapter of my life, but it's still something that I'm proud of considering my past. Yeah. Well, so, yeah, it's so interesting there too, because I was never one to excel in the classroom at all. Yeah. And you're so right that. You're so right. with that because it's, I just remember vividly, all of my peers were connecting over their test scores or sharing. I was so filled with shame, right? I just grabbed the test, another one that I failed tuck it in my bag and there it goes. I felt like I lost a little bit of myself every time I didn't measure up to where everybody was at, right, the class average or whatever it was. So I'm with you on that. School was never my thing. So when did you start drinking? I mean, this is high school. You mentioned

partying and stuff? Like, is that when you, when you, yeah, well, with it? Yeah, since I moved out on my own at 16, it was pretty much a free for all from there. I mean, I could go to whatever party I wanted. There was a lot of, you know, back in, you know, I'm 37 years old now. So back then, drinking alcohol was just normal thing to do, even if you were underage. It was just at every party. It was very widely available. I mean, a lot of my friends' parents would buy it for us, which sounds crazy now. But, it was super prevalent. It was a part of my regular life. Like, anytime you go to your friend's house, you're drinking. It's just, it was just a part of our society. And so I started drinking probably around 16 when I moved out on my own and I had, you know, my own apartment and I could do whatever

I want, had no real self-control at the age of 16, still kind of developing mentally. And so I was exposed to it. Also, too, at the time, I had a boyfriend who was a little bit older so he could buy alcohol. So, you know, it was very easy to access at such a young age and everybody else was doing it. And honestly, that was my definition of fun at the time, which has since completely changed, obviously. But that was just the fun thing to do back then. It almost, it was almost like if there was no alcohol there, then what was the point? Yeah. Well, man, we would have been bored out of our minds or maybe I don't know what else we would have done, but I'm with you. And that's the, Yeah, that's a few interesting things there too, right?

I think that idea of parents buying it and then having, you know, the thought of it's, if it's in their house, then they can kind of keep, you know, an eye on things. I don't know. My kids are not there. My kids are not there yet. So, I mean, it's really interesting. But you're right, though. Like when I, you know, I'm 37 too.

And I think back to when we all first started drinking, like it was, it was really weird if you weren't drinking, you know what I mean? Like towards the later end of high school for me into college, it was really weird to not be. I didn't really know. And now that I look back through this lens, like I know there's a lot of people who weren't doing it, I just wasn't hanging out with them.

The people I kind of surrounded myself with, that's what we did. But it was good fun, you know, it was good fun for a little bit. Like I didn't really pick up on things being a problem and tell a little bit into it. But, you know, having those rough nights, but it was also celebrating.

You know, my friend group, it was celebrated for how wild it was or how little you remembered, you know, it was in for me, I always struggle with acceptance and belonging and fitting in. So this was, you know, all hindsight 2020. This was kind of like my pathway into a crowd. Where do things go for you? Because you mentioned you, you started a business. I mean, how do you flip things from, you know, leaving school, feeling all that stuff you talked about before to having to have this ambition or this desire or even these thoughts of like, hey, I could, you know, start a business

and make something of this. Yeah. So interesting. When I was younger, I wasn't really a people pleaser or I didn't really struggle with trying to fit in necessarily. I was very assertive. I just kind of did my own thing. So it's kind of interesting because I didn't have that issue where I was trying to necessarily fit in with people. But I just, because everybody else was doing it, And it was my definition of fun. It was like, it was kind of like a little bit opposite of that where I wasn't really trying to fit in, but like it was so normalized. And like you said, with parents buying it and stuff, it was like, it just seemed fine because the parents were drinking that, like the examples were drinking. And so it was just so normalized, right? So what happened was I met my husband when I was in my young 20s. And so he actually went to rehab. He struggled with drugs mortals. so than alcohol, but he went to rehab and he got sober before we ever even met. So when we went on one of our first dates, the first thing that he told me was that he had been to rehab and he kind of spilled everything out on the table. And I was so naive, so I was like, I don't know what that means.

That kind of freaks me out. I'm like, I had been in some previously pretty crappy relationships before. So I was like, I don't know if this is a good idea for me. I don't want to go into another relationship. where like does you know you being sober mean that you're going to struggle with this down the road like is this something that I'm going to have to deal with it was like it really freaked me out to be honest because even though I drank my whole life I just didn't I was so naive to the fact of what sobriety meant what going to rehab meant how like I had no clue so it was my first like inclination or my first experience, I guess you could say, with, you know, an addiction issue. And I really liked him. He's my husband now and everything's fine. But I didn't know that everything would be fine when I first met him.

And he told me that he went to rehab. I was like, oh my gosh. So we kind of joke about it now. But anyways, we started and grew this business, this bakery business together. And, you know, it was fun. I just started as a hobby. I didn't really take it seriously in the beginning. I did not know what I wanted to do in my entire life. Like I think it's crazy when we put so much. pressure on kids right out of high school to try and determine what they want to do. Like, I still don't know what I want to do when I grew up. I don't think I ever will. I think I'll continue to change and evolve and my career will continue to change and evolve as I do. So, anyways, we grew this business from the ground up to over a million in sales. We had four store

locations, a fleet of delivery vans that spiraled a two-hour radius and about 20 staff at the peak of it. And so we grew it together. I drank, you know, casually. I never really thought I had a problem. I just drank my whole life. I ended up putting alcohol about three years ago. So I drank the entire time we had the business. Not to excess per se, but it did become a problem because it impacted my energy levels and how I felt. So I wasn't showing up as the best version of myself as often as I could have if I had quit alcohol earlier. And I, you know, looking back now, I wish that I gave it up a long time ago. But yeah, alcohol was kind of, it was always prevalent in growing a business. And growing a business to that scale, it's so stressful. Like a lot of people just like to look at the highlight

reels of everything. But it's so stressful. And it's such a huge responsibility. Like you're responsible for everything. I mean, I know that it's a bakery and it's like, well, how serious can a cupcake shop be? But like, you know, you're dealing with weddings or dealing with birthday. these are very special, important events for other people, and they take it very seriously. So then I, therefore, I did. And so the pressure and the stress of it, like, I could easily go home at the end of the day and drink an entire bottle of wine. That was like, no, I would just get a buzz.

I wouldn't really get hammered per se, but like it took the edge off and I needed something to take the edge off. Yeah. Wow. It's interesting, too, with the story with your husband too. I'm thinking, yeah, my goodness, that would. Yeah, I mean, that would raise some questions like, what does all this mean, right? You're not introduced to the sobriety world. I almost did not go on a third day with him. And that would have been so sad if we didn't end up together. But like, it, I was so naive to what going to rehab or what sobriety or having addiction issues. I had no clue. I was like, I just want to avoid that. And I, of course, even though I drank, I didn't think that I had an issue because everybody else was drinking. It was more normal. and say doing drugs and going to rehab and going down that path. So in my mind, I didn't think I had a

problem. I thought he had a problem. So it was like, I didn't really know what to do from there. And honestly, we talked about it after and I was like, that was like, he was like, I just wanted to let you know because obviously I don't want that to come up later, which I totally agree with. It would have been worse if he told me later, right, after we're married. Like, by the way, I went to rehab in my early 20s. So yes, I understand in hindsight that it made sense to do that, but it did really freak me out. that that just goes to show the state of our mindset in our society where we're like, we're faced with something that has to do with addiction and our back goes up. We're like, ooh, I don't know. Like we're not educated about it. Yeah. And that's definitely a thing. I think

we're moving in the right direction. But yeah, I can see, you know, when you're in your 20s there too. It wasn't something that we were talking about every day or really knew about. I'm really interested sort of your thoughts on this too, right? Because you mentioned running the business, the stress, the pressure of, you know, showing up for the customers and in growing this business for yourself and then, you know, coming home and looking for kind of maybe an escape or a way to just kind of get away from that a little bit. I mean, what was your experience too, like looking around that maybe other people, if you were connecting with people, like what role did alcohol play in sort of gatherings and networking and connecting with other people?

Was that a thing or no? Absolutely. Yeah. And so for me, because I am very much an introvert. So for me, alcohol was my anesthetic. Like, it was, it helped me so much in social situations. And I really, if there wasn't going to be alcohol at a networking event or something, like, I just would not go. Like, I wouldn't have the, I just would not want to go. Like, I couldn't even think of, of going to something without alcohol to, to help me calm down to, you know, just to be able to socialize with people that I might not necessarily like want to. Like I realized afterwards that if you feel like you need to have alcohol to have a good time,

you're probably in the wrong room. You're probably hanging out with the wrong people. They're probably not interesting to you or whatever. You don't have something in common with them because I would use it all the time as a crutch to socializing. So it would really help ease my anxiety. it would help me have a good time. It would make me a little bit more extroverted, which is like, I learned later on, just like accept that you're an introvert and just accept yourself for how you are. But in a world where extroverts are regarded as fun and they're just, they're chosen more for job interviews. Like, in our society, we kind of put extroverts as the favorite and introverts are, you know, weird, creative people over here. And so I felt like I needed that in order to give me the extra boost of extrovertness or energy or whatever I felt like I was lacking.

And obviously I since realized it wasn't really a lack of anything. I was just unaligned in these situations. But there's a lot of pressure in the business world. And not just business, but I think in careers that have really high stress jobs like doctors and lawyers and things like that where it's like you almost need something to. to help you with that because I don't think as humans we're meant to carry that kind of weight. We're not meant to have that level of stress. And so obviously there's healthy ways to deal with it. But if you're not intentional with those things, then you will find yourself going down a path naturally, especially in our society where it's totally normal and encouraged to drink

if you to numb your emotions and numb all of the stress. But yeah, in the business world, super prevalent, even with celebrating things, right? It's like every time you celebrate a milestone or you're going to these award ceremonies or whatever, there's champagne, right? And it's like, it's just, it's very over glamorized. And I did not see a problem with it for the longest time. And keep in mind, like, I was married and living with somebody who had been sober ever since I met him.

And so he kind of gave me that perspective. if he never had an issue with me drinking or whatever, and I thought it was awesome because I always had a permanent DD, so it was great for me. But he was kind of the first example of somebody that didn't drink. And maybe if I didn't meet him or marry him, maybe I wouldn't have quit. I don't, maybe I don't think I would have because I just never had that. I never knew anybody that just didn't drink. I thought that that would be weird or like who doesn't drink, right? Because it was so normal to me. So it was kind of my first example of somebody who was able to do that. And he was also able to like have fun.

And it kind of in the back of my mind made me think twice about it. And, you know, eventually led to me quitting down the road. But yeah, it was my first example of somebody being able to live life without drinking or doing drugs. Yeah. Interesting. And a lot of people share that too, that they, there wasn't really many people, if any, around them that weren't drinking. Interesting too, you mentioned about like the high stress. and reaching for alcohol, and then there obviously are other healthy ways we can deal with it.

What I find, you know, kind of fascinating too and what I relate to is like alcohol worked so well to numb things out. You know, for my story, it worked until it didn't. But when it worked, it worked really well. And I find when I look back, every time I leaned on it, that just became easier and easier

the next time to say yes to it, to say yes. And then what that did in my life was, It didn't really push me to work on developing any other strategies to deal with the overwhelm or the stress or the disappointment or the celebrations. I just didn't have any other tools in my bag. It was just like, this works well. Let's just plug into this. I can go to the store, spend $10, do a quick transaction and then feel a little bit better. Or like you mentioned too, right, maybe build that confidence in the social settings of different places where I would think if people actually knew how I was feeling or how terrified I was.

was of being inside some of these parties or gatherings or whatever it was. I was like they would be so surprised. So I felt like I had to overdo it in some ways. When did you or did you like ever kind of pick up on or have any thought throughout this about, you know, I don't know if problem is the right word, but maybe something is off here. Like did you ever have a gut feeling of like maybe life would be better if I didn't drink or anything like that? Or was that kind of towards the end? Yeah, I think having a problem is very subjective to what people interpret a problem being. Because now I look back and I'm like, clearly a problem. I'm putting toxins in my body.

I'm on the weekends drinking too much, going out, drinking too much so that I'm throwing up and I'm so sick and I'm, I can't function for the next three or four days. And thinking back then, my mindset, I did not think I had a problem. But now I'm completely changed and I look back and I'm like, yeah, that was a freaking problem. So yeah, I think it is very subjective to what we perceive a problem to be. But as the business got more stressful, as I indulged more in wine, as I went to more of these networking events and trying to kind of mask my true personality with it, I would take it to greater and greater excess, which that creates more situations of feeling. like crap. So, you know, I would go to these parties or events. I would overdo it. I would come home. I'd be sick, hung over for like five days. And, you know, as you get older, you don't really rebound from hangovers as well as you used to. So I would feel like crap more times than I would feel good. And to me,

I was like, I don't want to live like this. I cannot live like this. It would lower my energy. I would have fatigue for extended periods of time. I just did not feel good. I didn't feel energized. And, and, you know, again, my husband being a comparison, he had energy out the freaking roof. And I was like, that's got to be just your personality. But like, he wasn't drinking. He wasn't putting this toxins in his body. And so the more I learned about the health implications of alcohol, that's when my mindset kind of started to shift a little bit to think about what I'm actually putting in my body. And the reason why my body responds the way that it does to alcohol is probably a clear indicator that it's really, really bad for you. So I started kind of educating myself on health and

wellness. I embarked on a health and wellness journey and I still drank while I was on it because that's what my doctor even told me, drink in moderation. It's totally fine. And so, you know, I ended up losing 70 pounds. I, you know, quit eating a lot of sugar. I ended up closing down my bakery business because it conflicted with my health and wellness journey and I didn't want to sell sugar, processed foods. I didn't want to be part of that industry anymore. So it completely changed my life. And during that time, when I embarked on my health and wellness journey, I still drank in quote unquote moderation, as they say. But down the line, I would be watching these shows and these documentaries talking about how alcohol is considered a level one carcinogen, which is the same as

smoking cigarettes. It's the same as asbestos, all of these things that are on the same playing field level as drinking alcohol. And it really started to shift my mindset. I was like, whoa, I'm, I'm putting a lot of emphasis on a health and wellness journey on my lifestyle. I'm doing all of these things implementing wellness techniques. Like I do the sauna, I'll cold plunge, I'll work out. I don't eat processed foods as much. I was putting a lot of effort into my health and wellness. And I was also, you know, drinking a glass of wine with dinner. And I was like, eventually I got to the point where I realized like why I'm putting on all this effort. By putting alcohol in my body, it's kind of not doing that, right? So it didn't align properly for me. And so the more I learned

about the health implications of it, I was like, I have to get to a place. But, you know, I just couldn't wrap my head around not having it for the rest of my life. Like, you know, when you quit something and you come to terms with, okay, I'm not going to have this again for the rest of my life, I could not wrap my head around that. There's, I could not. So I just started cutting back. I started, you know, slowly trying to drink less and less. But then I was like, you know, maybe someday I'll drink it again. It was not like I'm going to quit alcohol and become sober. Like I just couldn't commit to that. But I ended up having a huge situation that really kind of, you know, made me realize that I absolutely cannot do this anymore. And so I ended up quitting because I just felt like absolute crap. And my health and wellness was more important to me, my priority.

and so I knew that if I wanted to continue prioritizing that, that drinking a toxic substance was not going to serve me well. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that too. I want to go back a little bit to the wellness journey and closing down the business. When did that start? And was there something that sparked that for you? I think it was a culmination of feeling like crap most of the time, which alcohol was a contributor to it for sure, because, I mean, after work and on weekends, I was drinking. And also, I ate a lot of sugar and processed foods. Like, my diet was completely crap. I mean, I'm surrounded by baked goods all day, so I'm snacking on them. Like, I had no awareness of that either. I didn't, everybody else was doing it. I thought it was normal as well. So, so, so yeah, my lifestyle was just really crappy. And as a result, I had no energy. I felt fatigued. I just, you know, I was very overweight. I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I. I was. I. I. I. I. I At my heaviest, I was 270 pounds. So carrying around that much excess weight, that's going to make you tired. That's going to make you feel like crap. And so I think I really just realized that I have to change my lifestyle.

And I really took it one baby step at a time, which I think is what really helped make it sustainable. I, you know, slowly started to reduce my sugar, slowly started to add more water, just really, really minuscule things that always, over time compounded, like I read the book, the Atomic Habit Book and Habit Stacking, and I learned how to do that with healthy habits. And so I started this health journey while we were running the bakery business, well it was, you know, the height of my career, essentially. And I just thought sugar's fine in moderation. And I didn't have a conflicting feeling about it until I started to realize how good I felt

without eating all that sugar and without eating all that processed foods. And I was like, well, that's a wake up call because, and, you know, during this time, I still drank and, and everything like that. But it was a big wake up call that health and well, like when I started to feel good and think clearly and having that energy, I was like, well, what else do I need to do? Maybe if I adopt this habit or cut this out of my life, maybe I'll feel even better because I just started feeling better and better. And it kind of compounded over time. So I was like, there's no. no way I'm going back to this old lifestyle of eating like crap, drinking, and all of that in excess. And so as I started to feel better, I was like, it really started pulling me out of that

habit and that mindset. And I really realized how alive you can feel when you are intentional with it. And so I was on this health journey for probably the last two years of running my bakery business. And I tried to rationalize it. I tried to be like, you know, sugar is fine and moderation and I would just try to rationalize it. But at the end of the day, I was like, it's really hard for me to go to work and sell something that I'm not 100% passionate about. I don't eat it in my own life. I do, but very, very minuscually, not like selling millions of dollars of sugary sweets to other people, right? So I really realized that it was no longer aligned with that. And so that's when I decided that I had to close down my bakery business. And during

that time, I, again, with the health and wellness, I realized I didn't know that alcohol was a level one carcinogen. I didn't know that it causes like tons of different types of cancer. It was a complete lack of education. And to be honest, it's all the marketing and advertising that they want to cover up with all of the real information. And I just didn't know. So once I became more educated and aware of it, I was like, wow, like, I wish I knew this sooner. But, unfortunately, it just took me a while. And eventually, I just learned to prioritize the health and wellness aspect of my life. And there was nothing that was going to get in the way of that once I started to feel really good and feel really alive. Yeah. Even going back to the spot there

where you mentioned, you just weren't feeling well. Was that a mix of like physically and emotionally about how things were going for you? Yeah, because those things are very tied together, right? Like if you're physically really overweight, you're putting alcohol in your body, you're putting sugar in your body, you're physically feeling like crap. Mentally, you're not going to feel good. You can't really, like they go hand in hand. And so I didn't know that at the time, obviously, but, you know, as I slowly implemented these healthy habits and started to really feel the difference of that, I was like, holy crap, I just started to become a new person, a new person, a new person. and I'm just completely a different person than who I was back then. And it's crazy to think of the mindset differences that I had back then because I just didn't think anything was a problem. And now I'm

like, oh my God, like so many problems from it. But yeah, I think that physically, I don't think you can mentally feel good if you physically don't feel good. And I've done a lot of research just for my own well-being on gut health and how alcohol really negatively impacts that and sugar and processed foods and how your gut is really tied to your mental health and your well-being. And our bodies, they work together as a complete system, right? Mentally, physically, emotionally, all of the things. And so if one of those is out of balance, you have to check and see what it is and really pull yourself out of that. Yeah, so true, so true. It's so interesting how when we look back, you hear it all the time, right? I wish I gave it up a little bit sooner. I wish I quit a little bit sooner. And I mean,

We don't know. We can't go back and change how things were. You know, there's a part of me too that's like, you know, maybe sometimes we kind of had to get to that spot to have some of those rough times, right? Or those times where we overdid it or there's times where it was more than we wanted to do to kind of get to the spot where we were willing to do what it was going to take on the other side of it. So interesting, though, in your story. And we'll kind of get back on track maybe after this question, though. But a lot of people, when they quit drinking, is reaching.

for sugar. What was that like for you? Since you're already making sort of that you're already kind of cutting back in that area. Yeah, that's a really good point. I, because I cut back substantially on sugar before I actually quit drinking alcohol. So when I did that, like, that was, if I'm comparing what was harder to quit sugar or alcohol, they're both, like, they were both so hard for me to to give up. And, you know, I do sugar in like very, very, like, limited moderation. There's no part of my daily diet that has, like, sugar as a staple of it. But alcohol is completely cut out. But I'm just saying, like, the difficult level of both of those things, they were super difficult. So when I lost the 70 pounds, I ended up on a keto diet. So there was no sugar

involved in that. You could still drink very limited amounts of alcohol. But I ended up just finding replacements to the sugary desserts, I would have keto desserts that were a little bit healthier that had, you know, different sweeteners in it, which I'm not 100% about the sweeteners either, but I had to do something. I had to have a replacement for my sugar habit. So that really helped transition that. And it's amazing how your body adapts to that and how your taste buds change over time. And I had no idea that I was so addicted to sugar and all of these cravings weren't like a part of everybody else's life. Like I thought people just have cravings and whatever. But now I'm like, I don't even think about it. Whereas like before my body would just

constantly crave this stuff. And you know, I did use it as a coping mechanism for stress as well. So I found out that I was training my body when it would feel stress to crave sugar because I was training my body. Like when I'm stressed, I'm going to eat sugar because that's my stress response. And when I quit, I notice that every time I felt stressed, my body wanted sugar, even though I stopped eating sugar. So it was really ingrained in me. And I noticed that as well with quitting alcohol because when you're so used to turning to these things, your body literally is like, okay, you're stressed. That means you're going to give me alcohol. So yeah, it was really hard. And then so when I quit alcohol, it was hard because I didn't have any other real vices to turn to because I had already embarked on my health and well. wellness journey. So the only replacement I could do was non-alcoholic wine or non-alcoholic beer, which is great. Like I like that, but it didn't give me the buzz or the relaxing feeling that

I really craved when I was in those stressful situations. So I found that, you know, just really being more intentional about who I spend my time with, learning that it's okay to be an introvert. You don't have to go to every party. You don't have to go to every networking event. And I really started to just honor the person that I actually was on my core. And I realized that it actually fixed a lot of the, a lot of the need that I found previously to use alcohol. So I started really just fixing all of my emotional baggage issues. And once I started to work on those things, I slowly no longer felt like I needed alcohol. So I kind of, I started dealing with the underlying root cause of why I was drinking in the first place. And then, lo and behold, I realized I no longer needed alcohol

at that point. So pretty amazing to go through that process. Yeah, that brings me back to another episode. We had this guy Johnny Lawrence on a while ago. And I took this clip from what he had to say is he said, once he started to work on the emotional aspect of life, alcohol gave him up because it wasn't the need alcohol to solve those things. You know, I'm thinking too back to what? What you mentioned there, I think that's an incredible point to make when your body is stressed and it's craving the sugar. And I'm thinking of wine. I was never a wine drinker. Like, I don't even know, maybe a sip or two in my life.

It was never my thing. But it has a lot of sugar in it, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it's kind of like I'm thinking, you know, for the alcohol and the sugar, it's right in there too. It's a two and one where your body's getting both at the same time. And I mean, wine was definitely my go-to. too for sure.

So, yeah, double bad. Yeah, too, yeah, very bad. You know, it's interesting, too, you bring up the carcinogen effects too of, you know, of alcohol. Like that's, I mean, it's probably been out there sort of low-key for a while. I don't know when that first came out,

but it's been out there for a while, but I feel like it's more talked about now and maybe more understood with more of the research and maybe more people looking under the hood about the effects of alcohol that maybe we, you know, I mean, kind of new, but I think it's like one, it's one of those things that, like you've talked about so much here, and I think it's such an important part of so many people's stories. We see it everywhere. I mean, try to drive to the grocery store and don't

pass three billboards or don't see something where, you know, especially here in Canada, right? It's like sunny destinations. It's like, oh my gosh, you know, beautiful people. And it's like we're sold this dream around every corner, right, of jumping off the boat or celebrities promoting it. It's like, I feel like every corner, you know, now that I'm on this side of things, I can see it, right? It's like, oh my gosh. And even until like even until maybe a year ago, I didn't even know that there was like a restriction from them actually consuming alcohol during the commercials. I never even noticed that. Now, if you watch them, they never drink. I did not know. That's hilarious. And I'm like, that is, you know, which,

I never noticed it, but I'm like, yeah, I mean, it makes sense, but it's everywhere and we see it everywhere. And it's really hard to break free from, you know, that's not like my story. My story is not the billboards. That's not how it was. I had got massive anxiety the next day. I shared a post a little while ago on Instagram too that like when things went sideways in my life, I was drinking or somebody else was drinking. And if that wasn't the case, things were like usually okay as far as relationships and staying out of trouble and stuff went. Moving forward here, what kind of happened to really have you walk away, you know, for the last three years? Yeah, so I, when I actually made the decision to quit, it was kind of like leading up to that time. I was cutting back. I was really

questioning. I was at odds with myself because I was like, I kind of started learning that it was bad, learning that it was a contributing factor to cancer and all of these diseases. So I was learning all this information, but did not feel like I was able to give this up for the rest of my life. I just did not think I just could not picture a life without alcohol. And so I had this in the back of my mind, and it was just all a culmination of a situation that I had. My husband and I ended up going to a conference in Florida, and there was a pre-party. So, normally conferences and stuff, they'll have an ending party, but this was before the conference started, which was crazy to me. And so they had Flowrider performing. They had a bunch of,

like tons of people there, a huge open bar, which that for me, like open bar is like, okay, I'm in this crowded environment. I'm an introvert. I'm out of concert. I need to obviously have alcohol. And I remember thinking to myself, I'm only going to have a few glasses. I'm only I have this whole weekend ahead. I have to be at this conference. It's a long work business conference thing. And I remember specifically thinking, I'm only going to have a couple glasses of wine.

And that did not happen. It got so out of hand. Flowrider was pouring shots of Patron into everybody's melt in the front, which I was in the front there. And so I have this video clip of him doing that. And it's kind of funny because this is the pivotal moment

of when I decided to quit for good. So it's kind of funny that I have that video memory of it. And so it was just, and I went home that night. And again, my husband doesn't drink. So he was like, you know, not impressed that I got so drunk and intoxicated the night before. And I was up all night. I was throwing up. I was in the bathroom. I was in so much pain. My body was in so much pain. And I just remember thinking, like, I thought like maybe I need to go to the hospital and like gets this pumped out of me, like, I had never felt that bad before, but it was just such a party environment. And I had to be up early to go to this conference. And they had really pumped up this conference because we didn't

know who any of the speakers were. We bought the tickets. They were like a couple thousand dollars worth of tickets. So it's like, I was so excited about this conference. They hyped up the keynote speaker for it. I had no idea who was going to be. So I dragged my butt out of bed, looked like absolute crap. Like I put a hat on, I had glasses on. I could not look at bright lights. I just, I was a mess. And so we went to this conference, but it was, the whole situation really put things into perspective for me because I was like, something that I looked so forward to to almost have been taken away and ruined from alcohol and to actually feel that much pain from it. And I felt like crap the entire weekend. I did not enjoy myself.

I did not have fun. I was literally hung over for like four or five days. I was hung over on the flight home. And so it was just such a painful, crappy experience. I almost missed the whole weekend conference. My husband was pissed off because he had to like take care of me. And, you know, we just didn't enjoy it as much as we would have if I didn't do that, if I didn't get that intoxicated because of it. And so that was a real pivotal moment for me and a real realization. I had in the back of my mind, I knew that it was a carcinogen. I knew. knew was cancer causing. And I'm like, if it can make my body feel like I need to go to the hospital, then I need to stop putting this in my body. I'm into my health journey now. I know that it's not

good for me. And if it makes my body respond in this way where I am feeling like death for days at a time, it has got to stop. And so that was the last drink that I ever had was a shot of patron poured from Flo Rider in the front on the front of this concert. And that's my last memory of drinking. And you know what? I'm glad. Like, I went out with a bang. That's great. I will never drink ever again in my entire life. And I feel so much better because of it. So that was about three years ago now. Wow. The last drink from Florida. Yeah, that's a it's wild. You know, if you think I take away a lot of stuff from there, I wrote a few things down here. You know, I talked to so many people about this journey and in how it all plays out. You know,

there's kind of two ways it, two ways it seems to shake out, right? People will say on January 1st, I'm quitting drinking. Yeah. And, you know, some will, and some will slip back. And then there's the route you talked about, which I can relate to. One day I woke up and I was like, I just want to try something different. I just know I kind of had this, I don't know, maybe this quick vision or or these thoughts that was like, this is just, you're never going to get where you want to be. For me, this is kind of what I was telling myself. You're never going to get where you want to be with this life.

Why don't you maybe just try something else? And I see those two things, right? Some people set a quit date and five years later, they share that it worked. And then I think there's other people that are overwhelmed because the quit days are never worked. The quit days that they set are not sticking. And they're wondering, like, what do I do?

And I think that this is always just, anytime I hear this story that I can relate to, is it wasn't planned necessarily. I mean, but everything I think that you did prior to. Yeah. And I'm only guessing here, I don't know for sure.

I think was setting you up in one way or another to kind of make that leap. You know, that's what it was like for my life? People were like, you know, Brad, what got you sober?

It's like literally like every time I went to rehab, every time I got arrested. Every time I told myself, this is the last time. It finally just caught up with me where I was like, I'm just going to try again to get put,

I'll just try to put a day together in two days together and started to feel better and surrounded myself with the right people. Another thing you kind of shared there stood out to me too about, you know, you were doing the moderation thing, the cutting back thing. I think so many of us go through that because we have that instilled belief that life without alcohol is just so boring.

Like, what is my life going to look like? It's just like an imaginary world that's kind of like, living on Mars, you know, what would that look like? I mean, we can't even, we can't even wrap our head around something like that. And I think that's where we get stuck with alcohol. When you look back, are you able to put your finger on what was so scary? Or what kind of thoughts you had of like, hey, you know, quitting alcohol, what was going through your mind? Yeah, like I could, I could not fathom a world without alcohol. You know, I, I loved to have experiences. And, and a lot of,

of the experiences that I had had alcohol as a common component to it. So if you remove that, you're all of a sudden very hyper aware that it's not there. So for example, you know, we would have girls, wine and cheese nights. Okay, you can go to those for sure without drinking, but like you're very aware that you're not drinking. Like it's a very obvious thing. And then, and then you feel deprived and you feel like, well, I'm not having as much fun as so-and-so who's dancing on the table having the time of her life. So you're comparing and alcohol was a part of, you know, we would watch Bachelor on TV. There's always wine involved. So now it's like, okay, now I'm sitting down watching the Bachelor. I don't have my wine. I feel like I'm missing out. Like it's so hard. And going to

wineries, like I loved doing that with my friends or my husband on the weekends, going to the wineries, doing the samples and the tasting or breweries. Like all of these experiences like revolved around alcohol. So once you take alcohol away, it's like, well, now what are we going to do on the weekends? Like, I'm not going to go to a brewery and just drink water. Like, you know what I mean? So it really involves redefining what fun means to you and finding other things to do or replacements for those things that you associated with your life and being fun. And I just could not fathom not doing these things.

And even still, I'm like, I don't even know how I really wrapped my head around it, to be honest. I remember when I quit that day at the concert and I was like, I told my husband, I'm like, I'm going to quit, but don't pressure me. And if I decide that later on in a few months that I want to have a glass of wine on a beautiful patio, I don't want to hear anything about it, like I still wasn't confident. Even though I wanted to, I wasn't confident my abilities because I had never done it before, which is totally like it totally makes sense to not be confident in something you've never done before. But I just didn't want to have that high expectation of just, it felt like, it felt like, pressure to quit drinking. It felt like if I say that I'm not going to drink alcohol anymore and I know deep down that I don't feel capable of that, there's a sense of pressure there that I'm not able to follow through. I'm not able to hold commitments. I'm letting other people down. It creates a little bit of anxiety of additional pressure to keep being sober in the beginning.

Not anymore for me, but in the beginning it was a lot of pressure, right? And obviously you go to these events and as people are handing you things, you're like, oh, no, I don't drink. And then you're obviously asked, well, why don't you drink? And it's, it creates this whole situation when you're in a vulnerable state being like, yeah, why, why don't I drink? Like you're drinking. Everybody else is drinking. And it makes you hyper aware of what you can't have. So when you feel deprived with something, it's very hard as human beings to continue down the path of sobriety, especially in the beginning. So yeah, it was a very big struggle. And it was not something that even though I said I wanted to that I was very confident in my ability to do.

Yeah, wow, you just hit on a lot of stuff there. You know, sharing with other people, a lot of people too and struggle in the beginning, right? Do I tell people? What if it doesn't work out? What if it's just like last time to where it didn't work out? And then I feel X, Y, and Z. You know, I think that's what it all comes back to is like we just don't want to feel like we said we were going to do something, but we don't do it.

But then we look at other things in our life. It's like, I'm going to run a 5K, but if we don't do it, like, I don't know, but then you bring up the other point, too, you go to these places and it's like, I'm not drinking. Then you can get an overflow of questions and, you know, where you're an alcoholic, what happened in your life. People can go down rabbit holes, right? And it's like, that's not everybody's story that quits, but I think it puts that, you know, it kind of puts that pressure on us too. How did you switch over, though? Because it sounds, you know, correct me if I'm wrong here. At first, it's like you're being deprived of something.

You can't have something. And that's what it was like for me too. I was trained in my brain that I can't have alcohol because it ruins my life. Now I come from a place of empowerment in my mind if I choose not to. I mean, I could literally, you know, close my laptop here. I could go to the store. I could go. Like, that's the reality.

I could go and I could buy whatever I want. Nobody's going to stop me. The world is not going to stop. And I can do all of that stuff. And my life today, I look at it as an empowering choice that I choose not to do that because nobody would stop me. Like my wife wouldn't stop me. Like, of course, questions would be asked, but nobody's going to hold me down. And have things changed for you in that direction to where it's like, this is something I can't have to something I'm choosing not to have in my life?

Yeah, like hugely, like significantly. And I think that that's a really important message to just let people know that it is going to be challenging in the beginning because it's been a part of your life. for however long and you need to understand that it's going to feel like you're deprived. It's going to feel like you can't have something. But eventually when you get through, when you just push through that and find other alternative things to help you in the meantime, there will be a time where you don't even think about it anymore. You don't consider it fun. You don't want anything to do with it. You don't care if other people are drinking around you. You just don't want to do it to yourself. you will get to a point and that's the point where I'm at now and I just thank God that I

actually got to that point because when you're starting out, you don't think you're going to get to that point. I never did. I didn't think that I would ever not be able to not drink at all or not even think about it. And now like you said, like the option is there and, you know, it just reaffirms that having the option knowing that I could do it and I actually don't want to do it is more of an empowerment stance, like you said. And I just thank God, that is a place that I'm at now. But I think it's important to acknowledge that the journey of getting there, it is hard. And you have to address, like when I stopped drinking and I became sober, I was very hyper aware of all of the emotional things that I was covering up with it. And so you really have to do therapy.

You have to work on yourself, do the self-development and heal those emotional traumas and those emotional wounds so that you don't need to reach for some external vice of any kind. And for me, it wasn't just alcohol. It was shopping. It was sugar. It was those kind of things. A culmination of it covering up your emotional issues. So now I'm like hyper aware of my issues. And the more I dealt with them, then the less I needed to turn to external things. And I think people need to realize that it is a possibility to get to a place where you don't, even think about it at all and I know that it's so hard in the beginning and it's everybody's on their own journey and I know a lot of people ask for advice and you really just have to get through it.

You have to you have to care about your own health and well-being more than you care about getting drunk or the experience or associating that with fun. So interesting though that you bring that up to about belief system change because I was working with a group last month and that was one of our sort of modules we went through is changing our beliefs around alcohol, right, that it's fun, that it helps us connect, that it brings value to our life. You know, all these different beliefs we have. And I think there's like obviously the behavior change that we have to make. But then there's also those belief systems that we might have around alcohol that we have to go to work on, right? Because in my life today, I don't believe alcohol

is going to bring any value to my life. It's going to do anything for me. It's not going to help improve any area of my life at all. But there was time when I first started out on the journey to where, and I'm wondering, right? I'm wondering, I'm slowly working through these lists. I'm going to my first Christmas and I'm having my first birthday and I'm going on my first vacation. But in my mind leading up to it, sometimes I'm like, oh, this is just going to be so boring. And, you know, sometimes it was.

Sometimes, like, I will admit, sometimes life felt that way. But what I realized looking back is I was just so used to the chaos. I wasn't used to the downtime. I didn't know how to experience the piece of things. I wanted constant chaos in my life so it would distract me from actually looking in the mirror. I always ask towards kind of wrapping up. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that on the belief system, but I always ask people kind of towards wrapping up.

What's one thing you would share with somebody who is struggling to get or to stay sober from your own experience? I think one of the most important things to recognize is that not everybody has your best interest in mind. So it really helps me to recognize that all of these companies that promote alcohol, all of these doctors who tell you that drinking in moderation is totally fine and healthy to do so, all of these companies that promote it and market it as a fun thing that you're going to miss out on or your life is going to be crappier if you don't have. it recognizing what their intention is. Their intention is that they have some vested interest in the alcohol industry of some kind. And it's really important for you to think critically, to challenge those societal beliefs and to think for yourself and to do your own research. That's really what helped me. I did my own research. I found people who were, like I found doctors who were willing to speak up and say that it does cause cancer.

It is a level one carcinogen. These are actual factual things. And, you know, marketing companies are not going to put that in their branding campaign because it makes them look bad and they're going to sell less alcohol. So once you know what the motives are behind the people who endorse alcohol and that they likely get some kind of compensation or kickback or they get something from promoting it or they don't care about health and well-being of yourself, right? So learning the hidden motives in our society when it comes to that because for so long, I just believed that everybody had my best interest in mind.

I believed that my doctor, when he said that it was fine to have a few drinks here and there, I believed all of this stuff. And it's like, look at now. They're coming out with, there's always new studies coming out with what is the acceptable alcohol limit to drink in a safe way. And I think it went from, you know, two drinks a day to like two drinks a week. And it's like, it's slowly becoming more and more time between when is how long in between you should have alcohol. And it's just becoming, you know, I think it's going to eventually become like the cigarette industry where it's, it's not as prevalent. It's not as sexy. It's not as cool anymore. And I think that that's really going to happen with alcohol in the future. So I think for people

listening, you know, do your research, watch some documentaries, get educated. on what it's doing to your body and to your energy, into your life force, into your spirit. And question if that's what you want to do. Don't just take our society who endorses it for profit as gospel, right? We have to question these things and decide if that's the life that you want to live for yourself. Because at the end of the day, you are the only person who has your best interest at mind.

So you need to treat yourself as the number one priority and do what is in your own best interest because nobody else will care for you as much as you need to care for yourself. Yeah, thank you for sharing that too. I think the awareness is building about the impacts. And I mean, the risk starts after the first one, you know, for people. And it's like, yeah, when I saw those new guidelines come out like two drinks a week, like, what the heck? Like, what's the point? You know, I mean, that's where, you know, things amplify. But I mean, I think that it's kind of, you know, that they had is the punchline drink responsibly. They've gotten away with that for a long time.

And now we're looking at Ireland, I believe, is the first one that I know of on the map. But I think it's still a couple years out, but for having labels on the cans about the cancer causing of things. And I think Health Canada is close behind. And I'm sure others will follow suit, you know,

the same way they have done with other things. But yeah, that's the reality. I think if you talk to a lot of people, if we talk to 100 people, like, I don't know what the results would be, but if we kind of pose that question for people, I think there would still be people that had no idea, sort of how impactful it is on our health. And, you know, it's so interesting. I'm so glad that we're kind of waking up to the impacts of things and making better, you know, making those choices to better our life. And it affects so much. I mean, our physical health, our mental health, it affects. It affects. things on so many layers of our lives. And then you hear this, you hear this story all the time. I gave it up. I'm not going back and think everything in my life has improved. Absolutely. And that's absolutely my story as well. It's like I could not feel better than I have at any other point in my life from living this healthy lifestyle and getting rid of alcohol

was a huge factor. And one of the, it was one of the most pivotal factors, sugar and alcohol for sure for me. And yeah, I just, I feel so good that there's no, like, there would be no incentive now to go back to any, to polluting my body with anything like that. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story, Rebecca. I really appreciate it. And for a lot of different reasons. And what I'm thinking of off the top of my head, too, is there wasn't necessarily that big quote, unquote, rock bottom, you know, blowing out all four tires on the highway story for you. And I really appreciate you coming forward to share that experience because I've talked with other people before that in one way or another feel kind of maybe on the outside of this whole alcohol free and sobriety journey

because they don't share that story. But I think that there's obviously millions of people that are in this area or can really relate to your story too with how they're drinking is and what it looks like for them, but also show people that there's still massive, massive benefit, life-changing benefits to quitting before the wheels fall off type thing. So thank you for that. Yeah, you're welcome. And I think too that people in our society, they don't realize that you don't have to hit a rock bottom. You don't have to quote unquote have an addiction to it to quit. Right. And I think that people think that they need to have that in order to give it up. They think that, you know, if it's not a problem, then why even why consider it? And there's so many other reasons to consider

it other than it becoming a problem because if you feel like you have to consume it at all, you're probably covering up some emotional issue, whether that's anxiety, depression, or any kind of emotional issue like that. So I think it's really important to raise awareness. And I'm so grateful that you're doing that in our community. I think it's amazing. You are so down to earth and very inspiring and you have a really awesome following of people who, you know, are so inspired by what you're doing and the message that you're sharing. And I love that you have the podcast sharing individual stories because maybe my story's not relatable to somebody, but maybe it's relatable to somebody else and vice versa with all of the other stories. So the more that you're

able to share that and highlight and people can find different relatability factors within other people's stories, that's really what connects us and helps us. And so I love that you're doing that. It's amazing. Yeah, well, thank you so much. That means a lot coming from you. I'm looking in your background there too before we actually sign off here. Wake up and smell the coffee. Is that what your newest book is? Does that the name of it? Yeah, so that's my newest book. It's about waking up to our societal beliefs, you know, questioning them, challenging them. And so I talk about a lot of things. I have a whole chapter on vices and negative coping mechanisms where I do talk about my journey of quitting alcohol, excessive shopping and sugar.

And it's just really about realigning your life to be more authentic and intentional because we're so conditioned in our society to just believe what we've always believed, believe what our parents taught us, what the teachers taught us in school. And we've never questioned things to ask ourselves if that's what we believe ourselves. So it's really about helping people wake up and smell the coffee as the title. suggest and to learn to stop following the crowd and to start following your heart. And a lot of people will find that when they start to do that and they learn how to do that and how to live more intentionally, they will be so much happier and more fulfilled. And they will not need to turn to alcohol or sugar or all of these vices and negative coping mechanisms because you'll be happy

and fulfilled. Yeah, beautiful. Well, thank you so much. I'll drop the information too for people to check it out. And yeah, thanks for spending the last hour with us and sharing your story. Thanks, Brad. Appreciate it.