
Hosted by Suzanne Warye · EN
Have you wondered if that wine might actually be making motherhood…harder? Maybe you’ve questioned your relationship with alcohol, but you don’t want to go to AA and spend time in dark church basements. The Sober Mom Life is for YOU. Suzanne (@suzannewarye) is sharing all about her sobriety and what she’s learned in the 5+ years since saying farewell to alcohol. She’ll also have funny, open, honest conversations with other moms who have chosen to live an alcohol-free life.

USA Today Bestselling novelist and parenting coach Kerri Maher joins me to talk about her latest book Summer of Love, an absolutely beautiful novel that tackles addiction and sobriety, and her most personal novel yet. Today, Kerri shares how her own sobriety journey played out over the course of a decade, the transformative importance community had on her sobriety, and the perspective shifts she had to make within herself in order for sobriety to feel ‘like a privilege’. Plus - she’ll share the similarities between sobriety and being a writer, how The Artist’s Way led her to writing this latest book, and how she supports parents as a parenting coach!Check out Kerri’s books and join her newsletter here! Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Join me over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/The paperback version of The Sober Shift with a beautiful redesigned cover comes out on September 29th. Preorder it now! Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If this is your first sober summer, you might be starting to feel the ground beneath your feet. But… getting ready to spend time with your family of origin might make you feel thrown off your axis. Maybe it’s an alcohol-soaked family reunion. Maybe you’re meeting your extended family at the cabin. Maybe you’re going back to your hometown. Whatever the details, these experiences can shake your feeling of control and make you feel like you’re in childhood again. You’re not, and I want you to know - you’re in charge of this sober life you’re creating for you and the family you’ve made. Today we’ll think through how to prepare for your first sober visit to your family so that you can feel rooted in your choices and ready to navigate whatever comes your way. Get more of my thoughts on your first sober visit to your family over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! There’s one spot left for this October’s Sober Mom Life retreat in Arizona! Claim your spot here. Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s Real Sober Mom Gina never thought she’d live life as a sober woman. Now, at six months sober she looks back and asks herself: “What was I doing?”Gina had no idea that sobriety could feel so good. She didn’t know she would feel so much more present as a mom. She didn’t know she could still ‘have fun and be fun’ without alcohol, and she didn’t know how much self forgiveness she would be able to access in sobriety. Gina white knuckled the first few months of her sobriety and felt very alone. Joining The Sober Mom Life Cafe changed that for her and gave her the sense of camaraderie she needed to feel supported, understood, and connected in sobriety. Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Join me over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I just had my 46th birthday, and as I reflect on my goals for this year, to be ‘happy’ isn’t one of them. For me, happiness now seems unsustainable, fleeting, and performative. I’m seeking different feelings entirely in this year of my life - contentment, gratitude and joy. If you’re preparing for your first sober birthday and you don’t feel happy at the moment, don’t let that mean anything about your relationship with alcohol and sobriety. It can be easy to put on nostalgic rose colored glasses and think that you were happy when we were drinking. I suspect though, that if you’re listening to this podcast, you were not happy when alcohol was in your life. So, remove ‘happy’ from the table when you’re trying to figure out how you want to feel. What feelings do you really want? For me, those are the sustainable and rooted feelings of contentment, gratitude and joy.How about you? Get more of my thoughts on my birthday and my feelings on happiness over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! There’s one spot left for this October’s Sober Mom Life retreat in Arizona! Claim your spot here. Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fiction author Jessica Guerrieri is back on the pod to tell us everything about her incredible new novel Both Can Be True! Jessica’s work as a sober author is so deeply moving, and in her sophomore novel she tackles the all too familiar sensation of disappearing into motherhood and the addiction that can often take hold from that place. Jessica and I talk about the raw realities of book publishing as sober authors, why Jessica felt called to write fiction that centers on women and addiction, and the transformative power that community with other women can have for addiction recovery. Go buy both of Jessica’s books Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Both Can Be True here! Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Join me over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A girl’s trip is unlike any other kind of vacation, and the pressure of going on your first sober girl’s trip can feel intense. These women might have known you when you were drinking. You might feel worried about being judged or making them feel judged because of your choice to stay sober. Yet, with a little preparation, this girl's trip could actually be the best one yet. Today, we’ll cover how to prepare for your first sober girl’s trip. We’ll talk about how to decide if you’re ready for a trip like this, the sober preparations you can make to set yourself up for success, and who to lean on in moments when the girl’s trip might feel hard. Get more of my thoughts on your first sober girl’s trip over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! There’s one spot left for this October’s Sober Mom Life retreat in Arizona! Claim your spot here. Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s real sober mom Chelsea grew up in a home where alcohol wasn’t seen as a problem. As the child of two drug addicts, Chelsea was raised to view alcohol as a ‘safe choice’ in comparison to hard drugs. So, when Chelsea began drinking at age 14 she thought nothing of it. Chelsea went to work in retail right out of high school to be there for her family. After meeting her future husband in New York, she pivoted into becoming a funeral director - a career path rife with alcoholism due to the emotional heaviness of the job. Things took a very challenging turn in 2020. Shortly after the birth of her son who had congenital defects, Covid arrived and Chelsea’s work became extremely intense. The circumstances took a toll and she began experiencing worrisome health issues. Tests revealed she had muscular dystrophy. Shortly after, Chelsea received a call. Her father had OD’d. Facing her father’s death and the changes in her own life, Chelsea realized she never wanted to put her children through anything like what she’d experienced with her parents. She was looking for a change. All of this led to a casual plan with her husband to take a short break from alcohol in December of 2023. During this brief window, Chelsea had a massive wakeup call. She learned alcohol’s impacts on our bodies and lives, and how big alcohol was preying on moms to get them addicted. Chelsea realized - big alcohol had scammed her! She wasn’t going to let that stand. Chelsea is now 2 ½ years sober! She wants you to know there is never a ‘perfect’ time to begin sobriety. The best time to start is now. Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Join me on Substack! https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’ve arrived at mid-summer, which means you’ve made it halfway through your first sober summer! You badass, you. Let's reflect on how your sober summer is going so far. In this episode, I’ll give you five midsummer check in questions that you can ask yourself to help you root into your wins, your struggles, and what you’ve gained along the way through this summer of sobriety. Go deeper into my midsummer check in questions over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sobriety and parenting writer Sydney Allen was still in her 20s when she chose sobriety. She hadn’t had a rock bottom. She hadn’t experienced all of the terrible things that could happen with alcohol. Yet she could still tell - her gray area drinking was unhealthy, and alcohol was going to take more and more away from her if she continued to drink. So, she cut it out of her life in 2022. Explaining her sobriety to her friends and family, though? That felt like a challenge. People didn’t understand. She didn’t look like she had a problem… why did she need to quit? Today, Sydney shares how she navigated her emotions and the emotions of others through the different stages of her sobriety, why boundaries and honesty have been instrumental to solidifying her sobriety in a way that uniquely fits her, and the things she loves to do (and doesn’t love to do!) in sobriety. Plus - Sydney is our first Gen Z sober mom on the show (we’re spanning generations here)! We’ll talk about how Gen Z drinking culture differs from the other generations and her experience of still being quite young as she navigates sobriety. Read more from Sydney on her Substack, This Is Not Okay. Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Join me on Substack: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You’ve made it deep into your first sober summer when everything in your daily life is about to shift: it’s time for your first sober vacation. The change in scenery, the days of travel, and the upending of your daily routine can feel daunting. You might also be worried if a vacation can even feel fun without alcohol (spoiler alert: the answer is yes!). Today I’ll walk you through how to prepare yourself before, during, and after your first sober vacation. We’ll talk through how to navigate the airport, integrating community support into your days, types of places and situations to avoid, and what you can intentionally build into your travel itinerary to support you. Get more ideas on how to navigate your first sober vacation in this Sober Mom Life episode from 2023. Get more of my thoughts on your first sober vacation over on my Substack, Sober for Good: https://suzannewarye.substack.com/Community makes all the difference. Join The Sober Mom Life Cafe for 6+ Peer Support meetings each week and a private Facebook group to connect with sober and sober-curious women. Sign up for our next ‘Fresh 30’ and ‘Beyond 30’ cohorts. Learn more here! Get Your Copy of my book! The Sober Shift Follow on Instagram @thesobermomlifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.