Latest / Recovering Out Loud / Living Sober with Style: Nonalcoholic Drinks, Entrepreneurship & Finding Joy : Alanna Ostvik

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Living Sober with Style: Nonalcoholic Drinks, Entrepreneurship & Finding Joy : Alanna Ostvik · Recovering Out Loud

0:24
How's it going, Alana? Good.
0:26
How are you, Anthony? I'm doing well.
0:27
Thanks so much for coming down. Thanks.
0:29
For having me. First of all, I have to.
0:31
I like that it's cold too. I wanna.
0:34
Before anyone starts assuming we're not drinking here, this is
0:37
non alcoholic and that's what we're gonna talk about today.
0:40
Poor sport And what? What is this?
0:43
What do we have? This is non alcoholic actually
0:45
de alkalized wine. De alkalized.
0:47
De alkalized meaning that it was wine made traditionally in Spain
0:50
as you would fermenting the grapes.
0:53
And then it goes to Germany. It gets de alkalized by vacuum
0:56
distillation, so by low heat removes the alcohol and gets
1:00
down to 0.0%. And I imported in and I've been
1:04
selling it in Toronto. Wow, I love it.
1:05
And you were telling me that the 0.0 is important.
1:07
Why? It's important because a lot of
1:10
the alkalized wines can't get it that low and still save that
1:13
same taste and have that same flavor.
1:15
So 0.0 is sort of a good factor because not everyone can have
1:19
even a little trace of alcohol, right?
1:21
Like for religion reasons or health reasons?
1:23
SO or relapse reasons. Or relapse reasons of course.
1:27
Yeah, the last thing I need is is 0.1%.
1:30
I'm not getting drunk and I'm thinking about relapsing or,
1:33
and, or relapsing, right? So yeah, no.
1:36
And I always say this is like, I my motive has to be right with
1:39
these. I, I specifically, I stay away
1:43
from the non alcoholic beer just because it tastes so similar.
1:46
But everything else is, is fair game because I just want like a
1:51
refreshing drink, you know? And I don't want the hangover
1:53
and I want to still hang out and have fun with people, but I
1:56
don't want to smoke meth again. I don't want you smoking meth
2:01
again either yeah, you don't and you're right.
2:03
I don't want it to be triggering.
2:04
So if it is, if you're in that recovery where you know it could
2:06
be triggering by that the tastes are getting so good, right?
2:10
The the flavors of the D alkalized non alk are becoming
2:13
so good and tasting exactly like they would with alcohol that you
2:16
don't want that to be triggered so.
2:18
So who are the majority of your customers, would you say?
2:24
I would say, you know, it's a mix of people that are either
2:27
similar to me, like living the sober, sober curious lifestyle
2:30
and they don't want to drink anymore, but they want to go out
2:33
and still have that experience. And then I'd say a lot of people
2:37
in the health and Wellness space because more and more people are
2:40
realizing, you know, that alcohol, even if they don't have
2:43
a dependency on it, it's just not good.
2:45
And they're not able to reach their full potential either
2:48
with, you know, their sports or fitness goals.
2:51
And they're turning to these options to be able to still be
2:54
out with their friends and connect and not have to have the
2:56
alcohol and feel hungover. Nice, I love that.
2:58
So how? What's the nutritional
3:00
information on this So do you know?
3:02
Yep, Yep, for the the Rose. So that's in in 100 mil, it's 6
3:06
grams of sugar, but it's all residual from the grapes and no
3:10
added, you know, no added duck or anything.
3:12
And it's 25 calories per 100 mil and 0 grams fat.
3:16
That's amazing. Yeah, exactly.
3:17
And this comes in red wine and not, not this specific one, but
3:21
you make red wine you make. I actually only have the Rose
3:23
sparkling and the white sparkling for now, and then I
3:26
plan to roll out the still line a white and a red.
3:29
Coming soon. Coming soon, trialling with the
3:32
sparkling. I wanted to do, you know, the
3:34
celebratory bubbles 1st and then we'll, we'll roll up the stills.
3:38
Later. So why are you so passionate
3:40
about this? Well, I'm very passionate about
3:43
it because I I stopped drinking about 3 years ago, three years
3:47
August and I am a very. That's awesome by the way.
3:50
Thank. You thank you.
3:51
And I'm a very social person and I because I love to go out and
3:56
be with my friends and go to restaurants and events and do
4:01
everything where normally, you know, alcohol is involved.
4:03
And when I removed it from my life, it was it was it was
4:06
challenging because you're you're missing something, right?
4:08
Like you're, you're standing there and you have water or
4:10
you're not holding anything in your hand and it's like a little
4:13
uncomfortable for yourself. And also because people are
4:16
asking, yeah, obviously the worst, the worst people just
4:19
like can't get over the back, like what's wrong with you?
4:22
But yeah, what's? Are you pregnant?
4:23
Are you? Yeah.
4:24
Do you have a problem or what's going on?
4:26
Yeah. Which is crazy, right?
4:28
But that's just where our society is.
4:29
And I thought like that too when I drank, so I get it.
4:32
I understand. That's a good point, actually.
4:33
No, yeah. Not to be a critical here.
4:36
Yeah. So when I when I learned that
4:39
the you know, the non elk scenes coming in and there's so many
4:42
options, there weren't many wines.
4:44
And then when I tried a wine, a different one, an Italian one,
4:47
it like brought me back. I was like, Oh my gosh, I was
4:50
sitting at a bar at like a bar setting with a friend and and,
4:53
and random strangers and I was like, Oh my gosh, like this
4:56
tastes so familiar. It was kind of a little bit of
4:58
the placebo, but again, like you could cheers and you could chat
5:02
and it was like eye opening and yeah, so I I thought, you know
5:06
what, it was a driver to like I got to get into the space and
5:10
the non elk space. Like to me, it's more than just
5:12
a product. It's like symbolizing again,
5:14
like you can go out there and just live your best life and you
5:17
know, again, have something in your hand and it symbolizes that
5:21
that healthy well-being, you know, to me.
5:24
So it's more than just a non elk one.
5:26
Yeah. Do you, can you share why you
5:30
quit drinking? Why you decided?
5:31
Was there a moment that you kind of said this isn't serving me
5:33
anymore? Yeah, totally.
5:35
So I think it was like 20 years of heavy drinking.
5:38
Like I started young, I started at 15 and in high school, and I
5:42
guess you're experimenting back then, but I took everything to
5:45
just excess. So love to just party hard.
5:48
And then university continued on and then those are the more
5:53
acceptable stages, though I guess party or at least more
5:55
common, but unfortunately kind of dripped on a bit more into my
5:58
adult life and lived in Australia, which isn't.
6:01
Boy, yeah, I've never been, but I've heard it's crazy over
6:04
there. I mean every time I go on
6:05
vacation and I hang out with Australians, they always are the
6:08
most drunk from what I see. It's yeah, it's a drinking
6:12
culture there. Like it's actually interesting
6:13
because it's health and Wellness too, right?
6:15
Because there's the beaches and they're really into fitness and
6:17
but it definitely it's, it's warm 8 months of the year, you
6:20
know, like there's patios open everywhere.
6:22
So it's very easy if you're already kind of, you know, on
6:25
that kind of angle of, of dependent on alcohol to, to find
6:28
that party and, and, and get yourself back into the drinking
6:30
culture. So that was the, you know, 10
6:33
years of that. And I think just with me, like I
6:37
was finding that it was very volatile.
6:39
Like I'd be in control of my drinking where I'd set
6:43
boundaries and rules for myself, right?
6:45
Like don't drink during the week and don't drink in front of
6:48
clients or work. And then the weekend was just a
6:50
free for all. And then I noticed that I'd
6:52
start to bend those rules more and more.
6:54
I was getting into this Gray area where it was like I was
6:59
making up excuses then. So I was like, Oh well, I'm out.
7:02
I'm out with my friends or I'm out with work or I have a great
7:06
life and I'm doing so well. I'm allowed to drink this.
7:08
Month these justifications, right?
7:10
So you would break the rules and then justify it in your head?
7:12
Totally. And you're forming those bad
7:14
habits. I'm sure you don't even realize
7:17
they're coming cuz you're just doing it and you're making up
7:19
excuses. And it was really great.
7:22
And then I jumped to this other phase of like, you know, coping
7:26
with something negative or really bad that was going on.
7:28
And then I'd be like, well, this allows me then just to drink to
7:31
forget about it. And I'd noticed that it was
7:34
getting kind of dark and it was taking control of my life, but I
7:37
wasn't able to bring back that control as easily like, and, and
7:41
give myself breaks. So it was this tug of war
7:43
between all those phases and it just got to be like just so
7:48
consuming of me. And I was like, this is not what
7:51
I want for myself. Like this isn't sustainable.
7:53
I can't keep doing this for the next, you know, like I was in my
7:56
30s at this stage. And you know what hangovers like
7:58
when you're, you're, you're rough.
8:01
And I was just like, I can't keep doing this.
8:03
Like, I have to, I have to somehow stop.
8:07
And abstinence is like kind of the way I realized for me, like
8:10
everyone's different, but I realized like I had to just
8:15
remove it completely from my life because it was consuming it
8:19
and I wasn't able to reach like my full potential.
8:22
Yeah, potential. I, I love that word.
8:25
I used to hate that word, but potential is like the, I don't
8:30
know, I used to hear it in treatment, my first treatment
8:32
center in Minnesota. Potential is like, you know,
8:35
the, that it's like that trigger word for Alcoholics and addicts,
8:39
right? You know, people in my life are
8:41
coming up to me, man. You have, you know, he has so
8:43
much potential. If only he would just stop
8:46
drinking or stop using so much. You know, he could be so much
8:50
better than he is. He could be doing, you know,
8:52
even in school, in elementary school, my teachers on my report
8:54
card, my mom always reminds me, but it always said like not
8:59
living up to potential. You know, he and I just like
9:02
that word used to haunt me, right?
9:03
And now, you know, it's funny. You remove the alcohol and the
9:06
substances and I'm doing shit that I never thought I could do.
9:10
Starting this podcast was another one I never like.
9:13
I'm thank you. Yeah, It's amazing.
9:15
I'm never running a marathon was another one.
9:17
And I did it all. You know, there's a common theme
9:19
here. I'm sober during all these
9:21
accomplishments, right? I can't run a fucking marathon
9:24
when I'm, you know, hungover or like, it takes so much
9:28
dedication and time, right. And then, you know, in your
9:30
situation, starting a business, right.
9:32
Do you want to talk about, do you want to talk about like how
9:37
how that was getting it off the ground, you know, kind of some
9:41
early struggles and how you navigated them?
9:44
Yeah, it's hard. Like it's anyone can say when
9:47
you start your own business, like it's just you, you, you.
9:50
You know you're going to have challenges, but a whole bunch of
9:52
things get thrown at you unexpectedly.
9:54
You got to pivot. You got to be so resilient and
9:58
it's a lot of energy. So yeah, like being sober like
10:01
has made me, you know, be able to do it to to the extent I've
10:05
been able to kind of push the business and go live.
10:08
But yeah, it's been fun. Like it's been really fun.
10:12
It's a new space for me, the food and beverage in general,
10:15
let alone the non elk and it's growing so massively.
10:18
So it's such a great space to be involved in and watching all
10:21
like globally how it's becoming so big and like all the it's
10:24
doing such great things. That's the thing, you know, it's
10:26
a business that's improving people's lifestyles and making
10:28
them. I'm a better person.
10:30
So it's like I keep that at the back of my mind, right When I
10:33
have those rough times or you're going through, you know, the
10:35
turmoil of the business and some negative things.
10:37
You're like, this is this is helping me and it's help going
10:40
to help other people. But yeah, I mean, like starting
10:43
up a business that I'm importing.
10:45
So that's how it struggles. You know, I'm dealing with a a
10:48
vineyard in Spain and the language barrier and then it's
10:50
coming over. And if anything kind of falls
10:53
short on that supply chain, like, you know, it can make the
10:56
business just go through bits of bits of hiccups.
10:58
So importing it in and then all our ports went on strike, you
11:05
know, when I was first getting my shipment in and like, all
11:07
these things were coming, you know, and I was like, why?
11:09
Like it's just endless. But but yeah, no, it's been,
11:14
it's been really good. And like I said, now that the
11:16
product's out and launched and people really like it.
11:18
And like I said, getting into space has been fun and
11:22
collaborating with people in the in the health and Wellness,
11:25
especially in the fitness, because I'm really into fitness,
11:27
so it aligns well with my values, has been so great.
11:30
Like people reaching out, like let's work together, let's do a
11:33
Pilates and poor party, Let's do a spin and and drink party, like
11:36
without the alcohol, obviously, because it's health oriented.
11:39
Yeah, it's been really fun. That's awesome.
11:40
Yeah, I, I definitely have found that in working in the, I guess
11:45
I, I would call it like the sober creative space, but also
11:48
I've, I've been talking to a lot of, you know, non alcoholic
11:51
beverage shops and just to kind of, you know, learn more about
11:55
this. And yeah, everyone's so
11:56
cooperative and so friendly and they just want to help you.
12:01
You know, it's people are, are willing to do things to kind of,
12:04
you know, better. The, the, there's like a,
12:06
there's like a goal in mind, right?
12:08
It's not just I, I want to better my business and screw
12:10
you, right? There's a goal in mind.
12:13
I love the name Poor Sports. Do you want to explain what it
12:16
means to you a little bit? To me, so obviously there's the
12:20
plan, the word poor, which is fun.
12:21
So it's OOUR and then if you kind of like think about it,
12:26
it's the pun, right? The poor sport.
12:27
So people, when you're out playing a sport and someone's
12:30
losing and you know they're taking it negatively.
12:33
No one likes to lose too, right? We don't like to lose.
12:35
We're we're in this world where you got to win and you got to
12:37
succeed. And then you know that person
12:39
that's not dealing with it well and they're losing and you don't
12:41
invite them back, right. And it's kind of that funny kind
12:43
of bit around the poor sport of the person that's losing alcohol
12:46
and not drinking. So like, I'm, I don't want to
12:48
drink anymore and this group does.
12:51
Do they want to invite me out anymore?
12:52
Because there's that stigma now. Oh, Lana doesn't drink.
12:55
Or, you know, it's like something's wrong with you.
12:57
What's wrong with you? And they don't, you know, you
12:59
don't want to make you feel included anymore.
13:02
So it's kind of the fun play on that, you know, and it's the
13:05
irony is you're winning because you're the one that's not
13:08
drinking and you're the one that's choosing to be confident
13:11
with that choice. And, you know, again, like I'm
13:14
not pushing sobriety on anyone. Everyone, I think can, you know,
13:16
make their own choices and, but for me it serves a purpose to
13:21
not drink and I want to be proud of that choice.
13:24
I love it. It's it's a great name and you
13:27
know, with with regards to the people either judging or asking
13:32
you questions, it's, it's unavoidable, right?
13:34
I've experienced it. I remember one time
13:36
specifically, you know, in my in probably 2016, I had about a
13:39
year of sobriety. And it was one of those first
13:41
times I went out to the bar with a bunch of my friends and the
13:45
waiter comes to her table. He goes around the entire table
13:47
and there's probably eight of us, you know, beer, beer, beer,
13:51
beer. And I'm not even kidding.
13:52
I was the last one like just of course.
13:53
And I'm watching this happen and I'm like, Oh my God, I'm like
13:55
seeing this happen. I'm like, this is going to be so
13:57
uncomfortable. I already know, right?
13:59
And I was at a pretty good place in my sobriety.
14:00
But it comes to me and I look at the guy and I go, oh, just soda
14:03
water. And he kind of, he looked at me
14:05
and he just went like in front of all the people.
14:08
They all my friends like stopped and looked up at him.
14:11
And then they looked at me and they were like about to, you
14:13
know, they were like, what, what's he gonna do?
14:15
And I just, you know, I, I did what I was taught, right?
14:18
I just like didn't react, which is like, you know, that's like,
14:22
I wanted to knock the guy out, right?
14:24
Absolutely. I but the, the other thing I do
14:27
too. And this, this is getting
14:28
better. But whenever that happens to me,
14:30
you know, it happened another time with my wife and I'll, I'll
14:32
explain that in a second because that was a funny story too.
14:34
But my first reaction is to be like, yeah, so I don't drink
14:38
because I almost died and overdosed and I went to three
14:41
rehabs. Thanks, though.
14:42
Yeah. And just to make the guy feel
14:43
like complete shit, right. And I don't do that.
14:46
But, you know, that's my yeah, that's the other thing I want to
14:48
do is just make, you know, ruin the guy's day, Right.
14:50
But I've done it before and it doesn't work.
14:52
But yeah, there there was another time where a guy came up
14:55
to me and my my wife had this massive beer and we were going
14:58
to a leaf game and I had a soda water.
14:59
And he commented on that. He was hammered.
15:01
And he's like, oh, it's just, you know, funny.
15:03
And I'm like, what? He's like, she's so small and
15:05
you're gonna be and I'm like, yeah, I don't drink.
15:07
You know, I probably said at that time that I almost died and
15:10
went to rehab and he just went sorry, man.
15:12
And he just walked away. So I have done it before.
15:14
I'm not perfect. Yeah, no, that's OK.
15:16
But yeah, that's that was I was gonna ask you, So when you first
15:19
quit drinking, what was what was the reaction of others around
15:22
you? And what was that like?
15:24
Yeah, You know, quite mixed reactions.
15:27
I think. Like you got some friends that
15:30
were like fully supportive and just like, that's amazing,
15:32
right? Like that's really great.
15:34
I wish I could do that. Or like, you know, I'm happy for
15:36
you. And then you get some other
15:39
people that are like, why? Like kind of like, why, right?
15:42
Like why can you stop Or like nothing.
15:43
You get that a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:45
Not even a drop. I I get that too.
15:47
I'm like choosing to not drink alcohol like.
15:50
Ever. Don't you know I'm all or
15:51
nothing? Yeah.
15:51
I'm an all or nothing person, OK, And I'm doing the nothing.
15:54
I've done the all for 20 years. Go away.
15:57
Like, yeah, you get all these different reactions, but mostly
16:02
supportive. Like I think, you know, some of
16:05
the people that maybe were more taking it in more of a negative
16:08
perception, I think is 'cause maybe they had a problem.
16:11
That's what I was going to say, right?
16:12
Or have a problem? Or have a problem, you're right,
16:14
sorry have and like, you know, and it's that subconscious way
16:17
'cause I felt the same way where like you kind of want to bring
16:20
people with you down. You know, you're like you're
16:22
like, you're like, well, we used to drink together.
16:24
Like, you know, like, like I, I'm not going to sit here and
16:27
have, you know, 18 shots and you're going to sit and sip your
16:30
water or your non elk drink like.
16:32
I'm going to hate myself. Yeah, exactly.
16:34
So it's like, and you notice that, which is unfortunate, but
16:38
like I said, like I'm aware of it because I kind of thought the
16:40
same way, right? That's a good point.
16:42
So but again, you have to just like, luckily, like I said, I
16:46
have a very supportive group of friends in network and
16:49
everyone's been really, really amazing and people, people said
16:53
you're inspirational and I've wanted to drink less.
16:56
So I've I've got that too. And that's so amazing to hear
16:59
that. Nice.
17:00
Yeah, it's pretty good. The things that you don't expect
17:02
where you're inspiring people. I always say I've been getting
17:05
messages here and there after this podcast, and some people
17:07
really open up to you. And obviously I'm not a
17:10
therapist. I am in school to get back into
17:12
the field and do that stuff, but I'm not gonna fix anyone.
17:15
But it's nice when you see messages.
17:16
Hey, I'm struggling and I wasn't gonna send this, but your
17:20
podcast or your post or your guest.
17:22
I get that a lot too. Like it, it let me feel like I'm
17:25
not alone today, right? And, you know, I I'm just like,
17:28
fuck, you know, we had someone on the podcast last time.
17:31
It was a comedian and he said someone wrote, reached out to
17:34
him and said, you know, I was going to take my life today.
17:36
But I watched one of your videos and I just completely forgot
17:40
about it. I know it blew me away when he
17:41
was telling me that story. You just never know how you're
17:44
going to affect people right, positively and negatively,
17:46
right. So, you know, it's it's truly a
17:48
beautiful thing. Yeah, for sure.
17:51
I was in Costco the other day. And this is my question to you
17:54
is, you know, where do you see this non alcoholic thing going?
17:58
Right. I was in Costco the other day
18:01
and I'm not even kidding you. There was probably an entire
18:03
Costco section, so not a grocery store section, a Costco section
18:07
of non alcoholic beverage options.
18:10
I was blown away. And I'm not talking about soda
18:12
water or flavored. So I'm talking about like, you
18:14
know, White Claw 0% and like I was, I couldn't believe it,
18:18
right? It's there's truly it's growing.
18:20
So where do you see this? Where do you see this, this
18:23
industry going? What's the future look like?
18:24
Do you think in your opinion? Yeah.
18:26
It's, I think it's like one of the fastest growing industries
18:28
globally because again, it's fitting under that health and
18:30
Wellness space and it's, it's so nice to see that.
18:33
And you're right, it's becoming this huge thing where it used to
18:37
just be a couple options on the menu or a couple options in
18:40
grocery stores or in bottle shops, LCBO, and then a lot of
18:43
the options were horrible. I was going to say this sucks.
18:46
Thing we're here to tell you there's great options out there.
18:48
Like we are the ones making great tasting.
18:50
They taste similar, they're flavorful.
18:52
But yeah, the options were horrible.
18:54
I remember in Australia when I was taking one of my breaks,
18:56
which I, you know, realized I needed a month off and I went to
18:59
the grocery store and got like, which looked like fancy wine,
19:02
non alcoholic and it was just like disgusting, like so sweet
19:07
juice that I was like, this is horrible.
19:09
Like this makes me want to drink.
19:11
Like what is like this is doing in the opposite.
19:15
So the quality of the products coming in is becoming so much
19:19
better of everything, the beers, the wines, there's like the
19:22
alkalies, tequilas and gins and everything you can imagine that
19:26
you can get with alcohol now you can get without and it's really
19:30
great to see. So the space is growing
19:32
massively and cuz also the demands there, right?
19:34
Like that's why people are cutting back on drinking.
19:37
And like I said, no matter what, even if they're not in recovery,
19:39
they just maybe just don't want to drink or want to have the
19:41
option for guests or pregnant or whatever the reason might be.
19:44
So more and more people are turning to non elk options.
19:47
So yeah, they'll have to, they have to expand their product
19:50
line and have more shelves. And it's really nice when I'm
19:53
seeing it on menus in restaurants is so nice 'cause
19:56
it's not just again, like they'll say like non alcoholic
19:59
and it's like soda and pop and like something you know, they're
20:03
now have like people are getting actual like a full menu with all
20:06
the varieties. And I'm.
20:09
Limited. Yeah, me too.
20:10
Yeah, I've had some pretty good ones.
20:11
You know, I like ginger and spicy things Yeah.
20:14
And I, we were at a place the other day and I had one.
20:17
I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this question because my
20:19
wife wants to know. Yeah.
20:22
And I, I, I think so the price is a problem for a lot of
20:26
people. Like, and I'm not talking about
20:28
from, you know, your website or other person's website or not.
20:32
Like the price at restaurants is so high for this stuff.
20:35
It's almost as much as alcohol. Why do you think that is?
20:38
And do you think it'll change? Yeah.
20:41
It's an interesting one and and yeah, a lot of people do
20:43
question that unless you're in the space and you kind of
20:45
understand. Why?
20:46
You see all the work and ingredients and that's why it
20:48
tastes good, right? Because you put work into.
20:50
It well, I can speak for like the D alkalized beverages like
20:52
mine is like they actually go through an additional step,
20:55
right. So it's the same because it's
20:56
made traditionally how wine is made with alcohol and then it
20:59
goes through an additional step to get removed.
21:01
And they still want to make sure the taste is, you know, still
21:04
great quality and that similar feel, a mouth feel and
21:07
everything in flavors. So it is more steps involved,
21:10
but people don't think that 'cause I think it's removed.
21:12
Like why is it? How is it the same price?
21:14
I didn't know that, so yeah. Yeah, so that's a little
21:17
education on the deal, Alkalized.
21:18
And then I guess maybe because, you know, some restaurants do
21:21
make them lower than alcohol and and obviously that's a bit
21:24
appealing, but other ones maybe aren't because they're noticing
21:27
that people are going to be ordering them anyways.
21:28
So, you know, they're kind of keeping them standard with their
21:31
regular wine or beer or or mocktail, cocktail, kind of
21:35
everyone's sort of doing things differently so.
21:39
Yeah, awesome. And you're in some restaurants
21:41
right now, right? Yeah, poor sports in some
21:43
restaurants in Toronto. How many?
21:44
Roughly about 1515. Wow.
21:48
So there's 15 places in Toronto where I can buy and what's on
21:51
the menu, Like what's your popular item right now?
21:54
Mostly the Rose just cuz it comes in this nice little mini
21:57
glass size. So it's 6.7 oz.
21:59
So a lot of restaurants like that because there is the the
22:01
concern of wastage right when you open a full bottle normally
22:05
you know it's because you're gonna use that full bottle.
22:08
But because it's still new to the scene and not everyone's
22:10
ordering a non alcoholic wine, it's better for this mini size
22:14
cuz it's a single serve. Yeah, yeah.
22:17
I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant where this this
22:20
would be a first if I saw a table getting a full bottle of
22:22
non alcoholic. Non alcoholic.
22:25
I can't talk wine. Wine.
22:26
Thank you. Yeah, true.
22:28
You know what? Maybe one day, right?
22:29
It is. It is there.
22:30
It's coming. How do you think you know, how
22:36
does sobriety today kind of shift your mindset with with the
22:39
entrepreneurial space and being an entrepreneur?
22:43
I don't think I'd be one if I wasn't.
22:44
Sober, to be honest. Like I'd probably try like I've
22:48
always had that like motivation to like focus my career and do
22:51
something on my own and run my own business since I was really
22:53
young. But the drinking would have just
22:56
slowed it down, not made me clear thinking like you waste so
23:01
much time, you know, when you're hung, you're drinking takes
23:03
time, you're hungover, you're like the older you get 3 days of
23:07
cloudiness and like how do you run a business?
23:10
You know, how do you run a business when you're like that?
23:12
So sobriety for me has helped me.
23:16
Yeah. Be patient and clear thinking
23:18
and, you know, run the business with intention and yeah, I I
23:25
wouldn't be able to do it. Yeah.
23:27
I, I think the time thing is, so, you know, I, I definitely
23:30
realized that when I first got sober because you get sober for
23:33
my, you know, situation, you come out of rehab and you just
23:37
have all this time, all of a sudden it comes out of nowhere.
23:39
You're like, I don't know what to do with myself, right?
23:42
I, I gotta get a hobby or something.
23:43
That's why I'm, I'm grateful for this podcast because, you know,
23:46
it keeps me busy and it keeps me motivated, but also it keeps you
23:49
around cool people like you and I and you know, I, I like to, I
23:53
said this last time, but I think success to me is, you know, if
23:57
you're working on yourself, like plain and simple, like if I'm
24:00
working on myself today, I'm noticing my flaws and my
24:04
opportunities. People don't like that word
24:06
flaws, my character defects. People don't like that word
24:08
either, but they're there. I have a lot of character
24:10
defects. You know, honesty is a big one.
24:11
I, I, I have a hard time being honest and it's, there's no
24:14
reason for it. Like I'll lie about the
24:16
stupidest shit just because I'm so used to it.
24:19
But also I'm thinking that you're going to judge me some
24:21
way or another. You know what sort of, I
24:30
completely forgot my question. See, this happens sometimes.
24:32
That's right. Yeah.
24:35
How would you say that sobriety has impacted your relationships
24:39
today with other people? Yeah, I think to be honest, like
24:44
there's so much more meaningful because I'm a better person,
24:50
right? I'm taking care and I'm, I care
24:51
about myself more. So I care about other people
24:54
inevitably more. And I think when I was drinking,
24:57
like I wasn't consistent, I think I'd let people down,
25:00
right? Because not intentionally,
25:02
again, like I don't ever try to do that.
25:04
But drinking would take over in ways that I didn't have control.
25:09
And it would, I'd have plans with people and I'd change them
25:13
or I'd not be able to go because I was hungover.
25:15
And you wouldn't even want to admit that sometimes.
25:17
So it comes across like you just don't care about them because,
25:21
you know, you don't want to admit you have that problem that
25:24
you're drinking too much. So I think my my friendships and
25:27
my relationships with people have have definitely gotten a
25:31
lot better. And you know, you do have to
25:34
obviously find new groups and new friends and new networks
25:37
just inevitably, because again, like a lot of my friends that
25:41
drink, I'm fine to be around them.
25:42
Like I said, they're fully supportive.
25:43
They don't influence me to make me drink, but you just sometimes
25:46
in different wavelengths. So you want to then find I don't
25:49
need to hang out with a bunch of people that don't drink drop,
25:51
but like people that are doing more non drinking activities,
25:54
like healthy activities or out, you know, doing I'm in high
25:58
rocks training and like I love my gym and the community there
26:01
and you know, going for coffees and walks and on dating.
26:04
Like that's a big one too, because if you're not drinking
26:08
and you're on a date and the other person drinks like they're
26:11
it gets a little bit. I got uncomfortableness and I
26:15
found at first, like when I started my sobriety journey, I
26:17
was single and it was like, it was so hard at first.
26:21
I was like almost, I don't wanna say ashamed, but I didn't.
26:24
I tiptoed around it, around it. I kept being like, I'm on a
26:27
break that lasted, you know, two years ago when?
26:30
Was the last time you had a drink?
26:31
Yeah, like 2 years ago, but now I own it now I love it.
26:34
And if they, if that's a problem, then I'm that's a great
26:37
way of filtering someone out because if it's a problem that
26:40
you're not drinking, you know, you probably don't want that
26:43
person in your. Life couldn't agree more.
26:44
You know? Yeah, I've been ghosted before,
26:47
you know, I'm married now, but when I was first getting sober
26:50
and I started dating this girl, you know, she kept asking me why
26:54
I didn't drink red wine. And it like, that's all I know
26:57
that it usually somebody may have a problem with me and it's
27:01
not going to go as a red flag is if they ask more than once,
27:03
right? Or if they hang out on the
27:05
topic. But there was multiple times.
27:06
And then, yeah, she just disappeared.
27:09
And I was like, you know what? For the better.
27:11
Yeah, for the better, right. And then I'll never forget this.
27:13
I met my wife for the first time.
27:14
And I I'm always also careful about it too, because I don't
27:17
like to just lead with it. I don't drink.
27:19
You know, you don't because like, you just.
27:22
It's not, it's not everything. It's not your whole identity.
27:25
Exactly. Totally.
27:26
And so, you know, you get to know the person 1st.
27:29
And I, I'll never forget this. I, I, you always get a little
27:31
nervous when you, like you said, when you tell somebody that you
27:34
like or you, you know, you start dating.
27:36
And I told her and I'll never, she just didn't even like, oh,
27:41
OK. And then we never talked about
27:43
it again until we started dating.
27:44
And I was like, oh, that's kind of nice.
27:46
You know, she clearly doesn't have a problem with it.
27:48
And, you know, now we're married for almost a year and things are
27:51
going well. But yeah, it's like, do you have
27:54
any advice for somebody that's that's starting dating in
27:57
sobriety? Because I know this is probably
27:59
a lot of, I think a lot of people struggle with this,
28:01
right? So.
28:03
Yeah, like I said, I think you got to just understand that it
28:07
worry about yourself, it shouldn't matter.
28:09
Like so they're going to judge you then that's a great way to
28:11
filter and think that's not the right person for you.
28:14
You know, like, and I think there's also a lot of ways to
28:21
meet people now and more active based, you know, events.
28:24
Or activities. Right.
28:25
Like, yeah, there's run clubs. Like I actually go on runs for
28:28
dates. Like some of my friends laugh at
28:30
that, but I'm like, you know, I went on a coupon for a date,
28:32
like a first date. Like you can find all those
28:35
other outlets and other activities to do that don't
28:38
involve sitting and having of beverage or again, non alcoholic
28:42
beverages are really good for that because they feel less
28:44
awkward seeing you have something that looks so similar
28:47
on the other side of the table if it's uncomfortable for them.
28:50
But yeah, I think my advice is, yeah, try and just yeah, if own
28:54
your sobriety, you don't need to, like I said, deep dive into
28:56
it right up front. Wear a.
28:58
Shirt I'm sober. But but be proud of it and if
29:03
someone has a problem, they have a problem, then that's that
29:05
person's not for you. And then yeah, try and find some
29:08
other activities because again, we're shifting.
29:10
Even people that drink don't always want to go out and get
29:13
drunk on their first date. You'll make a fool of yourself.
29:15
You're not even you know, you got the beer goggles on anyways.
29:18
So more people's are turning towards activities to get to
29:22
know people regardless so. I think, yeah, I, I agree 100%.
29:27
That's great advice. I, I think too, for me, what
29:31
better way to find out? Like I feel like nowadays people
29:34
go on dates and they're like interviews, right?
29:37
It's like you, you want to be efficient.
29:38
You know, you're swiping left, you're swiping right.
29:40
I don't know what it is anymore, what the approve or not approve
29:43
is. You're swiping one way.
29:44
But people want to just get, they want to be efficient.
29:47
Like how many people can I see? It's like interviewing for a
29:50
job, right? And I think personally, my
29:53
experience, my opinion of that is that that's not any way to
29:56
find out about someone sitting across the table.
29:58
You're not going to find out like who someone is in an hour,
30:01
2 hours, or maybe even, you know, 10 hours.
30:03
I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I, I truly think, you know,
30:06
you go, what did you high rock, High rock.
30:10
So I'm going to get you to explain that in a second after I
30:12
finish my point because I don't know, it sounds interesting to
30:13
me. I maybe I have a new addiction
30:15
now. I love extreme activities, but
30:18
what better way to get to know somebody than going on a run and
30:20
like encountering problems in the world and seeing how they
30:25
solve said problem, right? You know, you, you run into AI
30:28
don't know a guy. You run into a guy that you know
30:31
is rude to you, right? And the person you're with says,
30:35
freaks out on the person and says like, like, maybe I don't
30:37
want to be with that person that reacts that way in that
30:40
situation. You know, I always say this to
30:42
people too. It's like when I travelled with
30:43
my wife, that was that was the fastest way to learn.
30:48
You know, you encounter problems, you almost miss a
30:50
flight. You oh, she, she kind of reacts
30:52
like, I actually liked how she handled that, you know, or I
30:55
never thought I would do it that way.
30:56
And you kind of you, you, you, you get closer through
30:59
connection, right? You connect on emotions, like
31:02
instead of what do you do for work and what do you think about
31:06
this? You know you're connecting
31:07
through an emotional level, right?
31:10
So what is explain this hierarchy?
31:13
It's this new also this big global trend of this, it's a
31:16
fitness competition which involves 8 different circuits of
31:19
like weight training concepts. So it's like there's this the
31:23
sleds, right? You know, the sleds, you put the
31:24
weight and then they, they push them and then you pull them.
31:26
And then there's the, there's ski ergs and there's rowing and
31:30
there's a burpees and a farmer's care.
31:32
So there's eight different stations of all these different
31:34
weight training, like a hit class and you go to a hit class
31:37
kind of like those eight different stations.
31:39
And then in between each one you run a kilometer.
31:42
So you do 8 KS total running. So it's, you know, it's, it's
31:47
hitting all the boxes there. You're doing the full body
31:49
workout and you can do it by yourself or you can do it with a
31:52
partner. So I do one with one of my
31:54
fitness buddies and we did it last year and we did really
31:56
well. And yeah, it's just, it's super
31:58
intense and it's fun. So it's like such a great goal
32:01
to have, right? Because you're training for
32:03
something which makes you want to get up and go to the gym more
32:06
than just, you know, your own motivation.
32:08
Yeah. Yeah, that's why I like marathon
32:10
running so much, because there was a goal at the end that I
32:13
needed to achieve, and I followed a very simple plan.
32:16
I didn't do it my way, you know. I just followed a plan.
32:18
And lo and behold, you, it's amazing.
32:21
You put the ingredients of the recipe together and you get the
32:25
results. You know, sobriety is a lot.
32:27
In my opinion, recovery is a lot.
32:29
In the same light as that, you know, you get certain, certain
32:35
ingredients and it's like baking a cake.
32:37
You put the ingredients together.
32:38
For me, it's, you know, 12 step recovery in meetings and stuff
32:42
like that. You put them all together and
32:46
you follow the recipe and you get an outcome.
32:48
You know, you get a a sobriety for today.
32:51
So yeah, I love that. That's great.
32:55
What does your morning routine look like?
32:57
All right. Right, All right, well, I get
33:01
up. I have a dog.
33:02
I'm a. Boxer, so that is.
33:04
Just as high energy as me. So we're both in tents together.
33:06
But he needs a lot of a lot of exercise.
33:09
So I walk him and I usually I try to go to the gym in the
33:12
morning. I like a morning session because
33:15
it's just not just to get out of the way, but just because I feel
33:17
so good for the rest of the day. Yeah, it's Chico and I'm a
33:20
morning person. So I'm, I'm one of those sort of
33:23
five amers, have a lot of energy, go to bed early, so up
33:29
early. And then now I'm I have a day
33:34
job too, where I'm a project manager.
33:35
So the business is sort of on the side.
33:37
So I have to kind of play and plug it in wherever I fit those
33:40
hours. So in the morning I usually get
33:42
up and start working. To be honest, it's after my
33:44
workouts and then yeah, eat breakfast.
33:47
I don't know, like it's so funny.
33:48
Like I'm not that routine. Like I know a lot of people that
33:51
go through different sobriety recovery have like the
33:54
structure. I'm just more like as long as I
33:57
do these great things I have to do for myself, like my walks, my
34:00
exercise, tick the boxes. I don't care when I do it.
34:03
Kind of a little bit rogue with my schedules, but.
34:06
But you mentioned the, the, the having the dog thing is good
34:08
because it holds you accountable to getting outside.
34:10
You know, I, I, I wake up a lot of mornings and I go right to my
34:12
computer and I find that those days are usually the ones that
34:17
leave me kind of feeling a little bit more empty sometimes,
34:21
right? And you know, that's why I love
34:23
this podcast because it gets me out of my, my head, right?
34:26
And it gets me out here. And because I find that
34:29
isolation for me is like a isolation over a extended period
34:34
of time is a guaranteed relapse for me.
34:36
It's only a matter of time. Like a I've proven that so many
34:39
times, you know, because when I'm isolating, my problems just
34:42
stay in here, right? And I don't kind of bounce them
34:45
off people. I don't reflect on them.
34:48
And then all my ideas start to seem like good ideas, you know?
34:51
Right. Remember that one time that
34:53
drinking worked for like 5 minutes?
34:55
Yeah, it'll happen again if you just drink.
34:58
And then we'll get back into recovery, buddy.
35:00
And I always like the addict and the.
35:02
Yeah. It's crazy.
35:03
It's a powerful machine that tucks, tells you things that you
35:06
don't well, you know you don't want to hear.
35:07
But I fully agree about the being in isolation.
35:11
I'm the same. I'm very much love people and
35:13
need to be around people and that's helped me a lot as well.
35:17
I think it's important, I think, and that's why I like community
35:21
and all these like healthy different things that are coming
35:24
in like the non ALK sober curious space are so fantastic
35:27
because they're trying to say it's is it really the alcohol
35:30
that you needed or was it the people, the connections, the
35:32
like getting? Everyone together.
35:34
Yeah, getting someone out of their house, 'cause I think
35:36
people think like, oh, if you're not drinking, it's so boring
35:38
because or when people do dry Jan or sober Jan or whatever,
35:43
they think they just sit at home all day.
35:45
Well, yeah, of course, if you sit at home and do nothing all
35:47
day, that's so boring. So February comes and you're
35:49
like, let's go like. That would suck if you drank and
35:52
sat at home all day anyways, you know.
35:56
Yeah, exactly. But it's all about like being
35:58
able to get out there and do all those things, you know, and be
36:00
around community and like minded great people.
36:03
I think that keeps people in recovery and keeps people you
36:06
know, it just sheds positive light on it.
36:08
Yeah, I think, you know, we're, we're, I think we were meant to
36:13
be around people. You know, we weren't meant, we
36:15
weren't meant to have these phones, right?
36:16
We weren't meant to be getting dopamine all day, right?
36:20
We're, you know, we get, we should be getting our dopamine.
36:22
Should that's a dangerous word. I think that it's better if I
36:25
get my dopamine from social situations, you know, vibes and
36:30
ambiances, right. And you know, that's why I love,
36:33
I love what you're doing. I love this non alcoholic thing
36:35
because I think it'll connect a lot more people to situations
36:39
they have now a little bit of a, a helper and maybe something to
36:44
kind of guide them through the tough situation that used to
36:51
require alcohol for that social lubrication, right.
36:53
I don't really like that word, but it's, it's, it's what I, I
36:58
mean, it's what I was doing right?
36:59
Like, I hated every time I walk into a room, and it still
37:02
happens today, but it's a lot better.
37:05
I would walk into rooms and I would just be like, everybody is
37:07
making fun of the way I walk right now.
37:09
Like, that is so outrageous to think, you know what I mean?
37:12
But it's like it was true in my mind, right?
37:14
Yeah. No, I know we're hard on
37:15
ourselves. Yeah.
37:17
And I think that's why a lot of people drink, right.
37:19
Like people, you know, it's you think it's gaining that
37:23
confidence, but it's it's really not.
37:26
And it the confidence you find like now when you're not
37:28
drinking like in your, in your pasture phases of kind of having
37:32
that itch that you're so much more confident.
37:34
Yeah. Like it's like the opposite
37:35
almost, you know? It's sometimes too much.
37:38
Yeah. That ego comes out.
37:40
You're not the best in the world.
37:42
But you know where I really noticed it is making eye contact
37:45
with people, Right? Like, as simple as that.
37:48
It was so hard for. And I still struggle.
37:50
I look all over the place, but that's probably because I'm a
37:52
finicky person. Just I could not look anyone in
37:55
the eyes before. And it's you start to notice
37:59
that guy and you're like, huh, you know, those people that like
38:02
make way too much eye contact with you.
38:05
I was at a meeting the other day and I'd shared and it was one of
38:10
those I don't know, maybe you've been, maybe you haven't.
38:13
But you know, there's certain meetings where you share and the
38:15
entire room kind of thanks you, but says like how it related to
38:19
them. And some it's really tough
38:21
sometimes because you got to just like next going on to the
38:25
next one. And there's this one lady that
38:27
I'm not kidding. She like locked onto my eyes and
38:30
would not look away. And so it became like a staring
38:33
contest. And she was talking and I felt
38:35
so uncomfortable. I was like, look away, Please
38:37
look away. I was like, I can't do this
38:38
anymore. And you don't want to be the
38:40
first one to like look away because then you're like, oh,
38:41
she's going to notice. She's going to notice that I
38:43
looked away, right? Oh, gosh, sounds fun.
38:47
Yeah. I mean, looking people in the
38:48
eyes. That's that's a big one for me.
38:51
Yeah. How do you find that you're more
38:51
confident? You said that you public speak
38:53
and stuff like that now and how does the confidence come out in
38:57
like where were you not be able to be confident before and well
39:00
and. Like weirdly enough, I thought,
39:03
I mean, it's like alcohol to be confident, right?
39:07
I just again, it was that like maybe a bad habit I picked up or
39:11
I don't know what. But I thought that like, anytime
39:13
I go out for like, be going to be around a bunch of people, I
39:16
was like, well, maybe I should have a drink before I go just to
39:19
like loosen me up and like, you know, and like, now I'm like,
39:22
that's crazy. It's not.
39:23
It's on. People don't normally think like
39:25
that, right? No.
39:26
No, no, exactly. I'm more just like out the door
39:28
and then, you know, they have drinks with the situation.
39:30
But I used to. Yeah, maybe like you said, like
39:32
you're playing things in your head, like what are people going
39:33
to think about you and like over analyzing things so much.
39:36
But like, I think then when I did kind of give it up and of
39:39
course it's hard at first when you do right, there's that
39:42
struggle and like that identity's gone.
39:45
But then when you get past that and trust me, it gets so much
39:48
better and you get past that really hard phase.
39:52
And then it's like you're like reborn again.
39:55
Like that, that that person did die.
39:57
Good. That person needed to die.
39:58
That person was a toxic person. I'm glad they're out of my life
40:02
and I'm this new reborn. Have a new yeah, confidence and
40:08
just like it's it's at least for me, it was great.
40:11
And I think it it, it comes with time too, like it's getting
40:14
better and better as as the time goes on with kind of just
40:17
clearing it out of my system and everything.
40:19
I love it. I think I spent a lot of time
40:21
hating myself and it's it's really hard to, like you said,
40:26
promise yourself you're not going to do this because I did
40:28
that too. OK, I'm only going to drink.
40:29
I'm only going to use drugs on weekends.
40:30
I'm only going to drink on weekends.
40:32
Then you break the rule. You're like, well, I must be a
40:33
piece of shit now because I can't even keep up with my own
40:36
rules. So it's it's really hard to be
40:38
confident when I'm constantly beating myself up and hating
40:41
myself. And then you get sober and
40:43
you're like, huh, I can actually show up, you know, do what I'm
40:47
going to say, be a man of my word and kind of you sort of
40:51
like yourself again, right? And you're like, huh, I'm, I'm,
40:53
I'm a pretty good person, right? And it's finding that balance
40:56
between like, I'm the best in the world and I'm not, I'm a
40:59
piece of shit, right? Like finding that balance in
41:01
between the two. I find 2 that helping others is,
41:05
is really a good confidence builder, right?
41:07
Like when I'm helping, you know, I was at a rehab center today.
41:10
I love going to rehabs now. When you're, when you're on the
41:12
other side, it's the best. When you're in them, when you're
41:16
in them, boy, the worst. But when you're on the other
41:18
side and I saw this guy and he came up to me and he was so
41:21
confident, right? And he was, I'm so happy to be
41:25
alive, one of those guys. And I didn't even know he was a
41:28
patient of the treatment center. And I'm, I'm talking to him.
41:31
I thought he worked there, right?
41:32
And I'm like, you know, it came out that he's like, yeah,
41:34
actually I'm, I'm out on Thursday or whatever.
41:37
He was so happy. And I'm like, fuck, you're you,
41:39
you're a patient here. I'm like, dude, you look great.
41:41
Like I didn't even, you know, he had the sparkle back in his eyes
41:43
already, right? And we come in so broken, right?
41:47
When we quit drinking in, at least in my case, we're so
41:51
broken and so beat up and so just dead inside, right?
41:54
Our soul is like crushed completely that, you know, you
41:59
string together a month or two months or three months, and then
42:02
one day at a time, you just start to get that kind of
42:04
sparkle back in your eye. And the drive for life comes
42:07
back right where you're like, huh, maybe I am a decent person.
42:10
Decent person. Yeah, and you see life so
42:14
differently, you know, like when I, I'd love to travel, I've been
42:17
to like 43 countries, like, yeah, like huge, huge traveller.
42:21
But it always was so consumed with drinking.
42:24
I mean, I definitely was maybe a little bit more balanced too,
42:27
because like I would, I'd do things like climb mountains and
42:30
Machu Picchu and like things that you really couldn't be too
42:32
intoxicated to do that. But I'd always find the balance,
42:36
right. Like, oh, I got to have the
42:36
party, the party time of my travels.
42:39
And you know, and I found like now since giving up drinking,
42:44
going travelling, like again, you have all this time, you have
42:47
all this energy, you're enjoying your full day and you're seeing
42:51
everything with such a different light.
42:53
You know, you're not sitting at a patio just having a lot of
42:55
beers, just being like or wine being like, oh, I'm on holidays.
42:58
This is great. Like you're actually out doing
43:00
so much experiencing. You're experienced so much and
43:05
it's just, yeah, everything's just, it's just in such a better
43:09
light. You know, it's just clarity and
43:10
it's just nice. And of course, like, I think
43:13
like also to be real, times get tough, really tough too, right?
43:18
Like, I think like the sobriety life is great and it's so much
43:22
better, clearly a million times better.
43:24
But like times get really hard too, right?
43:26
Like that. You'll have great days like
43:29
this. And then you'll have one day
43:30
that's just like something happens and it's so hard.
43:34
And you have to be in that, be in that.
43:37
You have to feel it, you know? And that's a hard thing to then
43:40
say. I used to always go to alcohol
43:43
as my, my, my vice, my way to cope.
43:45
But you're like, I now have to sit with this thought or this
43:49
past trauma or this whatever's going on in my life.
43:52
And it can be so hard, right? And I think just like knowing
43:55
that, like remember those great times as clarity, remember, try
43:59
and push that to the surface to say you'll get through it.
44:02
Just take your take a day off, you know, or like call a friend
44:04
or maybe you know, maybe that's also when I'm not needing to be
44:08
out in social because I just need some time from for myself
44:10
to just like rest. And then, you know, and then you
44:14
bounce back and you're back to that, you know?
44:16
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I mean, every time I relapsed,
44:20
it started with, you know, my state of mind beforehand and not
44:23
telling anyone about it and sitting in it.
44:25
But it was never like a instant like out of no, I don't even
44:29
know how that happened, right? I mean, at least in my case, it
44:34
was, you know, as when you relapse, then it then it becomes
44:38
that, right? In my experience, you relapse,
44:40
then it becomes like you're not even thinking about it.
44:41
You're like, fuck it, I'm already here, whatever.
44:43
But like the first one after any long length length of sobriety,
44:47
it was always like a a leading up.
44:49
There was something that was going on.
44:50
I wasn't telling anyone. I was isolating.
44:52
And if I think back now and I don't regret it because I
44:56
learned a lot. I learned a lot about myself.
44:58
I think I needed to have those, those moments.
45:01
But if I think back now and I just kind of like white knuckled
45:04
through that situation and did something else and just got
45:08
through it 100% it would have been better.
45:10
You know, it would have been different, that's for sure.
45:12
The next day would have been different.
45:14
That's why I always say to people now and I try to live by
45:16
this as like, just get to bed, right?
45:18
Just try and get to bed. You're not gonna A feeling won't
45:20
kill you, but alcohol and drugs will.
45:23
I think Alan said that actually a feeling won't kill you, right.
45:27
But yeah, but you know, a drug and alcohol might, right?
45:30
So, yeah, totally. I mean, at least if you're in
45:34
recovery. Well, now, cocaine.
45:35
Nowadays, you never know. Yeah, exactly.
45:37
It's dropping. People all over the place.
45:39
It's crazy out there. Yeah.
45:41
Scary. Yeah.
45:42
So I'm grateful that I'm I'm alive.
45:44
I'm grateful that I'm in this recovery space.
45:47
But you're right. Some days life is gonna life
45:50
you. You know what's something that
45:52
you're working on today about yourself?
45:54
Like something that you really something personal, I guess.
46:00
I think what I'm learning, and we were talking about this
46:03
earlier, actually, is just the whole being able to enjoy the
46:06
good moments and like the winds of the business and not just
46:09
keep going. Like, yeah, like, stop, pause
46:11
and enjoy what's happening in your life now and all the good
46:15
things. We, we're hard on ourselves as
46:18
humans in general, right. And you're always striving to be
46:21
better and bigger. And we're now comparing
46:23
ourselves with people all the time on social media and stuff.
46:25
And it's just like, you know, just calm down and enjoy what,
46:27
what you've achieved. And I think with the business,
46:31
I'm, I'm very hard on myself too, that I should be out doing
46:33
this a million things. I'm like, OK, just calm down,
46:35
girl. Like, sit down and like and
46:37
enjoy the the wins you've got and the people you've met and
46:41
you know what will happen will happen.
46:42
And I'm sometimes I'm not, I'm just not good at that 'cause I'm
46:45
like go, go, go, go, go, go, go, like all or nothing again like.
46:47
Here we go. It's sex.
46:48
It's like sex, yeah. Little ADHD kind of monster.
46:50
Yeah. Yeah, I kind of just like it,
46:53
you know, just enjoy those little wins.
46:54
I love that. Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
46:58
One of my favorite quotes, and I want to put this on AT shirt.
47:00
I heard it on a podcast. It's like, remember when you
47:03
wanted what you have now? Remember when you wanted what
47:08
you have now? Yeah.
47:10
Like there was a time where you wanted this, Right.
47:12
Exactly. And you would have killed
47:14
somebody. Maybe I shouldn't speak for you.
47:17
You would have done whatever it took to to launch the business
47:20
to get it going, to get it into a restaurant in Toronto.
47:24
Like, sometimes I think I'm just like, fuck.
47:25
Like, remember when you wanted to start a podcast and how
47:28
impossible it seemed in your mind?
47:30
And now it's like, it's like a this is a what day is it today?
47:34
It's a Thursday afternoon and it's like autopilot.
47:37
It takes me 10 minutes to set this shit up.
47:39
Used to take me like an hour to get this going right.
47:42
And now it's like nothing. And it's a professional.
47:44
Studio. Too like.
47:46
This is not just a basement like.
47:47
I'm not just anybody you're. Doing big things here.
47:51
I'm somebody, don't you know? Yeah.
47:53
Look how Dax Shepard. I'm coming after you.
47:55
Joe Rogan. Yeah.
47:56
Theo Von? Absolutely.
47:58
Yeah. No, I love podcasting.
47:59
And you know, I try to remember, you know why I, I, to your
48:06
point, I have to remember why I started this too, because it's
48:09
so easy to get into the I need more likes, I need more
48:12
followers, I need more money. I need to monetize, I need to
48:15
get sponsorship. Dude, just stay sober and help
48:18
the still suffering alcoholic because that's why you fucking
48:20
started. You know, the minute you start
48:22
to change that, that's when it gets dicey, I think.
48:25
You're right. Yeah, focusing on outcomes is a
48:27
dangerous, dangerous game in any walk of life.
48:31
Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.
48:33
Trying to do the same. Yeah, it's hard though, right?
48:35
I love it. Yeah, for sure.
48:37
What's one word you would describe sobriety?
48:39
OK. One word, I think for me, I
48:46
think like empowerment probably cuz again, it's just like, and
48:51
it wasn't that at first, obviously, but because again,
48:56
like I said, people, there's such a stigma still the people
48:59
that don't drink and like, I guess I didn't go through the
49:02
like rehab or the recovery. So people maybe didn't take it
49:05
as seriously either that thinking I don't have a problem.
49:07
So I don't know, I think, but now I'm finding, yeah,
49:14
empowerment because I am again, like I'm like reaching and I
49:18
know you hate that word, but that potential I didn't even
49:20
know was there for myself. And sobriety helped me do that.
49:25
So it's a very empowering feeling.
49:28
And it just feels like I'm in control like finally and like
49:33
more so than ever in my life, it not just the drinking now, like
49:36
in control of just everything and my choices.
49:40
And I'm very like future thinking now where before the
49:43
party girl, Alana was like, whoa, live in the moment.
49:46
Like I was so just about that moment.
49:49
And you know, and like adventures, like for me like
49:53
like it was chaos cuz I go around and hop around and my
49:56
friends would be like what happened to you last night?
49:58
I was this brother and I was at that brother, this brother I
49:59
met. This and it was the best.
50:00
It was so much fun, you know, and it's like, that sounds
50:03
horrible. Yeah.
50:04
You know, like, like, and now like the that, like that to me,
50:07
like, like, no, like to me. Now I'm doing, I'm doing that,
50:09
but in good, good ways, like getting the business, doing
50:11
this, meeting people, like it's all more healthier vices, but I
50:14
have control of it. And it's just such an empowering
50:17
feeling. Like it's, it just feels great.
50:19
Yeah. I love it.
50:20
I used to, I always say like I used to be a slave to drugs and
50:22
alcohol, right? Any problem that showed up, it's
50:25
like I didn't have a choice. It was like, no, I need to use
50:27
over this. I need to drink over this
50:29
because I'm not gonna get through this sober, right?
50:31
And now it's like, yeah, I have a choice.
50:32
I have a choice. When I turn off these cameras
50:34
and say bye to you today, I can go and drink if I want to.
50:37
You know, I never really liked when people came in and said,
50:41
oh, I can't drink anymore. Like I can't drink.
50:43
It's like, no, you can. You're choosing not to, right?
50:47
And that's I like that better because I don't like being told
50:51
I can't do anything. Yeah.
50:52
No one does. It's a.
50:53
Negative part, yeah. Even though I think I can't do a
50:55
lot of things, which is it's kind of ironic, right?
50:59
Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it's like, no, I'm
51:01
choosing not to and I know it's gonna be OK.
51:05
Exactly. So where can we find you,
51:07
Atlanta? Where can we find poor sport?
51:09
How do we buy your beautiful rose?
51:12
You buy. The beautiful rose, well, you
51:14
can buy it online so my website www.drinkpoorsport.com or you
51:19
can find it's popping up in lots of non elk bottle shops in
51:22
Toronto. There's Bevy's and Kensington
51:24
and 0 cocktail bar and cabbage town Sod out zero.
51:28
Yeah, I think you know, GAIL, and there's sober Sips and Berry
51:32
and upside drinks is an online platform and it's in some of the
51:35
sober markets in Toronto. Nice.
51:37
And then, yeah, just you'll hopefully see it popping up on
51:40
more menus. And different sports clubs is a
51:43
big one too, right? Like different St.
51:45
George's Golf Club now have it. Yeah.
51:47
That's awesome how you were telling me that.
51:50
I'm gonna be stacked market too for July 19th.
51:54
They're having a big kind of cookout festival.
51:56
Cool, I'll. Be there.
51:58
Is it like a non alcoholic festival?
52:00
Or it's a mix of everything. It's kind of like food and
52:02
different vendors of different, I think like arts and crafts and
52:05
a mix. July 19th, July 19th.
52:07
That's stacked market. Go, come.
52:10
Yeah. That's amazing.
52:12
I learned a lot today, Alana, thank you so much.
52:14
Thank you for. Having me this was.
52:15
Fun I know I had a lot of fun. I love doing this and love
52:18
meeting people. I really do hope that in the
52:22
future when I go to not just specific restaurants, I really
52:27
do hope we come to a point where I can go to the Keg, I can go
52:31
to, I don't know, Kelsey's and just have as many non alcoholic
52:36
options as alcohol, right? I think the one thing I really
52:40
want to hammer home with people is like, sobriety is not, we're
52:44
not pushing the agenda on anybody.
52:46
I don't give a fuck, right? Like if you want to drink and do
52:48
drugs and you're having fun, good, That's amazing.
52:51
Like, I don't want anyone to come across thinking that I'm
52:53
trying to push. And you said that early on, you
52:56
know, to each his own, right? But I need to be sober to enjoy
53:00
my life. And I think that you're doing
53:02
pretty good too. And.
53:03
I think people that think they don't obviously even are like
53:06
balanced. If you try it, you might feel so
53:10
good you didn't even realize. That's another thing.
53:12
There's all the people, there's so much.
53:14
Potential. What is what is your potential
53:15
right. You know a functioning alcoholic
53:17
like are you functioning right. But what could you be doing you
53:20
know exactly. Yeah.
53:22
Thanks so much Elena. I I loved having you on today.
53:24
This has been. Fun.
53:25
Thank you very much, Anthony. I appreciate it.
53:27
Love what you're doing. Thank you.
53:28
Thanks for listening. Please help us grow the channel
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53:34
The discussions and stories shared on this podcast are for
53:37
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53:39
This content is not a substitute for professional medical advice,
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addiction treatment, or therapy. If you or someone you know is
53:46
struggling with addiction, please consult A licensed
53:49
physician, addiction specialist, or mental health professional.
53:53
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