OUR HOSTS: 

Corinne Foxx - @corinnefoxx

Natalie McMillan - @nataliemcm and @shopnataliemcmillan 

What we're drinking: Kin Euphorics Spritz 

MEET OUR GUEST: 

Olivia Wickstrom -  @oliviawickstrom and @creating805 

ABOUT OUR GUEST: 

Olivia Wickstrom is a California-based creative entrepreneur and the founder of Creating 805, a community of small business owners on California’s Central Coast. She's continuously exploring projects that explore her passion for community building and storytelling. When she's not bringing small business owners together through Creating 805 events, you'll find her practicing yoga, grabbing coffee with friends or musing on topics of sobriety and mental health. 

TOPIC: 

Sober curiosity and sober-ish lifestyles have been on the rise in the past couple of years. We’re seeing everything from celebrity-backed mocktail companies to alcohol-free events and bar pop-ups. Olivia Wickstrom joins on this episode to talk about her sobriety journey and share tips for anyone who wants to cut alcohol out of their life. She also highlights tools that have helped her stay on track, including therapy, being involved in sober communities, and exploring new hobbies.  

In this episode, we discuss:

• Learning how to be a sober person in a world that revolves around alcohol 
• The moment that Olivia realized she had a drinking problem 
• What Olivia wishes she knew when she first started to get sober 
• How to find communities and other like-minded sober friends 
• Leaning into the inner-work and letting life flow 
• The story behind Creating 805 and Olivia’s vision to grow the business even further 

RESOURCES: 

Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker

Tempest  

END OF THE SHOW: 

Corinne and Natalie introduce Hottie of the Week: Bella Hadid

DRINK RATING:

Kin Euphorics Spritz = 4 / Bella 

WRAP UP:

To wrap up the episode, Corinne and Natalie play Overrated/Underrated. Nat shares her hot take on mashed potatoes and Corinne reveals her thoughts on aioli and mustard. 

We have a newsletter for our Am I community. You can sign up for the newsletter on our website: amidoingthisrightpod.com

You can email us for episode ideas or Solicited Advice: amidoingthisrightpod@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @amidoingthisrightpod 

Don't forget to rate and review the podcast! It really helps us grow!

Hey welcome back to another episode of am I doing this right and welcome to 2023. My name is Corinne Foxx.

And I'm Natalie McMillan

and we are best friends confidants millennials and the hosts of am I doing this right? A life how to podcasts from the perspective of non experts.

And each week, we cover a new topic, and we try new beverage

we try new beverage for this whole year. I'm very excited for I know. And this week, the first week of the year, we are talking sober, curious how to explore a life without substances with Speaker Olivia Wickstrom. And I'm really excited to have her on because we're going to be talking to her about what does it mean to be sober, curious, or even if you're just doing dry January right now, her sobriety story and how she leads a sober life, and how to handle these social fears surrounding a sober life.

I'm going to be very curious.

I'm very curious. Well, I'm sober, curious, curious. And I also think that I'm gonna do dry January. I mean, Joe, sober, so like, he doesn't drink and I'm like, I barely drink at all. So I'm gonna explore it. I'm gonna talk to Olivia about it. We're gonna we're gonna hear what she has to say. And I think it's also just like, Yeah, it's like kind of trendy buzzword kind of thing. So yeah, curious. Yeah. Also, you guys know that you can always write in for an episode request or an episode suggestion at am I doing this right? pod@gmail.com and we are bringing back solicited advice. So if you have something going on, in your personal or professional life, you can email us DM us at am I doing this right pod? We'd love to help. Yeah, yeah. And at the end of episode, you guys, stay tuned because we are playing overrated,

underrated. Do I have one? I'm sure I have one in my phone.

I'm sure I do, too. I write them down when I think of them. But, but I just I love the energy of a new year. Me too. Doesn't it feel like it's so weird? Because it's like, it's just a day. But it really it means so much.

Just, there's something. I mean, you know, my favorite holiday New Year's is your favorite holiday. I love New Year's because everyone is so happy and hopeful. optimistic. And looking forward to what lies ahead.

Which is hard in this economy.

Yeah. And this, literally, but listen, 2023 I had a

terrible warning. 22 I'm just gonna be real. It was

terrible. You had a rough one? I'm not gonna really looking forward to 2023 I will say the concerning thing that I was reflecting upon the other day, was that I'm not even kidding. You. And I say this. I don't remember a single thing that I did in 2022. Except for when we went to Austin. I barely remember that. That is the only memory of 2022 that I have an adult What was I doing in March? I have no idea.

Yeah, it was a weird I don't know. I love 2021 loved it. 2022 was like, like, just it was not it wasn't for me. wasn't for me. It was it felt like it was against me.

Yeah, I felt like I was just floating. Right? Oh, no, no, I don't even remember it. Right. So

and we are now entering into your Saturn Return. Natalie, aren't we?

January early as of January 1. Here we are. Here we are. Until February 2,

you'll be fine. Gotta be fine. Just so you know. Mine is six months long. So

remember when she was like it's almost worse because it's crammed into one month? I don't know Natalie, if you're listening to this, just pray for me. Whatever. God you pray to

just go ahead and be like, hey, my favorite podcast hosts they're going through their Saturn Return this year, and they're gonna need some help. There might be some I might be wrong might be some rocky territory. All right, so let's get into our drink for the episode which you guys know we used to drink wine. We at the end of the year sort of transitioning out of drinking wine every episode and I mean it was very fitting for this one to obviously not drink wine, right? Also, we're gonna drinking. Bella had Dedes beverage called kin you Forex. I see a lot of ads for the I do too. It's a non alcoholic. Like apertivo kind of vibe. Like little bright,

like little vibe cocktail. Like a mocktail. It's a mock

boil of sorts. It's gently caffeinated. It has five H Ep GABA caffeine. Some like, you know those like herbal mushroom things, right? So this is supposed to be like you're supposed to drink this before you go out. It's a vibe is supposed to give you a vibe. All right, here we go. Here's to Belletti, and this one's

called kin. Spritz. energizing flow. Okay. Wow, okay.

It has white grape juice, orange peel, extract, licorice root extract, Orange. It's very orange. We're going to rate we are going to rate this at the end of the episode. You guys Natalie's face. I'm having an experience. It's an experience. Okay, so let's get into sober curious. So bokeelia and bringing on Olivia, who I'm very excited to talk to about sobriety. Yes.

Well, New Year, everybody's got New Year's resolutions. And after a few months of drinking and socializing, a lot of people are experimenting with the whole dry January thing because you're just like, I'm sick of this shit.

Yeah. It's really New Year's is kind of like we just our final blast off. And then you'd be like, yeah, come to terms right anywhere even like thought you're like,

I'm tired. So yeah, we're excited to talk to our guests. Olivia. She's a sober living speaker, and an entrepreneur about how we can explore sobriety and maybe even partake and dry January ourselves if we choose.

Yeah, so let's introduce Olivia. So Olivia is a California based creative entrepreneur, and the founder of creating 805, a community of small business owners on California Central Coast. And she's continuously exploring projects that explore her passion for community building and storytelling. When she's not bringing small business owners together through creating 805 events. You'll find her practicing yoga, grabbing coffee with friends or musing on topics of sobriety and mental health. So let's welcome on Olivia. Hello, Olivia.

Hi, how are you guys?

work great. You have such a great smile.

It's Oh, you're so sweet. I mean, the audience members. Yeah, the listeners can't hear but maybe they can hear me smiling.

I think you can I think you can.

I think you can. I think Joy radiate.

You're from San Luis Obispo. And I think wasn't that rated like the happiest city? And oh, it was? Yeah. Yeah.

Yes. So the smile, literally was Oprah who now lives on the Central Coast. She has a home in Montecito, which is a part of the 805 where I live. She named it the happiest place in America. And she now lives here. So

what oh says we all do. Yeah, like tries out. Yeah, that totally makes sense. Well, we're so excited to have you. And we were talking at the top of the episode that this sober curious is becoming very, like trending right now. And I think a lot of people are considering sobriety. And so we wanted to just talk to you about your sobriety journey and how you got to the place that you are now because you speak openly about your sobriety?

Yes, absolutely. You're right, it is becoming a thing. You know, I think on social media, especially with this whole health and wellness kind of takeover that we're seeing and this focus on personal growth and development, sobriety, and sober curious movement is definitely becoming a thing also with the whole non alcoholic drink culture that's happening right now. I know like Katy Perry just came out with a non alcoholic drink. Like, yeah, we're

drinking. Bella had Dedes kin euphoric this episode, because we wanted to give it a try. But yeah, there's a lot of celebrities that are homeless goodness.

Exactly. It's a thing. So you know, personally, I, I made the choice to get sober, but it was definitely a necessity for me. You know, my story. Alcoholism is a part of my family. I mean, it's part of a lot of families, but it's on both sides of my family, and I didn't really think much about it. Honestly, I didn't really think that it would affect me. Growing up I do remember my grandma always saying to me to be careful with my drinking to not get too comfortable with it to consider the past to consider family history, but I didn't really listen to her because I didn't see a problem with my drinking. I was a party girl, you know, and I didn't really see anything wrong with that because the people that I surrounded myself with were partying and having fun just as much if not more than I did. When I went to college, I was a bartender and I was in the service industry, which you know, is pretty rowdy. And I guess I just didn't really see that it was an issue. Because I guess the culture, I was in this subculture of bartenders and going out and going to shows and going to bars, it's just, you know, it's what we did. And I mean, I think we can all recognize that millennial culture, our culture does revolve a lot around alcohol. What do we do when we go on a date, we get drinks, what are we doing, we go out with friends, we go to the bar, you know, so I didn't really think it was an issue because it's just what everyone was doing. But I felt like as I kept growing up, people around me started to kind of get their lives together and get into relationships and get careers and they started to move forward on their path. But I kind of seem to be stuck in this, I guess, post college party worlds. And when it really when it really took a turn for the worst is when the pandemic hit. And for the first time, I didn't have a job. And I had all the time in the world. And this is when I started to experience pretty severe benders, I became physically dependent on alcohol. And that's when I was really afraid. I'd never experienced anything like that before. And I still didn't really understand what I was dealing with, I was really ashamed. That is why I'm so open about it now, because I was so afraid. And I had no idea what was happening to me. And you know, it took about a year from that point for me to get sober a year of really struggling. People didn't know I was suffering, my family didn't know I was really struggling, I kept it very hidden. But for about a year, I actually ended up moving back home to California, I was living in the Midwest at the time, and with the intention of being close to family kind of doing some healing getting sober. But it took about a year. And I finally made my way into a recovery program in June of 2021. And serendipitously, kind of at this time, when, as you've said sobriety, sober, Curiosity is kind of up and coming. So it's been, I think, a really good time to get sober and that there's a lot of resources out there. And a lot of pop culture out there and books and podcasts and non alcoholic drinks. So yeah, it's been a unique journey. But you know, every person's sober journey is very unique and personal to them. So

yeah, well, congratulations. Yes.

Thank you for sharing and being so open about your journey, because I think it's so helpful for people. I think a lot of the times when you think about sobriety, there's this image of what has to happen for you to get there. And I think there's a lot of stigma about it. And, and I think just sharing how it happened for you how, you know, it kind of just built up over time. Because I do think that happens to people. You know, also, I think what's really interesting is your family history. I think you're incredibly lucky to have known about it, but there's so many people whose families don't have those conversations. Yeah, don't you know, say, Hey, this is something that runs in the family keep an eye out. I have it in my family as well. And so it's something I've always been very mindful of as well, because I'm like, okay, you know, this, I might enjoy this more than than the average person, you know, and it's also

such a good thing to bring up that college culture. Yeah. Other thing about drinking and experimenting? And sometimes maybe you don't know, is this normal? Am I overdoing it? Because in college, we were all we were overcoming? Yeah, for sure. For sure. But now that you're kind of on your feet, and this is a new life style for you, and just maybe a new life in general, what differences have you noticed?

Oh, my gosh, there are too many names. I mean, but I think the biggest thing is probably just the fact that I actually do the things I say I'm going to do now. I mean sobriety it's been very challenging. I feel like I'm finally in a pretty solid stable place you know, I'm over a year in I feel like I have physical sobriety down that first year was very much about just learning how to be a sober person in a world that revolves a lot around alcohol, you know, like, there was a lot of me doing the things for the first time like celebrating my first birthday sober going on my first date sober, having my first Christmas sober. So it was a lot of firsts. But you know, at this point, I feel like I kind of have physical sobriety down, I'm comfortable in it, I know what it means to function as a sober person in this world. That being said, it's hard work and it takes a lot of dedication and showing up and doing it even on the days you don't want to. There have been times when I've been like, this would be so much easier. You know, like dating for example, like this would be so much easier if I was just like a normally what we call normies or people that drink normally and you know, there have been times when I wanted to give up when I wanted to go back and don't I wanted to turn the clock and just, I don't know, go back to when things were simpler, or easier. But this is a decision I've made. This is a new life I've chosen. And I have to keep showing up and doing it. So I think that one of the biggest ways that it's impacted my entire life is that it's given me this, I think, grit and drive and motivation to when I say I'm gonna do something, I do it, you know, and I follow through on my commitments, and I show up and, you know, I show up as myself, I show up unapologetically. But I think before sobriety, I was so kind of like wishy washy, and I wanted things, but I wasn't willing to put in the work and when it got hard to give up. But sobriety has definitely given me this grit and determination and sense of perseverance that has showed up in all areas of my life. So it's, it's been a pretty big gift.

Wow, that's so beautiful. I'm curious if people are listening right now. And they are maybe considering starting their sobriety journey, what are some tips you can give them that you wish you had at the beginning of your journey? Maybe when you were considering whether or not to start? Or maybe right after you just had started? Um, what are some things that you wish you had known?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing, and I'm happy that I figured this out pretty quickly, I think one of the biggest things is community. When it comes to sobriety. I think it's really all about having a group of people that you can show up for, and they can show up for you when it's needed. I think that sobriety, along with a lot of things in life, it's easy to say, you know, I'm going to work out everyday this week, or I'm not going to drink tonight, or I'm not going to text him, you know, even though I really want to, but having a group of people that can actually help you accomplish those things and keep you accountable, is huge. And as we've said many times now, it's cool that sobriety is kind of a thing, you know, and there are so many opportunities and places to find that community at this point, whether it be social media, there are a ton of online communities, I know that Tempest is run by the woman that wrote how to quit like a woman Hollywood occur. You know, there's all these different online communities for sober curious people, then there's 12 Step programs for people that want to explore that. But I think that the number one thing would be upfront, just finding a community that works for you, where you can meet like minded people and find some accountability. And just find, like I said, people that can show up for you when it's needed and who you can help and support. Yeah, I think that that community is a really important piece.

Yeah. So I'm just curious if somebody's listening to this. I think substance abuse, alcoholism, all of this, it can be very, under the radar, right? What are some maybe not so obvious warning signs, do you think are there? Yeah,

you're very right. I think that the word alcoholic alcoholism has, as we said earlier, a really negative connotation. And you know, I openly identify at this point, as a recovering alcoholic, I'm very proud of that. Because I LOVE what it's given me, I love what my recovery has given me the tools and the strength. But there's still a lot of negativity around that term. I think a lot of us consider the alcoholic, you know, like the person under the bridge with the brown paper bag. And that's not it at all. You know, you walk into rooms of recovery around the world, and you see people that have incredible careers and successful families and college degrees and, you know, substance abuse, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, it's, it does not discriminate, it can affect anyone, and I think that kind of first warning signs would really just be are you depending on alcohol to move through and cope with everyday things, you know, when that stressful thing pops up at work is your first reaction when you get home to open the fridge and reach for a beer. I think that the biggest thing that I've realized in getting sober and still having friends and family and people in my life that drink is how often we do reach for a beer or a glass of wine to unwind and cope and destress and deal with anxiety before dates. And it just shocks me that we really as a culture have kind of started to just lean against alcohol for moving through and dealing with uncomfortable situations. I think if you find yourself repeatedly and increasingly relying on alcohol to deal with discomfort, deal with stress deal with anxiety, you know, it's a slippery slope and not that you are an alcoholic right off the bat. But I think just questioning that relationship have been maybe reevaluating it before it maybe does turn into something more serious can be positive. And that could be cutting alcohol during the week or only drinking when you go out with friends or whatever you need to do to kind of maybe reevaluate and explore what your relationship with alcohol looks like, currently, why it looks that way. Why are you drinking when you drink? I think just ask why and really trying to get to the root cause of why we're doing what we're doing. And are we trying to avoid?

Yeah, I think asking the why is a really great a great tool in in kind of figuring out what your relationship with alcohol is. I want to go back to we're talking a lot about culture. And we mentioned that sober curious, is this kind of movement that's happening right now? And for our listeners who may not know, what would you define sober, curious as and what would you say to someone who maybe isn't suffering from addiction, but wants to try a more sober lifestyle?

Yeah, I would say sober. Curiosity, is someone that's just interested in exploring life without alcohol. As we've said, this culture relies so heavily around alcohol, what do we do when we go on a date? We go out for drinks, what do we do at Christmas, we open a bottle of wine. So I think sober, curious, and the sober, curious movement is just questioning why we're drinking in these situations. Again, it goes back to the why and the how, and I think it's just questioning our actions and our intentions behind them. And maybe, you know, instead of having a glass of wine at the family dinner, it's having a soft water or a mocktail, and instead of going out to a bar for the first date, it's going on a hike. So I think that sober curiosity is just reevaluating our relationship with alcohol and kind of going against this norm that's been set up. This is this is what we do. This is how we celebrate. This is how we go out. I think for people that are curious and maybe starting a sober journey and playing around with it. Get on social media, if you I mean, I share a lot of your listeners on social media, but literally just google or Go in the search bar and do like sober, curious or sober or look up one of the alcohol free drinks and like check out who they're following. There is this whole movement right now of sober, curious influencers and sober influencers and there's just people sharing incredible knowledge and resources on Instagram, tik, Tok, Facebook, Pinterest, all the channels. And so I highly recommend just kind of exploring social media. And then as I said, there's all these communities out there online. Tempest is the first one that comes to mind Polly Whitaker, her book quit like a woman. There's all this literature, there's podcasts, there's just so much to explore right now, if you are super curious. There's a huge community that's out there waiting for you.

Yeah, I feel like I identify as sober, curious, my boyfriend is sober. And I was not a big drinker ever. And so once he got sober was like, Okay, well, we don't really drink wine even at dinner anymore. And so I am exploring longer periods of time without drinking, it'll be like two weeks. So I haven't you know, had a glass of wine. And one, I found even though I don't suffer from addiction, I don't feel good no matter what. After I drink, you know, even one or two glasses of wine the next day, I feel it. And I'm like, I've had all these experiences where we go out to dinner, we go to a concert, we go to something that I probably would have had wine or something at, and I don't and I wake up the next day, and I'm like, wow, I can really tell I mean, that's just like becoming almost 30. And like, my body just can't metabolize the same way. But it's so nice to not feel that leg sluggishness in my everyday life. And so that's just for me as someone who is self proclaimed super curious.

Yeah. Well, so kind of going off of that. Like you're saying, there's so many social events that alpha rallies in, yeah. What are some of those fears surrounding it? And how have you kind of dealt with that

and dating to it? Yeah, I mentioned dating.

It was really interesting in early sobriety, because I had to rediscover like, who I was and what I liked. I remember very early on in my sobriety, I went down to LA and my mom and I went to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It was an alumnus, Morissette concert, there was like 17,000 people there and I freaked out. I was like, I hate this like this is so intense. There are so many people here. I don't want to be here. I don't like this. There's drunk people where there's someone like puking on my seat, you know, I was just like I was I was over it. And that was a really big like, like bulb moment for me. And then I realized I don't have to like and I don't have to do the things that I used to like and do when I was drinking, my hobbies, my priorities, the way I spend my time has completely shifted since I got sober. I realized I'm a huge introvert, you know, like, I was always out with people partying, the life of the party, the middle of the crowd, but really, I reset and I recharge by being alone. I've gotten into health and wellness, which is probably no surprise from you know, being in sobriety, I've really started to understand and take care of my body, I've gotten into nutrition and cooking and yoga and running. So just the way I spend my time looks a lot different now. Dating has been a whole other experience, you know, it's, it's been hard, I'm not gonna lie, like, I got sober. And I was like, okay, like, this is great, you know, I'm just gonna, like, go out there, and I'm sober now. And I'm healed, I'm gonna go faster person. And that hasn't been the case. I mean, I've had to do a lot of personal work on myself. And I'm still doing that. But dating has been challenging, and that I've realized, I need to most likely end up with someone that either doesn't drink or alcohol is not a big part of their life. And, you know, I was on the apps, I was like, I dated someone for a few months, who drank and, and it was great. But like, at the end of the day, it was hard. And he didn't necessarily want to be with someone silver, like, he valued like having a glass of wine at dinner, like going to breweries, and that was a big part of his identity. So like, it didn't work. It's been a challenge in that, again, a lot of the culture revolves around drinking, a lot of people hear the term recovering alcoholic, and it freaks them out. I'm at the point now where I really kind of stepped away from trying to date. I love my therapist, I love all I love doing the work in general, you know, like that term, quote, unquote, doing the work. Oh, I love to do the work. Yeah. Obsessed, obsessed. And a big part of that was around my, when I hit my one year, I started seeing a therapist weekly, and really diving into some of the stuff that came up in that first year of sobriety. And she and I have decided, like, it's time to stop trying, and it's time to just keep working on myself and keep reflecting, keep healing, keep being me for me. And trust that whenever it's meant to be someone will show up that checks the boxes, but right now, you know, I'd rather spend this time working on myself and being with myself and having fun then trying to keep dating people trying to keep forcing it. You know, it feels like I'm trying to force something that's like not supposed to be working. And so yeah, it's been challenging. It's been it's been interesting. It's been a learning experience. It's helped me understand what I want and what I don't want. What works for me and what doesn't. And, yeah, it's been fun.

What about having the conversation like, do you first date? Are you walking through that with them? Or how did you approach that?

Great question. And that's something that every sober person that I've talked to is very, very, everyone has different opinions and different stances. Like some people are like, I won't talk about it until I know it's going somewhere. Others are like first date. I am a first date person when I was on the app, like I had, that I was sober I have that I didn't drink. But I think I'm just so open and honest about my recovery in general, like on social media, is like, it's weird if I don't say it up front, and I would rather just say it up front and have people be like, that's not my cup of tea, then like go out with someone and start hanging out with them. And then have them realize like, oh, wait, what? No, I'm not gonna do this. I read up on an app one time I said, like, yeah, you know, I don't drink because I'm in recovery. And I kind of opened up about my past and like nothing back, you know, like, no, that's my

bread. No.

But the thing is, like, I've had to just come to understand that I'm not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay. And I've been such a people pleaser, my whole life. It's finally like, I've arrived to this place where I'm like, This is me, and I'm not going to change. So you either like it, or you

also they're not the right person for you. Yeah. You know what I mean, when I hear you talking, obviously, you're talking about sobriety and dating and how to navigate that, but it really is just like a values thing. Like you really value your sobriety, and you want to be with somebody who values your sobriety as well, or sobriety in general. And so who's to say that's any different than valuing your political affiliation, or you know, whatever those kind of markers are really looking for someone and like, oh, I want this, I want that. That's just one of the things you value and so I think it's great that you're upfront about Got it and you're like, hey, this is a really big part of my life you're either in or you're out I'd, I'd like to know now, I don't want to waste my time, three, four days later,

and also coming from the other end of it where like I see sometimes like on hinge it says, like sober or whatever. And like that's never. I've always been like, amazing, cool. Like, it would be weirder. If you got on a date with somebody and then they are three dates later, like I, I think being upfront is so much better. And obviously person is a personal choice, whatever

people want to know. Okay, so aside from speaking about sobriety, you actually you have a company called Creating 805. And I want to hear more about it. And I want you to tell our listeners more about it.

Yeah, so I know you guys are in LA, and we're close. I live in San Luis Obispo. It's on the central coast of California. So it's about four hours north of Los Angeles, but it's just this really unique, beautiful part of California and that it's largely still untouched. There's a lot of natural beauty. As I said earlier, Oprah lives here. Megan Markel lives here. And you know, so it's just it's this really beautiful place. And it's also unique in that the area code the 805 area code covers, like over 100 miles of coastline. So I around the time I got sober actually, you know, as I said earlier, I moved back to California from the Midwest in June of 2020. And I was freelancing, full time I was doing freelance marketing, and I was really looking for a community where I can meet other younger millennial freelancers, creatives, business owners, and I cannot find it anywhere. I have lived in larger cities where these communities were present and thriving. I'm sure LA has a ton. I was in Portland, I was in Minneapolis. And these cities have a lot of creative groups, a lot of entrepreneurial groups, but the Central Coast didn't really seem to have anything outside of the Chamber of Commerce, which was like, just like not. So I got involved in this little co working space and long story short, had an opportunity to launch a speaking of that launch of Speaker Series. And once a month, we would bring in a local entrepreneur to tell their story and talk about their journey. And so we launched and it went really well people love this. So we kept hosting it once a month. And eventually we launched a membership. And then we expanded down to Santa Barbara. So over the last a little over a year now. It's just grown into this community of creative entrepreneurs. We exist. So entrepreneurs and creatives, business owners across the central coast, from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara all the way down to Ventura, even Ojai, we have members in Ojai, they can all connect and find inspiration among one another, we still have these monthly speaking events where we bring in well known local entrepreneurs, we have the membership, where we have members on the events and a private online community, a digital platform with gated content. So it's just a great way to find connection and inspiration and support one another. And it's been a really beautiful journey. I totally attribute it to my sobriety. Like I said earlier, it's hard. getting sober was hard. Running a business is hard. And oh my gosh, I mean, I wanted to give up so many times and throw in the towel. Everyone always says the first year is the hardest, and it's the truth. And I just keep going. I keep showing up trying to be patient and trying to follow, you know, the dreams and the visions in my head. But it's been the most rewarding experience of my life. I think so.

Oh, and it just it in my head. I was thinking, Oh, your sobriety, I think maybe has led you here. Because you were talking about how important community was for you and becoming a sober person. And now

you gain that grit, right as an entrepreneur, right.

And now with this new venture, it's not it's right. It's not just for sober. It's just no, it's like, Oh, yeah. community in general. And so I think that that realization of how important that is for everyone is really cool. Yeah,

well, we've taken too much of your time. We are so thankful that you came on here. I feel like you did such a great job of explaining your journey, of course, but also just what a sober life looks like the benefits of it the challenge, I mean, the very real challenges of it, and have definitely inspired me to lead a more sober lifestyle and, and lean into this sober curiosity that I have. And we're gonna link everything that you're doing in our show notes for listeners so that they can connect with you and find you and find creating 805 And thank you so much.

Yes, it was so great to talk to you.

Thank you so much. I love what you're doing. And this was so much fun.

This was so fun. Have a great rest of your day.

You too. Thanks. Bye

Wow, I'm so glad we had her on.

Are you still sober? Curious, I think sober in the No.

Oh, no I think I'm I think I'm sober curious.

Yeah, like it's just like,

I'm curious or like I want to I don't want to be completely sober but I just want to like meet Lita more super like how you feel? Yeah I just said like experiment I'm allergic to alcohol and I'd have to come to terms with that true true like I can have just one glass of wine and my tummy hurts real bad majestic

well about toma take

so we hope you guys learned more about sobriety what is sober, curious, and how to build a more sober lifestyle if you choose to do so or if you're just partaking in dry January, but not should we circle back on the can you Forex the functional beverage for modern rituals 0% Alcohol gently caffeinated their kin spritz flavor and read it to our hottie of the week.

Would you like to enjoy our holiday of the week?

Yes, our honey of the week is the founder of kidney forks, Miss Bella Hadid. She's sober and talks about living a sober life lifestyle and I think it's really cool that she at least you know, came up with a product. Yeah, people.

I love the idea.

I mean, like, here's the thing, if the point of this is to be more like a, like a drink, like at a bar, and you had it in like a cup, and you were sipping on it, I can see how it because it's a very strong like tart. Like if you're drinking, you know, like a gin drink. You're kind of like, you know, has that kind of vibe to it. It's very strong. Yeah, like it's not as slick as Sweet Lemonade. Oh, no, no, no. I think I actually like it.

I don't. That's okay. I want to, but there's something about it. It's bitter. Yeah, it is bitter. I think it's like the turmeric or is there turmeric in it?

There is Ginger.

Ginger. I like ginger. Maybe it's the oh, maybe it's the orange peel.

It's very orange. There's like a bitter. I wonder if you would like a different flavor of it. Maybe because there's like four flavors. I just got this one because it was energizing flow.

Yeah. It's not for me orange bitters. It says

ginger, orange, orange bitters and high viscous. I feel like this would be really good. If and you can explore different flavors. But like, it doesn't taste like a sugary like you're drinking like an apple juice. I feel like it is a good alternative to drinking an alcoholic beverage where it has that like tart bitterness of like what you would get from like a mixing an alcohol drink. But also I just love that it has GABA five HTP has some caffeine in it kind of wakes you up a little bit. And it gets you feeling good. Love the idea.

I think I just don't like being a slave. Yeah, no, that's fine. But I am curious to know what Joe will think. Because it tastes to me like a man. You know, like, Yeah, I

think Joe would like this one man or like,

get me an old session. Yeah, it's just like, bitter as hell. I'm interested.

Well, I have I bought a 12 pack. So he will definitely be trying these.

Well, please let me know. And what was your rating?

I would read this a SEVEN out of 10. Okay,

I'm not kidding. I'm gonna read it a one. Okay, that's fine. I don't want to put down her effort.

No, I think I think it's a really good option for people. Yeah, you want to try a non alcoholic drink?

Yes. But if you're a fruity Gao, not this one will offer you not this flavor. Not this

flavor. That's a four out of Bella Hadid melody, who's a 12

Alright, this is the part of the episode where we play a little wrap up game and this week, it's overrated. Underrated. Edie?

Would you like to go first?

I'll let you go first. Okay,

mine is not holiday themed, but we've just come off of the holidays. Where we are eating a lot of similar foods, right. All these different holiday meals. My overrated mashed potatoes.

Hmm. sacrilegious.

I know but it's in comparison to my underrated this might shock people. I think instant mashed potatoes are underrated. There is some sort of weird, buttery flavor In an instant mashed potato that I really like, whereas the regular mashed potato, I'm like, this is bland. You know, like you really have to do butter, salt, pepper, great like everything in our regular mashed potato. Whereas with an instant mashed potato, I can just like eat this weird powdered Shem. I like it.

Interesting. It's hard because I'm German and my mom only makes meat and potatoes. Mashed potatoes is very is like a religious staple in my house. Yeah, for sure. But I will say my favorite way to eat mashed potatoes. Very German of me is to put sauerkraut on top. I don't think I've ever done that. But I love sauerkraut. I put sauerkraut on top of mashed potatoes. Oh, I almost want to tell my mom to make that. Good. I know. It's so good.

You know what I realized though, just now as I'm thinking about it. I had a baked potato last night actually. And I don't like when like, I want so many toppings. Yeah. I don't like eating just the plain Potato Potato part.

Do you do sour cream in yours? Oh, yeah.

I want butter. I want cheese. I want sour cream. I want I want everything on there.

Wow. And you made it for yourself? Yeah. Wow. Didn't take a long time to make.

You know I pop that bitch in the microwave. Oh. And I just got it open filled it up. Fair enough. It was very good.

Okay, so my my overrated. Underrated is also food related. Okay. And it is also pretty polarizing.

I'm ready for it.

It's condiment and I think that a yo Lee is overrated. Okay. I just feel like people lose their shit for nail Lee. Right? Like, literally go out. Like I do think people have shirts that say like aoli bitch. I'm in an alien.

And I'm like, bestie newsflash. It's mayonnaise.

Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, I love to dip fries in mayonnaise, but like aoli people just like I don't even know why it has that much hype. You know? I think it's unproportional rated. Okay, I don't disagree. And this This is going to come as a shocker. My underrated is mustard. Oh,

I am so

with you. I think mustard is fantastic is so good. It really takes you know, because this is how this was my gateway drug to mustard. Because I as a kid you don't really like mustard kids catch up all the way but I would go and I'd get them McDonald's cheeseburgers and there just be a little bit of mustard and be like, Huh, that's what is that just this time? It was that little Yeah, that little tang happening. So that was kind of my gateway drug where McDonald's the single cheeseburgers and then I was like, let me explore this on like a real cheeseburger and then now I will have mustard with

anything. I prefer mustard over ketchup any day of the week. See? I see there was a reason I didn't. I can't do like your ketchup. Yeah, but I will say mustard is underrated. It very much is and my gateway slandered. My gateway was a hot dog with mustard. But one of my favorite meals speaking of sauerkraut is like a German sausage with sauerkraut and mustard. That is my favorite thing.

Yeah, so good. My mouth is watering as you as as we speak I don't disagree with your with your choices here today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, you guys know that you can always write into the podcast if you have episode suggestions too. Am I doing this right pot@gmail.com Or if you have a fun drink you want us to try a snack you want to try really anything you want to try using just email us or DM us at am I doing this right pod? And we hope you guys have a great start to your year and we'll be back next week with another episode.