Behind The Smile with Ash Butterss

In this week’s episode I sat down with breakfast radio and podcast host, Maz Compton. From landing her dream job as an MTV VJ to becoming the host of Sydney’s top breakfast radio show, Maz was living a fast-paced life fuelled by parties, celebrities and booze. Maz has interviewed everyone from Alicia Keys to Dave Grohl, all the while playing a role to suit her environment. Working in entertainment...

In this week’s episode I sat down with fellow sober podcaster Will Hitchins to chat about his road to recovery. Will is one half of the awesome duo that makes up Last Drinks, a sobriety podcast he created with his mate Mitch Ford. Will quit drinking on the 1st of February 2020, however this isn’t his first stint at sobriety. In this conversation, he explains how an overwhelming sense of disconnect...

In this week’s episode, to celebrate my three-year sobriety milestone, I’ve put myself back in the interview seat and invited my BFF Georgia back onto the show to ask all the questions. My life has once again changed significantly over the past twelve months and I’m here to share with you how I’ve navigated these situations sober. We talk about how I handle triggers when they arise, letting go of...

In this week’s episode I sit down with recovered alcoholic Simon who shares his story of addiction and sobriety. Simon has a way of describing vividly the way alcoholism manifests in the mind and how alcohol became the “solution” to his alcoholic thinking. Simon and I talk about the turning point most alcoholics reach when you realise you can’t live with alcohol and you can’t live without it and t...

When we think of addiction, most of us go straight to thoughts of alcohol or drugs, but what if I told you that you could be addicted to love?  And that Love Addiction can be just as harmful to a person’s life as drinking or drugs? In this week’s episode, I sat down with trauma and addiction specialist Diane Young, to discuss the topic of Love Addiction. Diane outlines clearly the definition...

In this week’s episode I’m sitting down with Brad Mcleod, the genius behind one of Instagram’s most popular recovery pages, Sober Motivation. Brad made the decision to get clean on the 11th of January 2010, after years of battling with addiction. It was a stint in jail and a lifetime ban from the US that gave Brad the motivation he needed to turn his life around. In this conversation Brad shares t...

Danni Carr is a trauma-informed sobriety coach and podcast host who celebrated 5 years of sobriety on the 1st of January, 2023. Danni met her husband, musician Ash Grunwald, in her early 20s and they spent the next decade travelling the world living the “Rockstar” lifestyle. But eventually, the partying caught up with Danni and alcohol started to erode what was most important in her life including...

Carlo La Marchesina is lucky to be alive. During his 18 years of heavy drinking and IV drug use, Carlo made over 40 attempts to get clean. Today, he is closing in on 15 years of continuous sobriety. In this conversation, Carlo talks about the resilience required to never give up on his recovery and the many lessons he’s learned along the way. Now working as a clinician dedicated to helping other a...

In this week’s episode I’m speaking with Mandy Manners, a trauma-informed wellbeing and sobriety coach from France. Mandy has been in recovery for over five years and in that time has become an activist and advocate for sobriety and mental health. In this conversation, Mandy opens up about the traumatic experience that led her down a path of self-medication with alcohol and drugs. Yet, through ext...

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Dave Wilson, aka Sober Dave to discuss his journey into recovery. Dave got sober on the 7th of January 2019 and since then has become a certified grey-area drinking coach and leading voice within the online sober community. Dave shares the epiphany he experienced that led to him finally giving up alcohol after years of struggling with addiction and the incre...

To kick off season two, I’m answering all of your burning questions. A big thank you to everyone that sent in questions over Instagram last week! In this week’s episode I’ll be talking about the catalyst that drove me to rehab, how to protect your sobriety throughout Summer, why I choose to work an abstinence-based program, how to respond to people when they question why you’re not drinking, why i...

To close out what has been an incredible debut season, I’m sharing with you all a few of my favourite magic moments from some of the most popular episodes of 2022. I wanted to say a huge thank you to the loyal BTS community and everyone who has listened, shared or reviewed the podcast. Behind The Smile with Ash Butterss was created out of a deep desire to change the conversation around mental heal...

For my final solo episode of the year, I wanted to share with you all some key strategies to help navigate what can be a challenging time of year for many of us. In this episode, I’ll be touching on a few key topics including: How to navigate family dynamics: watching out for triggers and how you can self-regulate once you’ve been activated. Travelling sober: helpful strategies you can implement t...

In this week’s episode, I’m sitting down with the host of the Sober Powered Podcast, Gill Tietz, to discuss all things “Emotional Sobriety”. Gill started her podcast shortly after getting sober in 2019 with the idea of looking at sobriety through the lens of science. With a background in biomedicine, Gill has extensively researched the impact of alcohol on the brain and on our human behaviours. In...

In this week’s episode, I’m sitting down with Sobriety and Grey-Area Drinking Coach, Sarah Rusbatch. Sarah made the decision to give up alcohol in April 2019 after reaching a point where she could no longer control her drinking. Disturbed sleep, anxiety and waking up hungover each day was finally enough for Sarah to realise she wanted a better life for herself. Fast-forward to today and Sarah runs...

To kick off this week's episode I'm sharing my Top 5 Tips to help you prepare for the Silly Season!  We then dive into another powerful guest episode as I sit down with 46yr old, mother of three boys, Lucy Chapman. Lucy gave up drinking on the 1st of March, 2021 after almost losing everything. For years she had thought her substance use was “under control” until she found herself drinking aro...

In this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Lucy Quick, the founder and CEO of Thrivalist , a company dedicated to helping women change their relationship with alcohol and heal their lives. Lucy began her sobriety journey on the 1st of January 2019 after deciding she’d had enough of the chaos and carnage that proceeded her drinking. Since then, she has dedicated her life to building Thrivalist and c...

In this week’s episode I sit down with Robbie Shaw, host of Champagne Problems , a podcast that examines sobriety through the lens of health and wellness. After growing up in an alcoholic home, Robbie decided to quit drinking on May 5th, 2006, however this wasn’t the last time he experimented with other mind-altering substances. Over the past 16 years, Robbie has navigated through his sobriety jou...

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Yoga Teacher and mentor Nat Commons as she shares her own personal story of recovery. From an early age, Nat experienced trauma that resulted in the development of a range of harmful coping mechanisms. After years of self-afflicted punishment, Nat came to a life changing decision that led her down a path of self-compassion and healing. The moment she stopped...

In this week’s episode I sit down with Toby Lawrence, the CEO of Arrow Health, one of Australia’s leading treatment centres for drug and alcohol addiction. Toby shares a firsthand account of the damaging impact addiction has, not just on the addicted person, but on the family system as a whole. In this conversation, we discuss how to support a loved one in active addiction, where to go to seek out...

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Patrick, a 29-year-old recovering alcoholic who began his sobriety journey on the 27thMay, 2021. Pat shares openly about the moment he was “pushed into a corner with nowhere else to go” and how that moment led him to acknowledge his struggles with alcohol addiction. Since hitting rock bottom, Pat has realised it’s ok to experience struggle and that there’s n...

This week, I’m sitting down with Psychotherapist and Trauma/Addictions Specialist Diane Young, to discuss the impact of childhood trauma and how this often leads to the development of codependent traits in adulthood. Codependency is very similar to other process addictions such as gambling or eating disorders, and often develops as a result of experiencing trauma throughout childhood. In this week...

In this week’s episode, I’m sitting down with Psychologist and mum of two Chantal, who got sober while living in Dubai back in May 2017.  Chantal shares how she lived in denial for many years as a high-functioning alcoholic and hid behind her successes as a way of denying she had a problem. In this conversation we talk about how alcohol is glorified in our society and how binge drinking can s...

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Psychotherapist and Yoga Teacher Zoe Klein to talk about how we can implement simple tools to positively impact our overall wellbeing. Whether you’re in recovery or not, life can at times be challenging. In this conversation, Zoe shares her key tips that will help to improve your quality of life. Zoe’s Top Tips include: Live a life aligned to your values The...

In this week’s episode, I’m talking to Gabs, a 39-year-old recovering alcoholic, who started his sobriety journey on the 19th October 2019. We discuss the dark days that led to Gabs entering recovery and how he believes he was “born an alcoholic.” Gabs shares what he’s learnt about himself in sobriety and tells us his three non-negotiables for living a life of freedom in recovery. To see Gabs’ Beh...