Over The Influence: The Alcohol Free Podcast

This week we have one of Shaz's AF day ones on the podcast, we're welcoming the fantastic Andy Garwood back on to Over The Influence! Andy is an Alcohol Support Coach and he's here to spread the good word that it is never too late in the day to make a positive change in your life. If you'd have told him in 2018 what the Andy of 2025 is achieving, he would have never believed you. Andy is a fellow...

This week we have the wonderful James Gwinett on the pod! James is nine years alcohol free this year and we think it's safe to say he's definitely made the most of his sobriety. In his twenties, James was a semi-professional rugby player until he sustained a serious neck injury at 29. Realising that this had ended his rugby career, he fell into a depression which pushed his drinking into a place w...

This week on Over The Influence we have the wonderful and wise Hamza Najam on the podcast! Hamza is nearly five years alcohol free and is now a breathwork and sobriety coach based in Canada. After attempting to quit alcohol following a worrying experience, Hamza tried again during the Covid lockdown with a renewed mentality and a long term strategy for how to be sober for good. It was a pleasure h...

We have a lovely story to kick off our 2025 podcasts with the AF Brothers from Copenhagen on the podcast, Louis & Andreas! Over three and a half years ago, Louis decided his life would be better alcohol free. At his one year anniversary of going sober, his brother Andreas saw the fantastically positive effects that it had had on his brother and decided he was going to do the same too. Since th...

For our last episode of Over The Influence in 2024, we have a major milestone to celebrate! Coming up on 2nd January 2025, our Shaz is officially going to be an author as her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Quitting Alcohol will be out in the UK! (It will also be out elsewhere in due course, keep an eye out for it) To celebrate, Shaz and Ben give you an exclusive sneak peak at what's inside the s...

This week we have one of our fantastic community members Rich Gross joining us on Over The Influence all the way from Tennessee! We hear some stories from Rich's time in the army and how that influenced his former drinking habits, all the way through to what he's up to now as a part of our sober community.  He also gets a lesson in British lingo from his mates across the pond. Thanks so much to Ri...

On this episode we are delighted to welcome Sarah Allen Benton from Connecticut, USA to Over The Influence! Sarah is twenty years alcohol free and is a mental health counsellor as well as an advanced alcohol and drug counsellor.  Not only that but she is also the author of two QuitLit reads, ‘ Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic: Breaking the Cycle and Finding Hope ’ and ‘ Parents in Reco...

This week we have author, fitness coach, mum, wife and all round wonderful person Hadley Sorensen on the podcast! Hadley, who is from just outside Washington D.C. in the US, has been sober for three and a half years and since then, has written a book which came out earlier this year called 'The Dirty Truth on Social Drinking: Everything in Moderation and other BS' which came out earlier this year....

This week we have a fascinating chat with jazz drummer Jack Cotterill! Jack is six years alcohol free after deciding to quit drinking at just 25 years old. Since then, sobriety has helped him build his confidence both on and off stage. He's a fantastically positive guy, and speaks about the deliberate decision he made to become the feel good person that we had on the call with us. We think you're...

This week we have one of our fantastic community members Niall Davison joining us on Over The Influence! Niall is nearly at the 500 day milestone with his sobriety and is absolutely smashing sobriety. In this episode we chat about how bad habits all feed each other and the final piece in the puzzle for Niall was ditching alcohol. He's a wonderful addition to our community and Niall's story is a ve...

This week we have not one but two guests joining us on Over The Influence! They are Tammy and Brennan, a mother and daughter from San Diego in California. When Tammy gave up drinking three years ago, little did she know that her own daughter Brennan was also about to change her own relationship with alcohol too. Brennan saw the positive effect that giving up drinking had had on her Mum and decided...

This week we have one of our wonderful community members Stuart Reeves joining us on Over The Influence! Stuart decided that it was time for a change in an MRI machine of all places, as he typed out an encouraging message to a colleague who had decided that they would like to be alcohol free. Since then, he has joined our community and is truly embracing all of the benefits that life without alcoh...

This week we have the wonderful Emma Cleal joining us on Over The Influence! Emma has been sober now for a year (congrats!) and while she is here to talk about that, she is mainly here to share the story of her son Frank who tragically passed away aged just thirteen years old.  Following this, Emma felt the conventional wisdom she was getting was to find comfort in drinking alcohol. Wisely, she de...

We’re delighted to finally say that in this episode we welcome the wonderful Millie Gooch on to the podcast! Millie is based in Kent and quit drinking in her 20s following her first few years working as a journalist. She dived headfirst into drinking when she first arrived at university and found it difficult to slow the pace after graduating. One day woke up and decided that enough was enough. Si...

In this episode we welcome the fantastic Kate Nichols on to the podcast! Kate, originally from near Derby in the UK but now based over the Atlantic in Canada decided to quit drinking when the strain was becoming too much on her family relationships. Now that she has quit, it has altered the course of all of their lives and her own life has improved immeasurably. Kate is infectiously positive and h...

In this episode we welcome the wonderful Holly Walsh on to the podcast! Holly quit drinking in January 2023 and since then has gone on to become a Positive Psychology and Alcohol Free coach. Following her decision to give up alcohol, Holly was determined to bring positivity into her thinking and in this episode she talks about the moment that she made the breakthrough. If you would like to know mo...

In this episode we welcome the fantastic Barbara Williams on to the podcast! Barbara is using her sobriety to try and encourage more women of colour to make the choice to quit alcohol through her online profile @sober_in_colour . Barbara has been sober now for a few years and noticed while attending sober events that there were not very many ethnically diverse women in the room. She wants to help...

In this episode we have one of our wonderful community members Melodie on the pod!  At the time of recording, Melodie is one year, one month and one day sober. She admits herself that it has been a really tough task to achieve that streak, but when she’s struggling she remembers why she’s doing it: to give her kids the best life she possibly can.  We’re so glad that Melodie found us and that we co...

In this episode we welcome back the founder of The Sober Summit, Maggie Klaassens, who is also one of our fantastic community members! The Sober Summit is taking place this week from 25th September through until 27th September. There’s a free option, or if you want to get all of the brilliant content on offer you can upgrade to the all access pass. To find out more about The Sober Summit, go to th...

In this episode we welcome back Andy Delderfield, the founder of Alcohol Free Runners and a member of our AF community. Andy is completing his hat-trick of Over The Influence appearances today, joining us for the third time to share his message that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Speaking of extraordinary things, Andy came onto the pod fresh back from his cross country adventure in K...

We've gone worldwide again this week as we are joined by the wonderful Hayden Syers on Over The Influence! Hayden is one of our fantastic community members who is now sixteen months alcohol free. He's here to talk particularly about the societal pressure men have to drink excessively in social situations and how it's about time that the culture changed. Thank you so much to Hayden for coming on to...

This week we are joined by one of our fantastic community members Rafael Briceño on Over The Influence! Rafael is here with a simple question: if today was your final day, would you want to spend it drunk? There's a good chance that the answer to that question is a firm no. If quitting drinking is what it takes to start living, then make it happen. With that mindset, Rafael managed to end his rela...

This week we are joined by the fantastic Ali Press on Over The Influence! Ali is a counsellor and coach from London who has a passion for helping people who in some way feel different. Whether that difference comes in the form of neurodivergence, gender, sexual orientation or anything else, Ali is spreading the message that understanding yourself is the key to transformation.  If you'd like more i...

This episode contains references to abuse which some listeners may find distressing. This week we are joined by the wonderful Seana Smith on Over The Influence! Seana is an author who is originally from Scotland and is now based in Sydney, Australia. We are also delighted to say that Seana is one of our own, not only a Brit but part of the OTI crew. Seana's book 'Going Under: A Memoir of Family Se...

This episode contains references to suicide which some listeners may find distressing.  This week we are joined by the fantastic Michael Sargood on Over The Influence! You might have seen Michael on his social media page happywithoutthehooch , generally being hilarious and honest about his experiences in sobriety. The loss of a loved one and a bad relationship led Michael to a very dark place. Now...