Over The Influence: The Alcohol Free Podcast

This week's episode comes from base camp following a challenging (yet rewarding) hike up Ben Nevis with the wonderful OTI community members! We have some of those wonderful members chatting with Ben and Shaz to discuss the hike and their experience of OTI.  If you think this sounds like a laugh and would like to get involved, go to overtheinfluence.co.uk/membership  to be the first to hear about o...

In this episode we are delighted to welcome Caroline Evers-Endacott to Over The Influence! In 2018, the loss of a loved one led Caro to rethink the way she was living her life. She left her fast-paced city career behind, and started developing a new lifestyle for herself. Caro started her training in therapy and today, she is an integrative therapist working with common mental health presentations...

It's one of our faves, the wonderful John Whaite is back on the pod! Since we last spoke to John on the pod, he has been diagnosed with ADHD. He talks to us about how he thinks his drinking and ADHD were related to one another, and how life is so much more manageable now that he has both under control. We're so grateful to John for coming on to the pod and sharing his time with us. He's always gre...

This week we welcome the wonderful Pippa Morris onto the podcast! Pippa gave up drinking around the same time as our Ben after the first lockdown in 2020. She tried out moderation too and then decided that after successfully completing her first year with no alcohol, that the sober life looked good on her. It's an open and honest conversation about life's stresses and how we think that alcohol is...

We don't have a guest this week because blimey have we got some big news for you! --- Get In Touch: Of course, you can always get in touch with us (publicly or privately) on our socials - @alcoholfreepod on Instagram, or search for "Over The Influence" on Facebook . We'd love to hear your story - please get in touch with us directly at otihq@overtheinfluence.co.uk or go to our website, www.overthe...

This week we welcome the fantastic Sarah O'Mara onto the podcast! Sarah is the Drug and Alcohol Lead for Lancashire (our Shaz's neck of the woods!) and in her role with Red Rose Recovery she and the rest of the organisation provide a support platform to individuals from vulnerable groups to reduce their dependency on drugs and/or alcohol so that they can develop themselves and create thriving, sus...

This week we welcome the wonderful Ellie Webb to the podcast! Ellie is the founder of one of our favourite AF drink brands, Caleño. While taking a break from alcohol in 2017, Ellie was shocked at how limited the drinks options were for people who didn't drink. We've all had the conversation with the bar person where they've looked back at us blankly after asking about their alcohol free options to...

Our community member Ian Thurlbeck is back for his third round in the OTI ring! We spoke to Ian after one year, then two years and so now we're catching up with him again after four years to find out what alcohol free life is like for him further down the road. We chat about the new habits he has formed as a result of ditching alcohol and how the integration into alcohol free wasn't the shock he s...

This week Shaz and Ben are joined by Alex Clapp, a sober events organiser with his company Claritee based in the North West of England. Alex chats everything from pickles to pandas on this episode (it'll make sense) and shares his story of how sobriety has opened a whole new world to him that he didn't know could exist on the other side of ditching alcohol. If you would like to take a look at what...

We're delighted to have a member of our OTI Community on the pod again this week, and it's the wonderful Annie Knowles! Annie is a NHS Healthcare worker and IPHM Sobriety Coach who, just like us, is singing about the joys of sobriety.  During the Covid-19 Pandemic, the stress of working in hospitals led to Annie drinking more. The realisation that her drinking was slipping into dependency was the...

Sharon is back recording pods following her surgery so her and Ben are catching up to see what she's missed. Welcome back Shaz! --- Get In Touch: Of course, you can always get in touch with us (publicly or privately) on our socials - @alcoholfreepod on Instagram, or search for "Over The Influence" on Facebook . We'd love to hear your story - please get in touch with us directly at otihq@overtheinf...

This week on the pod we have the wonderful Dana White-Guerrie joining us all the way from Colorado, USA! Dana battled with a variety of addictions for decades, having a devastating effect on her mental health. Now, she's living clean and loving every moment. You'll be sure to find Dana a breath of fresh air and if you would like to find out more about Dana and The Yarn Consolery you can head over...

We're delighted to welcome back author Sarah Turner, who's also known as The Unmumsy Mum! We catch up on how Sarah is getting on with alcohol free life with some honest chat about how once you come down from the initial high of going alcohol free, there's a settling in period as you get comfortable with the new you. If you'd like to find out more about Sarah, search for The Unmumsy Mum on socials...

In this episode we welcome the fantastic Gary Mairs onto Over The Influence! Gary is ten years (yes a whole decade!) alcohol free and is smashing life. Following a challenging first year of sobriety, Gary ditched the alcoholic label and decided to leave that life behind him completely. Recently, since the birth of his lovely daughter, he decided that through social media he would try to give other...

This week, our Shaz is the one doing all the talking (even more so than usual). You may or may not already know that she's about to take some time off so we thought it best that we let you know why. Of course, she's a trooper and when Shaz is back she will be back better than ever but it never hurts to have a few words of support so feel free to drop us a message at otihq@overtheinfluence.co.uk to...

In this episode we welcome our lovely community member and jet setter Sue to the podcast! Sue is just about to hit her two year alcohol free milestone, an amazing achievement and we're so proud to have been a part of her AF journey. We talk all about why Sue felt it was time to knock drinking on the head for good and how joining our Over The Influence community helped overcome some of the challeng...

In this episode we welcome Kelly from Scotland onto Over The Influence! Kelly has just celebrated a whole year alcohol free - although she has been part of our OTI Community for a little longer than that. Kelly's story is about the importance of keeping on - and even though it has been far from easy, she talks about why being AF is so important to her. Kelly talks about the importance of action wh...

In this episode we welcome Scott Woolley onto Over The Influence! Scott is a FDAP Substance Misuse Professional and the founder of Arclett, which is a community brand devoted to removing the stigma attached to sober living. Scott quit alcohol at 26 to spend less time hungover and spend more time exploring his passions, the culmination of which is his beautiful portfolio on his website arclett.com...

This week we welcome the fantastic Venessa McPhie onto the podcast! Venessa is a listener to the pod and was keen to share her story with all you other sober curious folks out there. Following a traumatic experience caused by alcohol, Vanessa decided it was time to rid herself of alcohol once and for all. She now runs the Facebook page The Sober Bus , so if you want to keep up to date with Vanessa...

This week we have one of our own on the pod, Big Dan from Essex!  Dan has successfully smashed his one year milestone and now in his year two, he’s looking to spread the sober message. He’s an absolute breath of fresh air and we know you’re going to love hearing what he has to say.  Thank you again to Dan for coming on the show and sharing your thoughts on AF life.  If you think you might benefit...

This week we are joined on the podcast by the fantastic author Justin B. Long! Justin takes us through the reasons why his drinking got out of control, stemming from his difficult childhood. If you'd have told him fifteen years ago that he is where he is today, he wouldn't have believed you. His books include his inspirational memoir The Righteous Rage of a Ten-Year-Old Boy: A Journey of Self-Disc...

This week we welcome the fantastic Luke Colson onto the podcast all the way from sunny California! Luke is a fellow sobriety advocate and has come along to tell us about some of the lows he reached as a drinker, but more importantly the glorious highs that he's now enjoying as a non-drinker. Luke is a fascinating person to listen to, we could have chatted to him all day. If you enjoy this episode...

In this episode we welcome back the lovely Chris to the pod! Chris is a big part of our OTI Community, joining us all the way from New York (the state, not the top of the Empire State Building like Shaz seems to think) in the US of A. We've heard from Chris before when he came on with his AF BFF Aran but now he's back to tell his sobriety story and what has brought him to where he is today. If you...

He's a man that goes by many names in our community. Some call him 'The Porky Prince', others 'The Prince of Pastry'. It's even been claimed that he is 'The Sausage King of the North West'. We simply know him... as Danny Bangers. Danny is a much loved and very active member of our community. He's found a home here with us at OTI and as you'll hear on the episode, that's not something he always tho...

Shaz and Ben recently received the best e-mail ever to the OTI inbox. It's author was the guest on this episode, the fantastic Grace Cowley. Grace is a dedicated listener to Over The Influence and she got in touch to let us know how listening to the pod had changed her life forever. When the e-mail arrived, Shaz immediately called Ben to say that Grace had to come on to the show. Get a brew, sit b...