Over The Influence: The Alcohol Free Podcast

In this episode we chat to Jonny from Halifax, who's recently celebrated his first year alcohol free! When you meet Jonny he's a tall bloke with a big booming voice and a huge amount of energy. In this conversation, you'll hear how vulnerable this bloke is confident enough to be.  Jonny talks about why he decided to go alcohol-free whilst on holiday after discovering Annie Grace's podcast and an e...

In this episode we chat to Luke Bayliss who joins us on the podcast eight months into his recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. It's been a long journey to sobriety for Luke and please be aware that we cover some triggering topics in the episode including drug abuse, drink driving, relapse and mental health issues. He also discusses the link between understanding the nature of his ADHD diagnos...

In this episode we chat to the wonderful Neil Curtis, a man who we've got to know incredibly well as he joined our community on the very first day it launched back in July 2021! Neil is now two years alcohol-free, and talks to us about how his second year of sobriety has felt different to the first - and how it has absolutely cemented his decision that living alcohol-free is the right choice for h...

In this episode we chat to the fantastic Stephanie Chivers, Director of Women Who Don't Drink, a community interest company who are helping women to make alcohol insignificant in their lives. Stephanie candidly shares her fascinating story with us and tells us how her path has led to her helping countless other women through her work as a coach and a trainer. We also discuss how society draws a di...

In this episode we chat to Frederica, who's celebrating two years alcohol-free! We love chatting to the authors, to the Instagrammers, to the sober celebs... But if we're completely honest, these episodes are our favourite. Frederica is one of our fabulous OTI community members, and we've got to know her incredibly well since she decided to remove alcohol from her life two years ago! Frederica is...

In this episode we chat to podcaster and video creator Will Hitchins, who joins us from the Gold Coast in Australia! We came across Will on Instagram where he's building a really good following - and through his podcast The Last Drinks podcast he's also shouting loudly about the benefits of sobriety, whilst not being afraid to have a laugh when looking back (can you see why we wanted him on?) In t...

In this episode we chat to one of Sharon's earliest AF friends... Drew Schapper, the fabulous author of "After Party: Finding the Path to Sobriety". Before he was a writer, Drew was a musician. He's incredibly modest (as you'll hear) but we're very keen to call Drew our rock star friend - he was the drummer in a band that toured the world and it was during their final tour that Drew found himself...

In this episode we go back to New Hampshire in the States to meet Craig Vickers, husband to Jen who we had on the podcast a few weeks ago! If you haven't listened to Jen's episode yet, we definitely recommend that you go back and have a listen when you can - its so interesting to hear both sides of this story, in which a husband and wife decide to remove alcohol from their lives together. Craig is...

In this episode we chat to Paul O'Donoghue who set up Queer Recovery Support Belfast after celebrating a year of sobriety! Paul talks about how difficult it can be to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community when deciding to remove alcohol - you've found a community that you feel accepted in, but then go against the grain by choosing sobriety. He also talks to us about how it wasn't just alcohol that h...

In this episode we chat to Meg Geisewite who's nearly 3 and a half years alcohol-free and author of the book Intoxicating Lies. We start off by talking about the thing that British people aren't particularly comfortable talking about in public... Luckily, Meg joins us from the States and bowls into the conversation about how going AF affected things in the bedroom! This is the gateway to a much bi...

In this episode we chat to Olivia Farrelly who's nearly 5 years alcohol-free and known as The Grey Area Drinker (@greyareadrinker on Instagram). Olivia is absolutely brimming with positivity about the huge benefits that removing alcohol can bring, for all types of drinker. She, of course, classed herself as a grey area drinker - and in this episode she explains what she means by that term, how it...

In this episode we chat to Dan O'Reilly, widely known as Dapper Laughs. Dan is recently alcohol-free, and talks to us really honestly about how alcohol had started to damage his mental health and his relationships before he decided to remove it seven months ago. He also talks to us about how going sober has led to him have to confront some uncomfortable truths about his past: he reflects on how so...

In this episode we chat to Sarah Chamberlain, the Global Head of Arete Coach which is the coaching course that Ben recently completed and that Shaz has just started! Sarah talks to us about her journey with alcohol and how it all started in the 90s with ladette culture - drinking like the lads can drink, drinking the same drinks that the lads were drinking, keeping up with the lads on a night out...

In this episode we chat to Jenn Vickers, a preschool teacher in New Hampshire USA who's over 18 months alcohol-free! Jenn talks to us about how her drinking crept up when she became a Mum - her husband Craig was at work and she had three children under 5 years old at home, and the time she started drinking started to move earlier and earlier - a story we've heard a fair few times. Jenn also talks...

In this episode we chat to the wonderful John Whaite! John talks to us about the reasons why he decided to remove alcohol from his life, and some of the incredible changes he's seen since. He's cool, he's calm and he's collected - which is more than can be said for us! We couldn't believe it when John dropped in to our DMs to say that he listens to the podcast and that it's been a big part of his...

In this episode we speak to Sam Roome who gave up alcohol in the summer of 2020. She didn't have a major rock bottom moment with alcohol, but decided to remove it so that she could be the best parent she could be for her young family. We've called this episode The Daughter & The Parent because Sam talks to us about what it was like growing up with two alcoholic parents, and how this impacted o...

In this episode we speak to author Sarah Turner, who's also known as The Unmumsy Mum! We've been following Sarah for a while - not because she was sober, but just because we were fans! Then we spotted on her socials that she'd started listening to a new podcast... And it just happened to be Over The Influence! We were delighted to hear that Sarah was rethinking her drinking and talking about it pu...

In this episode we speak to Susan Laurie and Sober Dave about Sober Code, which launches today! Susan approached us with the idea of Sober Code a few months ago and we immediately said we'd jump on board to help her however we could. The idea of Sober Code is simple: to help protect vulnerable people who may be physically dependent on alcohol. It does this by providing a code of ethics for sober c...

In this episode we chat to the brilliant Maggie Klaassens who's nearly a year alcohol-free after deciding to completely remove alcohol from her life last Easter. Maggie is an OTI Community member who lives in Virginia USA, and last year she approached us with an idea - we politely declined and threw the ball back in to her court, and now she's here on the podcast to talk all about The Sober Summit...

In this episode we chat to Kate Beavis, a menopause awareness campaigner who describes herself as someone who's "refusing to age appropriately"! Kate talks to us about her alcohol-free story, but we also spend a lot of time in this episode discussing the menopause and the role that alcohol can play in it. Not only can alcohol mask the symptoms of menopause or perimenopause, it can also hugely exag...

In this episode we meet Casey Davidson, host of the Hello Someday podcast! Casey talks to us about how giving up alcohol gave her the confidence to completely change her career. After successfully climbing the corporate ladder, Casey's life looked pretty good from the outside - but inside, it didn't feel quite as good as it looked. She worked long hours (even setting her alarm every night for 11:5...

In this episode we catch up with Nigel Jones, author and nature lover who believes that his daily 9km by 9am walks were the key to becoming happily and confidently alcohol-free. Nigel joins us to talk about the new course he's created and which he's delivering for the first time for OTI called "Reroot Yourself: Discover The Healing Power of Nature". In this conversation he runs us through some of...

In this episode we chat to Dan Parkin from #FancyAWalkMate about his journey to sobriety. Dan knew that his drinking was getting out of hand - but it was only after a doctor asked him to keep a drink diary for a week that he realised just how much alcohol he was drinking. We talk about how his job allowed him to ramp up his drinking, and also other warning signs that led him to go and chat to his...

In this episode we talk to the fabulous Laura McKowen! Laura is incredibly well-known within sober circles after her first book, a memoir about finding sobriety called We Are The Luckiest, became an instant hit. She talks to us about the inciting incident that led to her becoming sober, and how sobriety gave her the confidence to follow her dreams of being a writer. Laura also talks to us about he...

In this episode we chat to Jane James, the Founder and CEO of a wonderful company called Little Voices that works with young people across the UK. Jane talks to us about the benefits she felt when she decided to go alcohol-free, and how she navigated her sobriety when she was starting a new relationship with her now husband (she met him after she'd just completed a 30 day break from alcohol, but i...