Ian Thurlbeck from @alcohol_uncensored joins me this week to chat about his six years off the sauce. Ian is a dad, husband and business owner from the North East of England and co-host of the Alcohol Uncensored podcast with Kelly Cooney. We chat about how “normal” drinking crept from uni into work networking, home life and parenting, until the balance tipped into anxiety, paranoia and not liking who he’d become. Ian shares the Covid moment that made him stop, why year two was actually tougher and how running marathons helped him build momentum. We also dig into people-pleasing, identity, community and the simple advice that worked: put your whole arse into it, and study sobriety like a topic.

Find Alcohol Uncensored on Instagram: @alcohol_uncensored
Email: team@alcoholuncensored.co.uk
Website: alcoholuncensored.co.uk

If you are interested in Alcohol Free Coaching go to www.greyareadrinker.ie, email olivia@greyareadrinker.ie or simply send a DM to Olivia over on instagram @greyareadrinker

As regular listeners know, I'm a massive fan of metaphysics and all things manifestation. So today, I'm beyond thrilled to welcome, mindset and manifestation coach, Steffani LeFevour @coachwithsteff. We have an incredible conversation about what really changes when we use the clarity that not drinking brings and start creating life from a totally different place.Stephanie shares her STAR New Reality Formula- State,Thoughts, Actions = Reality. We talk neuro-associations with alcohol, inspired action and why rejection is redirection. We also get into gratitude in the middle of hard moments, soul assignments, near-death experience wisdom and choosing love over fear. And we talk about her new @hayhouseinc book 'Soul Assignment' that's coming in 2027. I adore Steff, she's kind, gracious and the most inspiring person. This episode will fill you full of positivity and motivation to start manifesting the life of your dreams!

Steffani is a speaker, author, and Soul Strategist who helps women stop settling for less and consciously create lives they love. With a unique blend of neuroscience, peak performance, and manifestation principles, she teaches people how to rewrite limiting stories, step into their next-level identity, and turn their biggest dreams into reality. As well as being an author, Steffani is the founder of the Soul Happy movement, inspiring hundreds of thousands of people through her coaching, speaking, and social media platforms.

Listen wherever you get your pods or on the @goloud_app

Find Steffani's work vis instagram @coachwithsteff or here Coach with Steff

If you are interested in Alcohol Free Coaching go to www.greyareadrinker.ie, email olivia@greyareadrinker.ie or simply send a DM to Olivia over on instagram @greyareadrinker

Flexera Founder @joinflexera, Hannah Joyce @hannahleighjoyce joins me for a brilliant, honest chat about going alcohol-free at 26 and what’s possible when you stop breaking promises to yourself. Six years off the booze, Hannah shares the signs that were there from the start: brutal hangovers, lingering anxiety and that inability to “just have one or two”. We talk about how COVID was a forced pause, the unexpected stepping stones (skincare, exercise, journaling), reading The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober and the pink cloud also and what happens when it fades. Plus: how sobriety gave Hannah the clarity and confidence to build Flexera, bringing Reformer Pilates home with folding reformers and an app. Hannah's story is deeply inspiring and gives us some idea of how life can expand in the most incredible ways when we choose to leave the booze behind. Enjoy!

Find out more about flexera at www.joinflexera.coom

If you are interested in Alcohol Free Coaching go to www.greyareadrinker.ie, email olivia@greyareadrinker.ie or simply send a DM to Olivia over on instagram @greyareadrinker

Mayo woman Aisling Burke @aislingalcoholfree joins me from Manchester for a really lovely, honest chat about why she decided she was done with drink and why this time it wasn’t a I’ll try situation. Seven months alcohol-free, Aisling talks blackouts mid-conversation, midweek hangovers that stole days and that feeling of always rushing life at 100 miles an hour. We get into what changed when she finally said it out loud, how sobriety gave her time back, better emotional regulation and a huge return of confidence, creativity and self-trust. Plus: staying in pubs, matches and weddings and actually enjoying them more. Aisling has gained more than could ever have imagined in these last 7 months and poetry is back at the top of her hobby list again. Enjoy!

To find out more about 1:1 or Group Alcohol Free Coaching go to www.greayareadrinker.ie or DM Olivia @greyareadrinker.

Sinead Crowe @thisismresinead is back for her third No More Booze check-in; we spoke at 12 weeks, 12 months and now she’s 24 months alcohol-free. And this episode follows who she’s become in that time. Sinead opens up about self-belief, confidence and learning to cope without reaching for wine or anything else even through depression, anxiety, HRT chaos, injury and a year that tested her more than she expected. We talk grief (including the loss of her sister), boundaries, friendships and why year two can actually be harder than year one. Plus: her honest take on a lapse and why one night isn’t failure and what she learned from that. Sinead is open, honest and deeply inspiring. Enjoy!

This week on No More Booze, I’m joined by Nadija Bajrami, a multi-award-winning trauma-focused hypnotherapist, coach, psychic medium, Reiki master, grief educator and end-of-life doula and my own personal psychic reader. As regular listeners know I am deeply spiritual and this conversation with Nadija goes way beyond the drink. We talk intuition, spirituality, near-death experiences and what it really means to follow your soul, especially when life forces you to reassess everything. Nadia shares the moment she stopped running from her abilities and how surviving brain tumours and surgeries changed her entire path. And she’s alcohol-free too. Nadia opens up about quitting in May 2024 to become a clearer channel, the energy and self-esteem boost that followed her choice and the surprising judgement people throw at you when you say: I don’t drink.

Nadija is French by birth, but also lived in Scotland for years and has travelled the world. She shares her time and work between Dublin, France and Switzerland. She has a business management and corporate background and even though she enjoyed that path for years, she always knew she wanted to do something to help people take full control of their lives and be the best version of themselves. Nadija recovered from several brain surgeries between 2014 and 2015. While recovering, she promised herself that she would create a new life, a life in which she could be her authentic self and in which she could be of service to others. Now with her many hats, Nadija helps people get empowered and supercharge their confidence and self-esteem and overcome their limiting beliefs, manage anxiety and symptoms of traumatic experiences, heal their inner child, develop their intuitive abilities as well as navigate the often-unacknowledged rocky terrain of grief. She is also here as a guiding light and companion for those who have reached the end of their physical life. In a nutshell, she helps people build a solid toolbox so that they can build the life they desire and deserve. Enjoy!

Nadija Bajrami Strategic Hypnotherapist Mind Coach Psychic Medium

This week on No More Booze, I’m joined by Matt Wing @midlife.mentor, who’s two and a half years alcohol-free, for a raw and really honest conversation about what it looks like to quit after decades of all or nothing drinking. Matt shares how alcohol became his go-to coping mechanism for a life lived in fear, anxiety and self-loathing and how the simple rule of don’t have the first drink helped change everything. We also get into the midlife void that opens up when booze is gone, why structure and routine matter so much (especially with ADHD) and what it actually feels like to get busy living again.

Matt is a midlife mentor who spent 25 years stuck in the cycle so many high-performing adults know well — stress, success and the 4PM drink that slowly becomes non-negotiable. Diagnosed with ADHD at 52, everything finally made sense. Now, Matt helps midlife men and women understand why their brain reaches for alcohol — and how to break that loop without willpower, labels, or extreme methods. He works with clients through 1:1 coaching and his online course, Stop Drinking the ADHD Way, helping people achieve what years of trying — and even rehab — couldn’t. His message is clear: You don’t need to hit rock bottom. You need a better system.

This week on No More Booze, I’m joined by my gorgeous friend Caroline Williams, who’s 10 months off the booze and we are taking a real, honest look at what early sobriety actually feels like. Caroline shares how her drinking progressed from normal nights out to daily wine, blackouts and that brutal 4am fear and shame. We talk about family, stigma, self-trust and the moment she finally admitted: once I start, I can’t stop. We also get into what helped her stay stopped and that was walking, journaling, quit lit, community and learning to love life (and herself) again. Enjoy!

Follow Olivia @greyareadrinker or to find out more about her work as an Alcohol-Free Coach & Mentor go to www.greyareadrinker.ie