I’m Brian “Cappy” Capello, and this is Part 1 of my story. I talk about how an Irish-Italian family tree, late-blooming confidence, and using alcohol as a “social tool” turned into three decades of trouble. From college nights at Providence and my first DUI scare, to a short marriage I tried to prop up with drinks, a disastrous funeral eulogy, and getting put in “protective custody” after a One Direction concert—this is the unfiltered timeline that shaped me. I also share the three-and-a-half sober years that ended with a 2018 relapse, the six-year slide that followed, and the rock-bottom morning when my family knocked and I finally said “enough.” Today I’m two-plus years sober, building Sober Cappy and launching The Real Cappy Hour to make recovery real, relatable, and hopeful.

What you’ll hear in Part 1:

• Why I frame my addiction as largely genetic—not a moral failure
• How “Irish exits” became my default and what that cost me
• Dating, pre-drinking, and trying to outsource intimacy to alcohol
• The 2007 funeral fiasco and the 2014 wake-up call
• Quitting cold turkey, relapsing in 2018, and a six-year descent
• The intervention, the online community that changed everything, and what’s working now

If this resonates, subscribe and stick around for Part 2—where I break down the tools that finally worked for me and what’s next for The Real Cappy Hour.