This episode is a little chaotic, deeply human, wildly funny, and honestly? exactly what recovery can start to feel like when you stop making sobriety synonymous with punishment.

I’m taking you with me to New York City — from a sober social night at The Maze, to long walks through Central Park with women who are rebuilding themselves out loud. We talk about laughter, freedom, female friendship, feeling safe in your own skin again, and why sober people weirdly become the people partying at noon with popsicles in hand dancing in Central Park.

I also share my experience going to Julia Fox Closet Sale after listening to Down the Drain by Julia Fox on audiobook — and why her story hit me harder than I expected.

We get into:

• addiction, survival, and the messy realities women live through
• sex work, stigma, and the difference between judgment and understanding
• doing what you have to do to survive
• why “meeting people where they are” matters in recovery work
• the performance of being “good” versus being honest
• the complicated conversation around deprogramming from rigid recovery narratives
• how some women feel cracked open by recovery… and others feel trapped inside the language of it

I also talk about a recent podcast episode that absolutely cracked me wide open and forced me to think differently about identity, healing, and who gets to author their own story.

This isn’t a polished “10 steps to heal your life” episode.

It’s an episode about women telling the truth.

About recovery becoming bigger than not drinking.

About creativity, connection, safety, style, humor, grief, rebellion, and learning how to live without abandoning yourself.

Because maybe sobriety isn’t the end of your life.

Maybe it’s the beginning of finally becoming interesting again.

Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate

Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/

Email: katevitelacoaching@gmail.com

What if the thing you’ve been calling boredom in sobriety…

is actually a lack of expression?

In this episode, I sit down with Susi Glenna Milne to talk about creativity not as a hobby—but as a lifeline in recovery.

We get into what happens after you stop drinking and realize… okay, now I actually have to feel my life.

And instead of numbing out, what if you created your way through it?

We talk about how creativity in sobriety and recovery:

• brings you back online when everything feels flat
• gives you language for emotions you didn’t even know you had
• rebuilds self-respect, not just self-control
• connects you to community in a way that actually sticks

Because recovery isn’t just about removing alcohol.

It’s about building a life that feels worth staying for.

And let’s be clear about something—

Art is not reserved for a select, tortured, gallery-approved few.

It’s accessible. It’s human. It’s yours.

Everyone is an artist.

Not in a cheesy “everyone gets a gold star” way—

but in a real, grounded, you have something inside of you that needs expression kind of way.

We talk about breaking down gatekeeping and elitism in the art world, and why creativity in sobriety and recovery isn’t about being good…

It’s about being honest.

We also go there on bigger cultural conversations—

Like why women have historically been left out of the arts, had to fight harder for recognition, and are still reclaiming space in creative leadership.

We talk about Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first female creative director at Dior, and her documentary Her Dior—and why that matters more than people think.

We get into feminist punk energy, rebellion, and why creating—especially as a woman in recovery—is a quiet (and sometimes loud) act of resistance.

Yes, even against the current cultural climate that can feel… let’s just say icky.

And we talk about something that changed both of our lives:

The community we found through She Recovers Foundation.

A space where sobriety and recovery aren’t about shame or labels—

but about strength, voice, and rebuilding self-esteem from the inside out.

That kind of community doesn’t just support recovery.

It restores identity.

This episode is for you if:

• you’re sober or in recovery and feel flat, lost, or disconnected
• you’re tired of white-knuckling and want to actually feel alive
• you’ve told yourself “I’m not creative” (we’re calling bullshit on that)
• you’re craving connection, expression, and something that feels real

• Sobriety gives you your life back—but creativity shows you how to live it
• Numbing shuts you down. Creating brings you back online
• You don’t need talent—you need willingness
• Expression is how we process emotion in recovery
• Community is where self-esteem gets rebuilt
• Art is not elite—it’s accessible, and it belongs to everyone

If you’re in that in-between space—

Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate

Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/

Email: katevitelacoaching@gmail.com

Guest Info: Susi Milne

@susimilne777artwork

@susimilneartist777

My solid guess is this: You didn’t drink because you were weak.

You drank because your brain adapted.

In this episode, we’re breaking down one of the biggest lies in recovery culture: that shame will somehow motivate you into becoming a better version of yourself.

Spoiler: it won’t.

In fact, it does the opposite.

Using both neuroscience and real-life, messy-human examples, Kate is walking you through why shame keeps you stuck in the exact patterns you’re trying to escape—and what actually creates lasting change instead.

We’re talking about:

• Why alcohol “worked” (and what it was actually doing for you)
• The internal war that starts for many women in sobriety
• The difference between eliminating parts of yourself vs. integrating them
• What shame does to your brain (hello, survival mode)
• Why your prefrontal cortex basically clocks out when you’re in self-attack
• How safety—not punishment—is the key to rewiring your brain
• The real difference between suppressing behavior and actually changing it
• Why encouragement works (and why punishment backfires)
• How to interrupt the shame spiral in real time

This isn’t about letting yourself off the hook.

It’s about finally using a strategy that actually works.

Because:

You cannot hate yourself into a new identity.

But you can understand yourself into one.

If you’ve been stuck in the cycle of:

Trigger → shame → escape → repeat

This episode will show you how to shift into:

Trigger → awareness → safety → choice → change

And yeah… we’re also calling out the very human tendency to try and fix your life by bullying yourself into submission.

(How’s that been working for you?)

• Your brain is not moral—it’s efficient
• Shame activates survival mode, not growth
• Safety is what allows real change to happen
• Encouragement reinforces behavior; punishment suppresses it
• The part of you that drank was trying to help—not destroy you
• Integration > elimination, every time

Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate

Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/

Email: katevitelacoaching@gmail.com