This episode is for you if you’ve ever asked:
How do I sit with pain without pouring a glass?
What comes after sobriety?
Can I feel whole again?

Today’s episode is a gentle, powerful invitation to feel—without numbing.
We’re joined by Brandi Babb, certified coach + somatic experiencing practitioner, in a real conversation with hosts Susan Larkin and Ruby Williams about grief, sobriety, and learning to stay present when life hurts.

Here’s what unfolds:

• Brandi’s journey to living alcohol free—shaped by loss, love, and listening to her body
• How grief can deepen drinking (and how somatic work helps you move through it)
• Nervous system tools for overwhelm, urges, and emotional waves
• What it really looks like to heal after you put down the drink
• How to feel “lit” even when life isn’t easy

Press play for an honest, heart-centered conversation about presence, resilience, and finding your way back to yourself—one breath at a time. 🧡

________

Guest Resources for Brandi Babb of Little Big Leap Coaching-
Website: https://www.brandibabb.com
Podcast: https://pod.link/1819859867
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandi.babb
The Zero Proof Life: https://www.thezeroprooflife.com/

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

Ever freeze when someone offers you a drink?
Wonder how to stay alcohol-free and feel connected?

In this Sober & Lit episode, Ruby and Susan get real about what’s actually happening in those moments — and how to move through them with confidence instead of white-knuckling it.

Inside this conversation:

1. Why saying no isn’t about willpower (it’s about wiring + people-pleasing)
2. Simple ways to prepare before events so you don’t panic in the moment
3. Go-to phrases that feel natural (not awkward or rehearsed)
4. Why bringing your own alcohol-free drink can be a game changer
5. How to honor yourself and belong — at the same time

This episode is equal parts heart, honesty, and practical tools you can use tonight.

Coach Ruby's powerful worksheet to help you feel grounded, prepared, and truly ready the next time a drink is offered.

🧡Get the worksheet here: https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/how-to-say-no-to-a-drink

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

Have you ever wondered...

• How do you date without liquid courage?
• What happens when you stop numbing and start feeling?
• Could connection actually be easier alcohol-free?

In this episode, Ruby and Susan sit down with Lily Shanks — life + relationship coach with 7+ years of sobriety, who went from high-achieving attorney quietly struggling with alcohol… to deeply connected, emotionally sober, and helping others rebuild from the inside out.

We’re talking about:

• Sober dating + sober sex (yes, the awkward parts too)
• Learning to trust your intuition again
• Emotional sobriety & feeling your feelings without numbing
• Why real intimacy often gets better without alcohol
• Self-love, boundaries, and authentic connection
• First dates, nervous systems, laughter, and growth

If you’re navigating love, loneliness, or relationships in sobriety - especially in midife - (or you’re sober-curious and craving deeper connection), this episode is for you.

Press play and let’s explore what it really looks like to live — and love — lit. 💘🔥
________

Guest Resources for Lily Shanks at My Internal Weather-
Website: www.myinternalweather.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/my-internal-weather/

________

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

Ever wake up determined not to drink…
only to find yourself pouring a glass by evening?

You’re not broken. You’re human. And this episode explains why.

In today’s conversation, Susan and Ruby unpack the invisible habit loops behind drinking urges, and show you how to gently interrupt them.

Inside this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why urges feel automatic (hello, autopilot)
• The real reason willpower fades by happy hour
• How triggers + routines + rewards keep you stuck
• What “urge surfing” is and how it helps cravings pass
• Simple swaps that replace alcohol with real pleasure
• How tiny shifts can lead to lasting alcohol freedom

This isn’t about fighting yourself.
It’s about understanding your patterns, reclaiming your agency, and choosing something better—one moment at a time.

Stick around to the end of the show to hear how we keep our own lives lit without alcohol, and why real change starts with compassion, not control.

If you want to learn more about your own unique drinking habit and take a break, join Susan's Freedom Formula Group Coaching Course. Invest 8 weeks to take control over your drinking!
https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/the-freedom-formula-rewire-regulate-and-rise

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

What if connection didn’t come in a glass?
What if community didn’t revolve around drinking?
What if sobriety actually made life more fun?

In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Marshall—
• Founder of Sans Bar, North America’s first non-alcoholic bar
• Mental health advocate
• Author of Faster Than Light
• And a powerful voice redefining sober social life

Chris's story goes deep and together, we explore:
✅ Why alcohol-free spaces matter more than ever
✅ How loneliness keeps people drinking—and how community heals it
✅ What it actually looks like to socialize sober (yes, karaoke included 🎤)

And the question so many people are asking but rarely say out loud:
“If I stop drinking… will I still belong?”

No preaching. No perfection. Just honest conversation, hope, and a reminder that you don’t have to choose between sobriety and a full life.

Let’s get into it.
________

Guest Resources for Chris Marshall-
Website: https://www.thesansbar.com/about-us
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisconnected/?hl=en
Memoir - Faster Than Light: https://www.thesansbar.com/chris-marshalls-memoir

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

Have you ever felt like the story you’ve been told about alcohol is missing the most important truths?

In this episode of Sober & Lit, Susan Larkin and Ruby Williams are joined by Mike Marshall, CEO of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, for a conversation that pulls alcohol out of the shadows and into the light—without shame, fear, or finger-pointing.

This episode explores:

1. Why alcohol’s real harms are rarely discussed
2. The truth about alcohol as a toxic, addictive carcinogen
3. Mike’s personal sobriety journey
4. How alcohol connects to larger public health crises
5. What everyday people can do to shift the narrative

We also ask the bigger questions:
Why is alcohol treated differently than other drugs? Who benefits from our silence? And what becomes possible when we tell the truth with compassion?

We invite you to listen in!!
________

Guest Resources for Mike Marshall:
Website: http://www.alcoholpolicy.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@usalcoholpolicy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USAlcoholPolicy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usalcoholpolicyalliance/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-alcohol-policy-alliance/posts/?feedView=all
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@usalcoholpolicyalliance

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

What if alcohol isn’t the problem… but the placeholder?

In this episode of Sober & Lit, Ruby and Susan are joined by Anna Donaghey—certified alcohol mindset and life coach, award-winning podcast host, and author of What Are You Thirsty For?—for a conversation that goes way deeper than drinking less. Anna shares her journey from teenage drinking and a booze-soaked career in advertising to a life of clarity, purpose, and alcohol-free freedom—and the moment she realized alcohol was doing jobs it was never meant to do.

Together, they explore powerful questions like:
✔️ What are you actually thirsting for?
✔️ Is your life good enough—or are you using alcohol to tolerate it?
✔️ What might be possible if you stopped numbing and started listening?

This episode unpacks the hidden roles alcohol plays, why rock bottom is not required, and how reclaiming your desires can radically change your life.

Whether you’re sober curious, newly alcohol-free, or reimagining midlife on your own terms, this conversation will challenge you, inspire you, and invite you to want more—from yourself and your life. Less numbing. More truth. More lit—without the booze.

________

Guest Resources for Anna Donaghey:
Website: https://www.thebigdrinkrethink.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigdrinkrethink
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebigdrinkrethink/
Order the book on Amazon What Are You Thirsty For?

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

What if going alcohol-free wasn’t just about you… but about everyone who comes after you?

In this New Year kickoff episode of Sober & Lit, co-hosts Susan and Ruby step into their third year of the podcast with a raw, heart-opening conversation about legacy, healing, and the quiet ripple effect of choosing sobriety.

They reflect on the moments that changed everything—conversations with their kids, patterns they didn’t realize they were modeling, and the powerful shift that happens when someone finally goes first. What does it really mean to break generational drinking cycles? How do our everyday choices teach emotional regulation, self-worth, and resilience—without saying a word?

This episode isn’t about perfection or parenting advice. It’s about rewriting the story, healing what came before, and consciously shaping what comes next—especially in midlife, when clarity hits differently.

Whether you’re raising kids, launching them, or simply wondering “What legacy am I leaving behind?”—this conversation will invite reflection, compassion, and a whole new way of seeing your alcohol-free journey.

Because sobriety doesn’t just change your life.
It changes the future for your family. 🧡

We Love Hearing From You

Don't forget to follow and subscribe and leave a review! It helps to get the word out that living sober is lit!

Listeners have said that our podcast has helped them get alcohol free!
Join our private community!

Connect with the Podcast Hosts:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/contact
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.