One year with Rachel Scott

My twenty-two year career of grey area drinking came to an end late last December. Grey area drinking can look so many ways but for me, it was daily drinking— usually 3 glasses of wine every day. I’d done 5 or so dry months here and there over the last few years. More often than not, I had caved and not made it through the month without drinking. 

I had been curious enough to read some quit lit over the years and was unable to keep out of my mind what I had learned alcohol was doing or could do to my body. When drinking interrupted my sleep most nights, I would lie there in self-recrimination— “you’ve done it again! You’re going to get cancer!”—only to forget my concerns when the end of the workday rolled around. When my husband and I did Noom for many months to lose a few pounds, most often I’d be setting (and not meeting) goals about limiting my alcohol consumption.

Here I was a high-achieving professional who practiced yoga most days, always interested in the next cleanse or self-development, but couldn’t get off the Groundhog’s Day of drinking every day. I would come up with rules and guidelines for my drinking that I could never follow—all in hopes that I could reach the elusive goal of moderation. Sometime in 2022 I told my executive coach I thought I needed to quit drinking and she told me I deserved to have what I intuitively knew I needed.

In the weird space between Christmas and New Year’s last year, I decided I was done, battled through the first day of being ready to cave and being so tired of not being able to follow my own resolve and started my sober journey. I threw the kitchen sink at getting started, at one point using three daily apps. Googling “mocktails near me” one day several weeks in, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Loren’s come up. Sober podcasts and Loren’s have fully made my first year of not drinking possible. I have a gorgeous AF bar at home and love having a variety of options available to feel like I can have the ritual of ending my workday and can feel the fun of celebrating or relaxing. I especially love that I can switch from cocktails to wine to beer in a day with no hangovers! Frankly, it’s really annoying that more restaurants and bars haven’t caught on to how easy it is to offer yummy and elevated NA drink options.

I have milestones ahead of me with my newly found time, extra calories and money, but I’m so grateful these lovely sisters decided to open this business just when I stopped overriding what my intuition knew I needed. 🫶🏻

Rachel Scott, CEO of Coburn Place

You can follow her at @rachelssober on Instagram.

Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash