The story behind Beyond Sober

Life beyond alcohol, lived fully

Getting sober didn’t fix my life. 

It showed it to me - clearly for the first time.

That clarity gave me choice again.

The world I came from

I’m Gen X hard-wired.
Raised on mixtapes and trained in the art of holding it in.

Alcohol was everywhere — the backdrop and the buffer, the acceptable way to celebrate, cope, connect, and escape.

It was a hiding place as much as a habit. A way to function, achieve, and pretend.

I was hiding in plain sight. Right in the middle where no one could see me

Six audio cassette tapes stacked vertically, with handwritten labels and brand markings such as Sony and Maxell.

I drank my way through decades — high-functioning, successful, and wearing extremely thin beneath the surface.

On the outside: career, family, a life that looked fine.
Inside: shame, exhaustion, and endless mental gymnastics trying to moderate.

There was no dramatic collapse.
Just a slow erosion of self-trust.

A reflection in a mirror shows a ghostly figure wearing a white sheet with sunglasses, viewed through the mirror's edge.

So on a unremarkable Monday morning in November 2022, I stopped drinking.

And while things improved quickly, the emotional reckoning came just as fast.

Without alcohol, nothing stayed buried.

This is the part no one prepares you for — when sobriety starts showing you who you are, not who you were performing as.

A girl with dark hair wearing a dark sweater, black pleated skirt, black tights, and sneakers casts a shadow on a concrete wall.

The part no one talks about

Early sobriety has its own roadmap.
Long-term sobriety doesn’t.

You’re left bright-eyed and capable, but also exposed.
Flat.
Raw.
Wondering: is this it? What now?

This is where Beyond Sober began — the unspoken middle of sobriety.

Most people I work with didn’t expect this stage to feel so disorienting.
They also didn’t expect how different it feels with support.

A woman with red hair standing outdoors on a dirt path, holding a large fluffy cloud-like object in her hand, surrounded by green and red foliage.

Hello.

This isn’t you coming undone.
It’s you coming into view.

That’s the space Beyond Sober was built for — the long game of life beyond alcohol.

A woman with blonde hair smiling outdoors during autumn, with trees and a brick building in the background. Photo by Nicole Engelmann London Branding Photos

Why work with me

I’m an ICF-accredited, trauma-responsive coach with lived experience and over twenty years in HR leadership. I’ve spent my career working closely with people in moments of pressure, transition, identity shifts, conflict, and change — the places where behaviour patterns show themselves and where real growth becomes possible.

Because you want someone who genuinely gets it — and is trained to hold this process with you.

My approach is practical, and grounded in what really happens in long-term sobriety.
We go at your pace and pay attention to what shows up — stress, shame, old habits, protection patterns — and we work with them, not against them.

I also bring the human side of my own life: burnout, divorce, solo parenting, blended families, and the layered, often messy process of creating a sober life that actually fits.

Working together isn’t about performing or proving.
It’s about coming back to yourself — loosening what no longer serves, strengthening what matters, and building a life that feels like yours.

Let’s talk about what’s next
A woman wearing yellow blazer, teal shirt, jeans, and colorful socks with sneakers, posing on a rainbow-colored slide at an abandoned water park, with a partly cloudy sky in the background.

What Beyond Sober stands for

  • Coaching that meets you where you are with whatever you have going on —not where a timeline says you should be

  • Support for the ongoing work of long-term sobriety - not just not drinking, but learning how to live fully, honestly, and in a way that actually fits.

  • Fortifying not fixing – solid foundations for long-term sobriety because you have come too far to lose what you’ve built.

An astronaut in a space suit floating above green grass with a sky background.

Is this for you?

Beyond Sober isn’t for everyone — and that’s intentional.

It’s for people who’ve already done what most never do: stopped drinking, faced themselves, and started again.

People who’ve come as far as they can on their own and can feel something deeper calling.

If you’re ready to keep growing — in a way that feels true to who you are now — you’ll recognise yourself here.

Yes. This is for you.

CONTACT JO

Be part of what’s next

If you’d like to stay connected, join the list to hear what’s unfolding at Beyond Sober.