Sober In Paradise, Purpose In Practice with Shannon K Whaley

Ever tried to change your life by changing your location? Shannon did what so many dream about—she left Seattle for the Cayman Islands—only to learn the hardest lesson of all: you can’t outrun yourself. When “vacation mode” became daily life and blackouts replaced boundaries, she chose sobriety over starting from zero again. That decision didn’t just save her; it rebuilt her career, her focus, and the way she helps others design businesses that honor their lives.

We walk through Shannon’s surprisingly circular path: early years in counseling and interventions, detours through nightlife and hair, and the wrist injury that funded a radical reset. With candor you don’t often hear, she explains how a financial cushion, an online business model, and a one-way ticket to Italy aligned into a sustainable way of living and working. Her philosophy is anti-hustle at its core: ditch corporate busywork, stop hiding in Canva, and pour your best energy into income-producing activities—relationship building, outreach, and clear offers. The website and the logo can wait; the market can’t find you without people first.

This conversation also tackles the emotional mechanics of entrepreneurship: rejection sensitivity, visibility wounds, comparison, and worthiness. Shannon lays out why sobriety became her competitive advantage—clearer decisions, stable energy, smarter spending—and how showing her life publicly created accountability that kept recovery strong. We share practical, accessible tools to bootstrap a business without debt, plus a free Anti‑Hustle Business Checklist that maps exactly what to do at each stage. If alcohol or overwork is dulling your ambition, you’ll find direct talk and real options, from Dharma Recovery and Women for Sobriety to family support through Al‑Anon and Tipping Point Recovery.

If you’re tired of working hard on the wrong things, this story hands you a blueprint: simplify, sell the work you’re great at, and build a business that supports a life you’re proud to stay present for. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs a reset, and leave a review with the one busywork task you’re ready to cut this week.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hello there guys and welcome back to the next episode of Overcome Yourself the Podcast. As you know, my name is Nicole, and I'm so excited to be here today with Shannon. And now Shannon

Welcome And Why Running Fails

SPEAKER_01 0:12

has just such an incredible story. And I thought it was, you know, one of the things she put in on her form, I thought was so important. You moved to it's a Caribbean island. The Caribbean islands, Cayman Islands. Okay. Beautiful. Like I used to work in a cruise line, so the pictures, the ocean, amazing. But then you said that you realized that you had brought your drinking problem with you. And that made me think that's such a good point about how we can't run away from our problems. We try, and then we realize, oh, snap, this was only a symptom of my problem, which is something that I got going on in here. So um I want to talk to you about that today, Shannon. So please take it away, introduce yourself, and let us know who you are and who you help now.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yeah. So my name's Shannon Whaley. So I lit currently live in Italy. So I'm just outside of Pisa. And I was born and raised in Southern California and

Shannon’s Path From Seattle To Cayman

SPEAKER_00 1:16

then worked my way up the West Coast where I ended up living in Seattle. Wow. For I think 12 years. Uh and that's where I kind of came to be. So I was I moved there. I was 20 from 21 until 33. So very formative, you know, adult years. And in that time, I was a drug and alcohol counselor. I was doing interventions. I was doing all of that. So that's when I was not using, obviously. And then I got out of social services and I started uh working as a hairstylist, and then I was working as a cocktailer, and that's where things just took a left turn. Um, and so yeah, I was doing raves and house music and all of that. And I was 33 and I was like, I what am I doing with my life? Like, this can't be it. And I had an opportunity to move to the Cayman Islands. I knew two people there, and I had an offer to stay there for free until I got on my feet. I was like, okay, time to start over. Like, I had been trying, and this is the thing. Like, I had tried to quit using for I mean, I started using drugs and alcohol when I was 12. So taking breaks, I think the longest I had of not using, I was not in recovery, but it was just I wasn't using substances. I was still toxic as can I cuss? Yes, please do. Yeah, I was still toxic as fuck. Like I was still like doing all of the things, I just wasn't using substances. So I had tried to quit for what decades at this point, and so I thought, I'm gonna get out of Seattle, I'm gonna move to this Caribbean island, I'm gonna change my life. And yeah, I packed up my drug and alcohol problems and moved to the Caribbean. And so when you go on vacation, have you ever been on vacation? On oh, you were on the cruise line. So you know what I'm talking about, right? Where like there's like a vacation mode. So if you go to Hawaii, you're you can't do it. It's a vibe.

Vacation Vibes Turned Daily Chaos

SPEAKER_00 3:36

It's a vibe. It's a vibe. Now imagine that's your entire life. Yes, and like you're supposed to go to work, you're supposed to be like a fully functioning adult, but then like you know, all of your friends are at the bar on Sunday or they're doing this thing, right? And so pretty soon the the week vacation where you're all lush, and that is and you go back to your life, right? And so you're back to your responsibilities and you're not partying, but when it becomes this is just an everyday thing, and it was it was okay, like you were encouraged to drink while you were working, don't have to tell me twice, and it was just one big party, and uh it it became very apparent very quickly that if I don't do something, I'm gonna have to go home. I'm gonna have to go back to Seattle, I'm gonna have to go to treatment. I was blacking out in public, like I was pat not blacking out well, I was also passing out in public on like the side of the street. Like I was on a bus stop, just like take a little nap at midnight. And it was dangerous. Like I'm lucky

The Wake‑Up: Sobriety Or Go Home

SPEAKER_00 4:51

to be alive. I I was really lucky to not be taken or assaulted, or so there were a couple big moments like that where I was like, I really can't be doing there's no off switch. It's either um I can't have a drink. Like to me, there's no point of having a drink. It's like, let's let's have a couple, and then after three, I'm no longer responsible for what I do. So that was it. Yeah, I moved to the island, and six months later I had to get sober because for me the worst thing that I could imagine was having to go back to Seattle and admit that I had failed. Because so many people wanted to see me fail. And so I was to spite them in a way, I found recovery. I got sober and found recovery, and that just was just a second, like a new lease on life. Like that's really where life started to come together, and I was on a completely different trajectory, finally.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

You quoted my book. I know you haven't read it, but um, that's one of the things I talk about, you know, being stuck in the monotony of, you know, the what is it called? Like the you know, when you're just doing the same thing over and over the rooster wheel, yeah, yeah. Stuff in this rut. And you know, I remember thinking, is this it? Is this all there is to life? Sex, drugs, and rock and roll? And like those things are awesome, they have their place, but this cannot be it. Um, and so I love that because I I came to that to that cross point as well. And I said, this cannot be it. Like, if I'm gonna live, if I'm gonna get through this all these years, because like, you know, if I make it even to 80, I still got a lot

Choosing Recovery And A New Trajectory

SPEAKER_01 6:46

of years, right? Like, am I just gonna be dragging myself through this? Like this whole time, I'm just gonna be fucking miserable. And I was like, no, no, that can't be. And so I had to learn to find joy. And so since then, like you went through that, it was a very hard thing. You got to do it in a very beautiful place, though. Um then between then and now, like you've done some amazing things. You said you're living in Italy. All right, so give us give us like the recap here because you know, a lot has happened between then and now, right? So tell us how absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yeah, so I have a degree in psychology, and I was just talking to a friend about this. My what

From Psychology To Coaching Roots

SPEAKER_00 7:25

I wanted to do, I thought I wanted to be a therapist and working and teaching. I love teaching, and so I thought I was going to be teaching at the college level. So I went to one day of grad school to get my doctorate in psychology and was like, this is not, I was 23, so entirely too young to be doing any of that. But what my goal was when I started studying psychology, and when I graduated, I just wanted to help women live really big, bold, like bodacious lives where they were they were just living their best lives. And when I graduated in 2001, coaching as it exists now didn't exist. It was just it was Tony Robbins, it was all like white collar, um, uh like executive coaching. Yes. And so I or woo life coaching. Yeah, yeah. Very woo life coaching, right? Yeah. So I thought, okay, well, then the the way to do this is therapy. And that wasn't it either. So did the hair, move to the island, and then when I got sober, I was like, I want to use my degree again. I want to change lives, like I want to use my story and what I've been through, and I want to get back to what I originally wanted to do. So, fast forward now, however many years, 2001 to 2025, I'm finally doing the thing that I wanted to do, not at all how I thought it was going to look. So I had been in recovery for

The Pivot: Injury, Cushion, And Clarity

SPEAKER_00 9:05

two years, and I was doing yoga teacher training and coach training, and I thought I'm gonna be a life coach and I'll teach yoga. And then I shattered my wrist while I was working and I had a very large settlement that then that also just, I mean, it was like $30,000, $40,000. Like it completely changed my life. And I say that because like a lot of coaches are, I don't feel like they're transparent enough about the cushion that they had or like who bankrolled them, or right. So that was what allowed me to quit my job. It allowed me to become a full-time coach a year into my business. If I didn't have that cushion, I wouldn't have quit my job so quickly. So I just want to be really transparent about that. That's what also paid off credit cards, allowed me to move to Italy a couple years later. And so when I started my online business, that changed everything because my goal, I traveled to Italy in 2003 and I was like,

Moving To Italy And Building Online

SPEAKER_00 10:10

I want to live there someday. I imagined it was when I was going to be in my 60s, retired. I needed to have like a I needed to be rich to move here, right? The timeline sped up significantly because I had this online business. And so when I um I broke up with a boyfriend and bought a one-way ticket to Italy, I signed up for school. So I had a year-long student visa in 2017, and I moved here. I met my now ex-husband, um, but uh met him while I was in school, and so we got married, and so that was that was 2017. So that's how I've been able to stay here for so long is that I married an Italian, and then I had my um own company that has supported me throughout all of this. So it's and now I'm also doing um, so I'm a business coach and I help people uh create anti-hustle based businesses. That's my whole niche, um, anti-hustle coaching. And not just businesses, but also lives, because we're taught as

Defining Anti‑Hustle Business

SPEAKER_00 11:29

North Americans. I'm like I said, like I'm from Southern California, uh just like corporate culture, hustle mindset. And so people bring that into their businesses when they're entrepreneurs, and it's really hard to undo. So, my goal for my clients is to help them undo all of the corporate culture and all of the hustle mindset and just like really settle into like the La Dolce Vita way of life, so anti-hustle way of life. I love that, yeah. So now what I'm doing too is it's actually recovery based, which is very surprising to me how this has come full circle. One of my clients,

Bringing Corporate Habits Into Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_00 12:12

uh, I'm their marketing strategist for a recovery company, which has me looking into becoming a recovery peer coach and kind of doing more work inside this industry, whether it's peer coaching or working with more treatment centers for their marketing. So I don't really know what it's gonna look like yet, but it feels it feels like some new, fresh energy into my business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Yeah, some of us need that, some of us need different projects at different times. Some of us are are made to, you know, like we're comfortable being in a company for like 20 years, and some of us, that sounds like our worst nightmare. Yeah. And I think you and I are on that vibe. We're like, no, I want to do something for a few months and I want to go do something else. Um, and I what I what I was thinking about when you were talking about like people who leave corporate and they bring those traumas, those addictions with them. It is a parallel to your journey of how you left Seattle and then you went to the islands and you realized, oh, it's me, I'm the vibe, I'm the problem. It's me totally. Oh, this is a me thing, and that's interesting. Yeah, but kind of the same parallel in coaching, right? Where you have to realize, oh, I'm not doing the things that made me successful in corporate are not the same things that are gonna make me successful here. Like it's not about, you know, because you're in corporate, like you're literally just paid to show up theoretically, as long as you kind of maintain, you know, whatever status quo, like all you gotta do is show up. And you're there, you drink your coffee, you talk some shit, you go to the bathroom, you go to the water cooler, yeah, right. And like when you look at it, only like you've only work about actually work three to four hours out of an eight-hour workday. And so when you try to put that same standard on yourself and you're at home and you're like, Well, I'm gonna go get some coffee, nobody's paying you to go get that coffee now, right? And so that coffee is really expensive, and so we have to really learn to focus on those income-producing activities that move things and so

Stop Busywork, Start Income Activities

SPEAKER_01 14:29

that actually get things done, and that's how we become anti-hustle because we're not worried about all those little busywork things that we got so used to doing in corporate, you know. Um, like the first thing you do, you get to your computer and then you gotta open up your programs and turn on the computer. Hey, Connie, oh my god, how's the kids? Right? Like, yes or no? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Absolutely. Yeah. And all those times, like your commute time, the time of walking to the bathroom, like all of those things go away. And then you feel like, oh my God, I gotta be working, I gotta be working. I'm I'm not working. Um, and that doesn't make any sense because as long as we're doing those important things, you can go do whatever the heck else you want with those other four hours. Like, you're not actually working.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Come on, like you're not you weren't actually working. And what I found, and I feel like this is just how our brains are kind of wired, which is we'll focus on the things that aren't actually going to get us hired. So, one thing that I see with my clients is that, like, because when you are building relationships online and you're um, you know, doing things online or reaching out to people, it's hard. Your brain just like doesn't feel like it substant it substantiates how you've spent your time. But look at my website, look at all of my Canva graphics, look at all of the things that I've created, none of which are income-producing activities. And especially, I mean, eventually you're gonna need a website, eventually you're gonna need the graphics, eventually, but if you're especially just getting started, you need to be focusing on building relationships, connecting with humans, because there's nobody to send your webs to your website. There's nobody to give a shit about your graphics if you haven't built those relationships, right? And so one of the things that is a struggle for so many people is getting back on track and doing the

Traffic Before Logos And Websites

SPEAKER_00 16:28

income producing activities and like maybe you need a list, maybe you need like to like get you back, like okay, you veered off. That's great. Like, these are the things every day. So, like check on your leads list, reach out to people, follow up with comments, right? Like, those are all like do a Facebook live, book a podcast. Like, how are you building your reach? And then the secondary or third, like tertiary things, maybe give yourself an hour to fuck around in Canva or to update like a sales page, right? But that and that's one of the hardest things because it's like I feel so accomplished. Like, look at this pretty website, it's so nice. And there no one gives a shit.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yeah, and you're so right though, because if you don't have traffic, it's for nothing. Yeah, um, you could have the best graphics in the world, and I've had so many clients come to me and they're like, I paid for branding, I paid for a website, I paid for this membership, I paid for this. How do I excel? And I'm like, Well, are you like, Where's your market? Like, where's your audience? Oh, I haven't done that. Well, then why have you paid $10,000 for this job? This is not, and the thing is that people sell you those things, you don't buy those things because they're good marketers and that, yes, but that's all they are, they're really good at marketing. Um, and so I think you're right. And as a website developer, I'm a hundred percent with you. In fact, I just recorded a talk and I was like, if you're building out a media kit and you don't have a website, do not go down that rabbit hole. Do it on LinkedIn, do it

Bootstrapping Smart Tools And Investments

SPEAKER_01 18:01

on Facebook, do it on Instagram. I don't care. As long as you have a place where somebody's like, Where can I find you? Oh, check me out on LinkedIn and all your featured posts have all the important information. This is how you can work with me. Get your free thing. Um, and so I think it's such a big deal. You don't need to invest $5,000, $10,000, whatever, however much somebody wants to charge you on a website. You need traffic, you need clients, you need leads, you need all of those things before.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

And this is exactly what I'm saying. Like, this is on such a bigger scale of when you when you just start your business, you think, oh, I need all of these things. And this is exactly why I have the anti-hustle business checklist. So that's the freebie that I have for everybody. This is exactly why, because on that checklist, it's the need to have, the must have, and the nice to have, and then like eventually you need to have because, and so many people get it backwards. They put the nice to have as the must have. The logo, yeah, and then they have a they spend so much money when actually you should be spending you. If you don't know how to sell, you don't need a what you need to invest in some to somebody teach you how to sell. If you don't know how to talk about what you do, you don't need branding, you need to hire somebody somebody to teach you how to talk about what you're doing. Because the thing is, is that coaching is a skill set. If you're a if you're a VA, if you are a therapist, because I work with creatives and service providers, right? So it's not just coaches, but if you're a photographer, that's your skill set. If you are an accountant, that's your skill set. These are all people that I've worked with. Sales is a skill set, marketing is a skill set. Um, all of these things are a skill set. But what is going to actually make you money is the skill set that you're good at, is your craft. And then you need to like layer the next skills on. So you need to know how to sell. You need to know how to talk about your

Brand Maturity And Financial Timing

SPEAKER_00 20:16

offer, right? The website and the branding is it should be so far off your radar that that's not even a thought. Use your Facebook, use your Instagram. Like exactly like you said, you like have them have like a really basic landing page on, like, I don't know, Flowdesk.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

You can make free, you can make free landing pages on Google.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

I didn't even know that, but that's amazing. Yeah. Do you mean like Google Docs?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

No, no. Apparently, there's like a whole, like, I was doing research and I was like, how how can you build? You know, like I was doing research for building landing pages. Like, what's the most cost-effective way? And apparently, there's a Google landing pages where it lets you do like a super simple free landing page. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Yeah, I didn't even know that. So there's there's workarounds, right? I didn't even have my first property. I did everything on Squarespace. I DIY'd and bootstrapped everything until it. Yeah, well done because then I could invest in coach training. I invested in a business coach, a marketing coach. I invested in things that actually moved the needle. I did my own Squarespace website. I did everything in Google Docs. I uploaded videos onto YouTube. Like, you don't need Thinkific, you don't need Kajabi, you don't need all these things. They're excellent marketers and they're gonna steal your money. So I think I was probably, I don't know, 17, 18, 19, 20, five or six years into business before I actually had a proper website. And the only reason that I got that was because I had moved past six figures and I wanted the outside of my business to match what was financially happening on the inside because it was all janky. Like once you I don't even have access to my Squarespace site. I'm just like so janky, right? It did the trick, it got me to six figures. But once I got up there and I saved the money, I paid in cash because of the because of the financials

Rejection, Visibility, And Worthiness

SPEAKER_00 22:26

and how I was structuring everything. I see people putting this on credit cards or taking out business loans to get this. And it's just like, oh get my get my checklist and figure out how to do that.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

There are things, there are things that you you should, you know, if you wanted to put down, but I think you're absolutely right. Like paying five grand for a logo or a website is not a credit card worthy investment. Because where is it coming back? How is it? But like who gives a shit about a new logo?

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Like, how is this logo getting you hired? Like, right, right. And like, especially for this demographic, because we have these ideas of like what makes a great brand, but like you're charging $300 a month for your services, like you thinking about this big great brand, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Is like you're not competing with Oprah yet. Like, let's calm down.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

People don't give a shit. They're like, Oh, I didn't even see your logo, I didn't even know your hat. And you're like, I spent so much money on it. Like, yeah, it's you don't you don't need it, like and it's it's beyond frustrating because people run out of money too. Yeah, so they're like, Oh, I have a website, and and but I don't have any clients, and I can't invest in a coach to teach me how to build my business because I spent it on the website. And I'll tell you what, I see as soon as they build out their offer, as soon as they get clear on who their person is, their website feels old and irrelevant.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yep, and that's the thing is that your brand will come out. It it's it's just something that happens, and and then like you can't force it, right? Like overcome yourself, the podcast, right? It just kind of became the brand. I didn't like mean it. I just realized, oh, this is what I talk about over and over and over again. It's my podcast, it's my book, like this is my thing, and so I I ran with it, right? But what the first website I built, like you said, does not match at all. It I look at it now and I'm like, oh it's embarrassing, right? But it's how I learned, it's it's you know, and like I love it, I have love for it, and I'm grateful for it in its own way, but I'm like, like you said, I'm like, that looks like shit. I am so much better than that now. Um, but then it's a track record where you could say, look where I came from and where I started.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

So then I just did a reel, I just did a reel about this today, which was like so many people get so caught up in having it perfect or having it look a certain way and not putting themselves out there. And what what we know is that you putting yourself out there is how you build your confidence, it's how you how

Sobriety’s Role In Sustainable Business

SPEAKER_00 25:15

you make mistakes and learn. But if you learn to ask the right questions, yes, absolutely. So if you're just kind of hanging out, like doing this freebie or doing these things and like focusing on your website, you're not actually putting yourself out there. And what I've also seen too is that, and this is where the personal development side of building a business really starts to come in because you're working on um rejection. So many of us are neurodivergent too. So we have like the whole rejection sensitivity, we're really we we don't want to be rejected, right? But like you have to work with somebody to overcome that and develop a thick skin. Because if you don't figure out how to accept being rejected, you're gonna have to just go work for somebody else because you're never gonna last in this. You're gonna be you're every no is gonna hurt your feelings so significantly that you don't want to put yourself out there. So you have to look at this. There's visibility wounds, there's body image stuff that comes up, there's just so much stuff that we're working through, right? Worthiness stuff. I'm I'll be 46 at the end of the month. And there's like I'm I'm working on feeling fucking old and seeing all of the, you know, the faces that look young and the bodies that are young. And so I'm constantly working on this because I want to age naturally. I don't want to do all of the fillers and all of the things. So you're beautiful, by the way. Thank you. But but this is something, and like, but people also think, oh, they don't deal with that because they're popular or they're making a lot of money, but like behind the scenes, these are the conversations that I'm having with my coach friends and my clients. Is this the worthiness and the self-esteem?

SPEAKER_01 27:03

And yeah, um, yeah,

Costs Of Drinking And Choosing Presence

SPEAKER_01 27:06

like and like what you were saying, rejection can come in so many forms in this space because it's not just somebody saying, No, I don't want to work with you, it could be like a really nasty comment on a YouTube video, or you know, they're they didn't like something that you posted on Facebook, and they're cruel, yeah, so you're just like, Oh, yeah, but you know what? They don't nine times out of ten, and I've learned this from my mentors. If you trace back who left that comment, they're not brave enough to put their face online, they're not brave enough to put their opinions online, and so what they say doesn't really count because like they're hiding behind a you know an avatar. So yeah, just the other side of that, you know, to remember because yeah, you do every time you look at a picture, you're like, Oh my god, I'm so fat. Oh my god, my eyes yesterday I was watching a video and I was like, Oh my god, my eyebrows, like this one's bigger, and then and then I sent it to someone and I was like, Can I submit this? And she's like, This is amazing. I'm like, I was looking at the eyebrows. You know, yeah. And so those are the things that you have to deal with here. Um, because we're dealing with every day. And the things that you thought, you're like, okay, I dealt with this. Then you get to the next level and it comes up in a new way. And you're like, wait, I thought you had done it at level one and now you're at level three. And so that she comes back and she's like, I'm back with Avenge. Don't forget about me.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And what I say to that too is like, and I remind my clients, like, because we're working on money stuff and money beliefs, and there's just so much that we're working on, and they're like, I thought I dealt with this, and you did, you dealt with this at that level, and it doesn't go away. You just get stronger, you just get more resilient, you get more confident, and you have to keep going. If you don't keep going, like I said, like you're gonna have to go get a job. Like, you have to be, and this is why no one told me

Breaking Cycles And Family Patterns

SPEAKER_00 29:13

when I started my business that this was like the ultimate personal development experience. I was like, I just wanna do funnels and I want to help people with marketing. Like, yeah, why is all of this stuff coming up? But which then serves me well that I don't drink and that I don't use to numb because I can't even imagine. I mean, I wouldn't, I don't know if I'd be alive if I was still using the way that I was using, I don't think that that would be true. Um, and I like would be spending my money, like I just wouldn't have the life or the business that I have if I was still using, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:54

When you were talking in the beginning about like, you know, about drinking, I was like, the other thing is so expensive. We went out one night and I got two drinks, and they were like this big, they were like drinks, not like shots, like and but the cup was like this big, and the guy was like 48 dollars. And I was like, How do people do this every weekend?

SPEAKER_00 30:14

I was like, No, I can't do it. I had a friend that went to Spain and he flew over and he said that they were like 20 something euro a sh a drink. And I was like, Are you insane? Like, people pay this. Yeah, no, no, no, I can't. When I was a waitress, like we had shots of Patron, and it was like 14 bucks. So this was back in 2000 or 11, 14 shots, those would be like 20 shots, just just so that you like forget your name and can't walk. Like, and then just one shot, you're gonna need like seven of those dudes.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

Like, no, I can't, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

And and on top of like all the other party favors, like inflation is insane, yeah. But but and life would just be so different, and there's I mean, and granted, like things are stressful, like it's not that my life is without stress, like and I think like, oh man, I just want to drink, like, I just wanna it'd be so nice if I could just take the edge off or go like forget things for a little bit, and then I think about the way that I keep from doing that.

Free Anti‑Hustle Checklist And Links

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Cause look, I have I live alone, I have my two cats, like there's been moments where I'm like, literally nobody would know. I could drink again, I could, I would know, and I have such a guilty conscience, and I have to play out what would happen. And I know, like, for me, because I've been sober for 12 years. I've been October it'll be 12 years. I'm not gonna break 12 years of sobriety to have just one drink. We're gonna go party, and I'll probably die. Like, cause, and so like I play that out of like, I don't have an off switch. There's no like, let's just like enjoy it's like deadly. And yeah, the hangovers, like, I don't drink enough water one day, and I'm like so dehydrated, like I can't even imagine what it would be like if I was actually drinking.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

So, and then just one of the reasons and then the older you are, the worse those hangovers get.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

And I'm perimetopausal, so I don't even know how that's gonna be. I can't, I can't. And one of the reasons that I actually started my business was because I wanted something that kept me accountable to my recovery and that kept me healthy, like living a healthy lifestyle. And so by me putting my life on display, by me talking about my recovery,

Final Tip: Inventory Your Relationship With Substances

SPEAKER_00 32:58

it added a level of accountability that you just can't get if you're hiding out on your own. You know, and so for me, there's like a lot of people who look up to me. There's a lot of people who are, you know, reach out and they're inspired. Inspiring my story has helped them have the confidence to quit. And so, like, that also plays into like why I can't drink or why I won't drink.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

Yeah, it sucks anyway. So, like, yeah, I'm not missing out, and I can't afford it. No, no, no. I'd rather go on vacation, right? There's so many, yeah. There's there's a lot of things, and you have to learn though, like those are the things that come with healing mentally and getting to a healthy place and being able to sit down and enjoy doing a puzzle, being able to sit down and like actually enjoy it, not like being like, Oh, this would be so much better with some wine, like, no, no, no, like just letting yourself go and and or painting something, reading a book, like going for a walk, like just simply hanging out with your cats and

Resources For Recovery And Family Support

SPEAKER_01 34:05

petting them and enjoying them, and like you know, like just being in the moment, and you can't do those things, you know, when you're off gallivanting and you know, passing out in the street like that. Well, that's not fun. That's not fun.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

Also, just like the recovery, too. Cause like when I was when I was finally ready to stop, like the my hangovers would last days where I was so incredibly sick. And I mean, the way to make it better is to start drinking again. Right? Like now we have a problem. If I feel like shit, and the way to make this go away is to ingest the thing that made me feel this horrible. Like now we have a really big problem, and that's that's the cycle that I was in.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

And that's and you have to stay drunk because then you always feel bad. And then the older you get, the more your body is like, I'm just tired, like your poor liver is tired, like everything's like, you know, like we walked 30,000 steps and you don't even remember half of them. Like, come on, like that's why your feet are right now. Yeah, no, but it's a lot, and um, you know, we I know we talked about this before the episode, but I grew up surrounded. I I've talked about it before on the show, surrounded by alcoholics, different members of my family. And one of the funny things I I remember getting in trouble for because I had one family member and they would drink, and then another family member would come over and they'd be like, Oh, you've been drinking, and then I would get in trouble. Oh, you told them I was drinking, and I was like, No, bitch, I didn't have to tell them like you like on the wall. Yeah, you know, um, but yeah, so it's like this whole thing, it takes over your life, and you're always angry at people, and you don't remember half the stuff you do. So I commend you, you know, for stopping. I'm sure the generational trauma, like you had to face that. And and I was talking about this with someone yesterday, like that's a big deal. Facing that and being like, You're not you're not passing from me. This is it. Like, it stops here, it stops here. Yeah, absolutely. So I commend you for that. Now, yeah, you mentioned and you've mentioned it a few times. I want to get my hands on it. Tell us about the gift that you have available for us.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

Yes, so I have the anti-hustle business checklist. So if you go to anti-hustlebiz.com, you'll see the freebie there. And uh I have a podcast as well, anti-hustle business podcast. And so there's a couple of links there so you can learn more about me. I have a free Facebook group, um, but the freebie, the business checklist. So, as I said, like so many of us don't know what to focus on when we are just getting started in our businesses and we focus on the wrong things. So I created this very lengthy um checklist so that you can see exactly what you need for each stage of your business. And so it walks you through what you need to have to get started, and then once you're making some money, then here are some things that you want to layer on. Um, and so I walk you through that whole process. And then once you're in that funnel and um receiving those emails, you'll also receive some other free trainings that are in there, how to build your business and how to, you know, get things moving along. And eventually, you know, we'll have a conversation about anti-hustle business school.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

I love it. That is amazing. And how can we follow you on social media?

SPEAKER_00 37:35

Yep. So I'm at the Shannon Whaley on Instagram. Oh, TikTok. I think it's anti-hustlebizcoach. I'm not on there of the I know it'll be in the show notes, but I think that's what it is. But everywhere's Shannon Whaley or anti-hustle business. So you can just go see all of those. Um, yeah, and then I'd say antihustlebiz.com and you'll get all of the links and see where I am. Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

And all of those links are gonna be available down in the show notes for those of you listening here. Um, all right, and we like to sign off here with a final tip. What's that big tip? You know, like something that you tell your audience that just gives them the biggest aha. They're like, I'm so glad I paid you for this. Give it away to us now.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

Um fine recovery. Just like look at so one of the big things is just like look at um what like is this serving you in your life if you because I not yet don't do recovery coaching. It might be part of what I'm offering here. Um, but so many of my clients do get sober because and like find recovery during our business coaching because they see how much of an impact substances are having on their life and they want to make some changes. So you don't have to wait to hit bottom, you don't have to wait for things to get awful, you don't have to get to blacking out and passing out in public. Like you can stop now. And if you're questioning your relationship with alcohol and you're also a business owner, there these things go hand in hand. And so my recommendation is just to kind of take an inventory of where you are and where you want to be and see if alcohol and substances play a part in that. And if not, it's time to make some changes.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

Absolutely. Um, and just since we're talking about recovery and everything, I know that there's lots of local programs available, no matter what you're struggling with. I know they I've heard of like narcotics anonymous, gamblers anonymous, alcoholics anonymous. Um, and I also recently learned I was watching a show and there is something like separate from AA. It's called Al Anon, and it's actually for family members of alcoholics. And so if you know someone who's struggling and you're like, I need help. Help, even though I'm not the one who's addicted, but I'm living with someone or I know someone, um, I'm working with someone. There are options available, so you can look them up online. Um, and please reach out to Shannon because this is such a big deal. And again, the addiction is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem. Something's going on. And we just want to make sure that you get helped and that you get happy and that you get healthy. Um, because, like we said earlier in this conversation, life is not meant to be dragged through. Like we want you to live joyfully, we want you to live with purpose, we want you to live with hope. Um, and so we want you to overcome yourself. And so that's what it's all about, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

So I also want to add into so there's Al-Anon, and actually, the one of the clients that I'm working with right now is Tipping Point Recovery, which is specifically for families who have loved ones who are struggling. So the work that this is like what's kicked me back into this industry and into the recovery field. Um, but the work that the owner um and founder of Tipping Point, Kate Duffy, has been doing is just really groundbreaking because family support hasn't been in records traditionally. So just want to throw that out there. There are the 12 steps, but that doesn't work. Like I didn't get sober through the 12 steps. Um, but there's Dharma recovery and women for sobriety, and so there's lots of other avenues to help you find recovery and help your family.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

So that is so important. Thank you for sharing that. Um, and for when you were talking, something that came up for me, there are also groups for things like grief. And so, like for you, if you're listening, um I I've you know I've been to therapy and group, you know, having group experiences is very powerful. And so that's why one of the reasons that we're talking about this today, I know it can be helpful, and so I know this is kind of deep and heavy, but you never know who's listening

Closing Gratitude And Sign‑Off

SPEAKER_01 41:58

that that might be blessed by this. So um, I really appreciate you, Shannon. This has been amazing. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yes, of course, and thank you guys for joining us. This has been a great episode, and we'll catch you next time on the next episode of Overcome Yourself the Podcast. Bye. Bye.