Hi, I’m Joanne! My passion is helping and inspiring women to live and love life alcohol free

Joanne Walters The Sober Angel

My Story

Hi, I’m Joanne. I stopped drinking in November 2013. It was my best decision ever!

I created The Sober Angel as a resource for women who are looking to change their relationship with alcohol. It’s my passion to inspire women not just to live life alcohol-free but to LOVE it too.

Up until then, I was a drinker, a participant in the ‘social lubricant’ that is alcohol, and why not, it brought me fun and happiness! My life as a drinker was good, I had a great job and lots of friends, so to the outside world I was a ‘normal’ social drinker.

However, increasingly drinking for me had become far too regular and I had started to question if I was in control of it.

I had convinced myself that I didn’t have ‘a problem’ with alcohol because I could go for periods of time without it. I always went back to it as I believed that I needed alcohol to enjoy life and that by giving it up completely I would be missing out.

I was drinking too much, my thinking was distorted, and I was stuck.

Along the journey, I realised that I was in fact not alone in sobriety and that there are lots of women out there who are now non-drinkers and have chosen to not drink with the goal of becoming a better version of themselves. I wanted to be part of this tribe.

As the sober months went by I faced many challenges but promised myself I would just keep going until I felt better. The positive sober revelations started to trickle in. Some revelations hit me like the draft from a rocket launcher and others in more of a watching grass growing kind of way, but either way the shift I started to see a sober perspective and I now wonder why I ever chose to drink.

My life has changed for the better and now I live and love life alcohol-free and I want to help people like you to do the same because I understand how you feel right now, reading this today.

I re-trained as a Coach. This has helped me live out my core values of being useful to others and empowering people to grow.

What I’ve Learned

It’s your life and you can choose how you live it

Increasingly, drinking for me had become far too regular and I had started to question if I was in control of it. By that I mean all of my weekends, social life and holidays centred around drinking and the thought of any event, and in fact any evening without a drink would frankly sound dull.

You don't have to do this on your own

In 2013, when I finally accepted that I needed to make changes to what I call my ‘enthusiastic’ drinking I was not sure which way to turn. Support available talked of ‘treatment’, ‘recovery, and ‘illness’. None of these words resonated with me. So, feeling like I had no alternative I made my decision to quit drinking alone.

This is not about willpower

It’s easy to quit drinking with the right shift in mindset and that’s what I help you with. Without working on our mindset it’s just as easy to start again. Without these shifts we run the risk of either painful drinking then abstinence then drinking then abstinence or living life miserably without alcohol.

It is about challenging the myths

I had convinced myself that I didn’t have ‘a problem’, by abstaining from it for periods of time. I always went back to it as I falsely believed that I needed alcohol to enjoy life and that by giving it up completely I would be missing out. Also, we are mostly brainwashed into believing that stopping drinking is an arduous task reserved only for those whose drinking had become out of control.

Learn to live and love life alcohol-free

When we have been drinking for so long the thought of living without it can sound daunting! Living alcohol free is a process that makes us feel better day by day until one day we reach a point where we wonder why we ever chose to drink.

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How I Can Help You

Along the journey, I realised that I was in fact not alone in sobriety and that there are lots of women out there who are now non-drinkers and have chosen to not drink with the goal of becoming a better version of themselves. I wanted to be part of this tribe.

So, having made my way through the twists and turns in the road becoming aware of the potholes and arriving at a wonderful place where I have mastered alcohol-free living, I knew I needed to help other women in the same situation.

Why should others go it alone when I have a trodden the path and can light the way? I passionately hold the role of a Sober Accountability Coach. I do this with a true understanding of drinking from personal experience & perspective. My goal is to help women live and love life alcohol-free.

I would recommend this programme to others, particularly if giving sobriety a go for the first time as Joanne has so much knowledge to pass on from being there herself. But whatever stage people are at one of the most important messages I gained from the 6 weeks is that sobriety doesn’t have to be a hardship or battle of willpower, this was a new approach for me which has worked this time as my previous attempts at sobriety were based on willpower alone and I don’t think it’s possible to sustain this for the long term. Elaine, Sober Since 29th July 2018

I have now I completed the six weeks sober accountability programme with Joanne, and I am already nearly seven weeks sober.  My way of thinking about alcohol has totally shifted: I don’t like it & I don’t want it.  It astonishes me every day that I am just not bothered about it anymore.  Suddenly I have more time, I’ve saved up money, my body is recovering, and I realise that I can start doing things I was never be able to do when I was drinking.  I am in awe.

Winnie, Sober Since 30th September 2019

Do You Want to Feel Fabulous Without Alcohol?