Do you feel more confident now?
"Oh yeah. I've gained a lot more certainty about who I am, which obviously boosts my confidence because I don't have to doubt myself. It's amazing. You learn that you can really trust yourself and become the master of your own destiny, can't you, when you know. I used to always say, if I could quit alcohol, that would literally be the making of me because it would give me the ability to set boundaries, say no to things, and really uphold my values. And that's what I can trust myself to do: have my own values, establish boundaries, and have this inner confidence that I'm going to show up for myself. It's all from quitting booze. One thing. It's funny because I used to take courses to try and reach this point, to become that person. I would explore topics like confidence, how to achieve financial success in seven days, or finding your true self. You know, all those self-help books; I had a stack of them so high. I would think, "How can I do this?" All I needed to do was quit alcohol. That's what I needed to do.
Did your passion for running start before your sobriety or literally since you started?
It was literally since I basically quit alcohol and realized I have loads of space and time on my hands. I was waking up early and thinking, "Well, no one's out of bed yet. Yeah, I'll journal or do something." I just wondered, "What should I do? What shall I do on weekends as well?" because I wasn't interested in going to pubs and just sitting, listening to other people talk nonsense. I set up a business, and I now work as a motivational speaker. My life is completely different. Normally, I'd be on the road for six months doing a musical or participating in a reality TV show. Now, it's more like, "I'm going to do a motivational speaking gig in Wales or Scotland," or "I'm going to do podcasts about health and wellbeing." I'm participating in fitness festivals over the summer. My life has completely transformed. I never thought I would be like this, even a vegan now.
My food choices are entirely different, and everything about me is the complete opposite of the person I used to be.
How did your group of friends, your family respond to you when you said, I'm not drinking anymore?
They had to get to know a new me, and not everyone likes that. You know, and I've noticed that some people are no longer as present in my life as they used to be, and that's okay. I think it's a bit like we haven't spoken, and that's fine; we'll just leave it at that. We don't really need to get back into those types of people anymore. The type of people I hang around with are the kind of people I would probably have teased with my friends.
Why did you start the business?
I started to document my story online, and my account blew up - sharing my alcohol-free journey. I began by sharing my mental health story and being completely transparent about my struggles with mental health. Then I mentioned, "You know, I've now been three months sober." I think before that, I didn't want to say anything in case I'd fail. So I wanted to see how it was going for me, and then I started to completely share exactly what I was doing. I began doing the lockdown workouts with friends, and I called it the "Shower Happy Plan." I did workouts on one day, which was a big boost on Wednesdays because I was working with a company called Pict Fresh. As part of that, we brought in cooks and plant-based doctors and anyone I could find from the plant-based community. We did these cook-alongs online, chatting while cooking recipes. I'd learn something new, and people would join in. And from there, we attended something called "Habits Chat Tuesdays," where we talked about my alcohol-free journey. I was just documenting my running challenges and the accountability factor - all the stuff I was doing online was to help hold me accountable on my journey. People started asking, "What's next in the Happy Plan? What are you doing? What workout are you doing? What cook-along are you doing? What are you talking about?" I talked to people on Happy to Chat Tuesdays, which included discussions about alcohol-free journeys, mental health, expectations, and their stories. It wasn't limited to just talking to celebrities or high-profile influencers; I talked to everyone, and the response was great. I thought, "There's a business in this, a community of people coming together who want to celebrate wellness."
That's where the Happy Health Group was born. I started with challenges, like who wants to do a 28- day challenge, "Eat Clean," "Get Fit," and it was quite structured. As the community evolved, it became a wellness community. We offer alcohol-free support, all our recipes are plant-based, and we host plant- based cook-alongs. We focus on eating whole foods and making plates more colourful. Sustainability is a key message, and every company we partner with has to be sustainable. It's a place of wellbeing, and I believe that if you thrive, we all thrive, and the planet thrives. When you start looking after yourself, you become more mindful of your plastic usage and travel habits. It certainly was a domino effect for me. I thought it would be amazing to have a home that covers everything - fitness, alcohol-free support, personal growth, and mindfulness. We now emphasize mindfulness as a leading part of the company, with daily journaling, motivation, meditation, yoga, and Lisa, who you saw in the ecstatic dance, leads our yoga meditation sessions. It's a hub of wellness for you to nourish yourself in all areas, and you can dip in and out whenever you want.