#115 – Lee-Anne Richardson: Addicted to Happy#115 – Lee-Anne Richardson: Addicted to Happy
Recovery Survey
Brett Morris talks with Lee-Anne Richardson about her journey from chaotic drinking and self-harm to over eight years of sobriety, community work, and creative projects. Their conversation compares different recovery paths and shows how life can become freer, fuller, and more colourful without alcohol.
43:37•1 Jun 2022
Addicted to Happy: Lee-Anne Richardson on Sobriety, Self-Worth and Finding Your People
Episode Overview
- Recovery does not look the same for everyone; AA, other programmes, or personal routines can all be valid paths.
- Thinking about quitting alcohol “forever” can feel overwhelming; focusing on today makes early recovery more manageable.
- The guilt and shame of addiction can ease over time, helping life feel lighter and more hopeful.
- Sobriety can restore cognitive clarity, making it possible to return to study, build a career, and reach long-held goals.
- Staying connected to others in recovery—through meetings, online groups, or local meetups—helps maintain sobriety and offers mutual support.
“Don’t think about it as forever, and the guilt and shame will go away, and you’ll start to feel lighter.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This conversation with content creator and addictions advocate Lee-Anne Richardson offers a very relatable answer.
Lee-Anne shares how drinking started as typical teen partying in Nova Scotia but spiralled into homelessness, self‑harm and feeling “stuck and hopeless.” She explains how alcohol took over her decision-making: “Alcohol was making all my decisions at that point, and if you were in my way… well, okay, see ya, and I’ll just continue to party and do whatever the hell I want.” After a night of heavy drinking and a hospital visit on 2 March 2014, something shifted.
She woke up thinking, “I’m done. I’m never drinking again. I can’t.” That moment led her to AA and, eventually, to over eight years of continuous sobriety. You’ll hear how sobriety gave Lee-Anne back her mind, her education, and her future. She talks about feeling her brain “rewiring,” going back to school at 30, graduating with honours, and building a career she loves.
From there came her YouTube channel Addicted to Happy and her local project Sober City, which offers meetups, resources, and inspiration for people in Nova Scotia. The chat with host Brett Morris also digs into different paths to recovery. Brett came in and out of meetings before his current clean time, while Lee-Anne is very “all or nothing” and stopped the first time it stuck.
Both agree there’s no single right way to get sober, and that recovery can be built through 12-step, other programmes, or personal routines like meditation, community, and service. If you’re wondering whether life can feel colourful and free without alcohol, this conversation might be the nudge you’ve been waiting for. What part of their stories sounds most like yours?
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