#145 – Amy Woods: From Homeless to Wholeness

#145 – Amy Woods: From Homeless to Wholeness

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? In this candid conversation, Amy Woods shares how her life moved from sleeping in her car and drinking half a gallon of whiskey a day to running her own sales and leadership coaching business. Seven years earlier, Amy was a devoted "football mum" and church youth leader whose life collapsed after a brutal divorce and homelessness. Losing day-to-day contact with her children felt unbearable, and she turned to heavy drinking.

Her lowest point came when her partner found her with a loaded gun in her mouth; she woke up three days later in hospital thinking, "You have a choice here. You're either going to continue killing yourself, or you're going to choose something different." Amy explains how traditional routes like AA didn’t suit her, as constantly revisiting trauma left her wanting to go back to the bar.

Instead, she tried several times to quit, eventually throwing herself into college, earning a 3.9 GPA, leadership certifications, and work with a start-up supporting disabled people. She then shifted again, realising that simply staying busy was another way of avoiding pain. With host Brett Morris, she talks frankly about complex PTSD, somatic healing, and the mindset coaching that helped her stop replaying painful scenes with her children every night.

She’s open about using a very personal, once-a-year glass of wine at home to manage cravings, stressing strongly that this approach "might not be for everybody" and that you should never ignore that inner warning voice. Today, her life is simple and sober: camping trips, hiking, dance, lifting weights, painting, photography, and a porch full of birds and squirrels. She also runs a business helping others build confidence and communicate from calm rather than fear.

Throughout, both Amy and Brett underline one key message: don’t try to do this alone. Who could you reach out to instead of going it solo?