31: Lead Well Live Well with Dee Blick - Episode 3131: Lead Well Live Well with Dee Blick - Episode 31
UK Health Radio Podcast
Dee Blick talks with Angus Grady about his journey from alcohol-fuelled chaos and hospitalisation to long-term sobriety, gratitude and creative success. Their conversation highlights AA, higher power, family impact and the everyday mindset shifts that support a life beyond booze.
50:44•10 Oct 2026
From Booze to "Drinked In": Angus Grady on Sobriety, Gratitude and Creativity
Episode Overview
- Alcohol may feel like confidence in a glass, but Angus shows how it gradually dismantled his work and family life.
- Reaching rock bottom in hospital forced a clear choice: continue drinking towards death or stop and attempt to live.
- AA meetings and the 12 steps offered connection, structure and a practical way to live happily without booze.
- Gratitude and regular self-reflection help Angus stay grounded, face loss and stress, and avoid using alcohol as medicine.
- Sobriety opened space for a calmer career in LinkedIn training and for unique creative work like hand-painted watercolour cards.
“I had two choices. Do I drink and die? Do I stop and live?”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation on UK Health Radio brings together host Dee Blick and guest Angus Grady for a candid, often funny, and deeply human chat about alcohol, rock bottom, and rebuilding life. Angus, a respected LinkedIn trainer and artist, talks about being the underconfident young man who thought booze was his magic ticket: "I can dance all of a sudden because I've got some drinks in me.
I'm the funniest person on the planet because I'm drinking." That so-called friend eventually turned on him, leading to blackout drinking, chaos in advertising agency culture, and the slow unpicking of his family life. The turning point is stark. After yet another boozy lunch, Angus wakes up in hospital on a heart machine, watching his wife in searing distress and reading his daughter's poem, "10 things I hate about you". As he puts it, "I had two choices.
Do I drink and die? Do I stop and live?" From there, AA, the Big Book, and the 12 steps become his new operating system. You’ll hear him describe his first AA meetings, the relief of realising "I'm not alone", and the power of connection in rooms filled with everyone from tradespeople to magistrates.
He speaks openly about a higher power without pushing religion, framing coincidence as "God's way of being anonymous" and stressing that sobriety has carried him through bereavement, his wife's cancer and family illness without a drink ever offering a real solution. Angus now calls himself a "discovering alcoholic", runs a successful LinkedIn-focused business, and pours his creativity into hand-painted watercolour cards that open doors more gently than any cold email.
Throughout, Dee and Angus keep coming back to gratitude, self-kindness and the simple daily choice not to pick up that first drink. If you or someone you care about is struggling, could talking openly be the first small step towards your own life beyond booze?
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