606: She Hid Her Addiction for Years Until Everything Collapsed
606: She Hid Her Addiction for Years Until Everything Collapsed

Real Recovery Talk

Susan describes years of hidden addiction, beginning with an eating disorder and moving into alcohol and pills, and how fellowship became a key part of her recovery. The conversation also looks at recovery coaching, family support, life skills and why community and connection matter so much in staying sober.

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54:21•3 Jun 2026

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From Fashion Floors to Fellowship: Susan’s Long-Hidden Addiction Story

Episode Overview

Addiction can show up in many forms, including eating disorders, and may start long before substance use becomes obvious.
Fellowship and peer support can provide connection and understanding that some people do not find in therapy alone.
Community is central both in active addiction and in recovery, so building healthy recovery communities is crucial.
Recovery coaching focuses on practical life skills, structure and transitions, working alongside therapy and, where used, 12-step support.
Families often need education and support of their own, especially around setting boundaries and reducing guilt and shame.

“I can't stress fellowship. To me, that's like one of the main ingredients of recovery.”

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This conversation pulls back the curtain on Susan’s story of hiding addiction behind a glossy fashion career until everything fell apart. Growing up in New York with dreams of becoming a fashion designer, Susan describes herself as an "all-or-nothing" person. Her struggles began with an eating disorder long before alcohol and pills took centre stage. "I was bulimic. Then I was starving myself. I was doing both.

It took over my life so much worse than alcohol," she shares, showing how addiction can shape-shift across food, substances and compulsive behaviour.

Host Tom Conrad and co-host Ben keep things relaxed and human, mixing humour with straight talk as they chat with Susan about pressure in the fashion industry, hiding Vicodin use after surgeries, and reaching a point where "no amount was helping" and she "really didn't want to be here anymore." A friend took her to her first meeting, and she marks 11 November 1999 as her sober date. The heart of the episode is fellowship and community.

Susan jokes about thinking the AA "think" sign was just upside down, yet those same rooms gave her what therapy alone couldn't: "I can't stress fellowship. To me, that's like one of the main ingredients of recovery." She talks about finding peers her own age, late-night diners, and the simple power of Blockbuster nights and phone calls.

Later, Susan explains her shift into recovery coaching and therapy, why structure and tiny wins like "take a shower, make your bed" matter, and how she supports clients and families with life skills, boundaries and ongoing accountability. There’s also a look at surf and water-based therapy, showing that recovery doesn’t have to mean four walls and fluorescent lights.

If you're curious about eating disorders, hidden addiction, or how community keeps people sober long term, this one might speak directly to you.

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