#62 – Nadia Bruce-Rawlings: Driving In The Rain

#62 – Nadia Bruce-Rawlings: Driving In The Rain

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? Recovery Survey shines a light on that question as Brett Morris chats with writer and long-time sober mum, Nadia Bruce-Rawlings. Nadia shares how a childhood steeped in alcohol, an abusive father, and a glamorous-looking life around the globe eventually spiralled into crack addiction, jail time, and losing everything.

Her description of the chaos is blunt: “Even when I was just drinking… my life was chaotic and unmanageable.” You’ll hear how a court-ordered stint in a bare-bones rehab finally became her turning point. Sitting on the front steps, crying while her brother signed the papers, she now recognises that moment as her surrender.

From there, she rebuilt life from the ground up: sober living, bus rides to a file-clerk job, single motherhood, and then a remarkable promotion back up to vice president level in the film industry. The conversation doesn’t just stick to the wreckage. Nadia talks about healthy relationships in recovery, including reconnecting with a past love who later became her husband, and what it’s like to be a sober stepmum in a blended family of six kids.

She also chats about her books, *Scars* and *Driving In The Rain*, collections of raw memoir, poetry and short stories that some readers have used as a push towards recovery or out of abusive relationships. There’s practical stuff too: daily gratitude lists she swaps with sponsees, the role of a higher power, and how life today looks surprisingly simple—paid bills, dog walks, family photos on a desk, and kids who now come to her for “advice and love”.

If you’re wondering whether long-term sobriety can actually bring peace and even a bit of fun, this conversation might have you asking what your own “hope shot” could look like.