Addiction and RecoveryAddiction and Recovery
I Love Being Sober
Alejandra Gastelum shares how she moved from a successful but spiritually empty life as a LA shoe designer into recovery and service. She also outlines her plan for a teen recovery high school aimed at reducing relapse and supporting families.
59:09•22 Aug 2023
From Hollywood Heels to Healing Teens: Alejandra Gastelum on Addiction and Recovery
Episode Overview
- Daily drinking can hide behind a glamorous, high‑functioning lifestyle until it becomes non‑functioning and dangerous.
- A wholehearted surrender to a higher power can, in Alejandra’s experience, remove cravings and support long‑term sobriety.
- Consistent self‑care — exercise, meditation, and staying busy in healthy ways — helped stabilise her first year sober, even during COVID.
- Working with others in recovery and behavioural health provides accountability and purpose that can strengthen one’s own sobriety.
- For teens, returning straight from treatment to the same school and peer group leads to very high relapse rates, making specialised recovery schools and ongoing care crucial.
“I think everybody literally in this world should do the 12 steps... because what a just weight lifted off of me to clean my side of the street.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation on *I Love Being Sober* follows Alejandra Gastelum as she talks openly about addiction, faith, and finding a new calling in helping young people recover. Alejandra shares childhood trauma that she kept secret for decades, then moves into her "Hollywood" years as a successful shoe designer in Los Angeles.
Her brand exploded after training in Milan, becoming a multimillion‑dollar company and landing in "thousands and thousands of magazines." Yet behind the glamour, she describes feeling "spiritually dead" and drinking daily: lunches with alcohol, networking over drinks, and eventually living in pyjamas, calling 911 for panic attacks. When her parents gently suggested help, she finally broke: "I thought I was going to die," she says.
A desperate prayer led her to treatment in Arizona, where she became a rare "one‑timer" — getting and staying sober after one stay. She credits this fully to her faith: "He took that phenomenon of craving away in one day." From there, she embraced self‑care, daily exercise, meditation, and working in behavioural health as a recovery coach, sober companion, case manager, and now community liaison at Turning Point Healing Centers.
One of the episode’s strongest moments is her reflection on the 12 steps and making amends: "I think everybody literally in this world should do the 12 steps... what a weight lifted off of me to clean my side of the street." She describes going back as far as a childhood stolen jacket, and the freedom that came from owning her part.
The core focus is Alejandra’s new passion project: My Power Academy, a recovery high school in Phoenix designed for teens with substance use issues.
She highlights staggering statistics — around 90% of teens relapse within 30 days of leaving treatment — and argues that sending them straight back to the same schools, friends, and environments is "a disservice." Her vision includes small classes, recovery coaches, mandatory outpatient work where possible, family involvement, and even boarding for those who can’t safely return home.
If you’re a parent worried about a teenager, in early recovery yourself, or just curious how someone goes from Hollywood heels to healing kids, this episode might leave you asking: what could change if more young people had this kind of support?
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