Another chance to hear Clare Pooley 'live'with JaneyAnother chance to hear Clare Pooley 'live'with Janey
Alcohol Free Life - Janey Lee Grace
Janey Lee Grace and author Clare Pooley share an honest, often funny conversation about sobriety, breast cancer, creativity and grey area drinking. The discussion focuses on sober tools, writing, self-care and why life can feel freer and more authentic without alcohol.
48:54•14 Aug 2026
Clare Pooley on Life After Booze, Breast Cancer and Finding Her Voice
Episode Overview
- Ask whether alcohol is affecting your life rather than labelling yourself, and remember you don’t have to hit rock bottom to stop.
- Reuse your sober tools – such as one day at a time thinking and craving strategies – for other life challenges like illness, parenting or grief.
- Keep a written record through journalling or blogging to process emotions, track progress and remind yourself why you stopped drinking.
- Use vision boards and morning pages to clarify what you want from an alcohol-free life and keep your focus on the benefits.
- Treat the first year as deep self-care, reduce pressure to ‘find your purpose’, and lean on community support instead of going it alone.
“The question isn’t, are you an alcoholic? The question is, is alcohol messing with your life?”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? Here, Janey Lee Grace shares a live conversation with author and sober hero Clare Pooley, recorded at Club Soda, giving a warm, funny and very honest look at life without alcohol. Clare talks through the shock of getting breast cancer just as she thought sobriety had finally become “all bunnies and rainbows”, and how the same “sober toolbox” that helped her stop drinking also helped her face illness, fear and family challenges.
She stresses that the real question isn’t “am I an alcoholic?” but, as she puts it, “The question is, is alcohol messing with your life?” Aimed at anyone who’s quit, is sober curious, or just drinking more than they want to, this chat keeps things practical and relatable. There’s plenty on journalling, morning pages and even vision boards as ways to track the bad days, celebrate the good ones, and remember why going back to ‘just one’ rarely works.
Clare shares how going to bed early, protecting tricky evenings, and writing a blog for herself eventually led to her bestselling book *The Sober Diaries* and a new career as a novelist. Janey weaves in gentle humour and audience laughs about breathalysers, plane booze trolleys and ‘cashier fear’, while still keeping room for the serious stuff, including a clear warning for anyone who might be clinically dependent on alcohol to seek medical support.
The tone stays non-judgemental, down-to-earth and hopeful, with both women highlighting authenticity, self-knowledge and connection as the real prizes of alcohol-free living. If you’re wondering whether life could feel bigger, calmer or more creative without booze, this chat might be exactly the nudge you need. What could your own sober toolbox help you handle next?
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