Coming Out Of Addiction Bright, Shiny, And Happy With Emily SadlerComing Out Of Addiction Bright, Shiny, And Happy With Emily Sadler
I Love Being Sober
Tim Westbrook talks with Emily Sadler about her journey from teenage drinking and severe alcoholism to long-term sobriety and founding a recovery-friendly staffing company. The conversation focuses on feelings, community, work, and what it really takes to move towards a bright, shiny, and happy life.
36:41•16 Dec 2020
From Shattered Glass to Bright, Shiny and Happy: Emily Sadler’s Sobriety Story
Episode Overview
- Alcohol often starts as a way to escape uncomfortable emotions, especially for sensitive people who were never taught to process their feelings.
- Strong recovery can begin with simply asking for help and letting experienced people guide you through meetings and the steps.
- Having some kind of job or purpose in early sobriety can help prevent depression, build humility, and create a sense of achievement.
- Paid work in the recovery field is not a substitute for working a personal recovery programme with meetings, a sponsor and sponsees.
- Building a new, supportive community is crucial, as returning to old environments and relationships can quickly lead back to old behaviours.
“I remember in the beginning of recovery and still when I'm growing through something like feeling like shattered glass… I promise that goes away.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This conversation between host Tim Westbrook and guest Emily Sadler offers a raw look at alcoholism, motherhood, and building a new life from almost nothing. Emily shares how her drinking began in her early teens, describing herself as a "super irritable, restless, discontent" kid who never learned how to handle intense emotions.
Alcohol became the "easier, softer way" to escape feelings, eventually leading to institutionalisation, a DUI, and the terrifying realisation that she might lose her two sons. She talks openly about knocking on a neighbour’s door and asking for help, then being hand‑held into Alcoholics Anonymous by an old-timer who "sat me next to her for like a year".
There’s no glamour added to recovery here: Emily stresses she "worked my ass off" and still has tough days, using humour to admit she can swap booze for sugar or shopping if she’s not careful. You’ll also hear how she went from being "not employable" to founding ETC by Emily, a staffing company built largely around people in recovery.
She explains why early‑recovery jobs matter less for status and more for staying out of depression, gaining humility, and feeling useful again. Her coffee-shop meetups with staff double as paydays, informal check-ins, and a place where "people are really just lonely and looking for connection". Throughout, Emily keeps returning to community and honesty: finding your people, staying close to them, and not confusing paid work in recovery with actually working a recovery programme.
If you’ve ever felt like shattered glass and wondered if life could feel bright, shiny, and happy again, this chat might be the nudge to hold on a little longer and reach out to someone today.
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