Episode 628-Beyond the Magic: Dr. Liz DuBois Erskine on Turning Addiction Recovery into Executive PowerEpisode 628-Beyond the Magic: Dr. Liz DuBois Erskine on Turning Addiction Recovery into Executive Power
Busy Living Sober with Host Elizabeth Chance
Host Elizabeth "Bizzy" Chance talks with Dr. Liz DuBois Erskine about addiction, relapse, and rebuilding a life that blends long-term recovery with executive leadership. Their candid chat links rock-bottom moments, Disney lifeguard days and boardroom lessons into practical ideas for treating failures as fuel for growth.
42:05•2 Apr 2026
From Disney to the Boardroom: Dr. Liz on Sobriety, Setbacks and Real Leadership
Episode Overview
- Relapse on legal substances like marijuana can be just as dangerous as alcohol, with serious consequences including medical emergencies and custody loss.
- Treating failures as information rather than self-condemnation helps both recovery and leadership, turning mistakes into usable lessons.
- Support that focuses on the disease of addiction, rather than a single substance, can be crucial when patterns shift from alcohol to pills or other drugs.
- The Disney idea of onstage versus backstage reminds leaders to be honest without oversharing or commodifying their trauma for public attention.
- Leaving toxic workplaces or relationships is sometimes healthier than working harder to endure them, despite social pressure to “tough it out”.
“I just pivot people into learning mode from self-blame mode, and that oftentimes is the thing that allows someone not just to find grace for themselves, but to be able to leverage that thing as something positive.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Elizabeth "Bizzy" Chance and Dr. Liz DuBois Erskine shows just how messy, funny and powerful that strength can look over nearly two decades. Dr.
Liz is an executive coach, conflict analyst and long-time member of recovery fellowships, whose story includes Disney lifeguarding, boxed wine and Percocet, a terrifying ambulance ride after mixing marijuana with an over‑the‑counter supplement, and losing custody of her child during a brutal court battle. She’s crystal clear about the stakes of relapse: “I’ve been drunk many times. I’ve never had to call an ambulance.
I’ve been high off edibles twice and one time should have and the second time did.” You’ll hear how her relationship with substances shifted from alcohol to opioids and Xanax, and why she eventually found a better fit in Narcotics Anonymous, where the focus is on addiction rather than the specific drug. She and Bizzy also swap candid views on today’s marijuana culture, driving while high, and the myth that we must be chemically altered to feel okay.
For anyone juggling recovery and ambition, Dr. Liz connects the dots between sobriety and leadership. She explains how leaving toxic situations early shaped her career, why she moved from divorce coaching into executive coaching, and how she turns mistakes into fuel: she constantly helps clients treat “I fell on my face and ate the big one” as data, not a verdict. A standout part of the chat is her Disney‑inspired model of leadership: the difference between “onstage and backstage”.
Some experiences are meant for clients; some belong behind the fence with the metaphorical Donald Duck on a smoke break. That idea lands especially hard in their critique of trauma‑dumping on social media. Warm, irreverent and very human, this episode suits anyone in recovery who’s wondering how their hardest experiences might one day become real executive strength. Could reframing your own “failures” as information change how you move forward?
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