Recovered: Interviews with Alcoholics | Egan CarrollRecovered: Interviews with Alcoholics | Egan Carroll
The Magdalen House Podcast
Egan Carroll shares how she went from a professional ballerina with hidden bottles to a recovered woman grounded in the Big Book and service at The Magdalen House. Her story touches on relapse, spiritual change and the hope that remains as long as someone is still alive.
38:29•7 Oct 2026
From Ballet Shoes to Big Book: Egan Carroll’s Wild Route to Recovery
Episode Overview
- Egan describes how her first drink instantly felt like a solution to lifelong feelings of being on the outside.
- She explains that early sobriety without a spiritual solution left her vulnerable when fellowship disappeared during COVID.
- Repeated rehabs, trauma therapy and relapse plans failed until she accepted true powerlessness over the first drink.
- A chance beach conversation led her to The Magdalen House, where consistent Big Book teaching changed her view of the programme.
- Service, sponsorship and the next step education now anchor a life where alcoholism is seen as an asset for helping others.
“So long as we are alive, there is still hope.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? In this episode of *Recovered: Interviews with Alcoholics*, Egan Carroll shares a story that swings from professional ballet stages to psych wards and hurricanes, all tied together by her journey into recovery. You’ll hear how Egan, once a "professional ballerina turned run-of-the-mill alcoholic," grew up warned about alcoholism in her Irish Catholic family, yet still found herself hiding bottles and drowning in shame by her early twenties.
She talks about entering AA at 22, clocking up “sober time” built on fellowship, New Jersey diner fries and bowling, but without a real spiritual solution. When COVID cut off meetings, her sobriety collapsed, launching years of detoxes, rehabs and what she jokingly calls having “a favourite psych ward”. The real turning point comes on a New Jersey beach, where a chance chat links her mum to a woman who knows about The Magdalen House in Dallas.
Egan explains how that first stay at Maggie’s was full of distrust and fear of other women, and how a dramatic detour to Florida, Hurricane Milton, and a last terrifying relapse finally broke her belief that willpower should be enough. Back at The Magdalen House for a second chance, she throws herself into the Big Book-based programme, next step, and service work.
Her description of scrubbing air vents with a toothbrush because “this place saved my life” shows just how different things feel now. Today, Egan is a mum, partner, staff member and sponsor who says her alcoholism has become “my greatest asset” because it lets her help other women. If you’ve ever felt constitutionally incapable of getting well, this conversation might make you wonder: what if you’re actually “constitutionally capable” and just need clearer instructions and some hope?
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