Robyn Ottolini on Sobriety, Creativity & Finding Her Spark AgainRobyn Ottolini on Sobriety, Creativity & Finding Her Spark Again
Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories
Country artist Robyn Ottolini shares how quitting alcohol, alongside dealing with anxiety, shame and type 1 diabetes, changed her life and music. She talks about touring, her new album and why you don’t need a dramatic rock bottom to decide alcohol is costing you too much.
56:14•6 Oct 2026
Robyn Ottolini on Sobriety, Shame and Writing Her Brightest Songs Yet
Episode Overview
- You don’t need a dramatic rock bottom for alcohol to be causing enough pain to justify change.
- Short-term goals like focusing on "today and tomorrow" can feel more manageable than committing to forever.
- Sobriety can enhance creativity, clarity and confidence rather than taking away personality or spark.
- Supportive friends and family who speak honestly can be crucial in recognising when drinking has become a problem.
- Stopping drinking can open the door to addressing deeper issues such as shame, anxiety and self-worth more effectively.
“I could not work through my shame with drinking. It was never going to happen. I was always going to be in that darkness if I didn't stop.”
How do individuals turn their lives around after addiction? This conversation follows Canadian country artist Robyn Ottolini as she talks candidly with host Brad McLeod about her first year without alcohol, and how quitting drinking reshaped her music, her mental health, and her sense of self. Robyn explains that she didn’t have the stereotypical “rock bottom”. She had a thriving career, loving friends and family, and a life she appreciated. Yet alcohol was quietly fuelling intense anxiety, sadness and shame.
As she puts it, “I could not work through my shame with drinking. It was never going to happen. I was always going to be in that darkness if I didn't stop.” You’ll hear her share how drinking ramped up during stressful periods in the music industry and during the success of her song “F-150”, and why touring pushed her to stop before opening for Shania Twain.
Initially she quit to protect her voice and career, but staying sober after tour forced her to face the emotions she’d been numbing—especially around shame, self-worth, and growing up in a drinking culture. Robyn talks about the surprising fear that sobriety might steal her “spark”, creativity or humour, and how the opposite happened.
She describes feeling clearer, faster in the writing room, funnier, and more confident making her new album, “A Safe Place to Land”, which she says was created from a calmer, more grounded space. She also touches on quitting nicotine, living with type 1 diabetes, starting ADHD medication, and leaning on honest friends who encouraged “just today and tomorrow” rather than a scary idea of “forever”.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your story is “bad enough” to stop drinking, this episode offers a different angle: what if you don’t need a disaster to decide alcohol is costing you too much? Could giving yourself three sober months be the shift you’ve been waiting for?
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