Sharing Her Story Changed Her Life | With Chaya "The Frock NYC" ChaninSharing Her Story Changed Her Life | With Chaya "The Frock NYC" Chanin
BrainStorm with Sony Perlman
Sony Perlman talks with entrepreneur and community builder Chaya Chanin about speaking publicly on her husband’s addiction, her own support journey, and how that honesty led her to create an alternative girls’ high school. Their conversation touches on vulnerability, family recovery, and the courage to admit, "I don’t know right now."
1:32:06•25 Apr 2026
Sharing the Hard Stuff: Chaya Chanin on Marriage, Addiction and Saying "I Don’t Know"
Episode Overview
- Sharing openly about addiction can reduce shame for families who feel they are the only ones struggling.
- Many spouses find Al-Anon and similar groups crucial for support, even if they don’t work the full programme.
- Public storytelling about recovery often leads to a wave of private requests for help from families.
- Standard school systems can fail certain teens, and small, alternative programmes can offer them a space to "dance" again.
- It is okay to admit "I don’t know right now" and still be in process; identity doesn’t have to be neatly defined.
“Every woman stood up and started clapping. He was in the middle of a speech, like, ‘and my wife’… and I was just like… this recognition.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation pulls back the curtain on what happens when a couple stops hiding and starts telling the truth. Sony Perlman sits down with Chaya Chanin, co-founder of The Frock NYC and Jewish girls’ school Kohelet, to talk about how sharing her marriage-and-addiction story in public quite literally changed her life.
Chaya explains how she went from loving the buzz of Instagram and business life to suddenly debating whether to talk about her husband’s addiction with a very large audience. She admits she only began speaking openly once he came back from rehab and things felt "safe"—then quickly learned recovery is never that simple. One of the most moving moments she recalls is from her husband’s big public talk in Crown Heights.
As he said, "I want to thank my wife," every woman in the room stood up and clapped. That reaction shook her, not just because it honoured her, but because it showed how many families were quietly living the same story. You’ll hear about Chaya’s time in Al‑Anon, her mixed relationship with the word "codependent", and the flood of calls they received from spouses and families after going public.
She also shares how her daughter’s struggle in mainstream schools pushed her to co-create Kohelet Girls High School, a tiny, heart-led programme that began with just ten girls and a lot of unpaid sweat. Threaded through the chat is a bigger question: can you let yourself say, "I don’t know right now," and still believe you’re enough?
For anyone touched by addiction, parenting teens, or trying to build something that actually helps people, this episode offers raw honesty, a few laughs, and plenty to reflect on. What might change in your life if you shared a bit more of your own story?
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