Sober & Successful - Zac Thompson #wehaveameetingSober & Successful - Zac Thompson #wehaveameeting
Alcohol Free Life - Janey Lee Grace
Janey Lee Grace talks with entrepreneur Zac Thompson about how quitting alcohol and cocaine reshaped his family life and business success. Their conversation looks at binge culture, childhood experiences and the idea that sobriety can be a genuine competitive edge at work.
43:05•6 Nov 2026
Sober & Successful: How Zac Thompson Turned Quitting Alcohol into His Biggest Career Upgrade
Episode Overview
- Removing alcohol can act as a major performance upgrade, freeing up time, energy and focus for career and business growth.
- Heavy drinking and cocaine use often go hand in hand in corporate circles, and both can quietly erode wellbeing and productivity.
- Quitting alcohol may start from a parenting wake-up call, such as not wanting children to repeat the same patterns they see at home.
- Keeping the ritual but changing the ingredients, through alcohol-free drinks and new habits like reading and exercise, helps sustain sobriety.
- Therapy and awareness of adverse childhood experiences can shed light on why alcohol became a coping mechanism and support lasting change.
“What if the biggest upgrade to your career, your performance, your business is not a business strategy or a productivity hack. It’s removing alcohol.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This chat between sober coach trainer Janey Lee Grace and entrepreneur Zac Thompson pulls that question into sharp focus, especially for anyone juggling business goals with boozy habits. Zac, co-founder of the sales agency We Have A Meeting, talks about growing up in Blackpool, where alcohol was "the social glue" and addiction sat across his family in different forms.
He recalls not knowing where the line between normal drinking and a problem really was, until partners and friends started saying, "the way you behave with alcohol isn’t normal." From there, he shares how heavy drinking and cocaine use became part of his working life, and how quitting first the drugs and then alcohol changed everything.
You’ll hear Zac describe chasing oblivion with "10 pints, 15 pints" and waking up to the reality that his children were seeing him drunk, just as he’d seen his own parents. That was the turning point: "I just didn’t want to repeat the same history." Four years alcohol-free, he talks honestly about still sometimes missing the ritual, but credits alcohol-free drinks, reading, breathing techniques and morning exercise as new coping tools.
Janey brings in her coaching experience, pointing out that "it’s not actually the alcohol you’re missing... it’s the associations" and sharing stories of sober club members who’ve bought camper vans, gone travelling or taken on new studies with money, time and energy freed up from drinking.
The conversation keeps circling back to work: Zac calls removing alcohol "the ultimate performance upgrade" and explains how sobriety has helped him grow a million-pound business, host a successful podcast and still renovate his house and show up as a present dad. Their back-and-forth offers a candid look at family history, binge culture, cocaine in corporate circles and the very real competitive edge that comes with being sober and successful.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your next career boost could start with ditching the booze, this episode might be the nudge you need.
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