Speaker 1How's it going, Elena?
Speaker 2Good. How are you, Anthony?
Speaker 1I'm doing well. Thanks so much for coming down.
Speaker 2Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1First of all, I have to... I like that it's cold, too. I want to... Before anyone starts assuming, we're not drinking here. This is non-alcoholic, and that's what we're going to talk about today. Poor sport. And what is this? What do we have?
Speaker 2This is non-alcoholic, actually de-alkalized wine. De-alkalized. De-alkalized, meaning that it was wine made traditionally in Spain, as you would, fermenting the grapes, and then it goes to Germany. It gets de-alkalized by vacuum distillation, so by low heat, removes the alcohol, and gets down to 0.0%, and I import it in, and I've been selling it in Toronto.
Speaker 1Wow, I love it. And you were telling me that the 0.0 is important. Why?
Speaker 2It's important because a lot of de-alkalized wines can't get it that low, and still save that same taste and have that same flavor. So the 0.0 is sort of a good factor, because not everyone can have even a little trace of alcohol, right? Like for religion reasons or health reasons, so...
Speaker 1Or relapse reasons.
Speaker 2Or relapse reasons, of course.
Speaker 1The last thing I need is 0.1%. I'm not getting drunk, and I'm thinking about relapsing, and/or relapsing, right? So yeah, no, and I always say this is like, my motive has to be right with these. I specifically, I stay away from the non-alcoholic beer, just because it tastes so similar. But everything else is fair game, because I just want like a refreshing drink, you know? And I don't want the hangover, and I want to still hang out and have fun with people, but I don't want to smoke meth again.
Speaker 2Exactly, yeah, I don't want you smoking meth again either. Yeah, you don't. And you're right, I don't want it to be triggering. So if it is, if you're in that recovery where, you know, it could be triggering by that, because the tastes are getting so good, right? The flavors of the de-alkalized non-alcohol are becoming so good and tasting exactly like they would with alcohol, that you don't want that to be triggering, so...
Speaker 1So who are the majority of your customers, would you say?
Speaker 2Oh, I would say, you know, it's a mix of people that are either similar to me, like living... Living the sober, sober, curious lifestyle, and they don't want to drink anymore, but they want to go out and still have that experience. And then I'd say a lot of people in the health and wellness space, because more and more people are realizing, you know, that alcohol, even if they don't have a dependency on it, is just not good, and they're not able to reach their full potential, either with, you know, their sports or fitness goals, and they're turning to these options to be able to still be out with their friends and connect, and not have to have the alcohol and feel hungover.
Speaker 1Nice, I love that. So what's the nutritional information on this? Do you know?
Speaker 2Yep, yep, for the rosé, so that's in 100 mil, it's 6 grams of sugar, but it's all residual from the grapes, and no added, you know, no added duck or anything, and it's 25 calories per 100 mil, and 0 grams of fat. Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 1Yeah, exactly. And this comes in red wine, and not this specific one, but you make red wine, you make...
Speaker 2I actually only have the rosé sparkling and the white sparkling for now, and then I plan to roll out the still wine. A white and a red.
Speaker 1Coming soon.
Speaker 2Coming soon. We're trialing with the sparkling. I wanted to do, you know, the celebratory bubbles first, and then we'll roll out the stills later.
Speaker 1So why are you so passionate about this?
Speaker 2Well, I'm very passionate about it because I stopped drinking about three years ago, three years August, and I am a very... That's awesome, by the way. Thank you, thank you. And I'm a very social person, and like I said, I love to go out and be with my friends and go to... restaurants and events and do everything where normally, you know, alcohol is involved. And when I removed it from my life, it was challenging because you're missing something, right? Like, you're standing there, you have water, you're not holding anything in your hand, and it's like a little uncomfortable for yourself and also because people are asking. Yeah. Obviously. It's the worst. It's the worst. People just, like, can't get over the fact, like, what's wrong with you? But, yeah, what's... Are you pregnant? Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah. Do you have a problem or what's going on?
Speaker 2Which is crazy, right? Yeah. That's just the way our society is. And I thought like that, too, when I drank, so I get it. I understand. That's a good point, actually. You know? Yeah. Not to be hypocritical here. Yeah. So, when I learned that, you know, the non-alcoholic scene's coming in and there's so many options, there weren't many wines. And then when I tried a wine, a different one, an Italian one, it, like, brought me back. I was like, oh, my gosh. I was sitting at, like, a bar setting with a friend and random strangers, and I was like, oh, my gosh, like, this tastes so familiar. It was kind of... A little bit of the placebo. But, again, like, you could cheers and you could chat, and it was, like, eye-opening. And, yeah, so I thought, you know, it was a driver to, like, I got to get into the space. And the non-alcoholic space, like, to me, it's more than just a product. It's, like, symbolizing, again, like, you can go out there and just live your best life and, you know, again, have something in your hand, and it symbolizes that healthy well-being to me. So, it's more than just a non-alcoholic. Yeah.
Speaker 1Do you... Can you share why you quit drinking? Why you decided... Was there a moment that you kind of said, this isn't serving me anymore?
Speaker 2Yeah, totally. So, I think it was, like, you know, 20 years of heavy drinking. Like, I started young. I started at 15 in high school, and you're, you know, I guess you're experimenting back then, but I took everything to just success. So, you know, love to just party hard, and then university continued on. And then those are the more acceptable stages that I guess party are at least more common. But, unfortunately, it kind of dripped on. It dripped on a bit more into my adult life and lived in Australia, which isn't... Oh, boy. ...for people.
Speaker 1Yeah. I've never been, but I've heard it's crazy over there. I mean, every time I go on vacation and I hang out with Australians, they always are the most drunk... Yeah. ...from what I see.
Speaker 2It's... Yeah, it's a drinking culture there. Like, it's actually interesting because it's health and wellness, too, right? Because there's the beaches, and they're really into fitness, and... Surfing. But it definitely... It's warm eight months of the year, you know? Like, there's patios open everywhere. So, it's very easy if you're already kind of, you know, on that kind of angle of dependent on alcohol to find... Yeah. ...find that party and get yourself back into that drinking culture. So, that was, you know, 10 years of that. And I think just with me, like, I was finding that it was very volatile. Like, I'd be in control of my drinking where I'd set boundaries and rules for myself, right? Like, don't drink during the week, and don't drink in front of clients or work. And then the weekend was just a free-for-all. Yeah. And then I noticed that I'd start to bend those rules more and more. And I was getting into this gray area where... It was like, I was making up excuses then. So, I was like, oh, well, I'm out, you know, I'm out with my friends, or I'm out with work, or I have a great, you know, a great life, and I'm doing so well. I'm allowed to drink this much.
Speaker 1These justifications, right? Exactly. So, you would break the rules and then justify it in your head.
Speaker 2Totally. I can relate. And you're forming, you know, those bad habits. I'm sure, you know, you know, like, you just... You don't even realize they're coming because you're just doing it, and you're making up excuses. And it was really gray. And then I jumped to this other phase of, like, you know, coping with something negative, or really bad that was going on. And then I'd be like, well, this allows me then just to drink, to forget about it. And I'd noticed that it was getting kind of dark, and it was taking control of my life. But I wasn't able to bring back that control as easily, like, and give myself breaks. So, it was this tug-of-war between all those phases. And it just got to be, like, just so consuming of me. And I was like, this is not what I want for myself. Like, this isn't sustainable. I can't keep doing this for the next, you know, like, I was in my 30s at this stage, and you know what hangover is like when you're, whew, you're rough. And I was just like, I can't keep doing this. Like, I have to, I have to somehow stall. And abstinence is, like, kind of the way I realized for me, like, everyone's different. But I realized, like, I had to just remove it completely from my life because it was consuming it. And I wasn't able to reach, like, my full potential. Yeah.
Speaker 1Potential. I love that word. I used to hate that word, but potential. Potential is, like, the, I don't know, I used to hear it in treatment, my first treatment center in Minnesota. Potential is, like, you know, the, that, it's like that trigger word for alcoholics and addicts, right? You know, people in my life are coming up to me, man, you have, you know, he has so much potential. If only he would just stop drinking or stop using so much, you know, he could be so much better than he is. He could be doing, you know, even in school, in elementary school, my teachers on my report card, my mom always reminds me. But it always said, like. Like, not living up to potential, you know? He, and I just, like, that word used to haunt me, right? And now, you know, funny, you remove the alcohol and the substances, and I'm doing shit that I never thought I could do.
Speaker 3Right.
Speaker 1Starting this podcast was another one. I never, like, I'm, thank you. Yeah, it's amazing. I'm never, running a marathon was another one. And I did it all, you know, there's a common theme here. I'm sober during all these accomplishments, right? I can't run a fucking marathon when I'm, you know, hungover or drinking. Like, it takes so long. It takes so much dedication and time, right? Oh, gosh, absolutely. And then, you know, in your situation, starting a business, right? Do you want to talk about, do you want to talk about, like, how, how that was getting it off the ground, you know, kind of some early struggles and how you navigated them?
Speaker 2Yeah, it's hard. Like, it's, anyone can say when you start your own business, like, it's just, you, you, you, you know you're going to have challenges. But a whole bunch of things get thrown at you unexpectedly. You've got to pivot. You've got to be so resilient. And it's a lot of energy, so yeah, like being sober, like has made me, you know, be able to do it to, to the extent I've been able to kind of push the business and go live. Um, but yeah, it's been fun. Like it's been really fun. It's a new space for me. Um, the food and beverage in general, let alone the non-elk and it's growing so massively. So it's such a great space to be involved in and watching all like globally, how it's becoming so big and like all the, it's doing such great things. That's the thing, you know, it's a business that's improving people's lifestyles and making them a better person. So it's like, I keep that at the back of my mind, right. When I have those rough times, or you're going through, you know, the turmoil of the business and some negative things, you're like, this is, this is helping me and it's going to help other people. But yeah, I mean, like starting up a business that I'm importing. So that's had its struggles, you know, I'm dealing with a vineyard in Spain and the language barrier, and then it's coming over. And if anything kind of falls short on that supply chain, like, you know, it can make the business just go through bits of gaps. So importing it in, and then all our ports went on strike, you know, when I was first getting my shipment in and like all these things were coming, you know, and I was like, why? Like, it's just endless. But yeah, no, it's been, it's been really good. And like I said, now that the product's out and launched and people really like it. And like I said, getting in the space has been fun and collaborating with people in the health and wellness, especially in the fitness, because I'm really into fitness. So it aligns well with my values. It has been so great. Like people reaching out, like let's work together. Let's do a Pilates and pour party. Let's do a spin and drink party, like without the alcohol, obviously, because it's
Speaker 1health oriented. It's been really fun. That's awesome. Yeah. I definitely have found that in working in the, I guess I would call it like the sober creative space, but also I've, I've been talking to a lot of, you know, non-alcoholic beverage shops and just to kind of, you know, learn more about this. And yeah, everyone's so cooperative and so friendly and, you know, they just want to help you. You know, it's people are, are willing to do things to kind of, you know, better the, the, there's like a, there's like a goal in mind, right? It's not just, I want to better my business and screw you. Right. There's a goal in mind. I love the name poor sport. Do you
Speaker 2want to explain what it means to you a little bit? To me? So obviously there's the play on the word poor, which is fun. So it's P O P O U R. And then if you kind of like think about it, it's the pun, right? The poor sport. So people, when you're out playing a sport and someone's losing and you know, they're taking it negatively, no one likes to lose too, right? We don't like to lose. We're, we're in this world where you got to win and you got to succeed. And then, you know, that person that's not dealing with it well, and they're losing and you don't invite them back. Right. And it's kind of that funny kind of bit around the poor sport of the person that's losing alcohol and not drinking. So like, I'm, I don't want to drink anymore. And this group does, do they want to invite me out anymore? Cause there's that stigma now. Oh, Lana doesn't drink or, you know, it's like, something's wrong with you. What's wrong with you? And they don't, you know, you don't want to make you feel included anymore. Um, so it's kind of the fun play on that, you know, and it's the irony is you're winning cause you're the one that's not drinking and you're the one that's choosing to be confident with that choice. And, you know, again, like I'm not pushing sobriety on anyone. Everyone I think can, you know, make their own choices. And, um, but for me it serves a purpose to not drink and I want to be proud of that choice. Right. I love it. It's a, it's a great name.
Speaker 1And, um, you know, with, with regards to the people, um, either judging or asking you questions, it's, it's unavoidable, right? I've experienced it. I remember one time specifically, you know, in my, in probably 2016, I had about a year of sobriety and it was one of those first times I went out to the bar with a bunch of my friends and the waiter comes to our table, he goes around the entire table and there's probably eight of us, you know, beer, beer, beer, beer. And I'm not even kidding. I was the last one, like just of course. And I'm watching this happen. And I'm like, Oh my God, I'm like seeing this happen. I'm like, this is going to be so uncomfortable. I already know. Right. And I was at a pretty good place in my sobriety, but it comes to me and I look at the guy and I go, Oh, just soda water. And he kind of, he looked at me and he just went like in front of all the people, they, all my friends like stopped and looked up at him. And then they looked at me and they were like about to, you know, they were like, what's he going to do? And I just, you know, I, I did what I was taught. Right. I just like, didn't react, which is like, you know, that's like, I wanted to knock the guy out. Right. Absolutely. But the, the other thing I do too, and this, this is getting better, but whenever that happens to me, you know, it happened another time with my wife and I'll explain that in a second. Cause that was a funny story too. But my first reaction is to be like, yeah, so I don't drink because I almost died and overdosed and I went to three rehabs. Thanks though. And just to make the guy feel like complete shit. Right. And I don't do that, but you know, that's my, yeah, that's the other thing I want to do is just make, you know, ruin the guy's day. Right. But I've done it before and it doesn't work, but yeah, there, there was another time where a guy, he came up to me and my, my wife had this massive beer, uh, and we were going to a leaf game and I had a soda water and he commented on that. He was hammered and he's like, Oh, it's just, you know, funny. And I'm like, what? He's like, she's so small. And I'm like, yeah, I don't drink. You know, I probably said at that time that I almost died and went to rehab and he just went, sorry, man. And he just walked away. So I have done it before. I'm not perfect. But yeah, that's what I was going to ask you. So when you first quit drinking, what was, what was the reaction of others around you and what was that like? Yeah.
Speaker 2Um, you know, quite mixed reactions. I think like you got some friends that were like fully supportive and just like, that's amazing. Right. Like that's really great. I wish I could do that. Or like, you know, I'm happy for you. Um, and then you get some other people that are like, why? Like kind of like, why? Right. Like, why can you stop? Or like nothing. You get that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not even a drop. I get that too. No, I've like choosing to not drink
Speaker 1alcohol like ever. Don't you know I'm all or nothing? Yeah. I'm an all or nothing person.
Speaker 2Okay. And I am doing the nothing. I've done the all. For 20 years. Go away. Like, um, yeah, you get all these different reactions. Um, but mostly supportive. Like I think, you know, some of the people that maybe were more taking it in more of a negative perception, I think is cause maybe they had a problem. That's
Speaker 1what I was going to say. Right. Or have a problem. Or have a problem. You're right.
Speaker 2Sorry. Have. And like, you know, and it's that subconscious way. Cause I felt the same way where like, you kind of want to bring people with you down. You know, you're like, you're like, you're like, well, we used to drink together. Like, you know, like, like I, I'm not going to sit here and I've, you know, 18 shots and you're going to sit and sip your water or your non-alcoholic drink. Like I'm going to hate myself. Yeah, exactly. So it's like, and you notice that, which is unfortunate, but like I said, like I'm aware of it because I kind of thought the same way. Right. So, um, but again, you have to just like, luckily, like I said, I have a very supportive group of friends and network and everyone's been really, really amazing. And people, people have said you're inspirational. And I've wanted to drink less. So I've, I've got that too. And that's so amazing to hear that.
Speaker 1Nice. I know the things that you don't expect where you're inspiring people. You know, I always say I've been getting messages here and there after this podcast and some people really open up to you. And obviously like I'm not, you know, a therapist, I am in school to, to get back into the field and do that stuff, but I'm not going to fix anyone, but it's nice when you see messages, Hey, I'm struggling. And I wasn't going to send this, but your podcast or your posts or your guests, I get that a lot too. Like it, it let me feel like I'm not alone today. Right. And, uh, you know, I, I'm just like, fuck, you know, we had a, someone on the podcast last time it was a comedian and he said, someone wrote, reached out to him and said, you know, I was going to take my life today, but I watched one of your videos and I just completely forgot about it. I know it blew me away when he was telling me that story, but you just never know how you're going to affect people, right. Positively and negatively. Right. So, you know, it's, it's truly a beautiful thing. Um, for sure. I was in Costco the other day and this is, my question to you is, uh, you know, where do you see this non-alcoholic thing going? Right. I was in Costco the other day and I'm not even kidding you. There was probably an entire Costco section. So not a grocery store section, a Costco section of non-alcoholic beverage options. I was blown away. And I'm not talking about soda water or flavored. So I'm talking about like, you know, white claw 0%. And like I was, I couldn't believe it. Right. It's there's truly, it's growing. So where do you see this? Where do you see this, this industry going? What's the future look like? Do you think in your opinion?
Speaker 2Yeah, it's, I think it's like one of the fastest growing industries globally. Cause again, it's fitting under that health and wellness space. And it's, it's so nice to see that. And you're right. It's becoming this huge thing where it used to just be a couple options on the menu or a couple options in grocery stores or in bottle shops, LCBO. And then a lot of the options were horrible. I was going to say they sucked. That's the thing. Um, we're here to educate you. There's great options out there. Like we are the ones making great tasting. They taste similar. They're flavorful, but yeah, they're horrible. I remember in Australia when I was taking one of my breaks, which I realized I needed a month off and I went to the grocery store and got like, which looked like fancy wine, non-alcoholic. And it was just like disgusting, like so sweet juice that I was like, this is horrible. Like this makes me want to drink. Like this is doing the opposite. Um, so the, the quality of the products coming in is, is becoming so much better of everything. The beers, the wines, the there's like de-alkalized tequila, the tequilas and gins and everything. You can imagine that you can get with alcohol. Now you can get without, um, and it's really great to see. So the space is growing massively. And cause also the demands there, right? Like that's why people are cutting back on drinking. And like I said, no matter what, even if they're not in recovery, they just maybe just don't want to drink or want to have the option for guests or pregnant or whatever the reason might be. So more and more people are turning to non-alcohol options. So yeah, they'll have to, they have to expand their product line and have more shelves. And it's, it's nice when I'm seeing it on menus and restaurants is so nice. Cause it's not just again, like they'll say like non-alcoholic and it's like, like soda and pop and like something you know they're now have like people are getting actual like a full menu with all the varieties and yeah me too um yeah i've had some pretty good ones you
Speaker 1know i like ginger and uh spicy things and i we were at a place the other day and i had one um i'd be remiss if i didn't ask you this question because my wife wants to know um and i i think so the price is a problem for a lot of people like uh and i'm not talking about from you know your website or other person's website or not like the price at restaurants is so high for this stuff it's almost as much as alcohol why do you think that is and do you think
Speaker 2it'll change yeah that's an interesting one and and yeah a lot of people do question that unless you're in this space and you kind of understand why you see all the work and ingredients and that's why it tastes good right because you put work into it well i can speak for like the de-alkalized beverages like mine is like they actually go through an additional step right so it's the same because it's made traditionally with how wine is made with alcohol and then it goes through an additional step to get removed and they still want to make sure the taste is you know still great quality and that similar feel a mouth feel and everything and flavor so it is more steps involved but people don't think that because they think it's removed like why is it how is it the same price i didn't know that so yeah yeah so that's a little education on the de-alkalized and then i guess maybe because you know some restaurants do make them lower than alcohol and and obviously that's a bit appealing but other ones maybe aren't because they're noticing that people are going to be ordering them anyway so you know they're kind of keeping them standard with their regular wine or beer or mocktail cocktail kind of everyone's sort of doing things differently so
Speaker 1awesome um and you're in some restaurants right now right yeah poor sports in some restaurants in toronto how many roughly like gosh i think about 15 15 wow so there's 15 places in toronto where i can buy and what's on the menu like what's your popular item right now
Speaker 2um mostly the rosé just because it comes in this nice little mini glass size so it's 6.7 ounces so a lot of restaurants like that because there is the concern of wastage right when you open a full bottle normally you know it's because you're going to use that full bottle but because it's still new to the scene and not everyone's ordering a non-alcoholic wine um it's better for this mini size because it's a single serve yeah yeah i don't think i've ever
Speaker 1been to a restaurant where this this would be a first if i saw a table getting a full bottle of non-alcoholic non-alcoholic i can't talk wine thank you yeah true you know what maybe one day right it is it is there it's coming um how do you think you know how does sobriety today kind of shift your mindset with with the entrepreneurial space and being an
Speaker 2entrepreneur i don't think i'd be one if i wasn't sober to be honest like i probably try like i've always had that like motivation to like focus my career and do something on my own and run my own business since i was really young but the drinking would have just slowed it down not me clear thinking like you waste so much time you know when you're hungry you're drinking it takes time you're hungover you're like the older you get three days of cloudiness and like how do you run a business you know how do you run a business when you're like that so sobriety for me has helped me yeah be patient and clear thinking and you know run the business with intention and yeah i um i wouldn't be able to do it yeah i i think the time
Speaker 1thing is so you know i i definitely realized that when i first got sober because you get sober for my you know situation you come out of rehab and you just have all this time all of a sudden it comes out of nowhere you're like i don't know what to do with myself right i gotta get a hobby or something that's why i'm grateful for this podcast because you know it keeps me busy and it keeps me um motivated but also it keeps you around cool people like you and i and you know i i like to i said this last time but um i think success to me is you know if you're working on yourself like plain and simple like if i'm working on myself today i'm noticing my flaws and my opportunities uh people don't like that word floss my character defects people don't like that word either but they're there i have a lot of character defects you know honesty is a big one i i have a hard time being honest and it's there's no reason for it like i'll lie about the stupidest shit just because i'm so used to it but also i'm thinking that you're going to judge me some way or another you know um what sort of um i completely forgot my question see this happens sometimes that's fine yeah um how would you say that sobriety has impacted your relationships today with other people yeah i think to be honest
Speaker 2like they're so much more meaningful um because i'm a better person right i'm taking care and i care about myself more so i care about other people inevitably more and i think when i was drinking like i wasn't consistent i think i let people down right because not intentionally again like i don't ever try to do that but drinking would take over in ways that i didn't have control and it would i'd have plans with people and i'd change them or i'd not be able to go because i was hung over and you wouldn't even want to admit that sometimes so it comes across like you just don't care about them um because you know you don't want to admit you have that problem or that so i think my my friendships and my relationships with people have just have definitely gotten a lot better and um you know you do have to obviously find new groups and new friends and new networks just inevitably because again like a lot of my friends that drink i'm fine to be around them like i said they're fully supportive they don't influence me to make me drink but you're just sometimes in different wavelengths so you want to then find i don't need to hang out with a bunch of people that don't drink a drop but like people that are doing more non-drinking activities like healthy activities or out you know doing i'm in high rocks training and like i love my gym and the community there and you know going for coffees and walks and i'm dating like that's a big one too because if you're not drinking and you're on a date and the other person drinks like it gets a little bit yeah like that uncomfortableness and i found at first like when i started my sobriety journey i was single and it was like it was so hard at first i was like almost i don't want to say ashamed but i didn't i tiptoed around this and i was like i'm not going to do this around it i kept being like i'm on a break that lasted you know two years but now i own it now i love it and if they if that's a problem then i'm that's a great way of filtering someone out because if it's a problem that you're not drinking um you know you probably
Speaker 1don't want that person in your life i couldn't agree more you know yeah i've been ghosted before you know i'm married now but when i was first getting sober and i started dating um this girl you know she kept asking me why i didn't drink right now and i was like i don't know why i didn't wine and it like that's how i know that it usually somebody may have a problem with me and it's not going to go as a red flag is if they ask more than once right or if they hang out on the topic uh but there was multiple times and then uh yeah she just disappeared and i was like you know what for the better yeah and then i'll never forget this i met my wife for the first time and uh i i'm always also careful about it too because i don't like to just lead with it i don't drink you know that you don't because like you just it's not it's not everything it's not your identity exactly totally and so uh you know you get to know the person first and i'll never forget this i i you always get a little nervous when you like you said when you tell somebody that you like or you you know you start dating and i told her and um i'll never she just didn't even like oh okay and then we never talked about it again until we started and i was like oh that's kind of nice you know she clearly doesn't have a problem with it and you know now we're married for almost a year and uh things are going well but yeah it's like do you have any advice for someone that's that's starting dating in sobriety because i know this is probably a lot of people i think a
Speaker 2lot of people struggle with this right so um yeah like i said i think you've got to just understand that it worry about yourself it shouldn't matter like so if they're going to judge you then that's a great way to filter and think that's not the right person for you you know like um and i think there's also a lot of ways to meet people now and more active base you know events or right like yeah there's run clubs like i actually go on runs for dates like some of my friends laugh at that but i'm like you know i went on a cool punch for a date like a first date like you can find all those other outlets and other activities to do that don't involve sitting and having a beverage um or again non-alcoholic beverages are really good for that because they feel less awkward seeing you have something that looks so similar on the other side of the table if it's if it's uncomfortable for them but yeah i think my advice is yeah try and just yeah if if own own your like you said deep dive into it right up front and wear a shirt i'm sober yeah um but but be proud of it and if someone has a problem they have a problem then that's that person's not for you and then yeah try and find some other activities because again we're shifting even people that drink don't always want to go out and get drunk on their first date you'll make a fool of yourself you're not even you know you got the beer goggles on anyways so more people are turning towards activities to get to know people regardless so it's kind of cool
Speaker 1i think yeah i agree 100 that's great advice i i think too for me um what better way to find out like i feel like nowadays people go on dates and they're like interviews right it's like you you want to be efficient you know you're swiping left you're swiping right i don't know what it is anymore what the approve or not approve is you're swiping one way but people want to just get they want to be efficient like how many people can i see it's like interviewing for a job right and i think personally my experience my opinion of that is that that's not any way to find out about someone sitting across a table. You're not going to find out like who someone is in an hour or two hours or maybe even you know 10 hours i don't know maybe i'm wrong but i i truly think you know you go uh what did you high rock high rocks i'm gonna get you to explain that in a second after i finish my point because i don't know it sounds interesting to me i maybe i have a new addiction now i love extreme activities but what better way to get to know somebody than going on a run and like encountering problems in the world and seeing how they solve said problem right you know you you run into a i don't know a guy you run into a guy that you know is rude to you right and the person you're with says freaks out on the person and says like like maybe i don't want to be with that person that reacts that way in that situation you know i always say this to people too is like when i traveled with my wife that was that was the fastest way to learn you know you encounter problems you almost miss a flight you know oh she she kind of reacts like i actually liked how she handled that you know or um i never thought i would do it that way and you kind of you you you you get closer through connection right you connect on emotions like instead of what do you do for work and what do you think about this you know you're connecting through an emotional level yeah right so what is explain this high rock thing i'm intrigued it's
Speaker 2this new also this big global trend of this it's a fitness competition which involves eight different circuits of like weight training concepts so it's like there's this the sleds right you know the weight and then they they push them and then you pull them and then there's the um there's ski ergs and there's rowing and there's a burpees and a farmer's care so there's eight different stations of all these different weight training like a hit class and you go to a hit class kind of like those eight different stations and then in between each one you run a kilometer so you do eight k's total running so it's you know it's it's hitting all the boxes there you're doing the full body workout and you can do it by yourself or you can do it with a partner so i do one with one of my fitness buddies and we did it last year and we did a really well and yeah it's just it's super intense and it's fun so it's like such a great goal to have right because you're training for something which makes you want to get up and go to the gym more than just you know your own motivation yeah yeah that's why i like marathon running so much because
Speaker 1um there was a goal at the end that i needed to achieve and i followed a very simple plan i didn't do it my way you know i just followed a plan and lo and behold you it's amazing you put the ingredients of the recipe together and you get the result you know sobriety is a lot in my opinion recovery is a lot in the same light uh as that you know you get certain certain ingredients and it's like baking a cake you put the ingredients together for me it's you know 12-step recovery and meetings and stuff like that you put them all together and you follow the recipe and you get an outcome you know you get a sobriety for today so um yeah i love that that's great what does your
Speaker 2morning routine look like all right well i get up i have a dog i'm a boxer he is just as high energy as me so we're both intense together but he needs a lot of uh a lot of exercise so i walk him and i usually i try to go to the gym in the morning i like a morning session because it's just not just to get out of the way but just because i feel so good for the rest of the day and i'm a morning person so i'm uh i'm uh one of those sort of 5 a.m.ers have a lot of energy go to bed early um so up early um and then now i'm i have a day job too where i'm a project manager so the business is sort of on the side so i have to kind of play and plug it in wherever i fit those hours so in the morning i usually get up and start working to be honest after my workouts and then yeah eat breakfast i don't know like it's so funny like i'm not that routine like i know a lot of people are like oh i'm gonna go to bed early and stuff like that but as long as i do these great things i have to do for myself like my walks my exercise tick the boxes i don't care when i do it yeah kind of a little bit rogue with my schedules but yeah but you mentioned the the having the dog
Speaker 1thing is good because it holds you accountable to getting outside you know i i wake up a lot of mornings and i go right to my computer and i find that uh those days are usually the ones that leave me kind of feeling a little bit more empty sometimes right and you know that's why i love this podcast because it gets me out of my head right and it gets me out of my head right
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Speaker 5this episode is brought to you by txu energy for the first time ever texans have an energy plan that combines free nights all year with daytime summer savings it's called free nights and cool summer you get free nights every night all year long plus a 25 bonus toward your daytime use all summer it's a first of its kind plan created for how texans actually use energy discover how much more you could save with free nights and cool summer txu energy energy for everything visit txu.com for more information rep number one zero zero zero four
Speaker 1it's me out here and uh because i find that isolation for me is like a isolation over a extended period of time is a guaranteed relapse for me it's only a matter of time like a i've proven that so many times you know um because when i'm isolating my problems just stay in here right and i don't kind of bounce them off people i don't reflect on them um and then all my ideas start to seem like good ideas you know right remember that one time that drinking worked for like five minutes yeah it'll happen again if you just drink and then we'll get back into recovery buddy you know i
Speaker 2always like the addict and yeah it's crazy it's a powerful machine that tux tells you things that you don't well you know you don't want to hear but i fully agree about the being in isolation i'm the same i'm very much love people and need to be around people and that's helped me a lot as well um i think it's important i think and that's why like community and all these like healthy different things that are coming in like the non-alcoholic sober curious space are so fantastic because they're trying to say it's is it really the alcohol that you need or was it the people the connections the like getting everyone together yeah getting someone out of their house because i think people think like oh if you're not drinking it's so boring because or when people do dry jan or sober jan or whatever um they think they just sit at home all day well yeah of course if you sit at home and do nothing all day that's so boring so february comes and
Speaker 1you're like let's go like that would suck if you drank and sat at home all day anyways you know yeah
Speaker 2exactly but it's all about like being able to get out there and do all those things you know and be around community and like-minded great people i think that keeps people in recovery and keeps
Speaker 1people you know it just sheds positive light on it yeah i think you know we're we're um i think we were meant to be around people you know we weren't meant we weren't meant to have these phones right we weren't meant to be getting dopamine all day right we're you know we get we should be getting our dopamine should that's a dangerous word i think that it's better if i get my dopamine from social situations you know vibes and ambiances right um and you know that's why i love i love what you're doing i love this non-alcoholic thing because i think it'll connect a lot more people to situations they have now a little bit of a um a helper and maybe something to kind of guide them through the tough situation that used to require alcohol for that social lubrication right exactly i don't really like that word but it's i mean it's what i was doing right like i hated every time i walk into a room and it still happens today but it's a lot better i would walk into rooms and i would just be like everybody is making fun of the way i walk right now like that is so outrageous to think you know what i mean but
Speaker 2it's like it was true in my mind right no i know we're hard on ourselves yeah yeah and i think that's why a lot of people drink right like people you know it's you think it's gaining that confidence but it's it's really not and the confidence you find like now when you're not drinking like in your in your past year phases of kind of having that itch that you're so much more confident yeah like it's like the opposite
Speaker 1almost you know it's sometimes too much yeah that ego comes out you know you're not the best in the world but um you know where i really noticed it is making eye contact with people right like as simple as that i it was so hard for and i still struggle i look all over the place but that's probably because i'm a finicky person just i could not look anyone in the eyes before you know and it's you start to notice that you're like oh you know those people that like make way too much eye contact with you i was at a meeting the other day and uh i'd shared and it was one of those uh i don't know maybe you've been maybe you haven't but you know there's certain meetings where you share and the entire room kind of thanks you but says like how how it related to them and some it's really tough sometimes because you got to just like next next going on to the next one and there's a lot of people that are like oh my god i'm not going to this one lady that i'm not kidding she like locked onto my eyes and would not look away and so it became like a staring contest and she was talking and i felt so uncomfortable i was like look away please look away i was like i can't do this anymore and you don't want to be the first one to like look away because then you're like oh she's gonna notice she's gonna notice that i looked away right oh gosh yeah that's fun yeah i mean looking people in the eyes that's that's a big one for me um how do you find that you're more confident you said that you public speak and stuff like that now and where how does that work for you how do you find that you're more the confidence come out in like where where were you not be able to be
Speaker 2be confident before and well and like weirdly enough i thought i needed like alcohol to be confident right like i just again it was that like maybe a bad habit i picked up or i don't know what but i thought that like anytime i go out for like be gonna be around a bunch of people i was like well maybe i should have a drink before i go just to like loosen me up and like you know and like
Speaker 1now i'm like that's crazy it's not it's on people don't normally think like that right no no no
Speaker 2exactly they're more just like out the door and then you know they have drinks with the situation but i used to yeah maybe like you said like you're playing things in your head like what are people going to think about you and like over analyzing things so much but like i think then when i did kind of give it up and of course it's hard at first when you do right there's that struggle and like that identity's gone but then when you get past that and trust me it gets so much better and you get past that really hard phase and then it's like you're like reborn again like that that that person did die good that person needed to die that person was a toxic person i'm glad they're out of my life and i'm this new reborn um have a new yeah confidence and just like it's it's at least for me it was great and i think it it comes with time too like it's getting better and better as as the time goes on with kind of just clearing it out of my system and everything i love it
Speaker 1i think um i spent a lot of time hating myself and it's it's really hard to like you said promise yourself you're not going to do this because i did that too okay i'm only going to drink i'm only going to use drugs on weekends i'm only going to drink on weekends then you break the rule you're like well i must be a piece of shit now because i can't even keep up with my own rules so it's really hard to be confident when i'm constantly beating myself up and hating myself and then you get sober and you're like huh i can actually show up you know do what i'm going to say be a man of my word and uh kind of you start to like yourself again right and you're like i'm i'm a pretty good person right and it's finding that balance between like i'm not going to do this i'm not going to do i'm the best in the world and i'm not i'm a piece of shit right like finding that balance in between the two i find too that helping others is is really a good confidence builder right like when i'm helping you know i was at a rehab center today i love going to rehabs now when you're when you're on the other side yeah it's the best when you're in them oh boy the worst but when you're on the other side i saw this guy and he came up to me and he was so confident right and he was so happy to guys and i didn't even know he was a patient of the treatment center and i'm i'm talking to him i thought he worked there right and i'm like you know it came out that he's like yeah actually i'm i'm out on thursday or whatever he's so happy and i'm like fuck you're you you're a patient here i'm like dude you look great like i didn't even you know he had the sparkle back in his eyes already right and uh we come in so broken right when we quit drinking in at least in my case um we're so broken and so beat up and so just dead inside right our soul is like crushed completely that you know you string together a month or two months or three months and then one day at a time you just start to get that kind of sparkle back in your eye and the drive for life comes back right where you're like huh maybe i am a decent person decent person
Speaker 2yeah and you see life so differently you know like when i i'd love to travel i've been to like 43 countries like yeah like huge huge traveler but it always was so consumed with drinking i mean i definitely was maybe a little bit more balanced too because like i would i'd do things like climb mountains and machu picchu and like things that you really couldn't be too intoxicated to do that but i'd always find the balance right like oh i gotta have the party the party time of my travels and you know and i found like now um since giving up drinking going traveling like again you have all this time you have all this energy you're enjoying your full day and you're seeing everything with such a different light you know you're not sitting at a patio just having a lot of beers just being like or wine being like oh i'm on holidays this is great like you're actually out doing so much experiencing your experience so much and it's just yeah everything's just it's just in such a better light you know it's just clarity and it's just nice and of course like i think like also to be real um times get tough really tough too right like i think like the sobriety life is great and it's so much better clearly a million times better but like times get really hard too right like that you'll have great days like this and then you'll have one day that's just like something happens and it's so hard and you have to be in that be in that you have to feel it you know and that's a hard thing to then say i used to always go to alcohol as my my my vice my way to cope but you're like i now have to sit with this thought or this past trauma or this whatever's going on in my life and it can be so hard right and i think just like knowing that like remember those great times as clarity remember try and push that to the surface to say you'll get through it just take your take a day off you know or like call a friend or maybe yeah you know maybe that's also when i'm not needing to be out in social because i just need some time for for myself to just like rest and then you know and then you bounce back and you're back to that
Speaker 1you know yeah i couldn't agree more i mean every time i relapsed um it started with you know my state of mind beforehand and not telling anyone about it and sitting in it uh but it was never like a instant like out of no oh i don't even know how that happened right i mean at least in my case it was you know as when you relapse then it then it becomes that right in my experience you relapse then it becomes like you're not even thinking about it you're like ah fuck it i'm already here whatever but like the first one after any long length length of sobriety it was always like a leading up there was something that was going on i wasn't telling anyone i was isolating and um if i think back now and i don't regret it because i learned a lot i learned a lot about myself i think i needed to have those those moments but if i think back now and i just kind of like white knuckled through that situation and did something else and just got through it 100 it would have been better you know it would have been different that's for sure the next day would have been different um that's why i always say to people now and i try to live by this is like just get to bed right just try and get to a feeling won't kill you but alcohol and drugs will i think alan said that actually a feeling won't kill you right but yeah but you know a drug and alcohol might right so uh yeah i mean at least if you're in recovery well now cocaine nowadays you never know yeah exactly dropping people all over the place it's crazy out there yeah scary yeah so i'm grateful that i'm so i'm alive i'm grateful that i'm in this recovery space but you're right some days you know life is gonna life you you know what's something that you're working on today about yourself like something that you really
Speaker 2like something personal i guess i think um what i'm learning and we were talking about this earlier actually is just the whole being able to enjoy the good moments and like the winds of the business and not just keep going like like stop pause and enjoy what's happening in your life now and all the good things we um we're hard on ourselves as humans in general right and you're always striving to be better and bigger and we're now comparing ourselves with people all the time on social media and stuff and it's just like you know just calm down and enjoy what what you've achieved and i think with the business i'm very hard on myself too that i should be out doing this a million things i'm like okay just calm down girl like sit down and like and enjoy the the winds you've got and the people you've met and you know what will happen will happen and i'm sometimes i'm not i'm just not good at that because i'm like go go go go go go like all or nothing again like here we go what's next what's next what's next that's like a lady hd kind of monster yeah yeah i kind of just like it you know just enjoy those
Speaker 1little wins i love that yeah i couldn't agree more um one of my favorite quotes and i want to put this on a t-shirt i heard it on a podcast it's like remember when you wanted what you have now remember when you wanted what you have now yeah like there was a time where you wanted this yeah exactly and you would have killed somebody maybe i shouldn't speak for you but you would have done whatever it took to launch the business to get it going to get it into a restaurant in toronto like sometimes i think i'm just like fuck like remember when you wanted to start a podcast and how impossible it seemed in your mind and now it's like doing it it's like a this is a what day is it today it's a thursday afternoon and it's like autopilot it takes me 10 minutes to set this shit up used to take me like an hour to get
Speaker 2this going right and now it's like nothing and this is a professional studio yeah this is not just a basement like i'm not just anybody you're doing big things here i'm somebody don't you know
Speaker 1yeah look out dax shepherd i'm coming after you joe rogan yeah you're vaughn absolutely yeah no i love podcasting and you know i i try to remember um you know why i i to your point i have to remember why i started this too because it's so easy to get into the i need more likes i need more followers i need more money i need to monetize i need to get sponsorship dude just stay sober and help the still suffering alcoholic because that's why you fucking started exactly the minute you start to change that that's when it gets dicey i think
Speaker 2you're right yeah
Speaker 1focusing on outcomes is a dangerous dangerous game in any walk of life absolutely i couldn't agree more i'm trying to do the same yeah it's hard though right yeah for sure um what's one
Speaker 2word you would describe sobriety okay for me i think like empowerment probably because again it's just like and it wasn't that at first obviously no um but because Again, like I said, there's a stigma still to people that don't drink. rank yeah and like I guess I didn't go through the like rehab or the recovery so people maybe didn't take it as seriously either that thinking I don't have a problem so I don't know I think um but now I'm finding yeah empowerment because I am again like I'm like reaching and I know you hate that word but that potential I didn't even know was there for myself and sobriety helped me do that so it's a very empowering feeling and it just feels like I'm in control like finally and like more so than ever in my life it not just the drinking now like in control of just everything and my choices and I'm very like future thinking now where before the party girl Alana was like live in the moment like I was so just about that moment and you know and like adventures like for me like like it was chaos because I go around and hop around and my friends would be like what happened you last night I was this part then I was at that part of this part I met this and it was the best it was so much fun you know and it's like that sounds horrible yeah you know like like and now like the that like that to me like like no like to me now I'm doing I'm doing that but in good good ways like getting the business doing this meeting people like it's all more healthier vices but I have control of it
Speaker 1and it's just such an empowering feeling like it's it just feels great I love it I used to I showed up it's like I didn't have a choice it was like no I need to use over this I need to drink over this because I'm not gonna get through this sober and now it's like yeah I have a choice I have a choice when I turn off these cameras and say bye to you today I can go and drink if I want to I never really liked when people came in and said oh I can't drink anymore like I can't drink it's like no you can you're choosing not to right and that's better that's I like that better because I don't like being told I can't do anything no one does it's a negative part yeah you even though I think I can't do a lot of things which is it's kind of iron ironic right yeah but yeah it's like no I'm choosing not to and uh I know it's going to be okay you know exactly so where can we find you Alana where can we find poor sport how do we buy your beautiful rosé
Speaker 2well you can buy it online so my website www.drinkpoorsport.com or you can find it's popping up in lots of non-alcoholic bottle shops in Toronto there's Bevy's in Kensington and Zero Cocktail Bar and Cabbage Town shout out Zero um yeah you know Gail um and there's Sober Sips and Berry and Upside Drinks is an online platform and it's in some of the sober markets in Toronto nice and then yeah just you'll hopefully see it popping up on more menus and in different sports clubs there's a big one too right like different St. George's Golf Club now have it yeah that's awesome yeah you were telling me that um oh I'm gonna be Stack Market too um for uh July they're having a big kind of cookout festival cool um we'll be there is it like a non-alcoholic festival or it's a mix of everything it's kind of like food and different vendors of different I think like arts and crafts and a mix July 19th that's Stack Market go um that's amazing I learned
Speaker 1a lot today Alana thank you so much thanks for having me this was fun I know I had a lot of fun I love doing this and love meeting people um I really do hope that you know in the future when I go to not just you know specific restaurants I really do hope we come to a point where I can go to the keg I can go to I don't know uh Kelsey's and just have as many non-alcoholic options as alcohol right I think you know the one thing I really want to hammer home with people is like you know sobriety is not we're not pushing the agenda on anybody I don't give a fuck right like if you want to drink and do drugs and you're having fun good that's amazing like I don't want anyone to come across thinking I'm like you know you've said that early on you know to each his own right but I need to be sober to enjoy my life and I think that you're doing pretty good too and I think people that think they don't
Speaker 2obviously even they're like balanced if you try it you might feel so good you didn't even realize that's another thing there's all those people there's so much potential what is your potential
Speaker 1right you know a functioning alcoholic like are you functioning right but what could you be doing you know exactly yeah thanks so much Alana I loved having you on
Speaker 2today this has been fun thank you very much Anthony I appreciate it love what you're doing
Speaker 6thank you thanks for listening please help us grow the channel and like share and subscribe for more content the discussions and stories shared on this podcast are for informational and motivational purposes only this content is not a substitute for professional medical advice addiction treatment or therapy if you or someone you know is struggling with addiction please consult a licensed physician addiction specialist or mental health professional you are no longer alone
Speaker 5this episode is brought to you by TXU energy for the first time ever Texans have an energy plan that combines free nights all year with daytime summer savings it's called free nights and cool summer you get free nights every night all year long plus a 25 bonus toward your daytime use all summer it's a first-of-its-kind plan created for how Texans actually use energy discover how much more you could save with free nights and cool summer TXU energy energy for everything visit txu.com for more information rep number one zero zero zero four Tammy regularly hauls stuff to her
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