Student Spotlight - What If Going Alcohol-Free Could Be Your Superpower with Sober Coach, Ellie Nova
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[00:00:00] Welcome, welcome to the Heads Together podcast. I'm your host, Gill Moakes, and I am thrilled to bring you another student spotlight. So this week I'm joined by our Coaching Business Academy alumni. Ellie Nova Ellie is a sober coach. She's a mentor, writer, and a mom who lives in Lewis East Sussex, which is my kind of neck of the woods from when I was younger.
I'm a Kent girl, but spent quite a lot of time in Brighton and Lewis around that part of the world. It's beautiful. In 2018, Ellie uncovered a radically different approach to quitting drinking.
She had spent over a decade feeling trapped by alcohol and feeling full of shame around that. I. And Ellie's now been sober for over five [00:01:00] years, and she's on a mission to share this approach and to support other women to discover the true freedom, alcohol free freedom for themselves. I think you're gonna love this conversation with Ellie.
I'm gonna put some links in the show notes to where you can find Ellie online. She has the most beautiful substack and she's also on Instagram, but we're gonna put, links to that in the show notes. But in the meantime, enjoy this spotlight on one of our amazing coaches from inside the academy.
Welcome. Welcome to the Heads Together podcast. I'm Gill Moakes, and I am obsessed with cutting through the noise when it comes to growing your business each week via intimate coaching conversations and inspirational stories. I share what it really takes to get the results you want in a way that feels right to you.[00:02:00]
I am all about attracting higher ticket opportunities, building authentic relationships, and creating the abundant, full fat version of your dream business. I mean, how many of us have beavered away creating a light version of what we really want? The thing is, I honestly believe when you are outstanding at what you do, there is no limit to what you can achieve.
So. Are you ready to put our heads together and make it happen? Let's go. Ellie. Hi. Thank you so much for joining me and welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Gill. Thank you so much for having me on. Oh my goodness. It's my pleasure. And life does get in our way sometimes. We've had a few technicality issues with this, so I've been dying to have this conversation with you because this is a topic I find so [00:03:00] interesting.
And since working with you, I've. Got to know a bit more about mm. So obviously you are one of my amazing academy alumni and mm-hmm. We've been working together on your coaching business. But I wonder if you could, start off just by telling everyone a little bit about your. Coaching niche, the kind of work that you do. So I'm a sober coach and I work, work with courageous women who are ready to break free from alcohol for good and create the kind of life that they might only have dreamed of.
So people who are really done with alcohol, they know that there's a better life waiting for them, and I help to guide people to get to where they want to be. Do you know, Ellie? I, I just love how you describe what you do because you're so confident in who you are and who you serve, and that just mm-hmm.
That just fills me up. I just love it. There's [00:04:00] no gray areas with you. You work with confident women, you know, they're done with alcohol for good. It's, it's not a gray area. It's not easy, but it's not a gray area for them or for you. And I, I just love that. How on earth did you get into this niche of coaching?
Because obviously if everyone listening is like me, which they probably are, our gossipy little brains are going. Gone. How bad was she drinking before? Oh, because that's what we do, right? Yeah. Where everyone talks about sober coaching, we kind of go to extremes, but I'd, I'd love to hear your story of how you got into this.
Yeah, I mean, I guess like probably for a lots of people in with coaching and when, you know, you're following your, your heart work as you might call it, it's, it's a very, it's through our own wounds and our own experience and our own healing. And that's definitely, that's definitely how I've arrived here.
So I used alcohol for over a decade. I, [00:05:00] you know, started drinking about 16, you know, just the weekend. I mean, that's our. Culture, isn't it? That's like the norm. Absolutely. Yeah. And then things changed once I went to university and started to drink a lot more. And I was drinking to cope with emotional pain that I hadn't been able to heal from.
My mother died when I was 14 and I wasn't held. I. In that grief and with those feelings and it just kind of, everything, you can only hold that for so long, you know? And so alcohol seemed to, seemed to be a way to help me. But of course it wasn't. And so I then, I mean, I kind of had ups and downs with it, but really ended up.
Although on the outside my life probably looked fine. And, you know, I had worked in nonprofit. I had a wonderful partner who's now my husband. Lots of great things in my life, but I was drinking pretty much every day. It was habitual and it was how I coped with everything. It's how I, you know, coped with [00:06:00] socializing, emotional pain, tiredness, like, you name it, the alcohol was the answer.
To be honest, Gill, that I know lots of people, you know, might not identify with that. And I, 'cause I was drinking a lot, I, I, you know, I'm not I'm okay to say that I was addicted to alcohol. That's obviously not the case for everybody, but I was in a place where I, I wanted to quit.
Were, were you drunk every day? That's a good question. Maybe not, because I guess my tolerance was pretty high. I think sometimes people come at it from a standpoint of, well, I, don't have a problem with our alcohol because
i'm not the archetypal alcoholic, you know, someone who's falling down drunk all the time. And I think it's, . So interesting. 'cause I would say that I, my relationship with alcohol is really a love hate relationship, you know? Mm-hmm. And you and I have talked and, I'm kind of exploring it myself, thanks to what I've learned really from talking to you.
Because I don't [00:07:00] think you have to be this typical or what we think of as typical alcoholic to be living a life where alcohol is not enhancing it in any way.
No, I think that's the thing, isn't it? One of the reasons that we have this idea of an alcoholic, you know, what comes to mind? You think, oh, that a poor person that's, think of someone. Usually a man on a park bench, who by the way, is probably in that place.
'cause he's had enormous trauma in his life and that's, that's why he's in that, he's got to that really difficult situation. But if we other people and say, well that's an alcoholic and I'm not like that, I'm not that bad. Or, you know, maybe, well Ellie, I'm not, I wouldn't drink as much as Ellie, I'm not that bad.
We can sort of tell ourselves it's okay. I'm not an alcoholic. I don't have to change my drinking and it makes us feel safe. But the truth is. Alcohol is a highly addictive substance to all humans. And of course not everyone will get addicted and you know, everyone has different experiences and brains and so on, but it's still a risk if you drink it, it's a risk, you know, it's highly addictive [00:08:00] and it doesn't, it's quite unhelpful to think about,
how bad you have to get because you don't have to, you know, if, if like you say, you are realizing even though we have this culture, which I think is bananas, and when you start to think about it, where drinking a, a cancer causing neurotoxin regularly is the norm. When you start to think, wait a minute, I don't know if I wanna do this anymore.
You know, the World Health Organization has said no amount of alcohol is safe. Any amount you drink is causing you harm. That doesn't mean you have to stop. It's just good to make an informed choice. So I think what is shifting now, which is so beautiful to see, is people like you, Gill,
going, oh. So I don't, it doesn't have to be this big scary thing where I'm like, oh my God, I'm an alcoholic, and what does that mean, AA for the rest of my life, or the shame that might come with that. It's just, yeah, you know what, I, I'm drinking more than I want to. I, I am actually finding it hard to stop, and if you're finding it hard to stop or cut down, that's so normal.
And so, okay. Yeah. But [00:09:00] I'd really like to take a break or quit completely. , And it doesn't have to be scary, and it doesn't have to involve you saying you're an alcoholic. I don't call myself an alcoholic. I say I was addicted alcohol, but I've now five and a half years free from it. It doesn't make any sense to, you know, for me to say I'm an alcoholic.
I don't drink or want to drink. Quite the opposite of. Being a shameful thing if, for people who are looking at their drinking. That's amazing. It's absolutely incredible in a culture that that we have this socially sanctioned drug to go, I don't know if I, if I wanna do this anymore.
What a courageous being you are to be looking at that. Like, you know, it's, you've already taken a huge first step if you're starting to question things. So I love that and I think that is so true, especially because, and I know this is something that you help your clients with. What are the things for me.
With drinking alcohol, and I don't drink alcohol every day. I don't even drink alcohol every week, to be quite honest. But I'm a binge drinker, so that means that when I [00:10:00] do drink alcohol, I drink way too much and I don't have that off switch. And then every time I drink, I wake up with the beer fear the next day, and I feel terrible and I waste the rest of the weekend and yada, yada yada.
I have a love-hate relationship with it, like I say, because at the beginning of the night, I am loving life. And then it goes downhill after. Yeah. Usually, you know, then the next day it's like the worst thing ever, and I'm never doing it again until the next time. And yeah. And you know what, part of that is this cultural thing of socializing, you know?
Mm-hmm. Socializing. And alcohol is, particularly if you are in a friendship circle where everyone is drinking, everyone else is drinking alcohol. You just used the words, it's a courageous thing. It's a, it's a, it is a courageous act to actually look at that and think, number one, I'm not sure I wanna do that to myself [00:11:00] anymore.
And number two, who the hell am I? If I'm not drinking, where do I fit in my social circle if I'm sober? Absolutely. I mean, that need, human need for belonging and acceptance and connection and friendship is
Such a human important, vital need. And it can be really hard to think, well, would I lose those friendships? Or what would they think of me and would they invite me out? And how scary is that? You know? And I just wanna acknowledge that, those needs and those longings is so real and important.
And the good news is that quitting alcohol doesn't have to mean, I mean, it's the opposite for me. The friendships and connections I have now. I mean, my gosh, how much deeper they are than when I was socializing drunk I had really low self-worth.
I didn't think people would like me as I was. Just as Ellie, so one of the reasons I drank was 'cause I was like, I can't show up as myself. And I realized one day, Ellie, [00:12:00] you're not even giving people a chance. How do you know they won't like the real you
so I had to be incredibly brave and go, I'm gonna give it a go. What happens? And this is my whole approach, as you know, Gill. It's all about curiosity. What happens when I go to an event and I don't drink? So you could still go out with your friends. I know it probably seems like really, but you could, you probably wouldn't.
Stay out very late, but you could go and go, you know, it's all right. I'm gonna have fun guys, don't worry, I'm gonna have sparkling water or whatever non-alcoholic drink you wanna drink, and I'm just gonna see what happens. And you prob it probably will be to begin with really strange and difficult. I, you know, I don't wanna sugarcoat things here.
Yeah. But it's also an amazing opportunity, as you say, Gill, to get to know who you are. How am I showing up? What do I really want? What kind of friendships do I really want? Can you spend time with those people as well in settings without alcohol? Could you go for a walk with them? Could you go for coffee?
[00:13:00] To be honest, sometimes friendships will change when we quit drinking because if those people find it hard or you find that they aren't up for going, doing other activities as well as, you know, clubbing or whatever, then they might change. But I guess it's a point to ask yourself, is that okay?
Because maybe. In that journey, you might kind of outgrow them and actually find that there are different friends that you want or you'll strength in the relationships that you do have because you're having sober conversations with people. You are really being with them, you know, being, and we talked about this, Gill, of being present, you know, with people and for life.
It's this glorious gift of being sober. You get to actually be here and sometimes that feels anxious. Sometimes you feel sad, you get to be here for all of it and experience the amazing, complex and messy gift of being a human being. You know? Oh Ellie, I just love that so much
So part of what you've [00:14:00] just said there really like, hugely resonates with me. The part you shared about how you didn't feel like people would like you enough if you were just showing up as yourself. I really relate to that because I think sometimes . I feel that. My friendship group has this certain expectation of me because I'm quite an uhhuh outgoing person, and probably when I have a drink, I'm even more so that probably amplifies the way I am.
Yes. So it's almost this, there's this persona. Of me. That's the life and soul of the party. Yes. And I feel like I'm taking, it makes me sound like super bigheaded. Like, I'm like, oh my God, I'm, they're gonna be bereft if they lose that. And I don't really mean it like that, but what I mean is it's like I know that they really kind of want that, me to show up so I almost feel like I'm gonna disappoint people if I don't drink [00:15:00] and.
Can I just stop you? Because can I ask you, you said, I know that that's how they want me to be. Ooh. Do you know that? Oh, live coaching. Do you know? Online? Right here and now on the Heads Together podcast. I love it. And of course I don't do, I, I don't, the, the part I do know is the nagging the, oh, go on.
Don't, oh, don't not drink, don't drive, get a taxi. Mm. I know that part. Yeah. But if I were to make that decision and show up sober and, and stay sober, do I know how they would react to that? No. Because I've never given that a chance. Just like you said, never given it a chance. And so that's really, really interesting.
But you know what, Ellie, since I've talked to you about this next weekend, we've got some friends coming round and these are friends that we always end up having a drink with. They are. They drink alcohol the same as we do, and the four of us would always tend to share. A few bottles of wine. Mm-hmm. They're coming round and [00:16:00] we've all agreed that we are gonna do a sober games night at the.
So this is something really, different, some people listening probably think, oh my God. Never knew she drank that much. But you know what, this is the truth, isn't it? This is the real talk about how we, you don't have to have, and I'm using air quotes, which is never good on a podcast, but you don't have to have what other people might perceive as a problem with alcohol.
It's how you feel about it, isn't it? That makes it a problem or not a problem it's so interesting how when you start to look at this, and this is so key about this.
All of these beliefs. So the things that we just take as so you're like, oh no, people want me to be fun, you know, so I have to drink and just go, what is that? True? And then alcohol, makes me the fun one , is that true? You know? So , it's looking at , all these beliefs and just questioning is that true?
And then having these experiences, like how amazing you're having these games night. That sounds [00:17:00] amazing. That sounds like my idea of fun time. Yeah. You're having a games night and just seeing. Do I have fun? Do I have connection without alcohol? Am I still a fun person? Do people like hanging out with me?
And, and as you have these experiences, your own lived experience will show you. The truth and the reality, and that's what helps to change your brain, that the conscious questioning of beliefs and then the really trying it out in, in real life, being curious and noticing what happens. It's all about being curious.
It's, it's not about, you know, abstinence and perfectionism. It's just trying things out, noticing what's true and kind of slowly moving towards that life that you really want and the way you really wanna show up in the world. Oh, Ellie, I love the way you described this, this act of being curious.
Just be curious and, and experiment, I guess is what we're saying, isn't it? See what happens. And I, I really, really love that. Thinking about other work that you do with your clients around this, what are [00:18:00] the other challenges that people come up against when alcohol really isn't their friend, and you know, they've realized that they're kind of done.
They, they want a different life. What are the other challenges that you see come up a lot? Yeah, so one of the big ones I think is for people to learn to be with their feelings. So this is a really big one, and it's unfortunately, again, in our culture, not something that we are really taught, to be honest.
We're kind of taught the opposite, a lot of us. You could be happy and that's kind of about it. So often we learn that because of the responses of, you know, our caregivers and the adults in our life. A lot of our emotions are not okay to express, and they're not okay to feel. So of course, we do things like turn to alcohol when we feel things like grief or sadness or shame, you know, the, the hard stuff to feel, especially we turn to alcohol.
So when we take away alcohol, this is the really big, deep work of going right. How do [00:19:00] I take care of myself when I'm feeling? Big emotions. How do I lovingly take care of myself? I can't numb out anymore. I can't have the drink. What do I need to do? And it's so important that you build around that practices and tools and a client the other day had this beautiful term for it.
She called it soothing menu. So writing down, what can I do instead of drink? What do I need to do to take care of myself? Yeah, I thought that was. So lovely. So many. I mean, I called it a sober toolkit, but yeah. Isn't that nice? Beautiful. So having the, and this, this would be unique to every person. What do I need?
You know, when I'm feeling sad, what do I, what do I need? There's so many things in the moment, you know, I often like, give myself a hug, you know, wrap your arms around yourself to squeeze yourself, give. Yourself. Compassion, say, this is really hard. I'm feeling a lot of pain. You know, it might be going for a walk, and community and connection. Calling a friend, asking someone for a hug, you know, and, and it might be sober community as well, we are not meant to be alone. We are not meant [00:20:00] to cope with the challenges of life alone. And we unfortunately have a culture that's now is so individualistic in the West, but we need community. We need connection, we need care, comfort, support. You know, these are, this is okay if you need these things, but it's when you, remove alcohol, you then really need to, to learn how to take care of yourself and how to connect to others and reach out when you need more support.
And that can be a really hard thing for. All of us. I think reaching out and just asking for help. I know with myself often if I'm dealing with heightened emotion, I tend to eat my feelings as well. So for me, it's not alcohol. Mm-hmm.
That's the go-to in terms of feelings. For me it's food sugar, you know, and learning to find other ways to self-soothe that don't involve eating and particularly sugar can be really difficult. Mm-hmm. One of the things that I've been practicing is allowing myself silence. Because I've realized, yeah, that [00:21:00] something I do is if I'm trying to drown out an emotion, I will literally drown out that emotion with a podcast, a radio music,
a masterclass , on the computer, a conversation, it's almost like anything to avoid listening to my own thoughts. And I've realized that actually it doesn't serve me. Sometimes when I'm feeling an emotion, I feel it, come on. Instead of turning up the volume on something external, I'm learning now that I can just sit in some silence and allow it to wash over me.
I relate. I used to do that and I probably still do, to be honest. The drowning out the, it's distraction, isn't it? It's, I don't wanna feel this. I need to distract myself. And it's, we, you, we all have our things and, I really want to just say as well, Gill, it's amazing.
Like thank you for your amazing honesty and vulnerability that we in this conversation and I keep feeling that. Just so moved because, because it's all okay. Like I just wanna say that whatever you are thing is, if it's [00:22:00] food, if it's distraction, if it's alcohol, it's okay.
Like you are, you are trying to help yourself. That is what you think is helping. Of course you are innocent. There's an innocent part of you that says, this will make me feel better. Of course, that's okay. But what you're doing Gill, what's really amazing. When you allow yourself that silence, and this is really key, is you are actually listening to that part that wants to be heard.
You're giving it some space. You're not saying, no, no, no. Be quiet. I don't wanna hear you. You are going, okay. Oh, it can be really hard. You are here. I understand. You want, you wanna say something? Okay. And that part might be saying, have a drink, or go and eat something that is also an innocent part.
You can say, yes, thank you. You're trying to help. I'm not gonna do that right now. I really appreciate you being here. I'm gonna do something else. And it's showing it love, showing it you're listening, setting a boundary. I'm not gonna do that thing, but thank you. And it will be [00:23:00] oftentimes sort of relaxed knowing it feels heard.
And, and the same with any emotion. You'll notice that , the urge to go, oh, I'm gonna need to listen to something. Oh, I don't wanna be with this. In that silence, I wonder if you can , ask your body, okay, what's here right now? What? What would you like to say to me?
What would you like to tell me? And just saying hello to it and just allowing it to be as it is, not trying to change it. Just going, okay, you are here and you belong. Wow. You know what came up for me when you were saying that Ellie is. What a difference that is compared to the way that certainly I, and I'm sure lots of people listening talk to themselves.
Mm. I don't talk to myself with that level of compassion. Mm-hmm. I say things like, oh, for God's sake don't so bloody greedy. Or, oh, why'd you have to get so drunk and loud? Mm-hmm. And then wake up the next day hating yourself, or, you know, I just tell myself off all the time. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And listening to you [00:24:00] almost role play that.
Beautiful, caring way, compassionate way that we can learn how to talk to ourselves. Mm-hmm. I can honestly see how transformational that would be if we learn, and these are skills that we don't have automatically, do we? I don't think, you know, unless you do this work and it is something that you get to practice.
And I think that's the thing, as you were saying, Gill, this isn't something we are taught. And it does take practice. It really does. And, and it's, it does take time. I mean, when I was. 21. This idea of talking kindly to yourself, like, what, what are you even, what, what does that even, what do you mean?
I must have had a tiny, teeny little, little beautiful little voice in me going, you are okay Ellie, you are okay. But it, but it did take a long, long time of practice remembering and forgetting. Remembering and forgetting. You know, even if you, you know what, one of the things me and my husband talk about is.[00:25:00]
It can be comforting even just to know that it is possible to talk to yourself in a compassionate way. Even if in the moment it's like, you know, what's not happening. For me, just knowing it is possible for someone, it is possible for me to talk to myself and compassion that can actually, even that can bring comfort in that moment.
And so this is all, little small steps and just so much gentleness and soft. And even that inner critic, that harsh voice, that talks to us, which I've had heard advice in the past, which. Doesn't make sense to me where people say, tell that part of you to F off and just tell it to shut up.
And the reason that doesn't work, I, I don't relate to that at all. No. And why, why don't you, Gill, tell me why you don't relate to it? The reason I don't relate to that is almost like you're setting up that cycle again, then you're setting up this combative way of talking to each other. You are stupid. Why are you so greedy?
Yeah. [00:26:00] Shut up. Why are you calling yourself greedy? Yeah. That doesn't make sense to me at all. Exactly. And and it's so important also that part of you saying, oh, you're so greedy. It is still a part of you. And the path to real wholeness or self-acceptance and love is accepting all parts of ourselves.
Even the ones, especially the ones that are the hardest to love and the hardest to be with. And that part that we kind of wish want there. So that part of you that's saying, oh, you're so greedy. It's trying to help, it's trying to keep you safe. It's doing it in the best way. It knows how.
It's trying to help and it's a really interesting practice to notice what happens when you turn towards that part and go, I, I get it. You're trying to help me. It's probably scared, you know? That's what I often find when I turn towards that really critical part and I go, okay, you know what?
I'm gonna listen to you. It's often really scared for me and it is really [00:27:00] trying to help. And sometimes the really funny thing sometimes happens to me is I turn to, I go, okay, you have something to say. Like, I get it. I'm listening. What would you like to say? And often it kind of goes. Oh, okay. Oh, well.
Alright. I just, nothing I guess. And it kind of just like leaves me because it was yelling at me and then when I'm like, alright, what do you wanna say?
It might sound weird to people, but I, but all I'd say is give it a try. , It just see, see what happens when you, even the critical parts. you accept them and love them and, and say, okay, you can, you can come and have a seat at the table and I get why you're here.
I'd love you to tell us a bit more about your coaching because mm-hmm.
You have such. A beautiful, beautiful way of talking about this topic in a way that just makes it feel okay. It makes everything feel okay. And I dunno if that she's, 'cause you have such a lovely tone to the way you talk anyway, but, but it just, [00:28:00] it's really comforting. I can only imagine as your client.
It must feel amazing to have someone to be able to work with you and I, you know, we're both coaches. We know how incredible it feels to, to be held in that kind of space. So can you tell us a bit more about what working with you looks like? Obviously I've been there and I get it. Yeah. I mean, everyone's journey of course, is different, but I, will never judge anybody.
I, I just, people sometimes share things with me that I, people might be judgmental of, and all I feel is compassion. And it's like, yeah, of course, of course you did that. That's okay. So, of course, I hope that people, just from knowing that I, yeah, I've, I've been there and I. I just hold people with so much compassion and, and I hope that that's what they feel and that's what I really want for my clients as well.
To just start to take those really gentle steps to seeing if they can bring themselves compassion as well. I wish there was a different word in our language [00:29:00] from mistakes because. When you, if you are on the path to quitting alcohol, it's probably not gonna be linear.
And it's not gonna be overnight. Right. So when you do drink, it's not a, i it's not a relapse. I, like I say, it's not a mistake, it's a opportunity to learn. So. I never, if someone, you know, comes to me and that sometimes be like, oh, you know, I was worried, Ellie, you know, I, I drank. It's like, that's okay.
Okay, brilliant. Let's, let's have a look at this. What was going on for you? What do you think you were feeling and needing? What was the trigger? What can you do next time to support yourself and just to really try to bring yourself so much forgiveness and compassion, because these are actually kind of necessary steps.
In the, process of changing our brains, which is what we are doing. When you are changing a habit, recovering from addiction, it's this amazing thing, neuroplasticity that our brains do where Yes, okay, you form that habit, you form that attachment, you can change your brain. I mean, I, I'm living proof of that, so I am, I know it works.
A hundred percent works. [00:30:00] So we are gonna change our brains. That does not happen overnight. If you think about how many times, we drink and tell ourselves this is the answer, it's gonna take a few repetitions and it's probably gonna take a few times of drinking again and then going, Nope, it's not doing what I thought it did.
What was happening to me then? So that's a big part of it. It's really kind of embracing those points to learn. As long as. You keep going and you keep that commitment, you'll get to the goal. The path is gonna be rocky and you're gonna fall down a bit.
As long as you keep getting up and you don't give up, you'll get there. And of course a big part of my role is, being a, a, a cheerleader, just cheering people on, nobody is broken or has anything wrong with them that needs to be fixed.
Of course, people are like, I wanna stop drinking. Yeah. And it makes sense. You've been drinking and now you wanna change and you can make a change and you're gonna get there and you know the people. Who use, alcohol or any addiction. That of course, like every human, they're the most beautiful, gorgeous, incredible, often so motivated, [00:31:00] inspiring, wonderful people.
And they have this thing that, that they wanna change. You know? It's not the whole of them. It's a part. And I just. Wholeheartedly believe it's possible. I respect everybody's individual journey. So it's my coaching obviously is very individualized to each client, and I really love that actually.
I have a plan sometimes, like, okay, the plan's going out the window. This person needs something really different. Ellie, how can people, learn more about you. If this is something they've heard this podcast and they're thinking, you know what, I would really like to explore this.
I would really like maybe a conversation or I'd like to maybe experience a, a bit of Ellie Magic. Mm-hmm. Where can they go to do that? Yes. So the best place is probably my website, which is ellie-nova.com. So, and on that you can book a discovery call with me so you can have a chat with me live there are several links on the website.
And I just love these conversations and there's never any pressure, I, I genuinely love these conversations. Like, I love this one. I'm having with you, Gill. People can find me on [00:32:00] Substack, as you know, Gill. Yeah, I'm I share lots and lots of. I hope very useful content about
everything we've been talking about self-compassion and supportive practices, and also a lot about the myths around alcohol and what it really does to our bodies and our brains. So if you go to, I think it's ellie nova.substack.com and if you're searching I'll the link and it's also, it's linked on my website as well.
I'm also on Instagram, if you're into that, ellie Nova Coaching. I do a lot of videos on there. Lovely. And I also know that you have a very special event coming up as well. Mm-hmm. Think, am I right to say this is a free event for people who want to come and find out?
Absolutely. Because it's about the topic that we were talking about, isn't it? It's about socializing sober. So that's yeah, Tuesday the 20th of May free online workshop at 12 midday. So hopefully you can come on your lunch break. And yeah, totally free with me and Jenny from the Sober Living Guide.
And we'll be diving further into, you know, the [00:33:00] really practical things as well about. Socializing sober, how you can support yourself and just find joy in sober socializing. So it doesn't have to be scary. And, I'm testament to it. It's the best way to socialize.
Yay. Well, I'm gonna put a link in the show notes to that as well. So if that is something that interests you, if right when we was talking about that, I just have this feeling that this will resonate with so many people. The whole socializing, sober thing, feeling like that's a bit of a barrier. So I really urge you sign up for Ellie's workshop.
I'm definitely going to, so. Thank you, Ellie. I've really enjoyed this conversation. I feel like I may have slightly turned it into a personalized coaching session for myself but it's my podcast, so I don't care. No, it's great, Gill. It's great. Okay. Thank you so much, Gill.
It's been really wonderful. It's been good to have you. Thanks. Alright, thanks everyone for listening. I will [00:34:00] see you back here again, same time, same place next week. Please go to the show notes, find all those links, have a look around, explore ways you can work with Ellie, but also that free. Workshop.
I've been to one of Ellie's workshops before she delivers so much value. So do do that. Go and sign up for that if it, if this is a topic that interests you. Okay, bye everyone. I hope you enjoyed this episode and that getting our heads together this week has filled your mind with what's possible. If you love the show, would you do me a massive favor? Please? Would you leave a five star rating on Apple Podcasts? It would really help you put more heads together. Reach more ears and expand more minds.
Until next week, bye for now.
