How I Became a Sober Coach

Sometimes things that feel like setbacks turn out to be the start of something wonderful

I was two years sober and working in a job share in the marketing department at LEGOLAND Windsor when I found myself at a career crossroads. A company-wide restructure meant redundancy was looming and, while I’d enjoyed the PR work I was doing, I was craving something that felt more meaningful. It would also be my second redundancy in two years and I was fed up with feeling reliant on someone else deciding whether I had a job or not.

So, in March 2025, I reached out to Sassy Sober Mum, whose now-defunct women’s sober group had played a crucial part in helping me get and stay sober. I said, “I’m thinking I’d like to train as a sober coach. Can you recommend someone to train with?” She immediately recommended Janey Lee Grace.

Something clicked. Sobriety had given me so much and I realised I wanted to use my own experience to help other women who were questioning their relationship with alcohol or wondering what life without it might look like. I contacted Janey and, as luck would have it, she had a space on a course starting that April. I jumped at the chance and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made.

As expected, I was made redundant at the end of March. But this time, rather than redundancy simply feeling like something that had happened to me, I had somewhere I wanted to go next. After completing my training, I used the time I had alongside some freelance PR work to build my coaching website, start my Instagram account and begin creating my own business. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was in charge of my own destination.

That didn’t mean I suddenly knew how to run a business. It took me a while to set myself up as a sole trader and get my head around being responsible for my own taxes, pension, income and outgoings. There was a lot to learn and building something of your own comes with a different kind of uncertainty.

Today, I balance sober coaching with freelance PR work and volunteering with Smart Works Reading, a charity that helps women get back into work through coaching, clothing and confidence. The combination gives me something I’d been missing: work that uses the skills I’ve built throughout my career alongside work that feels deeply meaningful to me.

I’m someone who likes to be busy, so I still have to remind myself not to say “yes” to everything. But a year after properly launching my coaching business, I feel much closer to finding the balance I was looking for.

I don’t think I would have made this change without sobriety. Getting sober made me look much more closely at what I wanted from my life, not just what I didn’t want anymore. Redundancy felt frightening and uncertain (and unfair and annoying!), but it also gave me the incentive to build something for myself. What initially looked like another career setback ended up opening the door to work that feels far more aligned with the person I am now.

If you’d like to train as a sober coach, click here to find out more: Train with Janey Lee Grace.

NB This was written for Janey Lee Grace’s article in Sober Curator, which you can read here: Reinvention After Sobriety.