Meet Your Coach
Holly Wilson
Growing up, alcohol wasn’t a significant part of my life. My parents enjoyed a drink now and then, but their liquor cabinet was more for entertaining than everyday use. Drinking was reserved for celebrations and gatherings with friends.
I EXPERIMENTED OCCASIONALLY WITH ALCOHOL IN HIGH SCHOOL, BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL COLLEGE THAT I DISCOVERED ALCOHOL AS A WAY TO EASE MY SOCIAL ANXIETY.
Like many students, I dove into the party scene, binge drinking at fraternity parties and dance clubs.
This pattern continued as I launched my career in marketing and communications, where social drinking was part of the corporate culture. Climbing the corporate ladder, I found alcohol everywhere—at happy hours, sales meetings, and corporate events.
I was the one who never wanted the night to end, often sneaking a drink back to my hotel room or indulging in a nightcap at home. While I considered myself a social drinker, I often crossed the line into excessive drinking, which led to many memorable nights and a few regrettable mornings.
THEN CAME MY MID-30s AND A PAINFUL DIVORCE.
I shifted from using alcohol as a social lubricant to relying on it to numb my pain and self-medicate depression and anxiety. That’s when my relationship with alcohol morphed into something more serious.
By the time I recovered from my divorce in my late 30s, alcohol had firmly taken hold. I found myself reaching for a glass of wine daily, with only brief breaks over the next decade.
To the outside world, I was the fun party girl. But behind closed doors my drinking escalated. I needed more alcohol to achieve the same effects. My struggles with depression and anxiety continued, and I was stuck in a cycle of self-medication.
By my mid-40s, I hit a point where hangovers became a regular part of my life. Mondays became a challenge. I’d wake up with a sense of dread, feeling unprepared for the week ahead after drowning my thoughts over the weekend. I often felt I was falling short of my own high expectations. There were days I struggled to get out of bed.
I vividly remember my last bad hangover: it was the last day of a week-long beach vacation, and I had been binge drinking throughout. I was so sick I couldn’t leave the condo, promising myself I’d never drink again. Yet, the very next day, I found myself reaching for that familiar bottle.
I needed help, but I hesitated to attend an AA meeting. I didn’t identify with the label of “alcoholic” and wasn’t ready to declare it in front of others. So, I stayed stuck in the alcohol loop, feeling trapped yet knowing I had to regain control.
I COULD SEE ROCK BOTTOM LOOMING.
I KNEW I HAD TO MAKE A CHANGE.
In September 2020, thanks to a Facebook ad that felt like divine intervention, I discovered a 21-day alcohol challenge. At that point, I wasn’t ready to give up alcohol completely, but I believed I could manage a break for 21 days. During this challenge, I learned so much about my relationship with alcohol and why I drank.
As soon as the challenge ended, however, I went on another beach vacation and went back to my drinking habit because in my mind, vacation and heavy drinking were synonymous.
Over the following months, I experienced a rollercoaster of alcohol-free days and weeks mixed with attempts to moderate my drinking. I set rules for myself—only drinking on certain days of the week or limiting my intake—but whenever my willpower faltered, I slipped back into old habits. My journey was typical of many who try to stop drinking; it often takes multiple attempts before finding lasting change.
There wasn’t one defining moment that ended my drinking, but rather a series of nights followed by hungover mornings that led to my last “Day 1.” I was finally sick and tired of being sick and tired.
That last “Day 1” was November 11, 2021. Throughout my year of ups and downs, I immersed myself in “quit lit” books and worked a lot on my mindset, diving deep into my subconscious beliefs about alcohol, society and myself. Shifting my mindset was the difference in relying on willpower to make it one-day-at-a time and truly changing how I felt about alcohol. It was no longer something I had to give up but rather something I no longer desired. I finally felt free, and what an incredible place that is!
THE KEY TO MY TRANSFORMATION WAS CHALLENGING THE SUBCONSCIOUS BELIEFS I HELD ABOUT ALCOHOL, SOCIETY AND MYSELF.
By confronting my feelings instead of masking them, I developed empowering beliefs about myself and my relationship with alcohol. I reprogrammed my thoughts and created healthier habits.
Today, my passion is to help others who find themselves in a similar situation—those who have turned to alcohol to cope with life’s stresses and are seeking an alternative to traditional 12-step programs. I want to inspire you to see that a joyful life without alcohol is not just possible but within reach.
In my program, I guide clients through a step-by-step journey based on my experiences and a framework I’m certified to teach. I know it can be one step forward and two steps back, but together, we’ll build resilience and aim to “fail forward.” During the program, we’ll:
🧘 Reconcile the internal conflict that arises when we want to stop drinking but also believe alcohol benefits us.
🧠 Rewire our subconscious beliefs about alcohol, society, and ourselves.
🔬 Adopt an experimental mindset, experiencing life alcohol-free and learning from our successes and setbacks.
MY MISSION IS TO HELP THOSE CAUGHT IN THE CYCLE OF DAILY DRINKING TO BREAK FREE BEFORE HITTING ROCK BOTTOM.
You can live a joyful, alcohol-free life where you no longer crave alcohol because you’ve truly let it go. I’ve walked this path, figured it out, and I’m here to help you figure it out too!
