event planner

Re(Pro) #63: Tricia Lewis

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I chose to recover as hard as I drank and I haven’t looked back since.
— Tricia Lewis

Name: Tricia Lewis

Age: 37

Location: Dallas, TX

Recovery date: 11/14/2016
*turning point for substance use and/or mental health challenges

Creative niche:
Entrepreneurship has been in my blood my entire life. I'm a 6 year + business owner but my ultimate creative outlet is event planning, most recently in the form of Sober by Southwest in Austin TX.

If applicable to your story, drug of choice: Alcohol

Recovery story in a nutshell:


I was a high- functioning, over-achieving, co-dependent alcoholic who had grown up around a very low functioning addict. Seeing what addiction "looked" like in that way made it so hard to diagnose if I had a real problem because I didn't realize how common high functioning alcoholism is or what that even resembled. I just thought I was anxious and needed to blow off steam... every night.

I worked successfully in the restaurant industry, worked incredibly hard, and partied even harder. I was a black-out drinker from the beginning and it progressively got worse into my mid 30's as I compartmentalized a double life: drinking every single night and spending my days making it look like I was totally fine. I had also become so angry, anxious, unsettled and generally unhappy and was waking up each morning pissed off that I had drank so much the night before when it was always supposed to be just 1 or 2.

After my 12 week swan song of a socially acceptable drinking binge (Read: I still went to work most days despite my daily drinking, never got a DWI, always kept up appearances, didn't take shots/ only drank expensive wine and liquor and made sure I didn't "look like an alcoholic") I experienced my first physical withdrawals that lasted 3 days. This is when I knew I couldn't negotiate my drinking with my body anymore. I listened to some recovery podcasts and heard a story I related to very deeply that convinced me to go ahead and try this sobriety thing. I dove in head first and tried AA, online sober groups, books, therapy, the 12 steps, a sponsor, you name it. I chose to recover as hard as I drank and I haven't looked back since.

Top 5 Recovery/Wellness Tools 

1) Community
(sober Facebook groups, 12 step meetings, other sober people I've met through social media)

2) Prayer/meditation

3) Podcasts

4) Actively working the 12 Steps

5) Keeping my mind open


Connect with Tricia

Recovery Happy Hour
Website: www.recoveryhappyhour.com
Instagram: @recoveryhappyhour
Twitter: @recoveryhappyhour
Facebook: @recoveryhappyhour

Sober by Southwest
Website: www.soberbysouthwest.com
Instagram: @soberbysouthwest
Facebook: @soberbysouthwest