foundER + editor + PUBLISHER (IRISH)
| Susan Christina | Irish | Living in Madrid | EUROPE |
Thank you for stopping by to find out more about who is behind HOLA SOBER magazine. I found when I put down my wine glass in January 2019, I couldn't find a magazine that supported my not-drinking lifestyle. The support platform I created at that time (Sassy Sober Sisters) in modern recovery discovery was filled with amazing women who like me wanted to stay healthy and well. Each day I sent out daily emails and fancy Pdf's at the weekend encouraging positive use of our new found freedom and time and the ladies loved it so I decided to go a step further and create the kind of magazine that I wanted to read. From these humble beginnings, Hola Sober was born in my home-office in Madrid using a new format for my digital publication in 2021. I believe it is critically important we are showcased celebrating our alcohol-free empowered lives as opposed to being viewed as walking around in shame wearing sack clothe and ashes. This is modern-recovery-discovery with bells on, joyful and unafraid standing in complete freedom from the pinkification of an industry that so many of us fell for. Hola Sober shares stories of triumph, sober tool box ideas, self-care, offers advice from mental health experts, wellness experts and nutritionists. I wanted my magazine to look and feel beautiful showcasing our premium upgrade to healthy living and I believe it does, as it is a love letter to all things sober gold from me to you, applauding those of us brave enough to stand up as non-drinkers in a drink drenched world. Yes, brave enough, because putting down the wine glass is the epitome of female empowerment in my book.
Post a busy working day, this is my passion project and I am building a team of like-minded powerful female voices in a vibrant collective where we set out to share sober ideas worth sharing. Please subscribe and join the thousands of women enjoying a powerful read each month and subscribe for some sunshine in your inbox as we look skyward and say not today lady.
I am not qualified at anything but I am a woman who used to drink wine and now speaks passionately about not drinking wine.
| Gee | Dear Gee Problem Page | UK | EUROPE |
Gee is a Mental Health Specialist with over three decades of experience and brings a wealth of experience to her problem page each month. She is part of the leadership team at Hola Sober Support (formally Sassy Sober Sisters) A wonderful straight talking lady who brings humour and a no nonsense approach to our sober community offering sound advice and input. She is the lady behind the highly successful Dear Gee problem page in the magazine which is a firm favourite with readers each month. In 2022 she will lead two Mental Health Workshops for women in sobriety offered on the Hola Sober Platform.
| Alexandra Hartley-Leonard | Columnist | USA |
Alex is a host at Hola Sober Support and is part of the leadership team at Hola Sober Support (formally Sassy Sober Sisters). She has a monthly column writing across a broad range of subjects on her journey and is a talented and discerning voice in our sober community. Alex will also be part of Hola Sober Food & Drink launching in October 2021.
| Maria Sweby | Columnist | UK | EUROPE |
Maria lives in Northumberland, a wild and woolly part of the north-east of England. She trained as an English teacher, She left the profession in 2019 after working as a Head of Department in two different schools. She finally stopped drinking on New Year's Eve in 2018 after her mum passed away, a combination of alcoholism and cancer. Since then, she has been throwing herself into a more intuitive way of living, and is usually found knitting, gardening, cold-water swimming or working with crafting groups. Maria is also finishing an MSc in Psychology and hopes to develop this into a PhD study.
| Linda Redmond| Columnist | Ireland | EUROPE |
Linda is a core part of the Hola Sober team who has been in and around the sober space for almost two decades. A huge advocate of modern-recovery-discovery Linda is the safest pair of hands in a meeting and the wisest of writers in her column. She is also deals with author submissions and proof reads copy before publishing. She spent almost two decades in an Irish national newspaper and knows a thing or two about the industry!
| Colette | Columnist Tarot Wisdom | CANADA |
Colette is our Tarot Card Queen writing a monthly column pulling cards for the sober community and keeping us informed on all things celestial. In Colette's world, the Tarot is timeless with infinite wisdom to share guiding us along our path in life with clear signals from the universe of which we are privileged to be part of.
| Ann Dowsett Johnston | Columnist | USA + CANADA |
An award-winning journalist, Ann Dowsett Johnston is one of the leading sober advocate voices in the space Ann is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, turned psychotherapist. For more than 25 years, I worked at Maclean’s magazine, Canada’s newsweekly, where I was perhaps best known as the chief architect of the Maclean’s university rankings—and for a series of columns on modern life, including “The Boy Can’t Sleep,” anthologized in Carol Shields’ Dropped Threads II. Winner of seven National Magazine Awards, Ann is also the recipient of a Southam Journalism Fellowship and the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy. It was for the latter that I prepared a 14-part series on Women and Alcohol in the Toronto Star, looking at the closing gender gap on risky drinking. In 2013, she wrote Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, a book named one of the top 10 of the year by the Washington Post. Part memoir, part journalistic exploration, the book exposes the “pinking” of the alcohol industry. Says Gabor Mate: “The writing is gripping and vivid, the voice personal, the research exacting, the stories revealing if sometimes heartbreaking, the conclusions essential. A triumphant life, a triumphant book."
Having Ann on board is a gift for sober women everywhere!
| Travis Akers | Columnist | USA + BAHRAIN |
Our only male columnist has joined the ranks and I am thrilled to have his discerning sober voice on board for a monthly column. Travis has been a member of the sober community since 2019. Recognised as a social media personality, and for his advocacy work with military veterans, gun reform, and addiction recovery, he frequently appears in the media to include as a Newsweek opinions contributor, and features on CNN, Upworthy, Washington Post, and NPR. Travis serves as an Officer in the U.S. Navy and is also currently a Fellow with the Faith & Justice Network. He resides in Florida and is married to his beautiful Indian bride Anna, and has two wonderful sons.
| Maria | MMK | Columnist | USA |
Maria has been in the sober space for over thirty five years and brings years of experience of living in an alcohol free world. She is a powerhouse of wisdom and truly comes with that lovely touch of sage advice in her new column and as a host at the Hola Sober Support Platform. Based in the USA, her energy for this project is awesome and inspirational as she is one of those life long learners who loves to stay curious. She is also part of the leadership team at Hola Sober Support Platform hosting a weekly meeting and leading one of our closed groups.
Maria has been in service within in the sober space for decades and brings with her that wonderful lived in wisdom we all need to hear.
| Aly F Canavan | Columnist | USA |
Aly F Canavan has been named in the top eight transformational Speakers in the States by USA Today. She is an engaging, intuitive and transformational Dream Builder Coach. She is a health + wellness advocate and has been sober for seven years. Her column is an insightful space offering up her thoughts on sobriety and life.
| Sophie Pelham-Burn | MMedSci, ANutr | FRANCE |
Sophie is our columnist covering healthy and emotional eating in early sobriety urging us all to eat a balanced healthy diet filled with fresh food and vegetables. She is a vibrant powerhouse of science and education. and roots for us daily. Although Sophie is not part of the sober community, she is specializing in the space coming with a broad range of science based knowledge, she shares with us each month.
| Charlotte Hey | AF Drinks Specialist | UK + SPAIN |
Charlotte is a Communication, marketing and publishing professional with proven management experience in global markets. Founding Director of Bespoke Drinks Media, former publisher The Drinks Business, Harper's Wine and Spirit. A discerning voice who will test and review AF drinks for Hola Sober Food & Drink.
No, we are not flawed, weak or suffering in sobriety.
Modern Recovery
Self-care is the only way!
Self-care is the only way!
We may have got it wrong in the past, but we don't' live there anymore and daily commit to being the best version of ourselves that we can be. That's not weak, that's f*cking badass as hell.
Self-care is the only way!
Self-care is the only way!
Self-care is the only way!
Hola Sober offers tons of ideas tried and tested by our subscribers bringing a holistic approach to sobriety that is exciting and fun. Yoga, crystals, daily meditations, podcasts, reading, exercise, you name it, we have tried it and share our experiences.