About Laura
How about a little FAQ?
Q. Do people really ask this stuff, frequently?
A. According to Google, the two top questions about me are: my age (41) and who my ex-husband is (nope, sorry!). The rest of these questions are…questionable.
Q. What do you do? Like, to pay your bills.
A. I write, teach, and speak. Mostly about addiction, sobriety, and how we get through the shit we don’t believe we can get through. I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and spirituality and the human condition and now it’s my job to explore these things.
But, the money part! Writing pays zero bills, at least not directly (yet), but my blog has led to a lot of paying work over the years and my first book, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life will be born in January, 2020. I sure hope that makes a few pennies!
As for teaching, I run three online courses: The Bigger Yes, which is about finding what I believe we most want in life: purpose; We Are The Luckiest, which helps people learn how to actually be a human once they’re sober; and The Reclamation Room, which is all about my numero uno love: writing.
I also teach workshops and retreats out in the wild sometimes, but I really love my kid and my cats so it takes a lot for me to leave them these days.
Q. Have you always done this work?
A. No! I had a long, successful, and extra boozie career in advertising first. And then, I stopped drinking. And then, after 500 or more David Byrne, “How did I get here?” moments, I left that world for this one. I’ve never looked back—even when my bank account wept lonely tears of desperation.
If you want to hear the full backstory on the job leap, listen to this episode of Spiritualish.
Q. What is Spiritualish?
A. It’s a podcast I host with Meadow DeVor. We talk about spirituality (sort of) and personal development (sort of) and it’s the most fun. Before Spiritualish, I hosted a podcast called HOME with Holly Whitaker. That one was all about sobriety and we had no idea what we were doing when we started recording conversations in our closets and then it became an iTunes Top 100 show and that’s kind of my business and life strategy: I throw things against the wall and see what sticks. [hands up shrug emoji]
Spiritualish is also an IG account where we post memes and also promote the show. But mostly memes.
Q. When did you get sober?
A. September 2014.
Q. Why did you get sober? Was it…a lifestyle choice?
A. If not dying is a lifestyle choice, then yes!
I had to get sober or I wasn’t going to live. And if I did live, I wouldn’t have wanted to be alive.
Q. How did you do it?
A. I wrote about that here.
Q. Do you think I can get sober?
A. I know you can.
Q. Do you think I should?
A. If you’re asking, then probably. :)
Q. Who is your ex-husband?
A. Still no!
Q. How can I work with you?
A. First, get on my newsletter. Because I send emails you’ll actually want to read (seriously, I have people tell me all the time that they save my emails to savor them!). And, I always ask you to reply, and then I read your replies, and we have conversations, and it’s my favorite. But also because my email people find out about all my things first: new classes, my most recent panic attack, or my latest dating nightmare.
Second, check out my courses.
Q. But do you do 1x1 work or coaching?
A. I don’t. Because I suck at it. You should never pay me for that.
And now, a more formal bio, written in the 3rd person...
Credit: Kim Indresano Photography
Laura McKowen had a long, successful career in public relations and the Mad Men–esque drinking culture of advertising. After getting sober, she quickly became recognized as a fresh voice in recovery, beloved for her soulful and irreverent writing online and in print. She now leads sold out retreats and courses, teaching people to how to say yes to a bigger life. She lives outside Boston, Massachusetts with her daughter.
Laura writes an award-winning blog, hosted the iTunes Top 100 HOME podcast, and currently hosts Spiritualish, a show that provides an irreverent take on self-help. She has been featured in WebMD, New York Post, Bravo, the TODAY show, and more.
Laura has an MBA from Babson College and spent 15 years in advertising managing million-dollar accounts for Fortune 100 companies before transitioning to writing and teaching. She’s the founder of several online programs for sobriety and personal development and teaches workshops and retreats all over the U.S.
Her first book, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life is forthcoming in December 2019.
Work With Me
The Masterclass starts September 18 and applications are open.
If you’re interested in writing a book or a book-length project, this is a small-group intensive (16 spots) and includes A-list teachers such as Sarah Hepola, Melissa Febos, as well as Laura’s literary agent and the Executive Editor of New World Library. Learn more and apply (you will be taken to The Reclamation Room website).
THE NEXT “WE ARE THE LUCKIEST” BEGINS SEPTEMBER 9. JOIN THE WAITLIST NOW.
This is for those who want to find joy, resilience, and stability in sobriety. Because you didn’t come this far to only come this far.
Start Reading Here.
It’s great more people are talking about this because, frankly, alcohol is stupid. It was time for a change in the dominant paradigm of how we talk about sobriety. But not drinking and a cool IG feed isn’t a light switch to a better life—it takes a hell of a lot more than that.