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Laura McKowen

Laura is an award-winning author, podcast host, and founder of The Luckiest Club, a dogma-free sobriety support community that welcomes you as you are.

My goal is to help you re-discover that meaning in life comes from bringing forth what is already within you and that means saying YES to who you really are.

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Join me in the journey of discovering who you really are.


"Discovering who you really are" can sound like a total cliché, right? But I really mean it. So many people, myself included, trudge through life never really knowing this. They have no idea how much potential lies within them. We follow someone else's script, or we float along half-numb, half-awake, fighting off that small voice that says, there's another way to live.

The truth is, becoming who you really are can be hard freaking work. You have to disappoint people, go against societal norms, and get really used to being uncomfortable.

The reward, though? Meaning.

I don't have the answers for you, but I do have some pretty good questions - ones I've had to answer for myself. My work is about sharing what I learn along the way.

(You can learn more about me if you scroll down to the FAQ below).

Weekly Email from Laura

Weekly snippets, discoveries, and notes from Laura on our path to discovering ourselves.

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“A masterpiece. The truest, most generous, honest, and helpful sobriety memoir I’ve read. It’s going to save lives.”

Glennon Doyle

#1 New York Times bestselling author of 
Untamed and Love Warrior.

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Get hands-on help in your journey to discover your true self, align your focus, stoke your faith and courage, and develop a practice of devotion.

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Hear more about Laura's personal journey...through life, motherhood, her road to sobriety and more.

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You deserve a magnificent life, a beautiful life, a life you are proud to call home.

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Official Bio

Laura McKowen inspires people to say yes to a bigger life. She’s the author of the bestselling memoir, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life, which #1 New York Times bestselling author, Glennon Doyle, called “A masterpiece.”

She has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, WebMD, Psychology Today, the TODAY show, and more. In 2020, she founded The Luckiest Club, a global sobriety support community. She also hosts the Tell Me Something True podcast, a show for people who want to fall in love with the mystery of life again.

Laura has an MBA from Babson College and lives with her daughter and partner on the North Shore of Boston.

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Photo credit: Dove Shore

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Get to know Laura

Frequently Asked Questions
Do people really ask this stuff frequently?

According to Google, the two top questions asked about me are: my age (43) and who my ex-husband is (nope, sorry!). The rest of these questions are…questionable.

‍

What is your mission?

I once wrote this on a piece of paper and I think it could be called my mission: There is no gift like this gift. There is nothing more precious than the pain of waking up to your life. Showing you this is the mountain I’m willing to die on.

The best tangible manifestation of this mission to date is my book and The Luckiest Club (TLC), a sobriety support community me and my team started in May, 2020.

Have you always done this stuff?

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.

When did you get sober?

September, 2014

Why did you get sober? Was it... a lifestyle choice?

If not dying is a lifestyle choice, then yes!


How did you do it?

I wrote about that here.

Do you think I can get sober?

I know you can.

Who is your ex-husband?

Still no!

What qualifies you to do this stuff?

Nothing qualifies me to be a writer other than wanting to write and writing a lot and continuing to write a lot. As for being a teacher and speaker, most of my qualification comes from my lived experience, but I do have some “real” qualifications too. I have a degree in Business from Colorado State University, an MBA from Babson College, I am a 500 RYT Yoga Teacher and have been teaching for 10+ years, and I’ve read at least 43,000 addiction, personal development, psychology, and spirituality books.

What do you actually do to like, pay your bills...?

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 was born in January. I’d like that to make a few pennies.

As for teaching, I run online courses around sobriety and personal development.

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.

How can I work with you?

First, subscribe to 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!). But also because my email people find out about all the good stuff first: new classes, new podcast episodes, my most recent panic attack, or the best book I've read recently.

Then, check out my courses. And if you need sobriety support, join The Luckiest Club.

Are you writing another book?

Yes. My next book will be published by Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House) in early 2023!

Get to know Laura

Frequently Asked Questions
Do people really ask this stuff Frequently?

According to Google, the two top questions asked about me are: my age (43) and who my ex-husband is (nope, sorry!). The rest of these questions are…questionable.

What is your mission?

I once wrote this on a piece of paper and I think it could be called my mission: There is no gift like this gift. There is nothing more precious than the pain of waking up to your life. Showing you this is the mountain I’m willing to die on.

The best tangible manifestation of this mission to date is my book and The Luckiest Club (TLC), a sobriety support community me and my team started in May, 2020.

Have you always done this stuff?

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.

When did you get sober?

September, 2014.

Why did you get sober? Was it... a lifestyle choice?

If not dying is a lifestyle choice, then yes!

How did you do it?

I wrote about that here.

Do you think I can get sober?

I know you can.

Who is your ex-husband?

Still no!

What qualifies you to do this stuff?

Nothing qualifies me to be a writer other than wanting to write and writing a lot and continuing to write a lot. As for being a teacher and speaker, most of my qualification comes from my lived experience, but I do have some “real” qualifications too. I have a degree in Business from Colorado State University, an MBA from Babson College, I am a 500 RYT Yoga Teacher and have been teaching for 10+ years, and I’ve read at least 43,000 personal development, psychology, and spirituality books.

What do you actually do — to like, pay your bills...?

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 was born in January. I’d like that to make a few pennies.

As for teaching, I run online courses around sobriety and personal development.

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.

How can I work with you?

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, new podcast episodes, my most recent panic attack, or the best book I've read recently.

Then, check out my courses. And if you need sobriety support, join The Luckiest Club.

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