Recovery Gets Company During Sober October
A Q&A with Jen Gilhoi, co-founder of Zero Proof Collective
This Q&A, facilitated by Jeremiah Gardner of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, was originally published for Hazelden Betty Ford’s monthly Recovery Advocacy Update. If you’d like to receive our advocacy emails, subscribe today.
And that’s a wrap! With the intense flurry of National Recovery Month events behind us — including the incredible Mobilize Recovery Across America tour and Faces & Voices of Recovery summit in St. Paul, it is now “Sober October” — a time when many not in recovery from substance use disorders also give sobriety a try.
For several years, a so-called “sober curious” movement has been emerging, leading to growing participation in Dry January, Sober October and other alcohol-free activities and occasions. Not quite a temperance movement and not quite a recovery movement, it’s more about healthy choices and decentralizing alcohol in American culture. That, in turn, has given rise to a fast-growing alcohol-free beverage industry and even sober dive bars.
What are the implications of this movement for people in recovery, and for the addiction treatment and recovery support industries? Hazelden Betty Ford CEO Joseph Lee, MD, recently touched on this topic while discussing a wide range of alcohol-related issues on Minnesota Public Radio. We also checked in with a friend and fellow traveler, Jen Gilhoi, the founder of Zero Proof Collective, who is giving a TEDx talk later this month entitled “Sober Not Somber: An Enlightening Way to Evolve Drinking Culture.”
Q: What does recovery look like for you, and how has it empowered different aspects of your life?
Alcohol misuse always kept me small in my life. It made me settle for just getting by. Since I began my sobriety journey with staying power on July 28, 2014, a whole new universe of possibility and vision opened up in all areas of my life.
Ten years ago this November, I left Corporate America to start my own marketing and events business — an entrepreneurial adventure that would not have been possible if not for my sustained recovery. Along the way, I discovered that even after I had moved beyond the stigma and internalized shame of drinking too much, I faced a new stigma — not drinking.
Today, my work puts me in a position to be very vocal about shattering these stigmas. I’ve become particularly passionate about the idea of normalizing not drinking in social spaces, launching jengilhoi.com in the fall of 2021, creating the Zero Proof Collective in May 2022, and preparing for an upcoming TEDx Talk that I hope will carry the message to more people that we need to reduce the central role of alcohol in our culture.
Q: What does it mean for you to share your recovery with others?
At the height of burnout at age 40, I didn’t know anyone in my circles — personally or professionally — who was openly sober. I want that scenario to be different for others so that they to ask for help instead of struggling with a sense of deep isolation. I want people to see healthy models of what it looks like to “live in purpose” without alcohol or substances. While it is imperative to share stories and find our way to well in the rooms of support groups — including the anonymous variety — I have chosen with clarity and intention to be open about my recovery. People need to see what’s possible.
Q: What inspired you to dive into the world of alcohol-free social spaces and beverage options? How big is this fledgling industry?
Two years into sustained sobriety, I began stepping back into social spaces I had sworn off due to the prevalence of drinking there. Experience after disappointing experience, I found limited beverage options as a sober person, and eventually decided I didn’t want to settle for sparkling water or soda and feeling out of place. I wanted to find a way to reclaim these spaces. I wanted to belong.
For years, I’ve been asking servers everywhere I go: what do you have for non-alcoholic options? I braced myself for subpar answers and then kindly let them know why I was asking and what I would like to see. After a while, I almost stopped asking because the answer was always the same. But in 2021, everything changed as the non-alcoholic beverage industry began experiencing tremendous growth. In May 2022, Nielsen IQ reported annual U.S. retail sales of non-alcoholic spirits grew 116% to $4.5 million. We now have options! It is possible to have a non-alcoholic drink with elevated ingredients, drinkware and service — the kind that is fun to enjoy with others in social spaces.
Q: How is the sober-curious, or zero-proof movement different from the Temperance movement and the recovery advocacy movement?
Sober curious, coined by Ruby Warrington in 2018, is an idea that invites us to question our drinking, and our society’s relationship with drinking. It extends grace and compassion to all those who accept the invitation and empowers healthy choices.
Temperance, on the other hand, was wrapped in moral, stigmatizing language, i.e. drinking alcohol is sinful. And recovery most often refers to abstaining from alcohol use as a means of keeping a substance use disorder in remission. The sober curious movement, on the other hand, more broadly encompasses not drinking for any variety of reasons; drinking on occasion but still wanting options to not drink at other times; and, for some, navigating the messy process toward recovery — a process that personally took me two years and a few returns to use.
Now, it seems an emphatic stamp has been added to the movement: we have amazing nonalcoholic options that can be served in our social spaces. We can now boldly ask for these options and create social spaces where everyone belongs and feels welcome.
Q: Despite its uniqueness, how might this movement benefit people in recovery and/or help more people initiate recovery in the first place?
Big Alcohol and other industries that benefit from America’s voracious consumption of booze cannot afford for our drinking habits to be any other way. Unless, that is, we ask for alcohol-free options and make clear that we are a growing and significant consumer base with purchasing power.
I believe that the extreme focus on alcohol in our social spaces has kept people like me feeling small. Asking for alcohol-free options in these spaces is painful, right?!? So, when more Americans — including those in a so-called gray area of drinking or in an experimental phase of not drinking — boldly ask for and pay for these options, more venues will respond. They’ll add options to the menu, educate servers, and see revenue potential. Even the alcohol companies will diversify, as we’re already seeing to some degree. As this shift continues, people who don’t want to drink — for a night or forever — will be able to socialize and make sober choices without feeling “less than” or “othered.”
Q: Some people in recovery are not interested in beverages designed to mimic alcoholic beverages and may even feel like it’s unsafe. Others, of course, have fun with it. What was your experience?
First, I want to say that the language in the zero-proof, or alcohol-free, space is fascinating right now. And ever-changing. For example, I don’t use the term “mocktail” anymore because I realized it implies a beverage without alcohol is less than or mimicking “the real thing.” At the Zero Proof Collective, our vision of an alcohol-free beverage is respectable in its own right — low or no sugar, garnished to the hilt, and crafted with unsweetened fruit juices and wellness-based ingredients. Sometimes we’ll use a dealcoholized ingredient, other times not. Those variations speak to the incredibly broad scope of the new alcohol-free options.
In January 2022, after a series of four alcohol-free happy hours during Dry January, I shared my thoughts (see blog post below) on the very personal question of whether it’s appropriate or safe for those in recovery to try alcohol-free beer and drink alternatives. While I don’t offer any advice, other than to do what’s right for you, you might relate to what I experienced during my eight years of sobriety and the shift that happened for me.
Q: What is the Zero Proof Collective, and what’s your vision for it?
My Zero Proof Collective (ZPC) cofounder Cate Faulkner and I are in Minnesota but involved with and keeping our pulse on what’s happening with the alcohol-free, or zero-proof, movement at the national level. There’s incredible momentum in this space as we come out of the pandemic. People are experiencing events and social spaces again, exploring all the amazing new alcohol-free beverages available, and looking to address the nation’s mental health and substance use crises.
ZPC exists to promote and create spaces where nonalcoholic beverages are discussed, created, served, and celebrated with no judgment and with a purpose to change drinking culture and increase revenue. Our first focus is to bring together business leaders and those interested in the alcohol-free beverage industry to connect, collaborate and share resources with the intent to advance zero-proof options, experiences and social spaces.
We speak frequently about the evolving drinking culture and the state of the alcohol-free beverage industry, and model alcohol-free happy hours. In ventures thus far, such as our first alcohol-free bar at a corporate event, we’ve definitely disrupted the environment. The feedback has been so positive. It tells us — it’s about da*n time!
