- 2 days ago
More people are choosing to redefine their relationship with alcohol, embracing a sober-curious lifestyle that prioritizes wellness, clarity, and intentional socializing. Whether you're exploring full sobriety, mindful drinking, or just looking for elevated alcohol-free options, this conversation will dive into the rise of sober culture, the benefits of cutting back, and how to navigate social settings without the pressure to drink.
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00:00You go to the show, you got to have something to drink, right?
00:03So we're going to have this conversation right now.
00:05It's called something for the sober curious.
00:08So if you're trying to find that balance,
00:10you don't want to be the person that's in this group of people that say,
00:14you know what, I'm going to drink because I'm the only one not drinking.
00:17Or I got to find a healthy solution to mix my food
00:20because when I think of steak, I mix it up with a good wine.
00:23If I think of some chicken, I might mix it up with some white wine.
00:25So there are healthy alternatives that we're going to discuss
00:28and show the advantages of those types of moves.
00:32And we're going to have the experts come up and talk about them as well.
00:35And we have some New Orleans flavor that will be joining us on the stage
00:38and all beautiful young ladies that will be up here.
00:41So coming out, pleased to be joined by Rydell Cole.
00:45We have Toya Bodhi and Tanya Fezzan coming to the stage.
00:49Let's make some noise and clap it up for them.
00:51And this conversation will be moderated.
00:54Straight from Essence, our senior editor, Victoria Woohoo Marogi.
01:00Let's clap it up and welcome all these ladies to the stage.
01:04Hello, hello, hello, everybody.
01:06How we doing?
01:07We almost at the home stretch now.
01:10We feeling good?
01:11Feeling great?
01:13Nice.
01:13So how many of us like a little zero-proof mocktail?
01:17Anybody a big fan?
01:19Nice.
01:19Anybody just like to go without, you like your sodas, your juices, your waters?
01:24You just like to keep it straight for it?
01:26Nice, nice, nice.
01:27So there are a lot of people who are integrating zero-proof mocktails
01:31and just going without alcohol every day now.
01:34We have Dry January.
01:35We have all these things going on.
01:37Dry July as well.
01:39It's becoming not just a trend but a very important lifestyle.
01:41So the ladies here, we have chefs.
01:43We have a mixologist.
01:44We have people with a lot of background on this.
01:46They have expertise on how to make the best drinks, mocktails,
01:50and just going without as well.
01:52They're going to give their insights, and I'm so excited to chat with them.
01:55So hello, ladies.
01:55How we doing?
01:56Hello.
01:56Hello, hello, hello.
01:57Thank you for having me.
01:58Good, good, good.
01:59Got it turned on?
02:01One, two, one, two.
02:03You popping up?
02:05Y'all can hear me?
02:06Yes.
02:07All right.
02:07I was being dramatic.
02:08I'm sorry.
02:09Nice, nice.
02:10So can you ladies, one by one, you know, for anybody who may not know you,
02:13just share a brief bio about yourself and the work that you do,
02:17and then we'll get into a little bit more about your stories shortly.
02:19So you can start, Riddell, yes?
02:21So here we go.
02:22Hey, New Orleans.
02:23And everybody outside of New Orleans, welcome to The Essence.
02:27I'm Riddell, sober bar babe.
02:29Mocktails, not cocktails.
02:31I'm that spice without the poison.
02:33That's what I do with my drinks.
02:34You know I'm naturally from New Orleans.
02:36I'm from the Night Wall.
02:37I do this because my family, at every family function, as most of us New Orleansians,
02:44we know that alcohol is in the building.
02:46Everybody be thirsty, the children, that is.
02:50And I've decided at a later age in life that I needed to stop drinking,
02:55and I still wanted to kind of transition without really just stopping,
02:59because it's a hard thing to just stop a train, right?
03:01So what I did was I started investigating the different mocktail choices
03:06and non-alcohol beverages that were coming out fresh,
03:09and I started mixing a few things together,
03:12and I came up with a mocktail that a lot of people wind up liking.
03:15So I call it the transitioning process.
03:18I'm not an alcohol basher, so if you drink, drink away.
03:21Just drink responsibly.
03:23But just know that that option for a mocktail is there,
03:26and I have three different kinds.
03:27I have Pre-O-Baby, Dirty South Detox,
03:30and, oh, Lord, I forgot the third one, but don't judge me.
03:33I love y'all.
03:35Nice. How about you, Toya?
03:36My name is Toya Bodie.
03:38I'm a born and raised New Orleanian.
03:40I'm a chef. I'm an entertainment chef, so I do a lot of demos.
03:44I teach about history and stuff like that in tutorials.
03:48I've been featured a bunch of places, like Food Network,
03:52the Hallmark Channel, TLC, that kind of thing,
03:55a few shows, a Today Show.
03:56And one of my things, like with my recent book
04:00that I released a couple years ago, Cooking for the Culture,
04:04was giving people a peek over the fence as a New Orleanian.
04:08And, like, a lot of our things as New Orleanians, as locals,
04:11and if there's some here, they'll agree,
04:13that our culture, the food culture in particular,
04:17is pirated heavily.
04:19You know, people come from other places.
04:21They take our things and stuff like that.
04:22And it's okay to share, but what I...
04:26I was taught to share, you know,
04:28but one of the things that I really thrive
04:31and, like, really believe in doing
04:33is getting other people to get opportunities
04:38that don't normally get them.
04:40You know, I use a lot of the attention that I get
04:43to shine a light on locals
04:44because I believe that's where it's at.
04:46If we really want to keep this city,
04:48we love thriving and stuff like that, too.
04:49So that's a little bit about me.
04:51I love that.
04:52How about you, Tanya?
04:53Hi, everyone.
04:54My name is Tanya Fazan, a.k.a. Chef Zaki Fresh.
04:59I'm born in New Orleans, raised in West Wego proper.
05:05I'm a chef, personal services.
05:09I started doing mocktails
05:12because I have a loved one that's struggling with addiction.
05:14And I know when he's, you know,
05:18in his sober, in his soberness,
05:21how difficult it is for him to navigate social settings.
05:25So I wanted to make sure that I do something
05:27to help with the...
05:30Sober life.
05:31With the sober, you know, sober things of life.
05:35So I started doing the mocktails to, you know,
05:39help people that's struggling with addiction,
05:41be it alcohol,
05:42to feel when they're in a social setting
05:44that they can, you know, feel comfortable,
05:46not feel triggered,
05:47not feel pressured to drink.
05:50So that's all.
05:51That's it.
05:52That's all.
05:52I love that.
05:53I love that.
05:53And you just touched on it.
05:54I was going to ask you guys,
05:55I know you all have deeper stories
05:56as to your connection to, you know,
05:59preferring to go zero proof, as they say.
06:01Can you share a little bit more?
06:03I know you just shared about your family member
06:04and how they inspired you
06:06and how you're creating, like, a path
06:08for other people to feel a little bit less pressure
06:10or anything about being in social settings.
06:12But can you all kind of briefly share
06:14about your own real stories
06:15that are deeper than just like,
06:16I just want to try something new.
06:18Right, right, yeah.
06:19Right.
06:20I, as, what is it, the 18th?
06:23The 18th of July,
06:25I'm sober for a whole year, you know?
06:28Give it up, give it up.
06:29Wow, thank you.
06:33Congratulations, sober sister.
06:34That's what I was saying.
06:35You got about the mic.
06:37You know, it was something really personal for me
06:41because I grew up in that lifestyle, you know?
06:43Like, it was a norm.
06:44Like, for instance, growing up,
06:46I had to find out that certain things weren't normal.
06:50You know what I mean?
06:51I thought that living under a certain kind of influence
06:54was just something that people just did, right?
06:57And I always explain to people when I tell them,
06:59like, oh, no, I'm sober now, you know,
07:01it doesn't mean that I feel a way about alcohol.
07:03I feel like life is prescriptive.
07:06You know, we have individualized thumbprints for a reason.
07:10So what's not okay for me may be perfectly fine.
07:14You can have a glass of wine every night
07:16and kick it like it's cool.
07:18You know, my glass of wine wasn't a glass.
07:20It was more like a bottle.
07:22You know what I'm saying?
07:22Take it to another level.
07:22And it wasn't actually wine.
07:24It was whiskey.
07:24Might go so well.
07:25So it's a whole other ballgame.
07:27But, yeah, like, I hit this really low, low, low point
07:32where I literally wanted to take my own life.
07:36And then once I decided to live,
07:40I actually decided to live in many different ways.
07:43And one of those ways on that path
07:45was me just deciding not to drink anymore
07:49or do anything else, you know?
07:51I love that.
07:51I love that.
07:52Rida?
07:54So my story is a little different,
07:57and that's a beautiful story,
07:58and that's a beautiful journey.
07:59And welcome to the sober city sister world, okay?
08:04Now, my story is a Bourbon Street story.
08:06If you're from New Orleans, you might understand.
08:08So my sister, my mama let us go
08:10to our first Mardi Gras at night, right?
08:13We used to just be on All Ines and Clevo
08:14and everybody's family with the barbecue grills.
08:17Well, we decided, my mama decided to let us go.
08:21My sister lost me in a sea of alcoholics
08:24and strippers and everything on Bourbon Street back then.
08:28I was lost and drunk.
08:30I wound up sleeping outside on the Mississippi
08:33with somebody that stayed with me.
08:35And I promise, I said, I promise to God
08:37I will never drink again.
08:39I was only 16, so you know I was lying, right?
08:42That didn't happen.
08:43I wound up drinking again, obviously, as I was older.
08:46And before my daughter went off to college,
08:47she said, Mom, you got to stop drinking
08:50because it activates kind of like an anger in you.
08:54You think you're on, like, being attacked, right?
08:56And forgive me if I cry, but it's the truth.
08:59I used to be a hostile drinker.
09:01Some people become calm.
09:03Some people, you know, they just activate.
09:05Some people might shout.
09:07I used to get angry.
09:08I'm too small, first of all, to be trying to pop off.
09:12So I had to, my daughter was like, this is dangerous.
09:14You got to stop drinking.
09:15So I stopped drinking in 2016.
09:18And I said, oh, my God, what else am I going to do?
09:21Because all I was doing was being a mother.
09:23I raised my daughter.
09:25I had my career.
09:26But when that was over with, I was like, oh, Lord,
09:28I'm back in New Orleans, and I really don't have a career,
09:30and I really don't have nothing I'm going to do after this.
09:33So I bought a building.
09:35I remodeled it, a mobile trailer.
09:37And it led me to the sober community.
09:40So I created the sober bar babe,
09:42and I started kind of inventing different drinks
09:44that kind of led you to transitioning,
09:47not just a sugary cup of Shirley Temple.
09:49We over there.
09:50We do Big Shirley World over here.
09:52So the reality was I wanted to give them something healthy
09:55and beneficial at the same time.
09:57That is my true story.
09:58That's why I stopped drinking.
10:00And I encourage you to stop drinking
10:01and putting that poison in your body.
10:03But it's the spice without the poison.
10:05You can come and try it.
10:06New Orleans.
10:07I respect that.
10:08I respect that.
10:09Yes, clap for them.
10:10Clap for them.
10:11And so, you know, dry January, you know,
10:13is a very popular thing when people start the year,
10:15and it's lasting a lot longer for many people these days.
10:18Why do you think there has been so much enthusiasm
10:20towards embracing a zero-proof living throughout the year
10:24for a lot of people?
10:25Would you ladies say that?
10:26Start with you, Tanya.
10:27I would say that it's probably due to people wanting to live
10:33a more healthy lifestyle and to embrace being present,
10:39being, you know, there and not being, you know,
10:42under the influence.
10:43So I do the sober thing for my son who is dealing with addiction.
10:48So I do it for Sekou, my son.
10:50But I think that, you know, the health benefits
10:53is what's driving the, what you call, sober curious.
10:58Yes.
10:59Yes.
11:00I think the health awareness with COVID,
11:03I think the quarantine made a lot of people pay attention to things.
11:07I think there's a lot of new things that are coming out
11:11about black women in hospitals and people of color in hospitals
11:15and stuff like that.
11:16And people are trying to turn away from some of the things
11:19that they're putting in their body
11:22and they're thinking about, man, this body is like a vehicle for me.
11:27Yeah.
11:27I have to do something else with it.
11:29I can't just drive my car, you know, without changing the oil
11:33just because I got gas, right?
11:34Yeah.
11:35You know what I mean?
11:35And I think people are starting to embrace that.
11:37And also I think that a lot of people are going into mental health awareness
11:41and they're looking at their families, they're looking at things
11:44and they're realizing that, like, I was a person that drank
11:48and was really calm, right, and chill, right?
11:49But I drank to mute the voices that I was hearing about the issues,
11:56you know, not voices like, you know, Sybil or something.
11:59I don't know if anybody's old enough to know about Sybil.
12:01We don't.
12:01You know what I'm saying?
12:02Somebody not in.
12:04I do.
12:04I know what you're talking about.
12:05Just old age, baby.
12:06You know how old I am now.
12:09But no, it's a movie about a lady who had multiple personalities.
12:13But, you know, it wasn't like that.
12:17It was like the voices of my issues and my problems.
12:19You know what I mean?
12:20And when you start getting into mental health, you're like, wait a minute.
12:24I'm drinking to relax this issue, but that issue is still there.
12:28It's not contributing.
12:29And at some point, either way it goes, I'm going to have to show up
12:32and talk to this issue and say, hey, this lack, we got to deal with this.
12:36Hey, this childhood abuse, molestation, whatever it is,
12:41it's got to be dealt with head on.
12:43And, you know, people are wanting to get to know themselves,
12:45and you can't get to know yourself when you're having a cloak of this,
12:49you know, fantasy over our spirits and souls.
12:52You know what I mean?
12:53Like constantly.
12:55I'm going to be clear because I don't want it to make people feel like,
12:57oh, my God, I'm about to go have a drink tonight.
12:59No, not that.
13:01I mean, like smothering the problems, you know what I mean?
13:04Yeah, for sure.
13:05Reno?
13:06Yeah, I know I miss talks a lot.
13:07So I think that what people are realizing
13:09and why they're embracing this whole sober idea is because, like she said,
13:14self-identity is important.
13:15Know thyself.
13:16And how can you get to know yourself when you're under the influence all the time?
13:20Whether it's the alcohol influence or it's the social media influence
13:23or it's the drug influence.
13:25Oh, just smoke a little weed every now and again.
13:27Whatever your influence is, it's an addiction.
13:29Whatever your addiction is, it's disturbing your peace.
13:32So you can't want that peace and want that addiction.
13:35You have to make a choice.
13:37And for me, sober, I won't drink.
13:39I will not drink.
13:40I ain't talking about none of my other addictions.
13:42This is a no-judgment zone, y'all.
13:44But I will say, when you talk about being sober, you don't have to drink to fit in.
13:49You know, I don't have to drink and be drunk to be who I already am.
13:52Actually, it makes you be more unlike yourself than anything.
13:56Very true.
13:56So very, very true.
13:58You wind up doing and going against your own self for the sake of, you know,
14:01society or for the sake of society norms when really it's an abnorm.
14:06You understand?
14:07So I want y'all to embrace this culture.
14:09Try it out.
14:10You don't have to just get a Shirley Temple all water.
14:13We have transitional drinks that really taste like alcohol if that's what you need at that time.
14:19Because some people can't go cold turkey, so they're like, I ain't embracing it at all if I can't get nothing out of it.
14:25You feel me?
14:26No, nobody just want no sugar high.
14:28That's all I got to say.
14:29Got you.
14:30Got you.
14:31And how has it been, like, would you say, navigating, you know, wanting to be, you know, sober for, like, your son, for yourself in New Orleans?
14:39Because cocktail culture is not king, per se, but it is huge here, you know?
14:44And so how is that for you guys?
14:45And do you feel like this increase in enthusiasm is maybe transforming, you know, the cocktail culture in a little ways here in New Orleans?
14:53What do you think?
14:54I think it's tough.
14:57It's a challenge because, like, liquor is like water here.
15:01You know what I'm saying?
15:02Liquor is like sweat on a hot day.
15:05It's there all the time.
15:07You know what I'm saying?
15:08Like, I know y'all was hot today.
15:10That's the same way liquor is, I mean, like, I literally can't go anywhere socially without someone offering me something.
15:17You know?
15:18So I think here it's more of a challenge for you to stand your ground with it.
15:24But, you know, I think people are generally okay when you don't have a self-righteous attitude about it.
15:30You know, when people ask me, you drink?
15:32Because I think people hear how conscious I speak about things, and sometimes they assume she probably don't drink.
15:38You know, and they'll ask me, but they'll ask me kind of with a tail tuck in their face.
15:42You know how a dog tucks their tail?
15:43They're like, you drink?
15:46You know?
15:47Like, and I want them to know immediately, no, no, no, I don't drink, but it's not because I'm against alcohol, any religious beliefs, or whatever.
15:54I don't do anything negative toward it.
15:56But, you know, as long as people feel when you're in New Orleans, and they can feel you not judging them, man, that's why everybody want to come here.
16:04Yeah.
16:05It's smooth sailing.
16:06You know what I'm saying?
16:07So, like, it's tough, but it's doable in this city.
16:11It really is.
16:12Yes.
16:13How about you, Tanya?
16:13The feedback, I couldn't really hear the question at first.
16:19Oh, the question I was asking is, how is it navigating, you know, trying to drink less, or not drink at all, in a place like New Orleans, where cocktail culture is, like, king?
16:27Oh, it's very challenging.
16:29I don't personally drink, but, you know, I'm around, you know, people that drink in social settings where there's drinks being served.
16:38I think if a person doesn't drink, that should be respected.
16:43They shouldn't be made to feel a certain kind of way because they don't drink or feel judged.
16:47I imagine living here in New Orleans, it is very difficult to navigate that.
16:51But I think if you stand your ground and just say, hey, look, I don't drink, I'm okay, or have delicious mocktails, to substitute that.
17:00But I think it's very hard to navigate being sober in New Orleans.
17:04I really do.
17:05Yeah.
17:06You know I'm coming to you.
17:07Go ahead.
17:09Y'all know I hear that New Orleans bounce.
17:11But hold on real quick.
17:11So let me tell you how hard it is to be a sober bar in New Orleans.
17:15I built a building.
17:16I was the first sober bar to pull up at Armstrong Park, and they were willing to arrest me for it.
17:22Now, I'm going to leave it at that.
17:24If you know, you know.
17:25If you don't know, go find out.
17:26Now, the second motion and statement for that is, when you're trying to be a sober bar in a city that is king in alcohol,
17:34I had alcohol bars that actually walked up to my bar and supported me and said, oh my God, what a wonderful option.
17:42Can you pull up to my bar and give them a sober option?
17:44I had multiple bars in the French Quarter that asked me to do that, and I was all for game until they start wanting to take me to jail.
17:51Okay, so let's go past that.
17:54When you're trying to be a sober bar, now you've got to get to the actual sober community, which is via creating avenues for the sober community to find you.
18:03So with my bar, what I'm doing is I'm creating a book-a-bar so you can book my bar for your events, and I pull up for that.
18:09One person booked me for their yearly annual event, and I'm blessed.
18:13And I feel like that can be bigger.
18:15That can be more.
18:16We have churches.
18:17We have organizations.
18:18We have the Muslim community who we all know don't drink, pop something off with a girl, Muslim community.
18:24So book-a-bar, you've got to create the atmosphere for it.
18:28I have the thing where I do the picnics, and we create kind of an energy and a conversation around why we're choosing to be sober, not just for our health.
18:37Everybody want to be healthy, but we know that ain't why we stop drinking.
18:41Some of us stop drinking because we was a little angry like Riddell.
18:45I'm just honest with it.
18:47Okay.
18:48Anyway, but that's my answer.
18:50I hope I answered it.
18:53And so I know what I wanted to ask you, ladies.
18:56What's your favorite kind of, like, recipe to make and things that people can put together at home if they want a little taste of something?
19:02Not that necessarily tastes like alcohol per se, but just something that maybe helps them to transition.
19:07I know, Toya, you said yourself you don't really do any kind of alternatives.
19:11But for you ladies, what are, like, mocktail ideas that you like to make that are simple to make at home?
19:17I know you have some things here.
19:19I have a mocktail here called my BSAP Hottie.
19:24Okay.
19:26I use...
19:27Hold the mic close.
19:28Okay.
19:28I use fruit juice, ginger beer.
19:31I do a little BSAP, a little BSAP, and I do this non-alcoholic beverage.
19:39It's called Namari.
19:41And I do it with ice and shake it, and it's a wonderful flavor.
19:47Okay.
19:47Wonderful flavor, yes.
19:48Nice, nice.
19:49Radel?
19:51I do a combination of a lot of things.
19:52Sometimes I use regular juice.
19:54Sometimes I use coconut water.
19:55But today, I'm going to do this thing I call Creole Baby.
19:58I use the Kentucky 74 Spirulist.
20:01That's an N-A, no alcohol at all.
20:03But this is what I consider my transition because it's that spice without the poison.
20:07If you used to drink it, you know what Kentucky is, then you know what I'm talking about.
20:10All right?
20:11Then I do a sour sap because we all know we need that in our life.
20:14That kind of helps with the cancer.
20:15So I give them a benefit along with an alcoholic, non-alcoholic spice.
20:20I'm saying alcohol.
20:22Then I also give them a sweet shot of pineapple juice, which I'm going to use.
20:25And yeah, y'all saw me drink out this, but this is my Motel, not Charles.
20:29Mind y'all business.
20:30I also use a base, which is like the ginger ale.
20:32This is the base of it.
20:34I pretty much use all of this, but sometimes I might use half.
20:36It depends on how spicy I'm feeling at the time.
20:38And I shake well, and I pour.
20:41And I sit back, and I relax, and I listen to my music and any other addiction I have,
20:46but that's my business.
20:47And I enjoy my day with my little couple.
20:49Yeah.
20:49Well, you know, I went to brunch recently, and I never drink sparkling water because I always
20:58just feel like, why?
20:59Yeah.
21:00Like, just why?
21:02Why does it need to sparkle like that inside of my mouth?
21:05I don't want it.
21:06Wine is nice.
21:07Wine is nice.
21:08Yeah, yeah.
21:08Yeah, I respect the sparkle.
21:10The sparkle?
21:11I don't want to sparkle.
21:12I just want to water.
21:13It's a good transition.
21:13You know?
21:14But I tried it, right?
21:16And I get it for transition, but I'm speaking just like for me.
21:20Okay.
21:20Yeah.
21:21Like, for me, because of, and it depends on your background.
21:25Your background with drinking and your relationship with alcoholism and stuff like that.
21:29Like, for some people, it may be just they drink too much because of whatever.
21:34And some people, it could be outright hereditary in a destructive kind of way.
21:38Yeah.
21:38So, it may be a little different from getting angry.
21:42You know what I mean?
21:43It may be a little longer, you know, than that.
21:45But for me, I'm a cold turkey kind of girl, you know?
21:49And some people are like that.
21:51I'm like that.
21:52And I tried the Pellegrino, and I was just like, I don't know if that's safe.
21:56I drank it, and I thought that, I thought to myself, if you're a person, I'm not a window shopper.
22:03If I look at something, and I say I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it.
22:06Yeah.
22:07I'm that kind of person.
22:08I'm very intense and forward with what I want.
22:11And I drank some, and I thought to myself, and I kept drinking it, and I noticed how I kept drinking it.
22:17I kept drinking it faster than I would normally do water.
22:20And I started thinking, I think this may not be a good idea.
22:25It's almost like if you're supposed to stay away from sweets, and you just sit right by the cookies and do this.
22:32If you have the sugar-free candy, and it still is very sweet.
22:35Yeah, the sugar-free candy, and you're eating 10 of them.
22:38You know what I'm saying?
22:39Like, that's me.
22:40You know?
22:40Just stop.
22:41Just eat a regular candy.
22:42Stop playing.
22:43You know?
22:44Yeah.
22:44But for me, that's what Pellegrino did me when I tried it.
22:48Yeah.
22:48So I don't do it.
22:49Like, when you said the flavors, I was like, man, I'd be too close to being like, man, so I'm getting the flavors.
22:55In my mind, I thought, I'm getting the flavors, and I ain't getting the yeah?
23:00No.
23:01Give me the yeah.
23:02So I just, you know what I'm saying?
23:06Or I start thinking like this.
23:08I mean, and this is me, this is what the other versions of me in my head doing.
23:13I mean, if we're going to have all these sweets anyway, we got all these calories, we might as well.
23:20And there's two shots in the alcohol.
23:21See, once my mind say might as well.
23:24You're two shots in of alcohol.
23:26Some people, and I, you know, and some people are like that one cookie, two cookies kind of person.
23:30My partner's like that.
23:32She'd be like, one cookie, two cookies, good.
23:34Me, I'm like, give me the whole pack.
23:36Just give it all.
23:37I'm going to inhale the whole pack like I'm a Pez head.
23:41You see what I'm saying?
23:43So that's me.
23:44Yes.
23:44I can't do that.
23:45I don't have the discipline this chick has like that.
23:48You know what I'm saying?
23:48Like, look at that.
23:49I can't do that.
23:50I'm going to take that down.
23:51Committed.
23:52I've got to be committed.
23:53You know, you heard the verb.
23:54You're a different kind of committed.
23:55I'm honest about myself.
23:57Yeah.
23:57You know yourself.
23:58You said know thyself.
24:00Know thyself.
24:01Got to.
24:01Know thyself.
24:02Got to know yourself.
24:02Know thy limit if you can't know thyself.
24:04Okay?
24:05Yes, that's right.
24:06I love that.
24:06That is a proverb.
24:07I know you.
24:08That is a mocktail proverb.
24:09I love you for letting me know that.
24:11Man, that is a mocktail proverb, and you need to make that a thing.
24:15Seriously.
24:15Stamping it right now on this stage.
24:17Don't play with her.
24:18Marketing guru.
24:19I love it.
24:21I love it.
24:21And lastly, can you guys share some of the benefits that you've seen both like for yourself
24:26and with your work and the work that you do as chefs and then with your business in going
24:31this route and being without alcohol and trying the, you know, my tail route.
24:35How has it benefited you both in your health, your being everything, in your business?
24:40Talk about it.
24:41It's benefited me tremendously a couple ways.
24:45One, I lost like 30 pounds.
24:47Like 20, 30 pounds.
24:49No joke.
24:49I mean, I was drinking straight whiskey, y'all.
24:52That's just going everywhere.
24:54You know what I mean?
24:55At once.
24:55There's no pockets and don't stay out of.
24:57There's no, you know, I was drinking heavily.
25:00Like, I would go through a complete bottle or two a week.
25:03You know?
25:04So, like, that's just...
25:05God bless you on your journey.
25:06I know.
25:07God bless her on her journey.
25:08You know what I mean?
25:09But where it really helped me most is creatively because there's this part, like, I see sound.
25:17I have synesthesia, right?
25:18So, when I hear music and when I paint and stuff like that, it almost takes me to this place, right?
25:25But it takes a while to get there.
25:27With alcohol, I started because I have so much cognitively controlled.
25:33So, I knew how to zap myself into a creative zone really fast.
25:38So, I started using it for that, too, right?
25:40But when I left the alcohol alone, I was forced to go back to that natural state that I was in when I first started painting.
25:50You know, when I first started seeing sound.
25:52When I started out in the art scene.
25:54So, I was writing and doing all sorts of things and like that.
25:56And like, once I got back to that original place, my creativity heightened.
26:02And then also, the way I handled problems, I got back into the old habit I had.
26:08Because I didn't always drink.
26:10So, I got back into the old habit of facing my problems head on.
26:14And like, I always explain to my mom and them, if they saw me wild, and they said like,
26:19Oh, well, you seem stressed or whatever.
26:20I said, Ma, look, I'm doing this with no vice.
26:22Because I'm doing this, I'm dealing with what I'm dealing with right now in real time.
26:27So, that's the thing that I had to get adjusted to.
26:30But once I started doing that, I started having more confidence in myself and my own choices and my abilities and stuff like that.
26:38Because I, you know, it was a personal thing.
26:40I never drank in public or anything.
26:42You know, like talking about it.
26:43Really, I didn't.
26:45Sometimes I would, but I would never be full out drunk or anything like that.
26:49Because for me, professionally, you know, I was only out when I was doing something professionally.
26:55So, I didn't do it.
26:57But it heightened me creatively.
27:00It made me more comfortable with myself.
27:02Because like I was telling you earlier, the question was posed to me when I said,
27:07Oh, I think I want a drink for my birthday.
27:10Oh, okay.
27:11Why do you want a drink?
27:12That one soft question.
27:15That's why it's important not to judge people.
27:17Because that could have been a judgment of, you're going to do this and you're going to break your streak after all this time.
27:24It could have been that.
27:26But no, it was a simple question.
27:28Why do you want a drink?
27:30And I remember that I asked myself that question.
27:33I used to take two shots of Patron when I first started out as a poet to get on the stage.
27:39Now, I used to take two shots to do that.
27:42And then one day I asked myself when a lady knew me so much for that, that she would just automatically give it to me.
27:48That's a sign too.
27:50And one day I asked myself when I was drinking,
27:53Why do we need that?
27:56That is the question.
27:57And I thought, why do we need that?
27:59That's what I heard on the inside of me.
28:00So I can't have fun without this.
28:04I can't do this without this.
28:06And that was the thing that gave me personal, creative confidence.
28:11It gave me emotional intelligence-wise confidence because I started feeling like, yeah, I can handle my own stuff without running away from it right now.
28:21You know what I mean?
28:22So it did a lot for me, empowerment, reasons why and stuff like that.
28:26How about you, Tanya?
28:27I do it because I want to be the solution.
28:33I want to support people who are trying to be sober in any setting.
28:39Because like I say, I do this for the sake of who.
28:42I want to be, you know, the healing of the situation.
28:46I want to do things to, you know, just support people that's trying to be sober.
28:50Because I know how hard that is.
28:52I don't know personally, but watching my child struggle, I know how hard that is.
28:57And it's an ongoing struggle that he's going to have, you know, all of his life.
29:01So I just want to be the solution.
29:04So that's why I do it.
29:06That's why I do it.
29:07I love that.
29:07Thank you so much, Sheltoya.
29:10I really love that.
29:11And, you know, the job of a mother never ends.
29:14Yeah.
29:14And that's beautiful that you're doing that with him.
29:17Because you need somebody to believe in you when you can't believe in you.
29:21Yes, indeed.
29:22And that's exactly what you're doing.
29:23And you're giving something to somebody else, too.
29:25That's sowing a seed multiple ways.
29:27That's really doing your job as a mother.
29:29That's beautiful.
29:29I really appreciate that.
29:30Yeah, I love that.
29:32And Raidel, how have you benefited?
29:34How did I benefit?
29:35I feel like I benefited by creating a lane and a conversation in the entire New Orleans.
29:43That's really how I feel.
29:45Call it cocky, but I feel like that's, I'm humbled about that.
29:48And when I created that avenue and brought that conversation to the city, they started to embrace it.
29:54They rejected it a little bit, but they embraced it, which gave me the strength to keep going in my own journey.
30:01So it didn't just become my journey.
30:03Now I see people taking that sober in New Orleans hashtag and that sober, and you know, I love it.
30:08I love seeing it grow.
30:10It's not my journey.
30:11It's our journey.
30:13You know what I'm saying?
30:13So it enhanced me a whole lot.
30:15My confidence is way through the roof about it.
30:18You know what I mean?
30:19And I hope that it continues to go, especially in New Orleans, where you have people that come here that can't drink for a whole lot of reasons,
30:26whether they're, you know, diabetic or whether they're pregnant or whatever their excuse is.
30:31And they just don't want to do it.
30:32It's not a part of their religion.
30:33So that makes me extremely proud.
30:35I feel like I've grown from that, and I'm going to keep going.
30:38It helped me.
30:39That's beautiful.
30:40I love that.
30:40Period.
30:41Nice.
30:41And lastly, where can people find you if they just want to continue?
30:45They want to see your food.
30:46They want to see your mocktails.
30:47They want to just get to learn more about you.
30:49Where can people find you?
30:50Girl, you're good.
30:51You're a good girl.
30:52All right, so listen, I have a Sober Mobile Bar.
30:56You can book me.
30:56You can find me online at Sober in New Orleans on Instagram, or you can find me on Facebook at Sober Bar Baby.
31:05I'm in a 7th wall.
31:06You heard me.
31:07Y'all know what it is if you're from New Orleans, but if you're not from New Orleans, that's not that far from here.
31:111733 North Jersey Wall.
31:12You heard me right off broad.
31:13That's where I'm at right now.
31:14I could have been in front of Armstrong Park, but if y'all willing to sign that petition for me, I can get it popping.
31:19Amen.
31:19I love that you threw that out about the petition.
31:25I support that.
31:28I'll sign it.
31:30Got one sign on board.
31:32Y'all can't say nothing.
31:34All right.
31:35You can find me on Instagram, Toya Bodey, T-O-Y-A-B-O-U-D-Y.
31:42Or if you just Google Chef Toya, you'll see a lot of different stuff that pops up on me and stuff like that.
31:48You can keep up with me that way.
31:50Love that.
31:51Tanya?
31:51Okay.
31:52You can find me on Instagram at Chef on Arrival.
31:55You can find me on Facebook at Chef on Arrival.
31:58And also Zaki underscore Fresh on Instagram.
32:03We got that.
32:06Maybe that's my microphone.
32:08Anyway, give it up for Tanya.
32:10Oh, there we go.
32:11Tanya, Toya, and Raydale, and these brilliant women and all their insight.
32:15Give it up for them.
32:16Thank you guys for listening.
32:17Make sure you follow.
32:18Make sure you support.
32:19And maybe just get a mocktail or a water next time you're at the barge.
32:22Let's try it.
32:23Amen.
32:24Thank you so much, everybody.
32:25Thank you so much, everybody.
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