SOBER SPOTLIGHT: Sober Influencer Allie Campbell On Sobriety, Neurodiversity, & Queerness

Today we are shining a Sober Spotlight on Allie Campbell and her thoughts on sobriety, including all of the creative ways she recovers out loud. I’ve been following Allie for a while now and I’ve been very entertained and enlightened by the sober content she’s been throwing down. Plus, we discovered our mutual love of video games, obsession with our pets, and all things pop culture. So settle in, because this interview was pretty dang fun.

Game on with Allie Campbell!

Growing up, Allie really wanted to be a journalist, and as time went on that also involved a passion for film, writing, and media communications. She had the direction she wanted to go, she was just usually too F’d up to get it and keep it all together. As someone who also works in media and communications, I immediately asked if she wanted to be new best friends. Allie was introduced to sobriety at the young age of 19 which was court-ordered. Ah yes, the “nudge from the judge”. Although it didn’t stick back in 2009, she made her first real attempt in 2016 at the age of 26.

Allie got her start in 12-step rooms, something we find many people in recovery has in common. Looking back now, she has no idea how she stayed sober. She was going through a major break-up with an active heroin addict. Having a slip around her 10th month sober, Allie ended up in a treatment center in Atlantic City. Her official date is May 9th, 2016. Yet another thing we immediately bonded over, as my sobriety anniversary is also in May (2006). May is one of the 12 greatest months to get sober!

The Allie Campbell hustle

In addition to creating her own sober content, Allie is a content creator and brand specialist with a handful of clients. She has a background in corporate financial content and branding, but after getting sober it just wasn’t her jam anymore and she became a full-time freelancer. Health + Wellness became a really big focus in her life and she’s also a yoga instructor.

Meditate on this

AB: Talk to me about your meditation practice

ALLIE: Meditation every day consistently has been game-changing for me over the past 4-to 5 years. I use the Insight Timer mediation app and I highly recommend the premium version for only $4.99/per year. If they had an affiliate program, I would be one of their biggest ambassadors. (Yo Insight Timer, you need to call Allie!) I use it for a minimum of 10 minutes a day. It has chanting, harps, guided meditation, and so much more.

Here’s my routine:

• Wake Up

• Brush Teeth

• Wash Face

• Drink 8 oz room temperature water

• Make Bed

• Meditate (even if only for a few minutes)

• Journal (ditto)

• Get Physical – stretch, do yoga, walk, just move!

This is the perfect alcohol-free cocktail for my sobriety and mental health.

Sober Curator Pro Tip: At the time of this post, I’ve been doing this daily for nearly two weeks. My mornings feel a lot more balanced and following Allie’s recommendations has been a very positive experience.

Will Sober TikTok rival Sober Instagram? If you find yourself going down the TikTok rabbit hole, at least do it sober. We found 29 Sober TikTok accounts you should be following right now. And guess what? Allie Campbell was one of them!

Sober Spotlight Q&A with Allie Campbell

AB: Ok girl, what is your favorite non-alcoholic beverage of choice?

ALLIE: My go-to drink is a standard English breakfast tea with almond or oat milk with lemon. Modcup in Jersey City is her fav spot for a London Fog with Lavender Syrup. She also not so secretly loves a sugar-free energy drink but she’s working on giving it up.

AB: What’s your favorite #QUITLIT book?

ALLIE: Recovery 2.0 by Tommy Rosen – he has a 12-step background and also created a supplemental program that compliments a 12-step program nicely. He focuses on all the things about getting sober. Plus, he includes nutrition, health & wellness, and eastern spiritual ideologies. It’s allowed me to realize there’s even more to recovery – the process is always in a state of evolution. It’s about the journey and not a destination. His book is what really inspired me to grow my personal yoga practice.

Allie on Sober Milestones

Allie Campbell on “coming out” as sober

AB: Can you talk about what it’s like to go public on social media with your recovery and provide any tips to our readers?

ALLIE: Ah, yes…” coming out as sober”. I recommend really using caution and discernment on telling people in your close circle. You can’t expect that what a person has given you in the past will stay the same. I knew some would be supportive and others would take time. Try not to have too many expectations. Those are just really pre-meditated resentments. And if they aren’t supportive? F’em.

The word of the day is BOUNDARIES – make sure to maintain them. You don’t have to share everything. Don’t give it all away for the sake of your sober brand or followers. Make sure to take time offline and not always be on answering emails and DMs. If it starts cutting in on time that you should be spending with your friends or even your cats, cut back. I’ve actually set an auto-response away message so that people don’t expect me to reply instantaneously.

Social media can spike your dopamine and make you crave more. As addicts, we love more of everything. Set social media timers for yourself and respect them. Strong boundaries are critical. Turn off alerts. Turn off DM alerts from stories. Yes, I LOVE the reactions I get from my followers, but I can also go down the social media rabbit hole and come back up for air and a lot of time will have passed.

Allie on Survival Tips for your 1st Sober Relationship

Go on girl, brag

AB: As women, I think it’s really important to brag to each other about the things we do that make us rock stars. Put those sneakers on because there’s glass everywhere. Tell me something you’ve done that you want to brag about.

ALLIE: I’m really proud of the content I create. It’s always been my dream to create content. It empowers me to have my voice heard. In doing so, all I have to do is show up and be my authentic self in front of the screen. It’s incredibly valuable to connect with others about our collective recovery journeys.

I used to have shame around it. It felt egotistical and narcissistic. But now it feels good to be seen and heard. A while back I was listening to Brene Brown’s podcast and she had a guest that talked about why we should be proud of owning our stories and making our voices be heard. Someone may really need to hear my message, even if I never get to know who they are. That validated things for me.

Also, I love my cats. I have to brag about my cats. I’m obsessed with them. There are four cats in my home.

Sober Pop Culture and Guilty Pleasures

AB: Let’s get to the good stuff. Talk to me about your favorite guilty pleasures that bring you joy.

ALLIE: Video games and sweets. I am a hard-core Nintendo person. I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. Nerd Alert! I love playing Super Nintendo and finding all of the secret codes. Anything Mario-related brings me a major source of joy. I love them all, especially Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Odyssey.

AB: Have you dressed up like Mario? I’ll need photo evidence or it didn’t happen.

ALLIE: Why yes I have…

Ahhhh Sugah Sugah

AB: Ok hit me with your sugar line-up

ALLIE: Cupcakes, cookies, donuts, dark chocolate anything. Peanut butter cups. Yeah, sugar addiction is a real thing. I also love Pizza and my favorite place to get it is The Brick Fire Pizza in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Renato’s Pizza – they both offer amazing vegan pizzas.

What’s sober poppin’?

AB: Talk to me about a pop culture moment that is memorable to you. It can be anything pop culture.

ALLIE: A pop culture moment that stands out to me was Lady Gaga in the Meat Suit. Really, I love anything she does. I’m a little monster.

Another time that I’ll never forget was when I was at a Macklemore & Kesha Concert and Demi Lovato had just relapsed. Honestly, I got really mad that Macklemore & Kesha didn’t say something about it on stage. It could have set an example that everyone has their moments, even celebrities.

(AB: Do it you it was their news to share? ALLIE: Fair point.)

What I love about Demi is that she gets knocked down but she gets back up again. She’s the best performer I’ve ever seen. If you go to any Demi Lovato concert you will always be guaranteed a good time.

All this to be said, Macklemore is one of 5 men in the world I would go straight for. I saw him at Recovery Fest. That festival was epic. Watching people break through the fence and the crowd going insane and you know they’re all sober. Well, most of them anyway.

Name that sober tune

AB: What’s your favorite music? What’s on your playlist that you have on repeat?

ALLIE: I listen to classical music nonstop. It really helps me focus and concentrate. As a person with ADHD, it’s really important for me to practice self-care. I love Beethoven and it’s ok if that makes me not cool. I listen to Lo-Fi Beats on Spotify and a lot of video game soundtracks. Lots of Halsey, she’s a fellow Libra. Calvin Harris energizes me. Basically anything EDM and pop.

AB: Fav sober celebs?

ALLIE: Macklemore…how many times have I said his name now? And Miley Cyrus. I also respect that Halsey recognized she needed to stop getting messed up because people’s families depend on her for work.

Fresh Ink

AB: Ok, I can see you have a lot of tattoos. How many do you have and what one is your favorite?

ALLIE: I know I have over 20. My policy with tattoos is that if they are meaningful at the moment, that’s enough for me. My favorite one is a mason jar with the galaxy and cosmos inside of it. I was living at an ashram where I was getting my yoga training. Ed, one of the teachers, described the human condition as cups of cosmic consciousness. That’s how I came up with the galaxy in a jar. I didn’t get it for Ed, but it’s a nod to him for sure. It also serves as a spiritual reminder. It was a really peaceful time in my life as I explored what my part of the universe was.

Allie Campbell gives early sober Allie Campbell advice

AB: What’s a piece of advice you would go back and tell your newly sober self?

ALLIE: Lay off dating all the girls. It added a lot of unnecessary stress that I really didn’t need to tack on. I mean I learned from it, but spend some time alone. Really get to know yourself. Dating is not as important as you think it is. Plus, over my years in sobriety, the type of person I’m now attracted to has really changed. I actually heed red flags now. Whoa.

AB: Anything else you want to add?

ALLIE: My goal is to entertain people. I’m not trying to get people sober.

AB: I absolutely agree with you. That’s what we are doing here at The Sober Curator…simply showing that sobriety doesn’t have to be boring. We aren’t in the business of telling anyone how to get sober. That’s just not our lane. Each person really needs to figure that out themselves. It’s personal. We are in the business of keeping any person seeking an alcohol-free lifestyle entertained and informed by curating, reviewing, and contributing fun and interesting recovery content.

Reflecting on my time with Allie Campbell

For several days after my zoom call with Allie, I kept playing over our conversation. We had so many things in common and her creativity and enthusiasm really energized me. Plus, she nerded out with me when I wanted to talk about the future of virtual reality and recovery. During that time with Allie, I really felt like she saw who I was and what we were trying to do with The Sober Curator. But even more importantly, I really saw who she was. I’ve got mad respect for what she’s doing.

And that’s how it works you guys. One person in recovery talks to another person in recovery, sharing their stories, the sad ones, and the rad ones. The recovery movement is upon us. If you haven’t felt it yourself yet, buckle up peeps because I’m pretty sure the best is yet to come for all of us. One day at a time…

Sober Spotlight is the section of our site that highlights extraordinary people in recovery doing extraordinary things. We love sober people! Sober small business owners doin’ their thing gives us all the feels. We also spotlight brands that cater to sober living and give back to recovery. Who is making a difference in your recovery community? If you know someone we should spotlight please connect with us at the [email protected] or DM us on social media.

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Because it’s movie night and the feelings right, it’s movie night! Since you’re not binging on alcohol and drugs anymore, you’re going to need other activities to fill your time. Especially considering we are in the middle of a global pandemic. Get your alcohol-free binge on with movies and TV series that The Sober Curator recommends.

Pop the popcorn, make your favorite mocktail or alcohol-free bevies, grab your favorite treats and sweets, and settle in for some good old-fashioned cinema entertainment. 

Resources are available

Resources Are Available

If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.

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