Chris Marshall lives in Austin, Texas and is the owner and founder of Sans Bar, a sober gathering place. He started this company to curate sober positive social experiences for everyone. He is now creating outdoor experiences for people craving healing and connection called ‘Fireside Connections.’ Chris has been sober nearly 15 years and shares his story with us in this episode.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Chris’ favorite non-alcoholic drinks as of late
- Chris’ perspective on time-sober as a metric and how we may want to look beyond simply how much time you’ve been sober as your success metrics
- The importance of having goals AND also celebrate growth in the moment
- The magic in saying ‘no’
- How everyone’s sober story is incredibly unique
- Chris’ definition of sobriety for him and how it includes any sort of external influence that is used to solve an internal problem, including relationship and people
- His childhood growing up with a father with schizophrenia
- How childhood memories can be linked without any causality and how to undo some of the linkages we have with traumatic events in our lives
- How alcohol made Chris feel connected for the first time in his teen life and how it quickly became a point of disconnection for him
- Why it is important to keep talking openly and honestly about our trauma, pain, healing and sobriety - because we never know what might stick with someone and change their lives for the better
- How impactful one trip to Seattle was for Chris and his sobriety
- Chris’ recommendation for diversifying our sober influences and seeking out other perspectives
- His new venture, Fireside Connections, which brings people out to camp, many times for the first time, and connect throughout a weekend
- Chris’ advice on how to make our sober communities more inclusive
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