In this episode of Your Traitor Within, Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW, talks with certified recovery coach Paula Devine, founder of Happiest Hour Concierge Sobriety. For over 30 years, alcohol was woven into Paula’s life — from high school and college partying to a career in the liquor industry and then into the “mommy wine culture” of early motherhood. On the outside she was high-functioning, involved, and “doing it all.” On the inside she was living with anxiety, hangovers, shame, and the quiet realization that alcohol was slowly dulling who she really was.
Paula shares how her Traitor Within showed up through alcohol: the voice that told her she “deserved” a drink, that she needed it to relax, to connect, to cope, even as her kids began to mirror back the impact. She describes the moment she finally said, “I’m done,” what it was like to stop in a marriage and social world built around drinking, and how her husband’s support and new shared rituals (like pickleball instead of cocktails) helped her hold that line. Now over three years sober, Paula talks about the surprising happiness and clarity that came with sobriety, how she handles romanticizing the past like a “toxic ex,” and how she gently supports women who slip without shame, focusing instead on triggers, self-awareness, and what the lapse can teach them.
Paula also shares how Happiest Hour was born out of her own path — a small group of friends meeting regularly to support each other — and how it evolved into a women’s sobriety coaching practice and community in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Her approach is holistic and personalized: therapy, meetings, coaching, movement, community, and whatever else helps a woman step into an alcohol-free life that actually feels like hers.
You can find Paula at:
Website: www.happiesthouraf.com
Instagram: @happiest_hour_af
