Holiday Speakers – The Sober Summit

MEET YOUR HOST

Maggie Klaassens

Creator of The Sober Summit

A former wine enthusiast turned sober drinker, a health coach and the host of The Sober Summit. I created this free virtual event to bring resources from the sober space together in one place to help educate others on the benefits of choosing an alcohol free life.

My hope is that together we can help normalize sobriety and inspire people to live their best life, alcohol free. I hope this summit inspires you to make a change.

MEET YOUR SPEAKERS

Amy Edwards

How to Find Faith in Sobriety

Amy is a This Naked Mind Certified Coach, owner of Joy on the Other Side Coaching, co-creator of The Alcohol Free Spirit Experiment and the co-host of the Alcohol Free Marriage (& More) Podcast.

Andy Ramage

How to Prepare for the Upcoming Year

Andy is a master practitioner of NLP, a mindfulness based awareness coach and has a Master’s degree in both positive psychology and coaching psychology. He is the co-founder of the Dryy App and trainer of sober/dryy coaches.

Austin Karr

How to Get Out of Your Way by Living in Today

Austin has been sober for over 8 years. He’s a speaker, content creator, and Sobriety Coach. He has a passion for guiding others to break free from their limitations by focusing on today.

Bex Weller

How to Socialize Alcohol Free this Holiday Season

Bex is a Health & Life Coach, Author and Speaker. Named ‘one of Perth’s leading Healthpreneurs’ by The Sunday Times Magazine, she helps women from around the world to get their sparkle back and create an alcohol-free life they love.

Author of the international bestselling sobriety memoir, A Happier Hour, plus Up All Day, Chameleon: Confessions of a Former People-Pleaser, and RSVP Sober: Your Guided Journal for Socialising Alcohol-Free, Rebecca writes about love, life, and the strength and potential of the human spirit.

Chris Marshall

Loneliness: How to Cope During the Holidays

Chris is a prominent event curator, mental health advocate, and the founder of SANS Bar Academy, a 2023 Aspen Ideas Speaker. He is also the visionary behind Sans Bar, the first alcohol-free bars in the United States, established in 2017. With a mission to foster elevated connection-centered experiences without alcohol, Chris has organized alcohol-free social events in various cities across the United States and Canada.

Derek Brown

How to Pair Your Holiday Menu with Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Derek Brown is an author, NASM-certified wellness coach, and founder of Positive Damage, Inc. Previously, Brown owned Spirited Awards 2017 “Best American Cocktail Bar” Columbia Room in Washington, D.C., and was one of the nation’s top bartenders.

Brown has been recognized as a leading beverage figure affecting positive change in the global bar industry by Drinks International in 2020 in their “Bar World 100” list and as “one of the most inspirational people and places that will shape how we drink in 2023” in Imbibe magazine’s “Imbibe 75” for 2023.

Heather Lowe

Embracing Non-Alcoholic Traditions

Heather is the Founder of Ditched the Drink, a wellness company dedicated to helping professionals move away from alcohol and towards their highest selves. Heather is a Certified Professional Life and Recovery Coach, Certified Addiction Awareness Facilitator, and the Director of Marketing Consumer Products for the International Center of Addiction Recovery Education (ICARE). Heather provides content, knowledge, coaching, and education to individuals and organizations seeking to be more alcohol free.

Jay Chase

How to Break The Cycle and Be Your Best Self This Holiday Season

Jay is the CEO of a leading leadership development firm, the charismatic voice behind the top-rated “Don’t Touch My Mindset” podcast and an international leadership guru.

His talks are a compelling mix of personal tales, humor, and actionable insights that resonate profoundly with audiences everywhere. Renowned for his contagious energy, Jay has transformed lives worldwide. Jay drives home one crucial message: With belief, action, and vision, any dream is within reach. His story isn’t just one of hope—it’s a testament to the endless potential within us all.

Jessica Dueñas

Rewriting Cultural Traditions

Jessica is an educator by day, a peer recovery support specialist, and a sober life coach by night.
She holds a Master’s degree in special education and an educational specialist degree in instructional leadership, and before becoming sober, Jessica was named the Kentucky State Teacher of the Year. She is registered with NAADAC and has an ICF-accredited life coaching certification.

Through her company, Bottomless to Sober, Jessica offers support for those getting sober through writing workshops, 1:1 coaching, and support groups for sober educators. Jessica shares how her upbringing as a first-generation Cuban Costa Rican-American impacted her relationship with food and alcohol and has previously spoken on NPR, CBS Evening News, and Red Table Talk.

Ken Makimsy Middleton

The Guide to Getting Everything You Want by Living Alcohol Free

Ken Makimsy Middleton is obsessed with helping people build the best versions of themselves. Ever since he experienced a tremendous turnaround from an entrepreneurial endeavor when he gave up alcohol on November 10th, 2018, his mission has been to help others realize alcohol is probably the one thing that is holding them back from realizing all of their dreams.

He started the Medium publication AINYF (Alcohol is NOT Your Friend) in May of 2020 for this reason, and is the author of the book Bamboozled – How Alcohol Makes Fools of Us All, which exposes the subtle tactics and traps of alcohol and the alcohol industry, while also giving the reader the tools to overcome them.

Kiola Raines

How to Stay Active Over the Holidays

Kiola discovered early on in her sobriety journey the power of using fitness and nutrition to sustain long-term recovery. Effective goal setting, proper nutrition planning, and mindful movement are the foundations of her highly personalized coaching method.

Kiola will give you the tools, knowledge, and support you need to achieve successful sobriety, along with the healthy lifestyle that you deserve. Her work is supported by an MS in Kinesiology, a Precision Nutrition coaching certification, a Peer Support Specialist certification, and over a 15 years of successful coaching in health and wellness.

Lauren Fay

How to Break Free, Stay Free and Be Free

Lauren is an Alcohol-Free Empowerment Coach for ambitious women who are ready to gain freedom back in all areas of their lives through elective sobriety and sobriety as a conscious choice. She’s one part coach strategist, one part mindset genius, and another part spiritual goddess with a holistic approach that guides you to embrace sobriety with confidence, unleash your ambitions and intuition, and cultivate lasting transformation in your life that aligns with your true purpose, values, and authentic self.

She’s developed a signature holistic approach of losing the desire to drink by changing the way you think, all by understanding your relationship to alcohol and identifying the life available to you by choosing your miracles.

Mike Collins

How to Stop the Sugar Cravings That Come with AF Life

Mike is the founder of sugaraddiction.com and the host the Quit Sugar Summit. His book, The Last Resort Sugar Detox has been read by hundreds of thousands of people, and tens of thousands have completed his online 30-Day Challenge Sugar Freedom Challenge.

He believes sugar addiction is very real and not to be taken lightly. As a person in long-term recovery from substance use disorder for over thirty-eight years, he took a keen interest in what sugar was doing to him and his friends in early recovery. After much research and experimentation – he quit sugar with the help of amazing mentors.

Nick Pollard

How to Stop Being a People Pleaser

Nick is a world-renowned coach and speaker specializing in People Pleasing, Codependency, and Addiction. With over 50 million views on his social media channels, Nick has become a thought leader in personal growth and change. He ranks in the top 10% of coaches worldwide.

Peggi Cooney

Removing Alcohol at Any Stage of Life

Peggi Cooney is an author, speaker and sobriety advocate. She holds a MSW and has 26 years of experience in Child Welfare and Adult Protective Services. She is currently a social work instructor/coach for UC Davis. Peggi published her first book, This Side of Alcohol: Random Thoughts and Candid Words of Pain, Hope, Humor and Love – and All that is Possible in Sobriety.

She is also the Chief Connections Officer for Zero Proof Experiences/Sober in the City where she partners with founder Susie Streelman to provide alcohol free social experiences all over the world. Peggi is currently working on her next book about secondary traumatic stress in the helping and caregiving fields. She resides with her husband Paul in West Sacramento and Lake Almanor, California.

Sarah Kate

Fun and Festive Holiday Mocktails

Sarah Kate is the founding editor and publisher of Some Good Clean Fun. She is a non-alcoholic drinks expert and sommelier, and lifestyle advocate for loving a life with less alcohol.

Sarah Kate launched Some Good Clean Fun in April 2021 after noticing a lack of expertise, reviews and information about non-alcoholic drinks in Canada. The online publication has thousands of page views a month, and a team of contributors amplifying non-alcoholic drinks and their role in health and wellness.

Sarah Rusbatch

Seeking Professional Support and Network

Sarah is a certified Women’s Health and Wellbeing Coach, an accredited Grey Area Drinking Coach and a Key-Note speaker sharing her journey to Sobriety and impact of alcohol on mental health to global audiences.

After developing what she describes as ‘a dysfunctional relationship with alcohol’, Sarah made the decision to remove alcohol from her life in early 2019 and has never looked back. She now works with women across the globe, guiding them from feeling lost, stuck and out of control (something she fully understands herself), to a healthier and happier way of living.

Shane Ramer

How to Have Fun & Minimize Stress During the Holidays (without alcohol!)

Shane is a speaker and coach who created That Sober Guy Podcast in 2014 to help men quit drinking and become better fathers, husbands, entrepreneurs and leaders. That Sober Guy has brought awareness and support to over 2.5 million listeners in over 100 countries across the world.

As a father of two kids and married to his wife of 20 years, Shane is passionate about faith, family, fitness and helping each and every person become purposeful leaders in their business, homes and communities.

Shari Hampton

How to Keep the Promises We Make to Ourselves

Shari is a speaker, coach, non-profit founder and sobriety agitator! As a certified recovery coach, motivational speaker, and woman in long- term recovery, she relys on years of professional and personal experience to passionately support like-minded folks who are ready to recover from the f—— s— in their lives.

She’s a featured author in My Last Hangover and thrives on love, purpose, truth, community and a sense of urgency to show up for others who want to walk in their power now.

Suzanne Warye

You Don’t Have to Hit Rock Bottom

Suzanne is a happily married mom of three who lives in Chicago. She started off as a style and motherhood influencer in 2015, but everything changed when she quit drinking in January 2020.

Soon after, she started shining a light on the brighter side of sobriety, and encouraging women to examine their relationships with alcohol before hitting rock bottom. She proudly glamorizes sobriety while offering women a softer place to land.

Tanya Gioia

How to Set Healthy Holiday Boundaries

Tanya is a family recovery specialist and the Host of the Sober on Purpose Podcast

She works with women who want to finally heal their marriage and family whilst supporting their husbands through recovery from addiction. She uses her unique Dancing with Joy process to help them become the woman her husband cherishes and the mother who places God and love first to create a truly connected loving, and supportive family.

Vasavi Kumar

Say It Out Loud and Speak the Life You Want

Vasavi is a Former TV host, Licensed Therapist, Voiceover Artist, Creator of the Say It Out Loud Safe Haven, an online support community and the author of Say It Out Loud.

Through her Say It Out Loud podcast, keynote talks, group programs, social media, and weekly email newsletters, Vasavi has taught thousands of entrepreneurs, creatives, and artists from all walks of life how to work through any situation —by saying it out loud.

Victoria Engish

How to Reframe Triggers and Look for Glimmers

Victoria is a 53 year old mother of four, Triple Negative Breast Cancer survivor, certified Integrative nutritionist with a BS, Dietetics. She is the founder of After the Crisis, Head Coach, Alcohol-Free Lifestyle, podcast host, author and certified alcohol-recovery coach.

In 2018, she was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, and in 2020, she left a difficult marriage. As she rebuilt her body, mind & spirit, she decided to use her journey to help others release alcohol and the wreckage it creates. She has now helped hundreds of people change their relationship with alcohol, and lives a happy, fulfilling life. She counts her children, her work and her resilience as her greatest accomplishments.

William Porter

The Psychological Side of Addiction

William is the best selling author of Alcohol Explained and Alcohol Explained 2. He wrote these books to share his approach on recovering from alcohol dependency and brings a unique and refreshingly pragmatic approach to drinking, smoking, vaping and addiction generally.