What happens when your public self looks polished and high-functioning, but your private life is quietly unraveling?

In this vulnerable and insight-packed guest episode, Kate sits down with Jennifer Mathieu, award-winning author of Moxie and The Faculty Lounge, longtime educator, and sober mom. Jennifer opens up about her ten-year spiral into “problematic drinking,” how alcohol became her nightly form of fake self-care, and the moment she became more curious than afraid about getting sober.

Drawing parallels between teaching and nursing, Kate and Jennifer explore the emotional weight of public-facing professions, the pressure to perform, and the resentment cycle that leads so many women to drink in secret. Jennifer shares how sobriety reshaped her identity as a teacher, a writer, a mom, and a woman who finally learned to stop setting herself on fire to keep everyone else warm.

In this episode, Kate and Jennifer talk about:

• What it feels like to live a double life in a public-facing career
• The ten-year buildup to Jennifer’s sobriety
• Why breaking a promise to her husband was the turning point
• The sneaky ways alcohol hides inside burnout, resentment, and people pleasing
• How alcohol became her nightly coping tool after motherhood
• The power of seeing sober women thriving on social media
• Learning to set real boundaries at work and at home
• Reclaiming identity outside of teaching, writing, and caregiving
• Sobriety as a “power boost” to years of therapy and personal work
• Why midlife is often the breaking point and the breakthrough

Referenced in this episode:

• Jennifer’s novels including Moxie (now a Netflix film) and The Faculty Lounge
• Sober Mom Collective meetings, where Jennifer is a weekly group leader

Mentioned in this episode:

Rewired Sober Group Coaching Program

https://kate-vitela.mykajabi.com/rewired-sober-coaching-program