This is Annie Grace and you're listening to this naked mind podcast where without judgment,

pain or rules, we explore the role of alcohol in our lives and culture.

Hi, this is Annie Grace and welcome to this naked mind podcast. Today I am here with Carrie. Welcome,

Carrie. Hi, Annie. Oh, it's so good to have you here. We're just commenting on Carrie has like

the coolest background. So if you're not watching this video, you should watch it on video. But Carrie,

thanks so much for being here. So what I love to do is, you know, with your story, just kind of

rewind almost all the way to the beginning. Like, where did things really start for you?

Yeah. So just first of all, I just want to say, like, you were on one of the videos I watched,

you were talking about Van Girling and that like, I am nervous because I have just been watching

your podcast. I, you know, listen to the book and absolutely love it. I mean, I've actually been

looking for this for years because, you know, I was like what Claudia calls a gray area drinker

for years, you know, and it's just really hard because people don't understand that you have a

problem. They think that well, you're successful and you're raising your children, you have a beautiful

home. And so everything in your life must be fine. Yeah. You know, that it's just from the outside,

it's very different. But, you know, I didn't start out, I guess I, I never really drank at all in

high school. I grew up in a non-drinking home. My mom actually was a single mom. She did drink when

I was younger. I don't remember it. She says I dumped her alcohol down the toilet and I don't

remember doing that. But I never really was around people that were drinking. My parents did not drink.

I remember when I was 13, someone had given my mom a bottle of wine. They never had alcohol in the house.

And it was my 13th birthday and I remember taking a few sips of the wine, you know, that was my,

and then I just wasn't interested in it. It just wasn't anything that interested me.

I was always, you know, I always did well in school. I always was in sports and athletics

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