One Starfish at a Time — Zoe's Story of Recovery

A Shot Glass of Recovery

Welcome back to A Shot Glass of Recovery! Whether you're a first-time listener to A Shot Glass of Recovery or a loyal member from my 2 Sober Chicks days, I’m glad you’re here. 🌟

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Welcome to the Speaker Series on a shot glass of recovery. This podcast is a place for real stories, honest conversations, and recovery lived one day at a time. The views and opinions shared here are simply our own personal experiences. I'm Liam Zoe, and I'm a recovered alcoholic.

Hey — pull up a chair. In this episode Zoe shares the starfish story that grounded her: you can’t save everybody, but you can absolutely change the life of the one in front of you. She takes us from the shame and secrecy of childhood and a life of running and hiding, through the awful, funny, and human moments of active drinking, to that first trembling confession in a meeting and the slow, messy work of real change.

Zoe’s honesty is breezy and warm — she talks about wetting her pants, moving 50-plus times, the scramble for the next drink, and the unexpected mercy of people who stepped in and saved her life. She also gets real about the fourth step, the fear underneath everything, and learning to find her assets as well as her defects. Recovery, for her, turned out to be less about perfection and more about showing up for others.

Service and sponsorship became Zoe’s lifeline. She thought she’d have sponsees cleaning her car; she got neighbors and lost friends, hospital rooms, funerals, cups of tea, and tiny miracles instead. Being the one who tosses starfish back into the ocean — one person at a time — is her assignment, and it changed everything. She calls herself a ‘day walker’ now: present, a little less controlled, and oddly delighted by birds and small kindnesses.

This episode is full of grit, humor, and the steady hope of the promises in the Big Book — new freedom, new happiness, and the surprising ways God shows up when we stop trying to plan every detail. If you’re in the rooms, thinking about service, or just curious what recovery looks like up close, Zoe’s story is a generous, laugh-out-loud, tear-in-the-eye reminder that one person can make a difference.

Thanks for listening. If you’d like to support the show, you can make a voluntary contribution through PayPal at a shot glass of recovery — every bit helps keep these stories coming.