Rewired Sober: The Next Chapter

Kate Vitela
  • 4.9 (21)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Rewired Sober: The Next Chapter—a podcast about what happens after survival. I'm Kate Vitela, a psychiatric nurse with more than twenty-five years of nursing experience, speaker, and lifelong student of human behavior. For years, this podcast focused on alcohol, addiction science, and recovery. Those conversations changed lives—including my own—but something became increasingly clear. The longer I worked with women, the less we talked about alcohol. We talked about burnout. Identity. Midlife. Relationships. Confidence. Beauty. Careers. Boundaries. Self-worth. Style. The invisible expectations placed on women. The stories we inherited. And the courage it takes to become ourselves. That's what this next chapter is about. Here, we'll explore the psychology of identity, the neuroscience of behavior change, fashion and personal style, beauty, aging, feminism, emotional health, self-concept, and what it really means to evolve throughout our lives. You'll hear conversations with psychologists, stylists, artists, authors, neuroscientists, entrepreneurs, nurses, and women who have reinvented themselves more than once. We'll ask better questions than "How do I fix myself?" Instead, we'll ask, "Who am I becoming?" and "What kind of life am I creating?" Sobriety will always be part of my story. Getting sober in 2018 fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life, my nursing career, and my understanding of the human mind. Recovery taught me emotional literacy, humility, curiosity, and resilience. It will always shape the way I see the world, but it is no longer the only lens through which I want to explore it. Because recovery isn't the destination. It's the foundation. Whether you're rebuilding after addiction, navigating midlife, questioning your career, redefining your style, learning to trust yourself again, or simply fascinated by why humans do what we do, you're in the right place. Around here, you'll find conversations about: Psychology and neuroscience Women's mental health and emotional well-being Identity, self-concept, and personal reinvention Fashion, personal style, and beauty as forms of self-expression Midlife, confidence, and aging with intention Feminism, culture, and the pressures women navigate Behavior change, habits, and resilience Creativity, curiosity, and lifelong learning Sobriety and recovery as part of a much bigger story This isn't a podcast about becoming perfect. It's about becoming more fully yourself. So whether you've been here since episode one or you're just finding us now, thank you for being part of this community. The goal was never simply to stop drinking. The goal was always to build a life that feels honest, meaningful, creative, beautiful, and completely your own. Welcome to the next chapter.

  1. 5d ago

    EP 93 Recovery on the Runway and Break Free NYFW with Claire Comai

    What if getting sober didn’t mean leaving the party—but finally becoming fully present for your own life? In this episode of Rewired Sober, I’m joined by Claire Comai, founder and creative director of Rehab Studios and Vice President and Creative Director of Break Free NYFW’s Recovery on the Runway. Claire and I talk about the intersection of fashion, recovery, identity, creativity, and reinvention—and why the old image of sobriety as staying home and playing it safe simply doesn’t fit everyone. After getting sober at 24, Claire found herself trying to figure out who she was without alcohol. Instead of suppressing her love of excitement, fashion, travel, risk, and a little bit of chaos, she began finding healthier places to put that energy. That journey eventually led to Rehab Barbie, her own fashion collection, and now Rehab Studios—a creative studio and PR firm working with designers and producing Break Free’s growing New York Fashion Week showcase. We talk about why fashion and alcohol have historically been so intertwined, the fear that sobriety will make life boring, and the reality that neither of us could live the lives we have now if we were still drinking. We also get into Recovery on the Runway, how Break Free is changing the visual identity of recovery, why representation matters, the importance of supporting emerging designers, and Claire’s belief that relationships can become their own form of currency in an industry that can often feel incredibly pay-to-play. And yes—we discuss the ongoing declaration that “New York Fashion Week is dead.” Claire and I have some thoughts. This conversation is about refusing the idea that recovery requires becoming quieter, smaller, safer, or less yourself. Sometimes recovery isn’t about subduing who you are. Sometimes it’s about finally becoming capable of being more of who you are. In this episode: Sobriety, identity, and rediscovering yourselfFashion as creativity, expression, and communityWhy sobriety doesn’t have to mean giving up nightlife or glamourReplacing destructive chaos with creative risk and adventureClaire’s evolution from Rehab Barbie to Rehab StudiosThe growth of Break Free NYFW and Recovery on the RunwayAlcohol, drugs, eating disorders, and mental health within fashion cultureWhy sober representation mattersThe changing culture around non-alcoholic drinkingWhy New York Fashion Week still mattersSupporting emerging designers in a pay-to-play industryBuilding a career through relationships, collaboration, and communityWhat’s next for Rehab Studios and Break Free Connect with Claire & Rehab Studios Instagram: @clairecomai Rehab Studios: @rehabstudiosny TikTok: @rehabstudiosny Website: rehabbarbie.com Follow Break Free NYFW Instagram: @breakfreenyfw Designers, models, stylists, press, makeup artists, sponsors, and other creatives interested in participating in future Break Free NYFW events can connect with Claire and the Break Free team through their social channels. Connect with Kate Instagram: @katevitela For speaking, workshops, collaborations, or podcast inquiries, connect with Kate through social media or katevitela.com.

  2. Sep 22

    EP: 92 We Are All Magnificent Monsters: John Galliano, Addiction & Redemption

    What do we actually mean when we say we believe people can change? The controversy surrounding the canceled John Galliano exhibition at the Met sent me down a rabbit hole—not because I think Galliano is owed a museum retrospective, and certainly not because addiction erases the harm someone causes. It doesn’t. But after years working in psychiatry and addiction—and after eight years of sobriety myself—I can't listen to this conversation without noticing what seems to be missing from it: addiction, impairment, recovery, accountability, rehabilitation, and the possibility of genuine human change. Galliano's antisemitic and racist remarks were horrific. He faced enormous consequences for them. But his collapse also happened during a period of severe alcohol and polysubstance dependence, blackouts, grief, chronic sleep deprivation, extraordinary professional pressure, and profound deterioration. Context is not acquittal. Understanding why someone behaved terribly is not the same thing as saying the behavior was acceptable. So in this episode, I'm asking the harder questions. What actually happens to judgment, memory, inhibition, and executive functioning during severe addiction and blackouts? Is the old idea that "drunk words are sober thoughts" even neurologically accurate? How much should impairment matter when we're talking about responsibility? And then there's Dior and LVMH. Galliano was reportedly producing an extraordinary number of collections while his addiction and mental health deteriorated. So where does individual responsibility end and institutional responsibility begin? What happens when someone's pathology is incredibly profitable—right up until it becomes publicly unacceptable? But the question I keep coming back to is even bigger: If someone's deterioration counts as evidence that they changed for the worse, shouldn't years of sustained behavioral change at least count as evidence that they may have changed for the better? Galliano has now spent years sober, acknowledged the harm he caused, educated himself, expressed remorse, and publicly accepted that atonement does not entitle him to institutional celebration. That doesn't mean anyone owes him forgiveness. It doesn't mean the Met owed him an exhibition. And it doesn't erase what happened. But if nothing a person does after their worst moment can ever meaningfully alter how we understand them, then what exactly do we mean when we tell people to get help, take responsibility, recover, make amends, and change? Because recovery cannot simply be a lifetime probation sentence in which the sickest version of you remains the only version of you society considers real. This episode gets into John Galliano, the Met controversy, addiction and the brain, blackouts, Dior and LVMH, institutional responsibility, accountability without absolution, forgiveness, rehabilitation, and what redemption might actually look like. And ultimately, this isn't really an episode about whether John Galliano is a good person or a bad person. It's about something much more uncomfortable: Do we actually believe human beings are capable of change? Because if we believe people can deteriorate, intellectual consistency requires us to leave room for the possibility that they can recover, too.

  3. Sep 15

    Ep 91: Hello Beautiful: Who Are You When Breast Cancer Changes Everything? with Christine Handy

    What happens when life strips away the things you thought made you valuable? In this episode, I sit down with model, author, breast cancer survivor, and executive producer Christine Handy, whose bestselling novel Walk Beside Me was inspired by her own experience with breast cancer and has now been adapted into the feature film Hello Beautiful. Starring Tricia Helfer, Hello Beautiful follows Willow, a successful model whose breast cancer diagnosis disrupts not only her body and health, but her sense of identity, beauty, relationships, and self-worth. The film is officially headed to theaters nationwide on September 25, 2026. But this conversation isn't simply about surviving cancer. Christine began modeling at just 11 years old, entering an industry where appearance wasn't only noticed—it had value. We talk about what happens when a woman learns to see herself through other people's eyes, and what it takes to rebuild an identity when the external validation you've relied upon no longer feels solid. Christine shares a phrase I absolutely love: “I don't want to be a victim. I want to be a vine.” We explore what that actually means—not pretending that terrible things don't happen, but learning how to grow around the things we cannot change. We also talk about beauty after illness, aging and visibility, the complicated relationship women have with our bodies, and whether it's possible to enjoy fashion and beauty without asking our appearance to prove our worth. And we get into something I think deserves a much bigger conversation: Have we turned resilience into yet another expectation for women? Sometimes life is devastating. Sometimes we're angry. Sometimes we don't need to immediately turn pain into gratitude, purpose, personal growth, or an inspirational f*****g Instagram post. Christine and I talk about making room for that reality while still choosing hope. We also discuss the surreal experience of seeing your own life transformed first into a book and then into a film—and how Christine keeps breast cancer from becoming another identity she has to live inside. Because ultimately this episode is about something much bigger than illness. It's about identity after disruption. Who are we when the roles, bodies, careers, relationships, or identities we've depended upon change? And instead of desperately trying to become who we were before, what if we allow ourselves to become someone new? In this episode we discuss: Christine's journey from modeling at age 11 to redefining beauty and self-worthHer breast cancer experience and the identity shift that followed“Be a vine, not a victim”Beauty as pleasure versus beauty as proof of worthWomen's bodies, femininity, aging, and visibilityReturning to modeling with a changed bodyWhy resilience shouldn't require pretending everything is okayThe pressure on women to turn adversity into inspirationThe difference between allowing an experience to shape you and allowing it to define youTurning Walk Beside Me into Hello BeautifulWho Christine is beyond the labels of model, patient, survivor, author, and advocate ABOUT HELLO BEAUTIFULInspired by Christine Handy's novel Walk Beside Me, Hello Beautiful stars Tricia Helfer and is written and directed by Ziad H. Hamzeh. Christine serves as an executive producer. After screenings and recognition on the film-festival circuit, Hello Beautiful has been acquired by Freestyle Releasing and will open in theaters nationwide September 25, 2026. This isn't a story about cancer being the end of someone's life. It's about what comes next. Learn more about Christine and Hello Beautiful: Christine Handy: www.christinehandy.com Instagram: @christinehandy1 Hello Beautiful: In theaters September 25, 2026 Trailer: https://youtu.be/fVw3xG426-c?si=PhLyEAYtxzsiwfEn

  4. Sep 8

    EP: 90 When Beauty Becomes Celebration Instead of Correction with Sarah Siegel-Kolodziejski

    What if beauty wasn't about fixing what's wrong with us? What if it was about celebration, creativity, confidence, and feeling more like ourselves? In this episode, I'm joined by Sarah Siegel-Kolodziejski, founder of Pure Clarity, for a conversation about the fascinating intersection of beauty, wellness, alcohol-free living, mindset, and reinvention. Sarah and I both love beauty. We're not here to tell women to throw away the mascara, cancel the Botox appointment, and retreat into the woods. But we are interested in asking better questions about why we do what we do. When does beauty feel like self-expression—and when does it become another way we're taught that we need correcting? We talk about Chella, the clean, vegan beauty brand focused on brows and eyes, and the idea that beauty can enhance who you already are rather than create some supposedly "better" version of you. But this conversation goes much deeper than makeup. Sarah and I also talk about how dramatically we've both changed our lives by changing our thinking. We discuss rewiring old patterns, neuroplasticity, and studying the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza as part of understanding that we aren't sentenced to think, behave, or live the way we always have. Our brains change. Our beliefs can change. And when we repeatedly practice new ways of thinking and behaving, our lives can change with them. We also get into a contradiction Sarah has noticed within the wellness world: an industry obsessed with clean ingredients, longevity, mindfulness, nervous-system regulation, sleep and optimal health still routinely pushes alcohol. We're scrutinizing what's in our moisturizer while somebody is pouring the third glass of rosé at the wellness retreat. Maybe wellness deserves a bigger conversation. This episode is about beauty without punishment, wellness without perfection, questioning the cultural scripts we've inherited, and giving ourselves permission to evolve. Because maybe beauty isn't another project. Maybe beauty gets to be a celebration. Mentioned in this episodePure Clarity — Mindful Drinking, Mindful Living Sarah's alcohol-free lifestyle, coaching and wellness community: https://www.pureclaritynow.com/ Chella Beauty Clean, vegan brow and eye beauty: https://chella.com/

  5. Sep 1

    EP: 89 You Don't Have to Monetize Your Joy: Starting Over in Midlife.

    Is midlife too late to start something new? Or have social media, hustle culture, and our obsession with turning every damn thing into an accomplishment convinced us that if we're not already good at it, making money from it, or building a personal brand around it…why bother? In this episode of Rewired Sober: The Next Chapter, I'm talking about what it feels like to be 47 and suddenly obsessed with sewing, French, fashion, creativity, and parts of myself I thought I'd left somewhere along the way. And yes, sometimes I look online and think: Well shit. I should have started this twenty years ago. Social media can give us permission to imagine a different life. It can show us women doing fascinating, creative, brave things we didn't even know were available to us. But it can also create FOMO, urgency, comparison, and the nagging feeling that we're late to our own lives. I'm not the woman I was at 27—and thank God. I love her. But I don't want to go backward and become her again. Twenty years of mistakes, heartbreak, recovery, careers, relationships, failures, courage, ridiculous decisions, wisdom, and actual LIFE have shaped the woman I am now. Maybe midlife isn't about reinventing yourself from scratch. Maybe sometimes it's about bringing old pieces of yourself back—with twenty more years of wisdom attached. And maybe sewing doesn't need to become a clothing line. Maybe learning French doesn't need to become content. Maybe loving fashion doesn't require me to prove that I'm important enough to belong in fashion. Maybe we are allowed to be beginners. To follow novelty. To suck at something. To change our minds. To spend time on something simply because it makes us feel more alive. Because joy doesn't need a business plan. In this episode, I get into social media and FOMO, the fear of being behind, the pressure to monetize everything we love, why novelty matters, returning to forgotten parts of ourselves, and the strange freedom of realizing that at 47, I don't need every new interest to lead somewhere. Sometimes loving the hell out of something is enough. Connect with Kate @katevitela

  6. Aug 25

    EP: 88 Fashion as Armor: Patricia Field, Old New York & the Psychology of Style — with Kate Tricarico

    What if getting dressed has less to do with fashion—and everything to do with identity? In this episode, I sit down with New York stylist and creative director Kate Tricarico to talk about why personal style is so much deeper than following trends. From growing up in New York City to working with legendary costume designer Patricia Field on the Bowery, Kate shares stories from the city's unforgettable fashion scene and how those experiences shaped her understanding of clothing as self-expression. Today, Kate styles everyone from celebrities to everyday women, helping people discover a wardrobe that reflects who they are instead of who social media tells them to be. We also dive into one of fashion's most controversial conversations: John Galliano. Fifteen years into his sobriety, does one of the greatest fashion designers of our time deserve recognition from the Met? Can we separate extraordinary art from the deeply flawed human who created it? And what does accountability, forgiveness, and redemption look like in creative industries? Whether you love fashion or have never thought much about it, this conversation is really about something much bigger: Who are you? And are your clothes helping you become more of that person—or less? In This EpisodeKate Tricarico's journey from growing up in New York City to becoming a stylist and creative directorWorking for Patricia Field on the Bowery and lessons from New York's creative sceneArchival fashion and why fashion history still mattersWhy personal style is an extension of identity—not just aestheticsThe difference between dressing for trends versus dressing for yourselfConfidence, self-concept, and authentic self-expressionJohn Galliano's extraordinary creative legacy and the controversy surrounding his careerSobriety, accountability, forgiveness, and whether redemption is possibleCan we separate the artist from the art?Why the most stylish people aren't necessarily the trendiest—they're the most authentic Big Takeaway"Style isn't about becoming someone else. It's about becoming more recognizably yourself." If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who loves psychology, fashion, or the lifelong process of evolving. Because style isn't just what you wear. It's one of the ways you tell the world—and yourself—who you are. Connect with Kate Vitela @katevitela Connect with Kate TricaricoInstagram: @katetricarico Website: katetricarico.com Creative Director • Fashion Stylist • Archival Fashion Specialist

  7. Aug 18

    EP: 87 Why Rewired Sober Is Evolving & Expanding the Conversation. Womanhood, Style, Identity, Fashion, Midlife, and So Much More.

    It's Time to Pivot: Why Rewired Sober Is Evolving Eight years ago, getting sober changed everything. For a long time, alcohol was the conversation because it had to be. It was the thing standing between me and the life I wanted. But here's what I've discovered after years of working with women in recovery, psychiatric nursing, coaching, and hosting this podcast: We rarely stay talking about alcohol for very long. Eventually, the conversations become about burnout. Identity. Marriage. Careers. Friendships. Midlife. Confidence. Style. Beauty. Purpose. The pressure of being a woman. And the lifelong process of becoming ourselves. That's where my curiosity lives. In this short episode, I'm sharing why I'm pivoting the podcast and what you can expect moving forward. We'll still talk about sobriety—because it shaped who I am, and it will always weave its way into these conversations—but this next chapter is much bigger than alcohol. We'll explore: Why recovery is only the beginning—not the whole storyThe psychology of identity and reinventionWomanhood and the invisible rules we've inheritedFashion and personal style as forms of self-expressionBeauty, aging, confidence, and the stories we tell ourselvesNeuroscience, psychology, and human behaviorMidlife as a season of evolution rather than declineThe art of becoming who you actually are If you've been with me from the beginning, thank you. I hope you'll stay for what's next. Because the goal was never to spend our entire lives talking about what we stopped drinking. The goal was always to go out and build a life that feels honest, beautiful, meaningful, and completely our own. So here's to Chapter Two. Let's evolve together. In this episodeWhy I'm changing the direction of the podcastWhat years of psychiatric nursing and coaching have taught meWhy conversations naturally move beyond alcoholWhat we'll be exploring in future episodesAn invitation to keep growing with me Connect with Kate @katevitela or @rewiredsoberFollow along for conversations on psychology, identity, style, womanhood, neuroscience, and the art of evolving. If this podcast has meant something to you, I'd love for you to stay for this next chapter. And if someone in your life is navigating change, send this episode their way. Because reinvention isn't a detour. Sometimes it's exactly where life begins.

  8. Aug 11

    EP 86: Can You Heal in The Places That Broke You? Rewriting Our Story. Giving Our Brain New Evidence.

    Can healing happen in the very places where we once unraveled? In this deeply personal episode of Rewired Sober, I share the story of returning to Portland—a city that once represented some of the most painful years of my life. It was the place where alcohol left behind professional wreckage, strained relationships, broken trust, and a version of myself I wasn't proud of. Eight years into recovery, I returned not to erase the past, but to experience it as the woman I've become. This episode explores how our brains attach emotions to places, why shame often convinces us to avoid certain people or locations, and how creating new experiences can help us rewrite the stories we've been telling ourselves. Recovery isn't about pretending the past never happened. It's about proving to yourself that your past no longer gets to define your present. In This EpisodeMy recent trip back to Portland and why it mattered so muchHow alcohol affected my professional life, relationships, and identityWhy certain places can trigger powerful memories years laterThe neuroscience of memory, context, and emotional associationsWhat memory reconsolidation is and how the brain updates old experiencesWhy avoiding painful places can unintentionally keep shame aliveHow creating new memories helps reclaim places once connected to addictionThe difference between reliving the past and revisiting it as someone newWhy I wasn't trying to erase my story—I was expanding itHow recovery allows us to reclaim our identity, not just our sobriety Memorable Takeaways"Recovery isn't just about changing your future. Sometimes it's about changing your relationship with your past.""I wasn't trying to rewrite history. I was giving my brain new evidence.""Portland didn't change. I did.""Healing isn't pretending the past didn't happen. Healing is refusing to let the past have the final word.""The places where you unraveled don't have to become places you avoid forever.""Sometimes the greatest repair isn't explaining yourself. It's becoming someone different.""I wasn't reliving my past. I was allowing my present self to meet it." Neuroscience DiscussedMemory reconsolidationEmotional memory and place associationsThe hippocampus and contextual memoryThe amygdala and emotional learningAvoidance and the nervous systemNeuroplasticityCreating new neural associations through lived experience Rewired Sober 1:1 Coaching Spots Are Open (But Fill Up Fast) Start anytime and get 3 months of guidance from Kate designed for women in sobriety. Book a discovery call to inquire: https://calendly.com/katevitelacoaching/deep-dive-1-1-w-kate Connect with Kate @rewiredsober on all social media platforms: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rewiredsober/ Email: katevitelacoaching@gmail.com

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About

Welcome to Rewired Sober: The Next Chapter—a podcast about what happens after survival. I'm Kate Vitela, a psychiatric nurse with more than twenty-five years of nursing experience, speaker, and lifelong student of human behavior. For years, this podcast focused on alcohol, addiction science, and recovery. Those conversations changed lives—including my own—but something became increasingly clear. The longer I worked with women, the less we talked about alcohol. We talked about burnout. Identity. Midlife. Relationships. Confidence. Beauty. Careers. Boundaries. Self-worth. Style. The invisible expectations placed on women. The stories we inherited. And the courage it takes to become ourselves. That's what this next chapter is about. Here, we'll explore the psychology of identity, the neuroscience of behavior change, fashion and personal style, beauty, aging, feminism, emotional health, self-concept, and what it really means to evolve throughout our lives. You'll hear conversations with psychologists, stylists, artists, authors, neuroscientists, entrepreneurs, nurses, and women who have reinvented themselves more than once. We'll ask better questions than "How do I fix myself?" Instead, we'll ask, "Who am I becoming?" and "What kind of life am I creating?" Sobriety will always be part of my story. Getting sober in 2018 fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life, my nursing career, and my understanding of the human mind. Recovery taught me emotional literacy, humility, curiosity, and resilience. It will always shape the way I see the world, but it is no longer the only lens through which I want to explore it. Because recovery isn't the destination. It's the foundation. Whether you're rebuilding after addiction, navigating midlife, questioning your career, redefining your style, learning to trust yourself again, or simply fascinated by why humans do what we do, you're in the right place. Around here, you'll find conversations about: Psychology and neuroscience Women's mental health and emotional well-being Identity, self-concept, and personal reinvention Fashion, personal style, and beauty as forms of self-expression Midlife, confidence, and aging with intention Feminism, culture, and the pressures women navigate Behavior change, habits, and resilience Creativity, curiosity, and lifelong learning Sobriety and recovery as part of a much bigger story This isn't a podcast about becoming perfect. It's about becoming more fully yourself. So whether you've been here since episode one or you're just finding us now, thank you for being part of this community. The goal was never simply to stop drinking. The goal was always to build a life that feels honest, meaningful, creative, beautiful, and completely your own. Welcome to the next chapter.

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