Where workplace culture, sobriety, and modern recovery conversations meet.
Workplace culture is changing, and the old rules don’t always work for people who are sober, sober curious, in recovery, or simply rethinking their relationship with alcohol.
In Beyond the Happy Hour, Sober Curator Contributor Sarah Alaimo explores what it means to build healthier, more inclusive professional spaces beyond booze-centered networking, mandatory team drinks, and outdated ideas of “work hard, play hard.” From sober-friendly office culture to leadership, boundaries, burnout, belonging, managing careers and parenting, and the awkward art of declining a drink at a company event, this column brings real-world insight to the modern workplace.
Because connection should not require a cocktail. And professionalism should not come with a two-drink minimum.
When a boss or founder disappears on benders, the issue is not just personal — it becomes operational, emotional, and cultural. Sarah breaks down how employees can respond when alcohol-related behavior affects the workplace, including how to document impact, avoid diagnosing, ask for structure, set boundaries, and balance compassion with accountability.
Mental health and addiction are often treated as separate workplace issues, but for many employees, they are deeply connected. Sober Curator Contributor Sarah Alaimo shares her perspective as an HR professional in long-term recovery on what employers, managers, and HR teams need to understand when crisis shows up at work.
Does being sober help or hurt your career? Sarah explores the short-term awkwardness of alcohol-centered workplace culture and the long-term professional upside of sobriety, from stronger boundaries and better judgment to clearer leadership and deeper self-trust.
How raising my son and protecting my sobriety taught me that real leadership starts with presence, steadiness, and community. I…
