At 26, Annie Grace was the youngest Vice President in a multinational company’s history, and her drinking career began in earnest; by 35, she was in a global C-level marketing role, responsible for 28 countries. Drinking close to two bottles of wine a night became a ritual. Annie Grace’s professional success came at a personal price she no longer wanted to pay. She knew alcohol was no longer serving her. Yet, she didn’t want to suffer through life in a daily battle for sobriety, feeling deprived and constantly trying to avoid temptation.
Annie Grace revamped her own relationship with alcohol — she stripped it of its power and changed her beliefs about booze being a reward — and today she helps others across the globe do the same. Her approach helps people where rehabs have not. She’s created a brand new way to look at the role of alcohol in our lives, establishing a safe space for those who question their drinking but haven’t self-diagnosed as alcoholics stuck in denial of an incurable disease. Annie Grace preaches compassion, knowing its power over shame and blame is the best way to achieve lasting change. And, she offers a proven alternative to the largely ineffective recipe for so-called “success”—the one that says anything less than 100% abstinence is failure. Annie Grace doesn’t teach people how to be sober; she helps them quash their desire to drink in the first place.
“Annie Grace, Bestselling Author of The Alcohol Experiment says the new year is the best time to step back and take stock on our relationship with alcohol. Her new book offers insight on how to take a break and bring lasting change to the way we drink.”
“In her book, This Naked Mind, author Annie Grace shares her story of quitting alcohol and uses psychology and neuroscience research and a “no scare statistics” approach to empower readers to do the same.”
“Participants [in The Alcohol Experiment] receive daily emails with videos featuring Ms. Grace and others, including authors and psychologists, discussing alcohol’s effect on the brain, how to deal with cravings, and triggers for drinking, among other topics.”
“Annie Grace was a rising star in the marketing world until happy hour turned into two bottles of wine a night. Poised, driven, and ambitious, Annie Grace was just 26 when named vice president of a multinational company. She never imagined her after hours work drinks would nearly cost her everything. Annie found her purpose after hitting rock bottom. She created This Naked Mind, a program that has empowered millions to change their relationship with alcohol.”
“Books That Inspire Me: This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. I haven’t had a drink since finishing the book. It may have saved my life.”
“Annie’s strategy includes three main pillars: rethinking the benefits of alcohol, eliminating the desire for it so there’s no temptation so that, in turn, without temptation there’s no addiction.”
“One year ago today I quit drinking. I used to see posts like this and be like “WTF? HOW?” And, look, everyone is different. I did not do AA which has worked for so many. I read a book. I know it sounds strange. “This Naked Mind” by Annie Grace deconstructed alcohol’s power over our society and explained its addictive nature in a science and facts-driven way that made sense for me.”
“[A] key influence was Annie Grace and her book, This Naked Mind, based on her experience as a marketing executive who broke free from a boozy corporate culture.”
“The stereotypical depiction of fighting addiction makes it seem highly unpleasant: White knuckling, sweating it out, detoxing, going cold turkey–you get the picture. This applies to classical addiction, and also to the less dangerous (but nonetheless nettlesome) unhealthy habits and compulsions that we all wrestle with. [Annie Grace] takes a very different approach. She aims to harness the pleasure centers of the brain as a way to handle addictive habits—and, controversially, she doesn’t believe you need to go cold turkey on alcohol, which is the main intoxicant she has targeted.”
“[This Naked Mind] doesn’t contain any rules, goals or scaremongering, but by exploring the reasons people drink and their fears that a life without alcohol will be boring or deprived, Annie Grace insists that you will want to drink less or give up altogether by the time you’ve finished reading.”
My Story
I move from Colorado to New York City and am told by a coworker that I need to show up at happy hours because they are where good ideas were heard and deals were done and if I am serious about my career I would start to come.
I develop a method for drinking without ever getting drunk. A glass of wine, a glass of water. Sometimes, if I felt too tipsy I would sneak into the bathroom and throw up the last glass of wine just to keep drinking more.
I am pregnant with my first son. I take 9 months off drinking and feel upset and deprived the entire time. After the baby comes I start back with a vengeance, making up for ‘lost time’. I start drinking every night no matter if I was at home or on a work trip.
My second son is born and I suffer severe postpartum depression. I turn to alcohol to cope. For the first time, I am drinking for more than purely social reasons – although I can’t pinpoint the exact time my drinking takes a turn.
I am put on a new antidepressant that gives me an incredible tolerance. Instead of drinking less I start to drink more because it takes so much more to ‘feel it’.
I am now a global marketing executive, responsible for 28 countries and traveling internationally twice a month – always in first class. Drinking at business lunches, and even at business breakfasts becomes commonplace.
I am living between London and Colorado and drinking close to 2 bottles of wine every night. I make all sorts of rules for myself, only 2 glasses, no drinking until Friday night and nothing works. I am losing trust in myself and internal pain is making my drinking worse.
I realize that my rules aren’t working and I start to ask a new question. What changed? Why could I take it or leave it and now alcohol seems to be the only thing in my life I can’t get a handle on? I start researching to answer this question.
I’ve completed almost a year’s worth of research and have completely changed my desires (both conscious and subconscious) around alcohol. I am free! I tell my husband if he wants to get drunk with me again tonight is the night as I don’t think I’ll ever drink again.
I put my research out on the internet for other people, I figure the information helped me and I wonder if it will help others. Over 20,000 people download the PDF in 2 weeks. I start getting emails from all over the world – people telling me that this helped them when nothing else did. I decide to take my research and self-publish This Naked Mind.
This Naked Mind is published on Amazon.
I am asked by a Psychiatrist in the UK for a certification program, he wants to use This Naked Mind methodology in his practice because of how effective it is. We begin work on what will ultimately become This Naked Mind Institute.
I realize that not everyone wants to stop, but would love to take a break. The Alcohol Experiment is born – a free online community with daily emails and videos to take a 30-day break from alcohol.
The top 5 Publishers get in a bidding war for This Naked Mind & my new book The Alcohol Experiment. I meet all the publishers and end up going with Avery, at Penguin Random House.
This Naked Mind is republished by Penguin Random House. I make an appearance on Good Morning America and the book catches fire across the nation because it is so effective.
The Alcohol Experiment is published. I go on a multi-city media tour and thousands of people join the free online Alcohol Experiment.
This Naked Mind Institute is launched and we certify a first class of coaches, therapists, counselors and medical professionals in This Naked Mind methodology.
120,000 people have gone through The Alcohol Experiment. We’ve launched The PATH, a monthly membership site where you can totally reinvent your relationship with alcohol with four key pillars: Content, Community, Coaching and Connection.
What I
believe
- I believe (and the science says!) that a positive approach is far more effective than a negative approach. Scare tactics & willpower don’t work over the long term and true, lasting change comes from positive desire.
- As a first step we must put down the weapons of shame and blame. Let ourselves off the hook and then understand our power.
- We are not powerless. In fact, the more we know and understand, the more powerful we become.
- There is no ‘right way’, but I have found that the path to changing your thinking, and therefore your desire, can be the most fun and least painful way to change.
We Are Not All That Different…
You might be thinking I am different than you. Maybe you think you’ve been drinking for too long, or that you are too set in your ways, or that you’ve tried everything before. Maybe you feel that I somehow got lucky and you doubt this can work for you. After all, you’ve tried everything. Let me tell you, after helping hundreds of thousands of people reinvent their relationship with alcohol, we are not all that different. Alcohol works the same in the human brain, and the science-based techniques that got me free can and will work for you. If you are skeptical, don’t worry. Skepticism won’t impact the result. So often we don’t believe it is possible until it is done.