Need sobriety support? Check out The Luckiest Club.

My next book! Coming March 2023.

My next book, Push Off From Here: Nine Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else), will be published by Random House on March 7, 2023.

It is a modern exploration of addiction that offers nine foundational building blocks every person at any stage of sobriety can use.

Pre-Order it now.

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Read my first book.

“A masterpiece. The truest, most generous, honest, and helpful sobriety memoir I’ve read. It’s going to save lives.”

Glennon Doyle

#1 New York Times bestselling author of 
Untamed and Love Warrior.

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Join an online course.

I created no bullshit courses to share the best of what I've learned about sobriety, change, writing, and owning your life.

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Read the blog.

Hundreds of pieces about addiction, sobriety, motherhood, changing careers, divorce, love addiction, and more.

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Grab your headphones and fall in love with the mystery of life again, one conversation at a time.

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You deserve a magnificent life, a beautiful life, a life you are proud to call home.

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Official Bio

Laura McKowen inspires people to say yes to a bigger life. She’s the author of the bestselling memoir, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life, which #1 New York Times bestselling author, Glennon Doyle, called “A masterpiece.”

She has written for The New York Times, and been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, the TODAY show, and more. In 2020, she founded The Luckiest Club, a global sobriety support community. She also hosts the Tell Me Something True podcast, a show for people who want to fall in love with the mystery of life again.

Laura lives with her daughter and partner on the North Shore of Boston and is currently writing her second book, Push Off From Here, which will be published in March, 2023.

Contact Laura
Need sobriety support? Check out The Luckiest Club.

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Photo credit: Dove Shore

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no-judgement sober community.

Sobriety can be damn hard, but we do it together. Laura founded The Luckiest Club in 2020 and it's now home to thousands of members worldwide. Together, we're getting free from alcohol and saying yes to a bigger life.

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Get to know Laura

Frequently Asked Questions
Do people really ask this stuff frequently?

According to Google, the two top questions asked about me are: my age (45) and who my ex-husband is (nope, sorry!). The rest of these questions are…questionable.

Have you always been an author?

No! I had a 15-year, extra-boozie career in marketing first. In 2016, after 500 or more David Byrne, “How did I get here?” moments, I left that world for this one. I’ve never looked back—even when my bank account wept lonely tears of desperation.

When did you get sober?

September, 2014.

Why did you get sober? Was it... a lifestyle choice?

If not dying is a lifestyle choice, then yes!


How did you do it?

I wrote about that here.

Do you think I can get sober?

I know you can.

Who is your ex-husband?

Still no!

What qualifies you to do this stuff?

Nothing qualifies me to be a writer other than wanting to write and writing a lot and continuing to write a lot. I don't have an MFA, but if I could go back to being 23, I might choose that?

Are you writing another book?

Yes. My next book, Push Off From Here, will be published on March 7, 2023. You can buy it here.

Cake or pie?

PIE. Always pie.

Favorite book?

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Genius.

Get to know Laura

Frequently Asked Questions
Do people really ask this stuff Frequently?

According to Google, the two top questions asked about me are: my age (43) and who my ex-husband is (nope, sorry!). The rest of these questions are…questionable.

What is your mission?

I once wrote this on a piece of paper and I think it could be called my mission: There is no gift like this gift. There is nothing more precious than the pain of waking up to your life. Showing you this is the mountain I’m willing to die on.

The best tangible manifestation of this mission to date is my book and The Luckiest Club (TLC), a sobriety support community me and my team started in May, 2020.

Have you always done this stuff?

No! I had a long, successful, and extra boozie career in advertising first. And then, I stopped drinking. And then, after 500 or more David Byrne, “How did I get here?” moments, I left that world for this one. I’ve never looked back—even when my bank account wept lonely tears of desperation.

When did you get sober?

September, 2014.

Why did you get sober? Was it... a lifestyle choice?

If not dying is a lifestyle choice, then yes!

How did you do it?

I wrote about that here.

Do you think I can get sober?

I know you can.

Who is your ex-husband?

Still no!

What qualifies you to do this stuff?

Nothing qualifies me to be a writer other than wanting to write and writing a lot and continuing to write a lot. As for being a teacher and speaker, most of my qualification comes from my lived experience, but I do have some “real” qualifications too. I have a degree in Business from Colorado State University, an MBA from Babson College, I am a 500 RYT Yoga Teacher and have been teaching for 10+ years, and I’ve read at least 43,000 personal development, psychology, and spirituality books.

What do you actually do — to like, pay your bills...?

I write, teach, and speak. Mostly about addiction, sobriety, and how we get through the shit we don’t believe we can get through. I’ve always been fascinated with psychology and spirituality and the human condition and now it’s my job to explore these things.

But, the money part! Writing pays zero bills, at least not directly (yet), but my blog has led to a lot of paying work over the years and my first book, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life was born in January. I’d like that to make a few pennies.

As for teaching, I run online courses around sobriety and personal development.

I also teach workshops and retreats out in the wild sometimes, but I really love my kid and my cats so it takes a lot for me to leave them these days.

How can I work with you?

First, get on my newsletter. Because I send emails you’ll actually want to read (seriously, I have people tell me all the time that they save my emails to savor them!). And, I always ask you to reply, and then I read your replies, and we have conversations, and it’s my favorite. But also because my email people find out about all my things first: new classes, new podcast episodes, my most recent panic attack, or the best book I've read recently.

Then, check out my courses. And if you need sobriety support, join The Luckiest Club.

Let's be pen pals.

Subscribe to my newsletter. I love writing them and you'll love reading them. Sent every couple of weeks (or so).