Turning Rock Bottom into a Movement w/ Carl Radke of Summer House
Welcome back to Journey to the Sunnyside. I'm your host, Mike Hardenbrook. And if you caught part 1 of our conversation with Karl Radke, you already know his story is one of resilience and reinvention. In this episode, Karl takes us deeper into the moment he realized he had to make a change, his road to sobriety and how he's turning his personal growth into something bigger with soft bar. An alcohol free social space that's breaking new ground.
Speaker 1:We're talking about what it takes to walk away from alcohol. Why so many people are seeking alternatives and Carl's vision for the future. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2:You made this decision. So we've talked about kind of like your, your starting point when you're younger and all the way up through the TV show. And so you made this decision to stop drinking. What was, what was your biggest challenge in getting started with that?
Speaker 3:I mean, it's, it's just a confusing time. I mean, no one really wants to say you have a problem with alcohol. There's a lot of embarrassment. It's a lot of shame. But I it it wasn't like, oh, I have a problem.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna stop. And then I stopped and it was like, I'm off to the next thing. No. It took me a long time to figure out that, you know, alcohol wasn't serving me anymore. Even, you know, I knew that I'd something wasn't right when for many time many weekends and summers, I was, you know, staying out all night, not getting a lot of sleep.
Speaker 3:Relationships were crumbling. I had a lot of anger, a lot of resentments, a lot of just pent up sadness and depression and all of this stuff, and I just wasn't able to really tackle it. But I knew that alcohol was something. And when I drank that it led to cocaine at times, which is also a challenge, but I couldn't stop it. You know?
Speaker 3:So I Yeah. There was a period of time where I
Speaker 2:just That's a double whammy when when you go there.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I couldn't turn it off. And then I knew Yeah. I had some friends that were also very aware that I wasn't doing great overall. And I had a friend recommend that I go to a Tony Robbins seminar, which I had watched.
Speaker 3:And if you're familiar with Tony Robbins, he's kind of Yeah. A guru self help guru. He's written a lot of books. Some people find it very Kool Aid and kind of culty. I saw a documentary that was on Netflix back in 2020, and it's about Tony Robbins.
Speaker 3:I highly recommend I saw it. It's called I am not your guru. Yeah. And I saw it. I was really moved by it.
Speaker 3:And part of the reason I went to this seminar was because I saw the documentary. I was like, oh, there could be maybe something here I learn or figure out. And I went to that in January of 2020. So before the pandemic started, I went to Tony Robbins, and that was, like, the first, like, week I didn't drink. I did this whole, like, seminar.
Speaker 3:I, like, really dug deep and tried to, like, you know, understand myself better, came back from that feeling really good and energized. And it was 4 days later, I was blacking out again and going out all night and doing the same thing over again. So I had, you know, also had other I've had family members who've struggled and it was just like, okay. Like, I'm trying to get this in under control, but I didn't wanna say I'm a I have a problem. I just thought maybe I could take some breaks and get back to normal, and and I was able to do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, you know, 2020 was March of 2020, the world shut down. I then was very, like, trying to, like, stay sober. I was able to. I couldn't I couldn't moderate.
Speaker 3:I thought I could just drink beer. I would drink beer and then drink 50 other things. You know, I wasn't able to moderate like I thought I was. And then later that summer, my my brother passed away. You know?
Speaker 3:So that was a a huge shock for obviously a lot of reasons. And that that point kind of gave me a license to wanna go drink more. And that's what I did. So, you know, I used that and the process processing of grief and to try and heal myself, but by drinking, and that was only making it way, way worse. So continued downward spiral from that and hit what I would call my rock bottom of January of 2021.
Speaker 3:So my brother passed August of 2020 from August till that January, I was on kind of a downward spiral. Just, you know, I wasn't like, I was just mentally very sad down. I was drinking a lot. I was drinking alone. Not in a great place because what people don't realize is the TV show that I'm on.
Speaker 3:Like, I found out about it, and then 6 months later, the show is gonna air. So, like, what I found out was actually on an episode of summerhouse, which funny. I I I find people, like, forget that's happened. It's not that long ago, and I laugh because there's been so many other things that people remember before. But something is tragic and difficult as this.
Speaker 3:It's kinda like it's been, like, forgotten, and it wasn't that long ago. But it was a big reason for me to really wake up, but it didn't happen instantly. Like, I almost killed myself, basically. So
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:That's that was my rock bottom from drinking and using too much coke. And I woke up from that, and I told myself, I don't wanna look like that again. I called people that I shouldn't have called. I scared people that I didn't wanna scare, and it was a cry for help. But that was like the last time I ever had a drink.
Speaker 3:That was January 6, 2021. But I, there was a lot that led to that moment. I mean, I just didn't know how to get sober and I almost died from trying to figure that out.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, first of all, I'm sorry you went through that. And I'm so glad that, that you're here as a testament to just pushing on and, you know, putting in the work and just believing in yourself eventually, even if you didn't and needed other people to believe in you at first. Yeah. But I mean, I don't think anybody has it's, it's just the perfect example of, like, nobody just says with unless they're a very rare occasion, I just stopped drinking, and that was the end of the story.
Speaker 2:And that was the beginning of the story too.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, people don't they arrive at, you know, their relationship with things in different ways. You know, for me, this was just a huge wake up call because I also, you know, started to realize that it could be me too, you know, and I I'm the I'm painting like a very nice picture of like my story, but I mean, it's not, it wasn't great. Like I really struggled at times. I was very down and depressed and sad.
Speaker 3:And, you know, again, the show doesn't show my entire life, but, you know, I was very up and down in my personal life. Relationships were not going well, you know, romantic and personal. So it was, it just, it, it all happened the way it happened. But I yeah. Like I said, I'm just happy to I'm just lucky to be alive.
Speaker 3:And what I realized is that if I wanna stay alive, I cannot drink alcohol. That was the pivotal moment that happened January 6th. Like, I felt like I was gonna die. That moment for me is I wanted to live. And the way for me to live is I cannot put alcohol in my body.
Speaker 3:It doesn't for other people, great. But for this person, my body, my brain, and my whole thing, it doesn't work. And I started to look at others foods and things in my like, that I used to eat and love when I was a kid that made me really sick. And I just applied a similar logic. Like, people don't drink bleach.
Speaker 3:Right? So I don't put certain pro things in my body that are gonna make me sick, and alcohol is one of them. It was really hard to turn it off. But once you apply that thinking, like, to stay alive, like, this is all about life. Wanna stay alive?
Speaker 3:Alcohol makes literally is gonna kill me. I can't drink it to stay alive.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, it's absolutely a personal decision, you know, but what's best for you. And if you know that that's, that is the that's it, you know, then that's your answer. Whereas some people can moderate, some people go the route you did. They question, can I moderate?
Speaker 2:They try it, trial and error doesn't work. Then they, then they come to another realization that, you know, maybe even if it's not necessarily the one that they want at the time, it might be the one that they have to make. So on the flip side of that, if we're going to, you know, what were some of your biggest challenges? What surprised you the most about life without alcohol when you kinda came out on the other side and things started to look up?
Speaker 3:I mean, the, I mean, the entire world changed obviously, but it took a little bit of time to, like, embrace it, let's say. But I, you know, I found you know, when I mentioned the Tony Robbins piece from, like, that point, it was 2020, but I had numerous people, you know, I was reaching out to. I had a friend of mine I used to party really hard with in California. He had gotten sober and was going to AA, and he called me and, you know, after my brother had passed, it was basically like, Hey, are you going to AA? And I'm like, I'm not.
Speaker 3:And I didn't ever think that that was something for me personally. I just thought, oh, that's for the, like the homeless guy on the street with a brown paper bag. That's just what I thought. That was my perception of it. And he challenged me this friend of mine.
Speaker 3:He said, listen, I don't, I don't think you're going to stay sober if you don't have another layer of community and working with it's it's more than just not drinking now. It's the other things in your brain and your your emotions and how you're processing and your past is gonna continue to come up and life is gonna hit you. Like, you've gotta be able to face things that come ahead that you don't even know about yet without a call. How are you gonna do that? So he introduced me to a sponsor, and that was eye opening for me because the sponsor worked at Goldman Sachs, very successful guy.
Speaker 3:And I was like on the phone with him the first 10 minutes. I'm just like, okay. Smart dude, really successful. His story was very similar to mine. And he's here on the phone trying to help me read a book about Alcoholics Anonymous.
Speaker 3:I'm like, something's there's something really powerful here. So I said, I stuck with it. I, I would talk to him every day for 90 days and we worked through, you know, the book and the steps. And that was like the first, like, I think real, like, where the work came in. You know, I think anybody can white knuckle stop drinking.
Speaker 3:But it's like when you're at a room full of people and everybody else is drinking, what are you gonna do? Or if you're at an old place where you used to get drunk, like, how are you gonna handle it? So it it helped me to meet other like minded individuals that I could relate to. And going, Oh, I want what they have. Or I want to live like they live.
Speaker 3:And once I saw another side of like these rooms in the world that in New York at least, I was like, wow. Like, there are a lot of amazing, smart, cool people that don't drink in very successful lives. I can do that too. And I've always learned by watching other people do stuff. You know, I could watch someone swing a golf club and kinda mirror their golf swing.
Speaker 3:Like, I could always learn by watching other folks do something. So this was like a way I found people, whether it was my sponsor or other people that I started to follow along. And I started to like, I wanna be like that guy. I wanna, like, follow his program and learn how he does it. But that was kind of the first, I think, foray into like looking at this world, but what the long winded, I guess, is I had never been in central park sober before.
Speaker 3:And one of the meetings that I started going to is in central park on Saturday mornings. And I said one of the first times I'm there, I'm like, this is the first time I've been in this park, like not drunk. You know? And the beauty of Central Park is actually amazing. And the birds, there's just a beautiful landscape and it's green and there's, you know, fresh air.
Speaker 3:It's just a really good place to start your morning. And it just gave me a whole new lease on what New York has to offer. You know? The art, the entertainment, sports, you can still go to games. I mean, I'm a big fan of sports.
Speaker 3:I still now go to games and I don't drink, and I actually have a great time. Cause I'm actually watching the game and like paying attention to stats and I'm into it, which is actually the way I'd like to. When I drank and went to games, I wasn't even at the game. I was at the bar or in the bathroom or whatever chasing the night. So it's, it's opened up the New York city in a different way and it allowed me to meet a whole different community of people I never thought existed.
Speaker 3:You know, I just thought it was like the drunks and the non drunks. And it's like, no, we're all kind of in the same world.
Speaker 2:But Yeah. Isn't that isn't that the most incredible thing? That I think that that's one of the best things, whether or not you're changing your relationship with alcohol or you've gone totally sober is that you start to do things in a different way. So for example, you know, I mentioned I'm traveling here in Spain. I was here 8 years ago with my family, a lot younger, less kids.
Speaker 2:But I wasn't waking up to watch the sunrise the last time that I lived here and now I never miss one and it's just the most incredible thing. And it's all because of changing that relationship.
Speaker 3:A 100%. Yeah. There's things you start to recognize that are really beautiful and things that you just never they were always there right in front of you. It's just the perspective you have now. Like, I love a good sunrise.
Speaker 3:I mean, I see it all the time in New York, in Brooklyn. And I remember seeing the sunrise when I was still awake from the night before. And the the difference of feelings, you know, when I was still awake from the night before, the anxiety and the wave of just like, oh, fuck me. And then now it's like, I'm excited. The day's starting, there's like a, you know, restorative kind of excitement about the the sun coming up.
Speaker 3:So it's it's unlocked another part, and I needed that. I mean, I'm 39. Like, at some point, being at a bar all day or chasing the clubs and all of that, it you need to evolve. And I think, you know, New York certainly has a lot of temptation, but it's just it's given New York a whole new or giving me a whole new perspective on New York and Brooklyn because I live over in Brooklyn now. Just being more active.
Speaker 3:I work out more. I I work I do workout classes at the time I used to be drinking. You know? Like, I I'll go to a workout class at 5:30 PM on a Friday, which would usually be happy hour. But instead, you stack your schedule with good things and a group of people that, you know, are healthy.
Speaker 3:So I go to work out and then after I'll grab a coffee or, you know, a nonalcoholic drink, and enjoy my life that way. Like, it's okay to go home early. I love being in bed sometimes at night at 10 o'clock. It just took a little bit of time to figure that out. But
Speaker 2:Yeah. It takes, it takes that change. It's that thing that I said about, you don't know what you don't know. You don't know that you actually end up loving that. And so one of the things you mentioned there was getting connected with whoever what the executive at Goldman Sachs.
Speaker 2:And, you know, I have the same kind of story is that one of my mentors, he's the CEO of 1 of the one of you probably pass the store, you know, when you're driving around in any city in the US. And it doesn't discriminate like alcohol and problems. It doesn't matter what class or income bracket you're in. It doesn't discriminate. So I think realizing that this is such a more when you come out and start looking at it and talking to more people, you realize how normal this actually is and how not abnormal that you actually are because of that past relationship.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that you're doing right now is pretty amazing. So and I think this is going into this movement of normalizing the conversation of doing alcohol free things and normalizing the conversation just to even talk about reducing or thinking about taking a break or or quitting altogether. And so your path, you know, through the show is now on an entrepreneurial path with something called soft 4 soft far. Can you talk about that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. No. I mean, I've, I think, stacked in with my story, I sometimes forget. But, you know, back in 2018, I helped Kyle, my best friend and his wife launch an alcohol company. And, you know, as I've shared, I partied really hard.
Speaker 3:I had a good time, but then, you know, it wasn't a good time anymore, but I was essentially the face with my 2 best friends for an alcohol company, which promoting a brand that you were drinking a lot or struggling with. It was, you know, a confusing time, but, you know, I learned a lot about the alcohol industry by working there. And it was actually really helpful to see that not only in this alcohol industry that things were shifting. I could see it not only in, for example, I had a, you know, presidents and managers of, like, companies, alcohol companies pulled me aside. I'm like, hey.
Speaker 3:I'm I'm not drinking. I don't drink. You know, people had learned I was I was sober. And so it was actually really eye opening that 1st year being sober but working at an alcohol company. And I think that's where I started to look and go, okay.
Speaker 3:Like, there's still a lot of opportunity here. Like, Odul's is, like, the most popular non alcoholic beer, and this is, like, the worst beer ever. And then you started seeing things like athletic pop up and you see these other really cool brands. And I, you know, was talking with Kyle and Amanda, and they wanted they wanted to launch a nonalcoholic version of lover boys. So that was launched last year.
Speaker 3:During that, I was going to stores doing what I did before, which was sales and building relationships and talking to different retailers. I was shopping at, there's bottle shops now that exist that just sell nonalcoholic drinks. They look like a wine shop, but you can't sit down there. You just walk in and grab a bottle and put it in a bag and you go home. And I was there because they sell lover boy non alks.
Speaker 3:I was shopping in there last year about a year and a half ago. I walked in. It was, like, on a Friday. I pick up some things. It's a cool shop, and, like, there's all sorts of great things.
Speaker 3:You literally walk in, pay for it, and leave. Like, that's the only you can't sit down. I'm walking home, and I'm just like, this is insane. I live in New York City. Why am I walking home right now?
Speaker 3:Like, why can't I go to a place and sit down with other people and drink really good non op drinks, like, and hang out? Like, it just doesn't exist what I'm looking for.
Speaker 2:So Totally. Like light bulb.
Speaker 3:Exactly. There's a light bulb, and I again, I'm not inventing anything new. I'm just creating more of an experience around products that do exist and creating more of a community and, like, an education experience around it. Because most of us now, I mean, you buy stuff online, you don't know anything it tastes like. And right now, the way of non alc is you pretty much either buy it online or hope you find it at Whole Foods or a retailer.
Speaker 3:Whole Foods doesn't have big enough shelves to carry everything that everybody wants. So it's just been really cool to see and be able to kind of create something I think is needed. So when I put together with the help of another, you know, cofounder was soft bar, which is a mindful consumption cafe and bar. And my whole thought is creating a a four wall space and experience where you can come and drink the best non alcoholic drinks morning, afternoon, or evening. So in the morning, we have premium coffee, but we also have mushroom coffee.
Speaker 3:You know, products like, lion's mane or cordycep, L theanine. These are all really healthy ingredients. Not psychedelic, not psychedelic. One more time, not psychedelic, but there are healthy mushrooms out there that people take every morning for whether it's calming or focus or, you know, brain fog or cognitive feelings. Like, these are really healthy ingredients that people are now putting into beverages.
Speaker 3:But people are putting into beverages. You can make it at home. Like, you you've been retargeted, I know it, by a mushroom coffee ad on Instagram. But you
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:You make it at home. You can't walk into a a coffee shop and sit down and say, hey. I want a mushroom coffee. They're gonna go, what? Like, that doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 3:So we're Sure. Kinda take all of these amazing direct to consumer brands, but also create an experience in an on premise place where you can come and drink. We also have our own what we call soft cocktails, which are just premium nonalcoholic drinks that we make kinda like a craft cocktail, but we can do the functional ingredients in those. So you could walk in on a Friday afternoon and be like, hey, guys. I got a big meeting in an hour.
Speaker 3:I need to be focused and dialed in. We can serve you that drink. So, SoftBar is gonna be opening up, hopefully this spring where we have a location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I live in Brooklyn. There's like a really cool kinda world happening with a lot of wellness, fitness.
Speaker 3:People are still very social. They like art. They like music. They don't want to drink alcohol. So we have a place that anybody can come.
Speaker 3:You don't have to be sober to come to soft bar. And it was important when I was putting this together. This is not a sober bar. So if you've been going to AA for 50 years and you think you're gonna walk in here and it's gonna feel like an AA meeting, that is not what's happening here. This is a place where anybody and everybody can come.
Speaker 3:I want AA members to come. I want people that literally just had a drink of alcohol a minute before. Come on in. We have amazing drinks, but just don't call. Because I think this is an option among your repertoire with your friends.
Speaker 3:You could go to a bar. You could stop at soft bar for an hour and have a really good functional drink, regroup, hang out, and then go on to the next place. It doesn't require you to be sober to walk into soft bar's doors even though that we don't have alcohol. I just want everybody to feel comfortable coming in there. Because, again, not everybody's comfortable raising their hands saying, I have a problem.
Speaker 3:You know? People wanna explore it on their own or trial or curiosity. There's a lot of different terms, but not everybody is as as comfortable as I have been, you know, raising my hand and just very outwardly saying, struggle with. So that's so far in an elevator pitch.
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. I love it. You know, like, I interviewed the CEO of, Athletic Brew last week
Speaker 3:and Go. Go. Go go go go higher. He's a good good dude. Oh, Bill's awesome.
Speaker 2:He's great. We had a good time. And, you know, it's not just people that are sober that are drinking non alcoholic drinks. And I I'm foreseeing that it's not just people that are sober that are going to soft bar, but you know what? I want you to answer.
Speaker 2:And I answered her, but my wife asked me, well, why don't they why don't they have all the other stuff that, you know, a big array of nonalcohol, but why don't they just do, like, also alcohol so that everybody's happy? How would you answer that if she asked you that?
Speaker 3:I mean, the whole I I mean, the problem is this. It's like you go to a coffee shop. Yeah. They have decaf coffee for those who don't want decaf. But there are a lot of people out there that are looking to be social without the influence of alcohol at all.
Speaker 3:I mean, I know what she's getting at, but I believe that there's still a need for a 4 wall space that's all day. Coffee shops actually don't serve alcohol. I mean, she you can make the same argument. Like, why doesn't a coffee shop do what I'm trying to do?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, it's not necessarily their business model. They most coffee shops are really only open from 7 AM to 2, 3 PM, and then they're closed. But then you have a bar that's only open from 3 PM till 2 AM, but you have those those empty spaces in the morning or in the evening. And again, I'm like, why don't we remove that, create a all day space, but only serve non alcoholic drinks?
Speaker 3:I understand where your wife is coming from, but I think we wanna be known as a place where we don't have alcohol. And I also don't trust the bars and the other restaurants to adapt because they don't. I've I go out all the time. Literally, what I drink is a soda water or just water. Like, it's it's literally embarrassing.
Speaker 3:There's nothing for me. Someone that doesn't want alcohol, there's nothing for them to drink. That's like healthy, sugary.
Speaker 2:It's so boring. Exactly.
Speaker 3:So I just I've had a few investor people go, wait, you're not gonna serve any alcohol at all. Like, correct. 0. That's the whole premise. We want 0 alcohol and we will not change that.
Speaker 2:I think that's, that's the, the question of somebody that doesn't really think about, like, you know, maybe they don't think about those, those times that they go to a regular restaurant and look at what options, like you just said, or they're not they're just thinking in different terms than maybe somebody that would like a space like that. And to her, I said, well, that's not really what they do. You know? I said, this is what they do. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's not who they are. Otherwise, they'd just kind of be, another bar with a larger menu on one side of it. And, and I also said, you know what? Maybe people, even if they do drink, maybe they don't maybe they wanna go in a space where there's, like, not the possibility of somebody drunk and loud at the table next to them or Well, that you know, any other variation
Speaker 3:of that. That I don't we we don't have science to back it up, but I firmly believe if you are someone who's not trying to drink alcohol, you have a better shot of not drinking alcohol going to a place like soft bar versus going to a place that has everything we would serve and alcohol. And I think the people that are
Speaker 2:built Yeah.
Speaker 3:Trying to live without alcohol or not be around that, this is the way to really support that. Now the other thing too, 30% of Americans don't drink alcohol. 30%. Now what I've concluded is that those 30% aren't loud. They just live their life.
Speaker 3:They're not I'm serious. Like, they just it's not a thing. Like, they just don't need a bar. They don't care. But if we give them something now that they've been looking for and didn't realize they needed, that's gonna tap into a whole other wealth of people that are like, I don't go out because there isn't anywhere for me to go.
Speaker 3:But I just don't care because it's just the way the world is. You know? So I'm convinced that people once they now know that they have a a place where they can actually go for the first time, you're gonna have a whole influx of people that are now being social that didn't have anywhere to go before.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I don't see it as like, you know, I think some people might think some people, not all, but some people might think, well, you said, like, this is not a sober bar, but it might be more like, I wanna go someplace and if I'm not drinking that day or if I don't drink at all, I don't wanna go and order at the group at the table and be like, what do you have on the non alcoholic list? You know what I mean? Like, you're not getting the next best thing. You're ordering what's on the menu, just like everybody else.
Speaker 3:Yep. And I think too, you're not gonna get the, the, the experience that we hope to deliver with what we're trying to do with some of the functional drinks. And I think the space, you know, I think, the third space concept is a popular term that's used. Think of a, you know, a 3rd space is anywhere that you get together either by yourself or with other friends. That's not your home and not your work.
Speaker 3:And whether it's a diner, coffee shops, lobby bar, cafe, like those kinda hangout areas. People want places to hang out that aren't bars or quote unquote a bunch of alcohol. And I think as consumer behavior continues to change, whether it's legalization of THC or all these other alternatives that people are I mean, people wanna hang out in beautiful spaces and interact and talk and get together and drink really good drinks. And I think that's gonna continue to evolve as consumers realize that I don't always need to have alcohol right now. Like, I can still be out and have something really cool and different, and it really supplements and supports my lifestyle, but I'm not sober.
Speaker 3:I just don't wanna drink alcohol for the next 5 hours because I've gotta drive. I've got a kid at home, but that's where you insert soft bar. But if you have that 5 hour window and you don't have a soft bar, you have a bar that has a bunch of non op drinks and alcohol, you're gonna struggle in that 5 hour time frame at a bar that still has all the, I believe.
Speaker 2:What one of my favorite things is about when I have an NA beer is that I can just have it, enjoy it, and move on with my day. Yep. You know? And I'm not tired. I'm not, like, thinking about, should I have another or another 6 or whatever?
Speaker 3:You can Yeah. I I joke. I joke you can drink and drive. I mean, it's probably not the message trying to send, but I I literally say, well, drink and drive, man. You got it at a.
Speaker 3:You're good to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But I mean, you could literally just hit happy hour and it's just like, it's a lot you get you always wanna have a drink to relieve stress, and this can do it in a in a way without some of the decision making that might cause stress when you're actually going for the real thing. You know?
Speaker 3:A 100%. I mean, I'm Brian, my co founder at Softbar, he's a big fan of just the NA beer. After like a hard day work, like he'll be building something on his, you know, in his, backyard. He's very handy, you know, or cutting grass or, you know, long day. And he's like, dude, I just love having a cold and a beer because it's like a moment where I feel like I'm rewarding myself or I'm treating myself.
Speaker 3:It's not I don't have one and then have 15 more and then call the dealer. I now have 2 athletic NAs, and I feel amazing. I feel like I, you know, rewarded myself, and I enjoyed the taste of it, but I didn't make any dumb decisions. My wife's happy. I went to bed early and everything is great.
Speaker 3:Like, you know, that's exactly what this should
Speaker 2:with one of the crazy things is, I didn't realize that when I came here, the last time in Spain, I noticed in the aisles, they had a lot of NA beer everywhere. And this was, like, you know, 10 years ago. And then I had my interview with Bill, and he told me that they did an entire education program here. For whatever reason, the government got behind it. It's pushing that NA is a great option.
Speaker 2:I think because they have their big meal during lunch, this is all guests. They have their big meal during lunch, and it's not very functional to have, like, a lot of beer and wine at lunch. So maybe we can swap it out for NA. I'm not really sure. Or maybe it was a social thing, but, you know, they kinda normalized it.
Speaker 2:Are you feeling like with what you're doing here, you're part of something and leading a charge in a way that is gonna catch on, be more normalized, that maybe even change the way people think about socializing.
Speaker 3:I mean, fingers crossed. Like, I know Bill Bill's certainly been a pioneer, in a lot of ways just for the industry, and I think also elevating the product. And, like, I think I made a joke about Odules, you know, the level of quality, no offense to the Odule people, but, you know, athletic stepped its game up. They they developed a really high quality product that tastes amazing. But what they did a great job was they still appeal to people that drink alcohol.
Speaker 3:And if you're building a business, the other stat I I should rattle off is, like, 93% of nonalcoholic products are sold to people that still say I drink. So Yeah. Bill built a really smart brand because he really still appealed to those wellness people, the fitness people, the guys that are looking to just take a break. You know, athletic, yes. You have sober people that are, like, writing Bill letters, like, thanking him profusely for, like, saving their lives.
Speaker 3:But Bill did not create a sober beer brand. This is a alcohol brand that just doesn't have alcohol. So Yeah. I love what Bill has done. And I'm a big fan of his, like, pioneering.
Speaker 3:I I think I'm just in a really unique position with my platform, my level of access to the public with the show, that I'm the perfect person to help try and lead this to another dimension of just like a 4 walls experience. My thesis and people like Bill might not love this. I believe there's too much product. There's there's nowhere to drink it all. Like, you just drink it at home, basically.
Speaker 3:Like, because all of the NAs that exist aren't available at a place that you could sit down and drink them. They're all available on a shelf that ships to your house. You drink them on your couch or bring them to a barbecue. I believe there needs to be more 4 wall spaces that really focus only on nonalcoholic beverage. And I think being in the position I am, I have a great opportunity to have success, but it all really comes down to operations and execution.
Speaker 3:You know, you can have a great idea and a great product, but you need to have the mechanics of the business and just everything dialed in. So I'm excited, but, you know, there's a lot of things that certainly I don't have fully figured out. I have a lot I have a tremendous amount of experience in the industry and seeing what's happening. And I look at the alcohol sales, wine, whiskey, these they're going they're down and they're getting crushed. Consumers are changing their behavior.
Speaker 3:People don't wanna drink as much as they eat. You know? So it's I hope I'm in the right position with a brand that sits atop a 4 wall space. Soft bar is where you go to drink premium non alcoholic drinks and sit down and enjoy it. I hope that that will be it will work.
Speaker 3:I think the coffee part of what we're doing is also a really important piece. Because no one's gonna sit here and say coffee's bad for you. Everybody will walk into a coffee shop and be like, oh, cool. Coffee. But as soon as you say, well, it's a coffee shop that doesn't have alcohol, they're gonna be like, oh, what do you mean?
Speaker 3:I don't know. Like so I think coffee will be my the way I can actually get people in without them going, oh, I don't know, man. I don't know if I can go to a sober bar. Well, it's not a sober bar. But that's the perception.
Speaker 3:But I just think having premium amazing drinks in a beautiful space, people aren't gonna remember or know that we don't have to call. And that's the level of I'm trying to bring to it. But I'm not inventing anything new. Like people are like, oh, Karl didn't do anything new. No, I didn't.
Speaker 3:I'm just taking 2 concepts that work really well, putting them together and then removing a key ingredient.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And you know what? One of the things is, is not, it's not necessarily something that people are drinking because they, they can't. It's because they just don't want to right now. So maybe, maybe they don't, they want something other than soda water or whatever, and you're providing a great space because I know that's how I drink it.
Speaker 2:It's like, yeah, yeah, I could have a beer, but I don't want a beer right now, but I want something that isn't just soda or something. Like, I don't drink soda. I don't drink sweet things. I don't drink juice. It's like but I do like a malty, like, Spanish beer here.
Speaker 2:I love stuff like that. And so, like, having a place where you know that it's gonna be there in a great, atmosphere and you can connect with other people in in a social way, I think I think you're gonna have a slam dunk. So I hope so. Well, I I
Speaker 3:had someone. I have another comparison. I guess I can't stop thinking about it. Your wife about the no the alcohol, like, serving a little bit. It'd be like a vegan restaurant serving just a little bit of steak for those people that still want Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm say I that's the best comparison I could come up with. But, yeah, you could go to a really good restaurant, and they may have impossible burgers on their beef menu. But if you're a real vegan or don't want to be around meat, you're gonna rather go to the vegan restaurant to get that particular type of experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's a great point. Well, this has been incredible, but before we wrap up, I wanna get your piece of advice on anyone rethinking their relationship with alcohol, but still wanna stay social. What advice would you give them and what's the first step?
Speaker 3:You need to, you need to connect with someone in the sober community. If you're trying to just go out without drinking and not have someone, whether it's a friend or a family member or someone you can talk to about that, it's gonna be very hard. You know, I would highly recommend there's plenty of ways to get, access to meetings online. You can participate without even showing your face. You can just listen.
Speaker 3:But I highly recommend connecting with the sober community in some capacity. When you are social, though, it's important to have drinks in your hand. So I have a LaCroix right here. I mean Yep. Everybody who, you know, knows this, knows this, but, like, I need something in my hands always.
Speaker 3:So whether it's a soda water, whether it's, you know, any I got a pen right here.
Speaker 2:So that's because
Speaker 3:Anything your hand goes a long way. Give yourself, like, a time. Like, how long you think you wanna be there? I always would be like, okay. I'll I'll do an hour just to kinda give yourself a holding point.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, other than that, don't overdo it. You know, if you're not your body will tell you when something doesn't feel right. At least I I can tell now if I'm feeling a little uncomfortable or the overwhelming feeling of all the alcohol around me or the behavior of other people is bothering me. Like, it's it's a good it's okay to, like, be like, okay.
Speaker 3:Like, I'm good. And just leave. Funny enough, when you leave a bar, big drinking environment, people don't even remember that you left, usually. And then I'll say a lot of times, if you stay a little bit longer at the party because you're having fun, there will be that point where you realize this is exactly why I don't drink. Because you're gonna see people behave so cringey, they repeat themselves.
Speaker 3:They say dumb things, and you're like, was I that bad? And you're yes, you were. You were worse. So just remind I think those are good moments to remind yourself of why you don't drink. I I always when I'm around my friends and they're still carrying on and it gets a little weird at one point, I'm just like, I can't wait to feel so good tomorrow morning.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah. So Right? But yeah. I mean, listen, it's not
Speaker 2:easy both worlds.
Speaker 3:It's not easy to put yourself in social environments where there's a lot of drinking and you don't have some support. You know, you could white knuckle it, but I would highly recommend, you know, really digging in and looking at meetings, and finding a sober community. It doesn't necessarily have to be AA. For me, AA is what worked for me, but there are plenty of other ways to find support and even social media. I mean, I follow people on social that, you know, talk about their sobriety or share their wellness story.
Speaker 3:And that's also been really helpful. You know, find someone that you wanna be like that doesn't drink or find someone you wanna model your life after. You know, not every inch of it, but, you know, there's a lot of people you Right.
Speaker 2:That that part of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. There's people that inspire me. You know, whether it was Kevin Love who talked about his mental health ups and downs, and I was still to this day, can't believe, like, a 6 foot 10 NBA all star had, like, admitted that he struggled with his mental illness. And I was, like, blown away. But it was guys like Michael Phelps, Kevin Love, athletes that were sharing some of their mental and or sup Darren Waller, former, tight end who has a crazy addiction story.
Speaker 3:I've met Darren in person. But I look up to those guys. So and I'm sure people that listen or watch Summerhouse maybe aspire to something I've done. And I if I can be, you know, motivating for some people, that's great. But there are plenty of people that live a way better program and are way more further along than I am.
Speaker 3:I just try to be just live more purposefully, and I know I feel pretty damn good. It'll be 4 years coming up in January that I haven't had a drink. So pretty crazy.
Speaker 2:It's awesome. I love the success story. I love the advice. I mean, that's a great one. Come in, rely on peers.
Speaker 2:You can't do a lot. It's something
Speaker 3:that make you
Speaker 2:feel comfortable with yourself. Time block, you know, if you wanna have a cutoff time to leave, remind yourself why you're doing what you're doing, whether or not you are moderating and cutting back and really just minimizing alcohol in your life, or you're, you know, taking a break or you're going full sober, all of these things work for for each of those strategies.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of different tools. I'm sure. I mean, some people might tell you not to go to those social events. Some people might, you know, say stay home, but I I'm a social person.
Speaker 3:I thrive off of connection. And even if it was for an hour, just getting out of the house and getting yourself what I realized, it's repetition over time, you get just more confidence of living this way. And now, like, I this is how you look. Like, I I'm this is me. And you just get used to being comfortable.
Speaker 3:It's just like riding a bike over and over again. You get better at it. And then, you know, you take you take the training wheels off and next thing you know, you're like actually riding the bike. No problem. But it wasn't always like that at the beginning.
Speaker 3:It takes practice. You know? And you gotta keep putting yourself in those situations. And I've been lucky with the life I have on TV because I've been forced to go into situations that not a lot of people might put themselves in. But because I'm friends with everybody or I'm in this kind of scenario, I've had to kind of like walk into a 300 person, like rager house party and be like, okay, how am I gonna do this?
Speaker 3:And I do it. Figure it out. But I'm lucky that I get to do it on such a large stage and I'm very grateful to kind of share what's worked for me. But again, I don't have it all figured out. I trust me.
Speaker 3:I do. I just, I just know alcohol and everything.
Speaker 2:Who does? You know, like anybody saying that they do so. Well, I feel lucky that I, that you found the time to come and share with us today. And I appreciate not just the time today, but your openness and sharing to help other people. It takes a lot of guts just to put yourself out there like that.
Speaker 2:So Thanks, man. Well, thanks so much for coming today, Carl. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. No. It's great great to chat. Let me know when this is gonna come out. Appreciate you guys, and I hope you have a great trip in Spain.
Speaker 3:Jealous. Come back, soon.
Speaker 1:And that's a wrap on part 2 of our conversation with Carl Radke. From hitting rock bottom to creating something as impactful as soft bar, Karl's story is proof that change is always possible. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might need to hear it and make sure you're subscribed for more conversations like this. This podcast is brought to you
Speaker 2:by Sunny Side, the number one alcohol moderation platform. And if you
Speaker 1:could benefit from drinking a bit less,
Speaker 2:head on over to sunnyside.co to
Speaker 1:get a free 15 day trial. Until next time, cheers to your mindful drinking journey. Cheers to your mindful drinking journey.
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