What Happens When the CEO of a Booze Business (me!) Stops Drinking?
I used to run a business that helped the alcohol industry thrive. As CEO, I was responsible for the infrastructure behind the nation’s pints being poured - literally “Keeping Britain Pouring”. We installed and maintained the drinks dispensing systems in hundreds of thousands of pubs, bars and venues across the UK. It was a big operation with so many awesome people working in the business and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Our shareholders included some of the world’s biggest brewers. I worked directly with the brands, pouring more beer than anyone else in the country. I lived and breathed that world. But….
…then I stopped drinking for almost a year.
Not because I had to and not because things had spiralled into some bottomless pit of despair, but because I started paying closer attention to how I was sleeping, how I was recovering and how I was showing up. Quietly and consistently, I could see the same pattern. Even just one or two drinks would impact the metrics that mattered: my focus, my decision-making and my performance the next day.
So, I asked myself a simple but powerful question that changed everything:
Is this actually serving me?
The answer, however inconvenient for anyone looking in (and there were plenty watching and quietly commenting!), was no.
There was no big statement, no drama and I didn’t make it anyone else’s problem. However, I made a conscious choice that I wanted to feel better, think faster and operate sharper. Alcohol just didn’t fit that version of me anymore and the science says that it doesn’t fit into any definition of “optimum” for any of us, no matter how cold the “perfect pint” might be.
There is truly no “safe” amount of alcohol for brain health. Even moderate drinking can lead to measurable reductions in brain volume and function. Why?
Because alcohol is a neurotoxin.
It directly damages neurons, leading to changes in brain regions responsible for memory, mood and decision-making. It’s toxic byproduct, something called acetaldehyde, contributes to oxidative stress and inflammation in your brain. Your brain is literally being killed…slowly but very surely! It disrupts neurotransmitters (the signals being sent to and from your brain to other parts of your body), enhances GABA (relaxation) whilst suppressing glutamate (focus), impairing memory (how many of us have forgotten what we actually did last night and shit themselves the next morning that we’ve made an arse of ourselves?!) Over time, this imbalance causes hyperexcitability during withdrawal, leading to anxiety, panic attacks and other neurological symptoms.
It steals your happiness with prolonged use, reducing dopamine (the happy hormone) receptors’ sensitivity, leading to decreased motivation, depression and addiction. It also negatively disrupts serotonin and dopamine pathways, worsening mood disorders like anxiety and depression. Finally, it kills your sleep – it reduces REM and deep sleep, both critical for memory and emotional regulation. Sleep fragmentation leads to tiredness, impaired cognitive function, compounding its neurotoxic effects.
All that being said, I’m not here to draw a hard line forever, for anyone, including myself. I do fully appreciate that the one positive (there are very, very few) that comes from alcohol is the ability for humans to socialise and “loosen” themselves up to interact with others, and for some, it’s the only way they can.
I might choose to have a drink again one day, but if I do, it’ll be done mindfully, with intention and not as a default.
This was never about rigid rules; it was about awareness and giving myself full permission to choose what’s right for me, now and in the future. But if I did feel the urge to drink, I would try to choose clear spirits like vodka, gin or tequila (well…maybe not tequila, as I hate the stuff!), which contain fewer congeners (toxic, crappy byproducts). I’d try to opt for organic or non-GMO distilled options and pair them with soda water or a natural, sugar-free mixer like sparkling water and lime.
The irony, of course, isn’t lost on me.
The thing most people don’t want to say out loud, especially inside the drinks industry: it still doesn’t quite know what to do with a sober CEO. There’s a quiet discomfort that enters the room when the person at the top, the one supposed to be setting the tone and raising the toast, says, “I’m not drinking, and I think alcohol is actually damaging people’s brains.”
We say we want high-performing leaders. We say we care about sleep, recovery, decision-making and resilience. Yet we still celebrate and normalise a substance that compromises every single one of those things (I can almost hear the trolls rolling up in the comments section as we speak…bring it on!)
The industry likes to tell itself it’s moving forward and, to some extent, it is. The 0.0 space has come a long way. Brilliant alcohol-free products are entering the market (I personally LOVE Heineken 0.0, especially when it’s ice cold), and the innovation is fundamental. The taste is improving and some people are genuinely rethinking what role alcohol plays in their brand or business.
But at a cultural level? Not much has changed.
Despite all the talk of wellbeing and performance, alcohol still holds a strange immunity in most leadership circles. It gets a free pass, wrapped up in sociability, status and tradition.
No one questions the late-night shareholder dinners where the wine keeps flowing, even when there’s a critical board meeting the next morning. You can show up visibly under par, off your game and no one says a word (believe me, I’ve been there when it’s happened…more than once!), because that kind of hangover is still more acceptable than choosing not to drink at all.
That’s the part that stuck with me. Turning up foggy is fine, but turning down a drink? That needs explaining and a full-blown discussion on “why”…like, “why don’t you do one!” Why do I need to explain why I don’t want to screw myself over? We’re talking about a liquid in a glass, and I’ve decided I’d like mine that doesn’t frazzle my brain, thanks.
What I saw clearly, and what no one really wants to admit, is that alcohol is one of the only things in leadership that actively undermines performance and yet somehow still counts as part of the job. When I took it off the table, nothing fell apart; quite the opposite. My sleep got better, my recovery improved, I trained harder and I made clearer decisions. I stopped wasting energy dragging myself back to neutral and instead, I operated from a place of clarity - every day.
Choosing not to drink didn’t isolate me and it didn’t weaken me. It sharpened my edge and once I saw the difference, I couldn’t ignore it.
Now, having left that industry and founded Built for More, I work with people who are asking the same kinds of questions I once asked myself. They’re smart, driven and successful, and they’re quietly starting to wonder whether that glass of wine, that post-work pint, that "normal" habit is actually helping them get where they want to go.
Sometimes it’s about alcohol and sometimes it’s not. But almost always, it starts with that one honest question:
Is this actually serving you?
If it isn’t, you don’t need to explain yourself – bollocks to what people think. You just need to be curious enough and honest enough to choose something different.
If you're ready to find out what life looks like when you're fully switched on, with nothing blurring the edges — let's talk. Hit “Get Started”, because that’s your first step to being a better version of you.
