Embrace Your Gray Areas: Emily Holland, Nature Untold

If you're an avid podcast listener like me, you may recognize today's guest, Emily Holland, from The Stokecast, a show she co-hosted for a few years on which she talked to athletes, entrepreneurs, and activists in the outdoor industry about how to balance work, life, and adventure while having fun and making a difference.

That was cool enough, but today we’re focusing on Emily’s NEXT big thing, or should I say her next big thingS. Emily recently celebrated a year of sobriety, shortly after she launched her new solo podcast endeavor, Nature Untold. Six episodes in as of today, Emily is already crushing it with fantastic interviews that examine the intersection of addiction, recovery and sobriety with the outdoor community. Or, maybe, lack of community - I’ll let Emily talk more about that.

Emily is smart, introspective, and a joy to talk with - and I found her story super-powerful. It’s not about someone hitting rock bottom and finding some kind of heroic, Hallmark-movie redemption; rather, it’s about turning inward, learning to place value on yourself, understanding and wanting to be your best self, and realizing how vitally important community - or maybe the ‘right’ kind of community - is to all of our wellbeing.

I hope you’ll listen in to Nature Untold on your favorite podcast player, check out her new website, natureuntoldcollective.com, consider joining the Nature Untold Facebook group, follow Nature Untold on Instagram, and I’d definitely recommend perusing the other writing Emily has posted on her personal blog. 

Some useful links from our conversation:

• Explore Inspired (home of The Stokecast podcast and more info about Jonathan Ronzio)
• Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington
• NA Brut Champagne (and other non-alcoholic bubbly options)
• Rumney, NH - Rumney Climbers Association

And additional exploration for the ‘sober-curious’, and/or those who’d like to learn more about the spectrum of alcohol use disorder and different approaches to addiction treatment and recovery*:

• Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker
• Tempest
• The Luckiest Club (TLC)
• 1000 Hours Dry
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
• SMARTRecovery
• Women For Sobriety (WFS)

* Please note - alcoholism and other addictions are serious business. These links are provided as suggestions for more research and exploration, not as a standalone ‘cure’ for anyone or any condition. Please consult a medical professional if you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol, drugs, or other dependencies.