VIDEO – REFRAME YOUR DRINKING –
July 2, 2025 – A Knoxville couple is making a name for themselves in a space all about sobriety and connecting with people around the world through a podcast.
Ryan and Jessica Stewart decided to stop drinking a few years ago. The couple shared that the choice allowed their whole world to open up, but the journey was not an easy one.
“I was an isolated drinker, so I like to drink by myself. So I’d isolate myself in a room and watch sports and just drink beer until I would go to sleep at night,” Ryan said.
“Alcohol really has bullied me and the people I love and care about,” Jessica added.
Ryan said he was in a dark place when he was drinking, and that Jessica was on the verge of filing for divorce.
“There was a time when I felt like I was losing everything, and when I say losing everything, losing my marriage, losing my house, I felt like I was losing my job, even though I wasn’t,” Ryan said.
Two years ago, Ryan decided to quit drinking for good with the help of Reframe, an app that works to reframe the way people think about drinking.
“I was learning the neuroscience behind it, what it was actually doing to my body, what it was actually doing to my sleep. And really, I hit the ground running. I never looked back,” Ryan said.
“I was very hesitant at first because I had the more traditional mentality of, you’re not going to in-person meetings. So, how is this going to work on your phone?” Jessica said.
But a year later with the help of the app, Jessica also quit drinking. “I ordered a drink and it made my head hurt and my stomach hurt as it does, and in that moment, I realized it didn’t bring me anything good, nothing positive.”
The couple said that while they both had different experiences with alcohol, they experienced the same outcome.
“When you’re in an environment with people who are improving their overall quality of life, who are exercising, reading, expanding their minds, researching, you’re seeing them get better and thrive, you want some of that,” Jessica said.
“The health improvements have just been absolutely crazy for me since becoming sober,” Ryan said. “I was on high blood pressure medicine, cholesterol medicine. Since becoming sober, I’m on nothing. I’ve lost 60 pounds. I exercise every day.”
They shared that in addition to saving them as individuals, sobriety also saved their marriage.
“We make a joke that since I’ve become sober, we dated again and fell back in love. We consider that person her ex-husband,” Ryan said.
“We have a stronger, more committed marriage now than we ever have and we see parts of each other that we didn’t even know existed,” Jessica added.
The Stewarts wanted to share their incredible transformation with others. So, they launched a podcast to help. Jessica told Ryan, “You can tell your story and just be completely open and honest about all of your struggles with alcohol and our marriage.”
“It kind of started as a joke. I didn’t think it was gonna last five or 10 episodes, to be honest with you,” Ryan added.
