Our Team
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Laura McKowen // Founder
Certified Recovery Coach (IAPRC), Family Issues in Recovery Certification (IAPRC), Neuroscience of Joyful Recovery Certification (IAPRC), 200 RYT Certified Yoga Instructor, MBA - Babson College
Laura is the author of the bestselling memoir, We Are The Luckiest and Push Off from Here: 9 Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else). Sober since 2014, she is a leading voice in modern recovery, has written for The New York Times, and her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, the TODAY show, and more.
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Eric Johnson // CEO
IFC Certified Executive Coach, MBA - Indiana University, Certified in EQi 2.0 and Keirsey Temperament, Former Fortune 150 CMO
Eric is an adventurer, writer, and certified coach. He is also the co-host of the podcast “Inside Job.” Sober since 2014, Eric draws his inspiration from his background as a leader in corporate America and as a teacher and coach at one of the world’s top business schools. He also believes that Mother Nature and 90's grunge music are among the greatest sources of wisdom.
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Janell Kathryn Sklapsky (DJ) // Community Manager
Relational Somatic Therapy Practitioner, Certified Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitator, Certified 500 Hour KRI Yoga & Meditation Instructor, 200 RYT Certified Yoga Instructor, Certified Trauma Informed Yoga Outreach Core Training
Janell Kathryn has 15+ years experience as an educator, administrator and leader in public, private and online education teaching youth and adults. She is a heart-centered woman who values the inner work that brings about an unshakable trust in oneself and the holding of life. She’s a Sun Dancer and, fun fact: a former flight attendant!
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Tanya Bryant // Operations Manager
Tanya is the behind-the-scenes operational magic at TLC. She’s an independent introvert who jumped off the corporate train and paved her own path. Tanya’s passionate about living an authentic, alcohol-free life and enjoys walking with others on the same journey. She lives with her husband, 3 kids, 2 cats, and a dog in Minnesota. -
Tammi Salas // Meeting Leader
Certified Art 4 Healing Facilitator, Certified Gray Area Drinking Coach
Tammi Salas is a Sober. Dignified. Creative. Woman. She is a painter, diligent list-maker, certified coach, skilled facilitator, and former co-host of the wildly popular Unruffled Podcast, a podcast that explored the intersection between creativity and sobriety. Tammi returned to college as an adult, one month after getting sober in 2015, to get her Associates in Arts Degree. She lives in a small town in Oakland and daydreams about living in Paris.
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Alexander Smith // Meeting Leader
Master of Social Work (MSW), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Alexander is a clinical social worker, mindfulness teacher, artist, and hosts the podcast, Viral Mindfulness. His work embraces spiritual practice, creativity, poetry and music. Featured on CNN, HIV Plus Magazine, and the cover of Positively Aware, Alexander believes meditation and mindfulness can revolutionize your relationship with life, and viruses. He's been living positive with HIV/AIDS since 2003 spreading inspiration through words, watercolours and his piano.
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Chris Marshall // Meeting Leader
Licensed Substance Use Counselor, Founder of Sans Bar
Chris is the visionary founder Sans Bar, a renowned mental health advocate, and writer who has dedicated his career to building inclusive, alcohol-free communities. Sober since 2007, Chris began his work as a Substance Use Counselor in 2009. His work has been featured in Men’s Health, The New York Times, and USA Today. He's an accomplished speaker and has been invited to share his insights at events such as the Aspen Ideas Festival. Chris lives with his family in Austin, TX.
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Whitney Bishop // Meeting Leader, Course Instructor
IAPRC Certified Recovery Coach, Chief Question Officer (Question Thinking Methodology), XChange Approach Certified Facilitator
Whitney is a curious, creative, and courageous woman in recovery, on a mission to make a positive difference in the lives of others. She believes in the power of asking great questions and the practice of answering them honestly. Whitney is a full-time Change Management Consultant and active volunteer, facilitator, and trainer for nonprofit organizations all across the country. She lives in Louisville, KY with her husband, grandkids, 3 guinea pigs, and a grand-dog.
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Tammi Scott // Meeting Leader, Course Instructor
Tammi Scott is 27 years sober and a Gen-X early retiree committed to working and living a heart-centered life of growth and healing.
200 RYT Certified Practitioner/Student of Yoga, Trauma Informed Yoga Certification, Practitioner of Holding Space, Certified Level 3 Grief Literacy Certification. Writer. Facilitator. Lover of Nature and Human Rights. Fabulously sublime and flawed human.
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Louise Atthey // Meeting Leader, Course Instructor
ANLP-accredited NLP Business Practitioner, Sober Club Accredited Coach
Louise left a career in financial services to pursue writing, sober mentorship, and a more wide-open path. Sober since 2009, she loves travel, life music, friendship, and walks with coffee. Most of all, she’s excited by the tomorrow she used to dread. Louise lives in the south of the UK with her two kid-adults and her black lab, Lola.
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Natalie Austin // Meeting Leader, Course Instructor
IAPRC Certified Recovery Coach, She Recovers Designated Coach, Gray Area Drinking Certified Coach, IIN Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, 200 Hour RYT Yoga Certification, Y12SR Certified Teacher, Certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor, Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher
Natalie is a trained facilitator, coach, and alchemist. Sober since 2015, she’s an introverted-extrovert truth-teller, a lover of plants, crystals, oils, tarot, the moon, and all things woo. She’s deeply passionate about supporting people in recovery and believes that connection and community are paramount and that recovery is not one size fits all – that each person requires different modalities and pathways. Natalie lives in Northern California with her daughters and a sweet but slightly neurotic cat.
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Jessica Dueñas // Meeting Leader, Course Intructor
MS in Education: Teaching Students with Disabilities, Educational Specialist Degree in Instructional Leadership, IFC-Certified Coach Certificate from The Life Coach Institute, registered NAADAC (National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors) counselor, 2019 Kentucky State Teacher of the Year
Jessica is a certified coach, educator, and mental health and recovery advocate. She has appeared on NPR, CBS Evening News, and Red Table Talk. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Jessica comes from a Latinx background with a Cuban father and Costa Rican mother.
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Amy Dresner // Meeting Leader
Amy is a journalist, author, and former comedian as well as a recovering addict and alcoholic. A columnist for The Fix since 2012, her first book My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean received rave reviews from readers and critics alike.
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Mo Landsman // Meeting Leader
B.S. in Neuroscience, Doctor of Dental Surgery, 200 hour CYT Yoga Instructor
Mo is first and foremost a seeker. She works as a general dentist in a group practice in Longmont, CO. Outside of the office, Mo enjoys joyful movement, long naps, deep connection, belly laughs, being in nature, and finding humor in life’s little absurdities. She is committed to a lifelong journey of healing and is passionate about being of service to others on their healing journeys.
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Chef Prof Rick // Meeting Leader
M.A. and Ph.D. in History and History Education, college and staff advisor for Alcohol Use Disorder, Researcher and Historian on the history of recovery on a global scale.
Rick teaches History in a small college in Indiana and writes mostly about food in history. His first career was in the kitchen as a professional chef in Vermont and California, and he continues to cook for special events and teaches cooking in his history classes. Hence, he is often seen on TLC meets as "Chef Prof Rick."
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Kiola Raines // Meeting Leader, Course Instructor
MS-Exercise Psychology, Precision Nutrition-Pn1 Coach, CalMHSA - Peer Support Specialist, SMART Recovery - Certified Facilitator
Early on in Kiola’s sobriety journey, she discovered the power of using fitness and nutrition to sustain long-term sobriety. With over a decade of coaching experience and ongoing education, Kiola is a wealth of tools, knowledge, and support for sobriety, fitness, and life.
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Caitlin Schumacher // Meeting Leader
Graduate of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Coaching for Self Leadership, IFS Master Class-Complex Trauma & PTSD, IFS Circle, Healing Collective Trauma Course for Therapists and Coaches with Thomas Hübel and Dick Schwarz.
Caitlin is a singer-songwriter-electronic music producer, artist, Internal Family Systems coach, and psychic healer in recovery from alcohol addiction since 2016. She is devoted to liberating herself and others from anything that separates us from our truest Self. She is a queer, single mother of one, plus one hilarious 12-year-old puppy. Caitlin grew up in Australia and currently lives in Berlin.
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Ann Dowsett Johnston // Meeting Leader
Licensed Psychotherapist, Award-Winning Journalist, Bestselling Author, TEDx Speaker
Ann is the bestselling author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, and a highly respected voice in the recovery movement. An award-winning journalist turned psychotherapist, Ann teaches her popular memoir course: Writing Your Recovery, and lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Jamie Armstrong // Care Crew Team Leader // Meeting Leader
B.S. Human Services/Counseling Psychology, Fire Captain/Inspector/EMT (retired) Juvenile Firesetter Interventionist, Critical Incident Stress Debriefer, Arson Investigator.
Jamie, a Cape Cod native, married 40+ years, is the father of four, grandfather of five, and friend of dog Grendel. Fan of Mary Oliver and Ralph Waldo Emerson “ What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”
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Maureen Anderson // Meeting Leader
CCAR Designated Recovery Coach Professional and Authorized Facilitator, Certified Gray Area Drinking Coach
Maureen lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her husband, 4 kids, and sweet dog, Bernadette. She's employed as a recovery coach and spends any free time she can find pursuing racquet-sport greatness.
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Anthony Eder // Meeting Leader
Certified Peer Specialist for Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Certified Trauma-Informed DEIB Specialist, Certified Art of Growth Enneagram Practitioner
Anthony is an experienced facilitator, youth camp coordinator, and mental health advocate who’s passionate about creating a dance party everywhere he goes. He finds joy in knitting, music, laughing, road trips, and connecting with people on a deep level. He is always searching for new music, so send him ALL your suggestions. After spending many years in Southern California, Anthony has returned to his roots and family in the Midwest.
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Kelvin Young // Meeting Leader
Recovery Support Specialist at Intercommunity HealthCare in Hartford, CT, Certified Sound Healer, Founding Member of Toivo, a DMHAS funded, peer-run holistic healing center in Connecticut, CT Hall of Change Inductee
Kelvin is a speaker, writer, and recovery advocate. He was featured in the powerful documentary, Uprooting Addiction, and is the author of Finding Freedom Behind Bars: A Journey Of Self-Discovery & Healing. Kelvin is passionate about holding space for people to heal and is known for his warm, loving, and down-to-earth way of connecting.
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Brandon Jackson // Meeting Leader
Brandon Jackson, also known as Brandon Be Happy, has been sober since March 19th, 2019. Since the days of sleeping on the streets of Washington, DC, struggling with alcohol abuse to the point of homelessness, Brandon has utilized his sobriety as a vehicle for change for himself and others. Currently running a family-founded mutual aid collective, called Cultured, Brandon and his Jackson family have been able to help over 12 million people through health and wellness programs from North Carolina to Nairobi, Kenya.
During those 5 years Brandon Be Happy was introduced to the sober community, being connected to Annie Grace and This Naked Mind, Holly Whitaker of How to Quit Like a Woman, and more, which helped him transition into sobriety coaching and eastern practices of trauma recovery and healing. From working with the Monks in Thailand to the Taitas of the Amazon, and now sharing in the knowledge of the Nubians in Nairobi, Kenya, Brandon hopes to expand the value of lived experience amongst the healing spaces in Western society.
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Vernon TLC Mascot
Vernon is the beloved TLC mascot. Like any true raven, he bears a long, mysterious history of mythology and prophecy. Some say he's a messenger of darkness and death, but that doesn't scare us. In fact, that's why we keep him around. We know big transformation requires a trek into the dark and we take comfort in Vernon's keen eyesight and superior intelligence, not to mention his dry-as-a-bone sense of humor.
Vernon's stardom spiked when he and his family were cast into leading roles on GoT. After all those years of Hollywood stardom, Vernon far prefers the more humble life overseeing the magnificent monsters of TLC. In his free time, you can find him learning TikTok dances and playing the keyboard in his all-raven band, A Kindness Not A Murder. Vernon is on your side.