[0:00]I started drinking and I ended up in a really, really bad place. I lost my children, I lost everything. You hear people talk about you know, they chose to drink, nobody chooses that. I was that busy trying to be whatever everybody wanted me to be that I didn't know who I was by the time I got sober. because I'd spent all my life trying to please people and trying to be what people wanted me to be and actually what I didn't love was me. And you want to be able to live the life that society wants, but then, then you get to over 50 and it's like, well, I don't need to impress anybody now, so I can actually just be me. When you're sat in the old folks home, or when you're 90, imagine looking back on this moment of this thing that you're going to do. Are you going to regret not doing it? Are you going to go, Do you know what? I had a good go at that. What if the best chapter of your life hasn't already happened? What if it is just around the corner? That is true for our guest today, 64-year-old international DJ and social media influencer, Crazy Auntie Ann. And before she was what I just explained, she was a school teacher working in a small town in the UK for many years battling with alcoholism that completely destroyed her entire family and friend relationships. Today, though, she has over 3 million followers, she makes more money than she has ever made, and we had a chance to speak with her while we were both speaking at a conference in Dubai. You will get a lot out of this one, no matter where you are in life. How old are you? I'm 64. What does it feel like to be 64? I'm a little bit slower than I used to be, and actually I don't feel any different to what I did when I was 30, to be honest, until I look in a mirror and then I remember. So, yeah. Other than that, you know, I'm sure a lot of older people say just I feel, I know, young. Yeah. Inside young, outside different. Inside, look in a mirror and I think, Oh, who's that? Yeah. What do you think you've done in your life to get to be 64 and feel the way that you feel? Um, do you know what? I rock, there's nothing like a rock bottom in life to make you appreciate life and make you feel better, I think to be fair. Tell me about that. What was your rock bottom in life? Alcohol. Um, so I'm now 20 years sober, so I ended up in rehab. I think I think addiction is mental health. So I actually believe that I had a mental health illness, but I started drinking and I ended up in a really, really bad place. I lost my children, I lost everything. Um, ended up in seven detoxes, because I was too stubborn to get it, and then finally on the 3rd of March in 2006, I finally got that that moment of clarity. Congratulations. Thank you. It'll be 20 years in March. What changed? What would you say? You said you went through seven different detoxes, what was the final straw? I was I weighed something like six stone and I was just I I'd had enough and I realized that no matter what I tried to do, I was never going to be it. So I just had to give in and go, I can't drink anymore. And I still I still go to recovery meetings, I still do that, I still sponsor people. Because I'm still an alcoholic, I will always be an alcoholic. I just don't drink. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting perspective. Yeah, yeah. What do you, like let's say someone is listening to this and they're going through their own struggle in terms of addiction, maybe it's not necessarily alcoholism, but in general some form of addiction. What would you advise to them? What's the first thing that comes to mind there to change their direction? Actually, what you've only got to do is you've got to take it very slowly, 24 hours at a time, you know, stay sober for one day. And then just do just take it one step at a time, you know, I still say today, I'm not sober forever, might drink again, but I'm not going to drink today. And that's what matters, you know. Yeah. Anybody that's in addiction, I really I feel for you with my whole heart, because it is a horrible place to be. You hear people talk about you know, they chose to drink, nobody chooses that. Nobody chooses to be in a doorway, nobody chooses to be laid in the bed, sick in whatever drugs they're taking. It's not it isn't a choice, it's a very it's very subconscious and it's an awful place to be. You know, one of the things that I'm more grateful for for my family and my friends is that what they did is they left me alone. And so I have nobody to enable me. And actually, when I got sober, it was because people had stopped helping me, they'd stopped giving me money to buy more booze. And I think that um, if you have someone in your life that's in the middle of addiction, stop. There's a saying, never buy, never buy an alcoholic a drink, but never take one off them. So you know, you've just it's a really difficult place to be. And how would you say your relationships are now with your kids and your family and everything? Amazing. Um, really good. My children are really proud of me now, you know, they're really proud of I mean, they were proud of me once I got sober because it must have been heartbreaking. I've got three sons and my eldest one stayed with me through the addiction, because he was a little bit older, but I've got twins who are now 31 now. And uh they, you know, the relationships are all great and he's there to go to my ex-husband's and but everybody's just really proud of me now, you know, and it's just a living example of of been able addiction's not going to take over your life, you can get out of it and you can do it. Just a sec, if you don't want to forget any of the advice that you hear in this video or any of the other interviews on our channel, we put together a free newsletter and we send it out to you every single week. That condenses these interviews into five life lessons that will help you live a longer, happier and healthier life. You can join by scanning the QR code or clicking the link in the description or on this QR code or heading to Monarch's website and using the code Sprout 50 at checkout. All right, back to the video. What do we need to know about how you grew up? Your childhood to understand a little bit about who you are today? I uh, I grew up in a very strict Catholic household, actually, a very religious household. We didn't have much money, but we were very happy and and the two sides of my my mom actually was she was she was, I can knit and I can sew and I can crochet, and I can do all those things and my mom taught me all those. But she was also very strict and it was a very religious and very strict household and you know, you know, so, but you know, I have I have really good memories of my childhood, it wasn't a bad childhood, but it was a very strict one. If you're looking back on all these experiences, what is the truth about life that you've learned that you wish more people understood? Um, stop worrying what people think. Stop worrying what others think about you and just be yourself. Um, one of the main things with my life was that I was I was that busy trying to be whatever everybody wanted me to be that I didn't know who I was by the time I got sober. Um, because I'd spent all my life trying to please people and trying to be what people wanted me to be and actually, and so therefore, what I didn't love was me. The one of the main things you got to do, to me, one of the main things that everybody can do in life, for whatever it is, is forgive yourself. And accept yourself for who you are. And that's what I I did a lot of work on myself when I got sober.
[6:45]I did a lot of therapy, a lot of work on myself and one of and to sum it up like you said, it was forgive myself and accept myself as I am, because actually, I'm okay, I'm pretty cool, you know. Amazing. That's proven, right? Yeah, it seems to be. Yeah. Yeah. Why do you think so many people care about what others think of them? When you're younger and you you go through stages, maybe in your early 20s where you're trying to find a husband or a wife or whatever it is you want to do. So that's gives you you need to look a certain way, be a certain way and all the makeup and all that sort of thing. Um, and then when you go for a job, you need to get dressed up and go for the job interview and you need to be a certain person to get that job that you want. Um, and you want to be able to live the life that society wants, but then, then you get to over 50 and it's like, well, I don't need to impress anybody now, so I can actually just be me. So, for someone who doesn't know you, uh, what do you do at this moment? When I got sober, um, I needed to rebuild my life all together, because before I got sober, I used to run weddings for living, so I couldn't do that anymore because champagne and, you know, I also started all over again from nothing and I worked in a cafe for a while, which was really good. And then um, I thought, when I I got to about three years old, when I thought, you know what, there's more I can give than this. I've got I've got a message to give. So I thought I could go to college. So I went back to college at 48 and I got a me degree at 51. So it's never too late to go back, never too late to go back to college. It's never too late to get a degree. I got my degree at 51 and was and still is to this day, one of the proudest moments of my life when I was in my my gown and cap and gown. Um, and then I did a teaching qualification and I worked with mental health. Well, I was teaching mental health in a college and then in lockdown, all my students were all stuck in their bedrooms and they didn't want to get up and they weren't motivated. So I I decided that I wanted to get them motivated and cheer them up. So I started making silly videos on TikTok. The name Crazy Auntie Anne comes from my niece who made my account. So I started making videos on TikTok and uh, look, kicked him, the universe paid me back if you like. And uh, it went up to I went up to 70,000 and then it started growing from there. And then I got up to about 700,000 and I started making a little bit of money, um, which I was giving to the NPSCC at the time. And then my manager that got in touch with and said, you know, do you want to start making some money? So I started doing that. So now I'm got 3 million on TikTok, 1.3 million on Instagram, um, and I was able to give up teaching last year and now I do this full time and I'm I'm incredibly lucky. Crazy Auntie Ann says that she has been making more money making videos online in a year than she did working as a school teacher. But for those of you who are working really hard to make money, how do you ensure that you manage it properly so that you don't have to worry about it in the future? Our sponsor of today is Monarch Money and they might help you do that. Monarch is a budgeting app that simplifies finances by bringing all of your accounts together into one clear view. It helps you know where your money is and where it's going. Achieve your goals quicker and collaborate with your partner or professional at no extra cost. You can connect Monarch to major credit cards, to banks and brokerages. You can see all accounts in one clean dashboard and you can use AI to get insights about how you spend your money. Start your free trial and get 50% off your year of total money clarity by using the link in the description or on this QR code or heading to Monarch's website and using the code Sprout 50 at checkout. All right, back to the video. I think a big thing I'm taking away from you, but that I've seen from your content before is just it really is never too late to start something or to be someone or to change. What's a question that if you were to recommend to someone who's trying to fix their life or improve it, what's a question they can ask themselves that you think would help them navigate them? When you sat in the old folks home and you're being cared for, when you're 90, imagine looking back on this moment of this thing that you're going to do. Are you going to regret not doing it? Are you going to go, Do you know what? I had a good go at that. Life's for living. We've only got one life and we've just got to live it. If you're thinking, oh, should I, shouldn't I, shouldn't I, just take that life of faith, because actually the universe looks after us. The universe hasn't brought us this far to let go now. That's what I always think. Even my my addiction, everything, it all happened for a reason, because if I've not got into addiction, if I've not got drunk, I wouldn't have started my life again. I wouldn't have got involved in mental health. I wouldn't have gone to university and I wouldn't be studio now and doing this. So actually, you know, just got to embrace and and go, well, actually, this is all part of my journey, and you've just got to go for it and know that you're going to be okay. Know that it's going to be okay, because it's always okay. Always. You journal in your life? I do journal. Yes. Yeah. For a while. Yeah. Um, a long time. Yeah. I've journaled since when I first got sober. One of the very first things that I was learned that was, write three things every day that you're grateful for. No more, no less. And also those three things can't be material things. For the first two years, I used to do it every single day. You know, whenever I feel a little bit disoriented or what's what's wrong with me, the first thing I do is those three things. Speaking of gratitude, so you filled out an entry in our journal here. I did, yeah. You wrote one thing that you are grateful for today. Today I'm grateful for my manager, because she's come with me on this trip and she's just she's over there. Come and say hello. We meet people and we just we hit it off straight away. For example, one of the things is I'm Saturday night when I was doing the DJ gig, there was maybe 300 people there. And all she did was she made sure that she that she was in my sight in my eyeline at all times. And I know she's really simple, but just to know that she was there. I'm going to fill up now. And get emotional, but we've had such a great week. Value of having a good person in your life. Yeah, someone that's just there, because at the end of the day, I've come to the I've come to the summit and I've been here for a week and it's in Dubai and it's a long way from home. And I am 64, at the end of the day, I am 64, so it's just nice to have someone there that I can rely on, you know, and just yeah. A question that I want to answer today. I've just been reading this as you've been answering this last one. Can you just repeat that for me? How did I get so looking so blessed? How did I get so blessed that I've got this opportunity in life to be able to to do these wonderful things and to be able to and to be a DJ? I absolutely love. You know, if I've got a piece of advice is if you're like in your 60s and you want to like do the ballroom dance or be a DJ, go for it. Do it. Yeah. It don't matter if anybody sees it or anybody don't see it, I love it. What is what is the answer if you think you if you had to just try to give some answer? I think, I don't know, I don't want to I don't want to be I like to stay humble, really. I do think that what you give out, you get back. So I only ever do positive things. I only ever, I never ever talk about anybody else. I never accept anybody else talking about anybody else. So if I heard somebody talk about about I'd go, excuse me, don't speak like that. And the only person that I make a fool of is me. And I think maybe, you know, I've got a message to give and maybe the universe has decided that that message needs to be out there. So, yeah. Amazing. If you could go back in time to your 25 year old self, knowing absolutely everything you know today and just give her one piece of advice, what comes to mind? Don't drink. No, I actually know. I think you I think looking back, you probably are okay with that, right? Yeah, absolutely okay with that. Advice, go for it. Do it. Do it. Just go for what it is you want to be. And don't worry about what other people think. Just stop worrying about what other people think. There's my favorite saying which I've put in there. Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds. And that that is that is so true. You've just got to not stop worrying about what other people think. I love that. Just do it. Do it. Yeah. 100%. Absolutely, yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, you are amazing. Enjoy it. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you have enjoyed it, guess what? This is part of a huge year for us where we're going around the world and interviewing people from all these different countries, of all these different ages and giving you perspectives like this channel has never offered before. So, if you haven't already subscribed, please make sure to do that and we will see you in the next video.
