CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Looking back through old photos, Molly Ruggere can see the difference of before she stopped drinking alcohol to after she stopped drinking.
What You Need To Know
- Counterculture Club offers non-alcoholic events
- Founder Molly Ruggere says the group is inclusive to everyone, no matter their relationship to alcohol
- Anyone from around the world can be a part of the movement
"But even still, like, just comparing the difference between my eyes and like, my skin and like, it's like, clear to me, like, you know, I've changed a lot and I feel so much better,” Ruggere said.
She used to live in New York City, working in the events and entertainment space. A space she says revolved around drinking.
"And so we would do these really late night events and it was just normal to stay out super late and drink multiple nights in a row, and like, it was part of our industry,” she said.
It is then she saw a problem and wanted to change it.
"And I knew that moving back to Charlotte, where I grew up, was going to be the best way to do that, just to have the space to like, have a breather, get out of that grind of the city and kind of just like, start fresh,” she said.
When she came home, she found that many social events still revolved around going out. So, she created a space opposite of that called Counterculture Club.
"So I just was like, 'well, if it doesn't exist, I'm going to build it,'” she said. "I’ve already done the hardest thing I could ever do in my life, which was like quitting drinking. So everything else kind of felt like a cakewalk.”
She launched a month before the pandemic, so quickly all events became virtual.
She opened a worldwide membership in Dec. 2020 and held her first in-person event in 2021.
"And after that, it became really clear to us that like, the demand is very, very strong, like, the event sold out, it was like, a huge success,” she said.
She says the group is for everyone, regardless of if you drink or not.
"But we really want to create a more positive idea of this, like examination of your drinking and like, approaching it with curiosity rather than guilt or shame or judgment,” she said.
She also offers coaching, saying she saw a need for something like that as well.
"So they're kind of like lacking a lot of resources and they're just stuck in this like kind of struggle of like, you know, it's not ruining my life, but I still am drinking more than I want to on a consistent basis,” she said of her client base.
In June, Counterculture Club expanded its global membership with the addition of their free community membership.