About Jessica/Media Appearances

About Bottomless to Sober

Telling our stories is one of the most powerful ways to inspire change. Bottomless to Sober is a platform that shares my journey and the voices of others who have chosen recovery over self-destruction. Whether you’re struggling with addiction, navigating grief, or searching for healing, this site exists to remind you that you are not alone, and that it’s never too late to start again.

Since launching Bottomless to Sober, I have been featured on NPR, Red Table Talk, CBS Evening News, and other platforms. I’m grateful to use this platform to reduce the stigma around addiction and recovery, and to offer hope to others who are walking this path.

I’m available for life coaching, sobriety support, keynote talks, and professional development workshops on topics including wellness, recovery, leadership, and education. Contact me here for more information.

With my father in 1986.

My Story

Hi, I’m Jessica Dueñas, and I’ve been sober since November 28, 2020.

My life came crashing down in April of that year after watching addiction take the life of the man I loved, Ian. That loss broke something inside me, triggering an eight-month bender that nearly killed me, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. After countless hospitalizations and brushes with death, I reached a moment of surrender. I realized that if God wouldn’t let me throw my life away, I needed to stop trying and start rebuilding. That’s when my healing began.

With my mother and sister in 1990.
Hiding behind my success in 2019.

I was born in Brooklyn to immigrant parents, my charismatic Black Cuban father and my fierce, loving Costa Rican mother. As a first-generation American, I carried both pride and pressure. I worked hard, excelled in school, and made it through doors that had been closed to women in my family for generations. But behind the accolades and success was a girl who never felt like she belonged.

Alcohol became my escape and eventually my prison. Despite earning degrees, building a respected teaching career, and being named the 2019 Kentucky State Teacher of the Year, I was slowly unraveling behind the scenes. My addiction led me through divorce, car crashes, injuries, hallucinations, and an ever-growing sense of shame. I was juggling trauma and high achievement, wearing masks to survive while losing myself in the process.

Intake at one of the rehabs in 2020.

Eventually, the alcohol stopped working. Even the classroom, my sanctuary, couldn’t protect me anymore.

I was dying, and yet I couldn’t die. So I chose to live.

With my daughter, Amara. 2025

Since then, I’ve built a life rooted in recovery, integrity, and purpose. I moved to a new city, started over professionally, and became a mother to a beautiful daughter, Amara, born in December 2024. Today, I work in higher education, coach individuals in recovery, and speak nationally about mental health, addiction, and the hidden costs of high achievement.

Qualifications:

  • Certified Life Coach – ICF-Accredited Certified Life Coach Institute
  • Peer Recovery Support Specialist – Registered with NAADAC (National Association for Addiction Professionals)
  • Master’s Degree in Special Education from Brooklyn College, CUNY
  • Educational Specialist Degree in Instructional Leadership, Bellarmine University
  • Former classroom teacher and 2019 Kentucky State Teacher of the Year
  • Kentucky Colonel (2021), awarded for my advocacy in mental health and addiction recovery
  • TEDx Speaker – “The Hidden Cost of Success: Why Achievement Alone Won’t Make You Whole” (Coming Fall 2025)

Book a free consultation here.

Media Appearances

Written Work (Outside of the Bottomless to Sober Blog)