We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexandra Nyman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexandra below.

Alright, Alexandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

For me, the U-Turn came when I decided that I no longer wanted to use my skills as a marketing professional for a for-profit entity, and when I decided I wanted to use my skills for the greater good; which I define as working for a nonprofit or an organization whose values closely align with my own.

My first experience with this was back when I was working at a PR firm and had a roster of clients whose values did not align with my own. I got burnt out, but there was a recovery-based blog I had the opportunity to work on as their editor-in-chief. That was my first taste of how I could use my skills to help amplify a message that deeply resonated with me. And I have been chasing that feeling of getting paid to practice my passion ever since. Recently, I accepted the position of Publisher at the Sober Curator, and that passion has been reignited within me. I am truly honored that their founder and CEO, Alysse Bryson, trusted me enough to step into this role. Especially as I turn 33 next week, which is the same age Alysse had her first role as a publisher. Things have definitely come full circle for me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

This is a very long story, but I will do my best to keep my answer brief. I am the founder of the Break Free Foundation, which provides scholarships for individuals living with substance use disorders to attend an inpatient or outpatient facility at low to no cost to them. We offer a bi-annual New York Fashion Week runway show that features peers (people in recovery for their mental health, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, disordered eating, and risky behaviors like self-harm) as our models and designers.

I got my start in the film industry as a producer and always had a dream of being a costume designer, I took classes at Mood U and launched my first collection in 2019, and the rest is kind of history. I found myself always trying to be in two different worlds: fashion and recovery. So I decided to merge the two and that is how Break Free came to be.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Absolutely, I think all of my professional experiences are what led me to founding Break Free and being able to empower others through fashion.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

The Break Free Foundation recently partnered with The Sober Curator, where we have a featured tab for all things Break Free on the site, and offer exclusive access to their Curators to our showcase. I met Alysse Bryson in 2022 in person when we launched our first-ever NYFW show on February 14th.

To be completely honest, I was so intimidated by her, here is this sober icon at my show coming out to support this new venture from across the country. I had admired the work she did with TSC for years as I had served as the editor-in-chief for a rival recovery blog years prior.

Last October, we met up and a plan began to brew for me to come on as the publisher of TSC to handle the day-to-day operations so Alysse could focus on the bigger picture and making TSC a household name. Alysse is a force and I am so honored to be able to call her my friend and colleague. This new partnership is what will take Break Free to the next level, and I hope to help Alysse make her dream come true and have everyone know about The Sober Curator.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.breakfreefoundation.org/
• Instagram: instagram.com/wewillbreakfree
• Twitter: x.com/wewillbreakfree
• Other: https://www.thesobercurator.com/