Life & Work with Ronndell Smith of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronndell Smith.

Ronndell, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Sober AF really started from me almost not making it here.

I started drinking when I was 14, and by the time I was around 21, it had turned into harder drugs. For a long time, I thought I was just partying, just living, just doing what everybody else was doing. But eventually, it stopped being fun and started becoming something that was literally killing me.

I got sober on June 1st, 2024, for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest moments was ending up in the hospital. The doctors pretty much told me, “If you want to see 45, you need to stop today.” And me, still trying to be funny in the worst moment possible, I asked, “Is that a hard 45, or like… 45-ish?”

But the truth is, that scared me. And I think that would scare anybody. When a doctor is basically telling you your lifestyle has an expiration date, you have to either listen or keep playing with your life.

I also spent some time in a mental hospital, and that really made me sit with myself. It forced me to look at my life and say, “This is not the story I want to keep living.” I knew I had to change, not just for other people, but for myself.

A few months after getting sober, I started Sober AF. The whole purpose was to create a space for people in the sober community outside of the usual AA meetings and traditional recovery spaces. Not because those spaces aren’t important, but because I felt like people also needed somewhere to laugh, connect, build friendships, and feel normal without the pressure to drink or use drugs.

A lot of people hear the word “sober” and immediately think boring. They think the fun is over. But I’ve learned it’s actually the opposite. Being sober gave me my life back. It gave me clarity, purpose, community, and honestly, better stories.

Sober AF is about showing people that sobriety doesn’t have to be quiet, stiff, or depressing. It can be funny. It can be social. It can be cool. It can be full of life.

That’s why I started it: to build a community where people can be sober, be themselves, and still have a good time.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all. Getting sober is not something you just wake up one day and suddenly everything is perfect. I still struggle every day in different ways, but I know the good outweighs the bad, so I just don’t allow myself to go back to that lifestyle.

One of the biggest struggles has been learning how to live life without the things I used to lean on. You have to relearn how to deal with stress, emotions, anxiety, boredom, celebration, all of it. That part is hard, but it is also what makes the growth real.

Another big struggle has been building the Sober AF community. It is not easy getting sober people to believe in something new, especially when a lot of people are used to recovery only looking one certain way. Convincing people that they can come out, have fun, laugh, connect, and still be safe in their sobriety has been a challenge.

But I am determined. Building this community has been a struggle, and it is still a struggle, but I believe in it too much to quit. My goal is to make Sober AF one of the biggest sober communities in the world. I want people to see that sobriety is not the end of fun. It can be the beginning of actually living.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
On top of being sober and building Sober AF, I am also an entertainer. I’m a comedian, actor, and host, and I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for almost 18 years now. Making people laugh has always been a huge part of who I am, but now I feel like my comedy has even more purpose behind it.

I recently shot my first stand-up special called Finally Sober, which is out now on YouTube. I’m extremely proud of that special because I open up about my struggles, my addiction, my recovery, and everything I had to go through to get to this point. It is funny, but it is also honest. That was important to me because I wanted people to see the full version of me, not just the jokes.

Right now, I am also one of the hosts of a new show called Hot 97 News. It is a news show that looks at current events from a cultural perspective. I like to describe it as The Breakfast Club mixed with CNN mixed with Trevor Noah. We talk about real stories, but we bring personality, humor, and culture into the conversation.

What I’m most proud of is that I have been able to take the hardest parts of my life and turn them into something that can help people. Whether it is through comedy, hosting, or Sober AF, I want people to laugh, think, and feel less alone.

What sets me apart is that I am not trying to be perfect. I am honest about where I’ve been, what I’ve struggled with, and what I am still working through. I bring humor to serious topics without taking away from the truth. I think that is my lane: making real life feel a little lighter, while still keeping it real.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
The biggest advice I would give to someone just starting out is: don’t take anybody’s advice as law.

And what I mean by that is, people can only tell you how they did things based on their own path, their own resources, their own timing, and their own experience. That does not always mean it is going to work the same way for you. So even with my advice, I tell people to take what applies, leave what does not, and use it in a way that makes sense for their own life.

Everybody’s starting point is different. Some people start with connections, money, support, or a platform already behind them. Other people are starting from square one with nothing but an idea and faith. So I think the best thing you can do is listen, learn, do your own research, and find your own method.

If you take advice from one person and treat it like law, and it does not work, you may end up blaming that person or feeling like you failed. But if you take advice from 100 different people, pull a little bit from each one, and apply it in your own way, you will eventually figure out what works for you and what does not.

One thing I wish somebody would have told me earlier is to slow down and appreciate the journey. I have done a lot of things in my career and my life, but I did not always take the time to enjoy them. I was always focused on the next thing, the bigger thing, the next goal. But the come-up is really the part that makes the story special. It is hard, it is frustrating, and sometimes it sucks, but it is also where you build character.

I also wish somebody would have told me that everything is going to work out how it is supposed to. You cannot rush everything. You cannot force every door to open when you want it to. Sometimes the timing is not yours. The universe decides when you are ready to receive certain blessings, so the best thing you can do is keep working, stay grounded, and enjoy the process while it is happening.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://staysoberaf.com/
• Instagram: @soberaf_official @ronndell_smith