Madeline Smith of Whispering Pines has advanced in the Ms. Health and Fitness HERS Cover Competition and is now competing for a spot in the Top 5. As voting continues, Smith shares her story of recovery and the sources of her motivation.
Smith, who has been sober since September 2018, said her decision to enter the national competition is based less on personal recognition and more on recovery advocacy. If she wins the $20,000 grand prize, she plans to donate it to support a veteran or first responder in recovery through the Shields & Stripes Foundation, a Moore County-based nonprofit that provides trauma-informed therapy for military members and first responders.
“The most important thing for readers to know about me is that my sobriety is earned,” said Smith in an interview with Sandhills Sentinel. “It didn’t just happen to me, and it’s not casual or negotiable. It’s the foundation that every good thing in my life stands on today. It’s called a journey because it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Now seven years sober, Smith is using that foundation as the driving force behind her run in the Ms. Health and Fitness HERS Cover Competition: a national contest that awards a $20,000 grand prize and a magazine cover feature.
“I’m trying to turn my mess into my purpose,” she said. “I’m trying to use this national platform to shine a light so those who are still suffering can see that there is still hope.”
Smith’s sober date is Sept. 10, 2018. At the time, she and her husband had just purchased a home in Whispering Pines.
Soon after, she entered rehab. There, she struggled to connect.
“A lot of us started out thinking alcohol was the problem,” she said. “That if we could just control it, everything would fall back into place.”
When that failed, shame set in—particularly as a mother.
“The shame of not being able to ‘just don’t drink,’ especially as a mother, kept me isolated, struggling, depressed,” she said. “Asking for help was the moment my life actually started to change.”
At her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, a stranger named Mark sat with her outside when she was too afraid to walk in.
“He said to me, ‘Don’t worry, kid. The newcomer is the most important person in the room. I’m here until you’re ready,’” Smith recalled. “Because of that, I am here today.”
From that point, Smith credits herself for doing the work of recovery.
“I personally credit myself for my sobriety,” explains Smith. “I fought for it. It didn’t just happen to me. I earned it, and I continue to put in the reps. Every opportunity, relationship, and goal I have now exists because I finally asked for help. I treat my sobriety with reverence because I know exactly what it cost to get here, and I choose it daily.”
Fitness became central to her recovery, though not immediately in the way it looks today.
“Early on, I used movement to replace consuming alcohol,” she said. “One addiction can morph into another. But I also did the mental and emotional work alongside of it.”
In rehab, she found common ground playing pickup basketball and walking in the mornings.
“Fitness supports my recovery rather than replaces my desire to cope by using alcohol,” she said. “It’s become the platform I use to reach and support others in the recovery community.”
Madeline Smith shares photos from her recovery and fitness journey.
Today, Smith runs her own business creating AutoCAD-generated residential floor plans and estimates for real estate marketing while finishing a bachelor’s degree in architecture that she began in 2004 at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her husband, who serves in the military, is completing the Physician Assistant program at Womack Army Medical Center.
Although she no longer regularly attends AA meetings, she returns each year to collect her sobriety chip. Smith said the recovery community in Moore County played a decisive role in her journey.
“Community fuels recovery,” she said. “Without the people in those rooms, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Smith first entered the Ms. Health and Fitness competition in 2023, when she had roughly 250 social media followers. She advanced to the semifinals. At the time, she believed she needed a larger platform to make an impact.
Now, Smith has partnered with the Shields & Stripes Foundation, a nonprofit founded in Moore County that provides trauma-informed therapy and support to veterans and first responders.
“Their approach embodies everything I believe in, and what worked for me,” she said. “Redirecting a platform that could be used for personal gain into something that supports resilience for those families is incredibly important to me.”
If she wins the $20,000 grand prize, Smith said she will donate it to support a veteran or first responder in recovery through the foundation.
She said she hopes readers take away a broader message: “Addiction rarely looks the way society expects it to. It’s not about weakness. It’s about coping, trauma, and wiring. And recovery is possible … Recovery happens in community, and there is a community full of people who will extend their hand and help pull you from the darkness, but you have to extend yours first so we can find you.”
To visit Smith’s profile on Ms. Health and Fitness and learn more about the voting process, please click here. She can be found on Instagram at her handle @swolesober.
Photos contributed by Madeline Smith.
Abegail Murphy | Assistant Editor
Written by Sandhills Sentinel assistant editor Abegail Murphy. Abegail has been writing for Sandhills Sentinel since 2021.
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