Wendy Kaufman credits her job at Snapple with helping her get sober after a decade of cocaine use starting in the 1980s.
The former beverage publicist who became famous as “Wendy, the Snapple Lady” opened up about her wild drug addiction in an interview with People magazine published Wednesday.
Kaufman, 67, told the media that he first “tried cocaine” the night he graduated from Syracuse University in 1980 “with several different degrees.”
“I knew I was an addict and I knew I was going to love it,” she said. “And that was the beginning of a 10-year relationship with cocaine, where I got into quite a bit of trouble with it.”
Her cocaine addiction became so severe that Ms. Kaufman’s family organized an intervention for her in 1990 that “ended up saving (her) life” and enabled her to enter rehab.
“That’s what I needed,” Kaufman said. “I was so grateful. I ended up going to the hospital and the 28 days turned into 45 days, which turned into 10 months. I used that time to get myself back together.”
“I was told I was going to die if I didn’t get help. I really didn’t have a choice,” she added.
But quitting drinking also meant, for Kaufman, that he had to “learn how to live life on his terms” and “not get spoiled” by relying on his family’s steel business.
Kaufman joined Snapple in April 1991 through a friend of his father’s.
Kaufman started in the audit department, but was quickly promoted to head of PR after deciding to “do good” for Snapple’s fans and all of the customers who contacted the company.
“A big part of my sobriety was getting out of my own head and doing nice things for other people, because I wasn’t that kind and they weren’t that kind to me,” she explained.
“I started working with the letters and was like, ‘Oh my god, not only is this a gift to sobriety to do something great for people, but it makes me feel so good about myself. This is the work of God. This is incredible. This just showed up to me and I went from there,'” Kaufman added.
Quaker Oats Company eventually acquired Snapple in 1994, and in 2008 fired the beloved Snapple Lady as her spokesperson.
Prior to that, Kaufman appeared in dozens of commercials and made countless public appearances across the United States.
But 18 years after quitting her job, Kaufman still credits Snapple with helping her stay sober and allowing her to do “much more” than she would have if she hadn’t become a Snapple lady.
“I couldn’t have done this without Snapple because they saw something in me and supported me,” she exclaimed.
“I got to go on Oprah. I got on Joan Rivers and David Letterman’s top 10 lists. I did everything a normal person could only dream of,” Kaufman concluded. “There is much more work to be done.”
If you or a loved one is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call SAMHSA’s national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
