Reclaiming Your Hue

Ep. 33 with Andrea Anderson | Founder & Owner, Andrea Leigh Co. Coaching & Consulting

• Kelly Kirk • Season 1 • Episode 33

Share episode

Balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship is a formidable task, but Andrea, our dynamic guest, shares her inspiring journey of doing so with faith as her anchor. Her love for Cleveland and its vibrant culture plays an integral part in her story, as does her early passion for business—fueled by ventures as imaginative as selling artwork at the age of four. Listeners will discover the importance of impactful relationships, like our connection through Kimberly Sanderson, illustrating how these bonds can profoundly shape personal and professional lives.

Amidst the chaos of family life and business ambitions, the road to becoming a successful business coach is fraught with challenges. From the early days of juggling motherhood to the transformative decision in 2018 to fully embrace her calling, our host shares the messy yet rewarding process of unlearning toxic mindsets and building a coaching career aligned with kingdom values. With faith over fear as a guiding principle, this episode sheds light on setting healthy boundaries and harnessing spiritual guidance, while also navigating the evolving role of technology in business.

Andrea Lee also brings her expertise to the conversation, highlighting the significance of overcoming stress and anxiety in business coaching. By aligning health coaching principles with business performance, the episode draws powerful parallels, likening stress management to a chiropractor’s adjustments. Personal reflections reveal how to find wisdom through dark moments, emphasizing the power of a strong support network. With meaningful insights from andrealeighco.com, whose resources are readily accessible via AndreaLee.com, listeners are invited to connect and explore the depths of entrepreneurship, family, and faith in this enriching episode.

Connect with Andrea:

Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:

  • Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com

Get Connected/Follow:

Credits:

  • Editor: Joseph Kirk
  • Music: Kristofer Tanke


Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!

Speaker 1:

Good morning Andrea. Hi, I'm so excited to be here. I am so excited for you to be here too. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm good, good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a beautiful cold day here in Cleveland, but yeah, well, it's a beautiful, cold day here in the Twin Cities as well, and we're thriving, though this is one of the first days, by the way, like we've gone, you know, almost 14 days into the month of December without really a lot of snow or just icky, icky weather. Today is one of those days, though, like we're going to have sleet, and it's it's just, you know, winter is here. Winter is officially here. Well, I'm, like I said, so happy and honored to have you here and really excited for our listeners to get the opportunity to hear about you, your story of motherhood and entrepreneurship and how faith has really played a role in all of that too. So let's go ahead and get started. I always like to ask my guests how it is that we got connected, and I would love for you to share the story of how you and I met.

Speaker 2:

I believe it was through a mutual friend. It might've been through.

Speaker 1:

Luna, I think. I think it was Kimberly Sanderson.

Speaker 2:

Or maybe it was Kimberly Okay, I think. I think it was Kimberly Sanderson, or maybe it was Kimberly Okay.

Speaker 1:

It's like there's so many connections and so many amazing women that I have met, so yes, yeah, yeah, I think it was Kimberly Sanderson, and remind me how, how the two of you know one know one another.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I believe we connected somehow through Facebook, and then we also connected through LinkedIn, and I love it.

Speaker 1:

I love it. You're like I'm pretty sure I think it was yeah, you know, and how am I connected to Kimberly? She is just one of those people that is I like to put it this way and for the listeners just bear with me but like, once she gets her claws in you in a very positive, impactful way, she just wants to support you and uplift you. She's one of those people Like she's that top third of people that you want to have in your life that just really uplift you and support you and I love that about her. I just love it. And she's really like she has connected me to some really phenomenal women Um, you being one of them, and how powerful that we're here now, connected from Cleveland to the twin cities and back, and it's just so cool. I love how God just works in that very beautiful way.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and I loved when we first talked how you're like. I love Cleveland Cause me too yeah. Yeah, yeah, like I do.

Speaker 1:

I love it. It's just nobody really felt that same way when I shared that Testament. They're like isn't it like the armpit of the United States? Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And it gets a bad rap and it's almost like I feel like Cleveland is a best kept secret in this area. Yeah, so if you all have the, if you've never been to Cleveland, it's amazing Foodie town, so many great resources in this area. Yeah, I'm happy to champion.

Speaker 1:

You know and I do just want to share this with the listeners because I think it's kind of fun and fruitful than playing off of what you're saying so I had the opportunity.

Speaker 1:

I was working in property management and the company I was working for was nationwide, and so they had this brand new startup building there and it was right on the river, on the river bend, like where it meets the lake, and I they were like we want you to go and help support this lease up, and so I had the opportunity to go spend I think it was like two weeks that I spent there, stayed at one of the really beautiful hotels next door to it and I just got to explore. I got to explore with one of the other sales manager that was there and I mean, I really just went all around the downtown Cleveland setting and got to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and that was years and years and years ago, like I had been in mortgage starting in 2017. So it would have been even before then, and I can only imagine that it has grown and developed so much since then. So, yeah, absolutely Make your way to Cleveland.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you can ask me to be your tour guide. I always love doing it. There you go.

Speaker 1:

There you go. Well, let's actually get into the meat and potatoes of the interview. We could sit here and talk about Cleveland for quite a while, I'm sure, but I'm sure our listeners like yeah, yeah, yeah, Move on, let's. Let's get to the fruitful part. What came first for you, Andrea? Was it entrepreneurship or did motherhood come first?

Speaker 2:

Well, technically, I would say motherhood, when we think about entrepreneurship, is actually having a job. But I've always been entrepreneurial. So I had my first sale when I was four years old and after my first sale I immediately marked my prices up by 400%, naturally. Naturally, because you do that. So, a little bit behind the story, I had created what I see as custom artwork with cotton balls and crayons on this paper and I went to my dad and I said dad, you like this picture? And he said, yes, I was like it is a penny. So he paid me like boom, I'm onto something. So I turned around and sold next to my mom for five cents.

Speaker 1:

Love it. She was like wait, is that how it's supposed to work? But I'm sure that they were just like immensely proud of you at the same time, like wow, look at her. And we didn't even have to coach her and mentor her through that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and then I like to say I co-owned my first restaurant, or a restaurant, with my best friend when I was 11. And because it was so successful, we opened a second location, but it was in her basement instead of mine.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I love it. It's so great.

Speaker 2:

So that entrepreneurial thread clearly was strong. But when we talk about like adult entrepreneurship, that came for me after motherhood. It was actually becoming a mother. So I have four children and after my daughter was born I was in the marketing communications field and the firm that I worked with was actually a small woman owned firm. They were pretty progressive in their approach because they started their firm out of a job share situation with at the time it was National City Bank and they were like we could offer the services better than vendors. So that's why they started their firm. So, and also because of their family, so they were very gracious.

Speaker 2:

When I had my daughter I was able to actually job share with another woman who also had her first child at the same time. But about a year after I realized I wanted more say so over my time and flexibility. So again they were gracious and kept me on as a freelancer until I had our second child 20 months later and right around that time that was when the economy was tanking, because this was back in 2000. That would have been 2006. So at that point I was like, ok, I'm going to focus on motherhood, but again that entrepreneurial aspect and just I do I love working started to come up for me.

Speaker 2:

So I ended up starting an organizing business with a friend and it was actually in that that I I the Lord called me to coaching, which is what I do now, because it was really early on and I was sensing there's more than what, there's more to what is going on for people than they just don't know how to organize. And the idea of going into a space, getting it looking great and organized, but it going back to chaos it just didn't sit well with me. So it was actually during nap time, a time of prayer, and I was like Lord, how do I actually help people on a transformative level? And I heard almost audibly never had this experience before this time but I heard life coach. I was like is life coach?

Speaker 2:

Cause this was 2006. Yeah, and you know, the coaching industry was really in its infancy at that time. I'm like, well, if this is God and not me, I'll Google it and it'll come up, which it did. So that's how I got my coaching certification and there's been a lot of twists and turns since then, but really that's how that worked for me.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful, what a beautiful story, and I love that you were like audibly. I heard it because I do like. That was a kind of a pending question for me, even within the last 24 hours of having another gal interviewed on Thursday. It was like, how do you really decipher this difference between like as you are going actively into prayer and praying on something, the thoughts that come to you, versus like what could intuitively be coming to you from God? I don't know, I have always had faith as kind of that foundational piece for me, but now I'm really coming into like strengthening that, and prayer is one of the ways that I'm strengthening that and I don't I can't say that I've ever audibly like heard anything like intuitively, and then I go, oh, is that me or is that God speaking to me? I don't know, I just don't know. And so maybe we could spend just a little bit of time talking about what that, what that, has looked like for you over the years.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that moment it took, I think, a number of years before I had those experiences again. And if you want to know the voice of the Lord, you just need to ask right, because he tells us in scripture he promises If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior, he is your good shepherd. And he says my sheep will know my voice and we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is our communication channel. So the first thing is you got to claim that scripture. And I talked to so many Christians that are walking around doubting if they know how to hear God or that they're hearing him clearly. And I say like, while there's wisdom in not assuming you're always hearing God, like there's wisdom in asking him right for confirmation. He wants his children to know that we know what his voice sounds like and it sounds differently. It's not like I always hear God audibly. I would say those moments are much fewer and further between.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes it's just this, I don't. It's like something in my spirit that resonates. It's again, the spirit will communicate in non-words, right? It says like sometimes it's through whatever. So it's not. It's not like we are talking right now. It's not always that obvious. I mean, there's so many times where I'm like Lord, can you just text me it?

Speaker 1:

would be a lot easier.

Speaker 2:

But part of that is growing our faith muscle and it's asking him to grow that faith muscle as well. And one of the ways that he's like, okay, I'm going to help you grow it is is having that. It's taking that leap of faith and trusting as you send something like. First we're like, okay, does this go against God's word at all? And as long as it doesn't go against God's word, right, it's consistent with what we know about his character. Then you take a step of faith and trust. He's gonna let you know whether that was the step he was inviting you to take or whether you're starting to go astray. And I'd say like that only by taking those steps when you don't know are you going to better learn and discern when it's his voice versus when it isn't. So yeah, so you can grow that. Like one of the things he had me do.

Speaker 2:

I participated in the summit recently and I felt like he put on my heart to pray for the speakers. I'm like, okay, you know it's praying for people, that's what we do as Christians. But then he was like no, I want you to tell them what I'm giving you for them. So so I was okay. Well, I'm like, give me the word that you have. And so I reached out and was just like hey, this is, you know what I felt like the Lord was saying.

Speaker 2:

And it was amazing to see how, how on target the majority of those were. And these were not women, most of them, I didn't know, never met before. Halfway. About halfway through, I was like I'm not, I'm only going to see their name, I'm not going to look at anything about them first and ask and it was like it was that was confirmation or like that's practicing right, it's developing the faith faith muscle. And I would say to them listen, I could be completely off base. If this is from the Lord, you'll know it, because he will confirm it or he's already been talking to you about that so beautiful.

Speaker 1:

I love that you just shared that instance too and really tied all of that together and thank, thank you.

Speaker 1:

That was super helpful for me because that was really sort of this like pending question that I had as I had the interview on Thursday. Now coming into this interview and sort of hearing this key theme of like trusting in what God is asking you to do and hearing him talk through that with you and I'm like, what does that look like? And again, it's maybe that it has been the circumstance for me in various ways where I'm questioning or I'm doubting, and having this conversation with God and having faith over fear in certain circumstances. My guess is it probably had a lot to do with what was coming to me and I thought, oh, maybe that was just my own intuitive thoughts, probably not. So thank you for providing clarity in that Cause. That was super helpful.

Speaker 1:

I want to go back because you had mentioned that you have four children. Can you provide the ages of them? And then I'd like to just give context to the listeners of when you started this journey into coaching as well and where the kids were at, and then we can kind of dive into that motherhood piece and then we can kind of dive into that motherhood piece?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely so. Currently I have four kids who are our daughter's 21. And then we have three boys who are 19, 18, and 15. I get three months where I get to do like night or 21, 19, 17, 15. But what as soon as our son, who in October, turns out like how old are?

Speaker 2:

they now, so yeah, they are now as far as context. So the call to coaching again that came out of having this organizing business with a friend I was actually pregnant with our third child are now 18 year old at the time, so that was back in 2006, but I was obedient to get my coaching certification, and that took about a year and a half to two years to get that. When I got that, though, I had this. It was a moment both of that tug of motherhood but also fear. So the motherhood part was, you know, back in 2008, even the idea of an online business wasn't I'm sure people had the vision of it, but the technology, the abilities, that it wasn't there like it is now, and had this moment of okay, if I'm going to do this as a business, and that means I need to go outside of the home and do networking and relationship building and there was that mother part of me was like, oh, I don't want to have to always leave my kids or work that around. So I was like I'll just set this aside until they get older.

Speaker 2:

So in the meantime, we had our fourth child, and then, when he went to kindergarten so we fast forward from about 2008 to about 2018, I knew that that was okay. I'm, I'm freed up to really pursue the business. Also, by then, online business was very much part of the fabric of the marketplace, but I still had this fear, so I didn't. I decided what I wanted to do, which was step in with an MLM because they call them their distributors, coaches instead of just trusting the Lord but he had actually spoken to, like 2018, where he's like you need to do what I told you to do, which is actually coach, not kind of sort of pretend you're coaching, but coach. So that really started my journey into coaching and leading up to what I do now.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, so beautiful. And also I love that you really encapsulize this moment of, encapsulize this moment of I I understood that there was this, this probing of what I should do. I also understood that there's a time and a place for it and to allow motherhood to really take the reins in that circumstance and then come back when time really felt like it was right, and also working through this emotion of fear. But how beautiful is it that you can literally go to those individuals that you are coaching and go faith over fear, baby. And I want to give you some examples of what this has looked like. And let me start with my personal story. This is what my personal story has looked like. And just know that everything that you want and dream of is on the other side of fear. And this is the resounding like, like instances of that and what it looks like. It's just so powerful and I love that you can tie all of that in very beautifully.

Speaker 1:

So what were some of the ways that you were harmonizing that with? You know, having having your children, that now four of them you're kind of full on swing into the things with the coaching business and there's a lot of independence that has been established with your children by that time point. But you're still mom and you guys are still parents, and your children four still need you. So what were some of the peaks and valleys that you had experienced as you were diving full on into being an independent coach? Away from this how did you phrase it? The MLM of like coaching? What did all of that look like for you?

Speaker 2:

Very messy. I, especially starting with the MLM and again the on the idea of running a business through the online space was a much newer concept and when you're just starting out in general in business in general but anything new you are looking to people who seem like they are succeeding as guides, right, and I mean the Bible says we do need advisors, with many advisors, and succeed. So that isn't the bad thing, but I didn't really consider the source or I kind of brushed that to the side. I justified well, these people are succeeding specifically in this MLM space. So who am I to? Even though I know the Lord was giving me words to do things differently, because he's always done that for me.

Speaker 2:

I brushed that to the side because it was a who am I? I've never built a multi six figure business Like I've never done this before, and so adopted a lot of toxic mindsets and habits that came along with that, and so then there's a process of unlearning things that you learn, and I know this happens for many business owners, especially in the online space, because of the level of information and people that you're exposed to. I actually believe the Lord is on the move in the marketplace right now, specifically for people who are saying they are kingdom and who are believers, because he's seen this and you think about a lot of the business practices that are in place. They're not coming out of believers, they're coming out of the world. So, even as believers, like there's this, I feel like there's this sifting that he wants to do to say what really is kingdom and then what is not.

Speaker 2:

But so, yes, very messy. It definitely impacted my time and also perception of what it looks like to work, like when it's my family on the phone, a lot like. Actually, I resisted getting a smartphone until I was several months, I think, into that MLM, because I was like, oh, who needs to be on the phone all the time? But then it is a tool that does make things easier, right?

Speaker 1:

So then the perception is.

Speaker 2:

The perception is you are, you're always on the phone, you're always working and, fair enough, I did not have healthy boundaries around that. So, again, that was something that I had to work through and, in addition to a lot of fears, my own fears and just negative self-talk that were present, things that I had to work through. So there are. There's actually been a lot of valleys, a lot of valleys, but the peaks are seeing God's patience in like, encouraging me but, yeah, bringing encouragement, coming to a place now where I feel much more confident in him and I've had to learn new levels of trust in him, in how he's created me and in the abilities that he's given to me.

Speaker 1:

So beautiful.

Speaker 1:

I I love that you are.

Speaker 1:

Again, you're diving into those valleys and talking about how there's these different traits that you started to encompass, and I mean it's that you started to encompass and I mean it's we're all susceptible and we're all guilty of it, right, and whether that's like I mean I can.

Speaker 1:

The first example that's really coming to mind is like this whole realm of social media and how we're just over inundated with so much information that there one, there's a little bit of analysis, of paralysis or vice versa, paralysis of analysis.

Speaker 1:

And also, because you have this at your fingertips and you've got people nationwide and even internationally at your fingertips, all through our smartphones, it's hard not to dive into these lives of people and feel like you're comparing yourself to them too, and so I don't want to assume that that's some of the things that you were working through, but I can undoubtedly say that I'm sure that there are listeners right now that are going, raising their hand and saying, yeah, absolutely. And this is, you know, really been a prominent thing, especially over the last couple of years, as we keep just elevating what that technology looks like through our smartphones. Wonderful tool, however, creating the borders and the boundaries around it. It's so critical and so important and I'm glad that you bring that up. Are you willing to go to this space of some of those areas of toxicity that you had talked about and how you peeled back those onion layers to come back to who you, you are, who Andrea is, so that then you can, as a coach, pour into other people?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I feel like we could go in different directions with this, so for sure, with the phone and those boundaries. It took a bit for me to come to humbling myself in relationship with my husband and realizing, like, if he's expressing this frustration, that as his wife, it is my job to hear that and to consider it and even and to stop justifying, while I'm doing this to build a business, right, right, cause I've come to one of the Lord. The analogies that the Lord has given to me based on what I'm doing now is if your business and your life are fighting like siblings, like that's, he's not going to reward that and realizing our definition as business owners of prospering and success is so narrow. It usually comes down to what's in your bank account and specifically, what's getting you to get that money in your bank account. But I don't believe the Lord is going to champion anything that has you creating relational stress or remaining in spiritual poverty for the sake of what you're building in your bank account or your business.

Speaker 1:

He just isn't that is really a great testament and I truly resonate with that that. I also want to tie in one of my original OG previous guests. Um, who's a habit coach, deidre Wegman. I don't know if you had an opportunity to like plug into that episode, but I mean she she really talks about and pours into this idea of like how is your lifestyle a part of your business and how is your business a part of your lifestyle? Because only at that point can it really be symbiotic and like, can you harmonize this, and when you're able to do that, that's when that energy flow is just so much more positive and so much better, and I love that you also then go. God isn't going to want you to have this like rivalry between your lifestyle and your business. How can, how can it come together? How can they mesh together? What has that looked like for you? What has that?

Speaker 2:

looked like for you. Again, it can feel messy at times, but it is linked to trusting the Lord, especially with our time no-transcript, and we always have ideas and visions and possibilities of what can be done and very long to-do lists, and so the act of trust is realizing our to-do list is always gonna be longer than the hours that we have in a day and we don't even know what's gonna happen one minute from now, two seconds from now. We don't. We need to have the humility to recognize we don't even know what's going to happen one minute from now, two seconds from now. We don't. We need to have the humility to recognize we don't know. And so one of the ways that I encourage my clients and help them to shift their thinking around time is acknowledging if the Lord has given you a family, that is, after him, your highest priority, and he knows what is going on with your family members. He knows when your kids are going to interrupt you, he knows when there's a crisis that's coming, and so he's not shaming you if you don't get to your to-do list because your child needs you or your husband needs you or your parents need you. So it's learning how to walk all of that out together.

Speaker 2:

And that's really where the coaching comes in, because it's it's not linear, it's not straightforward. Everyone has their own stories that come with it, so it's just figuring out. Okay, we got to start separating. What is the Lord calling you to? What is what have you obligated yourself to that? He's like no, I never asked you to do that or never asked you to take that on. And then, as you start to steward what he's actually given you when you have interruptions, remembering he saw those coming, and so it's like that act of faith and trust again like what are you going to do in that moment?

Speaker 1:

Oh it's, it's so good. Andrea and I I can't help but just share this with the listeners that perhaps, once everything pans out with like the audio of this podcast literally in the moment as you were saying, all of that there was on my end what I'm hearing is some glitchiness, right, and I'm like the Lord probably. He already probably knew that that was going to happen and maybe maybe, just maybe, after everything is hashed out, that it actually comes out like super clear. We'll see, we'll just see. We kind of have to just go with the flow sometimes.

Speaker 1:

But I think one of the thoughts that had come to my head as you were explaining that is it's not necessarily a test, right? It's how are you going to respond? How are you going to react in those circumstances? How are you going to respond in patients, like what is patients going to look like through all of that? In patience, like what is patience going to look like through all of that? What are the specific muscles that you're going to exercise that, um, God really wants you to lean into? And it's probably patience, it's probably perseverance, and I'm sure all of these are specific components of who we are as human beings that you talk through with your clients to patience, perseverance, tenacity and just like really sitting in that, that trust in what's about to happen for you and that it's always going to be an opportunity to learn.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and it's not easy. I mean, he had to deal with me. It was actually September of this year. So, first of all, he gave me two words for 2024, which was go when I was like yes, you're momentum, and then he's like I saw almost in parentheses slow. I was like, oh, so when that? Yeah, and isn't it funny that that's our reaction, right, Especially when we're go-getters is wait a minute.

Speaker 2:

How does slow fit? That doesn't sound fun. So finally and I can be't fully getting it I told you to go slow, so I had to do that in September. So walking things out and at a much slower pace, taking things off of my calendar. It wasn't comfortable but it was good. I came out of that month with a much more settled piece and realizing well, and this is the other thing with technology that you kind of touched on, especially with AI, is because now it feels like we have the tools to do things at warp speed, but it's like that's not God's intention and, yeah, so it's. It's again. It's complicated, there's a lot of wrestling that's involved, but through this year I'm learning. Yeah, it's, it's like taking that deep breath and practicing staying in step with the Lord instead of racing ahead or sometimes lagging behind.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And then it's yeah to your point. It's like how do you create that? This is probably one of the very few times that I'll use the word balance, right, like. Usually I like to replace balance with harmonizing, but, like, this is probably one of the very few times that I'll say like, how can you create that balance of? Like that I'll say, like, how can you create that balance of like okay, go slow in God's time, but then not so slow that it's like, okay, now we're not actually moving the needle the way that he wants you to, or that like aligns with really that vision of where you see yourself personally, or yourself professionally, going, and then also people that you're working with too and having the patience as you're coaching them through some of those kinks, so to speak. I had this question come to mind of like when was your your big leap of faith, like full-on going into this coaching? Like, what was? What year was it?

Speaker 2:

Again, that was around 2018, but actually there's a moment that was a bigger leap of faith that I felt like since, like, the Lord wants me to share this story, so I've noticed that again, as entrepreneurs, it's really easy. Typically, we like to be in control and it's really easy for us to be in a decision making role, which means we are often the ones that are deciding what we think needs to be done in our business, and that is a huge part of my story. That is a huge part of my story Again. I had decided to go to the MLM because I was like this I justified doing it Right and that wasn't what the Lord had called me to. When I went into coaching in 2018, I didn't stop and ask Lord specifically what kind of coach? I decided health coaching because I had had a health transformation. I got a health coaching certification and it was good. Actually, again, the way that the Lord works and redeems and all of that. He's using that today.

Speaker 2:

But I still continue to wrestle for more years than it was. Just, it was frustrating, just continue to wrestle with trying to build a business. And it was frustrating, just continue to wrestle with trying to build a business. And it was in 2022 yeah, 2022 that I'd started a partnership with a friend. Like on paper, it should have gone really good, like us working together collaboratively to help grow a business. Well, it went so and it was hard like we're both believers and it wasn't like we wanted it to go that way. There was like a lot of tears, prayers, all of that. So we finally came to the conclusion, like not even a year into this partnership, you know, we just need to end, like the legal part of the partnership, but come at this at a little different way. That might work a little better. We had brought people into the program, so we also didn't want to leave them hanging. Well, it still continued to be very painful and challenging and yet, when we decided to legally end the partnership, I saw my business partner like she started to have a lot of success, people coming in and I didn't, and so I was having it out with God and I still remember it was.

Speaker 2:

I was taking a walk along Lake Erie, actually, where I live, and I was like Lord, like what the heck? Like I thought I was doing this for you. You know, I knew like why, why am I struggling so hard and why is my business partner seeing the success? Like? It was so painful, and again almost audibly, what I heard was, well, she's walking in her favor and you aren't. I was like, who talk about like a gut punch? Wow, so 2023, beginning of 2023, I was like, okay, I, it was like having a come to Jesus moment.

Speaker 2:

I'm like I need to stop what I'm doing. And that was and the the funny thing is, kelly I had sensed for years, like in seeing my own struggle in business, that I'm like I just wish I could start over, start fresh, but I didn't. I, I was too afraid to actually make that leap, yeah. And so it came to that moment and I was like, okay, I need to do what I have said all along I want to do. And so I took.

Speaker 2:

I was like, okay, god, this is completely in your hands. I have no idea how this is going to look. I will not do anything until I have clarity from you. Well, he's gracious. So within a few weeks, I knew it was business coaching was actually where I was meant to land. But then I took more time to pray about what that actually was, because you know, business coaching, you can go in so many different directions and even since then it's still been a process and a walking it out and learning. And then I really feel like it wasn't until the summer of this year where he kind of brought everything into focus, like bringing that health coaching in as well as the faith and business aspect. So now I realize he's gifted me to be like a chiropractor, but for faith and business, because he helps me to see where these misalignments are showing up, how we aren't actually walking out the way the Lord has called us to. Because of my story, right, because I've done such an awesome job of not aligning myself with him.

Speaker 2:

So it's like that plank and speck parable living itself out. He had to work with me to get that plank out of my eyes so I can help with the speck in others so that they can grow their business in alignment with him and to really prosper in all ways, not just financially.

Speaker 1:

I resonate so much with all that you just shared and I recollect from our initial conversation over zoom which gosh I feel like that was. It felt like it was months ago when it really wasn't probably that long ago, but I remember you sharing about that health aspect of the coaching and what's really interesting about our journey as entrepreneurs, as women, is to really take into respect this holistic viewpoint of what that looks like and this was really made like. My eyes were opened up very clearly to this like holistic wheel approach to how you handle life in general. And again this goes to the lifestyle and business meshing together.

Speaker 1:

It's when you really take that holistic approach to how you handle your personal and your business life, and health is a major aspect of that, because when you're not operating in and it shouldn't always have to be at peak performance, right but there is this component of going what am I putting into my body? How am I moving my body? How mentally like my brain? What am I intaking mentally? That is shifting one way or another how I'm looking at things. I love that you all of a sudden had this click, alignment moment of like oh, I can utilize all of what I had been doing with health coaching into business coaching. Talk through when you had that alignment. How has that evolved for you? What has that looked like?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's still newer, but even being able to give language to it, as I share that analogy of the chiropractor, that that was from the Lord I've had so many people be like, oh, I get it, Like I understand what that looks like. And for anyone who's ever been to a chiropractor, like you know, oh, that there's things that you think are unrelated, that are actually connected to your spine, and yet the chiropractor is gifted and skilled and being able to figure out you know where things are, are not in alignment, and yet the chiropractor is gifted and skilled and being able to figure out you know where things are, are not in alignment, and then how that frees you up to move forward.

Speaker 2:

And so, for me, the place where the health part really lands cause I don't I'm not going to do things around nutrition or exercise, I will refer that out but the part that the Lord is using specifically is stress, is how stress shows that, because I believe stress is misunderstood and even anxiety is misunderstood and they're connected. So, realizing that a lot of times when we think of anxiety, it is I need medication, I need counseling, or like we have a specific picture, I think, of what anxiety looks like. And so one of the things he showed me was well, there's high functioning anxiety, where on the surface, it looks like you're doing fine, but underneath, that's where all the doubts are coming in, where worries about money or clients, customers, coming in, overguess or overthinking and trying to do things perfectly and from a place of people pleasing.

Speaker 2:

There's so many aspects and it was almost like having that term high functioning anxiety. It ties a bow on all of these factors that show up and impact our businesses because it creates this stop and start. It's like going back to that go and slow. It's like you're trying to. If you're trying to drive your car and you have your foot on the gas pedal but you also have your foot on the brake, yeah. Or if you, or if you're trying to drive with your emergency brake on.

Speaker 2:

That's what high functioning anxiety, to me too, is. It's like I'm trying to go, but I've got my emergency break on, and so it just creates deterioration and stuckness, and it's so much easier to maintain momentum once you have it. Then it is to to deal with your stop and start patterns, and so I love that he gave me that background in health coaching Again, that kind of redemption and that grace and that mercy that comes in, because it's such a critical piece of being able to help my clients like clear out those, those underlying blocks that have actually stopped them from being in alignment with the Lord in their business.

Speaker 1:

How powerful and how fortunate are the clients to be working alongside you. Seriously.

Speaker 2:

It's all. It's all his work. It goes back to I I don't know what they need. He knows what they need, so we're just trusting him to do his work in the session and that's why I yes, that's why I know that the clients who work with me get the results they do, because it's not about me, it's just creating this space for God to do the work he's been wanting to do and to have me come alongside and to encourage and then help, show them or help them to see, like, where these subtleties lie, so they can clear them out.

Speaker 1:

I am curious if you're willing to be brave and share what a very dark moment has been for you. I know you had spoke earlier in our conversation about going through your own specific journeys health journey and how you could speak to some of that but are you willing to be brave and share one of those really dark moments and how you worked through it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the one of the darkest moments I can remember was when my kids were actually little, had our fourth child in June of so it would be 2009. And in that time I decided to homeschool my daughter. It was such. The reason was because I couldn't figure out how am I going to go get her at nap time. That was what got started me looking into the homeschooling thing. So it was fear. It was a fear base Like how am I going to figure this out? Me self-reliance too, but I did see the positives and the beautiful things in homeschooling so I was like, okay, I'm going to do this. So have a fourth child, decide to homeschool.

Speaker 2:

And then, a couple months later, my husband and I have owned rental properties and we took on another one that ended up being this nightmare, like we had to replace. It was a it's a three family home. We had to replace the stack for all three floors and we had to replace the sewer line from the house to the street. So if anybody who is listening has familiarity with house projects, you know that. You know. You know what that was like and it was a hefty bill that we weren't expecting and because our intention was to have one of my sisters my youngest sister be one of our tenants and in that time that we bought the house they announced they were expecting their first child. So literally we had a specific deadline right. So my husband and my parents were both working to try and get this house ready for them, literally with this deadline of my nephew's arrival looming. And so in that time what happened was again I have four kids who are like six years old and under homeschooling, somewhat dealing with that like secondhand dealing with that stress of this house, having feeling like I couldn't ask for help because I felt I was being selfish If I said to my parents or my husband like I need you here, I need you to not work on the house because the focus was on that. So that was very actually traumatic for me and it was dark and it spun into this time of putting all of this pressure on myself to feel like I had to figure it out. And we have anxiety in our family line, so I know that was playing into it too and not really realizing it.

Speaker 2:

But I persevered with the homeschooling for two and a half years and then there came this moment. It was actually right around this time of year. So this would have been like a couple of years after we had started that house project where I yelled at my daughter because she couldn't figure out how to solve a math problem and yeah it was. I like I have lost all perspective. I don't know I've I've lost perspective on. Is this like my daughter just being? You know, kids are like, oh, I don't want to do the work. Versus mom, I understand, I'm like I need to stop.

Speaker 2:

So I literally called the school district. I was like um, after the break, can the my kids like get, can we enroll them in school? And and I remember the whoever I was talking to they're like well, the semester doesn't end till the end of January. Do you want to just wait till? Then I was like I was. I would have had a breakdown. If they told me that I had to wait till the end of January, I probably would have like burst into tears.

Speaker 2:

I'm back to school at the beginning of January because I felt that desperate and it was hard. Kelly and I felt like when, um, so it was our daughter and our oldest son that ended up going into the school system again that first day, I felt like there was a huge weight that lifted off of me. I felt like I could breathe again. But it wasn't until a few weeks, maybe, into this change, that my husband made a comment. I can't even remember what the situation was, but I laughed and he's like I haven't heard you laugh for months.

Speaker 2:

Wow, and I had no idea. I had no idea that it had gotten that bad, where I hadn't even left, where my husband couldn't even remember me laughing. So, yes, that is definitely the darkest moment and I didn't want to. I didn't want to be there. And I remember asking God like why can you just remove this anxiety and this tension from me? And he spoke through two things, like so, talking about the different ways God speaks to you, you know, in the movie Finding Nemo, where, where Marlon and Dory are facing that, that trench that they're supposed to go through right, and Dory's like we just have to go through it. And I started crying because I felt like God is saying we just have to go through it. And then I was reading I think it was Going on a Bear Hunt. You know that book, right?

Speaker 1:

Where it's like we can't go over it.

Speaker 2:

We can't go under it, we just have to go through it again. I started bawling. I was like oh my gosh.

Speaker 1:

You know, I have to giggle with you because, darn Disney movies and, just like as an adult, as a parent, as you're watching that, and both my husband and I have had these moments Encanto was one of them as we were watching it and my husband and I at one point look at each other and we're just tears streaming down our faces because we are, you know, understanding the power in some of the words and just working through some of those issues that the characters are going through and applying it to our own lives and stuff that we may had already gone through or that we were currently going through. I'm like Walt Disney's got it figured out. He really knows how to pull at those heartstrings, like just encapsulating it for the children but bringing it home for the parents. And then children's books too. You know it's as you're reading it, it really it's almost sometimes as I'm reading books for my daughter.

Speaker 1:

I'm like I think this is actually for me and not for her, like I think I needed to have this moment. As I'm reading through some of these words and go, oh yeah, that was actually for me. It's just, it's wild Some of the ways, you know, you talk about how God can speak to you and how we can just be provided that wisdom. And it's not always just through like that singular moment of prayer. It can be through a movie, it can be through somebody else, it can be through a book that you're reading and all of a sudden it just like something clicks and you go, got it Duly noted, moving forward. We're going to fix this.

Speaker 2:

I mean, god is too big to fit in a box, right? And the fact that he used a donkey to speak to Balaam to get him to correct it. You know, it's just, it's proof God will use what he will use what he needs to to get a message through when he knows that we need to hear it.

Speaker 1:

so so good, it's so good. I really appreciate you sharing that moment and I think, as other women are listening right now and men for that for that matter too, because I do have a lot of husbands that are listening to their wives interviews, and so, you know, for our listeners it's it's understanding that these, these dark moments that we go through while to an outsider may not seem like it's that big of a challenge in the moment. You just have no understanding or context until you are in that moment as a mother, as a father, as a parent, and trying to balance all of the different things that are coming at you, like real life circumstances, like set the phone down right, like forget about that. I'm talking about real life circumstances where you understand that you've got this business that has to operate. You may also be like homeschooling in that moment. Or you are literally sitting down and just trying to do homework with your child, like I think back to COVID and how, all of a sudden, we're whipped into this completely different environment of having children at home, when otherwise that wasn't the circumstance and I was not a parent in that moment. I was only hearing it through the lens of my friends who were parents and I was like man, I mean, I bet it was tough. Yeah, like I'm, my viewpoint looks so different because I'm as as like this person who loves to be around people and thrives in that environment, being around people, being told that I needed to be in my home and not around, and then doing stuff like this over zoom. You just didn't, it didn't feel the same. But as a parent, you're going.

Speaker 1:

You have no idea, as a single person, the the stuff that's happening right now Like I've got a kindergartner and I've got, you know this, like I've got a kindergartner and even though, like that, they probably don't have that much in terms of, like homework and stuff, but they're hopping on a zoom call while you're also trying to be on a zoom call. And how do you even fathom trying to do all of these things at once? That starts to create that stress and that starts to create that anxiety. And then, all of a sudden, it's like lunchtime and you're like, well, lunch was just me before, and now lunch is like. Now I've got to provide more time around.

Speaker 1:

What this looks like Like. These are just a couple different examples of what that could look like as a parent working through challenges of having your child there when that's not normally the circumstance. I have such sympathy for it. I can't truly empathize to it because I haven't gone through that experience of homeschooling, but I can totally sympathize to trying to work while also having a toddler running around. I can empathize to that wholeheartedly.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yeah, I was grateful my kids were on the older end because, likewise, I think that was one of the reasons too, why I laid business down is when my kids were little is because I can be overwhelmed, like I I'd say I'm more of a high or a highly sensitive person. I'm more of a high or a highly sensitive person, so noise, having people in my my space while I'm trying to work is extremely distracting. I know some people can do it well, I'm not wired that way. So I think that was one of the other reasons too is I was like how am I going to do this? Because I can't really focus. So I was just like I'm just, I'm going to focus on the kids when they're little.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I I actually am having kind of a aha moment for myself and I'll explain it like this so when I, when my husband now husband and I started dating so he has two kids from his previous marriage and when we started spending more and more and more time together, we would be, we would have the boys with us, and it would they're boys. And at that point they were a couple of years younger and you know boys, younger boys, and so they're loud and they're rambunctious. And I was trying to have a conversation with my husband now husband at one point and I was like he's like trust me, you're going to get to this point where you just tune it out as a parent. And I was like I don't know how you can do that. Fast forward a couple of years. I find myself being able to do that a little bit more, because now not only do we have a 10 and an 8-year-old boys running around the house, but we also have a little toddler almost two years old running around the house. But we also have a little toddler almost two years old running around the house.

Speaker 1:

So there is this like sometimes you just have to like tune it out, but I can't fully do that. I find myself like totally like distracted and turning over here and looking over here, and I think that I am somewhat like you, andrea, where I'm having this moment of like I might have just some of this little bit of sensory thing, and it's not, it's not so overpowering that this is a learning moment, like real time for me, like I'm pretty sure that that's a very similar circumstance, like I parallel that with you.

Speaker 2:

So are you also a low light person Like does over, do overhead lights on? Does that bother you?

Speaker 1:

It's. I have some sensitivity to it. I truly, truly do love when it's a little bit more dim, but when it's a nice sunny day and we've got the full sun pouring in, I'm like nothing is better.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So that could be because, like, as for me, overhead lights, like artificial light sources, drives me crazy. I like the mood lighting, the low lighting, likewise sun. I'm like bring it on Cause. Sunlight does interact with our body in a different way than artificial light does. But lighting preferences like that, or if there's um radio noise or somebody else has music on, that is not your choice. Some people can tune that out. But I found that when you're highly sensitive that external stimulation, it just starts to get to you a little bit quicker. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I it's, it's interesting. I never thought that our our conversation might go this direction, but I do think that there is a lot to be said about all of the different like, um, circumstantial things that can play into how you work and operate as a mother and work and operate as an entrepreneur too, and in those circumstances, like light, sensory, auditory, like the physicalities of your surrounding and your environment too, like those are really important, and so I don't think that there's any part of this conversation that should be dismissed. If people are listening right now, like these are things that you should think through and are you, are you all of a sudden finding yourself like having that wrestling, irritated moment?

Speaker 2:

while it could be because of some sensory stuff, yeah, I feel like hopefully there's more of um attention being paid to that for children, but, I think, as adults, because you get to a point in your life where you're where the perception is I'm figuring it out like I'm holding down a job or I'm doing really well, and so you can discount some of the ways that you do experience stress or what's contributing to it, and not necessarily realizing a way. This is because I've been created with extra sensitivities and other people have it, and so we need to figure out how do we work within. God has created us.

Speaker 1:

God has created us. That's so good. I I I really actually appreciate how we have pieced in some of that into this conversation too. Like I said, I do think that it's highly important to be aware of what that looks like for you. How and how can you work through that and really pour into like, okay, I'm going to play on my strengths, I'm going to play on my areas of opportunities. This might be an area of opportunity for me Again. How can I work through it? So, thank you for sharing some of that. I really appreciate it. Kind of, like I said, had a light bulb moment for myself and going wait, a second wait. I actually think that that might be the case for me. So I appreciate it, thank you.

Speaker 1:

I want to start to land the plane for us and for our conversation, and so one of the questions that I'd love for you to share is actually I've got a couple of different questions. The first is what has your village looked like for you in support? How have you grown that? What? What have you learned through having this village of support, through through all of this too?

Speaker 2:

through all of this too. Well, incredibly grateful for the husband the Lord has given me and my children as well, just knowing that they are there cheering me on. And, yes, my husband's always been supportive of this ride, this wild ride that has been more like a roller coaster, I'd say. So grateful for that.

Speaker 2:

But as far as intentionally building with other entrepreneurs is seeking out, I don't know like use, harnessing the power of social media to be able to connect with other Christian entrepreneurs. So, whether that's in networking situations, whether it's through messaging I'm also on the leadership team of a group, that is it's a monthly membership group. But in the heart is, how do we help one another grow as Christian entrepreneurs, like around United as a body of Christ, like knowing that we are better as the body, so looking to show up into spaces where people have similar hearts. As that, and and then even thinking about the friend group that I have, I've always been someone who has smaller groups of friends, cause I like to go deep and you can only really go deep with so many people, right? So, knowing that I have friends like to do the fun things or who also have such a strong heart for the Lord and, yes, all of that it's. It's really a full circle of support.

Speaker 1:

I love it. That was. That was really great. And and I'm going to pluck out this idea that you mentioned about how it's really tough to go deep with a lot of people with that is that I have found through the last few years is like I had gone from this very independent, single self and had a spread Like. I felt like I had cast that net out to so many different people and a lot of that was because of the specific career that I was in, who I was networking with, how I was networking and just like the net was like this it was really really big, it was really really wide and outstretched.

Speaker 1:

And then, as the years continued to go on and I started to refine what entrepreneurship looked like and then how I was growing my faith journey, like all of a sudden it was like I've got just a few of these really really close friends and I I had this moment of like having to peel back the onion layers of like, oh, I used to have all of these like, really like what I thought were close friends and kind of chameleon, like through these different groups of people, only to really find out, like, are these actually my people and every single one of the people who I've encountered in life I am grateful for.

Speaker 1:

It's been learning, it's been growing, it's been, you know, understanding that everybody that you come across serves a purpose in your life, for you. But to truly have just a couple of really great, authentic, meaningful, deep relationships is what I strive for and that my family has been just really that like core rock for me. I that I resonate so much with what you're saying and I am, I'm hoping to that there's a lot of listeners who are going yeah, that that speaks to me totally.

Speaker 2:

We even think about jesus, like even think about jesus. He had multitudes following him. He had probably, of that crowd, people that were more closely following him, but he had 12 disciples. But even within the disciples there were three that were the key relationships.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the key relationships. Yeah, that, the key relationships. Yeah, that's the. And thank you for bringing that into the context of all of this too, because there's a lot of what I'm learning and how, like you talk about, um, going slow in business.

Speaker 1:

I'm I'm going slow as I'm reading through the Bible and reading through specific scriptures, and there is just so much to be paralleled with and forgive me, I keep coming back to this term like parallel and then how I resonate with that. It's just truly for lack of better words right now, but there are so many parallels to like how you can operate in your business and then how things operated through the Bible, through God bringing Jesus to us, and then how Jesus had walked his life and it took 30 years for him to really like get to this point. Well, how, how can we as as women, as business owners, understand that sometimes, if we really want to have such a wide impact that it can take that amount of time like, it can just end up taking time and patients can really be a resounding characteristic for us. Yes, what is a piece of advice that you would give a younger version of yourself knowing all that you know now?

Speaker 2:

The thing when you'd shared that question ahead of time.

Speaker 2:

I was thinking, oh, there's a lot. But seeing especially the youngest version of myself like in talking team years, especially right when you're really getting more a sense of yourself, you have more abilities at that age is there's I think there's so many things that I just counted myself out of as a possibility for me and so encouraging a younger version of myself. It's like if there's something you want to try, go after it but also learn how to do it. Well, you know, don't just try it and then the first time you try it it doesn't go so well. So you think, oh, I guess I'm not good at this, right that there's that learning and growing. I think even I speak to my adult self like there's when you see people achieving things, if there's something in you that's like I'd love to do that too, then you get to start to pray into it and asking the Lord for help with that and trusting that is a direction he has for you or something he has for you. He will help you with that.

Speaker 1:

That was so good, andrea. I never would have thought like, go back to like even your teen years, right and, and be curious and take some time. Like go after something that is like intuitively coming to you and take a little bit of time, and if you're, if it's not clicking right away, not to just stop because you know, oh shoot, that must mean I'm not good at it. No, sometimes you've got to truly continue to work through that until all of a sudden it's like, yeah, that's actually not for me, that's not where my God given skills are, or actually, I'm so glad that I I persevered through that, and that is exactly what I needed to do was persevere through it all to come up with a greater skillset, and all of it. What's a piece of advice that you would give a woman who's listening right now, who perhaps they're just in, like they're teetering on the edge of, or nibbling on the edge of, entrepreneurship, or they've they've started on this path of entrepreneurship? What's advice that you would give them?

Speaker 2:

So if the Lord has called you to entrepreneurship, then he's going to call you to do it in a unique way, like, just like you have your own fingerprints, your own voice. There's no such thing as a cookie cutter business, because there's no cookie cutter you, and you are meant to honor that. So you are meant to know how your story, your gifts, your skills, talents, desires, even the most seemingly random things all can factor into this business that the lord is inviting you to build. But, as the Bible says, you need many wise advisors.

Speaker 2:

So one of the fallacies I see a lot of Christians believing is that, well, because I know God has called me to this and because I know the Lord, like I can figure this out myself, but he has called us to be in relationship and there are people who he has equipped to help with a piece. That isn't your strength, and it's okay that it's not your strength, because you have strengths that are meant to be used to help other people. So it's really seeing how the Lord, like how he's positioning you, what he's positioned you for, and then looking for the pieces where you need that help and that support, and it'll help you to grow a stronger business. I also would caution against listening to anybody's advice and let until you have clarity from the Lord. There are so many different ways you can go about building a business and people will offer their opinions and their advice, but remember it's worked for them in a specific way and the Lord may be inviting you to do it a little bit differently.

Speaker 2:

And so trust that.

Speaker 1:

Wow, I just feel like I was hit with some really, really powerful words. So thank you for that, that information and just really speaking some clarity and to people who are listening right now. So, while while while I'm so thankful, I'm so, so thankful for you carving out some time this morning to come on share your story and share some of those peaks and valleys that you have experienced as you're going through motherhood and entrepreneurship, and this last bit of our conversation has been really fruitful, so I'm I'm just so honored and glad that we have been connected from afar and really looking forward to how our friendship and relationship continues to grow, andrea. So thank you, I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you and all the glory to God for the connection and just for his work right In both of our lives.

Speaker 1:

Yes, Well, a couple last pending questions. One what would be a really good connection for you?

Speaker 2:

Anyone who's connected to working with other business owners is a good connection. So accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, graphic designers, marketing people because they're the ones that are seeing the realities of what the people I work with are dealing with and can really hear if there's stress present or frustration in a way that a casual conversation might not bring up. So always looking for those kind of connections or others who are hosting podcasts and looking for guests. That is, I love coming on as guests and it's just such, it's so fun to be able to have the conversation and trusting too, that there's someone listening.

Speaker 2:

that needed to hear whatever the Lord is having drawn out in our conversation so good.

Speaker 1:

And thank you for adding that little tidbit about how you would be very much interested in being a guest on other people's podcasts, so I am sure that that will somehow play in here down the road. How can people get connected to you?

Speaker 2:

The simplest way would be at my website Andrea Lee, cocom and Lee is L E, I G H, because that'll give you the connection to all the things I've got free resources on there, more about my program, um other ways that you can connect with me if you are on platforms like LinkedIn. So that is the best way.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful. Thank you, and I will be sure to drop all of that into the show notes for our listeners to be able to get connected to you. And again just want to say thank you so much for carving out the time and sharing and dropping so much wisdom into this podcast. Really appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

It was so fun to be here. I hope you have a great rest of the day. Thank you.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Kelly Kirk

Host