Awards, Education, & Experience —

Experience

Andrea has been speaking professionally and consulting for organizations and businesses since 2007.  She speaks almost exclusively  on leadership, resiliency, and transformation. 

She is known for building strong, personal relationships and most of her clients spend years working with her and become her greatest referrals.  She has worked with executives of billion dollar companies and “Mom and Pop” businesses.  She specializes in creating highly interactive and memorable experiential learning situations which transform the way people see themselves, and the way that they communicate in an organization.   In addition to presenting at conferences, hosting her own events and collaborating with colleagues, she has also spoken at hundreds of high schools, youth groups, and churches.  

As a serial social-entrepreneur, Andrea has had over a dozen businesses which have both succeeded beyond her expectations and failed miserably.  She has bought, sold, and built (from the ground up) businesses across multiple industries both alone and with her husband.  In addition to this business, she and her husband own a creative high-end renovation business, and multiple food carts that specialize in high-volume events and white-glove catering.  Both of which have become highly successful and afforded them the incredible privilege of working only a few months a year.  

Prior to her experience as an entrepreneur, Andrea spent years leading youth and adults on backpacking, rock-climbing, and paddling trips ranging from the famous Yukon River in Alaska to the remote Stikine River in Northern British Columbia, Canada; from the High-Sierras of California to the Appalachians of West Virginia; from the Grand Canyon in Arizona to the Shenandoah River, in Virginia.  When she finished working in the adventure tourism and wilderness therapy industries she was a top-paid professional, regularly leading 21-day and 46-day expeditions.   Andrea regularly draws on her extensive background as an accomplished wilderness guide and outdoor educator to challenge leaders and entrepreneurs in unconventional ways.  

Education

After completing her BA in Adventure Education from Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona, Andrea subsequently determined to do her graduate work in Social Entrepreneurship.  Her goal was to build a business in the two years it would take to complete her Masters Degree as evidence of experiential learning.  She ultimately decided to drop out of her graduate studies when she took over a full-fledged business and had the opportunity to radically grow it.  She ended up doubling the top-line revenue of that business and sold it on almost the exact same day that she would have graduated with her Masters Degree for as much as most people spend on their graduate education.  She has laughingly said for years: 

I am as proud of dropping out of my graduate studies as I am of of completing my undergraduate degree.

In addition to her formal education, Andrea has attended hundreds of seminars and conferences both in-person and online.  She has simultaneously streamed over 10,000 hours of audio and video content and conservatively devoured over 1,800  books.  Some of which —like the Bible, she has read cover to cover and studied multiple times.  From this wisdom she has found the crème de la crème of personal and organizational transformation in fields ranging from neuroscience, psychology, and sociology to sales, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

Awards

In 2012 she competed in the Toastmaster International Speech Competition with 30,000 people.  After winning three successive speaking contests, she competed in the Quarter-Final Round against the person who went on to be crowned the World Champion of Public Speaking.  Andrea has received numerous other speaking awards and has appeared as a Guest on Regional Radio and Television Stations.   However, she would tell you that the hardest stage she ever walked onto was when she performed for Open-Mike night at a major comedy club in Portland, Oregon.

Other Fun Facts

Born and raised in Northern B.C., Canada, Andrea lived in Alaska, California, Arizona, and Oregon before making her home in Northeastern Tennessee.  She has travelled to all 50 United States and most of Canada, explored the remote corners of Mexico, and spent time in 5 countries Overseas. 

Every day is an adventure with her husband whom she describes as a true renaissance man (a general contractor, gourmet chef, and an ultra-marathon athlete).  When they are not traveling they can be found hosting dinner parties, hiking to waterfalls, or tracking down their favorite pizza or Thai food along with their two delightful young boys and Blue Healer.