Andrea Owen is an author, mentor, and certified life coach who helps women get what they want by letting go of perfectionism, control, and isolation and choosing to practice courage instead. She has helped thousands of women manage their inner-critic to create loving connections and live their most kick-ass life. When she’s not juggling her full coaching practice and writing her second book, Andrea is busy competing in triathlons, chasing her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter or making out with her husband, Jason.
She’s also a retired roller derby player having skated under the name “Veronica Vain.” Around 2003, when Andrea was first exposed and becoming aware of life-coaches/coaching, she knew she’d found her path.
Having lived a pretty “charmed” life as she called it, she wasn't sure how she could be a life coach without any extraordinary life circumstances or tragedies to be able to share and relate to. Having said that, a few short years later as Andrea and her then-husband were trying to have their first baby, she found out about his affair with the neighbor and a resulting pregnancy from that (talk about her first traumatic event! GEEZ!).
Just when you think “what could be worse?” Andrea picked herself up and launched herself back into the dating world. Moving onto the next man who she thought was Mr. Right, she later found out about his addictive drug habits and how she had been conned out of more than $8,000 during their 9-month relationship. Oh, and she was pregnant. Looking back and telling her story with us, Andrea now shares how she believed this all may have come to be.
“The common denominator of my circumstances was me. What was I attracting in my life? What had I tolerated? What had I ignored my intuition about?”
Digging herself out of the rut like a strong, powerhouse woman would, Andrea skipped the “victim” role and instead went to taking radical responsibility for her life! (YOU GO GIRL!) Expressing her feelings about her rock-bottom years wasn’t easy, but Andrea found the message in all of her mess and shares with us some of the very first steps on how she started over.
“I wrote down 10 things I was grateful for, and it was actually pretty easy. Despite a few things, let’s be honest…I still had a very privileged life.”
Fun fact: You cannot be angry and grateful at the same time. No matter what has happened previously, you can’t let your past define you. Andrea is the perfect example of someone who has had hardship(s) in her life, but has still come out on top! You must envision your future. Draw it out, pray for it and hustle until it becomes your reality.
“Controlling and perfectionism were two of my biggest nemesis, but I had to learn the balance between taking responsibility and also for letting go and self-compassion.”
If you’re ready to say HELL YES, go to yourkickasslife.com for more on Andrea! Follow me on social media @LoriHarder on Instagram and Lori Harder on Facebook. You can also see more at my website: LoriHarder.com