April 9, 2025 • 25 mins
Ever wondered how friendship can blossom without ever meeting in person? In Episode 70 of How I Met My BFF, join me, Leisa, and my co-host Tamara as we dive into the fascinating story of Yvonne B. McCoy and Andrea Stenberg's unique bond. We kick off with some fun updates—like Tamara's adventurous chickens in Montana and my own health journey advocating for regular mammograms.
Then, we introduce our guests, Yvonne and Andrea, who share how their friendship began in an online coaching program, evolving over a decade into a deep, supportive connection. Discover how their professional accountability turned into personal camaraderie, complete with funny pet stories and dreams of a Greek getaway.
This episode is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of friendships, even when they're entirely virtual. Tune in to explore the power of connection across borders and screens!
Visit our site at howimetmybff.com
Help support our show by getting some of our exclusive swag found here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leisa Reed (00:01):
Hey, besties. My name's Lisa.
Tamara Kindred (00:03):
And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa Reed (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old
growing up in good oldFairbanks, Alaska.
Tamara Kindred (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa Reed (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have
some fun, friendly conversationswith the bestest of best
friends.
Tamara Kindred (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met.
Leisa Reed (00:26):
Who knows? You never know when you'll meet your next
BFF.
Tamara Kindred (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa Reed (00:34):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi,
Tamara.
Tamara Kindred (00:39):
Hey, Lisa. How are you?
Leisa Reed (00:41):
I'm good. What's what's going on in Montana world
over there?
Tamara Kindred (00:46):
You're gonna make me do it, aren't you? I am.
Yeah. Oh, man. So Lisa thinksthis is very exciting and worthy
news.
I do not, but I'm happy to sharewith you. We were talking last
night, and she thinks I shouldshare this with the besties that
I have chickens. If anyone hasbeen listening throughout the
(01:06):
years knows that I havechickens. And one of the issues
that I've been having lately isthat they are now laying their
eggs in some different spot thantheir three beautiful nesting
boxes that they've laid theireggs in for five years now. So
that's the big news out ofMissoula, Montana.
Leisa Reed (01:25):
Well, I think, you know, we might have some besties
who have some chicken expertisethat they could they could offer
maybe some insight chickeninsight gazette here. And, well,
I mean, I don't even know if isit a problem, like, that they're
laying eggs somewhere else. Idon't I've never owned a
chicken. Is that a normalbehavior? Like, where are they
laying them if it's not in thenesting boxes?
Tamara Kindred (01:47):
They're kinda laying them in the actual
chicken coop. I mean, thenesting boxes are off from the
chicken coop. I can't believeI'm talking about those. And so
they're kinda laying them insidethe chicken coop kind of right
below where they roost, which isnot usually like to lay their
eggs kind of separate from wherethey roost or where they sit at
(02:11):
night. So who knows?
I'll, you know, be doing somemore inquiry this weekend, and
I'm sure I'll get the problemsolved. I'm still eating eggs,
so no one worry. I have plentyof eggs that I'm not paying
tariffs on yet. So Well, we'llsee. Yeah.
Leisa Reed (02:28):
We'll see. Hopefully, you can avoid chicken
tariffs on your on yourPersonal, like, internal
tariffs. Well, I have a littledifferent update. I and this is
just sort of a a health updatefor everybody. If you haven't
had your mammogram lately, getone.
(02:49):
Your PSA is coming. I,unfortunately had three
mammograms in the month ofMarch, and every I'll just
squash any fears. Everything'sfine. But I will say with the
first time they asked me to comeback, was, like, a little a
little concerned, but not reallyconcerned. Because I said it was
a technical error.
And then the second time theyhad me come back they the second
(03:12):
time they told me, oh, you needto come back, definitely was
getting a little, nervous. And Iwent to a pretty dark place
really quickly. Like, I know myinstinctual, like, I was like,
oh my gosh. This is not great.But luckily, I'm surrounded by
amazing friends and people andkinda had my divine connection
moment.
Like, okay. Let's get grounded.Stop freaking out. You don't
(03:34):
have any information yet. Andwhen I went back the third time,
I was clear.
I was like, what I just keptimagining. They're just gonna
say, okay. Everything's fine.We'll see you next year. And
that is what happened.
I'm very grateful that what Iwhat I was visualizing did did
occur, but it's a good reminderfor everyone to get checked even
(03:55):
though it can be scary to do so.So that is my announcement for
what's going on in my life, AndI'm glad it's over. They don't
have to go back for anotheryear.
Tamara Kindred (04:05):
Me too. And, yeah, they just can scare you
when they call you back, andit's like, could you give me a
little more information? But Iunderstand they have to be
careful. But, yeah, I'm glad itYeah. All worked out.
I know.
Leisa Reed (04:18):
I know. I think that they should give you a little
information personally, butbecause you have to wait.
Anyway, that's my opinion. But Iget it. Now today, we have some
really great guests.
We have Yvonne and Andrea comingfrom different parts of we're
all foreign different parts ofthe world. Welcome, Andrea and
Yvonne. How are you today?
Yvonne B. McCoy (04:37):
Great. Happy to be here.
Andrea Stenberg (04:39):
Yeah. Happy to be here.
Leisa Reed (04:41):
I love it. Okay. So, Andrea, why don't you kick us
off and tell us how you metYvonne?
Andrea Stenberg (04:51):
Well, I mean, first of all, we should probably
let you know that we've neveractually met in person. We met
we were in, it was an onlinecoaching program slash course,
and we met there. I didsomething very un Canadian of
(05:12):
me, and I reached out to peoplein the course and said, hey. Can
we get on on I guess it was Zoomback then.
Yvonne B. McCoy (05:18):
I don't know you remember. No. It wasn't. It
was phone.
Andrea Stenberg (05:22):
It was phone. Okay. So there we go. So I just
can reach out and talk. And,like, that's very un Canadian of
me to be
Leisa Reed (05:29):
that brazen. Un Canadian? Tell me more.
Andrea Stenberg (05:32):
Well, because it's kind of brazen and pushy
and a little, like you know,because we it's not like we knew
each other, but I was I was justtaking advantage of the fact
that I was in this group thing.And it's like and I live in a
small town, so it's kind of niceto meet new people. And I was
just reaching out. And Yvonneand there's another friend of
ours, they were the, like, theonly ones that I think that
said, yes. We'll talk to thiscrazy lady who's calling us.
Leisa Reed (05:57):
I love that. You you you extended you extended the
offer. Yvonne, what's yourversion of the story?
Yvonne B. McCoy (06:04):
My version is that a crazy lady called me, and
I could not figure out why shewas calling. It took me a long
time. I thought she was somebodywho worked in the program. I did
not know because I don'tremember her actually in the pro
because the program had littlesmall groups, and she was not in
my small group. So I don't knowthat I had actually met her in
(06:27):
the program, so I have no ideahow she got my phone number.
And I remember it was like,okay. Okay. You know? Just like,
I'm not really sure who you areand what you're talking about.
And I called my other friend,and I said, did you get a call
from this woman?
(06:48):
And she said, yes. And I said,well, you know, what do you make
of it? I mean, are they tryingto sell us something else or,
you know, what's going on? Imean, was total total confusion.
And I thought, oh, what have Igot to lose?
I already paid for this program.I'll call back. And so that's
kind it's like, you know, Ifinally probably three phone
calls later, you know, we werelike, I thought you were crazy.
I mean, I felt crazy. Oh,
Andrea Stenberg (07:11):
that's funny.
Yvonne B. McCoy (07:12):
That's how Wow.
Leisa Reed (07:13):
Good for you for being open minded enough to
well, a, you did your duediligence there. That tells us
something. Right? You're like,wait a second. Let me check.
And then and then you, you know,took a chance and and and called
her back. So then, Andrea, whathappened next? Like, how did it
develop into a friendship?Because, I mean, that could have
easily just fizzled out.
Andrea Stenberg (07:35):
Yes. So we started off kind of just being
more, like, sort of businesscolleague support. But you know
how somebody you meet somebodyand you just in spite of the
fact that you are have lots oflike, you're from different
places or whatever, you justsuddenly click for no apparent
reason. And that was kind oflike how I I felt with Yvonne.
(07:56):
Like, we just we just sort ofclicked and, you know, like, was
another friend who was sort ofpart of it.
We were doing sort of businessaccountability stuff, but we I
don't know. We just kepttalking, and, we we have so much
in common even though I'm inCanada. She's in Philadelphia.
And we kind of we just clickedand we talk and we like, we've
(08:20):
now it's been more than tenyears. We were trying to figure
out when exactly we met, andwe're it's somewhere ten years
ago plus.
And we talk almost every day.
Yvonne B. McCoy (08:31):
Not only Okay. Every day. I mean, we're
supposed to be I'm sorry. We'resupposed to be working. Right?
But we spend almost a half anhour, twenty minutes of every
day relating totally crazystuff. So right now, when we get
on the phone together, the firstthing Andrea says to me, did you
(08:53):
hear what's going on in yourcountry? And and I hear because
I try to avoid some of the badnews. So I hear more of the
crazy stuff from her than than Iactually do in the news.
Andrea Stenberg (09:06):
And then last last night, Yvonne was sending
me all these Instagram reels of,like, cats and stuff. Like, we
like, just, you know, crazystuff, funny stuff, things like
that. Well
Leisa Reed (09:19):
When did it when did it start to evolve into more of
that best friendship realm?Andrea, what do you want?
Andrea Stenberg (09:29):
Like, it was it was just kind of gradual. You
know, like I said, with theaccountability buddies, And so
we were, you know, meeting everyday to support each other, but
we started talking more. And oneof the things that's kind of
interesting because I've hadaccountability buddies before
where you kinda devolve intofriendship, and then it just
(09:50):
kind of peters out becauseyou're not doing the business.
You're not but you're not reallyfriends kinda thing. But we just
kind of like, the friendship gotstronger and stronger as we went
along, but we also managed toeven, like, pull back to being
more accountability buddies too.
So we're we've got thefriendship part, but we're also
pushing each other in ourbusinesses. And that is a really
(10:14):
amazing part of it too because,you know, when you're a
solopreneur, it can be prettylonely. And having somebody sort
of kick my butt when I need itor, you know, pick me up when
I'm crying on the floor kind ofthing is very nice to have as
well as having all the personalstuff too.
Leisa Reed (10:34):
I can completely relate to that. How about you,
Yvonne? What how did it evolveto that best friendship status
for you?
Yvonne B. McCoy (10:42):
I think part of it started with the
accountability. And so, Andreais into videos, and so she was
giving me advice about videos.And I think at some point, was
like, I'm not doing this. I'mnot gonna do this. Right?
Or I'm gonna do it my way or,you know, it's kind of like the
whole, you know, the and and wehave this conversation on a
(11:02):
regular basis about recording onyour phone. I cannot record on
my phone. I just I can't. Iapparently, I'm I'm missing the
gene that it lets you do that.You know, where I'm doing a a
self recording, it it it justseems to be outside my realm of
ability.
And so Andrea's like, you gottarecord it in your phone, you
know, because then you can putit on Instagram, then you can do
(11:24):
this, the the other. I'm like, Ican't do this. And so it kind of
it was like kinda broke throughthat professional veneer. You
know, those kinds of things whenwe started pushing each other.
And she's like you know?
And and and she would say I'dsay you, well, you need to do
this. And she's like, I'm notdoing that. And, like, wait. You
know, you've tried this, this,and this, and it hasn't worked.
(11:46):
Why don't you try it my way?
And then, you know, you start toget that back and forth, and the
professional veneer is totallygone. So just in my defense,
about the cat videos, Andreaused to have rats as her pet.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
Exactly. So, you know, there'sno connection there because I
(12:08):
have a brown I'm a dog lady. Imean, I have two cats, but I'm
basically a dog person. So when,you know, she when her last rat
died, she got a cat. And soshe's, like, in the honeymoon
stage of having a cat.
And, you know, every morning,it's like, this is what Felix
did.
Leisa Reed (12:27):
What's the craziest thing your your cat Felix did,
Andrea?
Andrea Stenberg (12:35):
Well, he's fallen in love with my tape
measure, and he wants to playwith it all the time. And what
he keeps doing and, actually, hedid it just before I came on on
the to do this podcast, is he'llI'll be chasing you know,
playing with it, and he chasesit, and then he catches it. And
then he takes me for a walk. Andso he drags me downstairs,
parades me around the livingroom, and then drags me back
(12:58):
upstairs. Doesn't do anythingelse.
And then he looks over hisshoulder periodically to make
sure that I'm still followinghim. And it just he has me in
hysterics.
Leisa Reed (13:08):
That's Sophie, like, taking you on a walk, basically.
Yvonne B. McCoy (13:11):
Yes. Felix has trained her so well. Felix has
got her and her husband so welltrained. So that's why I was
sending her cat videos, theseweird cat videos of things that
Felix might be doing when she'snot watching. It had me laughing
hysterically.
And like I said, I have a dog.And one of the things that
(13:34):
happened is my dog my husbandhad a stroke last year, and he's
fine. But my kids decided to putour dog into doggy daycare,
like, one day a week so the dogwould, you know so she's talking
about the stuff that Felix does.And, you know, my big pet news
was that I have a brown labthat's, like, 90 pounds that's
(13:54):
four years old and still thinksit's a puppy, you know, that
went to doggy daycare yesterdayand put in 2,400 steps.
Leisa Reed (14:03):
Wow.
Yvonne B. McCoy (14:04):
Normally, it's normally, it's like 12. So it's
like twice as much. So mydaughter asked the the daycare
what happened, and they said,oh, there was another brown lab
here. And so the two of themapparently went wild. I'm like,
please let that other brown labcome back, you know, next
Thursday, and I hope theirowner's happy how tired their
(14:25):
dog is too.
You know? But those are thoseare some of the crazy things
that that we talk about.
Andrea Stenberg (14:32):
Well and I have a funny story about the rats
about Yvonne. So when I we gotrats during lockdown for like,
they were for my son. ButHusband does. Really, they were
for me. But, anyway, when I gotthe rats and Yvonne was like,
oh, Andrea, you cannot tellpeople that you got rats.
They're gonna think you'recrazy. And I swear the words
(14:52):
were still floating aboveYvonne's head in a thought
bubble, And her husband walkedinto her office and was like,
what are you talking about? Ihad a rat when I was in
university,
Leisa Reed (15:02):
and she didn't know this. Oh my gosh. Secrets
revealed.
Tamara Kindred (15:08):
I well, I'm just wondering. You guys have been
friends now for ten years. Whyhaven't you met in person?
Andrea Stenberg (15:18):
We actually had planned in 2020. We were going
to a conference together inMontreal, and we had it all
planned out. Like, Yvonne'shusband was gonna come. We were
gonna go early and spend someextra time, and then, of course,
we know what happened andthings. So we've just it's just
never worked out.
But our net one of our secretplans is we both love the movie
(15:41):
Shirley Valentine, and we bothwanna go to Greece. Like, that's
one of our things is have avacation in Greece and drink
wine next to the sea. And
Tamara Kindred (15:51):
That would be amazing.
Yvonne B. McCoy (15:52):
We Yeah. We were trying to Andre was
possibly coming to Philadelphiafor a conference in 2020, but
who knows where we'll be in '20
Andrea Stenberg (16:04):
On 2026. Yeah. Next next year, it's supposed to
an organization I belong to ishaving their conference in
Philadelphia. So the hoping,fingers crossed, that I'll be
able to go, but it's just sortof one of those things that's
not happened. But, like, becausewe talk like, we're on Zoom or
we're on the phone or we talk sooften.
(16:25):
And when lockdown happened, itkind of my life didn't change
all that much because I wasstill seeing Yvonne every day.
And so it kinda still feltnormal except for if I had to
leave the house. But, like, thestuff that I do all day, it felt
normal because I could seeYvonne every day, and we talked
every day. And so it kind ofhelped help keep things a little
(16:48):
bit normal feeling.
Yvonne B. McCoy (16:50):
The other thing I think that's really
interesting is, for me at least,is that Andrea is a wealth I
mean, in many ways, our livesare kind of parallel. I mean,
you know, you you reminded me ofthis the other day. We both I
mean, my son is much older thanher son, but we both had a son
had sons that were writing booksat the same time. You know? So
(17:12):
there's unusual things thathappen in our lives that are
that are that are similar.
And Andrea is a wealth ofinformation about medical stuff.
Andrea Stenberg (17:23):
Weird medical stuff.
Yvonne B. McCoy (17:25):
Medical stuff. So during COVID, of course, I
was like, did you hear aboutthis? Did you hear about that?
Do you know about the you know?And so she has all these you
know, I read this article or I'mfollowing this person about
this, that, and the other.
And she's got the patience ofJob, but I have to tell you
this. This is you may never talkto me again, Andrea. One of the
(17:45):
things about Andrea is that Ifrustrate her so much that if
I'm trying to do something,she'll just say, just give me
control of the computer. I'lljust do it for you. And I'm
like, yay.
This is
Leisa Reed (17:56):
Like, my plan is working.
Yvonne B. McCoy (17:58):
Yeah. I'm trying to learn, but, you know,
sometimes it doesn't work outthat way.
Leisa Reed (18:04):
Well, so I have a follow-up question for something
you said earlier, Yvonne. Youwere talking about how you
couldn't do the video on yourphone. Did you finally figure
how to how to do that? No. Oh,okay.
And I'm I'm so I
Yvonne B. McCoy (18:19):
think that's phone that broke do it.
Leisa Reed (18:21):
Okay. We've determined the phone is broken
then. Right? It doesn't it'sjust the phone doesn't allow you
to do that. Is that what's goingon?
Yvonne B. McCoy (18:27):
There are a couple of things. You have to
first of all, I have fatfingers. My phone does not like
me in general. I mean, thingsthat you know, like, for
instance, when the alarm goesoff, my husband says, put your
hand over your Apple Watch, andit'll stop the alarm. It does
not.
I mean, I think my fingers areslightly cold, and so it doesn't
(18:48):
it doesn't do stuff on thephone. So for me to do a record
it's like I'm pushing recording.I'm pushing recording. It
doesn't record. Then when itrecords, I'm in a frustrated
state.
So what I get is somethingreally awful. I mean, I did do a
recording once and immediatelygot a phone call from my
daughter who said, do you knowyou posted that on Instagram?
Take that down now. You know?So, you know, I'm just not doing
(19:12):
it.
I'm not good at it. That's notmy zone of genius. I'll just do
something else.
Andrea Stenberg (19:19):
But you started doing all the the Zoom videos.
So, like, that's great. Thatthat's a big progress because
she wouldn't, like, she wouldn'tdo that before.
Yvonne B. McCoy (19:27):
That's true. She asked me the most as a
business person, she asked methe most important one of the
most important questions I thinkanybody ever said to me because
we were talking about marketing.And she's really good at
marketing, and I'm you know, Iwasn't.
Hey, besties. My name's Lisa.
Tamara Kindred (00:03):
And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa Reed (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were about 12 years old
growing up in good oldFairbanks, Alaska.
Tamara Kindred (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa Reed (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have
some fun, friendly conversationswith the bestest of best
friends.
Tamara Kindred (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met.
Leisa Reed (00:26):
Who knows? You never know when you'll meet your next
BFF.
Tamara Kindred (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa Reed (00:34):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi,
Tamara.
Tamara Kindred (00:39):
Hey, Lisa. How are you?
Leisa Reed (00:41):
I'm good. What's what's going on in Montana world
over there?
Tamara Kindred (00:46):
You're gonna make me do it, aren't you? I am.
Yeah. Oh, man. So Lisa thinksthis is very exciting and worthy
news.
I do not, but I'm happy to sharewith you. We were talking last
night, and she thinks I shouldshare this with the besties that
I have chickens. If anyone hasbeen listening throughout the
(01:06):
years knows that I havechickens. And one of the issues
that I've been having lately isthat they are now laying their
eggs in some different spot thantheir three beautiful nesting
boxes that they've laid theireggs in for five years now. So
that's the big news out ofMissoula, Montana.
Leisa Reed (01:25):
Well, I think, you know, we might have some besties
who have some chicken expertisethat they could they could offer
maybe some insight chickeninsight gazette here. And, well,
I mean, I don't even know if isit a problem, like, that they're
laying eggs somewhere else. Idon't I've never owned a
chicken. Is that a normalbehavior? Like, where are they
laying them if it's not in thenesting boxes?
Tamara Kindred (01:47):
They're kinda laying them in the actual
chicken coop. I mean, thenesting boxes are off from the
chicken coop. I can't believeI'm talking about those. And so
they're kinda laying them insidethe chicken coop kind of right
below where they roost, which isnot usually like to lay their
eggs kind of separate from wherethey roost or where they sit at
(02:11):
night. So who knows?
I'll, you know, be doing somemore inquiry this weekend, and
I'm sure I'll get the problemsolved. I'm still eating eggs,
so no one worry. I have plentyof eggs that I'm not paying
tariffs on yet. So Well, we'llsee. Yeah.
Leisa Reed (02:28):
We'll see. Hopefully, you can avoid chicken
tariffs on your on yourPersonal, like, internal
tariffs. Well, I have a littledifferent update. I and this is
just sort of a a health updatefor everybody. If you haven't
had your mammogram lately, getone.
(02:49):
Your PSA is coming. I,unfortunately had three
mammograms in the month ofMarch, and every I'll just
squash any fears. Everything'sfine. But I will say with the
first time they asked me to comeback, was, like, a little a
little concerned, but not reallyconcerned. Because I said it was
a technical error.
And then the second time theyhad me come back they the second
(03:12):
time they told me, oh, you needto come back, definitely was
getting a little, nervous. And Iwent to a pretty dark place
really quickly. Like, I know myinstinctual, like, I was like,
oh my gosh. This is not great.But luckily, I'm surrounded by
amazing friends and people andkinda had my divine connection
moment.
Like, okay. Let's get grounded.Stop freaking out. You don't
(03:34):
have any information yet. Andwhen I went back the third time,
I was clear.
I was like, what I just keptimagining. They're just gonna
say, okay. Everything's fine.We'll see you next year. And
that is what happened.
I'm very grateful that what Iwhat I was visualizing did did
occur, but it's a good reminderfor everyone to get checked even
(03:55):
though it can be scary to do so.So that is my announcement for
what's going on in my life, AndI'm glad it's over. They don't
have to go back for anotheryear.
Tamara Kindred (04:05):
Me too. And, yeah, they just can scare you
when they call you back, andit's like, could you give me a
little more information? But Iunderstand they have to be
careful. But, yeah, I'm glad itYeah. All worked out.
I know.
Leisa Reed (04:18):
I know. I think that they should give you a little
information personally, butbecause you have to wait.
Anyway, that's my opinion. But Iget it. Now today, we have some
really great guests.
We have Yvonne and Andrea comingfrom different parts of we're
all foreign different parts ofthe world. Welcome, Andrea and
Yvonne. How are you today?
Yvonne B. McCoy (04:37):
Great. Happy to be here.
Andrea Stenberg (04:39):
Yeah. Happy to be here.
Leisa Reed (04:41):
I love it. Okay. So, Andrea, why don't you kick us
off and tell us how you metYvonne?
Andrea Stenberg (04:51):
Well, I mean, first of all, we should probably
let you know that we've neveractually met in person. We met
we were in, it was an onlinecoaching program slash course,
and we met there. I didsomething very un Canadian of
(05:12):
me, and I reached out to peoplein the course and said, hey. Can
we get on on I guess it was Zoomback then.
Yvonne B. McCoy (05:18):
I don't know you remember. No. It wasn't. It
was phone.
Andrea Stenberg (05:22):
It was phone. Okay. So there we go. So I just
can reach out and talk. And,like, that's very un Canadian of
me to be
Leisa Reed (05:29):
that brazen. Un Canadian? Tell me more.
Andrea Stenberg (05:32):
Well, because it's kind of brazen and pushy
and a little, like you know,because we it's not like we knew
each other, but I was I was justtaking advantage of the fact
that I was in this group thing.And it's like and I live in a
small town, so it's kind of niceto meet new people. And I was
just reaching out. And Yvonneand there's another friend of
ours, they were the, like, theonly ones that I think that
said, yes. We'll talk to thiscrazy lady who's calling us.
Leisa Reed (05:57):
I love that. You you you extended you extended the
offer. Yvonne, what's yourversion of the story?
Yvonne B. McCoy (06:04):
My version is that a crazy lady called me, and
I could not figure out why shewas calling. It took me a long
time. I thought she was somebodywho worked in the program. I did
not know because I don'tremember her actually in the pro
because the program had littlesmall groups, and she was not in
my small group. So I don't knowthat I had actually met her in
(06:27):
the program, so I have no ideahow she got my phone number.
And I remember it was like,okay. Okay. You know? Just like,
I'm not really sure who you areand what you're talking about.
And I called my other friend,and I said, did you get a call
from this woman?
(06:48):
And she said, yes. And I said,well, you know, what do you make
of it? I mean, are they tryingto sell us something else or,
you know, what's going on? Imean, was total total confusion.
And I thought, oh, what have Igot to lose?
I already paid for this program.I'll call back. And so that's
kind it's like, you know, Ifinally probably three phone
calls later, you know, we werelike, I thought you were crazy.
I mean, I felt crazy. Oh,
Andrea Stenberg (07:11):
that's funny.
Yvonne B. McCoy (07:12):
That's how Wow.
Leisa Reed (07:13):
Good for you for being open minded enough to
well, a, you did your duediligence there. That tells us
something. Right? You're like,wait a second. Let me check.
And then and then you, you know,took a chance and and and called
her back. So then, Andrea, whathappened next? Like, how did it
develop into a friendship?Because, I mean, that could have
easily just fizzled out.
Andrea Stenberg (07:35):
Yes. So we started off kind of just being
more, like, sort of businesscolleague support. But you know
how somebody you meet somebodyand you just in spite of the
fact that you are have lots oflike, you're from different
places or whatever, you justsuddenly click for no apparent
reason. And that was kind oflike how I I felt with Yvonne.
(07:56):
Like, we just we just sort ofclicked and, you know, like, was
another friend who was sort ofpart of it.
We were doing sort of businessaccountability stuff, but we I
don't know. We just kepttalking, and, we we have so much
in common even though I'm inCanada. She's in Philadelphia.
And we kind of we just clickedand we talk and we like, we've
(08:20):
now it's been more than tenyears. We were trying to figure
out when exactly we met, andwe're it's somewhere ten years
ago plus.
And we talk almost every day.
Yvonne B. McCoy (08:31):
Not only Okay. Every day. I mean, we're
supposed to be I'm sorry. We'resupposed to be working. Right?
But we spend almost a half anhour, twenty minutes of every
day relating totally crazystuff. So right now, when we get
on the phone together, the firstthing Andrea says to me, did you
(08:53):
hear what's going on in yourcountry? And and I hear because
I try to avoid some of the badnews. So I hear more of the
crazy stuff from her than than Iactually do in the news.
Andrea Stenberg (09:06):
And then last last night, Yvonne was sending
me all these Instagram reels of,like, cats and stuff. Like, we
like, just, you know, crazystuff, funny stuff, things like
that. Well
Leisa Reed (09:19):
When did it when did it start to evolve into more of
that best friendship realm?Andrea, what do you want?
Andrea Stenberg (09:29):
Like, it was it was just kind of gradual. You
know, like I said, with theaccountability buddies, And so
we were, you know, meeting everyday to support each other, but
we started talking more. And oneof the things that's kind of
interesting because I've hadaccountability buddies before
where you kinda devolve intofriendship, and then it just
(09:50):
kind of peters out becauseyou're not doing the business.
You're not but you're not reallyfriends kinda thing. But we just
kind of like, the friendship gotstronger and stronger as we went
along, but we also managed toeven, like, pull back to being
more accountability buddies too.
So we're we've got thefriendship part, but we're also
pushing each other in ourbusinesses. And that is a really
(10:14):
amazing part of it too because,you know, when you're a
solopreneur, it can be prettylonely. And having somebody sort
of kick my butt when I need itor, you know, pick me up when
I'm crying on the floor kind ofthing is very nice to have as
well as having all the personalstuff too.
Leisa Reed (10:34):
I can completely relate to that. How about you,
Yvonne? What how did it evolveto that best friendship status
for you?
Yvonne B. McCoy (10:42):
I think part of it started with the
accountability. And so, Andreais into videos, and so she was
giving me advice about videos.And I think at some point, was
like, I'm not doing this. I'mnot gonna do this. Right?
Or I'm gonna do it my way or,you know, it's kind of like the
whole, you know, the and and wehave this conversation on a
(11:02):
regular basis about recording onyour phone. I cannot record on
my phone. I just I can't. Iapparently, I'm I'm missing the
gene that it lets you do that.You know, where I'm doing a a
self recording, it it it justseems to be outside my realm of
ability.
And so Andrea's like, you gottarecord it in your phone, you
know, because then you can putit on Instagram, then you can do
(11:24):
this, the the other. I'm like, Ican't do this. And so it kind of
it was like kinda broke throughthat professional veneer. You
know, those kinds of things whenwe started pushing each other.
And she's like you know?
And and and she would say I'dsay you, well, you need to do
this. And she's like, I'm notdoing that. And, like, wait. You
know, you've tried this, this,and this, and it hasn't worked.
(11:46):
Why don't you try it my way?
And then, you know, you start toget that back and forth, and the
professional veneer is totallygone. So just in my defense,
about the cat videos, Andreaused to have rats as her pet.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
Exactly. So, you know, there'sno connection there because I
(12:08):
have a brown I'm a dog lady. Imean, I have two cats, but I'm
basically a dog person. So when,you know, she when her last rat
died, she got a cat. And soshe's, like, in the honeymoon
stage of having a cat.
And, you know, every morning,it's like, this is what Felix
did.
Leisa Reed (12:27):
What's the craziest thing your your cat Felix did,
Andrea?
Andrea Stenberg (12:35):
Well, he's fallen in love with my tape
measure, and he wants to playwith it all the time. And what
he keeps doing and, actually, hedid it just before I came on on
the to do this podcast, is he'llI'll be chasing you know,
playing with it, and he chasesit, and then he catches it. And
then he takes me for a walk. Andso he drags me downstairs,
parades me around the livingroom, and then drags me back
(12:58):
upstairs. Doesn't do anythingelse.
And then he looks over hisshoulder periodically to make
sure that I'm still followinghim. And it just he has me in
hysterics.
Leisa Reed (13:08):
That's Sophie, like, taking you on a walk, basically.
Yvonne B. McCoy (13:11):
Yes. Felix has trained her so well. Felix has
got her and her husband so welltrained. So that's why I was
sending her cat videos, theseweird cat videos of things that
Felix might be doing when she'snot watching. It had me laughing
hysterically.
And like I said, I have a dog.And one of the things that
(13:34):
happened is my dog my husbandhad a stroke last year, and he's
fine. But my kids decided to putour dog into doggy daycare,
like, one day a week so the dogwould, you know so she's talking
about the stuff that Felix does.And, you know, my big pet news
was that I have a brown labthat's, like, 90 pounds that's
(13:54):
four years old and still thinksit's a puppy, you know, that
went to doggy daycare yesterdayand put in 2,400 steps.
Leisa Reed (14:03):
Wow.
Yvonne B. McCoy (14:04):
Normally, it's normally, it's like 12. So it's
like twice as much. So mydaughter asked the the daycare
what happened, and they said,oh, there was another brown lab
here. And so the two of themapparently went wild. I'm like,
please let that other brown labcome back, you know, next
Thursday, and I hope theirowner's happy how tired their
(14:25):
dog is too.
You know? But those are thoseare some of the crazy things
that that we talk about.
Andrea Stenberg (14:32):
Well and I have a funny story about the rats
about Yvonne. So when I we gotrats during lockdown for like,
they were for my son. ButHusband does. Really, they were
for me. But, anyway, when I gotthe rats and Yvonne was like,
oh, Andrea, you cannot tellpeople that you got rats.
They're gonna think you'recrazy. And I swear the words
(14:52):
were still floating aboveYvonne's head in a thought
bubble, And her husband walkedinto her office and was like,
what are you talking about? Ihad a rat when I was in
university,
Leisa Reed (15:02):
and she didn't know this. Oh my gosh. Secrets
revealed.
Tamara Kindred (15:08):
I well, I'm just wondering. You guys have been
friends now for ten years. Whyhaven't you met in person?
Andrea Stenberg (15:18):
We actually had planned in 2020. We were going
to a conference together inMontreal, and we had it all
planned out. Like, Yvonne'shusband was gonna come. We were
gonna go early and spend someextra time, and then, of course,
we know what happened andthings. So we've just it's just
never worked out.
But our net one of our secretplans is we both love the movie
(15:41):
Shirley Valentine, and we bothwanna go to Greece. Like, that's
one of our things is have avacation in Greece and drink
wine next to the sea. And
Tamara Kindred (15:51):
That would be amazing.
Yvonne B. McCoy (15:52):
We Yeah. We were trying to Andre was
possibly coming to Philadelphiafor a conference in 2020, but
who knows where we'll be in '20
Andrea Stenberg (16:04):
On 2026. Yeah. Next next year, it's supposed to
an organization I belong to ishaving their conference in
Philadelphia. So the hoping,fingers crossed, that I'll be
able to go, but it's just sortof one of those things that's
not happened. But, like, becausewe talk like, we're on Zoom or
we're on the phone or we talk sooften.
(16:25):
And when lockdown happened, itkind of my life didn't change
all that much because I wasstill seeing Yvonne every day.
And so it kinda still feltnormal except for if I had to
leave the house. But, like, thestuff that I do all day, it felt
normal because I could seeYvonne every day, and we talked
every day. And so it kind ofhelped help keep things a little
(16:48):
bit normal feeling.
Yvonne B. McCoy (16:50):
The other thing I think that's really
interesting is, for me at least,is that Andrea is a wealth I
mean, in many ways, our livesare kind of parallel. I mean,
you know, you you reminded me ofthis the other day. We both I
mean, my son is much older thanher son, but we both had a son
had sons that were writing booksat the same time. You know? So
(17:12):
there's unusual things thathappen in our lives that are
that are that are similar.
And Andrea is a wealth ofinformation about medical stuff.
Andrea Stenberg (17:23):
Weird medical stuff.
Yvonne B. McCoy (17:25):
Medical stuff. So during COVID, of course, I
was like, did you hear aboutthis? Did you hear about that?
Do you know about the you know?And so she has all these you
know, I read this article or I'mfollowing this person about
this, that, and the other.
And she's got the patience ofJob, but I have to tell you
this. This is you may never talkto me again, Andrea. One of the
(17:45):
things about Andrea is that Ifrustrate her so much that if
I'm trying to do something,she'll just say, just give me
control of the computer. I'lljust do it for you. And I'm
like, yay.
This is
Leisa Reed (17:56):
Like, my plan is working.
Yvonne B. McCoy (17:58):
Yeah. I'm trying to learn, but, you know,
sometimes it doesn't work outthat way.
Leisa Reed (18:04):
Well, so I have a follow-up question for something
you said earlier, Yvonne. Youwere talking about how you
couldn't do the video on yourphone. Did you finally figure
how to how to do that? No. Oh,okay.
And I'm I'm so I
Yvonne B. McCoy (18:19):
think that's phone that broke do it.
Leisa Reed (18:21):
Okay. We've determined the phone is broken
then. Right? It doesn't it'sjust the phone doesn't allow you
to do that. Is that what's goingon?
Yvonne B. McCoy (18:27):
There are a couple of things. You have to
first of all, I have fatfingers. My phone does not like
me in general. I mean, thingsthat you know, like, for
instance, when the alarm goesoff, my husband says, put your
hand over your Apple Watch, andit'll stop the alarm. It does
not.
I mean, I think my fingers areslightly cold, and so it doesn't
(18:48):
it doesn't do stuff on thephone. So for me to do a record
it's like I'm pushing recording.I'm pushing recording. It
doesn't record. Then when itrecords, I'm in a frustrated
state.
So what I get is somethingreally awful. I mean, I did do a
recording once and immediatelygot a phone call from my
daughter who said, do you knowyou posted that on Instagram?
Take that down now. You know?So, you know, I'm just not doing
(19:12):
it.
I'm not good at it. That's notmy zone of genius. I'll just do
something else.
Andrea Stenberg (19:19):
But you started doing all the the Zoom videos.
So, like, that's great. Thatthat's a big progress because
she wouldn't, like, she wouldn'tdo that before.
Yvonne B. McCoy (19:27):
That's true. She asked me the most as a
business person, she asked methe most important one of the
most important questions I thinkanybody ever said to me because
we were talking about marketing.And she's really good at
marketing, and I'm you know, Iwasn't.
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