May 12, 2025 • 30 mins
Your Health Matters More Than Your Business Ever Will
Freedom isn't just a buzzword—it's the foundation of a sustainable business. Andrea Rainsford's journey from corporate burnout to entrepreneurial success offers a masterclass in creating a business that serves your life rather than consuming it.
After collapsing during a business pitch and later suffering a devastating stroke at just 32 years old, Andrea spent five years confined to a hospital bed in her front room, unable to walk, speak, or care for herself. This profound health crisis transformed her approach to business completely. "I did have a stroke. But 18 months ago I found a tumor in my throat and I looked at the ceiling and went 'are you having a laugh?'" she shares with raw honesty.
What emerged from these challenges was a revolutionary approach to business planning. Andrea now operates a thriving business working just two and a half days per week and is transitioning to working only three days per month with her innovative "Haven" business model. Her Women Winning in Business community has grown from 200 to 2,500 members in 18 months, expanding to 15 cities across the UK—all without the conventional hustle mentality.
The most powerful insight from Andrea's story is that success doesn't require sacrificing your health or happiness. "My body is the most important thing to me and that's the reason why I only work two and a half days," she explains. Her approach challenges entrepreneurs to stop comparing themselves to others and instead build businesses that reflect their true priorities.
What would your life and business look like if you truly prioritised freedom? Listen now to reimagine what's possible.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Donna Eade (00:00):
You're listening to the Mindset in Action podcast,
the place to be to grow andstreamline your business.
I'm your host, donna Eade.
Let's jump into the show.
Welcome back to the podcast,everybody.
I am so excited to have youhere today for this episode.
(00:24):
Today is episode two of the livepodcast series, so, for those
of you who don't know, I ran alive event at the beginning of
April to celebrate five years ofthis podcast and I had five
guests and myself did sessionsat that event and I am giving
(00:44):
them to you here live on thepodcast.
So today we have AndreaRainsford with us.
Andrea has such a unique andfantastic story to share.
She has been through a hell ofa lot and she is absolutely a
true fighter in every sense ofthe word, and has just been able
(01:09):
to create such a wonderfulspace for women in business.
So we are going to jump intothat session.
Take a listen to Andrea's story.
Our focus was planning and whyplanning in our business is
important.
Our episode last week was withNicola Tonsaga, so you can go
back and listen to that one.
(01:30):
That was a mindset episode andwe have got four more sessions
coming in the next coming week,so make sure you are subscribed,
where you listen, so that youdon't miss an episode, and if
you are on a platform thatallows you to leave a review, I
would love it if you wouldreview the podcast.
It makes a huge difference.
So let's jump into this episodewith Andrea Rainsford Now.
(01:53):
Is that everybody back?
Let me know if you're not here,okay, I think.
I think that's everybody aboutthat.
I think it's all Ready for ournext session.
Andrea Rainsford, come up tothe mic.
Andrea Rainsford (02:14):
Hello.
Donna Eade (02:16):
Right now, Andrea, you speak quite softly.
Andrea Rainsford (02:18):
Hello.
Donna Eade (02:19):
There you go.
Andrea Rainsford (02:20):
Everybody hear me at the back.
Lincoln, can you hear me at theback?
Thank you very much.
I'm on brand today.
If, if I didn't turn up inbrand colors, my, my brand
person would shoot me.
Donna Eade (02:35):
Yeah, okay, so Andrea Rainsford, welcome to the
stage.
Thank you very much for havingme.
Please introduce yourselves toeverybody and let them know who
you are and what it is that youdo.
Hello, I'm.
Andrea Rainsford Andrea.
Andrea Rainsford (02:44):
Nice to meet you.
What do I do?
I love advocating for women.
I think that we need acheerleader, so I'm your biggest
cheerleader.
I like the whoop.
Thank you very much.
We'll have a few more of those.
I think that what I see andapologies Lincoln is that in the
self-employed, running your ownbusiness space is that women
(03:08):
tend to earn less than men doingexactly the same role about 38%
and that's because, on thewhole, we don't believe in
ourselves.
We just don't think we can doit Like we've been talking with
Nicola a few moments ago.
We don't believe how brilliantwe are and my post in my
community group this morning wasit's tell us Thursday.
Tell us how brilliant you are,was the post this morning.
(03:29):
And we need to tell people howbrilliant we are.
So I help women to growbusinesses grow their businesses
, not just any business.
I've been doing it for 32 years.
I know I don't look that old.
I was a child when I startedand I also run a community.
Debbie asked me this morningwhen I started and I also run a
community.
Debbie asked me this morningwhen I came in why do you call
it a community rather than anetwork?
(03:49):
And I think it's because I'vehad so many bad experiences with
networking, and so I wantedmine to be a community of safe
space where you can use your ownvoice and you can be yourself.
Donna Eade (04:01):
I love that.
I love that and I love beingpart of your community.
I, I love that, I love that andI love being part of your
community.
I need to get more like havingyou.
Thank you very much.
I need to get more involved,but, uh, yeah, it is a lovely
place to be and I was atAndrea's event a couple of weeks
ago and it was phenomenal.
Um, so many great people in theroom and so many fabulous
speakers on the stage.
So, andrea, the reason I havebrought you on stage today is to
(04:22):
talk about planning.
Andrea Rainsford (04:23):
I think it's don't all stop.
Donna Eade (04:25):
You know running for the doors, don't nod off just
yet so because it's afundamental thing in our
businesses and I think it's one.
You know.
It's one of those uh tasks thata lot of us will avoid doing
because we don't want to do.
It's boring, it's not the funstuff, but it can bring about so
much of your favorite word.
(04:46):
So tell us about don't knowwhat that is.
Andrea Rainsford (04:50):
Tell us about your business and how you are
currently running it the wordshe's alluding to is freedom,
and I think Nicola picked up onthat, um, a few minutes ago.
Freedom is everything and Ithink that we I wrote a post on
LinkedIn the other the other day.
I'm friends with many of you onLinkedIn, so it's lovely to see
(05:11):
so many faces.
I, the post.
The post that I wrote wasturning up on LinkedIn at seven
o'clock every morning to engagefor an hour, to then post to
engage for another hour, just sothat you get traction, just so
that your dream client sees you.
Isn't freedom for me.
I just can't do that anymore.
Like Nicola was saying, the waythat we're taught to do
marketing and the way that we'readvised to do marketing doesn't
(05:34):
doesn't sit with the way that Iwant to live my life, and
there's a huge reason for that.
And I do only work two to twoand a half days a week max.
Nobody believes that I dothat's okay because they and a
half days a week max.
Nobody believes that I dothat's okay because they don't
need to.
I know the truth and I seebehind the scenes.
I think, because my content isscheduled and because I pop in
my group quite regularly,everybody thinks that I work a
(05:56):
five-day week and I don't.
What I normally hear from womenis you can't possibly be earning
sufficient amount of income ontwo and a half days.
I am.
I don't need to qualify that, Idon't need to prove it to
anybody.
That is the reality and there'sa huge reason why I do that.
So planning is incrediblyimportant, like this week,
because Donna very kindly askedme to speak.
(06:17):
I work Monday morning, I workTuesday morning and I'm working
today and that's me done for theweek.
Monday afternoon I was offwalking.
Tuesday afternoon I was outwalking yesterday, I had my
nails done, I had a pedicure, Ihad my brows done and I and I
basically sat on the sofa andbinge watched netflix.
So planning is incrediblyimportant because it allows me
(06:38):
to work those two and a halfdays I think that's phenomenal.
Donna Eade (06:43):
Andrea, tell us a little bit about why freedom is
so important to you.
Andrea Rainsford (06:49):
I knew that was coming Deep breath.
I don't like sharing my story.
I share it for one reason, andone reason only, and that is
because I'm hoping that somebodysitting here today will listen,
take notice and do somethingabout it before it gets too late
.
So I went to the Big Fest Dunelast week.
(07:10):
I don't know if anybody was atthe Big Fest Dune last week
Nobody.
It's a two-day event in Boltonwith Danny Wallace, and the very
first speaker onto the stagewas Debbie Waite.
I don't know if any of you haveever met Debbie Waite and the
first thing she said thattriggered the heck out of me and
I was in a sobbing mess forabout an hour was we push and
push and push and we hustle inbusiness until we nearly kill
(07:33):
ourselves.
And that was the first thingthat she said, which leads me on
to the fact that I nearlykilled myself.
So I worked in corporate forErnst Young for about 20, 25
years.
I was a business developmentdirector globally for corporate
finance.
I was in a very male-dominatedworld.
I didn't work with any women atall.
(07:55):
So back then because we'regoing back quite a while you had
to push incredibly hard tostand out.
I'm going to jump forward quitequickly.
So I was diagnosed with ME first.
Me is basically adrenal fatigueand your body's giving out on
you.
I was pitching to I think I'dgot a team together to pitch to
(08:17):
um Renault in Leeds and I'ddriven up to Leeds.
I collapsed in the office and Inever went back to work.
I got home, um, I had privatehealth care with my, with my job
.
The doctor said to me you won'tbe going back to work.
And I thought there wassomething seriously wrong with
him because I thought there's noway I won't be going back to
work.
So I thought I'll show him,show Andrea style, I'll show him
(08:38):
that I can get back to work.
What actually happened was thecomplete opposite.
Two years later I did getmarried, the next year to the
most amazing man that's walkingthe planet.
And the year after that I had astroke.
I was 32.
It wasn't a tiny little simpleone, it was enormous.
I couldn't speak.
(08:59):
I couldn't speak, I couldn'tfeed myself, I couldn't toil at
myself, I couldn't walk.
I was in hospital for sixmonths.
I was in my hospital bed in ourfront room for five years.
I didn't see the outside for avery, very, very long time.
I am sharing this with youbecause we can become incredibly
(09:19):
blinkered.
We can have the end goal and abit like Nicola was saying is
you need to tap into your bodyand you needed to listen.
I was so in my head it wasuntrue.
I didn't listen or didn't carewhat my body was doing.
I didn't.
It's the most important thingto me.
Now.
I work with Nicola.
I've been working with Nicolafor quite a while and we listen
to my body every week or everyother week, or how often we meet
(09:41):
.
My body is the most importantthing to me and that's the
reason why I only work two and ahalf days, but it was the
longest, longest road back.
It took me 17 years to learn towalk.
I've only been walking about 18months, which is the reason why
I'm rocking up in green heelstoday, because I am going to
wear them, because I couldn'twear them for such a long time.
Um, thank you.
(10:03):
So, yeah, your health, your life, your family are the most
important things to you.
Your business isn't.
You know, my business isimportant, but when people start
getting a little bit tetchy andthey start getting a little bit
mardy because I haven't repliedto their email and I haven't
replied to their social mediapost.
They can do one, because thatisn't my life.
My life is making up on all theyears that I didn't have, and I
(10:31):
will advocate for anybody.
I will stand up and helpanybody, but it's got to be in
my time, on my you know, on myagenda, and anybody that tries
to push me into doing anythingmore won't be tired of them.
Donna Eade (10:44):
I love that.
I love that and I think it's soimportant because I think we
have grown up in a world that isjust go, go, go and and it just
seems to be getting faster andfaster and, with technology
moving, everything's moving atsuch a pace and humans were not
made to do that.
It's like we can't keep goingand I think, as women especially
, but I think generally we don'ttake care of our health as well
(11:06):
as we should.
We don't take the time toactually look at how do we feel,
get back into our bodies andreally feel those feelings and
take the time.
And I think a lot of people arestuck in that hustle mentality
like I've got to, like I havegot to work nine till five
because otherwise I haven'tearned the money that I've made.
(11:27):
How many of us feel like if Idon't work all the hours, then
I'm not worthy of the money thatI'm making?
So it's one of those thingswhere we've got to learn that
actually know our knowledge andthe things that we are giving.
So it's one of those thingswhere we've got to learn
actually know our knowledge andthe things that we are giving,
whether it's done in one hour or10 hours, can still be valuable
and it's just amazing what youhave achieved.
(11:48):
So what I would like us to talkabout is how would you say
somebody going about planningtheir freedom, whatever that
looks like.
It might be that you want to dotwo and a half days a week.
It may be that you want to dofour and have every friday off.
Um, it may be that you want toactually work the weekend
because, for whatever reason,that works better for you.
Um, how do you think peopleshould go about evaluating where
(12:11):
they are right now and how theycan actually plan better for
their future?
Andrea Rainsford (12:17):
I would think there's many of you sat here now
thinking am I pushing my bodytoo hard?
Are the signs there?
Am I?
Do I actually stop and listento how I'm feeling?
I think when you get into your40s and your 50s I know we we
get lots of aches and pains,don't we?
I?
I I'm trying to figure outwhat's normal for a 50 year old
(12:39):
woman and what's you know what'sthe after effects of of being
sick.
So I want you to all, I wantyou to all stop, and I want you
to take some time to get intoyour bodies.
And I want you to stop and Iwant you to listen, and I think
that if I asked you the questionwhat's, what's the one thing
that you would love to achieveby the end of next year, there's
(12:59):
going to be something that popsinto your heads.
There's going to be somethingthat pops up.
There's going to be one thingthat pops in, and I want you to
actually stop and think aboutwhether you're on a track to get
in there or you're lettingother things get in your way.
Are you letting other peopleinfluence you?
Because I think the one thingthat I see day in, day out is
people look left and right toomuch.
(13:20):
You're looking at whateverybody else is doing.
I couldn't give a rat's asswhat anybody else is doing.
I really couldn't.
I mean, people have always gotan opinion about what I'm doing.
That's OK.
They're entitled to theiropinion.
I can't change it.
I can't change what they thinkof me.
We were having thisconversation this morning.
(13:42):
There's going to be a lot ofpeople that don't like us.
They're going to be a lot ofpeople that do things
differently to the way we do.
We've just got to let them geton with it, because that's them.
That isn't us.
But are you making yourselftruly happy?
Are you spending enough timewith the kids?
Are you spending enough timewith your partner?
Are you spending enough time onyour own?
Because the one thing that I doevery week in my diary is I
plan me time.
I plan my Pilates classes, Iplan my yoga, I plan my walking.
I mean, I'm obsessed withwalking.
(14:03):
It's a bit of a problem.
It's like I've got my walkingboots on every day because
obviously I didn't walk for sucha long time.
I have to walk most days now.
But are you making time for theimportant stuff?
Are you doing the stuff thatyou think you should do?
Are you thinking that you'redoing the stuff that you think
you've got to do to impressothers, or are you doing the
stuff that you want to do?
(14:23):
I've got a number of ladies inmy mastermind, so I help women
to create consistent income, butconsistent income based on
freedom.
And I've got women that havecompletely pivoted because
they're just not happy.
They're not happy doing whatthey're doing.
They're putting a mask on andsaying, well, that's what's
bringing the money in at themoment, so that's what I've got
to do, but that's just utterrubbish.
(14:45):
It really is, because you arebrilliant, whether you believe
it or you don't believe it, andyou know what your superpower is
and you know what you were puton this earth to do.
Deep down, you do, and ifyou're not doing it, there's
still time.
I think what I tend to see iswomen that are hitting their 50s
, think I'm running out of time.
The clock's ticking, I've and,and it's usually.
(15:07):
There's usually something bigthat makes you do or it makes
you change.
Janine said to me this morningdo you stick to your two and a
half days?
I do know, because what Ihaven't told you is you know, I
got sick again.
So I did have a stroke.
But 18 months ago I found atumor in my throat and I I
(15:28):
looked at the ceiling and wentare you having a laugh?
And you know I looked upset andhow am I going to get through
this?
But the most amazinglybeautiful thing came out of it
is that they damaged my vocalcords when they took the tumour
out and my husband had been maderedundant, so the income was
down to me and I thought I'mgoing to set up a Facebook group
(15:49):
to market my business while I'mnot very well and while I'm
coming back from this tumour.
And I called it Women Winningin Business.
And the reason I called itWomen Winning in Business and
the reason that I called itWomen Winning in Business was
because I thought I want it tobe a positive space.
I want them to realise thatthey're winning at business,
whether you know, at the stagethat they're at, no matter what
they're doing, the fact thatthey're showing up every day,
they're winning.
(16:10):
We started off with 200 women 18months ago.
We're now at 2,500.
We're going to be in 15 citiesby the end of april.
We only started the first onein october and you know that
what it's based on is kindness.
That's it.
It's a kind space.
You can, you can show up andyou, you and you, and you use
(16:30):
your voice and you.
Nobody is going to be unkind toyou.
And I always say to everybodythat joins it doesn't matter
what your skin color is, itdoesn't matter what your
sexuality is, it doesn't matterwhat your religion is.
If you're a dick, you're a dickand you're not welcome and that
and that and that is that isthe, the ethos for the group.
Sorry, lincoln, no, no, men.
(16:52):
We have men.
We have lots of men in ourcommunities, don't we?
We have some beautiful souls,because it isn't about women,
it's, it's men that aresupporting women.
It's everybody that wants tolift women up and realize how
brilliant they are.
We've we have four empowermentdays a year.
We have um abundance, flourish,shine and succeed, because it's
all about all of you.
It's about you standing in aspace where you walk into a room
(17:15):
and you're enveloped with a hug, and it's all about kindness.
So planning has gone out thewindow a little bit, because I
didn't plan Women Winning inBusiness and I didn't plan
Affinity and I didn't plan theEmpowerment Days.
So I'm having to be really,really religious with my time.
At the moment I'm having to.
It's growing so quickly thatI'm not blinking, but what I'm
(17:39):
finding is that I'm beingdragged away from my mastermind.
I'm being dragged away fromteaching women how to grow their
businesses, and what I'mactually doing is creating
spaces for women to shine.
So I'm going with it, becauseI've been trying to go backwards
, haven't I?
I've been trying to say no, I'mnot doing that.
I want to do what I know, andthat's the thing is.
(17:59):
We try to stick to what we know.
We I want to do what I know,and that's the thing is.
We try to stick to what we know.
We try to stick to what'sfamiliar.
I'm being pulled in a differentdirection.
Beautiful souls like Gemma keepsaying to me I'm the missing
piece of the puzzle, which everytime, I feel like giving up.
When somebody says things likethat to me, then I'm keeping
going.
I've got no idea where it'sgoing, but what I do know is
that I've got to stick to my twoand a half days because my
(18:22):
health is more important thananything.
Donna Eade (18:24):
I love that.
So if anybody's got a question,keep it in mind.
I am going to ask one questionthat I got through the form that
I sent out, and that is how doyou decide what you say yes and
what you say no to tap into mybody nicola's taught me that
I've got to it.
Andrea Rainsford (18:44):
It's not about alignment, it's about I go by
people's energy.
I'm sure you get it all thetime.
If you send a friend request tosomebody, they'll message you
and say is there a reason whyyou've connected with me or can
I help you, or something alongthe lines?
Those lines, and my response isalways the same I like your
profile picture, I get goodenergy from, and my response is
always the same I like yourprofile picture, I get good
(19:06):
energy from you.
And it's always the same answer.
I tend to connect with peoplethat I like their energy and
they feel like a nice humanbeing to me.
But what do I say yes to?
The reason I said yes to thisis because Nicola suggested it
and I trust Nicolawholeheartedly.
I go with my gut feeling.
If my gut's off off, then Idon't tend to do it anymore
because that's that's sort of mynorth star, that's sort of
(19:26):
guiding me forward love that.
Trudy Avery (19:28):
Thank you, anybody else got any questions?
Oh, look, now please wait.
I have got a lovely assistantwho's coming around with a
microphone so we can get you onthe podcast.
Andrea Rainsford (19:37):
Hello hiya, at the beginning you said that
women hold themselves backbecause they don't believe
they're good enough.
But I find that actually, I dothink I'm good enough.
I think I'm I'm amazing but thething that I think I struggle
(19:57):
with a lot is that I worry it'slike this women's sense of
community.
I worry that I put my prices up, people can't afford me and I
don't want to be inaccessible toto those people.
So I feel like you know how doyou deal with that as a as more
of an issue.
I haven't touched on my businessmodel, which is one of the
(20:20):
things I haven't spoke about,one of the things that I will
answer your question in a veryroundabout sort of way, if
that's OK.
So I'm actually moving from twoand a half days a week to three
days a month, and people don'tthink that that's possible.
But the reason that I'm movingto three days a month is because
I wasn't happy.
I was really unhappy.
So I was looking at my diaryand I was really unhappy.
So I was looking at my diaryand on a Monday and a Tuesday it
(20:41):
would be full of Zoom calls.
I just can't do it anymore.
I can't wake up on a Monday anda Tuesday and speak to lots of
people.
That isn't me being unsociable,I just didn't feel like I was
living my life.
So I had to sit and think abouthow could I serve, like you
were saying, the people thatneed me most, plus the people at
different stages.
Like you were saying, thepeople that need me most plus
(21:02):
the people at different stages.
How can I help all of them andlook after myself at the same
time?
And I've come up with a newbusiness model called Haven,
which I turn up three days amonth, once in the north, once
in the Midlands and once in thesouth and that day in the
morning I have a larger group ofwomen between 20 and 30, where
I teach them the fundamentals ofwhat they need to be able to
(21:25):
grow their businesses.
Then after lunch I do amastermind where we apply that
learning to a specific group ofpeople, which is 5 to 7.
And then I do one to one beforeI go home.
So I work one day but I'mteaching a larger group that
can't afford to do themastermind.
Then I'm doing the mastermindwhere we apply the learning to
their business, and then I'vegot the one-to-one in as well.
So, rather than working a fullweek, I'm doing one day where
(21:49):
I'm covering all three groups ofpeople.
So they will sign up for a setperiod of time.
They will learn a set number ofsteps, which will probably be
around 10 steps.
So they'll need to commit toaround 10 months 10 steps, so
they'll need to commit to around10 months.
But the women in the in themorning it's going to be a lower
, lower fee because I'm teachingthem rather than helping them
do the work.
The mastermind that we haveafter lunch, which is going to
(22:09):
be around seven to ten.
We apply the learning to theirbusiness and I'm going to be
actually helping them.
They're going to be getting myadvice, and then I don't do any
one-to-one at all at the momentbecause that was my choice.
All of my income comes from onething.
So I do one thing to one groupof people with one solution,
with one outcome, and that's howI've earned my income for
around five years.
(22:30):
That haven has come aboutbecause I don't want to do that
model anymore and it doesn'twork and it doesn't make me
happy.
I wasn't sure if people wouldwant it.
I wasn't sure if people wouldwant it.
I wasn't sure if people woulddo it.
I had I think it was 100 peoplesign up to hear about it within
an hour of putting it out.
So the universe told me thatthis is the path for me to go
down and I'm holding my firstevent.
(22:51):
I think it's on the 7th of May.
But, like you said, I couldn'tjust do high ticket.
High ticket doesn't make mehappy.
I could charge thousands ofpounds to to work with
one-to-one with somebody.
But it's the ladies that arecoming through, the ladies that
are starting out, the ladiesthat need me the most and that's
where the larger group comes inin the morning, in in the first
(23:13):
morning of the day thank youvery much.
Donna Eade (23:15):
Trudy lincoln had a question.
Lincoln Noel (23:17):
Hello as the only man in the room I can say thank
you for looking the way you look.
Thank, you and for the ladies inthe room, I'll say this first
of all, don't worry about mypresence.
Um, I'm very, very.
I have great empathy for whereyou are and, uh, because of what
I do, I have a a vestedinterest in everything that's
(23:40):
being said today, which bringsme to my question to you.
You are very defiant.
You are very, very, very strongand you know your journey.
My question is this, if you cananswer it briefly at what point
were you?
You know, the current of lifetakes us in a particular
direction and we make a decisionthat we are not going to travel
(24:04):
in that direction of thecurrent.
When did you make thatrealization that you were not
going to be that person too?
When were you able to becourageous, to execute all that
strength that you display?
Because the thing that struckme about you speaking is that
you mean what you say when yousay you're not going to get up
(24:26):
at 7 am and do that nonsense ofLinkedIn that we've all been.
You know those of us that havebeen to coaching with LinkedIn
coaches, and there's a millionof them, and we've all spent
money and all the rest of it andyou said and that caught my
attention I'm not doing it?
You've probably said that for avery long time, but when were
you able to pull the trigger anddo it with intention, in a
(24:50):
meaningful way?
Do you see what I mean?
How long was that journey whenyou had the power to then say,
right, I'm going to do it and bethat person, as opposed to wish
to be that person?
Andrea Rainsford (25:06):
I think something major has to happen.
So when, when I'm teachingwomen to grow their businesses,
when I'm teaching them anything,they only actually start taking
action and take it seriouslyand really putting in the work
when there's something huge.
So when I found, when I foundthe tumour and I was sick for
the second time, I looked to thesky and said I'm not going to
(25:27):
get a third chance.
And I know I'm not going to geta third chance.
I'll be taken out next time.
And I know that I've got totake better care of myself.
And that was.
That was the point that there'salways something huge that
makes you change your mind.
Now you'd think the stroke washuge enough, but I think that
after the stroke, I wasdesperate to come back to life.
I was desperate to be theperson that I was before.
(25:47):
I was desperate to be Andreathat was in corporate.
She was gone, she, she wasn'tcoming back and it took me quite
a while to figure out I wasn'tgoing to be her anymore.
And I'd got to.
I'd got to try this new Andrea,this new version on, and I'd
got to try her on for size.
I sat at home after my operationand I realized that I hadn't
got it in me anymore.
(26:08):
I hadn't got it in me to to getup at seven o'clock.
The first thing that happenedwas I'm not too sure how to say
this, but those of you that areon LinkedIn at seven o'clock
every morning are so used toposting and engaging.
You're used to a certain levelof visibility, so your posts get
a lot of traction, you get alot of comments, you get a lot
of visibility.
So I've been used to that forquite a long time.
(26:29):
That dropped off and so you gotthe first thing to think is
well, I need that because, likeNicola was saying, to a certain
degree you want the externalvalidation, you want people to
tell you that it's OK and thatyou're doing a good job.
So the toughest thing was for meto tap into myself and say it's
OK to walk your path.
(26:50):
You haven't got to walk thepath of everybody else.
It's incredibly lonely.
I'm not going to sit here andsay it hasn't been lonely.
I am very lonely because youwalk your own path.
You're not.
You know there's people thatare coming on this journey with
me and, like Nicola says,they're gonna.
They're gonna change route,they're gonna go in a different
direction.
(27:11):
But it was the realization thatI've got to do this on my own.
I can't rely on the people thatcomment on my posts.
I can't rely on the people thatare, you know, me, patting me
on the back, telling me I'mdoing a good job.
I've got to do that for myself,and that's it's still a work in
progress.
I still have to.
I have to put my phone down.
(27:31):
I leave my phone downstairs, somy first thing in the morning
isn't just to pick my phone upand seeing what social media is
doing.
It's still a work in progress.
But the one thing that is inthe forefront of my mind is I
can't make myself sick again,and I do believe that I made
myself sick both times.
It was me that made myselfpoorly.
I can blame anybody andanything, but the reality is is
(27:56):
that I'm the one that did it.
I'm the one that put my bodyunder pressure.
Donna Eade (28:00):
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Lincoln.
One very quick one.
Cheryl, Very quick answer,because otherwise we're going to
run over.
I don't want to stop peoplehaving their tea break.
Andrea Rainsford (28:09):
Hello, Hello.
Cheryl Laidlaw (28:10):
Andrea, it's just a quick one to follow on,
actually.
So how did you grow If you'renot on LinkedIn and you're not.
Andrea Rainsford (28:17):
I am on there and you're not.
I am on there, I'm just not.
I'm not, I'm just not there.
You know, constantly,constantly.
And did you start from scratch?
No, no, I've been.
I've been on.
I've been in business 11 years.
So I started my business from mybed while I was still while I
was, I was recovering, really.
I went back to university anddid a degree, a degree in
computing science, and I startedan seo agency about 11 years
(28:38):
ago.
I did seo for around seven oreight years and then I pivoted
because basically I was hiding,not doing business growth,
because I needed to put my biggirl pants on and get back out
there and do what I'm great at.
So I've been on LinkedIn a longtime.
I've amassed a lovely followingof people, but because I only
go on there and I only post whenI want to and I only post when
(29:01):
I feel like it, the tractionisn't as much and the visibility
isn't as much.
So it is harder, it is moredifficult, but what I have done
is brought everybody onto myemail list and I've brought
everybody into a Facebook groupand it's the group where I spend
the most of my time and where Igive them my time and attention
.
Donna Eade (29:20):
So would you say, that you nurture the Facebook
group, and then the energy justnaturally grows.
Andrea Rainsford (29:26):
We've had five sold-out empowerment days and
we're now in 15 cities aroundthe UK and that's come from the
group and the email list.
It hasn't come from socialmedia.
But my recommendation is alwaysyou put one solution out there
to one group of people, oneplatform, one outcome, and you
smash that before you try tomove on to anything else.
Donna Eade (29:46):
I live by that too.
Thank you, brilliant.
Thank you very much, cheryl,and thank you.
Andrea, for talking with ustoday.
Thank you.
You're listening to the Mindset in Action podcast,
the place to be to grow andstreamline your business.
I'm your host, donna Eade.
Let's jump into the show.
Welcome back to the podcast,everybody.
I am so excited to have youhere today for this episode.
(00:24):
Today is episode two of the livepodcast series, so, for those
of you who don't know, I ran alive event at the beginning of
April to celebrate five years ofthis podcast and I had five
guests and myself did sessionsat that event and I am giving
(00:44):
them to you here live on thepodcast.
So today we have AndreaRainsford with us.
Andrea has such a unique andfantastic story to share.
She has been through a hell ofa lot and she is absolutely a
true fighter in every sense ofthe word, and has just been able
(01:09):
to create such a wonderfulspace for women in business.
So we are going to jump intothat session.
Take a listen to Andrea's story.
Our focus was planning and whyplanning in our business is
important.
Our episode last week was withNicola Tonsaga, so you can go
back and listen to that one.
(01:30):
That was a mindset episode andwe have got four more sessions
coming in the next coming week,so make sure you are subscribed,
where you listen, so that youdon't miss an episode, and if
you are on a platform thatallows you to leave a review, I
would love it if you wouldreview the podcast.
It makes a huge difference.
So let's jump into this episodewith Andrea Rainsford Now.
(01:53):
Is that everybody back?
Let me know if you're not here,okay, I think.
I think that's everybody aboutthat.
I think it's all Ready for ournext session.
Andrea Rainsford, come up tothe mic.
Andrea Rainsford (02:14):
Hello.
Donna Eade (02:16):
Right now, Andrea, you speak quite softly.
Andrea Rainsford (02:18):
Hello.
Donna Eade (02:19):
There you go.
Andrea Rainsford (02:20):
Everybody hear me at the back.
Lincoln, can you hear me at theback?
Thank you very much.
I'm on brand today.
If, if I didn't turn up inbrand colors, my, my brand
person would shoot me.
Donna Eade (02:35):
Yeah, okay, so Andrea Rainsford, welcome to the
stage.
Thank you very much for havingme.
Please introduce yourselves toeverybody and let them know who
you are and what it is that youdo.
Hello, I'm.
Andrea Rainsford Andrea.
Andrea Rainsford (02:44):
Nice to meet you.
What do I do?
I love advocating for women.
I think that we need acheerleader, so I'm your biggest
cheerleader.
I like the whoop.
Thank you very much.
We'll have a few more of those.
I think that what I see andapologies Lincoln is that in the
self-employed, running your ownbusiness space is that women
(03:08):
tend to earn less than men doingexactly the same role about 38%
and that's because, on thewhole, we don't believe in
ourselves.
We just don't think we can doit Like we've been talking with
Nicola a few moments ago.
We don't believe how brilliantwe are and my post in my
community group this morning wasit's tell us Thursday.
Tell us how brilliant you are,was the post this morning.
(03:29):
And we need to tell people howbrilliant we are.
So I help women to growbusinesses grow their businesses
, not just any business.
I've been doing it for 32 years.
I know I don't look that old.
I was a child when I startedand I also run a community.
Debbie asked me this morningwhen I started and I also run a
community.
Debbie asked me this morningwhen I came in why do you call
it a community rather than anetwork?
(03:49):
And I think it's because I'vehad so many bad experiences with
networking, and so I wantedmine to be a community of safe
space where you can use your ownvoice and you can be yourself.
Donna Eade (04:01):
I love that.
I love that and I love beingpart of your community.
I, I love that, I love that andI love being part of your
community.
I need to get more like havingyou.
Thank you very much.
I need to get more involved,but, uh, yeah, it is a lovely
place to be and I was atAndrea's event a couple of weeks
ago and it was phenomenal.
Um, so many great people in theroom and so many fabulous
speakers on the stage.
So, andrea, the reason I havebrought you on stage today is to
(04:22):
talk about planning.
Andrea Rainsford (04:23):
I think it's don't all stop.
Donna Eade (04:25):
You know running for the doors, don't nod off just
yet so because it's afundamental thing in our
businesses and I think it's one.
You know.
It's one of those uh tasks thata lot of us will avoid doing
because we don't want to do.
It's boring, it's not the funstuff, but it can bring about so
much of your favorite word.
(04:46):
So tell us about don't knowwhat that is.
Andrea Rainsford (04:50):
Tell us about your business and how you are
currently running it the wordshe's alluding to is freedom,
and I think Nicola picked up onthat, um, a few minutes ago.
Freedom is everything and Ithink that we I wrote a post on
LinkedIn the other the other day.
I'm friends with many of you onLinkedIn, so it's lovely to see
(05:11):
so many faces.
I, the post.
The post that I wrote wasturning up on LinkedIn at seven
o'clock every morning to engagefor an hour, to then post to
engage for another hour, just sothat you get traction, just so
that your dream client sees you.
Isn't freedom for me.
I just can't do that anymore.
Like Nicola was saying, the waythat we're taught to do
marketing and the way that we'readvised to do marketing doesn't
(05:34):
doesn't sit with the way that Iwant to live my life, and
there's a huge reason for that.
And I do only work two to twoand a half days a week max.
Nobody believes that I dothat's okay because they and a
half days a week max.
Nobody believes that I dothat's okay because they don't
need to.
I know the truth and I seebehind the scenes.
I think, because my content isscheduled and because I pop in
my group quite regularly,everybody thinks that I work a
(05:56):
five-day week and I don't.
What I normally hear from womenis you can't possibly be earning
sufficient amount of income ontwo and a half days.
I am.
I don't need to qualify that, Idon't need to prove it to
anybody.
That is the reality and there'sa huge reason why I do that.
So planning is incrediblyimportant, like this week,
because Donna very kindly askedme to speak.
(06:17):
I work Monday morning, I workTuesday morning and I'm working
today and that's me done for theweek.
Monday afternoon I was offwalking.
Tuesday afternoon I was outwalking yesterday, I had my
nails done, I had a pedicure, Ihad my brows done and I and I
basically sat on the sofa andbinge watched netflix.
So planning is incrediblyimportant because it allows me
(06:38):
to work those two and a halfdays I think that's phenomenal.
Donna Eade (06:43):
Andrea, tell us a little bit about why freedom is
so important to you.
Andrea Rainsford (06:49):
I knew that was coming Deep breath.
I don't like sharing my story.
I share it for one reason, andone reason only, and that is
because I'm hoping that somebodysitting here today will listen,
take notice and do somethingabout it before it gets too late
.
So I went to the Big Fest Dunelast week.
(07:10):
I don't know if anybody was atthe Big Fest Dune last week
Nobody.
It's a two-day event in Boltonwith Danny Wallace, and the very
first speaker onto the stagewas Debbie Waite.
I don't know if any of you haveever met Debbie Waite and the
first thing she said thattriggered the heck out of me and
I was in a sobbing mess forabout an hour was we push and
push and push and we hustle inbusiness until we nearly kill
(07:33):
ourselves.
And that was the first thingthat she said, which leads me on
to the fact that I nearlykilled myself.
So I worked in corporate forErnst Young for about 20, 25
years.
I was a business developmentdirector globally for corporate
finance.
I was in a very male-dominatedworld.
I didn't work with any women atall.
(07:55):
So back then because we'regoing back quite a while you had
to push incredibly hard tostand out.
I'm going to jump forward quitequickly.
So I was diagnosed with ME first.
Me is basically adrenal fatigueand your body's giving out on
you.
I was pitching to I think I'dgot a team together to pitch to
(08:17):
um Renault in Leeds and I'ddriven up to Leeds.
I collapsed in the office and Inever went back to work.
I got home, um, I had privatehealth care with my, with my job
.
The doctor said to me you won'tbe going back to work.
And I thought there wassomething seriously wrong with
him because I thought there's noway I won't be going back to
work.
So I thought I'll show him,show Andrea style, I'll show him
(08:38):
that I can get back to work.
What actually happened was thecomplete opposite.
Two years later I did getmarried, the next year to the
most amazing man that's walkingthe planet.
And the year after that I had astroke.
I was 32.
It wasn't a tiny little simpleone, it was enormous.
I couldn't speak.
(08:59):
I couldn't speak, I couldn'tfeed myself, I couldn't toil at
myself, I couldn't walk.
I was in hospital for sixmonths.
I was in my hospital bed in ourfront room for five years.
I didn't see the outside for avery, very, very long time.
I am sharing this with youbecause we can become incredibly
(09:19):
blinkered.
We can have the end goal and abit like Nicola was saying is
you need to tap into your bodyand you needed to listen.
I was so in my head it wasuntrue.
I didn't listen or didn't carewhat my body was doing.
I didn't.
It's the most important thingto me.
Now.
I work with Nicola.
I've been working with Nicolafor quite a while and we listen
to my body every week or everyother week, or how often we meet
(09:41):
.
My body is the most importantthing to me and that's the
reason why I only work two and ahalf days, but it was the
longest, longest road back.
It took me 17 years to learn towalk.
I've only been walking about 18months, which is the reason why
I'm rocking up in green heelstoday, because I am going to
wear them, because I couldn'twear them for such a long time.
Um, thank you.
(10:03):
So, yeah, your health, your life, your family are the most
important things to you.
Your business isn't.
You know, my business isimportant, but when people start
getting a little bit tetchy andthey start getting a little bit
mardy because I haven't repliedto their email and I haven't
replied to their social mediapost.
They can do one, because thatisn't my life.
My life is making up on all theyears that I didn't have, and I
(10:31):
will advocate for anybody.
I will stand up and helpanybody, but it's got to be in
my time, on my you know, on myagenda, and anybody that tries
to push me into doing anythingmore won't be tired of them.
Donna Eade (10:44):
I love that.
I love that and I think it's soimportant because I think we
have grown up in a world that isjust go, go, go and and it just
seems to be getting faster andfaster and, with technology
moving, everything's moving atsuch a pace and humans were not
made to do that.
It's like we can't keep goingand I think, as women especially
, but I think generally we don'ttake care of our health as well
(11:06):
as we should.
We don't take the time toactually look at how do we feel,
get back into our bodies andreally feel those feelings and
take the time.
And I think a lot of people arestuck in that hustle mentality
like I've got to, like I havegot to work nine till five
because otherwise I haven'tearned the money that I've made.
(11:27):
How many of us feel like if Idon't work all the hours, then
I'm not worthy of the money thatI'm making?
So it's one of those thingswhere we've got to learn that
actually know our knowledge andthe things that we are giving.
So it's one of those thingswhere we've got to learn
actually know our knowledge andthe things that we are giving,
whether it's done in one hour or10 hours, can still be valuable
and it's just amazing what youhave achieved.
(11:48):
So what I would like us to talkabout is how would you say
somebody going about planningtheir freedom, whatever that
looks like.
It might be that you want to dotwo and a half days a week.
It may be that you want to dofour and have every friday off.
Um, it may be that you want toactually work the weekend
because, for whatever reason,that works better for you.
Um, how do you think peopleshould go about evaluating where
(12:11):
they are right now and how theycan actually plan better for
their future?
Andrea Rainsford (12:17):
I would think there's many of you sat here now
thinking am I pushing my bodytoo hard?
Are the signs there?
Am I?
Do I actually stop and listento how I'm feeling?
I think when you get into your40s and your 50s I know we we
get lots of aches and pains,don't we?
I?
I I'm trying to figure outwhat's normal for a 50 year old
(12:39):
woman and what's you know what'sthe after effects of of being
sick.
So I want you to all, I wantyou to all stop, and I want you
to take some time to get intoyour bodies.
And I want you to stop and Iwant you to listen, and I think
that if I asked you the questionwhat's, what's the one thing
that you would love to achieveby the end of next year, there's
(12:59):
going to be something that popsinto your heads.
There's going to be somethingthat pops up.
There's going to be one thingthat pops in, and I want you to
actually stop and think aboutwhether you're on a track to get
in there or you're lettingother things get in your way.
Are you letting other peopleinfluence you?
Because I think the one thingthat I see day in, day out is
people look left and right toomuch.
(13:20):
You're looking at whateverybody else is doing.
I couldn't give a rat's asswhat anybody else is doing.
I really couldn't.
I mean, people have always gotan opinion about what I'm doing.
That's OK.
They're entitled to theiropinion.
I can't change it.
I can't change what they thinkof me.
We were having thisconversation this morning.
(13:42):
There's going to be a lot ofpeople that don't like us.
They're going to be a lot ofpeople that do things
differently to the way we do.
We've just got to let them geton with it, because that's them.
That isn't us.
But are you making yourselftruly happy?
Are you spending enough timewith the kids?
Are you spending enough timewith your partner?
Are you spending enough time onyour own?
Because the one thing that I doevery week in my diary is I
plan me time.
I plan my Pilates classes, Iplan my yoga, I plan my walking.
I mean, I'm obsessed withwalking.
(14:03):
It's a bit of a problem.
It's like I've got my walkingboots on every day because
obviously I didn't walk for sucha long time.
I have to walk most days now.
But are you making time for theimportant stuff?
Are you doing the stuff thatyou think you should do?
Are you thinking that you'redoing the stuff that you think
you've got to do to impressothers, or are you doing the
stuff that you want to do?
(14:23):
I've got a number of ladies inmy mastermind, so I help women
to create consistent income, butconsistent income based on
freedom.
And I've got women that havecompletely pivoted because
they're just not happy.
They're not happy doing whatthey're doing.
They're putting a mask on andsaying, well, that's what's
bringing the money in at themoment, so that's what I've got
to do, but that's just utterrubbish.
(14:45):
It really is, because you arebrilliant, whether you believe
it or you don't believe it, andyou know what your superpower is
and you know what you were puton this earth to do.
Deep down, you do, and ifyou're not doing it, there's
still time.
I think what I tend to see iswomen that are hitting their 50s
, think I'm running out of time.
The clock's ticking, I've and,and it's usually.
(15:07):
There's usually something bigthat makes you do or it makes
you change.
Janine said to me this morningdo you stick to your two and a
half days?
I do know, because what Ihaven't told you is you know, I
got sick again.
So I did have a stroke.
But 18 months ago I found atumor in my throat and I I
(15:28):
looked at the ceiling and wentare you having a laugh?
And you know I looked upset andhow am I going to get through
this?
But the most amazinglybeautiful thing came out of it
is that they damaged my vocalcords when they took the tumour
out and my husband had been maderedundant, so the income was
down to me and I thought I'mgoing to set up a Facebook group
(15:49):
to market my business while I'mnot very well and while I'm
coming back from this tumour.
And I called it Women Winningin Business.
And the reason I called itWomen Winning in Business and
the reason that I called itWomen Winning in Business was
because I thought I want it tobe a positive space.
I want them to realise thatthey're winning at business,
whether you know, at the stagethat they're at, no matter what
they're doing, the fact thatthey're showing up every day,
they're winning.
(16:10):
We started off with 200 women 18months ago.
We're now at 2,500.
We're going to be in 15 citiesby the end of april.
We only started the first onein october and you know that
what it's based on is kindness.
That's it.
It's a kind space.
You can, you can show up andyou, you and you, and you use
(16:30):
your voice and you.
Nobody is going to be unkind toyou.
And I always say to everybodythat joins it doesn't matter
what your skin color is, itdoesn't matter what your
sexuality is, it doesn't matterwhat your religion is.
If you're a dick, you're a dickand you're not welcome and that
and that and that is that isthe, the ethos for the group.
Sorry, lincoln, no, no, men.
(16:52):
We have men.
We have lots of men in ourcommunities, don't we?
We have some beautiful souls,because it isn't about women,
it's, it's men that aresupporting women.
It's everybody that wants tolift women up and realize how
brilliant they are.
We've we have four empowermentdays a year.
We have um abundance, flourish,shine and succeed, because it's
all about all of you.
It's about you standing in aspace where you walk into a room
(17:15):
and you're enveloped with a hug, and it's all about kindness.
So planning has gone out thewindow a little bit, because I
didn't plan Women Winning inBusiness and I didn't plan
Affinity and I didn't plan theEmpowerment Days.
So I'm having to be really,really religious with my time.
At the moment I'm having to.
It's growing so quickly thatI'm not blinking, but what I'm
(17:39):
finding is that I'm beingdragged away from my mastermind.
I'm being dragged away fromteaching women how to grow their
businesses, and what I'mactually doing is creating
spaces for women to shine.
So I'm going with it, becauseI've been trying to go backwards
, haven't I?
I've been trying to say no, I'mnot doing that.
I want to do what I know, andthat's the thing is.
(17:59):
We try to stick to what we know.
We I want to do what I know,and that's the thing is.
We try to stick to what we know.
We try to stick to what'sfamiliar.
I'm being pulled in a differentdirection.
Beautiful souls like Gemma keepsaying to me I'm the missing
piece of the puzzle, which everytime, I feel like giving up.
When somebody says things likethat to me, then I'm keeping
going.
I've got no idea where it'sgoing, but what I do know is
that I've got to stick to my twoand a half days because my
(18:22):
health is more important thananything.
Donna Eade (18:24):
I love that.
So if anybody's got a question,keep it in mind.
I am going to ask one questionthat I got through the form that
I sent out, and that is how doyou decide what you say yes and
what you say no to tap into mybody nicola's taught me that
I've got to it.
Andrea Rainsford (18:44):
It's not about alignment, it's about I go by
people's energy.
I'm sure you get it all thetime.
If you send a friend request tosomebody, they'll message you
and say is there a reason whyyou've connected with me or can
I help you, or something alongthe lines?
Those lines, and my response isalways the same I like your
profile picture, I get goodenergy from, and my response is
always the same I like yourprofile picture, I get good
(19:06):
energy from you.
And it's always the same answer.
I tend to connect with peoplethat I like their energy and
they feel like a nice humanbeing to me.
But what do I say yes to?
The reason I said yes to thisis because Nicola suggested it
and I trust Nicolawholeheartedly.
I go with my gut feeling.
If my gut's off off, then Idon't tend to do it anymore
because that's that's sort of mynorth star, that's sort of
(19:26):
guiding me forward love that.
Trudy Avery (19:28):
Thank you, anybody else got any questions?
Oh, look, now please wait.
I have got a lovely assistantwho's coming around with a
microphone so we can get you onthe podcast.
Andrea Rainsford (19:37):
Hello hiya, at the beginning you said that
women hold themselves backbecause they don't believe
they're good enough.
But I find that actually, I dothink I'm good enough.
I think I'm I'm amazing but thething that I think I struggle
(19:57):
with a lot is that I worry it'slike this women's sense of
community.
I worry that I put my prices up, people can't afford me and I
don't want to be inaccessible toto those people.
So I feel like you know how doyou deal with that as a as more
of an issue.
I haven't touched on my businessmodel, which is one of the
(20:20):
things I haven't spoke about,one of the things that I will
answer your question in a veryroundabout sort of way, if
that's OK.
So I'm actually moving from twoand a half days a week to three
days a month, and people don'tthink that that's possible.
But the reason that I'm movingto three days a month is because
I wasn't happy.
I was really unhappy.
So I was looking at my diaryand I was really unhappy.
So I was looking at my diaryand on a Monday and a Tuesday it
(20:41):
would be full of Zoom calls.
I just can't do it anymore.
I can't wake up on a Monday anda Tuesday and speak to lots of
people.
That isn't me being unsociable,I just didn't feel like I was
living my life.
So I had to sit and think abouthow could I serve, like you
were saying, the people thatneed me most, plus the people at
different stages.
Like you were saying, thepeople that need me most plus
(21:02):
the people at different stages.
How can I help all of them andlook after myself at the same
time?
And I've come up with a newbusiness model called Haven,
which I turn up three days amonth, once in the north, once
in the Midlands and once in thesouth and that day in the
morning I have a larger group ofwomen between 20 and 30, where
I teach them the fundamentals ofwhat they need to be able to
(21:25):
grow their businesses.
Then after lunch I do amastermind where we apply that
learning to a specific group ofpeople, which is 5 to 7.
And then I do one to one beforeI go home.
So I work one day but I'mteaching a larger group that
can't afford to do themastermind.
Then I'm doing the mastermindwhere we apply the learning to
their business, and then I'vegot the one-to-one in as well.
So, rather than working a fullweek, I'm doing one day where
(21:49):
I'm covering all three groups ofpeople.
So they will sign up for a setperiod of time.
They will learn a set number ofsteps, which will probably be
around 10 steps.
So they'll need to commit toaround 10 months 10 steps, so
they'll need to commit to around10 months.
But the women in the in themorning it's going to be a lower
, lower fee because I'm teachingthem rather than helping them
do the work.
The mastermind that we haveafter lunch, which is going to
(22:09):
be around seven to ten.
We apply the learning to theirbusiness and I'm going to be
actually helping them.
They're going to be getting myadvice, and then I don't do any
one-to-one at all at the momentbecause that was my choice.
All of my income comes from onething.
So I do one thing to one groupof people with one solution,
with one outcome, and that's howI've earned my income for
around five years.
(22:30):
That haven has come aboutbecause I don't want to do that
model anymore and it doesn'twork and it doesn't make me
happy.
I wasn't sure if people wouldwant it.
I wasn't sure if people wouldwant it.
I wasn't sure if people woulddo it.
I had I think it was 100 peoplesign up to hear about it within
an hour of putting it out.
So the universe told me thatthis is the path for me to go
down and I'm holding my firstevent.
(22:51):
I think it's on the 7th of May.
But, like you said, I couldn'tjust do high ticket.
High ticket doesn't make mehappy.
I could charge thousands ofpounds to to work with
one-to-one with somebody.
But it's the ladies that arecoming through, the ladies that
are starting out, the ladiesthat need me the most and that's
where the larger group comes inin the morning, in in the first
(23:13):
morning of the day thank youvery much.
Donna Eade (23:15):
Trudy lincoln had a question.
Lincoln Noel (23:17):
Hello as the only man in the room I can say thank
you for looking the way you look.
Thank, you and for the ladies inthe room, I'll say this first
of all, don't worry about mypresence.
Um, I'm very, very.
I have great empathy for whereyou are and, uh, because of what
I do, I have a a vestedinterest in everything that's
(23:40):
being said today, which bringsme to my question to you.
You are very defiant.
You are very, very, very strongand you know your journey.
My question is this, if you cananswer it briefly at what point
were you?
You know, the current of lifetakes us in a particular
direction and we make a decisionthat we are not going to travel
(24:04):
in that direction of thecurrent.
When did you make thatrealization that you were not
going to be that person too?
When were you able to becourageous, to execute all that
strength that you display?
Because the thing that struckme about you speaking is that
you mean what you say when yousay you're not going to get up
(24:26):
at 7 am and do that nonsense ofLinkedIn that we've all been.
You know those of us that havebeen to coaching with LinkedIn
coaches, and there's a millionof them, and we've all spent
money and all the rest of it andyou said and that caught my
attention I'm not doing it?
You've probably said that for avery long time, but when were
you able to pull the trigger anddo it with intention, in a
(24:50):
meaningful way?
Do you see what I mean?
How long was that journey whenyou had the power to then say,
right, I'm going to do it and bethat person, as opposed to wish
to be that person?
Andrea Rainsford (25:06):
I think something major has to happen.
So when, when I'm teachingwomen to grow their businesses,
when I'm teaching them anything,they only actually start taking
action and take it seriouslyand really putting in the work
when there's something huge.
So when I found, when I foundthe tumour and I was sick for
the second time, I looked to thesky and said I'm not going to
(25:27):
get a third chance.
And I know I'm not going to geta third chance.
I'll be taken out next time.
And I know that I've got totake better care of myself.
And that was.
That was the point that there'salways something huge that
makes you change your mind.
Now you'd think the stroke washuge enough, but I think that
after the stroke, I wasdesperate to come back to life.
I was desperate to be theperson that I was before.
(25:47):
I was desperate to be Andreathat was in corporate.
She was gone, she, she wasn'tcoming back and it took me quite
a while to figure out I wasn'tgoing to be her anymore.
And I'd got to.
I'd got to try this new Andrea,this new version on, and I'd
got to try her on for size.
I sat at home after my operationand I realized that I hadn't
got it in me anymore.
(26:08):
I hadn't got it in me to to getup at seven o'clock.
The first thing that happenedwas I'm not too sure how to say
this, but those of you that areon LinkedIn at seven o'clock
every morning are so used toposting and engaging.
You're used to a certain levelof visibility, so your posts get
a lot of traction, you get alot of comments, you get a lot
of visibility.
So I've been used to that forquite a long time.
(26:29):
That dropped off and so you gotthe first thing to think is
well, I need that because, likeNicola was saying, to a certain
degree you want the externalvalidation, you want people to
tell you that it's OK and thatyou're doing a good job.
So the toughest thing was for meto tap into myself and say it's
OK to walk your path.
(26:50):
You haven't got to walk thepath of everybody else.
It's incredibly lonely.
I'm not going to sit here andsay it hasn't been lonely.
I am very lonely because youwalk your own path.
You're not.
You know there's people thatare coming on this journey with
me and, like Nicola says,they're gonna.
They're gonna change route,they're gonna go in a different
direction.
(27:11):
But it was the realization thatI've got to do this on my own.
I can't rely on the people thatcomment on my posts.
I can't rely on the people thatare, you know, me, patting me
on the back, telling me I'mdoing a good job.
I've got to do that for myself,and that's it's still a work in
progress.
I still have to.
I have to put my phone down.
(27:31):
I leave my phone downstairs, somy first thing in the morning
isn't just to pick my phone upand seeing what social media is
doing.
It's still a work in progress.
But the one thing that is inthe forefront of my mind is I
can't make myself sick again,and I do believe that I made
myself sick both times.
It was me that made myselfpoorly.
I can blame anybody andanything, but the reality is is
(27:56):
that I'm the one that did it.
I'm the one that put my bodyunder pressure.
Donna Eade (28:00):
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Lincoln.
One very quick one.
Cheryl, Very quick answer,because otherwise we're going to
run over.
I don't want to stop peoplehaving their tea break.
Andrea Rainsford (28:09):
Hello, Hello.
Cheryl Laidlaw (28:10):
Andrea, it's just a quick one to follow on,
actually.
So how did you grow If you'renot on LinkedIn and you're not.
Andrea Rainsford (28:17):
I am on there and you're not.
I am on there, I'm just not.
I'm not, I'm just not there.
You know, constantly,constantly.
And did you start from scratch?
No, no, I've been.
I've been on.
I've been in business 11 years.
So I started my business from mybed while I was still while I
was, I was recovering, really.
I went back to university anddid a degree, a degree in
computing science, and I startedan seo agency about 11 years
(28:38):
ago.
I did seo for around seven oreight years and then I pivoted
because basically I was hiding,not doing business growth,
because I needed to put my biggirl pants on and get back out
there and do what I'm great at.
So I've been on LinkedIn a longtime.
I've amassed a lovely followingof people, but because I only
go on there and I only post whenI want to and I only post when
(29:01):
I feel like it, the tractionisn't as much and the visibility
isn't as much.
So it is harder, it is moredifficult, but what I have done
is brought everybody onto myemail list and I've brought
everybody into a Facebook groupand it's the group where I spend
the most of my time and where Igive them my time and attention
.
Donna Eade (29:20):
So would you say, that you nurture the Facebook
group, and then the energy justnaturally grows.
Andrea Rainsford (29:26):
We've had five sold-out empowerment days and
we're now in 15 cities aroundthe UK and that's come from the
group and the email list.
It hasn't come from socialmedia.
But my recommendation is alwaysyou put one solution out there
to one group of people, oneplatform, one outcome, and you
smash that before you try tomove on to anything else.
Donna Eade (29:46):
I live by that too.
Thank you, brilliant.
Thank you very much, cheryl,and thank you.
Andrea, for talking with ustoday.
Thank you.
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