Andrea Tessier is a Certified Master Life Coach and personal freedom coach. She is committed to supporting women entrepreneurs, coaches, and health and wellness experts to overcome the limiting beliefs and patterns that are standing in the way of the impact they desire, so they can fully embody their potential, fulfil their mission, and lead a life of their own design.
Too often women leaders struggle with feelings and patterns of not-enoughness, low self-worth, self-doubt, and sabotage, and this consistently stands in the way of them fulfilling their dreams. Andrea’s magic is in supporting them to do the soul work so they can make their goals work in business, life, and relationships.
💝 Key Takeaways
- The definition of true freedom.
- Various ways to cultivate true freedom.
- Some practical tools and tips to take away.
- How to make peace and how to include all of your parts.
📚 Resources Mentioned
🔗 Where You Can Find Andrea
- Website: https://www.andreatessier.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessier.andrea/
- Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.tessier2
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/andreatessiercoaching
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theempoweredcoach1
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-tessier-87b4521aa/
🌹 Rose’s Resources
- The HSP Business School
- Work With Me
- [FREE] HSP Archetype Quiz
- [FREE] Facebook Community for HSP Entrepreneurs
- Ask me a question for an upcoming solo episode
📖 (Imperfect) Transcript
We use Descript to provide this transcript which isn’t always perfect but wonderful all the same. (affiliate link 😃)
Rose: Hey, it’s Rose and welcome to another episode of the Sensitive CEO Show. And in this week’s episode, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Andrea Tessier. Andrea is a certified master life coach and personal freedom coach. She’s also a yogi, so we have that in common and a world traveler. We also have that in common.
So Andrea, welcome. It’s wonderful to talk with you today.
Andrea: Thank you. And thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Rose: Wonderful. I would love for you to share your personal story and how you got to be where you are today in your business and in your life.
Andrea: Okay. So presently I work with heart-centered, mission-driven entrepreneur women who feel stuc,k are in their own way, and I help her discover the patterns and beliefs that are, are really in her way so she can build the aligned business, but also a life that she loves. And for me, this comes from, you know, being a teacher for 13 years. I worked in the school system and then, you know, obviously was a student in this system for like 35 years of my life, a bell told me when I could pee, right, when I could eat my lunch and I could take my holidays and, you know, bound to the most expensive flights to travel because you had to always go when it was school holidays and, you know, it was 13 years of students needs and parents’ needs and colleagues’ needs and school initiative changes, which were so draining to my sensitive nervous system.
And in the end, my system couldn’t take it and I, my biggest yearning was to feel free and I ended up giving up this secure, quote unquote, secure job, because I thought I wanted the freedom in my day. I thought I wanted the freedom to travel, the freedom to wake up when I wanted, and, and so I did that and I got to do all of those things and follow my calling and heal my burnout.
But it was really after re-accessing, those things that I, I realized that something was still off because. There was an internal freedom that I was yearning for, and even though I had freed myself from this system, I was still unconsciously bound to limiting beliefs and patterns that were really fully standing in the way of the impact and joy and ease that I really desired to, to feel fulfilled.
And so that’s sort of what’s brought me to where I am now and wanting to just give a full permission slip to other women to live the life that they want to live now, and really redefining what, what freedom means for people and, and ways to access that.
Rose: That’s so interesting and that’s so funny.
What comes up when, when I talk to people, cuz something that came up for me was when I was, I was in my twenties still, I lived, like I’d worked in London for quite a while in corporate and then, I just kind of escaped and I ended up living on a yacht around the Caribbean and South America. And I did that for quite a few months and I ended up living in Venezuela on an island and I was totally free, but after a few months I was really quite bored.
I wasn’t fulfilled and I still had a lot of inner work to do. So isn’t it interesting what you really crave for? You get there and it’s like, oh, hang on, this isn’t what I thought it would be.
Andrea: Yes. And, and what I realized is, is exactly that, if you can have all of those things. And for me, I realized that there was a part of me that still felt broken.
You know, that, that something was wrong with me because I didn’t have the relationship or their career or, you know, X, y, z, what we’re supposed to have. And that, and that something with something was wrong with me, that I was broken. And it’s really like this personal development journey that I am such an advocate for that unlocked that for me or, or healed that in me so that I could feel whole and complete and unbroken.
And that’s what I want everyone to be able to access. You know? Like this is like right now, right? And. And I think that that’s why I wanted, that’s why I do this work, is because everybody gets to access that, and that’s so exciting to me. So that’s what like really, really fuels me in the work that I do now.
Rose: How would you define true freedom, Andrea?
Andrea: Yeah. So, and this is a great question to ask because so many people are saying that they want freedom, but how often do we actually like talk about what does that look like? And for me it’s, it’s the right or the permission to experience your desires, right, to act, to speak, to think, or to do, be and have in the now moment, right?
Because most people think that when I have. X, Y, Z, I’ll feel free, or I’ll feel happy or I’ll feel safe. Right. But true freedom is the full permission to experience that now.
Rose: And what are some ways that you recommend to others to find that true freedom within us.
Andrea: Yeah. So apart from living so many things.
Rose: Yeah. I mean, which is amazing. Like, but it didn’t do it.
Andrea: Yeah. Living in Hong Kong, you know, did a temporarily we would, it didn’t do it, you know? yeah. Well, the mistakes people make are, well, first of all, is they outsource their universal needs. Right. So they, they think that when I have the six figures, or when I have the number of clients, or when I have the, you know, sold out program or the relationship or whatever it is, the house on the lake, that’s fine.
Or when I have that, then I’ll feel, then I’ll feel how I wanna feel. And what that means is that we’re, we’re constantly outsourcing. You know, our needs for approval or our needs for control or our needs for safety, which are basic human needs that you get to have, but you get to be the one that sources that within you.
And then the other, the other mistakes that people make are, of course the comparing, right? Like, am I doing this right? Is somebody doing it better? Is it, is this the right way? What’s wrong with me? Right? And then, and then not being in alignment with the truth of who they are. Right, not being aligned with their gifts, whether it’s being sensitive, being an empath, being an introvert, whether it’s, you know, the gifts of their human design or their expertise or how they truly light up a room and it’s always going to keep people away from, from their freedom. And so from where I sit when I’m supporting my clients in one-on-one coaching or in my programs or. Anybody. It’s like, well, let’s bring this down to, you know, what is needed right now. And so the solution that I see is like the nervous system work, like deep nervous system regulation so that we can be free from our automatic responses.
Right. So that we have more control over our physiology, which is available to us. It’s also. The deep embodied belief shifting work, right? So we can choose the more empowering thoughts and beliefs, and then it’s seeing our gifts and accepting our gifts and aligning with them so that we can truly serve in a way that only you can and should, because that is why you’re here.
That’s the general overview, and we can certainly go into specifics.
Rose: I love all of that. I guess that’s what I wanted to ask, so a lot of people, Are becoming more aware of their gifts, you know, with these, I guess with human design coming out, even understanding that you’re highly sensitive, which is quite a new thing for me, and really understanding these gifts.
But if you’ve been on this treadmill for a long time and you don’t have the self-belief, or you’ve got limiting beliefs and you’ve got blocks all over the place, how can you truly accept your gifts and live with them?
Andrea: Yeah. That’s such a great question and I mean, this is a process of unfolding. This isn’t a one and done.
Right. And, and you know, this being in and of the work as well, it’s, it’s a process and it’s a, a rediscovery of who you are. And, you know, we’ve been so conditioned to, you know, think in certain ways to act in certain ways. And the first step is to truly get curious. I believe, you know, These things that are showing up in my life right now, the way that I’m acting, the way that I’m choosing, the way that I’m thinking.
Do I choose this? Like, is this useful to me? And, and whatever it is, is this morning meditation useful to me? Is this second bowl of ice cream useful to me. You know, and is working 10 hours a day useful to me and there’s no judgment in right or wrong, but we got to start getting curious about the way that we’re showing up because if the answer is a true is not, is not, yes, well then we get to start to meet the, the shifts that that do allow it to be a yes.
But yeah, I think that’s where I would start is really just questioning with curiosity with a lens of acceptance, with a lens of love. This is like, okay, I’m 42 years old now. This is the pattern that my life has been in. Has it always been this way? And if so, do I still choose this?
Rose: Yeah, I love that. I’ve just recently started re-listening to Joe Dispenza’s Morning and Evening Meditations, and I love how he guides you to lose or not lose, but to let go of the old self and focus on the future self that you really wanna be. I just, I love that as a tool. I think that’s a brilliant, brilliant tool to share.
Andrea: So good. and even just that word letting go. I don’t know about you. Like that is so hard for me.
Even like being in and of the work now for years and coaching people through their own transformation, like letting go of the things are so difficult and what’s been working for me recently is this idea of letting it be. And for me that feels like a completely different energy in my body.
Letting it go feels scary, right? . It’s like, ooh. But letting it be is like spacious.
Rose: It feels relaxing that when you said it, when you shared it, and cuz we can see each other on video, I could just feel this ah, relaxing rather than a letting go. It’s, yeah, let it be.
Andrea: Yeah. For me, it brings up acceptance. And you know, that’s something that I teach in my programs is that nothing is healed in the energy of judgment. And it’s only healed with acceptance and compassion. And so letting things be exactly how they are is, is such a gift for, for the. and brings just so much more ease to more empathic people like anybody, but more empathic people, more sensitive people.
We’re our harshest critics, right?
Rose: Yeah. We are because very much. What other tools do you share in your programs and with your one-on-one clients to help the critic and the perfectionist, all the things that come with being sensitive and empathic.
Andrea: Well, and the thing about, you know, being a coach, being a leader, you know, being the CEO is we always have to be doing our own personal work.
Like I think that’s number one. That’s my number one value. I have a team supporting me because, what we teach is always coming back for us, right? And if I’m in the work of supporting other people in their limiting beliefs, guess what I’m working on like every single day. and. Those parts, like you mentioned, the inner critic and the saboteur and all those parts.
You know, IFS and internal family systems, that modality, which is one of my favorite ways to work with those more challenging parts, starts again with acceptance by really getting to the root and seeing that those parts developed because they were useful. Right. They were developed at a time as protective strategies, as survival strategies, and we get to befriend those parts because just like trying to let go of your perfectionist, it just ends up fighting with your perfectionist.
Right. Trying to get rid of your inner critic. I don’t know about you, but I just end up in big fight in my head with my inner critic, then nobody’s happy. and so really seeing those parts for the value that they’re attempting to bring is what creates a lot more ease in the system, in the nervous system, you know.
Rose: Yeah, I love that acceptance because we are, we are one, and of course we’ve all got different parts and some, some we might not like as much, but they’re still a part of us. So I think accepting every part of ourselves is absolutely key.
Andrea: Yeah. Because when we can usually, like if, if you can do this with support and follow, you know, the, the part back to where it kind of first came online.
When it first started supporting your system. I was working this weekend with a really tender 15 year old part of mine that was just like, oh, wanted to be chosen and wanting to be included, and was feeling like deep feelings of hurt. And when I can go back to, oh yeah, that, that makes a lot of sense that you would be feeling that way and you know, see that that’s when that part started to shut down. And close in on yourself and protect yourself and pull away. I was like, oh, that makes a lot of sense. So rather than like forcing myself to like, be vulnerable, be exposed, I’m like, well, it makes a lot of sense that you would protect yourself.
And really defending her. Is again, like when this system gets to soften and she feels safe and has her needs met, right? And I’ve met them and I can go ahead and say the thing I need to say or show up for the thing that I wanna show up for in integrity. And so while you know that protective mechanism for me to pull away was so useful for a time when I didn’t have the support available, when I didn’t have the capacity to meet with those needs for myself or the support around me to support me in it. I needed to be able to pull away or else my system wouldn’t have been able to take it. But now I’m a grown woman, right? Yeah. And a grown woman with different protection. And I’ve got me and I’ve got my nervous system tools, and I’ve got my journaling practice, and I’ve got a pleasure practice and I’ve got so many like rich supports around me.
I can do the thing that I couldn’t do now that when I was 15.
Rose: And I love how you bring up the 15 year old or whatever, whatever age. I know we were so clever. We can bring these protection and safety mechanisms in place when we’re, when we are young and when we need it. But as we get older, they stay in place and we don’t always know how to shift them. One of the tools that I use with my rapid transformational therapy when I work with my one-on-one clients is role function, purpose. And we give, we give that part, that protection or that safety, we give it another role. And it’s brilliant like it. It’s not saying, go away, we don’t want you anymore.
It’s actually just giving it a new role and it’s so beautiful how. It evolves into a more nurturing, more useful role as you get older.
Andrea: So beautiful. Exactly. If those parts are really, you know, foundational to the system and we’re not trying to get rid of them. Exactly. Yeah. I’m trying to rid of them, but we do get to upgrade them.
Yes, that’s right. Yeah. To where we wanna go and who we wanna be and how we wanna show up. the things that I struggled with, you know, being, you know, a coach now for a few years, things continue to transform in, in my business and in my work because I do. Yeah. And so, you know, for anybody who thinks like, oh, you just, you know, pick, pick the one thing and you, you follow that path and you go, it’s rarely bad, at least not in my experience and my clients experience the gray area all the time.
But I was struggling a few years ago thinking that I had a niche issue, like really thinking in my business, like I have a problem with my niche. I don’t have the clarity, I don’t know what it is. And what I came to see if you’re getting support with a coach was like, I was kind of bouncing between two groups of people that I really enjoyed supporting, was called to support, but I wasn’t sure which one.
And it reminded me of being in grade six. And having two groups of friends, and it was recess time and I was trying to be part of conversation A, and then I was trying to be part of conversation B because I didn’t wanna miss out. And so I spent the entire recess bouncing between these two groups. And then at the end of recess, I was like, that wasn’t fun.
Like I wasn’t part of anything, like what happened.
Rose: Yeah. Interesting.
Andrea: Yeah, and I realized, That was my abandonment room wound, but I wanted to be involved with everything, so I didn’t feel abandoned, so I didn’t feel left out. And I was like, oh my gosh. That’s what I was choosing from in my business. Like what if, you know, I picked these people and then what?
What’s gonna happen to those people? They’re not gonna like me. And I unconsciously had this, this pattern of not being able to. Running the show was absolutely fascinating. And so I think that a lot of times as entrepreneurs, as CEOs, as coaches and leaders, we rarely have business problems. We have personal problems that are masquerading as business problems.
Rose: I love that you had that awareness that you were able to go back and link that up. Did you have support with that? Did you, were you working with a one-on-one coach?
Andrea: We can’t see your own stuff cause it’s like, yeah.
Rose: I just had to ask, I wondered if you had your own tools to do that, but having the support of someone is often the way that they can.
Yeah, they can see things. We don’t.
Andrea: Exactly, I’m such an advocate of always having a team.
Rose: Now you have a wonderful freebie that you offer your audience that you very kindly said that you’ll offer it to our audience on the podcast today. Can you hear a bit about that, please, Andrea?
Andrea: I have a freebie. It is called Do Less, Make More. It’s five unconventional strategies to grow and sustain a heart-centered business. And it really is for coaches and CEOs and entrepreneurs who want more like desire, a greater impact, greater freedom, greater ease, more, you know, more clients, more money. But aren’t really in, you know, know that they don’t need to hustle for it.
And so the freebie is walking people through just a different, more unconventional way to truly build the aligned business and life of your desires.
Rose: It sounds wonderful. I’ll pop a link into the show notes and all the other links where people can find you. And can you, before I let you go, I’ve got a question to ask, but I also just want you to share with the audience what, what you can help them with.
Like what offers do you have?
Andrea: Amazing. So Great Place to Land is my free Facebook group. It’s called The Empowered Coach. You’re very welcome to join for trainings and a beautiful, powerful community there. and a few times a year, I offer a group coaching program called Safe to Rise.
Rose: Ooh, great.
Andrea: Yeah, it is truly about cultivating that inner sense of safety to rise up into our fullest potential. And ultimately, safe to rise is the antidote to self-doubt.
Rose: Love it. Love it. Well, I’ll pop links to that as well. And my final question before I let you go today, when you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Andrea: I didn’t wanna overthink this question. I knew it was coming, and I was like, I’m gonna see what drops in when, when you asked and, well, I feel called to share right now is lying on the floor, swaddled in a blanket, and I do a breath work technique where I breathe in for four and out for. Oh, love it. And it is so grounding, so centering.
It stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. So very quickly, calming down is like one of my favorite things to do.
Rose: Oh, beautiful. I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that, Andrea.
Andrea: You’re welcome.
Rose: Well, great to talk to you today and thanks everyone for tuning into another episode.
Andrea: Thank you so much.