We were lucky to catch up with Andrea Heuston recently and have shared our conversation below.

Andrea, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

After years of infertility treatments and a failed IVF procedure, I was talking with my best friend, who is Danish and a mother of four already.

She and her husband live in England. I kind of lost my mind with her over the phone after the failed IVF and she said, “Andrea, Dan and I have talked and if you want to come here, I will give you my eggs.”

I have tears in my eyes as I write this because it’s still the kindest, most amazing thing anyone’s ever said to me: “I will give you my eggs.”

My husband, Eric, and I had a serious discussion about it. To make it work, we would have either had to become citizens of the UK or pay out of pocket, plus pay for our life in the U.S. At the very least I would have to stay overseas for six months.

We talked a lot, toyed with it, wondered what it would be like to have a kid who was ours and not ours at the same time. I would carry a baby that was Karina and Eric’s. How does that work in the future? There were so many difficult questions.

Eventually, we decided we had to turn down Karina’s amazing offer. We just couldn’t make it
work logistically.

It was a gift born of a deep friendship that began when we both were 16 years old and I was an exchange student in Denmark. The year after I lived in Denmark, Karina came to Seattle and lived with me for a year as an exchange student in the United States. She’s more my sister than just my best friend.

The fact that she had discussed it with her husband and offered me her eggs so that I could carry a baby was so big. It meant that she understood my pain and would do anything to help alleviate it. The gift of her friendship is still one of the greatest blessings of my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the founder and CEO of Artitudes, a creative communications firm that helps create connections between messaging and audiences through content writing, speaker coaching, event execution and design. Artitudes works with Fortune 500 companies (Microsoft, Starbucks and Meta to name a few) as well as startups and non-profits. I am also is the creator and host of the podcast, Lead Like a Woman, where I interview female leaders and entrepreneurs who share their tips on life, leadership and entrepreneurship. I am fiercely passionate about empowering women and helping to close the gender gap for women in business.

I am the bestselling author of three books, with the fourth due out this spring. I am an emcee, panel moderator, and keynote speaker. I LOVE coaching speakers and am a TedX Speaker Coach as well.

At 24 I was putting myself through college and running the creative services department at an energy systems engineering firm in Seattle when the company was purchased by a French firm. They had me lay off the entire team of designers and then laid me off. However, two days later they called me back and said, “Hey, we made a mistake — we need to do some rebranding and we need you to come back and bring one of your team members with you.”

I decided I didn’t want to put my fate in somebody else’s hands anymore, so I jumped in my car, drove 60 minutes to Olympia, the state capitol, got a business license, and the energy systems firm became my first client. My Grandma Gerry funded my dream with a $5000 loan at 8% interest to buy a computer, a printer, and business cards – this was per-internet. I had her paid back in 6 months!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There are SO MANY! From infertility, to nearly dying and being in a coma for 17 days, to my house burning down.

But I want to share one from my company. You know the saying, “Hire slow, fire fast?” I’ve learned the hard way — many times — that I should adhere to that advice. When I first incorporated the company and began hiring employees, I looked to my friends and peers for recommendations. My first hire was recommended by two people I greatly respected. These two people didn’t know each other and had never crossed paths. I interviewed this referral and asked the questions I thought I should I ask. We discussed the role, which was a hybrid of office manager and personal assistant. In hindsight, I’m not sure our personalities were a good match, but she was recommended by a friend and a colleague!
So, I hired her.

At the same time, I asked one of my closest friends, to be my bookkeeper. She was a bookkeeper by trade and had worked as one for many years before starting her family. She had been the maid of honor at my wedding, and I trusted her implicitly. She was, at the time, taking a hiatus from the corporate world and welcomed the part-time work.

I thought I was set! I had two, strong female employees who could help me grow my business from a one-woman shop to a creative solutions provider for enterprise clients. I hired a business coach, I joined a peer group, I did all the things I thought I was supposed to do to create momentum and growth in my business.

It became clear fairly early on that my first employee was not happy in her role. We were working out of my house at the time, using the home office and dining room as a base. We hired a designer, and went in search of office space, but until we found it, we shared a table for a desk in my home. Part of her job was to take some personal chores off my plate — pick up dry cleaning, schedule meetings, grab my lunch, prepare my notes. Things that all took time away from meeting with clients and landing new business. She complained constantly about these “chores” as she called them. She hated the personal assistant part of her role. And she liked to commiserate with others about her misery, so she chose my friend and bookkeeper, Sharon (names have been changed).

My friend, Sharon, was, in my mind, a fabulous bookkeeper. She balanced the accounts, kept track of taxes, paid the bills, and created budgets for me. I didn’t have to do any of the financial tasks. I just brought in the work, made sure it was done to my high standards, invoiced the clients, and signed the checks. I never looked at the bank account, I never questioned the checks I signed. Why would I? Sharon was someone I trusted.

As the company grew, we hired additional employees. A few designers, a few contractors, a new executive assistant for me. We moved into an office building, and I felt like we’d finally become a “real” business. Jenny took over the office management and administrative duties that came with the new space and bigger staff. But she was clearly still not happy. Adding to her unhappiness was the fact that she wasn’t doing her job well, and I had started to question her value within the company. She was often late, and she had overstated her skillset. I created a Performance Improvement Plan and gave her 30 days to improve her skills and attitude.

After 30 days, it was clear that Jenny would not be able to complete the Performance Improvement Plan. When I finally found the strength to terminate Jenny’s employment, I called my lawyer — the lawyer that Jenny had found for the company and had created a relationship with. I had never fired someone before. I had laid people off in a former job, but never fired anyone for cause. My lawyer walked me through everything. I had a plan.

After firing Jenny, I confiscated her computer. On the computer were several things that should never have been on a work-issued computer. Amongst her personal files, I found a folder full of message transcripts from conversations she’d had with Sharon. The messages were incriminating. Jenny complaining — at length — about me. And Sharon, trying to console her, offered things like a spa weekend with her girlfriend, at the company’s expense. Sharon offered her many things — from meals to massages to the spa weekend. All at my expense. Literally, at my expense. She instructed Jenny to pad her expense reports and Sharon would have me sign the checks. Which I did, of course.
Sharon never stole money herself, but she led and encouraged Jenny’s transgressions. And since I had no idea that I should be looking at my numbers, reviewing expense reports, checking the bank accounts, I let it happen.

After hours of crying and weeks of feeling sad, I made the conscious decision to move forward. I learned to trust my gut more in terms of hiring. I also let other members of the leadership team conduct interviews and give input. It’s created a culture of trust but also one where everyone contributes to the whole. Which only makes us stronger.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Yes! There are three books I return to again and again!

1. The E-Myth Revisted: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber. This one is an oldie but a goodie! The author walks you through the steps in the life of a business, from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial perspective, the guiding light of all businesses that succeed, and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise. Finally, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business.

2. The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard. It’s a great book that illustrates three techniques of an effective manager: one minute goals, one minute praisings, and one minute reprimands. Each of these takes only a minute but is purportedly of lasting benefit. I have read it numerous times and I give a copy to each new manager within my team.

3. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, Gino Wickman shows how data supports your company’s ability to have productive discussions and decision-making. You should run your company and respective departments using a handful of metrics to indicate the present, identify potential issues, and forecast the future. I use Gino’s system, EOS to run my company and it’s proved invaluable to our structure, our culture, and our success.

Contact Info:

• Website: artitudes.com and leadlikeawoman.biz
• Instagram: @amheuston and @andrea_heuston
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadlikeawomanshow and https://www.facebook.com/artitudesdesign/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreaheuston/

Image Credits
dna photo & style