Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrea James. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My biggest flex is my parents. Slightly weird flex, sure, but if you know them and the life that they have so selflessly provided for my sister and me all the way through adulthood, you’d know exactly what I am talking about.
Against all odds, they both managed to escape poverty, segregation, Jim Crow, and raising some very opinionated young ladies. My parents met as teenagers and have been each other’s one true love since the 60s. They carried on 50 years of good decision making throughout the course of their marriage, built a life together that has been nothing short of beautiful, and I feel so privileged to have been a product of their experiences.

In a world where a person can be discriminated against based on a name, I am grateful that my Momma and Daddy really looked at me in my little chocolate face, with my little chocolate eyes and my kinky TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro) and named me… ANDREA. They then decided that it would be a good idea to move on up to the deluxe apartments in the sky, and put me in schools where I found myself to be the only little speck of pepper in the salt. I am certain that it allowed me to sit at tables that I might not have otherwise, as most hiring managers, professionals, phone customers, etc. thought I was white because of my name and voice. This came at the cost of some confidence issues because I was constantly in rooms with no one who looked like me.

They could have kicked me out at 18 like some other parents I knew. They could have left me to figure out my life myself instead of showing me the ropes, screw up my credit, abused me, relied on me to take care of them as able bodied adults and stunt ability to come into my own, all much like the people I went to school with. They didn’t. You want to know what they did instead? They set up a college fund for me to go to school and come out with my degrees COMPLETELY debt free, all while supporting my dreams and goals. At this big age, they still go out of their way to make sure I am taken care of. They are the absolute best humans, and the honor is mine to step in as the roles reverse.
If I ever have children of my own, I want to be the example that my parents were to me. I can truly say that they got something, if not everything, right.

Andrea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was fortunate enough to break into the science/STEM industry by accident. Beginning college with Pre Med intentions, I ended my undergraduate career with two degrees that I didn’t end up using to go into medicine. I was quite grateful for this by the time COVID-19 came around, as a lot of healthcare workers began to reevaluate their career choices. I stumbled into clinical laboratory science around 2017, which allowed me to do patient testing for the lab at Miami Dade Health Department in their Virology department. I gained knowledge there that allowed me to become very familiar with epidemics (and pandemics). There, they had me doing Zika/Dengue/Chikungunya testing, MERS testing, Flu testing, and even routine STD testing such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis testing.

I spent a couple of years in pharmaceuticals as a Quality Control Microbiologist before the demand for my unique skill in PCR testing circled me back to patient testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was where I obtained my professional license in Molecular Pathology, which allowed me to test and release patient results in the state of Florida. After the threat of the virus became less serious, I was able to advance to a Quality Assurance Laboratory Manager role where I got the experience needed for the role I am in now (Quality Management Specialist) with the University of Miami Hospital laboratory.

As far as the right side of my brain is concerned, I have been a writer since I came out of the womb. In 2019, I published a blog to work through my traumas and organize my thoughts publicly. Why, you may ask? I am still not sure. But I do love to write so it became a great symbiosis.
I cohost a podcast with my sister, which was born during the pandemic while we were on lockdown and unable to hold our usual, annual live events. We call them “conversation parties”, where we gather 25-50 people and talk about dating and relationships. We have been successfully hosting events, game nights, networking socials, etc. since 2017 and podcasting since 2020.

I love connecting with people who are passionate like me, and I love creating safe spaces for them to express their views and experiences so that we could all learn from one another.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn being one dimensional –
I am fueled by passion, compassion, depth, integrity, kindness, and love. I am a nerd. I love trap music. I lift heavy. I love animals. I hate bananas. I am sexy. I am classy. I sing. And I don’t have to subscribe to what everyone else does. I didn’t know that. I do now.

I had to unlearn that my life needs to make sense to everyone or look a certain way–
As it turns out, my life looks extremely different from almost everyone I know. I thought the plan was as follows:
Graduate college – I sometimes regret obtaining general degrees and wish I had gone into a trade, especially if it would land me in the same spot but quicker.
Get married – In this climate? Get real.
Have kids– My fertility window decreases with each year
Be fulfilled – I notice most people’s fulfillment was centered around their children. I had to find mine elsewhere, which was easy to do when you have so much else to be grateful for.
I skipped the noise and jumped straight into the fulfillment. I had to find joy in the life in front of me, not the one my mind made up, not the one others pressured me to have. I have grown to love that I am a disrupter of the norm. I do not fit into the one-size-fits-all, all purpose life in which everyone tries to convince me that I belong. This life was forced on me, I had to adjust. But the gag is, I wouldn’t have it another way! There is no one else’s life or situation I would rather have. I will keep declining until my life looks and feels just how I want it to.

I had to unlearn validation–
My validation comes now from myself. I don’t get the likes and views that I want all the time. I don’t get the reach that I think some of my content deserves. I had to remind myself at some point that I am not creating for OTHERS as much as I am creating for ME. This is MY release, MY therapy, MY story. The story doesn’t change because people do not subscribe. It stays the same, and you’re either here for it or you’re not. The opinions of others is absolutely none of my business, as I will be me until expiration.

I had to unlearn that I wasn’t “enough”–
When I realized that I no longer had capacity to conform to what everyone wanted me to be, I became FREE. I learned that not only is who I am enough, but I am actually super dope and now I like and love me enough for the both of us. :)

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

My reward is in my therapy. I am not like other creatives; I do not get paid to do this. I post my content because I love it. Writing out my feelings and experiences has gotten me through things that I only thought possible through a professional. My mind and thoughts often do not work in harmony and the only way to process is to organize and elaborate.

Hosting our events gives me perspective. The premise of the podcast and events is to gain insight from others through their experiences. This allows grace in my interactions with people and different approaches for situations I find myself in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.soflomo.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/o.v.o.mo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.m.james.754
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@moneyjames2211
• Other: https://linktr.ee/Soflomo