We recently connected with Andrea Byers and have shared our conversation below.
Andrea, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Chronic & Iconic Coaching was born in the aftermath of a life-altering storm, the kind that strips you down to your bones and forces you to rebuild from the inside out. After my cardiac arrest at 40, everything I thought I knew about strength and success fell apart. I woke up in a body that no longer felt like mine, in a world that moved too fast for the woman I had become. I had spent decades helping others heal, all while ignoring the quiet voice inside me saying, “You’re running on empty.” When my body finally said “enough,” I had to face all of the truths I’d been avoiding. I was exhausted, disconnected, and living for everyone but myself. While going through the uncomfortable months of recovery, I felt like God was stretching me. I started asking myself deeper questions.
That’s when the idea took root. Everywhere I turned, I saw people like me: caregivers, professionals, chronic illness warriors, overachievers, all exhausted from pretending they were okay. My community was full of programs promising transformation, but few spaces that held people tenderly in the middle of it. God put on my spirit that I wasn’t meant to just heal from my story; I was meant to teach from it. Chronic & Iconic Coaching was born from the belief that even our most broken moments can become the birthplace of something beautiful. I wanted to create what I couldn’t find: a space that merged science with soul, strategy with softness, and healing with humanity.
I knew it would work because it was working in me. The moment I stopped chasing perfection and started redefining what it meant to thrive, everything changed. I was my first client. Every time I watch a client step out of survival mode and into alignment, I’m reminded why I started. I started to show that transformation is possible when people are given permission to exhale.
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’m a holistic wellness practitioner, trauma-informed coach, speaker, author, and the Founder of Chronic & Iconic Coaching. After serving in the military and working more than two decades in healthcare, I experienced my own breaking point, a cardiac arrest at 40 that changed everything. That experience woke me up to the truth that our systems don’t teach people how to heal, they teach them how to function. I wanted to change that. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that healing doesn’t happen in perfect conditions. It happens in the messy middle, when life falls apart and you decide to rebuild differently.
I help women, caregivers, and those living with chronic illness redefine what wellness and success actually look like. My programs, retreats, and signature frameworks guide clients to move from survival mode to soul alignment. It’s a holistic approach that blends mindset work, nervous system regulation, and lifestyle transformation anchored in compassion and truth.
What sets my work apart is that I don’t just talk about healing, I’ve lived it. I know what it feels like to be the strong one who breaks. I understand the exhaustion of constantly showing up for others while silently losing yourself. My clients don’t come to me to be “fixed.” They come to be seen and to be reminded that their story still has power.
I’m most proud of the community that has grown out of this work. It’s a movement built on empathy, embodiment, and elevation. At its core, Chronic & Iconic is about transformation with tenderness, helping people remember who they were before the world told them to shrink, and empowering them to rise as the most iconic version of themselves.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I built my audience the same way I rebuilt my life — slowly, honestly, and without filters. When I first started showing up online, I didn’t have a marketing plan or a team behind me. I had a story. It was raw, unpolished, and real. I started sharing pieces of it, the truth about living with chronic illness, the moments of burnout, the messy middle of healing, and the small wins that don’t always make it to the typical highlight reels. I was just trying to be honest with myself, not necessarily trying to be inspirational. People resonated with that.
Everything I’ve built has been organic. No paid ads, no gimmicks; just consistency, vulnerability, and genuine connection. I talk to my community like I would to a friend sitting across from me at a coffee shop. I create out of alignment. I learned that authenticity is the most powerful marketing strategy there is. When you lead with truth, your people find you.
Today, my online platforms have become more than just spaces for content — they’re communities of healing and hope. Whether it’s someone struggling to find balance, an athlete learning to trust their body again, or a caregiver rediscovering themselves, social media has allowed me to meet people exactly where they are and remind them that they’re not alone.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The lesson I had to unlearn is that constant motion equals progress. For years, I believed that if I just kept pushing, doing more, achieving more, proving more, I’d finally arrive at a version of myself that felt “enough.” Exhaustion was my best friend. I was convinced that being busy was the same as being purposeful. Life has a way of forcing you to slow down when you won’t do it on your own. For me, it was a complete stop — not just physically, but spiritually. Everything I had built around performance and perfection suddenly crumbled. I had been living for everyone but myself. Getting off the hamster wheel taught me to measure productivity differently. I carry that lesson into everything I do, and it’s one I help others embrace through my coaching and teaching. You don’t find peace by doing more. You find it by doing less of what disconnects you from yourself. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is step off the wheel, take a breath, and remember that you were never created to just survive the race.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chronicandiconiccoaching.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chronicallyiconiccoach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chronicallyiconiccoach
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-b-53392190?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@chronicallyiconiccoach?si=WeJdpHVx98KPwfsn
- Other: Podcast: My Spoonie Sisters
Image Credits
Cassandra Love-Lambert, Graphics_by_AI (Alijzah)