We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andi Byers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andi , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

On March 10, 2020 I suffered from a sudden cardiac arrest. That morning I spent my time getting ready, picking myself apart as I got dressed, looked in the mirror and drove to work. I had not spoken to myself kindly that day or any previous day for that matter. God took me for 38 minutes. He had to take me from me, in order for me to see that I was always enough. That moment changed my focus when helping my clients. I realized that a lot of them where just like me, “happy” because they should be and not “happy” because they are happy within. God led me to guide women through re-defining joy through their own lens while prioritizing their comprehensive wellness. Although my defining moment was traumatic, I am so grateful that it happened. I thrive now because the safety that I sought in others, I now have in myself and I help other women do the same.

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 Chronic & Iconic Coaching and ICONIC Business Solutions. I am a Registered Nurse, Holistic Nutritionist, Master Trainer, Chronic Illness Coach and Air Force veteran with over 22 years of records management, project management and continuous process improvement (CPI) experience. As a medical professional, I realized that there were a lot of women patients navigating the waters of diagnosis blind. What they needed was someone to help them understand what was happening in a way that they could digest. It was then that I decided to be the person I needed, for them. I began to help women navigate diagnosis’ while implementing holistic practices to improve their quality of life with a focus on mindset, stress management, holistic nutrition and movement.

While on active duty I coordinated multiple processes and was responsible for the maintenance and structure of the AF records life cycle, ensuring a high level of performance and making improvements to existing processes. Serving as a Process Improvement Manager I was responsible for maintaining efficiency in the workers and overall quality in the workplace with a sole focus on overseeing existing business practices and improving them to boost productivity, improve customer satisfaction, reduce operation cost, and maximize company resources. I now use those skills to help small businesses advance strategic growth and manage business processes with ease without stress, overwhelm or burnout.

Certifications:

Health & Wellness

BSN
MS Nutrition
Master Trainer
Holistic Nutrition
Sports Nutrition
Corrective Exercise Specialist
Exercise Therapy
Youth Fitness
Transformation Specialist

Business Solutions

Six Sigma Black Belt
Project Management
CompTia A+, Net+, Security+
Microsoft Solutions
DoD Records Management
SharePoint Administrator

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Compassion and understanding are two of the most important attributes that contribute to my success daily. Compassion and understanding is a 2-way street and is applicable to both relationships with clients and relationships with self. These attributes allow you to be more open and accepting of differences or change. They allow for process transparency providing a blank slate to see the vision clearly while meeting yourself or your client exactly where you/they are in the journey.

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

The power of turning their “can’t” into “I can, I will, and I am”! I have had a lot of situations in life that could’ve “broken” me. For as long as I can remember, I have lived in some form of chronic pain. In my teen years, I was known as the “sickly” one. People didn’t believe me because they couldn’t see it physically. It was in my teen years that I got my first introduction to the feeling of “it’s all in your head”. During my military career is when things started to drastically unravel for me medically. More things were manifesting and more doctors telling me it was all in my head. This went on for about 16 years. My mental health was struggling, my physical health was struggling and I felt isolated, unseen and unheard. Behind the scenes I was building a business. I was doing the thing they said I couldn’t do. I was building a brand they thought would fail. I was doing in between trauma inducing doctor appointments, hospital stays, infusion therapies and bouts of depression. I took on the persona and told myself every day that I was “fine”. I had to believe that, since no one believed me. In March 2020, my years of “fine” caught up with me. I walked into my office, at the age of 40, and collapsed mid-sentence from a sudden cardiac arrest. I left this life for 38 minutes. What I realized during my rehabilitation was that I was never really “fine”. My “fine” really meant I was overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, depressed, isolated and burned out. The biggest lesson in my journey was learning to truly be present. Although, I was showing up before, I realized that I wasn’t showing up for me in the same way that I was for others. I learned that in order for me to thrive, I had to sit with me and be present. Present to process the trauma, to find the joy, to make the memories and to nurture my growth and success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chronicandiconiccoaching.com/be-iconic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chronicallyiconiccoach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chronicallyiconiccoach
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FighterMethod1
• Other: Heal.me – https://heal.me/practitioner/andrea-nicole-byers Alignable – https://www.alignable.com/smithfield-va/chronic-iconic-coaching-llc

Image Credits
Janet Mingo Gaston Cottrell