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

Andrea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I last had a job, a regular paycheck, and paid benefits, in 1988. I was blessed that it was a great, rewarding job with a superb company, Standard & Poor’s Corporation. I learned a tremendous amount about business there yet when I left, I wasn’t entirely sure how to move forward on my own; I’d left after 10 years for a romantic relationship w/a man who lived in another state. S&P quickly retained me as a consultant to help with the transfer of my role, first to my former assistant and then to a replacement manager. Those months of transition were my first as an independent consultant and so S&P continued to educate me, now in a completely new role.

Since then, my business enterprises have shifted a few times and, since the beginning of this century, while I’ve looked back in gratitude, I’ve not longed for a job except for the ease of being part of a team daily. I’m fortunate to have discipline and a sense of priorities to manage and grow, both myself and my business. And that is evident in that I’ve been happier in the last 2 years, and more profitable as a business owner.

My strong sense of independence and leadership, not to mention my age, would be deterrents as an employee. I haven’t considered that as an option in decades. I love my life, the diverse content of my work, and my conscious choices to look always ahead.

Andrea, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

From my current CV:
President of Coaching Insight, LLC, Andrea Feinberg, MBA, has over 30 years partnering with business owners to radically accelerate revenue with a business that contributes to a happy, abundant life. Andrea specializes as a business development coach using strategic marketing initiatives. A graduate of New York University’s Stern School of Business (Marketing), Coach University’s 3-year advanced training program, and a founding member of Coachville, the world’s largest coach-training body.

Designations as:
• Certified Strategic Business Leadership Coach
• Certified Facilitator-Coach
• Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst
• Certified Professional Speaker
• Certified Emotional Intelligence Mentor through EQ Mentor

Published and contributed to 6 books, including “Time Junkie:”, “The Essential Coaching Book” and “Productivity”.

Andrea is proud to have had a measurable, positive impact on over 1,000 business owners.

Included among:
– 50 Top Influential Women, Long Island Business News
– Product Development Award, McGraw-Hill Corporation
– Product Innovation, Standard & Poor’s Corporation
– Top 5 Coaching Blogs, the School of Coaching Mastery
– 100 Women in E-Commerce, Women in E-Commerce Association
– Top 5 Productivity Gurus, Timedoctor.com
– Top Long Island Business Service Providers, Long Island Business News
– 500 Credibility Experts

I enjoy multiple roles; it’s part of what adds to my creativity and refreshes my brain daily. I discovered coaching as a profession in 1997 when I was, at that time, a crafts artist selling to museums, zoos, galleries and interior designers. Yet, I missed talking business – strategy, team building, marketing, environmental factors of growth. I heard about coaching, a fairly new profession in a news article; probably sent to me by my mom. I enrolled in Coach University and, 3 years later, had a new body of knowledge to add to my business experience. That latter gave me a huge advantage in this role as many came from social sciences and lacked awareness of building or managing their new business. I continue to love this role as, no matter that my niche is small business, it focuses largely on inner values, priorities, and the ability to communicate and build these into one’s business – those of my clients.

I didn’t focus on marketing, despite having a graduate degree, until 2019. At that time, my business partner, who lives in Eastern Europe, had distributed a Lead Magnet – a give away to build a good lead list – asked my help to do so in the USA. It was a significant emailed series on all things digital marketing – social media, video, building relationships, healthy sites, SEO, etc. We were ready to launch the American version in late February, 2020; weeks later the planet shut down with the spread of COVID and anxious business networkers, looking for replacement opportunities for coffee dates, fund raisers and one – on-one business meetings turned to the internet to learn. We were in the right place at the right time and my business focus shifted largely to teaching and executing marketing activities, online, for continued client expansion.

In 2014, my sister, who at that time was dying from cancer, asked if I’d knit her a coat; I’d been a hobbyist knitter for many years. In my hurry to complete it, I developed tendonitis. I needed to find another hobby that didn’t call for managing a growing, heavy garment in my hands. I have always been in awe of those who express a vision with their hands; there are so many ways to do so. I discovered bead embroidery, something I’d never heard of yet, after seeing examples on Pinterest, was impressed enough to learn – initially with YouTube and then with books and Facebook groups of very generous, expert beaders. I now do several fine artisan juried shows per year; my next is in early December at the Art League of Long Island.

Finally, I am a writer and editor. I first undertook this role in 2003 when a partner and I created our first collaborative, multi author book, ‘Essential Coaching’; I’ve since participated in, writing or editing, 8 books. I’m now more than 1/2 done writing a new book, “Sex, Sensuality, and the Senior Woman” which reflects unexpected personal experience, and, I believe, a message middle aged+ women need to know. It also reveals a shift in my business direction and audience which is a key component of who I am: always looking ahead to what’s next, where opportunity lies, how I can keep growing, enjoying and contributing.
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Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Near the end of 2022 my husband fell down a flight of stairs and immediately needed spine surgery. He subsequently entered a rehab facility and, not responding well, remained there until his death, nearly 2 years later. We had already begun to divorce yet, because he had no local family, I continued my role as a wife, visiting and bringing whatever I could, 3X weekly. At the same time, because we were divorcing, I had to step up my business quickly; he’d previously contributed about 1/2 of our household needs. The despair of his condition, the need to increase my revenue, and the time committed to both was a dark time for me; I no longer saw friends, didn’t think about moving on as a single woman, was frequently exhausted. A year later, the end of ’23, I knew I couldn’t continue as I had. My life was diminishing; I had no opportunity to be the woman I’d wanted to grow into when I asked for a divorce. I made changes: told my husband I’d continue to see him yet less frequently than 3X/week; I joined a weekly discussion group; I enrolled in Stony Brook University’s Osher Life Long Learning Institute, a program of diverse workshops for 50+ people; joined its marketing committee; committed to socializing with at least 1 friend weekly and started to date. As a result, my life improved considerably, my business grew, I regained a much happier affect, I’ve made new friends and have learned a lot about myself and the ability to shift when both necessary and desired.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my business partner, who is in Eastern Europe, in 2016, when a coaching client asked if I could build a new website for her. I said ‘yes’ and then needed to find the creative technician who could do it. I found him on Upwork, an international online compendium of freelancers. He did such a great job interpreting her vision that we’ve since gone on to build many sites. To that skill, with his expertise, we’ve added SEO, site maintenance, social media marketing, blogging, keyword research and more. I shifted the primary role I promote to marketing from coaching and we do that with our site, www.marketingthatrocks.com

We’ve never met yet we communicate many times daily and, fortunately, share similar ideas about business and client responsibilities. It was a huge opportunity for us both and I’ve been grateful since.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marketingthatrocks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boss_on_the_beach/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreafeinberg/

Image Credits

Women’s Prosperity Network
Wide Awake Business