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

Andrea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It was the height of the global pandemic in NYC when my oldest brother was admitted to the ICU with COVID 19 induced meningitis. Every night the news reported rising death tolls. No visitors were allowed. The city felt hollow and terrified. After years of remission, my panic attacks came back with a vengeance. I was scared in a way I had not felt in years.

For three days I lay in bed curled into myself, overwhelmed and praying he would live. On the third day, I sat up and something in me shifted. I realized I had a choice. I could move through the pandemic in fear or I could take every bit of training, experience and knowledge I had spent my life building and create the movement I knew the world needed.

That moment became the birth of Intentional Healing and Wellness.

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?

Before I ever studied human behavior, I lived it. Growing up in New York City in the 80s taught me resilience, grit, and how to keep going when life gets heavy. Those early lessons shaped the way I understand people and the quiet battles they carry. I was the first in my family to go to college and later earned a Master’s Degree in Therapeutic Interventions and an Advanced Certification in Mental Health Counseling. And even with all of those accomplishments, there were moments when I broke down in the shower, confused by how a life that checked all the boxes could still feel misaligned.

Today, my work centers on three core areas. I lead a signature group coaching program for women in midlife. I deliver empowerment and wellness programming in schools. I partner with organizations to strengthen leadership and cultivate emotionally intelligent workplaces. I support individuals, school communities, and corporate teams to deepen their emotional intelligence, cultivate thriving cultures, and use intentional practices to elevate their emotional wellbeing.

The problems I solve vary, but the root is often the same. So many of the people I serve are high achieving functional survivors who carry stress, shame, mental exhaustion, and unresolved trauma beneath the surface. Many of them suffer in silence. My work helps them slow down, develop self-awareness, regulate their emotions, rebuild confidence, and create meaningful internal and external change.

What sets my work apart is the hybrid approach. I am a trained clinician with deep experience in therapeutic modalities, and I integrate these tools into my coaching and consulting work. As a dynamic facilitator, I translate complex emotional and psychological concepts into strategies people can use every day. My work is grounded in compassionate rigor. It is trauma informed, rooted in evidence based tools, and built on courageous conversations that change people from the inside out.

I am most proud of the clients I get to work with. Their commitment, courage, and devotion to healing and growth inspires me daily. Women rebuilding trust in themselves. Students feeling seen. Principals reshaping school culture. Organizations becoming more human centered and emotionally intelligent. Five years ago, this was a dream. Now it is a movement.

What I want people to know is this. Healing is not a buzzword. It is a lifestyle. When you commit to knowing yourself, honoring your story, and developing the emotional intelligence to lead your life with intention, everything shifts. That is the work I do. And that is the work I love.

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

I did not know entrepreneurship was going to become the biggest lesson in resilience until I resigned from my career as a school psychologist in 2021. Up until then, I built a life around being the steady one. The reliable one. The woman with the plan. But stepping into my business full time stripped me of every certainty I had.

There was a moment early on that changed me. I was sitting at my kitchen table with bills and self doubt stacked sky high. I remember thinking, “no one talks about this part.” The part where your confidence shakes, your limiting beliefs surface, and you question everything about your abilities and commitment. That was the moment resilience became a practice rather than a concept.

Entrepreneurship has a way of revealing every single thing you have been avoiding. Every place you have been performing strength instead of living it. It also gives you the chance to rebuild yourself from the inside out.

For me, resilience looks like choosing courage over comfort on the days it would be easier to quit, innovating when something is not working, and returning to my mission every time fear tries to convince me to run and hide.

Today, the clients I serve benefit from the resilience I have cultivated over the past five years. I teach what I needed to learn to arrive at this moment. Emotional intelligence. Radical responsibility. Intentional healing. Healing as a lifestyle. The capacity to meet yourself honestly so you can deliver your work powerfully.

Entrepreneurship will not just grow your business, it will grow you. And the version of you that emerges through this journey is more courageous, more grounded, and more aligned than ever before. That is resilience in motion, and it continues to transform me day by day.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Relationships. I searched high and low for strategies to grow my clientele over the past several years and it always comes back to relationships. Every meaningful opportunity in my business has come from the quality of the relationships I have cultivated with others.

People do not invest in coaching because of a clever strategy or a perfectly designed offer. They invest because they feel seen. They invest because they trust you. They invest because your presence gives them access to something they desire.

My most effective strategy has been showing up with integrity and building relationships that are rooted in service, not sales. I focus on what a person is carrying and what they are longing for, rather than what I want to enroll them in. I consistently ask myself, “Who do I get to be so others can be free?”

That question keeps me committed to my own self development work, which inevitably enhances the quality of my relationships. When someone feels safe and free to be themselves, they naturally lean in. That is when transformation begins.

Whether I am working with individuals, school communities, or corporate teams, the foundation is always the same. Human connection and empathy first, strategy last. When you stay committed to relationships, referrals increase, trust deepens, and your work speaks for you long before you enter the room. Your relationships are your reputation. Nurture them. Honor them. Build a business that grows because people feel better for having crossed your path. That has been my most powerful strategy, and it continues to expand my impact every year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iamandreamancuso.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandreamancuso
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntentionalHealingAndWellness
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamandreamancuso
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IAmAndreaMancuso

Image Credits

@photosbykai
@levue_