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

Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

Nobody has a perfect life. Despite what social media tries to portray, we all know that there is good, bad and everything in between for all of us. One of best parts of my life has been my family. It’s not always amazing, but I am very grateful to have parents who have exemplified what it looks like to persevere through trials and who have walked with me through all of my ups and downs.

One of the things that my parents did right was making sure my sister and I knew that they would be our biggest cheerleaders no matter what. There weren’t any conditions to their love and support. It wasn’t performance based, they truly loved me as a person for who God made me to do. It doesn’t mean we weren’t called out or disciplined when necessary as little kids, but I always knew they were in my corner. And that gave me confidence to try risky things…like starting businesses! I started young selling candy to my friends at school (which I’m sure wouldn’t be allowed now)! From that to starting my first music lesson studio as an adult, I knew that my parents would always be there to encourage me, trouble shoot and help me make tough decisions.

Another thing that my parents did right was instilling a good work ethic. I watched my parents work so hard for everything that we had. Sometimes we barely had enough, and eventually I saw them experience great success, but their quality of work never changed along the way. They didn’t despise small beginnings. And the same was instilled into my sister and I. From mowing the lawn to our first jobs, we were taught the importance of commitment, follow through and doing things with integrity and excellence.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a wife, homeschool mom to 3 girls and I love it! Professionally, I am a Worship Leader, songwriter and business owner. I started an organization in 2014 called Overflow Worship that serves new or newly positioned worship leaders in volunteer supported ministries who serve in small local churches. We serve them both in person at events and conferences as well as online through our membership site, Overflow Worship Leaders Online. I help them lay the foundation for ministry so they can step into a new church job with confidence. After doing this for nearly 20 years, I have compiled all of my teachings and the amazing wisdom of other seasoned worship leaders into a vault of resources in our membership site, designed to provide leaders with the foundational tools they need. We are building a community of people who are excited to grow and excited to be mentored and in fellowship with others on the same road. And that excites me because our job is not songs or service planning. It’s about serving people. We get to be a part of something really special every week: pointing people to Jesus, and I passionately want to see worship leaders living a healthy thriving life, equipped with all the tools they need to lead with longevity. Overflow Worship was created to do that.

When I personally lead worship, I love cultivating an atmosphere where people can just take a deep breath and be with God. Everything I do, I want to preserve and cultivate that. Whether it’s a song I’m writing, a night of worship that I’m leading or a course that I’m creating for new worship leaders…that is at the core of my heart.

In July of 2022, I released my first album since 2014. And it is designed to help people do JUST that. From start to finish, it’s designed to take listeners (or singers) on a journey of worship through song. I am so proud of this album because I poured more of myself into this than any other album project in my life. From the lyrics, to the string orchestrations to the complex vocal arrangements…I poured my soul into it and I am so excited to have released it into the world. I hope that it gives people a chance to sit back and breathe for a little while and whether through listening or singing one of the songs in church, that they walk away feeling refreshed.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Overflow Worship started in 2014 as a conference. It wasn’t really a business model at that point, it was an event that I created for worship leaders and their teams to gather, learn and be refreshed. The first year of the event, I honestly had little experience with event planning, so I was quite overwhelmed. Not to mention we were paying for the entire thing out of pocket, hoping that ticket sales would at least get us close to breaking even.

The weekend came and went and we had an incredible event. However, despite our greatest efforts, we did not meet our ticket sales goals and we were quite far in the hole. Even so, the event was a complete success. We had so many people who said it was just what they needed and couldn’t imagine a better way to spend their weekend with their teams. So many said they couldn’t wait until the next year. It was just the encouragement I needed to keep going. Everything else told me I shouldn’t try again, because financially, it looked like a failure. But, as my parents taught me, things take time. And it is worth it to make sacrifices when we believe in something.

The next year? We doubled in size, but we still didn’t break event. But year after year, I learned and I became a better business woman, I created better systems and found an amazing team to help me and now, here we are 10 years later with a thriving organization that is serving hundreds of people every year through all of the products and services that we offer. Imagine if I would have quit after the first failure? I hope that’s an encouragement to anyone reading this to not give up after failure. You only fail if you don’t try. If you’re not winning, you’re learning. So keep pressing forward!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Just like everything in life, the best things don’t come quick. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. And the same is true for building relationship with people. My goal since day one has been to care more about the person than what they can do for me. And I think the fact that I live that on stage, off stage, in my personal and professional life speaks volumes. I’m not “in it for what I can get from someone.” But rather, I believe that God brings people into my life for a reason and no matter what that reason is, I can show kindness and genuine care along the way. And if I try to add value back into other people’s lives, no matter what I get in return, I know I did my part.

So, everything we do is done with authenticity and through the lens of relationship and valuing people. I truly believe that we are better together – we need each other. So, I try to be supportive of others in a similar market, and they often do the same in return. It hasn’t come fast or easy, but consistency over time and valuing relationship first has been the best way to build our reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.andreaolsonmusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/andreaolsonmusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/andreaolsonmusic
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/andreaolsonmusic
• Other: www.overflowworship.com