Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sirena Andras. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sirena, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I wish I’d had the guts to start my own agency sooner.

It took me 12 years at my former employer to realize that I was holding my creative identity back by working for a company whose values didn’t align with mine.

The lack of appreciation for my talents and work hit home when I finally understood how I was stifling my creative power and voice to do a job for just a paycheck. I was the proverbial “sell-out” that my fine arts sibling called me. I’d sold my artistic soul to produce media I couldn’t stomach because I was afraid to venture alone into the business world.

I finally broke free of my cubicle and found myself in a world where I could be brave enough to design brands passionate about boldly living out their true purpose of sustainability and social impact.

Sirena, 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?

There are businesses fearlessly living out their beliefs, with the potential to transform the world as we know it. I believe in the power of these courageous companies to elevate the world. And I’m here to help guide them in up-leveling and growing their brands with clarity and confidence through balanced brand strategy and visual identity to consistently create the most impact.

I get to be in my purpose and passion in working with sustainability and impact businesses by fully uncovering and embracing their brand purpose and then crafting the visuals that empower them to stand out with authority in the market.

I get to tap into my artistic qualities on the visuals but just as important is the more strategic side of fully understanding the depths of brands and why they exist and who we get to craft them for. And then infusing it all with ancient principles of balance and harmony, I’ve harnessed as a Tai Chi resilience coach.

My business Creative Chi is the first Miami branding agency to be a Certified B Corporation. For the last six years, I have been an active voice in Miami for this movement of doing business with the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. This year we have also become an official member of 1% for the planet. I’m a strong believer in the role of business in impacting our lives and our planet. If we take responsibility as owners and employees we can create a world where we love to work and create beautiful regenerative places to live, work, and play.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Skateboarding 150 miles in 24 hrs.

I was part of the support crew for years as I watched my Brother beat the long-distance 24 Hour world record. Year after year, I gave out water and snacks and helped set up and break down all the equipment.

I was relegated to the sidelines because that was my expected role. I was the never-quite-good-enough-to-compete sibling, always picked last in school sports, and always the quietest, petite girl in the class.

And why can’t I compete in this race: I asked myself one day?
“Well, Sirena, you don’t know how to skateboard!” answered the itty bitty shitty committee in my head.

But I decided that I could, in fact, do it. So by becoming 1% better every day, I can also now call myself an ultramarathons competitor! By learning how to skate 1 mile at a time, I got my PR of 150 miles in those 24hrs.

150 miles sounds like a lot, but I’m pretty darn slow in long-distance ultra skateboarding. My Brother held the world record at 310 miles. So in relative terms, I’m a turtle. But it’s not about being better than anyone else but better than who you were yesterday. Comparison can kill any forward momentum.

Skating those 150 miles was my most significant physical resilience teacher. Mentally you don’t set out to skate 150 miles at the beginning of the race. If you think of the whole distance, you’d immediately quit.
It’s that first mile and then 10 + 10 + 20 and the next 20.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Perfectionism. It took me time to realize that done is better than perfect. I think we creatives use perfectionism as a protection device. If the work is never perfect, we never have to face the scrutiny of putting it out into the world.

I’ve been using this lesson in my content creation for social media and the practice of doing and doing it poorly at times is what leads to better. I’m not saying that everything I make is great, but it’s a lot better than if I never hit publish because it’s not perfect. And you know what? That’s okay! Because perfectionism is nothing more than an illusion that we hold ourselves to that does nothing but hold us back from living our best creative lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://createchi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativechi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/createchi
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirenaandras/
• Twitter: @sirensmile