Mindful Chat with Andrea Stephenson Declutter delight for Life

Andrea
https://decluttersdelightforlife.com/

Transcript

Damaris Grossmann: 0:53

Hi, how are you? This is Damaris Maria Grossman and this is the mindfully integrative shell. And today we have a mindful chat with Andrea Stevenson, and I can't wait for you guys to meet her. And thank you, and welcome to the show. Well, thank you very

Andrea Stephenson: 1:07

much. I appreciate Damaris being on your show. And I hope this will be fun and interesting for this. A fun fact about me, I started seeing as what I call the one spot rule, and decluttering and stuff like that, you know, when you have things, put them in one spot, you know, if they're one file, one thing, you know, is, is is one of those things in life that if you put it in one spot, you'll never forget where you put it. And that goes for a lot of things in life is that life is too short. And if you can keep things simple, that's what it's all about.

Damaris Grossmann: 1:46

I love it. I love it. I like your your tidbit of info, how um, and in reference to mindfully, you know, integrative health and this space, would you like to describe and kind of where you came into your story and how now you're, you have your own podcast also. So we can talk about that later. But you know, a little bit about yourself and how you're going to came into,

Andrea Stephenson: 2:09

oh, well, let's see, I'm 5616 years ago, actually is over 16 years ago, I was 494 pounds. And I ever believed that? Well, I was and I was told either buy a coffin or do something or go to eating disorders program. I do belong to a 12 step program for eating problems that I've grown to believe that 12 steps are a big help. I I was also in an abusive relationship at the time and I had to make some different choices and decisions in my life. And and you know, I've had I call it my man pickers kind of broke. But back to the foreigner 94 pounds, I lost 250 pounds on my own, I diabetes, high cholesterol, I was taking 24 different medications. And my diabetes was out of control. I was five shots insulin a day. And I had to do something. In fact, they had to do a gastric bypass on me. And that brought my diabetes down. I still take diabetes medicine, but I weigh about 140 now and I've been here nine years. And I feel like that's pretty successful. I've also got out of that battering relationship about 20 months ago, and I restarted my business and got to grow. I've written four books, clutter to declutter. 20 days to declutter your life. Also. decluttering your mind now and also secrets to overcoming depression anxiety where we just released it, and we have quite a lot of few things with it. And also within my story patients. As a child, I dealt with sexual abuse in a call it was physical, emotional, and spiritual. And it really, you know, made me a very strong person, I had to be strong to get through that I was taken out of my home at age 11 and put in a foster home which she actually became my mom, she, she since passed away. And then when I was 21, I got a job as a corrections officer and then 15 years into that I was injured on the job and had to spend two years in a rehab facility. And to kind of speed it along these past 20 months I've dealt with COVID neck back and lung infections, back surgery and for car accidents, but I kept my business alive during the whole time. And one of the key factors I found in that was reaching out and getting help and investing in people. And I'm a very firm believer that you have to invest in the people who work with you because I think that's extremely important. Especially in business.

Damaris Grossmann: 5:17

But what made you reach for help because not everybody reaches for help.

Andrea Stephenson: 5:23

Well, I want to reach for help. I want to change my life. I wanted a different life. Especially 20 months ago and I finally decided you know what, it is my time in life. I am 56 I was 54 back then. And I will be very honest, my my ex did not make the house payments. My house was in foreclosure. I was about ready to lose my car. financially I was in the pits, well guess what, 20 months later I'm out of the pits, I'm my house is out, foreclosure is gonna go to being paid off here shortly, I bought my car was totaled, I got a different car had money left over, and have other funds that are in the process as far as that's concerned. So one thing, you know, that I have learned in the process is that you got to have hope and faith in as far as I'm asserting God, and I look at God is good orderly direction. And ego is easing God out. Because as far as I'm concerned, if you don't have that faith, and hope that gives you the perseverance, to be able to move beyond wherever you're at, then to me, I do mindful meditation every day, and exercise and everything like that, even though I deal with pain issues and, and double knee replacement. Let me say I have, I got my share of health issues, but I'm working on working on those and working through them. Because, you know, you can complain about a problem to the cows come home, but unless you're willing to do something about it, nothing's gonna ever happen or your dreams are never going to come true. And my business has just recently started breaking even, and is now on deletions. That's big deal to me, as far as I'm concerned is, I've been paying for it out of my pension, my business, so I have not incurred one ounce of debt. And I don't, I've had offers from people for angel funding, but they want to come in and take a part of my company. And I firmly believe I don't want let others control my, my, my values, how I believe things happen. What I do is part ministry, part business, because I am about people, because people are more valuable. I know we have all this technology and to connect everything. But we need to remember that there are people out there that are less fortunate.

Damaris Grossmann: 8:05

But you've worked really hard to. And you've also come a long way in your life, you know, and incorporated this bridge from your traditional surgery of bariatric surgery and weight loss, then you've placed and then you've put yourself to declutter your mind, your life, your whole made whole business out of it, and are now helping others to do the same. And that's really important. And I can't wait for others to know you and, and to, to talk Can you talk a little bit more about your decluttering business and what you do, or at least that you have done?

Andrea Stephenson: 8:50

My declares to light for life, how it originally started. We have a corporation and we also have other businesses that are underneath that. But it started out I was also a hoarder. And I started out decluttering my house and got rid of about 90% of my stuff. And I decided, well, you know, somebody said, yeah, make a business out of it. And I start thinking of names to declare to Life for life. And I sat on my kitchen table and form our Corporation says I'm going to do something. And then on top of that I was turned into empowerment, Business Solutions, empowerment. We have a coaching Association, and we train coaches and ongoing education. We have a publishing house. And then we also have the empowerment West Center, which is where my mental health is. I have done a lot of deep diving into mental health issues. I've been a 25 year mental health advocate. And as far as as concerned, because I believe we I firmly believe right now we're in a mental health crisis due to COVID. And a lot of people, I go to church, and I greet people, and everybody wants hugs, everybody wants,

Damaris Grossmann: 10:10

you know, they're away from it. There's no social connection.

Andrea Stephenson: 10:14

And a lot of older folks too. You know, I get people who come up to me every week and they say, you know, it means the most to them because they're not getting hugs. And I just I I'm not afraid. I know, I know. I'm a high risk kind of category of people. But, you know, Jesus walked among the sick. He walked among the different folks and different people have different backgrounds. And I feel like I'm no different than his you know, he will protect me I'm not getting religious on you but my faith is very much close to talk about Me, My faith is very much close to me, I will be admit that I used to be Wiccan. And that held nothing for me, it was just negativity. And then I switched back to the roots of my Christian beliefs. And that was a big switch for me. In fact, a week later, I got rid of my bad or somebody in groups is quit complaining about him, get rid of them. He's not, you're not married to him. And it started from that was a battle, you know, getting rid of him. And I jokingly told all my says, he won't use my past against me. I said, just go on my Facebook Lives, which I've done about 680 of them. And I, and I never heard a word from them again. So you know, if they really want to know my story, now, it was already out there. And I will admit that I deal with bipolar PTSD anxiety disorder. At one time, I was a multiple personality disorder of 93 personalities, which I have combined into one. And that was probably about four years ago, when that happens. So I've been

Damaris Grossmann: 12:06

in, you're taking your meds, and you're doing good, and you're feeling better, and you've done and you've made this for yourself, and you've incorporated all these different integrative components of, you know, to get you to where you are now, which is amazing. Exactly.

Andrea Stephenson: 12:21

You know, cuz I feel like it takes more than just one thing, it's a multifaceted approach to getting well, you know, just not doing one thing is kind of like our, the new book that's coming out. And for 397, we have the book, we have the audio book, and then we have 15 weeks of coaching calls that correspond with the book. And we have scales and things people can determine where their depression, their anxiety, and stress are researched all that, and some of it's a lot personal experience integrated into it. And to see that, you know, folks get the support. Along with that, and we have coaching and coaches. And, to me support, it's very much important. And we do give away a lot of free stuff, I have this thing about you gotta give, give, give, ask, not just ask, ask, ask, give, because too many people are out there for the quick buck. And I'm into developing legacy, you know, and you've got to build a firm foundation on your business. And that's what me and my two people did a month into my business. Afterwards, I hired two people out on faith, and built my business with these people on I'll be hiring and other folks here shortly. And just realizing, and God sent me the right people, they're willing to learn, they're willing to, you know, I, I, our company is very entrepreneurial, and style, you know, because I give my people freedom to do what they need to do. And I don't sit there, I don't hover over people we meet every morning. And we just, we talk about what's going on. And I always like to make sure the mental health of my people are good. I asked them about that. Because if their mental health is not good, they can't do good. And I also like to make sure that I believe in social responsibility. They all have health insurance, they're from the Philippines, their families are covered. I'm paying good wages, because if your people are taken care of, they're going to do well. And they're going to have less things. And you know, they're made mistakes, I've made mistakes, and we all make mistakes. And sometimes you got to be gentle with people I call it kind candor, and just say hey, you know, you know, maybe we could look at doing things a different way, and that you don't have to crush somebody spirits up now. You know, and in the new style of leadership, that's the way it's going, you know, kindness and compassion and listening to your people, the old style of leadership is dying. And and we are going to have to listen to people more. And I just, I really firmly believe that, you know, you know, that comes out of my own experience about how I want to be treated and not be treated like a number. I don't think anybody likes being treated a number. I don't mean to put this out there. We even offer a six month guarantee on all our products which is a lot different than a lot of places. Because we found that people need to feel secure. If it doesn't work for them, we don't want to take, you know, we'll give them their money back, no questions asked. Because I find if it doesn't work for somebody, Why sit there and argue about it? Now, it doesn't do you any good. And, you know, back to, you know, so what my story is, I always hit yes, places that had the seven day trial or a 30 day trial, I, I did it a lot of research and found that people, the longer the guarantee, the better people felt secure. And I find that, you know, and they ask, ask, give, that you don't have to sell, what you sell will just sell itself. So once this last book came out, it was a game changer for my business. Because it just it I don't know what happened. But it was just like, right at the right moment. And I just, I spent four, I wrote four books in 16 months. And me thing, yeah, I was I'm taking a break from writing books and a little bit of break for myself. And I'm just finding that, you know, I'm, you know, taking care of myself and working on my own health issues and helping others work on their health issues. Because I think a part of being entrepreneurial that we forget, is taking care of ourselves, you know, some people, I work four or five hours a day, and, you know, I've integrated scheduling systems, a whole bunch of aspects of my business. As you probably know, there are many pieces and parts you got to put into place.

Damaris Grossmann: 17:46

And there are that there are that there are and it's and it's always it's ever evolving or changing or, and you know, but you've come such a long way in your health story, from you know, the loss of weight, your mental health issues, decluttering your life decluttering your mind to then be able to bring it all together into different book topics to then incorporate and do coaching and, and all these other aspects. I think that is pretty profound. And what that other listeners or people that may be listening or watching to know that there is hope to make change. And I think that sometimes people feel very hopeless, because they have all of these other elements that are kind of against them. And you have a pretty strong history, that people would be like, Well, how did she become beyond where she is? How did she, you know, get successful? Or how is she inspiring other people when it seems like she's come from something pretty difficult. So I see a resilience in you that's beyond, you know, the average person and, and people need to hear it, you know, people need to know you and, and I appreciate you being on the show.

Andrea Stephenson: 19:06

And I like i said i, this is who I am, I am no different from what you hear as an in person as my as my podcast. And I I'm going to crack a joke, and I hope people don't take offense to it. i There is one definition of insanity that's going on some of what's going on with our governors and our president and them kind of scaring people with what's going on. And I've done a lot of research in that. And I'm I really, the joke is is that, you know, the definition of insanity is scaring people into, you know, you know, that, that people are, you know, should be like lambs to wolf. And I just I firmly believe that we need to open things up. Because I firmly believe this is just my belief. And my belief, where it come from, is that if we keep opening and closing things like we're doing now, and I've done some research on this and see like this, and not allow herd immunity to happen. I find that we're going to be in a continuous cycle, this COVID And just like the flu, it's going to happen every year and it's going to change and grow. And I don't know, some people may not agree with me on that, but I firmly believe that we need to, you know, I know some friends who lost their business and COVID and they lost Everything, they lost their home, they became homeless, and I had to help them. I've even started an organization many years ago that helped people with mental health disabilities. And I just I firmly believe that, you know, a lot of businesses are being hurt. And people are not recognizing that and behind that is people. And I think we need to move forward and move forward from where we're at. i Sorry, I'm not trying to get

Damaris Grossmann: 21:27

we will go, we will move forward. And you know, like I said, I'm, I have you on the show for, you know, because you've done and made changes for yourself. And I appreciate that. And we're, you know, it's been a tough year. And I thank you, though, for you know, coming through that even in this time. I'd like to know how people can reach you again, even though I'll have them in the show notes. How can someone reach you,

Andrea Stephenson: 21:51

and they can reach me at declutters DCLU, TT e Rs. Delite, D, E, Li, GH, T, fo r.

Damaris Grossmann: 22:07

Too close to life,

Andrea Stephenson: 22:09

Li F e dot A s dot, M E, they can schedule an appointment if they want to be on a podcast or schedule a complimentary call with me. Or so. Or you can reach me at Andrea at 84 Street rocks calm. And you can reach me through those factors. And I don't give out a private telephone number.

Damaris Grossmann: 22:36

Because no, you do not have to give a private telephone number. Absolutely. I don't. I've gotten too many weird calls. No, absolutely do not do that. So a lot of weirdos out there. Yeah. So I want you to you know, be a part of the solution and not have everybody come be your problem for you. This is about solutions and positivity and a platform for making Integrative Health and mindful ways each and every day. So I appreciate you being on the show. Andrea, thank you so much for your time, I cannot wait for those to meet you and for them to reach out to you. Is there anything else you'd like to add in for the day before we go, um,

Andrea Stephenson: 23:16

what I would, I'm gonna leave three points. Like I tell my guests to leave three points. One, you got to have hope. You got to have faith. And you got to believe in yourself. And very simple things. Have faith. Have hope and believe in yourself. And that will get you a long ways in love and have love and kindness and compassion for yourself. Even if you make mistakes. And remember in life and I get this from one of my 12 Step programs, progress not perfection, if you think you're going to be perfect in what you do. Well, like I said, we all make mistakes and we have to sometimes just roll with it.

Damaris Grossmann: 24:02

I I totally appreciate the progress not perfection and you know, little hope and faith I I think that hope faith and love to me. That right there is super important I just in itself. You know I you don't even have to go into great detail. When we have a little bit of love for ourselves in general. Thank you so much for just taking your time and your knowledge and bringing out that energy and love to others and those listening and watching because I know someone needs to hear your story because they're probably hurting in a meeting assistance. So I can't wait for them to reach out to you. And thank you again for your time

Andrea Stephenson: 24:42

and for being Thank you very much and you have a great day and God bless you and God bless you. Bye