This week, a local leading business woman, and mum of 2, whose accolades include being featured on the Forbes Coaches Council, sharing a stage with Spanx Billionaire Sara Blakely, and having sung in front of eighty thousand people at the Principality stadium, has united with 21 other female entrepreneurs in a bid to inspire others to find theirvoice. Together they are helping more of us identify with the things that are holding us back, and hit realisations of what we need to do to change things, if we want a life that looks different in 2022.
From Barry, South Wales, Andrea Callanan is a Voice, Mindset and Business Coach. Former professional singer and Music Industry Voice Coach, she physically lost her voice at the height of her singing success due to stress and being frozen by fear of success. Andrea is now celebrating the launch of her second inspirational best-selling book “Step Aside and Rise!” this week as she walks the walk of her mission to create a ripple effect amongst women who are made for more.
As Step Aside and Rise launches globally, Andrea celebrates in LA on a business trip with her own mentor, Niyc Pidgeon, who is an award winning Hay House Author, internationally renowned speaker and positive psychologist. Step Aside and Rise went straight in at number 1 in 7 categories including Business Biographies, Inspirational Spirituality and Small Business and Entrepreneurship alongside books by TV Personality John Cleese and Former SAS: Who Dares Wins Ollie Ollerton. She was also delighted to share a category, Top 100 Self help & counselling category, with New York Times Bestseller Brené Brown, whose work Andrea hugely admires.
Having hit rock bottom as a suicidal mother with a young son and a mountain of debt, Andrea is passionate about health, happiness, and entrepreneurship, as the result of her own challenges. She is now also a certified Positive Psychology Coach who knows what it’s like to be in fight or flight mode – In her own words she believed “the only way was up!” …and since then has been paying it forward.
Further expanding the ripple effect of the book, proceeds of all book sales from Amazon will be donated to the WONDER Foundation (The Women’s Network for Development and Educational Resources). They are a charity focused on empowering women, girls and their communities through access to quality education so that they can transform their lives and exit poverty for good. They say : “We never set out simply to educate women and girls, but to give them the tools to be leaders in their own lives, just as we wish to be.” and this is perfectly aligned with Andrea’s own mission of empowering women to embrace choice in their lives, by finding their voice, which she says is the ultimate expression of freedom.
Having reached a personal and professional level of success, Andrea Callanan has grown a multi 6-figure coaching business that sees her travel the world and become named as a top 25 inspirational Welsh woman – this is all success she has experienced as a result of her own self development. She has gone on to coach clients globally, to help them achieve their versions of success. With this book her focus is on showcasing what’s possible through sharing the incredible stories of her co-authors with a view to enabling as many other women as possible to step into their brilliance.
Andrea said: “I’m driven by helping other women access their own power, rediscover their identity, and their voice. Within the pages of this book, you’ll hear 21 extraordinary stories of everyday women who were lost in their lives and stuck in their businesses. By making different choices and taking aligned action they have stepped out of their own way and risen as absolute triumphs. I’m so proud of every single one of them!”
“These women courageously put pen to paper to share their experiences so they could inspire and motivate other women. They bravely write about their lives, their transformations, their business growth, their challenges, failures and learnings. They write about accepting themselves and how they’ve embraced their next levels. I decided to write this book along with my clients, to show other female business owners that it’s genuinely possible to make lasting positive change with aligned support, transformed beliefs and strategic action-taking.”
“The message is clear: it all starts with you! And if we can do it, you can too. It’s all available to you! I want to remind tired hearts and minds that their transformation is waiting. Remember, your future-self years from now needs you to make the right choices today”.
She said of her entrepreneurial spirit: “I am fiercely proud of where I come from but it took me a while to realise this. For a long time, I never felt good enough when out there ‘in the big wide world’ and this is something that would plague me for years. I now know that my mindset and self-worth work has opened me up for continued success, but in the early days I was cutting myself off from opportunities due to insecurities and doubt – which then manifested in cutting off my main communication channel altogether – my voice.”
“This was a very literal way that my fear and deep down self-worth issues presented externally, but for many it is much subtler and can be hard to recognise. By sharing our stories in this book we hope to encourage women to lay some things to rest, adapt their mindset and habits, and rise up and take on everything they were destined to discover.”
Andrea said: “Seeing Step Aside and Rise becoming a best seller has really reinforced the power of the message that you can find your own silver lining within your challenges. I know this book has the power to shift perspectives and show other women that there is an opportunity to lean into their greatness and create their version of success whatever stage of their journey they are at right now. My wish is for this book to be an inspiration to many as evidence that women can powerfully rise when they work together.”
Founder of Authors & Co, Abigail Horne who has brought the book to life, said the book is for women entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. She said: “At Authors & Co we work with entrepreneurs who want to make an impact through leaving their legacy. Our authors always lead their readers to reflect on their own lives and if aligned, make use of the teachings to move forward themselves”.
