John: You're listening to The Present Professional, where we explore the intersections of personal and professional development.

John: To change your experience of life and work with every episode.

Tony: So tune in, grab your notebook, and let's go. Let's go.

John: Welcome to another episode of The Present Professional. Today, we have a special guest with us, Andrea Estrada. She's a psychologist and mental health counselor and currently works as a mental health and sports performance coach for the Institute of Sports Performance and the local minor league baseball team, MILB Sugar Land Space Cowboys. Andrea is also an actively working model in the commercial print industry. And the one liner for what she does for folks in the mental health and sports performance arena is in guiding athletes through the process of overcoming unhealthy thinking and behaviors, enabling them to take action toward their goals, enhance their performance and live more balanced and fulfilled lives. And when I heard that, I said, Andrea, we all need a little bit more of that. So with that, I'm going to hand it over to you and say anything else that I might have missed or anything else that you want to let the audience know as you kick off your story.

Andrea: Hey, I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me on. I am excited to, you know, share my journey and any tips or feedback that could be helpful. I love the professional aspect that you'll have with the podcast and just kind of talking and discussing, you know, successes, wins, losses, all of that that comes with professionals, you know?

Tony: Absolutely. You know, Andrea and I have known each other for a very long time. I don't want to age us, but it's been like longer than a decade and a half, at least. It's been amazing to watch your journey, even just, you know, from middle school, even to today. And even as John read your bio, I'm like, wow, like that is super inspirational. Can you talk about your journey a little bit? And like, when did you get that spark to kind of walk into the pathway that you got to today?

Andrea: Oh, that's a great question because yes, I am definitely different than I was in middle school. Oh my goodness, I don't even know who I was in middle school.

John: We could do a whole episode on that.

Andrea: I think back and it's like cringe, of course.

Tony: Right, same.

Andrea: All good, all good. Yeah, I always had this thing, I think, inside where I knew I wanted more for myself. I knew I was in a cheesy way, as it sounds, like meant for big things or meant to do some some things, you know, with my life. So there's always something in there. And it, you know, kind of just sat in there. And as I've gotten older and started to realize that I was becoming an adult and needed to start thinking about careers and what I wanted to do with my life. I always knew that my passion and my purpose was to help people. But how I was going to do that exactly, I wasn't sure. It wasn't until about high school when I started to watch this TV show called Frasier. That's really dating myself and aging myself. I don't know if y'all watch that show or not.

John: Get out of here. I need to hear how this kicked off the journey. Frasier, please elaborate.

Andrea: Yeah, so he's a talk show radio host psychiatrist. So he would give advice and help people over the radio. They would call in and talk about their problems and he'd give them advice. And I watched it and it's funny too because he's very difficult with not taking his own advice and he's the expert but yet he cannot translate it to his own problems and stuff and so I just really got The idea, oh my goodness, I want to help those people. I want to help people that are, you know, having emotional troubles and problems. I would love to do that. I think at that time I knew it had a really bad stigma, mental health, although you think immediately the psychiatric hospitals and psychosis and whatnot. And it's just like, well, who advocates for them? They still are people and they need somebody to like back them up or help them out. And so, yeah, I didn't think I would become a psychiatrist, which those are the ones that go to medical school and become actual doctors. And I wasn't cut out for medical school. So I was like, I can still do the counseling piece or like, you know, the couch and me with my notepad. I want to do that. And so that's when I knew and I decided I was going to go into the mental health field, become that whatever that looked like, how to get there. I'll figure that out. And I never looked back. So I just went off into college, took every psychology class I could take. talk to people who were already doing these things in the mental health field, what was their journey, how did they get there, their blueprint, and I just did my research and you know I was the first one in my family to go to college and so I had I think early on knew if I wanted something or I needed to do something, I needed to figure out how. Research, just figure it out. Ask around, look around, find the answers.

John: You weren't shy about getting the information, asking for help, learning more. It seems like you really dove in just from the one catalyst there in Fraser. That's really amazing. Right. And I think overall, just thinking about if you might be listening to this, thinking about, you know, what you're curious about, what you want to dive into. You know, have there ever been moments like that where you, listener, have found something that piqued your interest, like that you didn't follow? Like maybe that's still an opportunity, right? And I think Andrea really shows like how far that possibility can go now being a mental health and sports performance coach for the minor leagues. I mean, it gets gone from an episode of Frasier to psychology and counseling to now, you know, working for an organization so close to your heart in baseball and sports in general.

Andrea: When you put it like that, it's like I haven't even thought of it like that. That's incredible.

Tony: I just want to point out the wisdom of how you sought out the people. I think that part is so wise, especially at a young age. I just want to point that out.

Andrea: I don't know what was the compulsion or that compelled me to do that. I just something instinct or I don't know, but I was figured out. Well, I like what they do and or they obviously have some kind of knowledge about it. They got a lot of information. Let me ask.

John: And at the same time, you know, you were pursuing this academic and professional career. You were still a competitive athlete as well as you launched into college, I'm sure leading up to that. You know, how did your interest in mental health and psychology really aid in your performance as an athlete?

Andrea: Yeah. So I have a sports background since I was a kid. I first played softball for many years up into high school. And then I transferred and switched to dance. I've really always wanted to dance. As a kid, we would go to the Friday night football games from the high school, you know, Texas football is a big deal. And I had an older brother who was in high school. So we would go to the games and at halftime, when I saw the dancers do their thing I just looked up to them and I was like, I want to be like them. I want to do that when I get older. I didn't have any dance experience. A lot of the time, dancers will start when they're really young. I had the opportunity to dance and I knew I wanted to do that. But when I saw my older sister playing softball, that's why I went and chose to play softball instead. I said, well, I'll do softball. And baseball was in my family, too, so we always loved the game and whatnot. And so then that's how I got into softball. But again, later on, when I got older, my cousins were on the drill team. My sister was on the drill team, too, and they made the switch to dance. And so I did, too. Luckily, I have natural rhythm, so I was able to, you know, pick up choreography and then make the team. And those are some of the funnest times in high school, being a part of that team. And I left softball behind. I was, I think, burnt out. Now I look back and I realize I was burnt out from softball because we were playing every weekend, you know, tournament ball. And it just started to become more of like a chore obligation rather than like fun. And so, yeah, I had a hard decision to make at that time because I didn't want to let my parents down and tell them I don't want to play softball anymore. And that was hard. And I probably stayed a little bit longer than what I needed to. But looking back, if I had the confidence or understood my self-care, all the stuff that we all know now, then I probably would have felt better about making that decision, having that conversation with my parents that I didn't want to do this anymore. And it would have been fine. They would have been supportive. They've always been supportive of my decisions. And so, yeah, I transferred to dance and had so much fun with that. And then after high school, I just did my two years of basics at community college. I didn't dance. And so that was it for me, I thought at that time. until I made the transfer to A&M Corpus Christi and I saw on their website, doing all that research figuring out how to apply and admissions and stuff, I see dance tryouts. I was like, oh, is this like for the college? Is this just like a separate thing? And so I looked into it and I had a decision to make. And I kind of just said, well, I haven't danced in two years, but let's just see what happens. Why not? And so I did. I tried out and I made it. And so I danced for the college those last two years. And that was an awesome experience. That was the sport there. And we got to do the halftime performances there and, you know, just be involved with the spirit team. It was fun. It was a cool experience. And so when it comes to mental health, yes, I was going through my classes and learning so much about psychology and mental health, but I didn't know how to apply it. I was learning all the stuff and I was understanding the stuff. was learning at that time. And so it was tough. That's when I really remembered having such a hard time. And if I would have only known about these resources or that something like sports performance counseling existed, you know, then I would have probably sought those services. But I just you don't know what you don't know. And so I did the best I could. And it was a struggle. It was not easy. being away from home, having the responsibilities of collegiate sports on top of your school and on top of other personal responsibilities like paying for rent. It was tough. It was hard.

John: And you made it through.

Andrea: Yeah, you made it through, made it through. And then fast forward after college, I again stopped dancing. I learned about Dynamo, or actually Houston Texans tryouts. I tried out for them one year. I mean, it was, the competition was fierce. It was thousands of girls, you know, experienced, talented dancers, and I was not that good. I did not make it. I didn't even make the first cut, I don't think. That was fine. That was fun. I met somebody, a friend out of that experience, and it didn't stop me from trying out for the next team, which was then the Dynamo, the Houston Dynamo. They had a dance team at one point, and I tried out for them and I made it. Wow. That was like, what? I thought I was done dancing. Just went for it and then made it. And that was a really fun experience with more wisdom, more knowledge with the mental health piece and using that a little bit more with my performance. But again, not to where it is now, because my confidence was always something that I've struggled with. And so confidence is huge in performance. It's huge. I wasn't as confident as I could have been, but I know that all these experiences had to happen the way they had to happen in order for me to see it now and for me to learn from them. So I did the best that I could. I just know now, looking back, things were different mentally or I had applied those things more. a different experience, but I can't change it now and that's okay. It is what it is. It still was amazing and incredible. I can say that I reached the top of the goal of becoming a professional dancer.

John: That's amazing. Thank you. It's interesting that you bring up confidence throughout this journey. It sounds like you've always had the confidence to give it another go. It sounds like with you there's nothing that's just been full shut down. This is the end of that chapter for me. If something piques your interest like you can just jump right in. And I think that's a piece of confidence that often goes unnoticed because we don't see a lot of what people say no to. It's like when there's the end of something. It's typically just the end for a lot of people. But it sounds like for you, when an opportunity comes up, you have the confidence to be able to dive back in. So even throughout that, where you're saying, you know, could have had more confidence and been able to reach for these resources. And it really sounded like, you know, having the confidence to dive back in is something that really led you to where you are right now. And speaking about diving in, let's talk about diving into modeling and competitive bodybuilding. We didn't even touch on that yet, that part of being an athlete. Right.

Andrea: It's a great place to start talking about that because that is a moment where I got the no and I walked away and I did shut down after that experience. So this is great. Yeah, so confidence and self-esteem, right? They go kind of hand in hand. Without one, you don't have the other. And so I think what my experience was, or what was happening was I had enough self-esteem to just, you know, okay, what's the worst that can happen? I've always had that optimistic personality trait of like, well, it's okay. Even if the worst happens, it's going to be okay. I'll be fine. So you just don't know until Oh, do it. And that has been something that's carried me along. Like you said, when opportunities present themselves, I'm on it. What's the worst that's going to happen? Okay, I get told no. Okay, no big deal. Just move on. And it's not easy in the moment getting the no, I will say that. But yeah, a lot of times more than not, I think, yeah, I was have just been fortunate to see the opportunity and go for it. And I'm so glad about that, you know, trait from myself that I have that courage or the self-esteem to do it and when I do end up doing it that confidence then needs to kick in or and it wouldn't and so I would be feeling a little bit less than around in those opportunities. The fake it till you make it, the survival kind of mechanism kicking in rather than I could have been thriving. But I've learned from that and it's a different story now. And so we'll get to that. But also while growing up, because of that lack of confidence, I knew that I was having inside when I would see the supermodels, the 90s models, the, you know, I just saw them with confidence and the fierceness that they had. And I It was like, I wish I had that. I want that. I want to feel that. And so I would get mixed messages growing up about my appearance. I would hear things like, when you win Miss Texas, don't forget me. And I'm like, what? What are you talking about? What do you mean, Miss Texas? And I would hear things from my siblings though, teasing me of like looking like a little boy. Cause I had a little chili bowl haircut and I looked like a mogul from the jungle book. I was like, okay. And then I would start to hear more messages of like, you're so pretty. Or like, you ever think about modeling? And I'm like, no, I'm too short. Like that's not a thing. And I'm no, I don't really see any models that look like me. So. And so that kind of also sparked a little bit of interest of like, what if, you know, like, well, could I? Tyra Banks had the America's Next Top Model show going on at that time in high school. I was a fan. I was religiously watching it. Super invested. And then I hear they have castings coming to Houston. Opportunity in my mind. Go for it. Go do it. You know, and this is like right after high school. Yeah. So this is when I was about 18. I had just graduated, I think. And so are you from Houston?

John: I'm not originally. No.

Andrea: Oh, where are you from?

John: Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Andrea: Oh, well, how long have you been in Houston?

John: Nine years now.

Andrea: Okay. Yeah. You've been for a while. Yeah.

John: Yeah. I consider myself a Houstonian now. You guys have adopted me.

Andrea: Yeah. Well, I don't know if you were here when that club, the name of it, Tony, right there by Ikea and the marquee.

Tony: Yeah.

Andrea: It had the multiple clubs inside the club, but it was, um, uh, drink Houston.

Tony: Yeah, it was drink Houston. I think so.

Andrea: Anyways, that's where the castings were. So I show up and there's, I mean, a long ass line. It's wrapping the building and I was like, oh, well, I'm going to stand here. I'm going to, you know, I went by myself. I didn't tell anybody. I don't think because I still was shy or like, I can't say this out loud. That's Maybe I told a few select people, but yeah, I remember kind of being quiet about it because I was still nervous about saying that out loud. It just seemed so outlandish. And so I went, stand in line for a few hours. And then at some point, the casting directors or somebody important, I guess, came out and was like, if you're not 5'9", barefoot, you can just go home. You're wasting your time. you're not going to get seen. It's like, oh, OK. And I listened and I left because that immediately just shut me down. I was like, I can't do this. See, I knew this was too outlandish, like there's no way. And so it's unrealistic. You know what? That's OK. I'm going to focus on my mental health career. And I never thought about modeling again. until bodybuilding came into the picture.

Tony: Wow. That's amazing. I was about to say I never knew that you did the Tyra Banks, America's Next Top Model thing. So now hearing this story, now I know why I never heard it. Because I'm like, I was waiting to hear how you went in there and then you walked in and you're on TV next day. Now that's amazing. And I think like part of what you've been mentioning is like how important it is to go through And I don't want to call it failure because that's not the right term, but it's more of like you're trying to build something. And the more that you try to go for these amazing, outlandish, crazy things that most people can't see, even if you don't receive that at the time, it actually sets you up for the next thing. And you literally have said that multiple times. And I just want to point out how important that is, especially for those who are listening. And we've talked about that on the podcast so many times, but It's like failure is not failure. A loss is not a loss. It's a lesson. For me, if you look at a W, it's literally two L's. You cannot win if you don't lose. Like nobody has a perfect record. I always talk about sports and basketball and all these things. And it's like athletes, they literally lose to win. Nobody has a perfect record. Even baseball players talk about baseball a lot. I mean, hitting the ball 20% of the time is success. Like, it's crazy. So, just kudos to you for all that you said, and I just think that it's so important to point out how you have to go through the fire to then receive the stage, you know, accolades and gold, which you have in bodybuilding and many other things.

Andrea: Yeah, yeah. If you're not willing to go through the hell, go through the fire, where all those good stuff there. And the thing through the fire is actually where all the good stuff is. That's where all the lessons are. Absolutely. Exactly what you're saying. Yeah. I forgot about modeling. I put that aside and just focused on my career. And so Dynamo. I was dancing for the Dynamo. Yeah. come in to help the team. And he also coached bodybuilders, women and males. And I, you know, had never really knew much about that industry. I just immediately thought, big muscles, and I don't want big muscles. But he approached me, I think one time, asking if I had ever considered doing it. He thought I would do really well. And I was like, no, I'm okay. Thank you for that, though. You know, I don't think that's for me kind of thing. And I was about to start grad school at the time this Dynamo season was ending. And I was like, what am I going to do? I really like working out. And I've always been someone who goes to the gym since high school. I didn't know what I was doing, but I just kind of followed what my dad did. He was an active person. And so I would learn from him, exercises. And I liked it. I was like, oh, I like how working out and weight training makes me feel. And so when Dynamo was I was going to the gym and that nutritionist also managed that gym. And so then the season was ending and then I approached and I was like, so tell me a little more about this bodybuilding stuff that you speak of. And I told him how I was concerned with, you know, being too muscular or getting so big and not that that's bad or anything at all. I give so much respect to bodybuilders, especially the women that can get that, you know, muscular mask. It's hard work. So that is amazing. And he answered a lot of my questions. And then it came to like, well, I've seen how they pose and it's a little provocative for me. I don't know if that's me. I don't like that. And he says, Oh no, well, this organization, they don't even allow that type of posing. And so you'll get docked on your score if you actually do that. He was like, I teach my girls to pose classy and well. I was like, I don't know. It's a little bit, I love performing, but I don't know about doing that in a bikini on a stage. It's just a little weird when I hear that. sent me some videos and watched the videos and I was like oh that looks nice that looks good I was like that is tasteful that's you know it looks appropriate and not really knowing what I was getting myself into again I just was like well dance is over okay I'll do it why not let's see what happens kind of thing and I was just starting grad school at the time and I didn't realize what it took to prep for a show for a fitness competition. So here I was working full-time at a crisis center and then immediately going to the gym after work, then immediately going to classes at night. And so I did this every day for like two years with grad school. Yeah. And I learned so much along the way with how to prep your food, the types of food, how much to eat, how many times I need to work out, the different types of exercises to target specific muscle groups to build these groups. Oh, you want to build, build, build, and then comes the fat loss. Oh, and then that's when I look super shredded and lean and what you see on stage, because right now I don't feel like that. I feel all bulky and, you know, not good. And so I was supposed to do my first show in May or June. I can't remember, but it was like a five month, six month timeframe because I started in January. And I didn't, like I said, know what the hell I was doing. And so I didn't follow my plan exactly the way I needed to. And I made so many mistakes along the way.

null: And he was like, I'm sorry, but I got to pull you from the show.

Andrea: You cannot do this show. Like you're not ready. I was like, okay. And I think that's kind of then got me in gear of like okay I need to really do like follow this you know and I did compete then in August so like two months three months later finally got my shit together so I was ready and did my first show and I loved it. I loved it. It brought back the performance part to it because like I said, I got to just go out on stage, do my thing, show off my accomplishments of the hard work that I put into change and transform my body and just have fun. It was so much fun. I was backstage with my teammates and so that was fun. And it was like, I want to keep doing this. I want to do another one. And so after the show, I placed, I think, fairly well. So there's two divisions that I did, the modeling division and the bikini division. And whenever he mentioned modeling, I said, but I'm not tall enough. I'm not. And he says, oh, this is not like that modeling. You know, it doesn't matter. So mostly, can you pull off or come off as like a fitness model, like you're modeling fitness clothes? Could someone see you in a fitness magazine? and all that. I was like, Oh, okay, then I'll do that. Yes. Okay. And so I placed second in those divisions and I was so happy, so proud. I just wanted to do it. I didn't care where I placed and I, you know, it's like, Oh, I can actually do well at this. This is good. And so we decided to do my next show, which would be in October. Yeah. And this was, uh, so the first show I did was more of like a local show here in Houston. So people from Houston came in, maybe from other cities, but mostly Houston. And then the second show I did was considered a regional show, but it wasn't in Texas. I did the one actually in New Mexico. So I traveled to do this show and it was so cool being in another city I had never been to. And then that competition was a really well run show. The production was incredible. The staff was great. They treated you like you're a rock star, you know, like it was like, Oh, okay, this is like, nice. And, you know, had competitors, teammates with me. So that was fun. Did well at that show as well. I didn't win, but I got second and third, top five placings or whatnot. And so I was like, yeah, I'm getting it now. And I brought a better physique. And so then finally my coach was like, you have to go to Vegas. You're doing well. I think you can beat everybody if you go to Vegas, which is the international show. This is where people from Mexico, people from Europe, people from South Korea, people from Canada come to this show. So I was like, I don't know. And I was down on myself. If I can't even win first, you know, the local and the regional shows, because then it became a problem when it came to my coach actually saying, no, you could win. I got scared and I was didn't believe in myself. That confidence wasn't there. Then it became, well, I didn't win first at the first show. So how in the hell can I win first at this big show? Like, there's just no way I don't because deep down I thought well maybe what if I can really do it and it scared me it scared me and I don't know why what was what's there to be scared of you know this is new this I don't know what it was gonna mean so somehow though I made it happen figured out you know how to get the money together and whatnot and went to Vegas and there was about alone, there was about, I would say 50 to 75 competitors in my division. And it was split into two days. And so yes, when I got to Vegas, it was like this big thing. It's like a convention. It was like, Oh my God, this is like, Oh, I know who that one is. I've seen them on Instagram. I've seen, it's like, Oh gosh, they look great. And immediately started like comparing myself to others. And that is a very normal scarier and modeling was the first division that I did on Friday night. So that division was like 100 girls. I did my thing, it was fun, it was exciting, but deep inside I was comparing myself to others and so that I'm sure showed on stage in my performance. I ended up placing seventh and so I did not get a trophy, I did not get top five, I wasn't announced and so that was a little bit like to the chest like, see, why did I come here? I shouldn't have came, I shouldn't have done this. And it got to me. It really did get to me because in my roommate, she ended up winning the whole thing. She won first. And so then I was like, Oh, gosh, this is not good. I don't you know, I was happy for her. But if you know, I just was very embarrassed. I felt silly and I couldn't sleep that night and it really got to me. The confidence really took a dip because I was like, I don't belong here. I don't know what my coach was thinking. He's lying, you know, and trying to blame everybody else. And I went through all that. But the next day came and it was time for bikini. I said, I'm here. I didn't come out here to just give up and I still have to do this bikini division. So let's do it. Just have fun. did the best I could. Next thing you know, it's awards time and they announced first place and it's me.

Tony: Wow.

Andrea: I was like, does this mean, you know, I get my pro card as they call it? And they're like, yeah, because international show, you immediately get your pro card. I was like, Oh my God. Yeah. So I couldn't believe it. That was so exciting. I was so proud of myself. And yeah, from then I was like, that's incredible. I just want to keep getting better and better and better. And so I like that organization because of their judging system. They don't sit there and move you around on stage to say, like, they see, oh, that one's first place or that one's second place. To me, that's so like degrading a little bit. But you actually are scored against yourself. And whoever has the highest score is the one who wins, basically. So you're graded on like your personality, your outfit selection, your aesthetics, of course, your physique, your muscularity and all that stuff. And so you're really just competing against. like that about the organization. And that's why I never went anywhere else.

Tony: And so… You just said something important though. You're really just competing against yourself. And I think that that is like so key to anything that anybody is doing. Because in reality, you are just competing with yourself. But when like you said, Ricky mistake, when you look to your right and to your left, you start to compare And then that's when you basically just your own comparison, you're competing with yourself. Like I said, that's when you start to kind of fall off a little bit is when you start to look around. I remember this like meme where Michael Phelps is swimming in the Olympics and then the guy's like looking at him and then he's losing because he's looking at Michael's like focused on. Looking straight ahead, I have maybe one more question for you from my end. And really, you talked about the ebb and flow of your journey and, you know, the different obstacles and the moments. And it's been such a great journey to witness from my end, but also just to even hear the details today. And what I want to know is, you talked about earlier the application, like when you started to apply the things you were learning and you've done so much to where you have opportunity to apply it. As we kind of even wrap up the conversation, how do you apply the mental health principles to the success that you've had? You know, when was it clicking and how does someone even listening to this actually apply and do what it takes to overcome the things that go on in their mind?

Andrea: Yeah it's so you know interesting to try and pinpoint right when did it just click or when did it start because I think it was always of working, I just didn't realize it or connect that that's what it was. And then being intentional about it is another, you know, step. I think once you finally, yes, have learned all the things, you understand all the things and then you do the things. And so now I'm definitely more intentional with it and aware of it. And so the first part of that is, I think, to become aware of it. And so I would have to say that I became aware of it when I was working at that crisis center and I met my best friend that is no longer with us, but I met her during my Dynamo days and yeah, she just instilled so much confidence in me and she talked to me like I just would never talk to myself and I started to then realize like how much I truly was bringing to the table and how like awesome like I have these traits and qualities but I never believed that about myself I never wanted to think about those things about myself. I don't know. I thought it would be arrogant, that there is a difference between being confident and arrogant. I know that now, but I just didn't know what that was like because I've never felt that confidence. She really got me to see these things in myself. Yeah, I looked up to her so much and she was such a badass. I was like, you're awesome. She's over here telling me, you're a badass. So I would say it was after Dynamo when I started to compete and I would have to say maybe my second year, third year into competing, it clicked. I was like, I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to beat myself down when I mess up or when I fall off. There's more to just winning first place. What can I do with this experience and how can I take it and turn it into something win first place. Okay. But you got to have more reason and more purpose to do what you're doing than just the outcome or the result. So then slowly over time, it just started to make sense. And that is when I was like thriving, so to say. And now I'm like truly just thriving and I believe it now. If there's something I want or something I set my mind to, oh, it's going to happen. Like, and I say that so confidently, I hope it doesn't come off as arrogant, but and as cheesy as it sounds like you truly can accomplish anything your heart desires or anything you set your mind to, you truly can. It's wild to think and yeah, I think the awareness piece started when I met her just because she started to bring it to my attention and I, you know, slowly started to believe in myself and that confidence really came out and it rubbed off.

Tony: And it's still shining through. Oh, thank you. Thank you. That's awesome. That's so awesome. John, I think that's a perfect way to hand it back to you and let us close because, I mean, that this story is so inspiring. And, you know, I think there's so many moments where people who are listening to this can take something and apply it today based off what you just gave us. I love that. Thank you, Andrea.

Andrea: Thanks for letting me share. Probably talked, you know, a lot and it's just a great story and it's still going.

Tony: That's right.

John: And that main theme that I'm seeing is just seize the opportunity in front of you. It was regardless of the confidence in the moment. You stepped in and took your shot, right? So it's really all about taking your shot. And then, you know, you've come all the way to the place where you're combining, you know, the sports that you love. and your profession, you know, in serving athletes in that way, you know, based on, you know, building their confidence and taking the steps in their journey. So, you know, thank you for paying it forward and paying it forward to our audience with your story. So we appreciate you joining us today. And before we sign off, you know, what's one thing that you want to leave with the audience today?

Andrea: What you said, opportunities are there, they are, you just have to see, open your eyes, they're right there. see how you can turn it into opportunities, failures, if they doesn't go as planned or as you imagined, that's okay. Because one thing I have learned throughout all of this is that usually it's always worked out. Whether it was the way you thought it was supposed to or not, it works out and it has worked out. Seriously, I am a spiritual person and so like everything I truly believe happens when it's meant to happen. So the modeling thing didn't happen back then, maybe because I didn't have the thick skin that you need to have in modeling where there's nothing but rejection over and over and over again. But, you know, I didn't know at that time. that someone out there is looking for what I already have. I don't need to change me to fit and be what they need. No. I already have whatever it is someone is looking for, and those are the jobs for me. And so things happen when they're meant to happen and when they're supposed to happen, and that's why I was able to circle back and go to modeling now. You know, and so everything has worked out, and it usually always does. Just don't quit. Don't stop. Take the opportunities. Go for it, even if you're scared. That's what courage is. It's not that you're fearless. You do it even though you are fearful and scared. And you'll figure it out. You'll figure it out.

John: Thank you again for that. And thank you listeners for being a part of the present professional community. We appreciate you. If you have any feedback or want to share any recommendations for episodes, don't hesitate to reach out at the present professional podcast.com until next time.