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Conversations with the Inspiring Andrea Bazoin

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Bazoin.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Andrea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My background is in higher education administration. For 13+ years, I worked in this field, primarily serving in programs that helped first-generation, low-income, and under-resourced students achieve the goal of college enrollment and graduation. I loved the work but had a growing sense of disillusionment with my own career advancement (or lack thereof), the looming student loan crisis, and the lack of alignment between college preparation and our rapidly-changing workforce needs.

I also was struck with the realization that as people aged in the workforce, many were experiencing bigger and bigger personal and professional challenges due to a technology skills gap. My own mother was one of them. She had a thriving and meaningful career as a social worker but decided to take an “early retirement” when the stress of keeping up with technology finally became too much to handle. I saw this as a tragic, lose-lose-lose outcome. It cut her at the knees, financially, and meant there would be hundreds of potential clients who would not benefit from her expertise and care. I couldn’t stop thinking about this problem, and wondering if I could do something about it.

In 2016, after two years of research about business and personal discernment, I left my career with a big question – what would life be like if I had no limits on my potential? If I could serve others to the fullest, challenge myself in new areas, and use my instincts rather than my job description or pay grade to guide my daily work – how would that impact my ability to contribute to the world in a big way? I opened my business, everHuman (then called FreeUp) and began a new chapter in my life.

Since 2016, I have thrown myself into the work of discovering and fulfilling my life’s purpose, outside of traditional definitions. This includes continual self-guided study; participation in local, regional, and national trainings; building intentional relationships and networks; and connecting with outstanding mentors.

Over the last 3.5 years, I’ve slowly shaped my professional identity in a way that encompasses all of me, vs. only the parts that are easy to add to a resume or a job title. Today, my hybrid professional identity can be described as “human resilience activator”, which means I work with individuals and teams to identify and dismantle the practical and personal barriers that keep them from thriving in our ever-accelerating future.

What I believe makes me unique is my willingness to pursue the work that fulfills my highest purpose and to enthusiastically share what I learn with other aspiring and established entrepreneurs. Through the positive relationships I’ve forged with local business communities, I’ve been able to position myself as a servant-leader and go-to resource over the last three years. I’ve served on a number of organizations including Allied Women Entrepreneurs, The Huddle, The Better Business Bureau, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Elder Care Network of Northern Colorado.

I love the work I am able to do, which includes running an award-winning technology education company (everHuman.io), serving as the Technology Columnist for Culturs Magazine (cultursmag.com) and educating people about the power of plant-derived natural solutions as a doTERRA Wellness Advocate.

Having three separate professional pursuits may seem overwhelming to some, but for me it makes perfect sense. In this way, I am able to fully-express myself as globally-minded, future-thinking, compassionate educator. I love the freedom to allow parts of my work to overlap and to serve as much as I want, to the best of my abilities, without external limitations.

My company, everHuman, provides technology support that is actually supportive – empowering individual users and teams to confidently navigate an ever-changing digital landscape through coaching, consulting, project completion support, and workshops delivered with both expertise and empathy. Our purpose is to help older adults thrive in the digital age. As I’ve grown from 0 to 120+ clients in three years, I have been able to impact many people’s lives for the better – replacing shame with empowerment.

I decided from the beginning that my “success” in business would not be measured by my balance sheet, but rather by my positive impact on others. As everHuman grows, I am proud to say this impact continues to expand – lives are changing for the better.

Has it been a smooth road?
Ha! Absolutely not. Although, I am certain that every challenge has served a very specific purpose in my life and that I wouldn’t enjoy the personal growth I’ve achieved without the struggles. As a wise friend recently told me, “Everything belongs.”

I can share a specific story of struggle that may give hope to others in the trenches. In 2016, I entered into a partnership with Shadow Play Films (Loveland, CO) to create an online course called Triumph Over Technology. It took us two years to build, and we enjoyed a very successful launch in December of 2018. The plan was to hold the second round of the course in April – in fact, on my 40th birthday! I prepared like crazy – email marketing, in-person events, and even a Red Carpet event at the Chamber. When the day came to launch, guess how many people had enrolled. Zero. Not a single person. I was honestly dumbfounded, and frankly emotionally cut off at the knees. That experience left a gaping hole in my heart where a flood of self-doubt rushed in. I suddenly was gripped with impostor syndrome, and my momentum fell flat.

For the next six months, I would describe my work as “flailing.” I questioned myself at every turn, and most days I wondered if I had accomplished anything at all. Luckily, I had developed some key relationships over the previous years that kept me from throwing in the towel. They kept reminding me of all that I had already accomplished, and to keep focused on digging into my purpose (allowing for things to change, as needed). I was also so fortunate to have a brilliant intern come into my life, thanks to the Larimer County Workforce Center. Her name is Ann Snider, and it’s no exaggeration to say she saved my business. Her support and patience throughout this dark time kept me focused on all that I could do vs. all that I hadn’t yet done. She believed in me completely and saw the grand vision even before I could.

Towards the end of 2019, I decided to simply surrender to what “is” and to stop striving for a moment. Instead, I got very quiet and took the time I needed to dig back into my “why” – my highest purpose. It was a lean time, and for a moment I thought I would have to find a job to simply pay the bills. That thought, in fact, was motivation enough to keep fighting for my dreams. I didn’t want to give up the amazing life that I had already sacrificed so much to build.

I’m very grateful for 2019 and all the difficult lessons I learned. By the end of that year, I had gained some much-needed clarity about myself and the future of everHuman. Today, I am completely re-energized by the clarity of my purpose, and I see so many new opportunities that I may have never noticed without the struggle. To my surprise, I am already attracting many new clients and potential partnerships in 2020. Every day seems to bring another new opportunity.

I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead. No matter what happens, I’ve made a commitment to finally bet on myself and stop comparing myself to others (or even to a false image of myself). I am trusting in my highest self, and in my potential to serve others in a big way.

Everything belongs.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As I’ve mentioned, my work is primarily expressed in three areas:

The Founder of everHuman (everHuman.io), a technical education company that empowers both seasoned professionals looking to thrive in an ever-changing digital world and the organizations that want to retain and engage them.

The Technology Columnist for Culturs Magazine (cultursmag.com), a global, multi-cultural lifestyle magazine for Global Nomads, Third Culture Kids and racially-, ethnically-, and culturally-blended people.

A Wellness Advocate with dōTERRA (doterra.com), a global leader in bringing the life-enhancing benefits of therapeutic-grade essential oils and essential oil enhanced wellness products to the world.

In addition, I am a member of the Digital Wellness Collective (https://digitalwellnesscollective.com), a curated network of digital wellness experts and organizations enhancing human relationships through the intentional use and development of technology.

My primary focus at this time is on everHuman, although both Culturs and doTERRA come at a close second.

The common thread in all of my work is that I aim to help others remove the barriers that keep them from living a fully self-actualized life. Whether the barrier is a lack of technology skills, a fear-based/fixed mindset, a feeling of disconnection from a like-minded community, or a physically/emotionally toxic lifestyle – I work with individuals and teams to identify and dismantle the things that keep them from thriving on our ever-changing world.

My superpower, in fact, is empathy. I care deeply about the people I serve and work hard to develop trusting relationships in order to achieve the most impactful, sustained results.

What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership in your industry or generally?
A year ago, I might have cited things like institutional discrimination and internal/invisible bias. Although I absolutely believe these exist and play a very real role, I think a larger barrier is one that comes from within.

I’m a self-improvement book junkie, so I have learned a lot from reading classic books like Think And Grow Rich (Napolean Hill) and modern books like Everything is Figureoutable (Marie Forleo). I even re-branded my entire business after reading The Invisible Leader (by Fort Collins-based author Zach Mercurio). In the dozens of books, I’ve read about success in business, the common thread that I see is BELIEF.

Our thoughts play an enormous role in the reality we manifest. Our mindset is everything. And, as women, we tend to be extremely self-critical and generally hard on ourselves (or is it just me?).

There are things we can do to dismantle institutional discrimination, and each of us (men and women alike) have a responsibility to do all we can to use whatever privilege we have to make room for others looking for their place at the table.

And yet, often the biggest barriers we face to stepping into leadership come from within. We have to be brave enough to share our vulnerabilities and to work through them so that we can accept the reality of our own true genius. Everyone has it within them. It takes courage to admit it to yourself and to others.

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Image Credit:
Courtesy of Shadow Play Films and property of everHuman

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