The Trailblazers Experience Podcast

EP47: Aundrea Cline Thomas Unveils the Secrets to Intentional Living & Professional Evolution

• Ntola • Season 3 • Episode 47

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EP47 , Our next guest is Aundrea Cline Thomas , Founder  & CCO of Mountain Court Media  , Speaker and Podcast Host of " the next best thing " and an  Emmy award-winning journalist , She  joins us to recount the pivotal moments of her professional journey. From honing her craft as a local news reporter in Georgia to becoming a media entrepreneur, Aundrea’s narrative is a testament to the courage required for transformation and the rich rewards that come with embracing change.

Aundrea unpacks the power of expanding your circle beyond comfort zones and industries. She walks us through the evolution of her career, revealing the emotional investment needed when charting new territories and the strategic foresight to plant seeds that bloom into opportunities. Her story isn't just a career playbook; it's a blueprint for personal development and mastering the art of connection.

 Embark on this reflective exploration and find inspiration in Aundrea's commitment to intentional living and the profound effects of nurturing one's voice and following up on every chance for connection.

Chapters

00:12  Introduction and Background
09:41 Financial Preparedness and Creating Optionality
10:32 Navigating Opportunities Through Networking
15:18  Navigating Career Change and Technology
25:42 The Importance of Consistency in Building a Brand
26:31 Navigating Success and Self-Care Balance
33:42 Prioritizing Self-Care and Growth
35:36 The Transformative Power of Therapy and a Supportive Squad
40:44 The Power of Finding Your Voice
43:19 Podcasting as a Journey of Self-Discovery and Impact
50:22 Trailblazer Takeaway Tips

Watch Youtube version here :https://youtu.be/7yIYsduDZSs
Find Aundrea:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aundreact
https://www.instagram.com/mountaincourtmedia/
https://www.instagram.com/thenextbestthingact/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFkxUkBZcqCcmc9T5heyg9w

Listen : to the audio version Apple Spotify .Amazon Music Google Podcasts
Watch and subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@Thetrailblazersexperience
Follow Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thetrailblazersexperience/

The Trailblazers Experience:

Welcome to another episode of the Trailblazers Experience Podcast. My next guest is a seasoned journalist, content strategist, speaker, podcast host of the Next next best thing. She has a few accolades to her name she's a three-time emmy award winner, a 2017 journalist of the year. Welcome my next guest, andrea thomas.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Welcome, andrea oh, I'm so happy to be here, so happy to be here, and we're sort of in the first quarter of the year.

The Trailblazers Experience:

That's like almost over Feeling good so far Feeling great so far.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I started it was a slow start and I was like uh-oh, but it has taken off like a rocket ship. So, yes, we are now in the second corner and we're off. We're off to the races.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Now you've had an illustrious career spanning over 15 years. Do you want to talk me through about your journey? And obviously you started as a local news reporter and anchor in Georgia and eventually now leading to you founding Mountain Court Media. But I feel like there's a piece there of that decision making and your journey as to you becoming the person that you are today.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yes, no, absolutely. So I wanted to be in local news Well, I'll back it up Just when I was in school. I did really well in school, but I was really bored by it, right, and I had a hard time trying to figure out what would I want to do forever. You know, cause when you're young, they say pick something, and then they make it seem like you have to do the same thing forever. Um, and then when I found journalism, I was like oh, this is amazing, because it's a mix of all of my skills. It gives me a voice, cause I always had something to say. Um, but I wasn't always like. I always had something to say, but I wasn't always like the most vocal. I would participate, but I wasn't always the most vocal, but I had a lot of things to say and I cared about a lot of things.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I had a point of view, and so journalism was just that place. The first thing that I found that felt like it could fit all of my skills, and so, as a local news reporter, you had to move around quite a bit, and so I lived in Georgia, and then North Carolina and Tennessee and Pennsylvania and then now in New York City, and so I got to meet a lot of different people. I got to meet people mostly on their worst days, sit with them, um, really learn about humanity outside of the biases and stereotypes, um, meet people who I would never meet in life normally, right, if not without a camera and hand. Um, and get to learn about them. And in learning about them I learned a lot about myself.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And then it came to a point where I realized, wow, like, what I love to do about journalism doesn't only have to live in journalism, it actually can not just transfer other places, but I can exist as a storyteller, telling people's stories, authentically teaching people, giving people information to best help them in their lives. I could do that a lot of different ways that are more flexible and that can, quite frankly, get me more money in the long run. Right, so that I first had to develop an expertise and then I felt comfortable kind of launching out on my own to see what else was out there. I was like I'm going to give myself at least two years because I kind of jumped without a net. I'm going to give myself at least two years and if I don't like it then I'll go back into traditional job. That's totally fine, but I at least had to. I owed it to myself to try.

The Trailblazers Experience:

There's something to be said about whatever point you are in your career, about those pivotal moments where you know there has to be a change a change in direction, a change in focus, and it's not an easy decision to make Do you want to talk about?

The Trailblazers Experience:

because we have lots of young women or older women, whatever age bracket you're in, and the struggle is at what point do I know that something has to change, that my career needs to go in a different direction? Were there some key moments for you that were like okay, I've been a journalist for a while, I've worked in major cities. Obviously that's changed your perspective and storytelling, but what was the pivotal moment for you?

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

It wasn't a singular moment, see I. For me it was started as a whisper and then it just got louder and louder over time. And so the whisper first was in a job that I loved, with people that I love, coworkers that I loved who became great friends in a city that I love to work at. I loved my experience. But I saw that the industry was changing and that the industry was consolidating and I didn't know much about the business side. But the way my brain works is that I like to figure out how things work and I was like, uh-oh, we could be in a problem in a few years in terms of, like, our workload started getting heavier. They were starting to combine positions around the industry. So, just from a practical matter, I did not want to do what some people were now accepting right in the industry, not at my station, but in the industry at large. The trends that were happening I didn't want to necessarily participate in. So I was like, let me develop some other skills that could be marketable. That was the first part.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Then, a few years later, I was in a job that, um, where I had like a terrible boss. I was just like that where I had like a terrible boss. I was just like but it's funny because I had a terrible boss, but everybody was cheering me on because I had a big position, you know, like it was a big city, it was a very visible position. I was covering big stories, I was winning awards, and so people stopped asking me how are you? And they said you must love it. You must, you must be having a great time. That was a switch for me. People were younger women were saying hey, can, can you be my mentor? And I'm thinking I'm having an awful time.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Actually you know, what I mean, Like I'm actually not having a lot of fun.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I'm really not enjoying this. I'm very sad, but on the outside everybody was saying, oh, this is it, you made it. And I told myself I hope not, please, lord, don't let this be making it, because I don't enjoy it at all. So there was that part. I ended up switching jobs. But as I'm going along, I'm trying to figure this thing out, I'm putting myself out there, I'm doing the things and I guess we could talk about that later. But, like it just became to a point and I switched jobs. And then this other job I had, and again it had. You know, covid happened.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I was a reporter and COVID was a real mirror. What are you doing? Because I'm out here for a job that I loved, right, I loved informing people. I felt such a sense of purpose during COVID and the racial unrest. But I started asking what am I getting out of it? I know what I'm giving, I know what I'm sacrificing, I know when other people are home. I'm out in the street, I know that my colleagues are all getting sick and I'm so scared to get sick because I'm in New York City, the epicenter of the epicenter, right, and I know that I live alone. And if I get sick and I live alone. That could really be very scary, and it was scary for me. What am I getting in return for this major sacrifice?

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And I could not list things that I valued. I wasn't getting more time with family. I wasn't getting the money. I wasn't getting to explore, I wasn't getting you know a different type of store. I was talking about doom and gloom all the time, all the time, all the time, and it just was taking a toll on my spirit. I wasn't traveling. I wanted to travel for work. I wasn't doing that. So what was I getting? A lot of people saying, man, you have an amazing job, man, you're on TV and that's cool, all right, and then what? So those are some of the things that I just had to be honest. I had to be really honest, and then I had to really say I learned so much during this career. This has to count for something right. This has to count for something. I can do other things. I am a very intelligent woman. I've checked all the boxes. I've done the things. I've been good to people. This has to count for something like this can't be my only option, and so I just bet on myself.

The Trailblazers Experience:

To try. Yeah, that's amazing to try, isn't it? So you'd attained what people would see from a status position, this is the upper echelon from a career.

The Trailblazers Experience:

But you had to reflect from within, saying, okay, these are the values that no longer serve me and it's trying to do something else and it's a very big step and I appreciate really your vulnerability and honesty in that, because these are the conversations that are not being had with women on a daily basis. I think we're all in this rat race of we have to achieve this and that, but what happens when you get there and what you embrace the technologies that are out there? As you mentioned, your industry was changing. Digital was becoming more prevalent, so you could actually already see there was a shift happening. It was just okay. How do I make that first step? That's really key.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And the first step happened in my job again that I loved 10 years earlier. It was all right and I literally sat down with myself and said, okay, if I don't do this. So, for instance, they were making reporters. So when you start in the business, you would shoot and edit your own video, and so you were. They call them at that point. They were calling a one man bands, then they called a multimedia journalist, so you had to do everything all at once. So I was like, okay, I'll do that when I. At that point, they were calling them one-man bands, then they called them multimedia journalists, so you had to do everything all at once. So I was like, okay, I'll do that when I get in the business. But then the whole thing was you have a photographer and then the bigger you got, you got more infrastructure around you, and so what the initial change was is that people in larger markets were having to shoot all their stuff and I was like I don't want to do this again.

The Trailblazers Experience:

That's like what they do, yeah that's what you do when you start.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I want to keep doing like it's also really really hard um it's also not the safest thing too.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

When you're going around to all these places, especially as a woman, um, with your camera and you know thousands of dollars worth of equipment, you have to drive everywhere and you're on deadline, it's just not the safest thing either and I was like I don't want to do that. So I went into. Okay, you could speak. Well, that makes me really nervous. So what did I do? I leveraged my position because people thought it was cool and I've said I would like to. If you ever have an event, I will host your event, I will moderate your panel, and I put myself out there and once I did one that led to the other and I was sweating the entire time, like literally had to go to the bathroom and put toilet paper under my armpits before I went out because I was sweating the entire time. But I just made myself uncomfortable until it became comfortable, you know. And then it was like, okay, with that in mind that the end will come.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I didn't know when how I navigated my next move. Let me go to a city. Not only that wanted me there, but that I could leverage to other opportunities. So I went to a big city that had big news because I knew if I wanted to go into corporate, that would still matter. I was always thinking, outside of just this industry, how this could read to give me more opportunities. My whole life is all about putting myself in positions, learning skills to give me options, because I think life is all about the best lives are the ones where you have the most option right, and when you're a person of color, a marginalized population, you have to really work on yourself, yeah, and strategic, about creating optionality in your life.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So that's just really what it was about. But you're asking about what the first step? So, again, there was no first step. Every time it was like then it was all right, who do I know? Because I had an executive coach ask me if you lost your job today, who would be the three people you would call, who could not just commiserate with you but who could link you to other opportunities. I have one person, because all my friends were in the industry and so I was like I need to put myself, I need to start meeting other people outside of my industry. So I started going to things by myself. You can't always have a wing man or wing woman. You got to go and put yourself out there.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So I went to conferences that I didn't know anybody at in the middle seat. You know what I mean Like trying to make it as cheap as possible in the middle seat. You know what I mean Like trying to make it as cheap as possible in the middle seat, asking for scholarships. You know what I mean To pay to to get there. Right, I would just do these things. I would go to these networking events.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

When I moved to New York. I knew some people from college, but I was like I need to meet people. So I went on um event, right, and looked up events that were free. I was like I need to meet people. So I went on Eventbrite and looked up events that were free. I was like I will, or free to ten dollars, like I wouldn't pay any more than ten dollars, and there are so many in New York, right, and so I just would show up at these events and start talking to people and see if there's anybody who I felt was cool and that I could like meet up with after for coffee or get on a virtual chat with and to expand my network.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So when I finally made the decision to leave and I cried, by the way, I was like not cry, like cry, because I couldn't believe we were at this moment. Because I couldn't believe we were at this moment. It was just the no that I needed to open up all these yeses, because I had been planting seeds over time, not really knowing what I was doing, but just knowing that, oh, this seems like the right thing to do right now. But I was planting seeds all this time and literally since July of 2022, when I left. I have not had to chase anything. Everything has come through a connection. Every dollar I have made to sustain myself has come through a connection because of those steps that I took over time when I didn't know what I was doing. But I just answered the rumblings in my stomach that all right, this is not going to be forever. What's the thing I could do right now in my power that could set me up to give me options in the future?

The Trailblazers Experience:

I mean, you've just really just explained the playbook in a way for navigating change in your career or if you're an entrepreneur starting a business, you know. You touched on a really important point about planting those seeds for the future and your coach just saying I like that. Who are the three people you would call?

The Trailblazers Experience:

And if you don't even have three. It's time to start building that network outside of your industry, because that's how you learn and that's how you develop. And I chuckled a bit when you talked about going to events. I also looked at Eventbrite Meetup anything below $10, or could I get an invite to be on the panel or to add value so I could get a ticket and just speaking to different people, just expanding your horizon, because it's not about meeting someone and saying, oh, I need you right now. It's about building those networks. Learning, learning the new skills, understanding the new industries is so key. So you really summarized in that great way of you are planting the seed from the beginning. You realize this is not going to go on forever, but interestingly enough, when it happened that you had to leave, it was like the change is happening now, isn't it? That was big, it's like a, it's a shock in a way, but it's happening.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yes, I couldn't even. I could believe it, but I couldn't believe it. Like I came home, I didn't tell a lot of people before. I mean, I had a conversation with my boss and I didn't leave until a month later, but I couldn't even. I didn't tell many people beforehand because I didn't leave until a month later, but I couldn't even. I didn't tell many people beforehand because I didn't want to be dissuaded, because I had made up my mind. I needed to do this for myself. I didn't need it to make sense to anybody else, it just had to make sense to me and I was just going to figure it out. But I came home that evening in my apartment by myself and I was like what did you just do, girl? I said girl, okay.

The Trailblazers Experience:

It's happened. Now it's happened.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Now I've said the words, they've come out my mouth. It's set things in motion and I didn't have anything lined up. I did have money in the bank, though I think it's important to say I was saving. That's another part of lined up. I did have money in the bank, though, like I think it's important to say I did I was saving. That's another part of the play, and I was saving money.

The Trailblazers Experience:

You were planning for that, for that exit, that exit strategy, in a way, isn't it? Yeah, always.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And also I had, like, the job before was very unstable and I was like they could come in today and say we don't like you, we're going to get rid of you, because it was just such a contentious situation and so I always had money in the bank because I was just like there's a lot of things that are out of my control, but what you won't catch me slipping, you're not going to mess up my life, right? Just because of this foolishness in this work environment, right? So I was like you just need money and money gives you, buys you time to figure things out, and I didn't want to be in a position where I was had a scarcity mindset and you're just taking anything because you're just so afraid or money's going to, because that's when you do things that you don't like.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And then it skews the view of the decision that you've made. You make the decision from the purest place, right, knowing what's best for you, but if you're not properly prepared for it, then you could say, oh, that was a bad decision, it wasn't a bad decision, you just weren't prepared for that decision, right. And when you're operating in scarcity, you just can't make really good decisions. So I wanted to give myself a little bit of a cushion so I could breathe and I could think.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

But I'll tell you, after I had that conversation with my boss, a few days later I booked a gig like so, a freelance job, and so I was just like, great, I've got. And it was like a good rate. And I was like, great, I've got this extra pot of money that's coming. So it just was nice confirmation for me, right, to say, all right, I've got this extra pot of money that's coming. So it just was nice confirmation for me, right, to say, all right, I've got even more time, I've bought even more time now because I got this coming. And it's just been like that ever since. It baffles my mind, but it literally has been that ever since.

The Trailblazers Experience:

But there was a lot of preparation before you know you've mentioned it that you were preparing for this moment. So let's talk about some of the achievements and milestones that you've had so far that spring to mind that you'd love to share with the audience.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Oh, just in terms of what I've done since. Yeah, so you know, one of the reasons why I wanted to leave too was because I just was on one platform and I'm seeing podcasts and I'm seeing streaming shows and I'm seeing, you know, there's all different audio, like radio, and so I have been able to launch a show on cable television. I worked with flagship conferences to help curate their panels. I'm executive producing a radio show this month. That literally just came where. I got contacted on a Tuesday and by Friday I was on board from somebody that I met years 10 and hadn't spoken since, but he was like you came top of mind when this. They had somebody their executive producers out on leave for a month and they just needed somebody to pinch it for them. He's like you're the first person who came to mind. I started a podcast, the Next Best Thing, which has opened so many doors for me, but the biggest thing for me was I've been able to pay my bill, keeping it real.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yeah, that's very practically.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Yes.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Bills are paid, which just boggles my mind, because I hadn't done anything else other than being in traditional media. I had other jobs in high school and college and stuff like that, but this is what I've been pursuing since I was 17 years old, from 17 to 40, I was pursuing this very specific type of journalism. You couldn't moonlight in my career because when you're on camera you can't partner with anybody else because there's a perceived, there's a perception of a conflict of interest. So contractually they owned my image and likeness, so I could not then do things on the side. Ideally, I could have built a business on the side while I was working and then when I left, I could just do the business full time. That would be the ideal situation, but contractually I was not able to do that, and so when you're in a position where you're not making market value and then they tell you you cannot make money any other way, it's stuck yeah, you're totally stuck, yeah.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So I was just like all right, let me, let me figure this out. So so yeah, but I mean it's hard, I mean it's harder, it's, it's, it's a different hard. It's a different hard because I don't feel stuff stuck anymore. My mental health is exponentially better, I feel like a different person.

The Trailblazers Experience:

But this joker is no joke it is hard, so um, but there's so much to be said, there's so much to be said about you know your achievements and the media landscape has evolved so much and technology plays a really important role so how do you see and it'd be good just to hear your view how the advancements of technology are influencing your storytelling? The media landscape, you know that must, on one hand is scary, but on the other hand it means there's so much out there that you can, you know, jump into to evolve your brand and your media company.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I wouldn't have been able to do this if there hadn't been the evolution of technology and the digital economy and the creator economy. So when I started, it didn't exist. You know, that's why I could only see my career in a very specific way, because all of this didn't exist. And so because of technology, especially social media, it's a lower barrier to entry, right, it removed the gatekeepers. Partner with a big brand to share any type of story. Now I just need a mic and a laptop to create a podcast, to put it on podcast platforms and YouTube. That's how we met. We are an ocean apart. That's how we met. We live. We are an ocean apart. You know, like this is amazing. Um, so there is a very low barrier to entry.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I think the thing that stops people is when you have to be consistent. You have to be, you have to be consistent, period. There is no way around consistency than straight up work. Um, and you have to put yourself out there. What's the point of creating if you don't tell anybody about it and you don't just put yourself out there? What's the point of creating if you don't tell anybody about it and you don't just put yourself out there once? No, no, no, I am telling people about my podcast on some platform every single day, every single day. And at first I was like, ooh, they're just going to get tired of me. And then now I'm just like, oh well.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Well, I guess you need to treat it like it's the first time someone's seeing you every time you post. If you should take it as the first time someone is seeing you, don't say, oh, I've got my, you know my audience Every time you're posting. Treat it as if it's the first time, like you're starting on day one, and just keep going, keep going.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yes, and when I tell you, even right before this, I got a message on LinkedIn about somebody saying oh, I have a speaking opportunity that I'd like to talk to you about in another state, and I'm just like I didn't have to do anything for this. That's the thing that I just love, and the thing is that it's only coming now and I've been thinking about this all week.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

It's only coming now after being consistent for, I'd say, not quite a year. I've been doing the podcast for a year but I posted, but not crazy, but I'd say a good eight, seven, eight months that now, with social media and just we're inundated with images and information, it takes people 12 or 13 times to see your stuff to even recognize that you're doing anything. So you need that many touch points. So, yeah, that's why you have to be consistent and just keep doing it over and over. But I want to say that it's a long game, long game, and so it's now seven months of being consistent to where people are now saying, hey, like thinking of me for a different thing, yeah, so I love that.

The Trailblazers Experience:

I think that's a very valid point about consistency and the discipline. Do you think there's something there about your cultural background and upbringing? You were raised in Maryland. Your parents are from Sierra Leone. Do you think that's influenced you in terms of setting the foundation for your core values and just your work ethic? Now, everything.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

It's everything In so many different ways. One from conversations that I've been having with people. There's a book called Worthy which I haven't read, but people have been referencing the book to me a few times recently, different people, and so apparently there's this idea of the difference between self-worth and self-esteem, and so that you know, people are like you have a high self-worth and it's like even when I've struggled with my self-esteem, I've always known that I'm worthy of everything that I desire, and so I think that's a big barrier for people. They're like well, I don't know, I've never been that way where. I'm like I don't know how, and the idea of it scares me. But if that person has it, why not?

The Trailblazers Experience:

me? I can do it too. Yeah, why not me? I can do it too why?

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

not me. So I've never struggled with everything that I desire because of my family and going to Sierra Leone as a child and feeling connected and knowing where I come from, and feeling connected to the family name and understanding the pride that comes with the family name and the idea that your grandparents worked hard for you your great, great, great, great grandparents. They did this. So we have now handed you the baton. It's your they can pay it forward. Yes, to continuously pay it forward. So that was one of the big things. The other thing is that I was raised with an abundance mindset. I think that immigrant way of being is an abundance mindset of yes, there are enormous setbacks, but there are also enormous opportunities. So I've been able to see opportunity everywhere and not just sit in the doors that are closed, the barriers that have been put in place, the systemic issues that are very real. But I've also been. I have a way of seeing opportunity and that comes from the immigrant. You know upbringing and just yeah, so you don't squat. So when you see things as opportunities, you make the most of everything. So my mom would always say she would always joke don't get me in the room with the president, because I'm going to tell you what. I'm going to meet him. I will find a way. I don't care about security, I'm going to find a way and I'm going to talk to him. And she does that. My mother's an extrovert. She does that all the time. She will find a way. She will never miss a moment.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

My dad has an extraordinary work ethic extraordinary, and he worked in hotels most of his career and then in a hospital and environmental services, which is like their housekeeping arm, and in hotels he ended up managing housekeeping departments, but he was never above the work. So if somebody called out and a room needed to be cleaned, and even though he was the boss, he would clean the room. You know when there was snow that was forecast, you know that he was in businesses that still were 24 hours. He would just leave literally four hours early so he could get to work on time, like there was just no excuses for him, and so that was just been a great model.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Um, between them One, my mother is the connector and my dad is the worker, and so having both of them, um, yeah, has has really. I just lean on that and, and I think that's definitely the core, the core of my being able to navigate any space and and what people describe as success yeah, my mother used to have that the abundance mindset, and always saying you should always be learning and you can learn from every person when within the organization.

The Trailblazers Experience:

So whether it's the, the janitor that comes in and cleans hear the story. You can learn something from there. Whether it's a junior member of your team, the quietest in the room will have probably the most sensible information to offer than those that are shouting the loudest. So I think that already just armors you with that arsenal of you know, that toolkit that you need to pursue all your goals and dreams and keep you know, bulldozing those doors or if one closes, the other one's opening. It's so important to have that within you.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yes, I 100% agree, because you need it. And that's the thing is that, like this journey is so hard and you can't do it without a reservoir, like you can't do it because you have to tap into it, you have your goal, quite frankly to go into it and find your ability to push through, regardless your audacity. It's the place that I go to to find my audacity and the world cannot access it because it's within me and I've cultivated it for a long time. So they don't get that part. They don't, they don't get that.

The Trailblazers Experience:

So, balancing a demanding career, personal life, I mean challenging. How do you prioritize self-care? You've talked about the pandemic and you know living on your own and I think a lot of people had a lot of epiphanies of what, what their life means to them. But how do you, you know, maintain or employ a healthy work-life balance, and what does that mean to you?

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I don't think there's balance, you know, I don't think that exists Right now. I'm in the building stages of my company and so that requires it requires a lot of attention and it requires a lot of energy. But what I've realized I was actually thinking about this this morning is that I just schedule, I have to schedule time. So before, when I had a traditional job, I could be like today, I'm just going to have a day to just do whatever. I don't get those whatever full days anymore, but I can have moments and so, like last night I had dinner with a good girlfriend and it was so good, it was so much had happened in her life and we just were able to catch up and it was like a four hour dinner and we had it scheduled and rescheduled and like for two months, right, like, so that's the thing is that I have to put things on a schedule now to make sure that I try every week to connect you know, really connect with a friend, or I'm going home, I'm seeing my family. So now I have flexibility. So I go to Maryland all the time and I'll, if I don't have any in-person things, I'll say okay, I'll call my mom and be like, all right, I'm coming home for the week, I'm just going to work from home. And then my brother. Sometimes my family is very close and my brother lives in New York but he travels a lot and sometimes, like, we do birthdays. So there are just certain milestones that we do birthdays, or he's going to be home and I'm going to be home, that we're having family dinner with my sister and my dad, my nephews, and so we just make time. So we just make the time.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

But in terms of, I don't know. I was a point where I had time for the bubble baths and all the massages, but they weren't going to take me out of not being aligned, so you can't. They call it burnout. I don't even like the term burnout because that makes it seem like it's my fault when I was in a circumstance, an environment that was designed to burn you out. So it's like you know what I mean Like and you can't just bubble bath your way out of that. You know what I mean. So, but I don't have a life anymore that I need escape from you know that's a good one.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Actually, you've created a life for you. You don't need to be escape. You can be present in your life and enjoy it.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yeah, I enjoy what I do. I do it. I work a lot, but I really enjoy everything that I do. Um, so I don't necessarily need the escape in the way it's happened. Um, I just work from home now, so I need to get outside and like walk. I need to do a better job of working out and moving my body, because I could be in this chair for 13 hours. So there's certain things that I and I need to schedule it. So that's what I'm learning about myself right now, Cause I'm still learning this kind of new space, but I just need to schedule it. I need to schedule fun with friends. I need to schedule trips home. I need to my friend's getting married in two weeks, so I'll be in Jamaica for the whole week. You know like, so I still say yes to those that I love. I just needs to be on the calendar.

The Trailblazers Experience:

And the scheduling is really it's not your. You know for the audience you're not scheduling the activity that happens when you're with them. It's just making sure you're holding yourself accountable, that you will spend time and nourish those relationships in your circle. You will get out there, you know you will fill your cup and let it runneth over. It's just making sure you're accountable to yourself, because I think sometimes if you just say, oh, I'll just see what happens, nothing's going to happen. And having a point of reference whether it's a mood board, whether it's writing it down in a diary, whether it's putting it in your Google calendar or whatever scheduling app you're using is so key. It's very important.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I still think, though, that I do need to develop a practice. I do still need to develop a practice with this gig that I have this month gym for an hour and I'm listening to something that kind of lifts me up and I'm having, so. My mornings are like my quiet, before the emails, before the social media, before all of that. That's how I ideally like to start my day, but right now I got to go where the opportunity is you got to embrace those opportunities.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Yeah, yeah.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So I'm hoping next year right. This year is more of like letting people know what I do, because that's also hard in business is getting recurring revenue right, and so you have to figure out what you're selling Like. What is your product or service, how do you package it and how do you find your ideal client. So I'm in the building process of that, but I'm hoping next year. I keep on thinking about next year like, ooh, next year is about to be on, Because this year I'm really like establishing, like meeting people, doing things with people, having these partnerships, proving what I can offer. So hopefully it could be more regulated for next year.

The Trailblazers Experience:

So, once again, setting the foundation, isn't it of what you want the next year or two to look at? You talked about having a coach and networking. Mentorship always comes up a lot. Having spoken to so many women on the podcast and people approach it differently how important was it for you to have a coach, someone to lean on, and what are sort of the takeaways that you could take from there?

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yeah, you know, I knew, um, this was 2018 when I had the executive coach. Um, I, I got it for free, um, because I entered a contest for a corporate program. That was a blurb. It was like a, the smallest blurb. You know those corporate emails that we all just delete.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Well, I would read them because I wanted to know what the company was prioritizing, although it was just a love fest for the company, but I wanted to see what they were talking about, to see if there were themes about what they were prioritizing or areas that they were growing in, to see if I could lean into that. But they had this blurb about this conference anyway and your boss is supposed to nominate you and I was like that's not happening. My boss is not like me, so I'm going to nominate myself. And I won that and I got a free ticket to this conference. And then they had something else and I won that and I got a free ticket to this conference. And then they had something else and I won that and I got a free another conference and an executive coach. And most people don't take them up on the offer of the executive coach, but I knew I had transition on the way. I knew it.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I just knew it in my spirit and I didn't know how to navigate it. And so that coach was, gave me accountability, helped me see beyond my industry, because I was like I don't even know what's out there. So that was amazing.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I also have a therapist and she's transformative. Going to therapy has been transformative in my life. I've been doing it consistently since 20. And that's just been really, really helpful, I think everybody. One of the things I learned from the conference that I went to with the group that got me the executive coach was that everybody has a squad. The best athlete has a nutritionist, they have a trainer, they have a coach. So why should you be different? So my squad right now is a therapist.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I don't have formal mentorship. I do have sponsors that I don't even know are sponsors, because people say my name in rooms when I'm not there. I'm just based on relationship, right. But I just I do have friends that I call who are older than me, and I do have peers that I call to say what do you think about this idea, what do you think about that? So it's not formal. And that's how I look at networking, where that word networking is like it, right. I just think of it as making friends. Who can I be surrounded with that are like-minded people, and to that end, I've had to painfully create distance with people who are not like-minded, who I love but are not like-minded, and in this space. It's just so crucial that I have to kind of put them further out on the periphery and so to make room for people who are more like-minded to get this stuff accomplished.

The Trailblazers Experience:

And serving you in the different chapters of your life, isn't it? I think that was a big aha moment for me to say. You know the circle you may have had in your twenties, your thirties I'm in my forties now. It's you know what feeds you. To your point of the athlete who has the nutritionist, the coach. You know the people who train, et cetera, et cetera. It's who are those people around me and what am I learning and how can I also give to them as well, in whatever capacity? Is is so key. And to your point of if you want to live the life that you want and building that and being fulfilled, it's so important to have all those, those touch points.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yes, you know, know, you just have to be intentional. Like nothing is left to chance. I mean, there are things that are left to chance, but you have to be intentional. And then chance, and like blessings, can come, but it starts with your intention talk about the next best thing the podcast, yes, um, I've been downloaded it.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Now it's on my recurring, you know, episodes that I'm listening to. What's been the most exciting thing about you know, obviously, being a podcast host you talked about? You are in control of your own destiny, but what's next for it and where do you see it going? Because you've been doing it consistently now, for you said eight to nine months A year, a year yeah. We just celebrated our year.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Yeah, I just see it. It's had. I think that when people, or when I started the podcast, I was thinking about, okay, the ratings and the numbers, and it's not until I hit this threshold that I can start seeing the benefits from it. No, like it has helped me rebrand, it has helped me find my voice, because I was very much in an industry where I had I was just the observer, um, and I didn't speak for for myself, right, like I didn't inject my opinion or thoughts or feelings in anything, and so, because of that practice, I didn't inject my opinion or thoughts or feelings in anything, and so, because of that practice, I didn't know how I, what I thought or what I felt or what you know, I muted myself in many areas of my life, and so the podcast has helped me find my voice. The podcast has helped me meet incredible people. The podcast has brought us together, like the way I've been able to connect with people. The podcast has brought us together, like the way I've been able to connect with people. And then the podcast has taught me I get to ask people how did you do it? And they've told me how they've done it, and so I take notes and then I do what they've done. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. I'm getting free knowledge from them about what they've done and they've helped me think about things differently and just ideas that they've had how they've approached things and it's just it's and it's benefited my growth, so things that I didn't even consider when I hit play. And then also, I'm just really proud of the fact that I didn't.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I didn't know. I knew how to interview people. I knew how to edit. I didn't know how to do this. I didn't know. I knew how to interview people. I knew how to edit. I didn't know how to do this. I didn't even know how to upload it. I edited all these episodes before I got started. So I had like five or six episodes edited before I launched it and I literally had the episodes edited and I said how does it get in people's phone? I didn't actually does. Does Apple just have an upload function? I've never seen it before. How does this I? I was like, oh, I did all this work.

The Trailblazers Experience:

And then I had no idea Figuring out that last step. It's like oh, now I have to put it in directories, Now I have to upload it. It needs to be hosted somewhere. Oh, how does that happen? Yeah, yeah.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And then there are all these options. You can do this company and that company, and I was like, well, what's the difference? And then they're giving me specs and I'm like I don't know what any of this means. And so just the fact that it has been the evidence of figuring things out, and so it has been the thing that people have watched me grow in public with it and I've changed it.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I didn't know that YouTube needed a thumbnail and then the thumbnail needs a quote or some word. I didn't know any of that, and so if you look at the YouTube page, you see how it has evolved Me and Canva now I have a team to help me with it, so it looks far more professional now that they're there. But before it was just me and Canva trying to figure out how to use this thing, so it's just been a lot of figuring it out, and so it's an incredible amount of work, and I'm glad I didn't know how much work it was when I started, because some days I'm like this thing is going to take me out because it's such a heavy lift, it's labor intensive, but it has changed my life.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Changed my life. I guess there are KPIs that you can't even quantify, that you've just gotten beyond. You know how the ratings, the views, et cetera, that will just continue to. You know, help you even beyond. And it's so interesting I watched, I follow a guy. He's got a podcast called Modern Wisdom and he said if you want to know, if you want to be motivated by getting into podcasting, just watch my first episode. So I scrolled all the way down and just to see how he started with his friends in the apartment that didn't have any fancy equipment, you know, and they just started. And then you watch the one. Now it's just amazing and I said, right, just start, get it out there, figure it out. Evolves is is really key.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And I've, you know, the podcast. So when I dropped the first episode, people and that was like I worked with my friend on it and so he's a photographer and he edited it. So it was like beautiful and you know, people were like but I was telling my story because it was only like nine minutes and it was just me. I was like I can't start this and people were like what is this? What are you doing this for? So I was like my first episode needs to be me explaining, or my trailer, whatever needs to really be me explaining why I'm doing that. And the response was people were like I feel, seen, I really needed this. This is so helpful and ever since I get notes from people who are like this is this has really helped me on my entrepreneurial journey or I I'm really struggling with this thing.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So I listened to this specific episode and I realized that when I left my job, I cried because local news. I cried because my 17 year old self really wanted to make an impact and I thought this was the only way to make an impact. And the podcast taught me that this is what your 17-year-old self wanted all along. It was the feedback, it was the impact. It was, helping people see that they matter in a way that's just manifested right into something that I never expected. This is why I got into journalism, and so I'm not working with a specific organization in a very traditional way anymore, but I think I'm even having a larger impact, a deeper impact, doing it this way than I did for those 16 years before, and so it's been the most gratifying thing.

The Trailblazers Experience:

And a full circle moment, I think.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

A hundred percent.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Yeah, from you talking about your upbringing and how you started and what your motivators were. Let's talk about trailblazer takeaway tips, if there were three tips to live for the audience. What would they be?

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

Three tips. The first one is you. I think that of course you're going to have negative self-talk, but you have to create a counter-narrative to talk back, to shout back to the other shoulder, right, when those negative thoughts come in your mind. And so it's that reservoir that we were talking about. You've really got to do the work. Before you do the outward work, you really have to do the inward work of creating that reservoir and that safe space of not who you want to be, but who you are. Your life has already had so much evidence of your strength, of your resilience, of your expertise, of your intelligence, of your value. So it's not an airy fairy proposition. It's collecting your receipts and tucking them away, and so you can reference them whenever you might forget. So I think that people really should make it an exercise to write it down, if you need to, to really get a sense of who you are, before trying to confront anything externally In terms of the confronting thing externally.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

I think the second thing would be do some stuff alone. It's so much easier to have a friend and that could be your crutch. But go at some things alone, go to that event alone, introduce yourself. You don't need to meet everybody in the room but introduce yourself. I always say I need three strong connections, like three real conversations with people, and just keep doing that consistently. If it's really tough for you, try twice a month. But it's small things over time, small moves over time add up.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

The third thing that goes along with that is follow up. You have to follow up with people because, again, each one of those steps is where people fall off. People have a good sense of self, but they don't talk to anybody and they don't introduce themselves to anybody. People introduce themselves to people and they're like the life of the party, but then they don't follow up, so they don't actually solidify the connection. And so you want to do the things that other people are not doing, so you can stand apart. And then again, it's all about creating a space where you don't have to know how all the dots connect, but you should at least try your best to put yourself in an environment, create an environment for yourself where optionality can be your reality, right? So you want to end up being in a space where you're turning people down because you've got so much inbound, and I think that's the way to do it.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

And if I could add one more thing. It's going to be quiet at first, so it's not going to be like you go to this thing and then boom, something happens. It's going to be quiet. It might be quiet for days, months, weeks. It might be quiet for years. It was quiet for me for years. But it's working. I promise it's working.

The Trailblazers Experience:

Andrea, amazing. What a great way to end the podcast, and thank you so much for being vulnerable, for sharing your story, for telling the audience how you did it. I'm sure someone will be inspired and it's really important. We know we need these moments and that's why podcasting is so amazing to tell your story, but in a way that resonates and can impart, even if it's one nugget that can help them along their way. That's all you need, isn't it One thing for people to change their mindset, to change their direction and move forward to living a life that's fulfilling to them.

Aundrea Cline Thomas:

So thank you so much Thank you for having me. I'm so glad we could connect Awesome.

The Trailblazers Experience:

So this has been the Trailblazers Experience podcast. Tell another woman about the podcast. Thank you.