Latest / Women Disrupting Tech / The Founder Guide to Turning Stress into a Superpower with Andrea Christancho | Ep. 130

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The Founder Guide to Turning Stress into a Superpower with Andrea Christancho | Ep. 130 · Women Disrupting Tech

0:10
Welcome to Women Disrupting Tech.
0:13
My name is dear Kanupkas, and on this podcast, I give the women
0:16
who work in tech the platform they need to inspire and empower
0:20
each other. Join me on a journey into the
0:23
world of entrepreneurship, funding biases, and role models
0:28
to discover the strategies for success in the tech industry.
0:32
In other words, how women can disrupt tech.
0:36
Are you ready to listen? Hey, welcome back to Women
0:45
Disrupting Tech and thank you for tuning into episode 130.
0:50
Let's talk about stress. We all have it, and at the same
0:55
time, we're all told to avoid it because it hurts our health, our
1:00
performance, and our businesses. But what if stress could be your
1:04
friends? In fact, what if you could make
1:07
it your superpower? That is what my conversation
1:10
with Andrea Cristancho is about. Andrea Cristancho is an
1:15
international entrepreneur, certified health coach and pref
1:19
work instructor. She has built companies from
1:22
mainland China to South Africa and now Switzerland.
1:25
And she helps founders understand what their bodies are
1:29
telling them so they can lead with more clarity and less
1:32
scales. In this episode of Women
1:36
Disrupting Tech, you'll discover how you can identify stress
1:40
early so you can use it as a tool in your business instead of
1:44
a weight that pulls you down. Andrea shares why well-being is
1:48
not a reward that you earn at the end of the week.
1:51
She explains how pattern interrupts help you manage
1:55
stress before it takes over. And she reveals how you can
1:58
integrate these simple rituals to support both your personal
2:02
life and your business. And in the second-half of our
2:06
conversation, you'll learn about the 10 second breathing exercise
2:10
that can help you reset your body and mind in moments when it
2:14
feels like stress is running your show.
2:16
So when you're ready to listen and learn how you can turn
2:20
stress into your superpower, please welcome to Women
2:24
disrupting tech Andrea Christian show.
2:28
Andrea Christian show, good morning.
2:30
Good to have you. Welcome to women disrupting
2:32
tech. First question I always ask is
2:36
how you got into your current job or current position.
2:39
Thank you so much for having me, Turkia.
2:41
Good morning to you too. Super happy to be here.
2:45
How did I get here? Well, the journey in a nutshell
2:49
started in my early 20s as the flair for entrepreneurship
2:55
kicked in. Back then I was living in
2:58
Shanghai. China was my home for 10 years.
3:01
There another venture came to be.
3:04
Then I moved to South Africa and lastly where I'm living today,
3:10
Switzerland. So within that journey that
3:13
actually started where I was born, with my upbringing, I
3:18
became an entrepreneur and in the doing in the trenches, I
3:23
realized that well-being was a main factor to be able to
3:28
maintain the pace of running the business.
3:33
It was sort of like, if I don't have it, how is my team going to
3:37
have it? If I'm not feeling it, how am I
3:40
supposed to sell it? So surely I realized that
3:45
well-being as a component was key and I decided to become a
3:50
health coach. And that journey from
3:54
transitioning and entrepreneurship into health
3:57
coaching made me realise that us leaders, entrepreneurs in
4:03
corporate spaces, in our in our household, leadership is a trait
4:08
1 can foster. And very soon I designed my
4:13
toolkit on what are these, you know, main or basic traits as a
4:20
leader, as a conscious leader, I'd like to have in my back
4:25
pocket in order to run the business and run life.
4:29
And yes, the work from Jim Deathmer, you know, he's he's 15
4:36
commitments on conscious leadership ignited something
4:40
back then. And Fast forward five years,
4:43
here I am, still waving the same flag.
4:47
Yeah. So how did you, so you
4:50
transitioned from, let's say being an entrepreneur to
4:53
supporting founders and entrepreneurs in on their health
4:58
journey. What was the moment for you that
5:01
sort of brought to realization? This is what I need to focus on.
5:06
Yes, a burnout. A second burnout, yes, that's
5:13
exactly what made me realize it. And it wasn't sort of like a a a
5:19
day night realization. In full blonde honesty, the
5:24
first time I experienced a burnout I was quite young.
5:29
It was like my late 20s and I felt OK.
5:34
There's a moment where you break apart, but come on, as a
5:38
phoenix, you rise from the ashes.
5:40
Off we go again, keep on pushing and that is kind of the old
5:45
school business wiring that is so ingrained in you.
5:49
And when you realize OK, you get, you fall off the wagon, OK,
5:53
you get back up, dust off, off you go.
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That didn't work in my mid 30s with that second burnout and it
6:04
just lasted way longer. You know, as a passionate
6:10
foodist, as a a yogini, as a trained health coach, I had
6:17
tools but I couldn't put them all together.
6:20
And that missing component was the mindset, that conscious
6:25
approach of, you know, you cannot get from that empty cup.
6:30
And there's where I understood, look, if I have gone through
6:34
this, I'm sure there's others around me going through same
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journeys. And I went on to discover if
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that was true, like if I could prove my hypothesis.
6:45
And yes, that's how I started meeting and having conversations
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with other founders and also their teams.
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And I realised very soon in my experiment that yes, this was
7:00
not just, you know, disrupting the business itself because
7:06
absenteeism and burnout absolutely, you know, touches
7:11
and impacts the bottom line of the business.
7:14
And when you're a small company, when you're a start up, it
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impacts way more than if you're a large corporation.
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So there's where I said, listen, there are very subtle pattern
7:28
interrupts we can insert. And when I started building my
7:33
own power interrupts, I then realized, well, there's a frame
7:36
here I can share. And that's what I've been doing
7:39
ever since. And I still believe the more we
7:43
focus on our well-being as leaders, the better we do in
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everything we touch, but mainly in the business 'cause we kind
7:53
of walk the talk, we inspire, we, we live it.
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And not only by we're starting the meeting.
8:01
Let's do this breath work. No, by how you reach for that
8:05
coffee at the pantry, how you engage in conversation before
8:11
and after work with your team and so on.
8:14
So yes, that was a moment. Cool.
8:20
I just wanted to go back a bit to the to that first and second
8:26
burnout. What struck me a bit in what you
8:29
told me is or what you told us is the first time you were like,
8:35
OK, yes, I fell, let's get up again, let's go.
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And this is sort of the mantra that we see online as well, Like
8:45
it's not about how often you fall, but how often you get up
8:49
again. Yes.
8:51
Which I think at the end of the day is really important, but
8:55
what makes that mindset toxic to founders?
9:01
Yes, it's it's toxic in the sense that we have a false
9:05
belief on leadership, or at least I believe it because what
9:10
I've seen is that when you lead from a point of strength in the
9:17
sense of your own strength and abilities, you can sustain, it
9:22
endures long term. But if you're just muscling
9:27
through because it's a situation or you believe this is your
9:31
essence as a leader and what you're doing is, you know,
9:34
stomping across people or bossing around, that certainly
9:39
does not maintain any time. No, and it does not work for the
9:44
for the employees either. Exactly.
9:47
And if we're talking about business, we're doing this for
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the long term, right? OK.
9:53
So we on on this podcast, we also talked about self worth and
9:57
financial resilience. How do you see well-being fit in
10:02
into those domains? I love this question because it
10:07
gets me to reflect on when we are building upon a business, an
10:14
endeavor, a project. You're stacking, you know, like
10:18
you have a foundation and then you're stack upon, right?
10:21
And then at times you bring it to completion.
10:24
Not all the time. Sometimes you just have to pick
10:27
up and pivot and keep on marching through.
10:31
When it comes to well-being, it's exactly the same.
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We can learn practices, we can work on our behaviour and design
10:42
A routine, design ways of being that are favourable to you.
10:48
But in full honesty, there's a triad along the way that on one
10:53
end is your social environment, the spaces where you live, you
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know, be it work, be it home, right, family, teammates.
11:04
But then there's also a component of your own self
11:08
reflection, your own self leadership.
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And then yes, when you have that social environment, your own
11:14
reflection and that third three on would be what I call having
11:19
the right tools in your toolkit, then you can make decisions when
11:24
the moment comes, when stress is meeting you right then and
11:28
there. And if we say, OK, what's the
11:32
analogy to the finances or how can we really build upon this as
11:37
a savings account? You want to always work in it.
11:41
You want to always build upon it.
11:43
It's not a once and done job. When we speak about our
11:47
well-being as leaders, we're talking about you're in it for
11:51
the long term. You're in it because there will
11:54
be months that you're excelling and there will be months that
11:58
you're collapsing. And they're all welcome.
12:01
You know, there's no right or wrong.
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And some people say, well, that's why you're talking about
12:07
life work balance. I in my work, let's say I don't
12:12
like the word balance because in all honesty, for me, I feel like
12:17
I'm juggling aiming for that balance and it's wrong.
12:21
For me, it's more about integration.
12:24
It's about adding more of what's good to me and ditching the
12:28
rest. And without mercy, it's
12:31
absolutely drawing boundaries and pushing away what no longer
12:35
serves that could have well served before but no longer
12:39
serves. Hence, allow yourself for
12:41
permission to renew and invite more of what serves right now,
12:46
integrating those knowledges, practices, beliefs into who you
12:51
are today as an ever evolving being.
12:54
Yeah. So what I'm hearing you say is,
12:56
is 2 things is make sure you find something that works for
13:01
you, but also be mindful of the fact that you and integrate that
13:08
into your life. But also be mindful of the fact
13:10
that these things change over time.
13:13
And it because. Because you grow as a person.
13:15
Exactly. Yes.
13:19
You know, a very good example is back in the day when I was
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running my first business in Shanghai, but kept me sane was
13:28
waking up at 5:00 AM to go to my yoga class every single day, no
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fail from Monday to Friday at 5:30 AM.
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When I look back, I say wow, yes, discipline kept me, you
13:43
know, moving forward and doing the thing.
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But in all honesty, for business in, I can no longer dream or
13:52
wish for a 5:30 AM class. First of all, rather sleep.
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And second, because I've got to take care of my kids in the
14:02
morning, you know, family comes first.
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So if I'm lucky at 10 AM on a Friday, yoga class is a
14:09
blessing. That's what I can integrate into
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my current life, not living behind the yoga or letting go of
14:18
my practice fully. So it's also about finding,
14:23
let's say, not blindly copying what others say.
14:28
OK, so you have to get up at 5:00, which by the way, to me is
14:31
like, I, I'm not a fan of that. I'm not the 5:00 AM club
14:36
anymore. I, I it's.
14:38
Not part of that club. Either no.
14:43
That said, so a lot of founders, investors also glorify this
14:51
mantra of you have to work hard, be part of the hustle, grind
14:56
through it. And yes, there will be down
14:58
days, but it's not about how often you fall, but how often
15:02
you get up again. And these wonderful dopamine
15:08
generating quotes. How do you what or what do you
15:13
say to to the people who think that hustle and working on the
15:18
edge of burnout is the only way to success?
15:20
Because for some, it's still sort of is.
15:25
Yes, and they define themselves based on it.
15:30
So as you nicely say it, those dopamine hits get us to muscle
15:35
through. But in all honesty, what I
15:40
always say and what I truly believe is that at the end of
15:44
the day, is it joyful to do that what you're what you're doing
15:49
Like when you bring joy and passion into the game and you
15:53
know you thrive on your skills, that is what is way more
15:58
productive than simply doing the overnight shift and producing
16:04
not OK or underlying work. Why not knowing how to self
16:11
regulate and stopping whenever you know I'm no longer at my A
16:15
game. Let go do something else instead
16:19
of pushing through because there's a deadline.
16:22
But then at the end of the day, all your typos are coming off
16:26
because you're not focused anymore.
16:29
Yep. So how do you deal then with
16:32
where, how, how can people deal then with the, the, the feeling
16:36
of guilt that you have because you're not pushing at least for
16:41
speaking for myself. And I see this around in the
16:44
people around me as well. If I, I don't have this with
16:48
sleep, let me clarify that. But if I, let's say, go to work
16:54
out, if my work isn't completely done, I sort of feel guilty.
16:59
I feel really good afterwards, by the way.
17:01
So in a sense I, I know I've programmed myself to understand,
17:07
OK, if I need this, I need this, I just need to go.
17:10
But how do you deal with the feeling of guilt?
17:13
How do you translate that maybe to something more productive?
17:19
Yes, yes, I find the answer to that question isn't great in our
17:25
belief of time and our worth. You know, like we all have the
17:31
same 24 hours given it's a fact. But what we do with each hour of
17:37
the day, it's up to us. It's our responsibility.
17:41
So there's where I believe the guilt component kicks in because
17:44
you say, oh, I'd rather finish this than go to the gym or
17:50
rather stop right here than go have a meal, not skipping the
17:55
meal altogether. And that sense of responsibility
18:00
and priority is a trigger. It's a trigger that you build
18:05
in, in your routine, in your priorities or not.
18:10
So that sense of guilt I find is a very heavy and cannot be
18:15
ignored when we're trying to build a lifestyle as leaders
18:20
because you have all the responsibility over your
18:23
shoulders as a solopreneur, as a founder with a small team or
18:28
even as a scale up as a leader. You do have this on you.
18:33
So where is the Guild coming from, your set of beliefs, if
18:38
you believe you need to push through rather than delegate or
18:42
extend the deadline or simply organize yourself better so that
18:47
you're not running last minute on low fuel like there is where
18:52
managing our own expectations would limit the degree of the
18:57
flur of that. I cannot do that.
19:00
I have to focus on work first, then I'll take care of myself.
19:06
I find that when we reverse it as a mindset, when we say I need
19:12
to feel good, let me stop right here and I'll come back to it,
19:17
It's a matter of time. It's a matter of retraining.
19:20
It's the on learning versus learning new stuff.
19:24
Because no one knows how to take care of yourself better than
19:28
yourself, right? But then the principle of how we
19:32
take care of ourselves might differ from culture to culture,
19:36
people to people beliefs. So when we accept that, OK, let
19:41
me open my mind to I could be looking at this from a different
19:45
degree, only then that guilt releases.
19:50
It will never fade away because it really depends on how big the
19:54
compromise it is. Yeah, yeah, that, that is true.
19:59
But what I'm also hearing you say that there's a component of
20:03
self worth in this. And on our values, right?
20:08
Like how much do we love ourselves?
20:12
Like how much do we prioritize and believe we need to be well
20:16
in order to give to others? Yeah, but that, that's the
20:20
strange, let's say mind fuck that happens.
20:27
Is that on on the one hand, I know perfectly well that on
20:31
Tuesday evening I need to work out, end of story.
20:35
That's why I booked to work out in advance.
20:38
But on the other hand, they are still like this, this, this sort
20:44
of feeling where it tells me, yes, but if you don't finish
20:49
this, you're not. You didn't deliver on what you
20:53
said you would do. So I can if, if I finished
20:58
whatever I said out to my entire To Do List, of course knows how
21:02
many items on a Tuesday. I go there maybe very stressed,
21:07
but I go there and I after that I don't feel any guilt.
21:12
But if if there's like half a bit of maybe I could have
21:17
improved this there still. Of course your mind is still
21:22
there and the way in your example, I think it's perfect to
21:26
describe or you know, listeners will understand that self-care
21:31
is not a reward, right? You put it into schedule 'cause
21:35
you want it, you need it, it's what you want to do.
21:39
But if you let your mind believe that only after you finish you
21:43
get your reward, then we got it wrong.
21:47
You know, it has to be a priority, as important as that
21:52
next meeting or as important as, you know, submitting that grant
21:57
proposal. I think I think that's really
22:01
powerful to say that it needs to be as much of A priority as
22:05
getting the work done. Yes, yes.
22:08
Because in the end, I, I believe that by the way, I am.
22:10
But yeah. Yes, and you know also it's not
22:14
about doing everything under the sun, right?
22:18
Because if we really bring or or narrow down the definition of
22:22
well-being, you've got pillars to build upon.
22:26
You know, it's your nutrition, it's your sleep, it's your move,
22:30
it's your mindfulness, like all of it is a component of it.
22:35
But sometimes we have time to do one out of the 10 you want to
22:40
do. So making it to the gym on the
22:43
Tuesday evening, that is what I get.
22:46
That's all I can give myself right now and that is perfectly
22:50
good. Like it's also committing to
22:54
your reality and managing the expectation because during
22:58
holidays, we say, I'm going to read all the books.
23:02
And then you come home without reading.
23:04
Not even the introduction of the first one because you were at
23:07
the beach having fun, right? Who wants to read?
23:12
So there's where you say, OK, I didn't take care of myself in
23:16
the holiday when I should have. Like, this is all mind games we
23:21
play with ourselves. And there's where I say drop it
23:25
because that is not helping. Just decide, commit, integrate,
23:30
move on. But try to build a ritual that
23:33
serves you rather than try to follow the next best Instagram
23:37
post that comes up with the seven best things to do next.
23:41
Yeah, that sounds like a great moment to transition to the
23:46
pattern interrupts that you highlighted before.
23:49
Because I think that those are a great way to, at least for
23:53
yourself, signal, hey, I'm doing something that maybe sort of
23:57
dysfunctional both, both initially from an awareness
24:03
point of view, but also later, like, OK, I'm sensing that I'm
24:08
doing this again. So maybe give an example of how
24:15
that could work. And also how that could work for
24:18
founders who are still saying yes to everything, everything at
24:24
150%, and who are teetering on the edge of burnout.
24:29
Yes, I would love to also add where this is work you know came
24:35
from. You know, I, I the when we speak
24:38
about habits, the work from BJ Fogg on tiny habits was a
24:45
trigger for me to start thinking on the pattern interrupts
24:50
because what a pattern interrupt is, it's a simple break in time
24:56
of your habit, of your routine, of whatever you believe you're
25:00
doing. It could be setting an alarm, so
25:05
every 45 minutes you detach your buttock from the chair and walk
25:10
for a minute to break right your thinking pattern, move your
25:15
body. It could also be a breath in
25:20
between emails because you don't want to send the same push or
25:25
the same energy on the words you're infusing onto that e-mail
25:30
to every single person across, so you just breathe and move on
25:34
to the next rather than hold your breath, which is usually
25:37
what we do in front of the screen.
25:40
Is tattoo. Oh yes, most of the time, yes,
25:45
I, I can, I can give you, you know, signals on how we can cure
25:49
ourselves and others on our breath.
25:51
It's quite interesting. So yes, the work of pattern
25:54
interrupts came to me when I started coaching founders and I
26:01
realized that the foundations are there, the knowledge is
26:04
there, they have all the recipes we have crafted lifestyle
26:10
routine that serves them right now and that we can measure
26:14
against KPIs of the growth of their project.
26:17
But here was I'm not sticking with it.
26:21
This is not sticking. And with that feedback I said
26:24
OK, what can we do to break the pattern and adjust to let the
26:29
mind follow what the body's feeling throughout the day?
26:33
So water breaks came in, but not just a water break.
26:39
For example, waking up to a tall glass of lemon infused water
26:45
first thing in the morning to start your detoxing process and
26:49
then follow everything else you want.
26:52
Every 45 minute breaks away from the computer breathing.
26:58
And we added to that some move like what would you call office
27:04
yoga? Well, it's just, I call it move
27:07
in whatever space you have in your office.
27:10
Embedding this into the pattern simply gave the feedback on, oh,
27:16
now I'm doing this because I remember.
27:18
So the pattern interrupt is that trigger for that signals your
27:22
mind. Let's do it now because it's the
27:24
time to do it now. Calendar alerts help a lot and
27:29
then know what to do because one thing is the alert comes, OK,
27:33
breathe and you forget what it was it.
27:35
And it's like ignore, keep on rather understanding, OK, here
27:40
comes the alarm. Let's do it because it's good
27:43
for me. I want to do it and then keep
27:45
on. Yeah, I recognize this, this
27:48
alarm thing because we, when I still worked in corporate, we
27:54
used to have this, let's say software that would keep us
27:58
interrupting, interrupting us from time to time, not to not so
28:02
much to break our productivity, but to let's say just give us a
28:06
mini break. And those I would, they were the
28:12
most frustrating thing ever because they would come every 8
28:16
minutes, which were was to me like, OK, so I cannot do any
28:20
deep work then simply can't. So I decided to switch them off.
28:26
But I learned over time that having those like every 4550
28:32
minutes or so. So with for instance Pomodoro
28:36
technique you can actually use them quite well.
28:40
Yes, and these techniques are all valid.
28:43
Now what I believe we need to learn how to do is reflect at
28:50
the moment of the pattern interrupt whatever you're
28:53
choosing to do as as the technique, the activity before
28:58
you carry on, reflect on what, how did that make you feel?
29:02
You know, does that energize or not?
29:06
And based on what really serves you, you keep on doing and
29:09
building, you know, designing that next habit.
29:13
What we tend to do is that we do it for three days or 10 days
29:17
stretch or 21 days stretch and then it fades away forever.
29:23
And that it's not really serving the ultimate goal, which is less
29:28
is more, always less is more. It's do whatever serves you for
29:33
your well-being at this time and teach the rest.
29:38
Yeah. So if that means working out,
29:40
it's working out. If that means setting an alarm,
29:43
that's setting an alarm. OK, So these are the pattern
29:48
interrupts. So how do we move, How do we
29:52
sort of integrate those more long term in our schedules then
29:58
because you said, OK, we do that for five days, for 10 days, for
30:01
21 days. What I learned from productivity
30:06
is that you only build a habit after like 6670 ish days.
30:12
How long about does it take to build in these pattern
30:15
interrupts? Well, it totally depends on how
30:18
well they serve you. You know, when you get that
30:22
dopamine hit, that instant satisfaction from one simple
30:26
change, that's going to take forever and longer.
30:31
But if we try to adopt something that sounds good on paper, it
30:36
was a great recommendation, but it's just not fitting in my life
30:42
that won't, you know, we cannot bring that on.
30:45
But then do you then Also what I'm hearing you say then if if
30:51
it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you, just skip
30:54
it. Skip.
30:55
It but do that early. Exactly.
30:58
Maybe you'll pick it up later on.
31:00
So for example, the 5:00 AM club, I did read the book.
31:04
I did give it a try. Did it work for me long term?
31:07
No, I am not that type of human. But I do know many strong
31:13
players that are in the 5:00 AM club and they swear by it
31:19
because that's their journaling moment, right?
31:22
That's a quiet time in the house and yes, I honour that, but that
31:27
is not my case because of my circadian rhythm.
31:30
I honour sleep over journaling at 5:00 AM.
31:34
So it's that simple. Yes, it's that simple.
31:38
So how do we really bring in or, or design for pattern interrupts
31:44
to really adapt and, you know, so that we can really integrate
31:47
and stick with them long term? Be mindful of your environment
31:52
because we are humans of habits, mainly because of the places we
31:58
live in, the places we attend, the places we go to, the people
32:01
we're around. So if this is a disruption for
32:06
the whole family, maybe you're going to find some counter push
32:11
on that end. Rather invite the whole family
32:14
to join you and explain to them why is it that you want to drink
32:18
that glass of water and no one should touch that glass of water
32:21
because that's yours waiting for you the next day.
32:24
So you start your day hydrated and detoxing, right?
32:29
It's involved them explain what is same.
32:32
Same applies to your team when you out of the blue start giving
32:36
away free fruit and getting all these nice, you know, placards
32:42
on the office because of well-being.
32:45
That doesn't mean you just came out of the yoga retreat and
32:48
you're feeling it all right now and you want the world to be,
32:52
you know, all about healthy. You know, overnight.
32:55
That doesn't work that way. You need to invite everyone who
32:58
did not join that retreat on board and explain why and P that
33:04
leader you know, show by demonstrating but also by
33:07
inviting people to partake. Whether it's, you know, a
33:12
workshop session with a facilitator or a getaway into
33:17
that next best yoga retreat. Yeah.
33:20
So I think that's a beautiful transition into the role that
33:25
leaders can play here. So you talked about inviting
33:29
people to to, to understand why you're doing new things while
33:36
you're trying out new things. How do you support them then in
33:40
finding their own, let's say pattern interrupts on the one
33:45
hand, and also on the back of that, using those pattern
33:50
interrupts to find new ways of working?
33:55
Yes, I love that question. And it's because when you think
34:01
on how can we integrate new things, it's you're landing in a
34:06
scary place. We all refuse change.
34:09
We all are scared of the unknown.
34:12
And when things start happening in your body, in your mind that
34:17
you don't know what's coming up, you're going to reject as your
34:20
mechanism, your reptile brain saying, hey, I'm staying in my
34:24
safe zone. So if out of the blue you feel
34:27
more productivity because you have improved the way you
34:31
breathe, you can imagine it's all glory.
34:36
But when you're detoxing and at day two and three you're feeling
34:39
the headache, this is no glory. You're going through hell.
34:44
And even though you're getting healthier, you're in hell.
34:47
And you know how we know what's good for us?
34:51
You know, it's all about embodying it.
34:55
You've got to make the decision that I'm going to start, you
34:59
know, bringing it from the head into the body in the sense of
35:03
try it out, do it yourself, experiment with it, dare to, you
35:08
know, give yourself a week of detox, see what comes up.
35:14
That doesn't mean, you know, everyone in the office has to do
35:17
it with you. But if you give them a heads up,
35:20
hey, I'm going through this process and you're going to see
35:23
all the colors of my moods flaring in front of you.
35:27
Just know that this is the journey I'm going through.
35:30
Because if you dare to experiment it, it very well
35:34
could be that someone else in the office says, hey, I've been
35:37
wanting to do that. Let me join you.
35:39
And then it becomes a, you know, a couples play rather than a
35:44
solo journey, which is always easier.
35:48
So embodying it, daring to try out.
35:51
And there's where I love social media because every single day
35:55
when we're out there scrolling, you will come up with the next
36:00
best alternative or that one solution you were missing.
36:04
And when you try it out, only then you will know if it suits
36:08
you. Yeah.
36:10
But it's then also a matter of OK, finding that solution, which
36:16
social media is indeed a great place to to get started, but
36:21
also trying out and then deciding pretty early on like
36:27
OK, does it work? Does this work for me?
36:29
Yes, or. No, exactly.
36:31
And that understanding does this work for me is one step.
36:37
But the following is in full honesty, do I want to keep on
36:40
doing this? Like was it painful enough or
36:44
painful? OK or I'm feeling fab.
36:48
You know, it's, it's your own journey and I can come in and
36:53
give you a whole sheet of recommendations on how to design
36:58
A lifestyle that welcomes well-being with work, when to do
37:04
what? Like, we can sit down and do
37:06
this together by all means, but ultimately you got to go and
37:11
explore every single one of them and decide, hey, my lifestyle of
37:17
well-being journey is going to look like this in this next
37:21
quarter. It's not even for the whole
37:24
year. I was really like like planet
37:27
ahead for 1/4 Max and then. Totally, because if you were to
37:32
sit with me, we're going to talk about seasonal eating.
37:35
So yes, it falls in with every quarter.
37:39
Oh cool. That's that's good to know.
37:42
Yes, something we talked about before was breathing.
37:48
Yes. And I want to highlight that
37:50
because I really believe that breathing is something that is
37:55
really powerful also as a, as a, as a pattern interrupt and as a
37:59
regulator of mood. Before we go deep, maybe share a
38:05
bit more of the basic basics of breathing, why it's important,
38:11
how it can help. Yes.
38:14
Well, the one body of work I recommend is Conscious Breathing
38:19
from Anders Olson. And the reason why I recommend
38:23
this and that's the one I like to follow and teach, is because
38:28
it adapts very well to the life of every human working in groups
38:35
or on their own because it really confines you into the
38:40
essence of your own body. You know, breathing well means
38:45
inhaling fully until you feel your thoracic capacity.
38:50
So not just the shallow breath of inhaling, exhaling and also
38:54
entails breathing through your nose, not the mouth.
38:59
And it's that simple is utilize what you were giving, but learn
39:04
how to utilize it to its fullest capacity.
39:07
Now we can say we all breathe and 100% yes, but what we're
39:12
aiming for here is the quality of each breath, not just the
39:17
breath itself. So we can simply say, look, I'm
39:21
going to go into a breathing workshop, breathe until I pass
39:26
out for two hours and then feel better about it.
39:29
That's great. There's a place for that.
39:32
But what I'm advocating for is improve the quality of each
39:37
breath when so that it helps your brain and it really
39:42
nourishes your body at a cell body state, right?
39:48
And when it comes to the mind, the breath paired with thoughts
39:53
just can't sharpen, enhance and calm your nervous system, which
39:59
is ultimately the place where we want to be when we are at focus
40:04
work, right? We're doing something that we
40:07
consider. I got to do this because this is
40:10
my zone of genius. Yeah.
40:13
So maybe good to put this in practice.
40:17
So can you teach the listeners a bit, let's say one simple
40:22
breathing exercise that they can do for themselves, either really
40:27
on their own or with their team together if other people want to
40:32
join? Thank you for giving me this
40:35
opportunity because one I love the most and I invite everybody
40:39
to test it out. Whenever you reach your computer
40:41
next, when your hands are on the keyboard, you have hit send onto
40:46
that next e-mail. Rather than moving on to that
40:49
next bold subtitle or title of the e-mail, bring your hands
40:56
onto your stomach, right and from there right in it to your
41:02
rib cage. And from that place, inhale
41:06
simply fully until your hands move and expand.
41:12
It could be 3 breaths, it could be 5I aim for seven.
41:17
So if you simply go 123-4567, you have reached that Max.
41:28
You feel that expansion and automatically your chest puffs,
41:33
your shoulders drop, and when you exhale, close your mouth and
41:38
exhale through the nose. One breath automatically will
41:42
sharpen your mind once again. And if you put this in practice,
41:47
whenever you open your inbox, you have at least the most
41:52
organized of us. I wish 20 emails to open and go
41:58
through. That's 20 breaths right there of
42:01
quality that will get you started into the day if you're
42:05
doing it first thing in the morning or into that focused
42:09
workspace. Yes.
42:11
And that's also where I think it really also adds a lot of value
42:18
for founders that they can actually use this as a.
42:22
What it does to me is that it really interrupts my thinking.
42:28
So if you're going from from line to line to line to line
42:33
your inbox, it's sort of, yes, you're productive to this to an
42:41
extent, but every single e-mail is different anyway, though,
42:48
needs a little bit, sounds a bit whooshy, whooshy, but needs a
42:53
bit different energy. And what the pattern interrupt
42:57
with the breathing does, at least to me, is really give me
43:01
the the the space to shift that energy, even if it's just for a
43:07
for a couple of seconds. Yes, and also you're doing two
43:11
things simultaneously, hands from keyboard away onto your
43:16
body, right? And the breath, closing your
43:20
mouth, just using your nose, it gets all that activation into
43:25
the brain that oxygenation is happening and it takes 7 seconds
43:30
if you're a slow breather. If you want to take it easy,
43:34
that's 7 seconds. Hands back on the keyboard,
43:37
continue. That's 10 seconds.
43:40
Giving yourself 10 seconds is giving yourself priority onto
43:45
your well-being. And it's tiny but powerful at
43:49
the end of the day. This is what I mean on Building
43:51
upon. Yeah, thank you for sharing
43:54
that. SO.
43:56
You're very much welcome. I want to move a bit to towards
44:00
the end of the of the episodes. So we've dealt with pattern
44:05
interrupts, we've dealt with the importance of well-being and and
44:10
really also taking time for yourself as a founder or as a
44:14
startup employee. We've had a breathing exercise
44:18
that does this all. If there's one thing about
44:21
mindset on on stress that you would like to leave people with,
44:25
what would it be and why? That stress is our friend.
44:30
That is really what I would love to leave people with.
44:33
Stress is not the ugly word or the scary word that we have come
44:39
to understand in society. What I have learned in my own
44:45
journey as an entrepreneur and assisting and mentoring,
44:49
coaching others is that the more we learn how to play with our
44:56
levels of stress. Because let's face it, we all
45:00
feel stress, but we feel it at different degrees and the minute
45:05
we understand, OK, this is a point where I'm feeling it.
45:08
I'm feeling the pinch at that moment when you acknowledge it
45:13
and instead of shying away from me, you lean towards it and
45:18
start expanding your comfort zone, start expanding on your
45:23
resilience. Like how much of this can I take
45:27
without breaking? Is really giving that playroom
45:32
for you to understand OK, I can push to this degree or this is
45:38
too much to take understanding where our stress barriers are
45:44
will absolutely become a skill. And when I say it's your friend,
45:51
it's because we have learned that this is, you know, your
45:55
enemy that you know stress is something we have to, you know,
46:00
stay away from. Do everything to get rid of it.
46:05
I'm absolutely on the other side of that spectrum.
46:08
I said do not ignore it. Do not shy away.
46:12
Learn how to live with it because there will be moments
46:15
when you do not feel it at all and it's pure bliss.
46:19
But most of the days, most of the hours of the day, you're
46:23
going to feel the degree of it. Understanding, Hey, I'm feeling
46:27
the pinched breathe or I cannot take it anymore.
46:32
Detach. I feel that stress as our friend
46:38
is a very powerful tool in our leadership skills and how we
46:43
foster the way we become leaders.
46:46
Because it teaches us, OK, how much can we handle?
46:50
So being aware of of the stress levels that we we have teaches
46:54
us how much we can handle. Exactly.
46:57
So for example, one thing I would love to leave everyone
47:03
with is whenever we are about to say something important, we're
47:08
going to share our voice, we're going to share our opinion.
47:10
We feel stress and we confuse it with I'm nervous because your
47:14
body shakes, your voice shakes, you start sweating right that
47:20
very moment. Yes.
47:22
Is stress keeping you safe? Is stress telling you you're
47:26
going to face a group of people, get smart, you're going to have
47:30
a great conversation or not get sharp, right?
47:35
What you do then instead of saying, Oh my God, Oh my God,
47:39
and let that shake take over your body, take a double inhale
47:43
through the nose and exhale through the mouth like this.
47:48
It's like as if you're a balloon, you're decompressing,
47:52
telling your reptile brain, I've got this, let me breathe through
47:57
it and allow yourself to regulate that nervous of stress
48:01
like that, that, you know, pinch as we call it.
48:06
Once you know how to deflate from the pinch, it allows for
48:10
expansion and you take up physically space in the room
48:15
where you stand because you're playing from your safety zone,
48:19
you're playing from the comfort zone.
48:21
You're no longer at the edge where the stress has taken you.
48:27
That's, I think that's really powerful.
48:29
I knew the, the exercise, it's, it has a name that I've of
48:36
course forgotten now. But what it also does is it's
48:42
sort of resets the whole nervous system.
48:46
That's what I learned about it. So it's sort of really, and it's
48:52
also, I think built into your own breathing pattern anyway.
48:57
So it happens every so often to begin with, but it's really,
49:04
yeah, it the, the, the PSI is really important.
49:08
It can be really good, especially if you're at a
49:12
stressful moment, to center you back again in OK.
49:19
And in a matter of seconds, this is where I believe the very
49:24
important piece comes in. It just takes you seconds before
49:27
you grab that mic. It takes you seconds, you know,
49:31
to go into a double inhale, exhale right before you have
49:35
that very important message to deliver.
49:39
So it's inhale like. Double inhale through the nose.
49:42
Exhale through the box. Yeah, so at the end of the
49:45
normal inhale, you do an extra inhale through the nose.
49:49
It's like almost like, yeah, you top it up really almost like I
49:53
sniff then. But yeah, thanks for thanks for
49:58
sharing that. I think it's really good to to
50:01
know that. So finally, I want to talk a bit
50:05
about my podcast. So it has has a goal to be
50:09
obsolete by the end of 2032 when inclusion in tech history norm.
50:15
So from your perspective, what role can men play in modelling
50:21
healthy leadership and supporting women, the women
50:26
around them, to adopt these practices?
50:30
I love that question and I love to close with this one because
50:34
that one message that is really important for men is that
50:40
understand we are wired differently.
50:44
We live in cycles on our existence as women, our decision
50:49
making as a whole and men live in a complete different cycle.
50:55
You know, for us it's 28 days, for men it's 24 hours.
51:00
So to understand that when you're asking for a woman to
51:05
play along, Co create lead with you, the decision making
51:11
process, the way we unfold our brain has the capacity to simply
51:18
go at our own cycle. And when we start leading with
51:22
the more manly way, you know, following the system that is
51:27
there imposed, we let go of our superpower.
51:31
We let go of our zone of genius. So as many, if you can invite
51:37
your women Co leaders to simply thrive within their own
51:43
womanhood, there's where you're going to get the best of us.
51:46
So allow for those spaces and those conversations to exist.
51:51
Yeah. And, and what I mean you say is
51:53
not, do not assume that women will respond the same way every
51:58
day because there's a 28 day cycle with various peaks and,
52:06
and, and troughs as well. I learned meanwhile.
52:11
Yes, yes, and, and not expect for women to live the same way
52:16
as men. There is where I say why we, we,
52:21
we're not the same, cannot compare.
52:23
We're not apple to apple in that comparison.
52:26
Let, let, let women be whatever they want to be and understand
52:31
that in that invitation you're going to learn a lot 'cause we
52:35
lead differently, but we're amazing leaders.
52:39
Absolutely. And that sounds like a great
52:41
place to close. Yes.
52:44
So Andrea Cristancio, thank you very much for this wonderful
52:48
conversation. If people would like to learn
52:51
more about you and about the work you do, where we should
52:54
like to send them. Thank you for asking and thank
52:58
you for having me. This has been a great
53:00
conversation. People can find me on LinkedIn
53:04
under Andrea born Cristancio. I add my mirror name in that or
53:10
Andrea cristancho.com on my website.
53:14
Feel free to reach. I love having new conversations
53:18
and learning from others, so any invitation to slide into my DMS,
53:23
please pick it up. I look forward to seeing you
53:25
there. Cool.
53:27
And we'll include those links in the show notes.
53:29
So Andrea Cristancho, thanks again for a wonderful
53:33
conversation. Now, thank you very much for
53:37
listening. And until the next episode, keep
53:41
being awesome. Well, that's it.
53:47
Thank you for listening to episode 130 of Women Disrupting
53:51
Tech, titled The Founder Guide to Turning Stress into a
53:55
Superpower with Andrea Christian Show.
53:59
Andrea and I hope that you found our conversation as calming and
54:02
helpful as we intended it to be. And if you have any questions
54:06
for Andrea, please share them in the comments on Spotify, Apple
54:10
Podcasts, or YouTube. When you want to connect with
54:14
Andrea or learn more about how she can help you make stress
54:18
into your superpower, please check out the links in show
54:21
notes. And as usual, you can find the
54:24
show notes at Women Disrupting Tech Toplog via the link in the
54:28
caption. If you've enjoyed listening to
54:30
this episode, please consider leaving a rating or a review on
54:34
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54:38
helps new listeners find podcasts and supports my guests
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54:46
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54:56
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55:30
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55:34
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55:37
wonderful day. I hope to see you in the next
55:40
episode. And until then, as always, keep
55:43
being awesome.