Interview with Kristin Andress: Part 2

I am delighted to feature Kristin Andress on my blog! She is the author of Imagine Being In a Life You Love, available NOW at Amazon.com. Exciting plans are underway to celebrate its Summer Book Launch.

Kristin says: "Please order 1, 2 (or more copies) on July 15 and 16th as part of our bestseller campaign! Even if you have your copy, Imagine Being In a Life You Love makes a great gift for friends, family or as a differentiator in offering it to your clients. Also, please feel free to forward this info to those in your network and we would love it if you would add the Amazon link to Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for 'Being a Light' for us! We are certainly grateful for your help."


FREE giveaway! For the first 10 buyers who sign up for the newsletter at www.ImagineBeing.com and send their receipt number and contact information to Kristin@ImagineBeing.com, she will offer a free 45-minute consulting session and 25% off her 5-part Teleseminar series (available Aug 15). The first 100 who sign up and send Kristin an email will be put into a drawing for an iPod Nano!

Kristin was kind enough to answer some questions about her writing journey. Read Part One of our interview here.

How did you first discover your love for writing?

I have loved to write for as long as I have been able to hold a pen. I began filling spiral notebooks in first grade - stories of cowboys and horses! Also, my mom was a children's librarian for 23 years. I grew up around books and reading was my favorite hobby. I knew I could tell stories in my head and began translating them to paper. In second grade I wrote a play on Betsy Ross sewing the United States flag. In 7th grade I won an award for a poem. The love of writing and the response that it could reap from people kept me so passionate about continuing - and still does!

What is your writing routine? Do you write every day? Do you have a certain time or place you write?

I don't have a precise routine, though I keep a notepad by my bed and am often awake in the wee hours jotting down ideas. I probably write best on weekends when my phone isn't ringing and I can step away from emails. I love to Blog, and my co-author calls me the "Carrie Bradshaw of Imagine Being." I sit quietly on my patio (in the sunshine, of course!) and the ideas just flow. I enjoy writing fiction and non-fiction and eventually will have an Imagine Being series -- and a great American novel -- to my credit!

Is there anything you wish you could tell your younger self about your life? What is your biggest advice for kids and teens just starting out?

What a great question! I would tell my younger self to soak in all that I'm experiencing -- good and bad -- because it is causing me to become a person of depth, empathy and contribution in the world. In our book, we talk about the "Pings" of life -- the stuff that happens to us, which is often outside of our control. I'm been Pinged many times -- divorce, death of a brother and stepfather, my mom's breast cancer, an abusive relationship -- and as odd as it may sound, I would not change any of it. It has given me a perspective about how to best proceed in life and serve others, and it has provided an unshakeable belief system that I will be okay through all and ensure that I use life experience positively. My advice is to realize that YOU are the constant in your life, and you may not be able to control some circumstances you encounter, but you can control your response. Utilize what you learn to be a light in the life of another -- pay it forward.

In Imagine Being, you share many stories from your own personal life. What was that experience like for you? Would you recommend that others delve into their own lives in their writing?

Sharing my very raw and real story was fantastic, and a little nerve racking. It was great to "get it out" and it was daunting because I checked in with myself regarding how I felt about others knowing my "stuff." In asking others to share their stories in Imagine Being In a Life You Love, we came to realize that many people do not want others to know their life experiences, and even want to hide them. However, the telling of our stories connects us as people, and helps us realize that we are more similar than different. At www.ImagineBeing.com, we initiated a global community inviting people to share their stories so that we can participate together in the trials and triumphs! Please write us! It is refreshing to know that someone else has gone through what you have -- and survived and thrived through it! It is important to be the authentic you.

What do you think is the biggest obstacle people face in creating lives they love?

I think a primary obstacle includes the excuses that we tell ourselves. Typically, these excuses revolve around time, money, energy and people. We call these the TEMP excuses, and they truly are temporary if you exercise your creativity and put in the work. Designing the life you love is not a one-stop shot -- it is a journey that you need to be conscious of along the way. You will need to declare your intentions, create your plan, reach out to your lifelines and make course corrections along the way. In Imagine Being In A Life You Love we offer within a very specific planning guide. No excuses now for not knowing how to get started -- or whether to continue!

You mention the importance of "paying forward" (something I am very passionate about as well!) Can you expand on that?

There is no greater gift that you can give than helping and serving another person. As you live and learn through life, reach out to others and share your wisdom, your knowledge or even your smile. Paying it forward and being a light in the lives of others has a ripple effect. You will encourage others to do the same and as members of humanity, we need to be there for each other.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you, Dallas, for this opportunity!! I am so passionate about helping people to imagine living a life they love! I hope all readers will join our community at www.ImagineBeing.com. And, please pick up your copy and even a gift copy of Imagine Being In a Life You Love at http://amzn.to/d3U9vj. Enjoy your life!!


Connect with Kristin on Facebook and Twitter.

Interview with Kristin Andress: Part 1

Kristin Andress is the CEO of Andress Consulting, a Solana Beach, California-based firm that offers strategic planning, marketing and communications solutions. For nearly two decades, she has helped major corporations, start-up companies, and entrepreneurs, streamline business operations, promote and differentiate their products and services, and improve company and individual performance.

Kristin's new book, Imagine Being In a Life You Love (www.ImagineBeing.com) provides an invitation and rally cry for people to design their lives by choice rather than leave it to chance. She says, "Along with my co-author Jaqui Jeanes-Lowry, I want people to know they are the cause and the opportunity maker in their own lives!"

Exciting plans are underway to celebrate the July 15 Summer Book Launch of Imagine Being In a Life You Love!

Kristin says: "Please order 1, 2 (or more copies) on July 15 and 16th as part of our bestseller campaign! Even if you have your copy, Imagine Being In a Life You Love makes a great gift for friends, family or as a differentiator in offering it to your clients. Also, please feel free to forward this info to those in your network and we would love it if you would add the Amazon link to Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for 'Being a Light' for us! We are certainly grateful for your help."

FREE giveaway! For the first 10 buyers who sign up for the newsletter at www.ImagineBeing.com and send their receipt number and contact information to Kristin@ImagineBeing.com, she will offer a free 45-minute consulting session and 25% off her 5-part Teleseminar series (available Aug 15). The first 100 who sign up and send Kristin an email will be put into a drawing for an iPod Nano!

Kristin was kind enough to stop by and answer some questions about the path that led to the publication of Imagine Being. Part 2 of the interview will be posted tomorrow, so be sure to check back!

Tell us about your childhood and life leading up to Imagine Being In a Life You Love.

I enjoyed growing up in the small town of Pittsfield, Illinois and I return often to visit family and friends. In the winter months it is great fun to rub in the San Diego weather and the ocean air and golf courses of Solana Beach, CA where I live.

Prior to launching Andress Consulting, I had a ten-year career with Arthur Andersen, serving as the Director of Tax and Legal–Performance and Learning. I led global operations of a fifty-two person team in the United States and had coordination oversight of twenty-five people in Cambridge, England and Asia/Pacific, with responsibility for a multi-million dollar budget. (Now, I am SO glad to be an entrepreneur and in business for myself!)

Most people are interested in knowing that one of my clients is Stedman Graham, Oprah’s beau, who I have worked with over 6 years to develop new business, manage client relationships, and manage aspects of media relations and book tours. It has been a whirlwind of new experiences.

Tell us about your book Imagine Being In a Life You Love.

Imagine Being In a Life You Love provides the guidance for people to consciously participate in authoring their life’s design and not leave it to chance. We get but one go around, and we want to help people make the most of it. Imagine Being is an invitation and a rally cry for people to take the reins of life in hand. If you are intentional in your life, you can change the trajectory of it. We provide the guidance for:

• You, being the cause of designing your life

• You, being the opportunity maker in your life

• You, being the reason for momentum in your life

• You, being the energy responsible for your life

• You, being the light that guides the way for others

We want to change perceptions about what is possible in a lifetime.

What was the impetus to write this book?

The reason for writing Imagine Being In a Life You Love came to me on December 31, 2007 -- New Year’s Eve day. I always utilize that day to write my goals and intentions and since I'd recently moved to San Diego and instigated a lot of chaos in my life, I found myself struggling. I thought to myself, "I've taken so many personal development courses and read many books on the subject -- basically been there, done that, got the T-shirt - so, if I am having difficulty, there must be millions of others experiencing this uncertainty." I decided to use my voice and my experience to create a product that alleviated this uncertainty and helped people imagine being in a life they love -- and then take the action to achieve it. It is my way of giving back, and leaving an imprint by helping others.

Your book seems especially relevant in today's crazy-busy society in which many people feel empty and dissatisfied. What topics does your book address that help people discover their own personal happiness?

Imagine Being does arrive at a time when people around the world are seeking opportunities to take control of their lives amid the myriad setbacks facing them, what we call the PINGs of life. Whether it is job loss, weight loss, or clarity of life's purpose, Imagine Being provides an invitation, direction, and a swift kick in the behind for people to take the reins of life in hand.

When it comes to what we want and need, we are long on good intentions and short on action. Many people feel that life just happens to them, and it will, unless we choose to own the responsibility to cause the events, the situations, the opportunities, and the miraculous we wish to manifest. Imagine Being is a navigation tool for learning about who you are, defining and creating a purposeful life you imagine living, and managing the setbacks that arise through the "ah but's" and "if onlys." It is a myth that life should or will be problem-free. Imagine Being gives people the fuel -- the courage, the conviction -- to carry on.

We include the following unique concepts for creating a life you love:

• Lifelines – Identifying those people who will help with the intentions for your life.

• Box In/Box Out – Ensuring that you put yourself in the position of having to accomplish your intentions by getting leverage on yourself.

• PINGs – Realizing that "stuff" will happen in life, and that you must adapt, move on, and utilize what you learn to empower yourself and others.

• The Change Equation – Developing a system for managing and thriving through change.

• Super Champions – Seeking those people you may not personally know (yet), but who are doing and being what you wish to be up to - then modeling them!.

• Passive Hostility – Recognizing the behavior that arises when you want something you are not getting.

• LIP Service – Changing the original definition of lip service from talk only to expanding to the associated possibilities and acting on them—Living In Possibility.

• Choice Cards – Acknowledging that you have infinite choices available to you, as well as their results and consequences.

• Unshakeable Belief System – Accepting that you will have challenges in life and develop a belief system that will sustain your dreams and hold you accountable to them.

• TEMP Excuses – Leaving behind your excuses regarding time, energy, money, and people.

Come back tomorrow for Part 2 of my interview with Kristin!

You can also connect with Kristin on Twitter and Facebook.