Hi. I’m Andee.

…and welcome to the “About Page” that took me three years to write. 🤣

During a “rapport” activity at an event I once attended, we had to partner with someone and tell them things about ourselves.

One of the things we had to share was our “probable uniqueness.” Then, we had to report back to the main group our “findings” about the other person, introducing them.

I said to my partner “I’m Andee. I live on East *th Street in New York City. My probable uniqueness is that I’m the only Andee who lives on East *th Street in New York City.”

The person I was partnered with… I guess she thought that was lame. We talked a bit more and she noticed my wall of hanging medals behind me. She asked about them and I told her I was a marathon runner.

She asked if she could share that with the group instead.

I said she could if she wanted to… but my response remained that “I’m Andee. I live on East *th Street in New York City.”

I’d just tell you what street it is but I don’t want the paparazzi over here taking photos of me in front of the trash cans that haven’t been emptied since this past Friday. I think the super might have died. 🤣

My reticence to share my “uniqueness” has to do with my understanding that “identity” is all a bunch of hoopla. I spent the first 35 or so years of my life collecting identities, and just the last few shedding them as fast as I possibly could stomach it.

What do people want to know about me? What’s important for people to know?

I am originally from Northeast Pennsylvania, and I’ve lived in New York City for 15 years.

I studied broadcast media and journalism in undergrad and originally I thought I wanted to work in television. I spent four years working toward that goal, until 2008, when I did an internship in Series Development at MTV and realized “I fucking hate television.”

Despite letting my “working in media” dream die, I moved to NYC anyway.

I took a job working in Times Square at a Forrest Gump-themed restaurant, where I met people from all over the world every day for almost 12 years. (Fun fact, I opened a Bubba Gump in Destin, FL, and Doha, Qatar.) I know all sorts of random shit about the movie Forrest Gump.

Oddly, I really don’t like movies. If you ask me “Have you seen—” the answer is probably “no.”

I’ve been a writer my entire life. It’s the one thing I’d do even if everyone on Earth died.

I have a master’s degree in Sociology from Columbia University. I completed it in one year while working at the restaurant on the weekends. I originally wanted to write an ethnography on where I worked for a research paper, but I couldn’t swing getting permission from the corporate powers that were. (To be fair, I didn’t try that hard.) I did write a paper on the Disneyfication of Times Square during that time. It was pretty good.

I have been obsessed with social stratification for the majority of my life, partly because of my childhood circumstances, and partly because I’ve always had an eclectic, socioeconomically and culturally diverse social circle. The lack of communication and interaction between sub-groups in society I have always seen as a massive problem.

I have an incredible work ethic but very little ambition. I don’t care much about fame, social status, “jobs,” “getting somewhere,” “climbing ladders,” or “being somebody.” (I radically oppose “Workism.”)

I take an Eastern worldview of doing work for the sake of duty, but I have little attachment to how the work turns out. I do not, nor have I ever defined myself by my job. I also have a big problem with “busyness” being tied to “social value.” If you tie your worth to your output, you probably should have applied to be my client six months ago.

I was raised without religion and I am grateful for it. Because of that, I’ve been able to become highly spiritual without the patriarchal confines of “systems of rules.” I have viewed spirituality as an all-you-can-eat buffet, taking what I want, and leaving the rest to be. I follow the philosophy of Ken Wilber, that “everybody is right,” and my brain is remarkably good at tying things together.

I study Tibetan Buddhism and Kabbalah formally… and a bunch of other shit informally.

During my “Beat years” I was a regular at a bar in Times Square called “O’Lunney’s.” It was on 45th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue and closed as a casualty of COVID. I was one of the late-night regulars (2:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m. crowd) and it was like a heightened version of Cheers with more “action” than any one person should ever see in their lifetime. I miss it to this day.

My Times Square life was filled with all sorts of action. I’ve experienced gas leaks, fires, an attempted terrorist attack, rampant substance abuse, sewage exploding from drains, gang initiation, and all kinds of minor things… like homelessness and petty theft.

I also worked eight Times Square New Year’s Eve celebrations, but out of those I’ve only seen two balls drop. A guy I met on my very first one is still a friend of mine, and we still text one another every New Year’s Eve.

Let’s see… What else?

I am born female, identify as a woman, use she/her pronouns, and am absolutely convinced I am a guy. I am not transgender and nothing will be “done” about my physical presentation. But I’m a man. I know it. I see other men and think “I am that.” I see women, hear them speak, and I know “I am not that.”

I was angry for a long fucking time, and because of that, I lived in victim consciousness, where everything was “someone else’s fault.” That led me down a path of getting “further away” from myself where I got very heavy, was smoking about a pack or two a day, and developed an alcohol use disorder.

In 2018, I had a spiritual awakening after my ex-boyfriend dumped me at an airport in the middle of the night in the middle of January without a flight home. During that moment, I received a large amount of “knowing” all at once that my life was fully my creation.

After the spiritual awakening, I got to “do all the cool life shit many people want to do,” like lose over 50 lbs, quit smoking, stop drinking, stop working in a job that didn’t challenge me intellectually or otherwise, start my own business, be my own boss, start running thousands of miles and multiple marathons… (But of course, none of it is about that. It’s allllllll about consciousness. Give it all up, get everything…)

I’ve completed five 26.2s since 2018 (six if you count the one I ran alone in 2020) and I’ll run another this fall. I ran my first full marathon less than 9 months after I quit my 18-year smoking habit.

Being a distance runner taught me more about life than all of my formal education.

My friend Josh and I have completed three world major marathons side-by-side.

I discovered personal development after my spiritual awakening, and with the desire to help others wake up, I started coaching people to achieve inner and outer transformation in their lives. (You can read testimonials here and on LinkedIn.)

To be fair, working with the public as long as I did helped set me up for this job. My entire life has been, in one way or another, about knowing and understanding how humans operate.

I have been sober for over three years from alcohol. I had a “relatively easy time with sobriety” because I understood by that point that it was a symptom, not a problem. I find the traditional model the recovery industry takes is incredibly disempowering, and the reason for its very low success rate. I have spoken about this ad nauseam on my podcast. (Mostly in the older episodes.)

Almost everything you see of me online has been created in the last three years. I take the approach of “micro-steps forward.” It’s something I adopted from distance running that has translated to every area of my life.

I am trained in NLP and other change work modalities.

I am a former chronic over-thinker and have written an email series dedicated to ending this pattern in others. You can find it here.

What else?

I met Bob Woodward once. I asked him if he thought technology would have made his investigation of the Watergate scandal easier. He said he thought it would make it harder. Then, he rattled off the direct number of the White House. I’ve carried this lesson with me through life from him— “talk to a human.”

I LOVE TO EAT and I eat a lot. Oddly, I don’t really like poultry. My mother tells me that for years, she thought I was lying about that to be defiant (she’s a plain eater and loves chicken.) But no… I just don’t like it. I like to eat red meat like a burly man. Sink my teeth into a lamb chop. That’s right. Come at me. 💪🏻

I was a trumpet player from age 9-17. I still can play, but I don’t. I was actually very talented, and it was a big heartbreak for me when I realized I would not be a musician.

I studied in London during my junior year of college and I worked for a satellite television station that sold holiday packages. I spent most of my time otherwise meeting strangers in bars. I never lacked appreciation for my ability to connect with others.

I moved to my neighborhood (the East Village) because the Beats and musicians I loved and admired once lived here.

I’ve been obsessed with the 1960s and 70s for pretty much my entire adult life. Most of the music I listen to is from that era.

My favorite song is “Carry On” by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and I have lyrics from it tattooed on my back shoulder.

I drink coffee. It’s the last vice.

I love the art of interpersonal communication, and you’ll still find me writing pieces about that from time to time, like this one.

I’m called to the Southwest in a way I can’t explain. Every time I’ve headed West, the feeling and desire to be in Arizona has been overwhelming. I had “memories” of being there with my father, but I assure you, that never happened. I wonder about it, but I don’t question it.

I know a lot about the brain, and how it fucks us out of being able to do shit we are meant to do. I’m a wizard about that.

I created a women’s coaching experience called Day 1. which went on daily for a year. I learned more in that year about myself and others than I think many learn in a lifetime.

I like suspension bridges.

I don’t know. What else?

What would a person want to know?

I think the main thing people want to know is “Can you help me?”

And then, you see why all of this other shit is basically irrelevant.

And the answer to that question, by the way, is “I can certainly try.”

You can check out my testimonials here and fill out a coaching application.