Q&A with Entrepreneur, Andrea Sacco

It was the summer of 2023, and fresh out of graduating university I was desperate to find some sort of strong feminine community here in Niagara. I happened to stumble across the @wellnessclubniagara Instagram page, where every once in a while the account owner would share a beautifully vulnerable post detailing the struggles of being a young working woman in this world. It was one of the only pages I knew at the time that actually seemed to have a human being behind its otherwise glamorous Instagram aesthetic - and it was local!

I believe that special people deserve to be recognized, so I sent a message over introducing myself and expressing my appreciation for the genuine nature of the recent posts. Andrea Sacco - someone I now consider a good friend and influence in my life - immediately responded with gratitude and invited me to come to her next event, her very first Journal Circle, free of charge.

I continued to watch the success of The Wellness Club and You Empower Tomorrow Niagara over the next few years, and had no doubt that Andrea was creating that special something that so many women are craving to see in this community.

Fast forward to the beginning of this year, Andrea stumbled across my personal blog and shared with me her vision of creating a similar space on her platform, carrying with it similar energies of authenticity, vulnerability, and uplifting community. As a small town writer, it’s not exactly everyday someone 1. Sees your work and 2. Sees the value in your work - I was touched.

Almost three years after our first meeting and now a year into working together, Andrea has become a beautiful friend of mine and someone I truly look up to dearly. She is one of those people that puts her money where her mouth is; she’s a true hard worker and business woman - classic Aries! - but she is also just a real human being. Despite the trendy term “girls supporting girls,” I actually don’t see it that often in the workplace or even on social media. With her professionalism comes no fluffy corporate jargon or nasty competitiveness - she is simply someone with a mission of bringing people together, in a world that often seems so far apart.

I thought it only made sense to close out the year of blog posts with the bad ass girl boss and founder of You Empower Tomorrow Niagara, Mrs. Andrea Sacco herself.

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JV: What inspired you to start You Empower Tomorrow Niagara, and what gap did you see in the community that you wanted to fill?

AS: I was newly out of university and landed my first big girl corporate job - the one they all tell you to get in order to be happy and successful. Immediately, I knew I just couldn’t do it for the rest of my life. I would spend my lunches daydreaming and doodling about what I wanted to do for people in the same shoes I was in - people lacking passion and purpose in their life. Through my work in public health, program development, coaching and recruiting, I learned that so much of the Niagara community was seeking the same thing: connection! I knew that cost and funding was a huge barrier, so I decided to create some free opportunities for people to come together and find that community and connection. I reached out to a ton of studios and practitioners in the health and wellness space asking if they would be interested in cohosting a free event, and was blown away by the response. The first event sold out immediately; I think I did close to 20 free events with the club I created, Wellness Club Niagara. This is how I built up a bit of a following and made connections with so many studios and creators in the region! As I’ve grown over the years, I’ve realized its not about how many followers I have or how many likes my posts get - it’s about the genuine, meaningful quality of the relationships I'm building with my students and clients.

JV: This past year you’ve had a lot of changes in your personal life - you quit your full time job and became a full time-time entrepreneur, you got married, you are pregnant! Since your work is very authentic to you as a person, how have these huge changes affected your work life?

AS: I’m not going to lie - transitioning into doing this full time has been hard. Lately I’ve been battling with the thought, “am I losing my intention and purpose because now I’m so worried about the financial aspect of being able to support myself?” Even though I make significantly less now than I did with a full time corporate job, I no doubt feel so much better. Mentally, physically…honestly, I don’t think I would have gotten pregnant so quickly if it wasn’t for me leaving my work situation. Yoga has helped to teach me that the mind and body are so connected, and your body will sometimes tell you when a situation isn’t right for you before your mind can.

JV: Looking back on the last few years you’ve had, what lesson would you give to a budding entrepreneur who is considering making the leap that you did?

AS: Really get to know yourself and what it is that brings you love, joy and happiness. I wouldn’t be here if it weren't for the skills I learned throughout every chapter of my life; don’t look at your past with regret, just use it as fuel towards your next steps. Also, I tell a lot of the clients I work with that people can’t connect with people in the wellness space that they don’t trust! I started to see the most success when my followers began to know me on a human level; when I’m vulnerable, people can relate to me, and thus trust me more, which allows me to serve them better. When I came out and shared my pregnancy announcement, I had like, 15 moms reach out to me with the same due date as me! The need is what inspired me to run the 6 week Belly-to-Bloom prenatal series that is now waitlisted! That’s when it hit me like, “oh shit, my life is my business!” I need to share my transitional experiences in life because that is how I can support others through theirs.

JV: That’s hard to blend the lines between work and personal life. What does wellness look like for you on a daily basis, and how do you take care of yourself?

AS: Honestly, it looks different every day. I’m a yoga teacher, my work is teaching people about health and wellness, but there are so many times when I forget to take care of myself! I’ve come to realize that the biggest thing is having the awareness of when I need to take care of myself vs. when I have enough fuel to pour into supporting others. It’s not about perfecting it; I love to journal and practice yoga, but there are weeks I go without both because I simply don’t feel like it! My needs are different everyday, and I’ve developed a pretty strong personal intuition.

JV: Recently you did a workshop, Creating Passionate & Purpose Driven Leaders, to a local company and their employees. What stood out to you from that session?

AS: I am very passionate about helping employees integrate wellbeing into their work. I know that for most people, you can’t just quit your job and pursue what you think will make you happy - you need to afford life! I want people to work on not seeing work and personal wellbeing as separate, but rather being open to discovering how to integrate your strengths and the things that bring you love and joy into your workplace. That is your superpower!

JV: Is there a story from your work that has stayed with you or reaffirmed why you do what you do?

AS: Every encounter I have with a student or client does that. There will be days or weeks even, where I’m not getting any registrations for an event, or something is not going as planned, and I will want to cry. I try to just surrender and think, “okay, maybe I’m just not meant to be doing this thing at this time!”

Funny enough, it’s usually once I commit to surrendering that abundance will flow. That same day I will have a woman reach out and tell me that the recent event she attended helped her feel so much less alone. The universe is always conspiring to help us in more ways than we realize.

JV: I know you’re an open book - what’s something that you’re currently working on?

AS: Fears of failing, fears of slowing down, fears of not being enough - childhood rooted coping mechanisms. I used to be such a control freak, and this past year with so much change - quitting my job, pregnancy, financial worries - I just keep practicing the act of surrender, over and over again. I actually have tattooed on my ribs, “I release. I receive. I surrender.”

JV: Where do you see You Empower Tomorrow in 5-10 years?

AS: I would love to do more speaking, presenting and coaching. I think a lot of my business is going to change as I become a mother, and I hope to be able to support and uplift other mothers as I enter this new phase of life. Like I said, I have learned that I really have no control over my future; my only real guarantee is that I will always commit to showing up authentically.

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Whether this is the first post you’re reading on the blog this year, or you’ve been here the whole time - thank you. I have loved meeting you here every month, talking all things holistic wellness and highlighting some of the most inspiring females making their mark in the Niagara community.

I hope you have a peaceful holiday season, whatever that looks like for you this year.

Remember to breathe, listen to the wisdom of your inner gut, and surrender.

Julia Ventresca | Website | IG

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