Episode 89 - Alessandra Edwards: High-Performance & Well-Being Coach, Genetic Strategy Mentor & Author
Podcast is also available on the versions below:
Get Notified Of Future Episodes on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube
Most high performers don't have a motivation problem. They have an information problem.
That's the core message from Alessandra Edwards, a clinical nutritionist and epigenetic coach who has spent more than 16 years helping executives, founders, and business owners across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the US understand their own biology instead of fighting it.
In a conversation on Apple Podcast, Alessandra shared the framework she now uses with high-level leaders: the DNA Performance Framework. It's built on a simple premise: the generic advice to "sleep more, eat clean, exercise daily" fails because it ignores that everyone's biology runs on a different operating system.
This article breaks down what that framework actually looks like, why exhaustion in high performers is often genetic rather than a discipline issue, and what Alessandra tells clients to do about it, starting with taking things away, not adding more.
Who Is Alessandra Edwards?
Alessandra Edwards is a high-performance and well-being coach, personalised genetic strategy mentor, trainer, and author who works at the intersection of clinical nutrition and epigenetics. She holds first-class degrees in health science, alongside professional qualifications in genomic wellness, herbal medicine, neurolinguistic programming, yoga, and meditation instruction.
Her client base spans thought leaders, executives, founders, and business owners across four continents. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all wellness advice, she helps clients map their genetic "operating manual" before building a personalised routine around it.
What sets her apart isn't just the credentials. It's that she's lived the problem she now helps others solve.
A Personal Story Behind the Framework
Alessandra grew up in a French household in Italy, in what she describes candidly as one of the least health-focused environments she's encountered. Exercise and wellness weren't valued growing up, and after losing her father at a young age, she experienced significant mental health challenges in her twenties, including a diagnosis of major depression.
Conventional medicine helped her function again, but it didn't fully restore the sense of vitality she was looking for. That gap is what eventually pushed her from a corporate marketing and public-sector career back into study, first in traditional medicine, then into a second degree in health science focused on genetics.
It was during that deeper study that she recognised a pattern in herself: she is what she calls a "Supernova," a genetic profile prone to bursts of high productivity followed by crashes in energy and mood. Understanding this reframed what she'd previously been told was simply "burnout" into something far more specific and manageable.
What Is the DNA Performance Framework?
The DNA Performance Framework is Alessandra's model for translating genetics into practical daily decisions. Instead of treating high performance and well-being as separate goals, the framework treats them as two sides of the same equation, productivity and capability on one side, vitality, resilience, and relationships on the other.
In practice, many high achievers are strong on the first side and quietly failing on the second: productive, successful, and exhausted, disconnected, or irritable underneath it.
The framework maps four "signatures" for each client:
Energy signature: how your energy rises and falls throughout the day
Stress signature: your baseline resilience and how you process pressure
Athletic signature: the type of exercise most likely to restore your energy
Diet signature: the foods and eating patterns that work with your biology, not against it
Understanding Your Energy Signature
Within energy signatures, Alessandra identifies genetically-influenced patterns for the best times to wake, sleep, exercise, do focused cognitive work, and hold conversations, because different neurochemicals dominate at different points in the day.
Three energy types came up directly in the conversation:
Supernova: goes hard, all day, every day, with strong bursts of drive but limited endurance. Needs scheduled full breaks (Alessandra recommends a full week off periodically, not a packed multi-country trip) rather than constant low-grade rest.
Electric Star: sustains high, constant output. Benefits from very short recovery "pit stops" throughout the day, brief breathing breaks or stepping away from the screen, rather than long breaks.
Shooting Star: energy that spikes and dips more sharply. Tends to do better eating small protein-rich snacks every couple of hours and building in more regular physical movement.
The point isn't to label yourself. It's to stop applying someone else's routine to your own biology.
For a Supernova, for example, the advice isn't "push through and rest when you crash." It's the opposite, schedule genuine recovery before the crash happens, because the pattern of intense output followed by a dip is already baked into the biology. For an Electric Star, the fix is smaller and more frequent: a handful of seconds spent breathing or looking away from a screen, repeated throughout the day, rather than waiting for a single big break to fix everything. Neither approach works well applied to the wrong type, which is exactly why generic productivity or wellness advice so often fails people who've genuinely tried to follow it.
Why High Performers Experience Chronic Exhaustion
Ask Alessandra what the single most common issue is across the executives, founders, and thought leaders she works with, and the answer is immediate: exhaustion.
But not the kind that resolves with a good night's sleep.
This is exhaustion people feel in their bones and in their brain, the kind that starts to affect memory and focus, not just energy levels. Clients describe it as a mental "fog": repeating themselves, losing their train of thought mid-session, or momentarily forgetting details they'd normally know well.
Why Sleep Disruption Isn't Solved by "More Sleep"
The second major pattern is sleep, though not in the way most people expect. Falling asleep usually isn't the issue. Waking in the night, ruminating, and struggling to get back to sleep is far more common.
That disrupted sleep creates a cycle: a rough night leads to reaching for quick fixes the next day, whether that's sugar or excess caffeine. Because caffeine clearance is partly genetically determined, some people process it quickly, while others stay "wired" for two to three days after a single dose, disrupting sleep again and repeating the pattern.
The Hidden Link Between Perimenopause and Confidence
A pattern that tends to surface later in coaching conversations, and one Alessandra says carries real stigma, is a loss of confidence tied to hormonal change, particularly in middle-aged women going through perimenopause.
This often shows up as more than typical imposter syndrome. Clients describe losing the drive and hunger they once had, questioning their own identity, and in some cases withdrawing from opportunities altogether, a pattern Alessandra has seen especially among women working in male-dominated industries like finance and banking.
Her point is direct: this isn't a mindset failure to be fixed with more affirmations or more meditation. A genuine oestrogen deficiency, for example, can lower serotonin and dopamine and slow metabolic rate: biochemical shifts that meditation alone won't reverse. Naming the actual cause is what allows for an actual solution.
Why "Doing Less" Beats "Doing More"
Perhaps the most counterintuitive part of Alessandra's approach is that most clients don't need another supplement, another exercise plan, or another wellness habit stacked on top of what they're already doing.
She describes new clients arriving with a life that's like an overfilled canvas, a habit from a naturopath here, advice from a podcast there, a recommendation from a health coach layered on top, with no space left, and a persistent undercurrent of guilt about not doing enough.
The Clay, Not Canvas, Approach to Behaviour Change
Her reframe: think of the client as a piece of clay, not a canvas. The work isn't adding another layer, it's taking things away, one small change at a time, then observing what settles before making the next adjustment.
This mirrors a broader principle in behaviour change, small, sequential 1% adjustments tend to be more sustainable and far less overwhelming than an all-at-once overhaul, particularly for business owners already stretched across running a company, managing a team, and often a family as well.
Building Authority: Why Alessandra Recommends Writing a Book
Asked what advice she'd give her younger self starting out in practice, Alessandra's answer wasn't about clinical technique. It was about business positioning: get over yourself, and get a book written sooner rather than later.
Her reasoning, echoed by peers who've written multiple books, is that authoring a book is one of the most effective ways to shift from being seen as a consultant to being recognised as a thought leader, which in turn supports higher rates and deeper client conversations, since prospective clients arrive already understanding the practitioner's core ideas.
Alessandra is currently finishing her own book, covering the energy-signature component of the DNA Performance Framework, with a second planned to cover the resilience and stress-signature material. She has also previously co-authored a mental health resource with Dr. Amy Silva and contributed a chapter to a leadership book on the post-pandemic workplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DNA Performance Framework?
It's a coaching model developed by Alessandra Edwards that maps four personalised "signatures" (energy, stress, athletic, and diet) to help clients build routines suited to their own genetics rather than generic wellness advice.
What are "energy signatures" and how many types are there?
Energy signatures describe how a person's energy rises and falls through the day. Three types discussed include the Supernova (bursts of high output followed by crashes), the Electric Star (sustained high output needing frequent short breaks), and the Shooting Star (sharper energy swings benefiting from regular small protein-rich meals).
Why do high-performing women experience unexplained exhaustion?
Alessandra points to exhaustion that persists despite adequate sleep, often paired with brain fog, as a sign of a deeper biochemical or hormonal pattern rather than simple tiredness or lack of willpower.
Can perimenopause really affect confidence at work?
Yes. Hormonal shifts during perimenopause, such as declining oestrogen, can lower serotonin and dopamine and slow metabolism, changes that can present as loss of confidence, motivation, or sense of self, particularly in demanding leadership roles.
How can genetics inform diet and exercise timing?
Genetics can influence factors like how quickly the body clears caffeine, which foods provide sustained energy, and which times of day are best suited for exercise, deep focus work, or rest, all of which the DNA Performance Framework maps individually.
Where can I learn more about Alessandra Edwards' work?
Alessandra shares practical tips through her website newsletter and is active on LinkedIn. She is not active on other social platforms, having stepped back from them to focus her energy on client work.
Conclusion
The throughline in Alessandra Edwards' work is that exhaustion, sleep disruption, and confidence loss in high performers usually aren't failures of discipline, they're signals worth listening to, often with a genetic or hormonal root that generic wellness advice was never built to address.
Her DNA Performance Framework offers a more personalised lens: understand your own operating manual first, then make small, deliberate changes rather than piling on more habits. For the business owners, executives, and thought leaders she works with, that shift alone tends to be the most relieving part of the process.
Work With Jane Anderson
Want to go deeper on building sustainable high performance as a leader or practice owner? Explore more conversations with experts like Alessandra, learn about coaching and mentoring support through 1:1 Coaching, or listen to the full conversation in the Podcast.
Key Takeaways from Today’s Episode:
-
Host Jane Anderson introduces the podcast, targeting experts aiming for greater impact, influence, and income. She highlights the importance of personal connection in business and expresses gratitude for the audience's participation. Anderson reflects on the demand surge observed in the past weeks, particularly before the year-end. She discusses the shift in CEOs' focus towards high performance and productivity in 2024. Anderson shares her recent experience at the Women with Influence retreat in Queenstown, New Zealand, emphasizing the importance of community support. The episode teases a special guest, Alessandra Edwards, a leading expert in performance and wellbeing.
-
Jane Anderson welcomes Alessandra Edwards, praising her extraordinary work in performance and wellbeing. Edwards shares her journey, growing up in an unhealthy household and battling mental health issues. Despite conventional treatments, she pursued a career in corporate marketing but felt a deeper calling. She embarked on studies in health science, delving into Ayurvedic medicine and genetics. Edwards reveals her personal struggle with burnout and discusses her genetic predisposition as a "supernova," experiencing cycles of heightened productivity and low mental health. She emphasizes the importance of understanding one's genetic blueprint and making informed choices for vitality.
-
Anderson and Edwards discuss the misconception of experts as perfect beings and the value of lived experiences. Edwards shares her ongoing journey of self-care and acknowledges the ongoing challenges, including recent personal struggles. She emphasizes the importance of understanding one's needs and maintaining routines for mental health and business success.
-
Edwards elaborates on the ongoing nature of personal and business maintenance. She compares it to spinning plates, where different aspects require attention for optimal performance. Edwards highlights the significance of exercise and nutrition for mental health and business success, emphasizing the need for periodic adjustments and self-awareness in maintaining balance.
In these sections, Jane Anderson introduces her podcast, features guest Alessandra Edwards, and delves into Edwards' journey, emphasizing the ongoing nature of self-care and business maintenance. Edwards shares her personal struggles and professional insights, stressing the importance of understanding one's genetic blueprint and maintaining routines for optimal performance.
-
Alessandra and Jane discuss the importance of self-acceptance in achieving personal freedom. They emphasize how acceptance allows individuals to deal with their shortcomings rather than pushing them away. By accepting oneself, people can make informed choices and take actions not out of compulsion but out of self-love. They highlight the connection between acceptance and personal empowerment, stressing that acceptance leads to greater freedom in decision-making and behavior.
-
Jane asks Alessandra about the common challenges faced by thought leaders, particularly women in middle age. Alessandra identifies exhaustion as the primary issue, characterized by mental and physical fatigue that affects productivity and cognitive function. She also discusses sleep disturbances and the impact of hormonal changes on confidence and motivation. Alessandra emphasizes the need for individuals to recognize and address these challenges rather than attributing them to aging or accepting them as inevitable.
-
Alessandra introduces her DNA performance framework, which helps individuals understand their genetic blueprint for optimal performance. She explains different energy signatures within the framework, such as wake-up and sleep times, exercise preferences, and dietary needs. Alessandra describes how these signatures inform personalized recommendations for managing energy levels throughout the day. She stresses the importance of personalized approaches to well-being, debunking the notion that individuals must adhere to generic self-care practices. Alessandra advocates for tailored strategies that fit individuals' lifestyles and preferences, rejecting the idea that self-care should be an added burden for women.
In these sections, Alessandra and Jane delve into the significance of self-acceptance, common challenges faced by thought leaders, and Alessandra's DNA performance framework for personalized well-being strategies. They emphasize the need for individualized approaches to self-care and empowerment, challenging the notion that exhaustion and hormonal changes should be accepted as inevitable consequences of aging.
-
Alessandra challenges the notion that managing menopausal symptoms requires adding more activities to one's routine, such as meditation or affirmation cards. Instead, she emphasizes the importance of addressing hormonal deficiencies and metabolic changes that occur during menopause. Alessandra rejects the idea of overwhelming women with additional tasks and encourages a simplified approach to well-being. She likens women's lives to canvases cluttered with various recommendations from health professionals and coaches, causing guilt and exhaustion. Alessandra suggests viewing oneself as a piece of clay and removing unnecessary elements to create space for essential self-care practices. She advocates for making small, incremental changes tailored to individual needs, focusing on foundational aspects like sleep before considering additional interventions.
-
Jane praises Alessandra's approach, highlighting the empowerment that comes from simplifying well-being strategies. She emphasizes the relief experienced by clients when they realize they don't need to add more tasks to their already busy lives. Alessandra shares her analogy of treating clients like clay, removing extraneous elements to reveal their true needs. She advocates for gradual changes and a compassionate approach, recognizing that many clients are already overwhelmed by their responsibilities. Alessandra advises focusing on one aspect at a time, allowing clients to integrate changes into their lives gradually. She reflects on her own journey in building her practice, stressing the importance of overcoming self-doubt and focusing on one's passions.
-
Alessandra discusses the transformative impact of writing books on her practice and personal brand. She encourages women entrepreneurs to consider writing books as a means of establishing authority and expanding their reach. Alessandra shares her experience of co-authoring books during the COVID-19 pandemic and the significance of sharing expertise through written content. She emphasizes the value of narrow, focused books that address specific problems within niche markets. Jane acknowledges Alessandra's dedication to her upcoming book and expresses support for her endeavor. Alessandra provides information on where to follow her work, including her website and LinkedIn profile, highlighting her commitment to providing pragmatic well-being tips and research-based insights.
In these sections, Alessandra and Jane explore the importance of simplifying well-being strategies, empowering clients through gradual changes, and the transformative impact of writing books on professional authority. They discuss Alessandra's approach to personalized care and the significance of focusing on foundational aspects of health and self-care. Alessandra shares her experiences in building her practice and offers advice to women entrepreneurs looking to establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields.
-
In the final moments of the conversation, Jane expresses her gratitude for Alessandra's leadership and compassion, acknowledging the transformative impact of her work. Alessandra reciprocates the sentiment, reflecting on the importance of embodying the principles she teaches and continuously seeking personal growth. She emphasizes the role of shared experiences and empathy in facilitating meaningful connections and guiding others towards their best selves. Alessandra acknowledges the challenges she has faced in her own health journey and the motivation they provide to help others. She encourages listeners to release feelings of guilt and embrace self-compassion, urging women to let go of societal pressures and prioritize their well-being. The conversation concludes with a reaffirmation of Alessandra's message: no more guilt, only empowerment and self-care.
In this final section, Alessandra and Jane reflect on the significance of empathy and self-compassion in well-being, emphasizing the importance of letting go of guilt and societal pressures. Alessandra shares her personal journey and commitment to helping others navigate similar challenges, highlighting the transformative power of self-awareness and compassion. The conversation ends with a reaffirmation of Alessandra's empowering message, resonating with listeners to embrace self-care and release feelings of guilt.
Full Show Transcript:
-
Hi there, my name is Jane Anderson and this is the Jane Anderson Brand New Show. It's the podcast for experts who want to have greater impact, influence and income for their businesses and careers. As experts, we know that people buy from people and work with people who they know, who they like and who they trust.
So I'm so glad you're here because it's that time again now to really amplify how you show up in the world. Hi there and welcome to the Jane Anderson Show. I'm so thrilled that you are here and part of listening and perhaps watching the show today.
This is the last recording of 2023 and it's been a really big year and I'm sure that you probably have similar reflections. Perhaps, if you've been trying to grow your practice this year, it's been a really interesting year. In terms of things like the demand that we've seen, we've seen a big surge in demand over the last couple of weeks off the back of this quarter.
We saw probably a bit of lightening of spending from organisations earlier in the quarter but coming into these last couple of weeks of the year, it's like everybody's going, okay, hurry up, we've got to spend this budget, we're going to put the conference on or we're going to do these programs. The last couple of weeks have been extremely hectic for many of our clients and for those who are in the Women with Influence community and it's a bit of a reminder that the quarter's not over till the quarter's over. Hopefully you've spent this quarter getting your clients organised for 2024.
I think this next year will be an interesting year. I've just finished presenting the trends for 2024, the things that stand out. There was actually a report that came out yesterday for the 2024 CEO report that said CEOs have probably come to the party in terms of working out that, I don't know how we're going to do this remote working.
2023 was the year of CEOs saying, right, everyone's coming back to the office. It looks like 2024 CEOs are conceding that and now their focus is around, particularly around high performance, productivity and being able to get the most out of their teams. That will be interesting to watch in terms of the topics for next year.
I've also just come back from the Women with Influence retreat that I ran, which is our Living the Dream retreat. So it's something that I've always wanted to do. We can just come back from Queenstown in New Zealand, which is just such a beautiful place.
And it's one of my favourite places in the world. So it was really fun to be able to take some of the ladies from our Women with Influence community, head over there, have a bit of fun, talk shop and for them to really get to know their board of directors, the people who are around them and supporting them and cheering them on. So we had a lot of fun over there.
But today is, we have a very, very special guest and I can't wait to share this guest with you. I've been really looking forward to interviewing our guest today. So she's a leading expert in the DNA of performance and wellbeing and dedicated to empowering high performing leaders to harness their genetics and biology for optimal health and vitality.
She has over 16 years experience in the field. She's guided high level leaders across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US and helping them to really tap into their genetic blueprint to unlock boundless energy and resilience. She works closely with leading CEOs, executives, founders and business owners, and she offers a really distinct approach by combining her expertise as a clinical nutritionist and epigenetic coach with her background as a UK corporate executive, all the while, while integrating the latest scientific advancements.
When she's not working with clients, she pushes her own personal boundaries. She trains for triathlons and she's always sort of trying the next step with her health and longevity. This dedication extends to a rich home life.
She has two kids and a really supportive husband, two cats and a lively Hungarian viz lap called Scooby. She has first class degrees in health science, along with professional qualifications in genomic wellness, herbal medicine, neuro linguistic programming, yoga and meditation instruction. She is the go to professional for leaders serious about elevating their health performance and longevity.
I hope you enjoy this interview with the one and only Alessandra Edwards. All right, Alessandra, thank you so much for joining us today. An absolute pleasure.
[Speaker 1]
I'm really honoured to be here, Jen. I'm really looking forward to the conversation.
-
Alessandra, you are one extraordinary woman. I mean, we've worked together side by side as colleagues and friends. And today I just think back to when I first met you and I was like, holy moly, look at this, what she's doing.
This is just extraordinary. The work that you have done and at the time you went overseas and you did a lot more study, which we'll go into. So, my God, are you happy to, I can't tell the story better than you, but are you happy to share a little bit about how you got into starting your practice and where this all came from?
Yeah, absolutely.
[Speaker 1]
And it's actually a question I don't get asked very often. I would really love to answer because, as you know, I work in the sphere of high performance and well-being. And generally, when people don't know me, they have this impression that I possibly have a perfect life and that I never drink any alcohol or that just I'm like doing five hours a day.
So, what I want to share is that I actually, I grew up in Italy, so I was raised in a French household, but in Italy, bless my parents, probably one of the most unhealthy households that I've ever met to this day. So, my mum was an awesome human being, but she smoked three packets of cigarettes a day. My dad was a smoker, my mum being French, she loved wine.
So, there was a lot of rich food and just a lot, really not into health at all. So, I really grew up kind of poo-pooing anything that was well-being based, exercise based, because in my household, again, that, you know, sport exercise was not prized or valued. So, what happened was that through a series of events, I lost my dad when I was quite young.
And so, when I got to my 20s and I experienced really significant mental health issues, so I had the diagnosis of major depression. I won't go too much into detail, but I just want to share that there was basically this upbringing that was as far removed from well-being as you could imagine. And through the sheer exhaustion of my body and the mental health issues, I had to literally claw my way back out of this dark hole.
Wow. And unfortunately, whilst conventional medicine helped me and allowed me to be functional again, it didn't really allow me to feel vibrant and vital and take me back to a place where I knew was really my real self, which is a joyful, happy, excited person about life. And so, when I started a professional career, working in corporate, I worked in marketing management, and then I moved from the private sector to the public sector.
But I still had this feeling of there was more to my life, that my purpose in life would take me outside of kind of government or corporate management. And so, I actually went back to uni part time while I was still working in corporate and I became interested in Ayurvedic medicine, which is basically a body of very traditional medicine. And so, I started from there and loved it so much that I actually decided to take a deep dive and go back to uni and get a second degree in health science.
And that's when my passion really exploded, because particularly once I deepened my understanding of genetics and I went back to do some further studies, I really realized that we are all beautifully flawed in our own natures, right? And those wonderful flaws end up being our greatest assets in life.
[Speaker 2]
Wow.
[Speaker 1]
Yes. And so, I went through a major burnout in corporate. This is what the doctor said, you're exhausted, you're a classic burnout, all of that.
And what I understood once I studied my own genetics is that actually, I'm what I call a supernova, okay? So, and lots of people are, about 25% of the population are supernovas. I was actually speaking to a client today when we looked at her genetics and she was supernova, and I was explaining supernovas have this capacity to burn really brightly, right?
So, they'll go through cycles of heightened productivity and almost mania, right? Signing up their name to every single sheet and project and wanting to do more and feeling invincible, but lacking endurance and stamina, right? So, then these cycles are followed by often cycles of low affect, so low mental health.
So, that dopamine, serotonin, everything goes low, right? So, through this experience, for me, and understanding what it feels really like to have no energy and having low mental health and no resilience, while still having all this inner drive to want to succeed and offer myself in service to the world, it made me a lot more empathetic towards people. You are very empathetic.
Oh, thank you. So, I really care deeply about those in my life, whether professional relationship or in a personal relationship, and it really allowed me to understand that it is okay. We're not all born as wonder women and supermen.
There are some people who can just have got incredible endurance. For them, maybe that chink in the armor might be more related to then having more compassion and more emotional connection, right? Everyone has a journey.
So, these weaknesses are not weaknesses. They truly are strengths, and they are the little crimes that I always invite my clients to follow. Go and explore that because that's where likely the biggest meaning and contribution you can bring into your life, like a bit of a long answer.
You'll find, you know, you're not that succinct.
[Speaker 2]
No, but it's incredible, Alessandra, because you're right. We see the surface sometimes pretty easily when it comes to working with experts, and we go, oh, they're so perfect or so good at what they do, and they were just magically born this way. And it's easy to think, oh, my God, I'm never going to be.
That can be scary for people to reach out for our help as well because they feel like, oh, she's going to judge me. She's going to think I'm so useless, you know, particularly when you're so high-performing. But you've had to really take, you've trod the path.
You've had the lived experience to get there, which is just so incredibly valuable.
[Speaker 1]
And honestly, to share with your audience, it's an ongoing journey. So it's not something that you ever fix. We all have different tendencies.
Right. And so the important thing is really, truly, first of all, understand. So get the information about yourself to understand what I call your blueprint, your operating manual, and then you can make informed choices, yes, to decide what behaviours, I call them boosters and buffers.
So what enhances your vitality, what detracts it so that you've got almost like this thermometer, this gauge to work out where you're at. And then you've got the operating manual to really understand. And for me, too, is a journey.
So obviously, I've shown up here today. I've done my hair because I knew I was coming up on Zoom. I put a really nice suit on and put some makeup on.
I didn't look like this when I woke up this morning. Just so you're always like that. I'll bring my husband on to my video so he doesn't look like that in the morning.
After 20 years of marriage. But of course, we want to, and also I'm French-Italian, so I like putting on my lip-bead, right? I said to my husband, I'm on my deathbed.
I still won't have grey hair. I'll do my hair dye. But each to their own.
I just want to share that also, I still have to do this, work at this. Absolutely. Just sharing with you just before the call, right?
Last month, I just had some life personal challenges that have kind of thrown me off my balance. And I've started to feel some of the older mental health issues coming up. A little bit of depression starting to suck me in.
But what gives me great comfort and makes me feel safe is that I know what I need to do. So I know who I need to reach out to. I even know some specific supplements that help bolster my biochemical pathways, if you like.
But it's an ongoing journey. The same as right with your audience. When you're a solopreneur, when you're running a practice, it's not something that you write the newsletter once or you do a buskout event to invite new clients into your practice once and that's it.
Our specific practice is that you teach that become part of an ongoing maintenance and routine, right? It's the metaphor spinning plates. So what's the most important spinning plate you need to do first?
So from a business perspective and from a personal performance perspective, it will be exercise. The number one thing for my mental health, right? That right, 80% of the challenges become a lot more manageable, right?
If I've got more energy, then I'll work on my nutrition. That will be my second spinning plate. But once we've got them spinning, yeah, you kind of need to go and give it a little twirl.
I like it. Yeah. So yeah, so that's what it's about.
It's self-acceptance. At the end of the day, it all boils down to what do I know about myself? What is it that I don't like?
And the chances are, if you don't like it, it's because you're not accepting that side of you. Right.
[Speaker 2]
Wow.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 2]
And once you've got acceptance, then that must be a big part of getting people to acceptance and then going, okay, well, now that I can accept it, I can deal with it. Whilst I keep not accepting it and just pushing it away. It will keep coming back.
It will keep coming back, right.
[Speaker 1]
That's the thing. It's basically, we tend to almost like, not to go too woo-woo, but energetically, we tend to attract more of the things in our life that we focus on. So if we are intent on not liking an aspect of us, or even using language like, I'm never good at this, I'm terrible at this, or I wish I was more like this.
Chances are life will actually throw you more chances to experience that side of you that you're so attached to.
[Speaker 2]
Right.
[Speaker 1]
And with acceptance comes great freedom. Yes. Because then you truly become the agent behind your choices.
So if I choose to get up early in the morning to get on my bike, yeah, I'm doing it not because I need someone. I don't post these things on Instagram and stuff. I used to.
And once I became truly accepting of who I am, I just, I don't need that validation. I do it because I know that if I don't, I don't feel as good. And so it no longer feels like something that I have to do.
I do it because I really want to. Yeah. Because I've accepted that part of me that tends towards depression.
Right. So I do it because I love myself and I want to take care of this person. And the kindest and most loving thing to do is to get her out of bed, right.
Push that car onto the seat of the bicycle, go for a ride. In love rather than, oh, I'm doing this because someone's forced me to. Yeah.
[Speaker 2]
Alessandra, it's an incredible story because you are what you teach. There's so much congruence. And not that I'm saying that people aren't congruent, but everything you talk about aligns so much with yourself.
And you're always about, I hear the way you speak with me and others that you talk the way you always talk about your clients. You always talk about them with such care and kindness and compassion. And yet you have just this power and strength in your conviction about what support they need and what they need to be able to make that happen for them.
What do you find you've had so much experience working with people like us, particularly women who have thought leadership practices, consulting businesses, solopreneurs, where we're pretty much it. Our practice doesn't survive if we're not running optimally. What do you find that people come to you often saying?
You've worked with so many thought leaders, experts in their field. What are the big common ones that come to you and say that the challenges that they're experiencing?
[Speaker 1]
The number one challenge across the board, and this is both in terms of thought leaders, executives, and I work mostly with middle-aged women and men, mostly women, is exhaustion. But it's an exhaustion that doesn't resolve just with a bit of sleep. And it's the kind of exhaustion that literally people feel in their bone and in their brain.
And so they become really concerned because this is no longer just that fatigue that goes away with a bit of coffee. It's actually something that starts to affect their brain. And they call it fog.
It's like a fog descending. So they might find that they're repeating themselves with clients or they've forgotten. I had a client the other day, and she'd actually forgotten the name of the client.
So she could place that, but she was in this coaching session, and she just could not remember the name of the client. It's quite concerning. The second thing is sleep.
Right. So a lot of the people that I work with, particularly when they're in the phases of really growing their business, sleep is a bit of a concern. And rather than falling asleep, so the majority of people don't have problems falling asleep is more waking up in the night.
Yes. Either multiple times or not being able to go back to sleep and then really ruminating and just rethinking things. And then what happens is that they get into the cycle of they wake up the next day, they feel terrible.
So they just reach whatever tools they can grab that their brain makes them feel like this will give us energy. And then so whether it's like going from one sugary snack to the other or having way too much caffeine that their body can cope with, because the clearance of caffeine in the body is genetically driven. So some of us can metabolize caffeine quickly.
Some of us don't. So the caffeine will make you feel wired. It will build up and then make you feel wired for two to three days in a row.
And then that affects their sleep again. So it becomes a little bit of a vicious cycle. They're the top two things that people talk about.
What's not generally talked about sort of in the initial phases and then starts to come up is particularly with middle aged women and women who are going through hormonal changes, you know, perimenopause changes. And I actually see this when I work also with very high level executives. So they don't like to talk about this.
There's a little bit of shame around this, but it's a little bit of a loss of confidence. So we all have imposter syndrome. I don't think I've ever met someone who doesn't have imposter syndrome, particularly business owners, solopreneurs.
So I think up to a certain extent is a normal part and part. It's like a rite of passage. We've all got to get over ourselves and just, as you say, just, you know, just do it.
But this is a bit different. So that becomes amplified. So there's a real loss of confidence that and a sense of loss of self or I'm not.
I used to have that kind of hunger. I no longer have that motivation. And like, who am I?
And so that really starts to affect how they see themselves in the world. And for some women, it can cause them to retreat with a lot of women who work in male dominated industries. So finance and banking, and that can become a real problem because they no longer put the hand up for assignments and they retreat and that that further affects the sense of self and confidence.
And they just put it down to aging. And it's not true. All of that can be changed.
No one should feel like that. We're all entitled to a seat at the table. We're all entitled to speak our piece.
And isn't it wonderful that we live in such a mosaic world that everyone has a piece to contribute? Right. So I'm a big champion for women to say, no, no, no, no, no.
Don't accept that. This is not you. There are changes afoot and you don't have to just to sit down quietly.
Yeah. And no longer have your seat at the table. You've earned it.
You're entitled to it. You're going to get it. Yes.
[Speaker 2]
And so, Alessandra, I remember back when you spoke in our Women with Influence day, it was very early days when our Women with Influence program, you kindly came to the Gold Coast and you were, and I remember the ladies being blown away by the solutions that you bring, particularly at back then you were talking about the four kind of key type of profiles and the genetic coding and things. So are you happy to share a bit about that and how you've been able to really identify, you talked about yourself like a supernova. Are there other categories that people are and how do you sort of work through that to help people?
I love that. And please stop me because once I... I know, I love listening.
[Speaker 1]
I could do this all day. I love it. Turned out to be like a 90 minute podcast.
So briefly, I have a working frame to, if you like, made genetics really accessible to people so that we don't need to use big words. And so something that becomes like a real working model. And within that, if you like, this model is my DNA performance framework.
And so the ladies who listen to this will be familiar with a general definition of high performance within a professional context. I know you have a lot of clients that work in leadership. So they'll be familiar with the idea that high performance basically is just related to exceptional levels of productivity, efficiency and success.
And that's that side of things. And that's great performance. We need to balance that.
Right. So that productivity capability, all of that within high levels of well-being, vitality and resilience and relationships. OK, what I see in practice is, in fact, is a lot of the former.
Right. So a lot of people that are very productive, working all hours, being successful. But when you actually scratch a little bit under the surface, what you find out is that they are exhausted, fraught relationships, loss of connection and irritability, moods, all of that.
So that is not a high performing life. So in my DNA performance, I like to give guidance in terms of let's help you understand who you really are. So what's the operating manual?
OK, so on one side we have different signatures. So we'll have the energy signatures. So that's one of them.
And then we have a stress signature. So it tells me basically at baseline, what kind of resilience, how do you deal with stress? Are you a high pressure kind of person or do you like to have your stresses sort of more spread out?
What's your athletic signature? Right. What's the best exercise to give you vitality?
What's your diet signature? What are the best foods for you? Your personalized fuel?
OK, so in terms of the energy signatures, then generally we have six. So my world. So two are related to the best times for you to wake up and go to sleep, best times for you to exercise, best time to protein, best time to do cerebral work where you really need to engage that or best time to fill your calendar with conversations, right?
So it's conversations because there will be different neurochemicals that are active at different parts of the brain. So it's really different parts of the day. So it's useful to know how to then schedule your calendar right around this, right?
And then there are four energy signatures that tell us how your energy goes throughout the day. So are you more of an electric style kind of person that you just go, go, go, go, go? So for you, your operating manual will be more about heavy little breaks, right?
Little respite pauses throughout the day. Like I call them pit stops. So they're like formula one drivers and they need a little pit stop here and there.
So we might coach them to have 30 seconds of breathing, right? Grounding yourself, look away from the laptop. Then there might be someone who's a shooting star.
And for them, their energy is more like woo, woo, woo, like this. And for them, it's more related to their metabolism, right? So for people that actually need to eat fairly regularly, every couple of hours, a bit of protein snack would serve them really well.
They also need to sweat a bit more than other people, right? So we might counsel them around that. The supernova we've talked about, the client I saw today, she was supernova.
So, and she's go, go, go, go, go. So she's a practice owner, right? She's pretty successful.
Go, go, go, go, go. And we're talking about quarterly. She actually needs to take a week off.
[Speaker 2]
Right.
[Speaker 1]
And not take the week off to go on a cruise of Antarctica and just go. Three countries in 10 days. Not, it would be more like, right.
Book yourself into Gwingana or Golden Door or a week to just regroup and come back into yourself. There's lots of different things. I won't go through all of them because it possibly won't be useful.
So that's just a little snapshot of one of the types of signatures. And then, so the advice becomes really personalized. And then it means you don't have to do everything.
You have to be the person that has to, you have to meditate. You have to exercise. You've got to eat vegan food.
You've got to take supplements. I mean, who's got the time? Like, I've got two kids, a dog, two cats, a husband who's my fourth child.
I run a practice. Do all of this. It's insane.
Like the amount of health and well-being. Self-care has become now the last piece of the puzzle in terms of how we punish women. Yeah, right.
It's not enough. You are not enough. Right.
The problem is not the culture. The problem is not that you're not got support. The problem is not this.
The problem is you. So all these perimenopausal women I'm working with. There's now gazillion coaches all talking about how you manage the menopause.
Yes. They give you affirmation cards. Right.
So you need to do more. You're in your forties. You need to meditate.
Right. Too stressed. You need to come down.
It's like, no, you have an oestrogen deficiency. You can meditate as much as you like. You will have an oestrogen deficiency that will lower your serotonin and your dopamine and will slow down your metabolic rate.
So we need to talk about that. Yes. Because we'll give you another list of all the things that you're currently not doing.
[Speaker 2]
I love that. I love that you have just gone so deep into this work because it's not about doing more. And I think that's what we always feel like.
Oh, I just feel like I've got this never-ending to-do list and I feel guilty that I'm not able to get to those things. And I'm coming last and I'm trying to keep my head above water and I'm trying to continue to look after my clients and I'm trying to do all these things. But actually, I think that's so refreshing, Alessandra, to go, actually, you don't need all that, all that.
And I think that's the power. You're a classic example, I think, of the power of going deep into your expertise and removing. We think about, yeah, there's a lot we need to add.
But for us as experts, if you can come in that narrow and deep and you understand your customers and to help them navigate that, that's just music for people's ears to go, does that mean I don't have to do that anymore? And I don't have to do that anymore. I'm not going to waste my time on that.
And that just must feel like a weight just lifts for them.
[Speaker 1]
So true. I'd like to think of the analogy of these women come in and they've got almost like a canvas, right? And it's full of painting.
So the naturopath has told them to do this, right? And the psychologist has said this. And then they've read an article and then the podcast.
And then there's a health coach. And so they have a canvas that's absolutely full of their lives, right? And there's no space, right?
So you're doing all of these things and you're still feeling exhausted, disconnected. You've lost your sense of self. And overarching to this is that you're feeling so guilty, right?
You're feeling guilty when you're taking 20 minutes to go and have a bath by yourself. You're not helping your child doing the homework or whatever, right? You're feeling guilty because you've just expressed your emotions of frustration, right?
And maybe your partner says to you, oh my gosh, you're so cranky, right? So all these levels of guilt. So what I say is like, it's actually more about instead of thinking of it as a canvas, imagine that you are a piece of clay.
Okay. Right. And you've come in.
And so all these people have just basically added things, right? To your clay. What we need to do is actually we need to take away, right?
Take away this. So while you're doing that, don't bother doing that. Don't even bother doing exercise right now.
Let's get you back to basics. Let's get you, for you might be sleep. Let's get you sleeping.
What would it take to improve the sleep? What do we need to do to get the sleep? There was a lady who asked me, she wanted us to work on her energy.
Okay. And so she said, though, in the past, I've just been given a lot of energy supplements. Why are you not giving me energy supplements?
And I said, well, I can give you energy supplements, but then we're not going to go know whether we fixed the cause of your. Because I could give you an energy supplement now you feel better, right? But then in six months time, if you stop taking the supplement, all these things are still building up.
Right. So let's take things away. Let's make tiny little changes, like 1% changes, and then let's see what settles.
Right. What's left. And then we can make another 1% change.
Yeah. Yeah. So bit by bit.
[Speaker 2]
And I think that that's a lot more empowering to win it. Well, it's not as overwhelming to Alessandra. Okay.
If I'm going to come in gung ho and do this, it's like, right, I'm committed and I've got to do that feels so much more manageable.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah, absolutely. And then it's a journey. So just get the one thing done.
Right. Get that right. Has that become part of your being?
Are you ready to do another little piece? Yeah. Right.
Let's do that. Look, some people are ready to go gung ho and say, no, I want it all. Tell me, like, I'm really interested in longevity.
So tell me absolutely everything I need to do to live a long and healthy and happy life. But the reality is the vast majority of clients, especially when they're business owners or practice owners, they are often in overwhelm already. They're trying to really build the business, increase the revenue.
As you know, there are so many moving parts to it. Often they don't even have an assistant. They haven't even got to the stage of having an assistant or they're in the process of getting an assistant.
So they have been to do the work and train someone at the same time. Often they have also either kids or sometimes they're blended families. So they're also inheriting another side.
Right. So there is just a lot. And I just really like to work with that compassion of let's simplify here.
Wow.
-
And so, Alessandra, coming back around then to your practice. So you've come a long way since you started and you've seen a lot of things. You've got a great team member who is your business manager, who's been with you for some time and to go into your practice.
And if you had to think back for those who are listening and going, Wow, Alessandra is just this phenomenal woman. She's got this incredible practice. She didn't wake up with it.
She's worked so hard to get it to where it is now. What advice would you have, particularly for women, middle age, you really get this market. What advice would you have?
If you think back to when you started your practice, what advice would you have had for yourself if starting again and for others?
[Speaker 1]
Possibly there are so many. I probably think of like 20 things that I would tell my younger self, but I'd say possibly the number one, I'd say get over yourself. Oh, really?
Yeah, I would say to myself, just get over yourself. Just do it. Just do it.
Don't overthink it. There are no mistakes here. Yeah, there are no mistakes.
Nothing bad is going to happen. And so trust the thing that you're passionate about and go deep with that. Okay, that's really important.
So I'd say that's the number one thing. The second thing that flows onto it is get onto your book really quickly. I so wish I'd really got over myself in terms of writing the book.
Okay. So everyone who runs their own practice, who has written multiple books, have confirmed to me that writing books is possibly the single most significant impactful thing that's happened to their practice in terms of revenue. It has taken them from being a consultant into being a thought leader, and that has allowed them to rightfully charge the rates that they deserve.
Yep. It has opened new markets and it's allowed them to have deeper conversations because people have already read the book. That's right.
So you could never talk someone through your whole book in the space of a meeting. Yep. They've already done that.
So you can go already deep. They understand your IP and what you can do for them. So I'd say just write the book, even if it's not a big one.
I didn't understand that. Just write a little cluster book to solve one problem for one small market.
[Speaker 2]
That's such great advice because you actually co-authored a book. Sorry, my camera's gone a bit blurry. I don't know why.
But you've actually co-authored a book too. I remember when COVID first hit and got in and went right. I think you're a bit like me where I went, okay, I'm not coming out of this time going, we binge watched everything on Netflix and we've run out of things to watch.
We better make use of this time.
[Speaker 1]
That time was really busy for me, actually. The first two lockdowns in Melbourne, really, really busy. Because I work in the health and wellbeing space, I actually had a lot of clients that were reaching out.
They were obviously worried for themselves and also for their teams. Okay. So I did quite a lot of work in that time.
And then one of my clients that you know, Peter Cook, I provided him and his family sort of a lot of information. And so he said, oh, this would actually be really useful. You should write a book.
And I thought, well, yes, that's a great idea. But also, I think that the psychological wellbeing is really important. And so I contacted Dr. Amy Silva, as you know, is a great friend of mine. And I said, we should do this together. Yes, we did that. But also in another lockdown, I contributed to What the Hell Did We Do Now, which was another leadership.
Yeah. Gary Butler and Alex Hagen about the landscape of leadership emerging from the COVID pandemic. But you know, they were not, they're not my books in that sense.
So this next one is really mine and really taking the first chunk of the DNA of performance. So it's actually all around the energy signatures. Yes.
And then there will be a second one that will deal with the resilience piece and the other pieces. So I'm very excited about that.
[Speaker 2]
That's fantastic. Alessandra, I know how hard you're working on trying to get through those final stages of your book. So we all totally empathize with you and where you're at.
And, you know, you're just chipping away. I love seeing you, you just, you just squirrel. Yep, it's just a bit more.
It just means it's more that was in there today than there was yesterday. So that's okay.
[Speaker 1]
Absolutely. I am excited about this venture. And I know this time is definitely going to happen.
So 2024, the book will come out.
[Speaker 2]
Yeah. Great. So we'll keep an eye out for it.
So Alessandra, for those who are listening, if they want to follow you, if they want to, they want to hear about when your book comes out, where would you like them to go? Yeah. So a couple of places to reach out.
[Speaker 1]
So the first one is on my website, alessandraedwards.com. So I put out a regular newsletter, trying to make the tips quite pragmatic. Fabulous by the way.
Thank you. Thank you. The second one is LinkedIn.
So it's just LinkedIn.com slash Alessandra Edwards. They're the two places that I'm most active on. I used to do a lot more on social media.
And then as a way of simplifying my life, I just really decided just to let go of, was more of a mirror than anything else. And I might revisit in the future, but I just found it wasn't really helping me serve my audience. And it became more of a stressful feature in my life.
So I'm not really on social media. The only place on social media I'm at is actually my personal Facebook page because I'm in a lot of dog groups on Facebook. I mean, absolutely join me on my personal Facebook page if you want to have dog tips, but otherwise anything related to wellbeing and performance, then it will be through my newsletter or LinkedIn.
[Speaker 2]
Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Alessandra. We are cheering you on and we can't wait to see your book come out next year. You're doing really important work.
And I know anyone, Alessandra, by the way, you have such a signature effect on people that when you see people that you have worked with, the first question is, are you working with Alessandra? It's really phenomenal, the work that you do with people and you just make them, they're already fabulous and what you're able to do with the people that everyone just adores you. They love what you do.
They love the transformation that you help them with. You have so many fans in our community. So keep on doing the work you're doing.
We are big fans. Just keep going, keep leading the way. This type of, I think the other thing too, is you are so innovative.
You're always looking at the research. You're translating everything for us all the time and that continuing to remove noise. And we just follow what Alessandra says.
Just read what Alessandra says because you really come with that, not only the insight and the understanding, but that beautiful compassion and kindness and empathy that you can help us to really be our best. So keep leading the way. Wow, Jane, I'm going to re-listen to this.
[Speaker 1]
I'll put this on my brochures for now. The really, really kind and meaningful thing for you to say. And I'm going to take it and cherish that.
And I will continue to do this work because I'm sure the same as you, right? We become masters of the knowledge that we need the most for ourselves. And so I've not been blessed with the greatest genes or health or upbringing when it comes to that.
And so constantly seeking that in a way that can be digested and utilized in my life. And then we become better masters by teaching it to others. So that's why we talk about the things that we're passionate about, right?
Because we hear ourselves and then we embed this knowledge. So thank you so much for giving me the time to share a little bit of what I do and what I'm passionate about. And I hope it's useful for someone, if anything, to realize, just let go of your guilt.
Let enough women of the world take your guilt, package it up, yeah? Put it in a box and put it in the bin. Right.
[Speaker 2]
You said it. Alessandra said, no more guilt. No more guilt.
Love it. Thanks so much, Alessandra. Thank you.
Most of the guests interviewed are current or alumni members of the Women With Influence community. Click here to find out more
