Growing Every Day: Marissa Andrada Of Culture Master & Kindness Catalyst On What We Can Do To Grow Every Day
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Move every day: Get moving! Take a walk, swim, climb, jump, drive, scoot; it doesn’t matter what your individual movement looks like but make sure to move and make the time for movement. Moving will lead to fresh thought and new experiences.
Growth is an essential part of life, both personally and professionally. Every day presents an opportunity to learn, evolve, and become better versions of ourselves. But how do we seize these opportunities? How do successful writers, leaders, and influencers ensure they are constantly growing and improving? What daily habits, practices, or mindsets contribute to their continual growth? In this interview series, we are talking to authors, leaders, influencers, and anyone who is an authority about “What We Can Do To Grow Every Day”. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marissa Andrada.
Marissa founded her namesake People & Culture consultancy, channeling her 25 years of corporate leadership experience at world-class brands, including Chipotle, Starbucks and Kate Spade, to support leaders as they scale their respective businesses through building capability and empowering their people. Marissa currently serves as Board Director at Krispy Kreme, Inc., where she chairs the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. Marissa is also shaping the people strategy at WUF World; as Chief Transformation Officer.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
That is an important question! My ‘origin story’ truly set the tone for how I live my life, including my morals, values, work ethic and empathy for others. I am a proud first generation American. My parents both worked very hard to provide for our family. My Mom sponsored each one of her sisters so they could also come to America. And when they did (leaving their families behind), the first jobs they would secure were minimum wage, retail or fast-food jobs. Growing up in a multi-generational immigrant household, with English as a second language, I grew up labeled as a ‘minority’ in school and was separated from my peers. However, my parents placed high expectations on me and expected me to take full advantage of the ‘the land of Opportunity’ in America. My parents sacrificed so we could move into a better neighborhood and have access to improved public education. This experience helped shape my passion for supporting frontline employees and insuring their access to workplace equity and educational opportunities.
Can you tell us a bit about what you do professionally, and what brought you to this specific career path?
As a Culture Master & Kindness Catalyst, I have spent the last two decades working with major brands to forge equitable and rewarding work environments for team members. I challenge organizations to prioritize people and wellness with a 360 approach in an effort to optimize performance and drive business results. I have worked in executive HR leadership roles at organizations including Chipotle, Starbucks, Kate Spade and GameStop. I am a Board Director at Krispy Kreme, Inc., and the Chief Transformation Officer at WUF WORLD, a start-up that helps business leaders take better care of their people by also caring for their pets. What brought me here is truly my origin story! Growing up with admiration for the “American Dream” and understanding the value of opportunity through my immigrant parents, combined with my direct experience with inequality drove me to pursue a career where I could leverage my past and help fuel others’ future as a champion for diversity and equity.
Thank you for all that. Let’s now turn to the main focus of our discussion about Personal Growth. To make sure that we are all on the same page, let’s begin with a simple definition. What does “Personal Growth” mean to you?
Personal growth means having perspective. Personal growth is about progress and moving forward, no matter how small or big an action may be; it is the continual hunger and pursuit towards intentional momentum. This pursuit may be uncomfortable because it will be unfamiliar but having the curiosity to continue and navigate the unfamiliarity, i.e., being comfortable with being uncomfortable, helps one create space for what will become personal growth. When you intentionally create space, you will ultimately experience personal growth.
Why do you believe that it’s important to commit to growing every day?
Committing to growth every day is an essential part of our overall wellbeing. Change is inevitable; it is truly a fact of life. The choice to grow in a positive way has endless benefits on your mind, body and energy. Growth is a mindset — not only does it impact what you think, it impacts how you feel.
What are the key upsides for those who mindfully engage in a journey of personal evolution?
There are so many upsides to personal growth and evolution, when you truly allow yourself the space and time to grow, your energy becomes magnetic. The good energy and high frequency you put out into the world will come back to you in the most unexpected and lovely ways. Creating good energy creates good momentum which will also inspire others around you to become the best versions of themselves.
When we stop evolving in intentional ways, what do you think are the biggest downsides?
The downside is that it is detrimental to our health and wellbeing and can be physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially devastating. If we stop growing and challenging ourselves, we stop living and thriving. There are small ways to combat the negative, from a simple nature walk to taking a few moments to just breathe; it is all about consistent intention, movement and momentum.
What specific practices, if any, do you have in place to ensure that you don’t become stagnant in life?
I love this question! As I have mentioned before, the power of movement is a huge factor of growth and so I make sure to move every day. This can be a simple walk with my dog, or as grand a global adventure overseas with my husband. Movement leads to experience. I love to experience new things, and I encourage everyone to try something new each day. Read a new book, try a new restaurant, take a new route to work, say hello to a new neighbor — it doesn’t have to be something that costs money or is a challenge. Integrating something new into each day can lead to new experiences, an expanded mindset and exposure to fresh thinking.
Is there any particular area of your life where you are most committed to growth (e.g., spiritually, professionally, socially, internally, relationally)?
There are a few areas of growth that I am most committed to. Personal and relational growth are capacities that I intentionally tackle each day. I recently lost my Dad, and it was devastating. He was a huge light and influence in my life. I took time and space for myself to feel the loss and grieve. This tremendous loss helped me to reframe my thinking about life, intentionality and time. With my Mom still here, I am intentionally planning and scheduling visits with her so we both have something to look forward to. I travel often and, despite my busy schedule, I make sure to have the space and time I need with my Mom. I am also very aware of professional, social and cultural growth carving out the time and space to use my skills for the benefit of others, I often ask myself, “how can I contribute and how can I make a difference today?” These simple questions have led to some of the most exhilarating and life changing experiences, including a celebration for the descendants of iconic Civil Rights leaders and activists at the White House in February that I helped coordinate.
Here is the primary question of our discussion. If you could offer five tips to readers on how to stimulate and perpetuate self-growth, what would they be? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1 . Move every day: Get moving! Take a walk, swim, climb, jump, drive, scoot; it doesn’t matter what your individual movement looks like but make sure to move and make the time for movement. Moving will lead to fresh thought and new experiences.
2 . Create intentional space: Create an environment for your evolution to thrive. This can be mental space, physical space or time — or better yet a combination of all three. I love my home office because I have filled it with meaningful and inspirational items from my travels that help remind me that this world is so much bigger than the screen in front of me.
3 . Try something ‘new’ each day: This is easy, yet we often forget to branch out of our comfort zone and being uncomfortable is what helps promote personal growth. Cook with a new ingredient, walk in different shoes, visit a new store — your ‘new’ something can be small or big, it doesn’t have to cost any money, but it can inspire completely new thought and energy.
4 . Befriend people from generations different than your own: This is a practice I love, and I recommend everyone have friends from different generations. The perspective you can gain from someone older or younger is invaluable. Diversity of thought can foster new ways of thinking and processing.
5 . Have a routine: Form a habit and continue to evolve it as needed. Routines will help ensure movement and so much simple joy can come from the consistency of practice.
What advice would you give to someone who feels stuck and unsure of how to start their personal growth journey?
Start moving. It is okay to have periods of self-doubt and experience challenges in life. We are living in difficult times and navigating enormous personal and professional societal pressure. If you can just start to move a little each day, the rest will follow. Get up and take a short walk or do some jumping jacks by the side of your bed. Make time, even 5 minutes to move in your morning. With a consistent practice of movement your body and mindset will improve, the momentum will grow and the ‘stuck’ feeling will transform into change and progress.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
This is easy… I would inspire a movement of kindness. The amount of influence a simple smile or a kind word can have is truly amazing. I wish more kindness upon our world.
How can our readers further follow your work online? Follow me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissaandrada/ join one of my upcoming LinkedIn Live shows, Culture Cast and learn more about my brand at https://www.marissaandrada.com/.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Growing Every Day: Marissa Andrada Of Culture Master & Kindness Catalyst On What We Can Do To Grow… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.