Episode 347
Career Conversations with Andrea Putting
Andrea Putting is a passionate explorer on a quest to uncover the secrets of creating a better life. With a background that spans both entrepreneurship and the corporate world, she has gained unique insights into finding fulfilment and purpose.
But what truly sets Andrea apart is her unexpected journey. It led to the creation of Chocolate and Coffee Day for Religious Harmony, an inspiring initiative that brings people from diverse backgrounds together over the simple pleasures of chocolate, coffee, and conversation, dismantling the barriers that divide us. This journey also gave birth to Chocolate and Coffee Breaks, an extension of that spirit of togetherness throughout the year.
She delved into Social Missions, becoming the voice behind a popular podcast and the author of two thought-provoking books: "Compassionate Prosperity: When Success is Not Enough" and "Compassionate Purpose: Discovering a Life of Fulfilment."
But the adventure doesn't stop there. As a seasoned speaker, Andrea has graced countless stages, captivating audiences with their wisdom and insights. Self-publishing opened new horizons, leading to the establishment of a publishing business, Putting Words. Her life is now a captivating and ever-evolving story, guided by a deep understanding of her own identity, strengths, and the opportunities that present themselves.
Through countless interactions with clients, Andrea was reminded that each of us possesses a story worth sharing—a story with the power to touch and transform lives. She firmly believes that by persistently sharing these stories, positive change can ripple through our world.
Andrea Putting lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and pet cockatoo. They have two adult children and two grandchildren who keep her jumping in puddles
Social media links
www.Facebook.com/AndreaPuttingSpeaker
www.LinkedIn.com/in/AndreaPutting
Link to website
www.AndreaPutting.com.au; www.ChocolateandCoffeeBreaks.com: www.PuttingWords.com; www.SocialMissionRevolution.com
Viral Topic: The Power of Introversion
Quote: "Introversion to me is about needing to have your own space and not always about jumping into things, but just to have time to really connect with who you are and what it is that you're feeling before you go out into the world."
— Andrea Putting [00:00:55 → 00:01:05]
The Power of Giving: "When we give of ourselves to somebody else, whether it's individually or as a business, our lives are so much better."
— Andrea Putting [00:02:19 → 00:02:26]
Finding Purpose and Impact: "So I do that, and that works into helping people to find that special social mission that resonates with them, whether that's a volunteering situation or whether it's starting their own social mission and the same with businesses on coming together and finding that and collaborating together maybe with other businesses on creating a social mission and finding a way they can have a greater impact in the world."
— Andrea Putting [00:02:47 → 00:03:15]
"The Journey of Self-Publishing": "Actually, I write 3 books at a time. And so I needed to publish them, but who can afford to publish their own 3 books at once? So I took the self publishing journey."
— Andrea Putting [00:03:26 → 00:03:39]
Viral Topic: Sharing Stories Over Chocolate and Coffee
Quote: "Come and have a couple. Let's share some chocolate and have a conversation. I wanna hear your story. How do you see the world? What are your experiences? What's your story. So that's a lovely little thing. It it's not about me or any money, but I love to share that with the world and hope that people embrace it so that we can get to know each other a bit better."
— Andrea Putting [00:04:08 → 00:04:26]
Viral Topic: Balancing Motherhood and Entrepreneurship
Quote: "I started my journey as an at home mother. I managed to be at home with my children right through their school life. But while I say that, I didn't just sit around and do nothing."
— Andrea Putting [00:05:30 → 00:05:40]
Workplace Satisfaction: "Why is going to work such a drag? Why are people so depressed in the workplace. Why do we get so unsatisfied with what we do?"
— Andrea Putting [00:06:51 → 00:07:02]
The Power of Volunteering: "That's probably the thing that has cemented what I do. It's standing up and putting my hand up and getting involved with people and community."
— Andrea Putting [00:08:06 → 00:08:10]
Saying No to Say Yes: "In order to say yes, I have to say no."
— Andrea Putting [00:09:37 → 00:09:41]
Finding Balance: "When we're doing those things that excite us, they're not draining."
— Andrea Putting [00:10:43 → 00:10:46]
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to the traveling introvert career conversations. This is Janice, and I am here with Andrea Putting. How are you today, Andrea?
Andrea Putting [:I'm good. Thank you. Janice, it's lovely to be here with you.
Janice Chaka [:Yeah. I had to I I always had to pause. I was like, Andrea. Andrea. Because I'm I'm very good at, like, messing up people's names unintentionally.
Andrea Putting [:Oh, look. I did a podcast, and I would get on the podcast, and I get and I would trip over their name. Oh, no. So I get it.
Janice Chaka [:It's like I'm really trying. You don't understand. Okay. So, a question for you. What does introversion mean to you?
Andrea Putting [:Yeah. It's an interesting being with being an introvert. So introversion to me is about needing to have your own space. And it not always about jumping into things, but just to have time to really connect with who you are and and what it is that you're feeling before you go out into the world. One of the things I love about being an introvert is that I don't butt in, because that's something that really annoys me. I sit in a room and I watch people, and they've gotta be they're the ones that have gotta be seen, gotta be gotta talk to the famous this person or whatever, and it's just like, no. That's not really important to me. Yeah.
Janice Chaka [:And is this the right time. Or are they trying to, like, leave or do something? Or
Andrea Putting [:yeah. Yeah. That's a
Janice Chaka [:really good point. And so, Janice. Can you tell me a little bit about the work that you do?
Andrea Putting [:Oh, there are many things that Yes. I I play with. So off the back, I am an author. I have written a couple of books. I've written, actually, I've written 4 books, but I've got those those come from from my my a lot of my stories from my own experience, but also from my podcast. So I did podcast on on social missions, so called Social Mission Revolution. So my books are based on that theory, on that premise that when we give of ourselves to somebody else, whether it's individually or as a business, our lives are so much better. Yes.
Andrea Putting [:We do great things for the world, but our our life is better. It feels good for us, and that changes our life. That changes our outlook. It changes our perspective. And So just by doing that, for us feeling better, that also changes the world. So I do that, and that works into helping people to find that special social mission that resonates with them, whether that's a volunteering situation or whether it's starting their own social mission and the same with businesses on coming together and finding that and collaborating together maybe with other businesses on creating a social mission and finding a way they can have a greater impact in the world. I'm also a speaker and I'm also a publisher. So from writing a book through to because I write 2 book.
Andrea Putting [:Actually, I write 3 books at a time. And so I needed to publish them, but who can afford to publish their own 3 books at once? So I took the self publishing journey. I engaged a coach to help me to understand how to do it best. Mhmm. And now I find myself publishing other people's books. So that's been quite a journey, quite an experience, but it's It's an enjoyable one. It gives me many things that I like to get out into the world. And I also have chocolate and coffee day for religious Harmony, which is a beautiful opportunity for people to reach out to someone who's different to them and say, hey.
Andrea Putting [:Come and have a couple. Let's share some chocolate and have a conversation. I wanna hear your story. How do you see the world? What are your experiences? What's your story. So that's a lovely little thing. It it's not about me or any money, but I love to share that with the world and and hope that people embrace it so that we can get to know each other a bit better And so that also expands into chocolate and coffee breaks because why should we have chocolate and coffee just one day a year?
Janice Chaka [:Wait. Who is going around having chocolate one day a year?
Andrea Putting [:Yeah. Exactly. So It's finding that excuse to bring people together and get to know each other and go, hey. Who are you?
Janice Chaka [:Yeah, we've got
Andrea Putting [:more common work together. How can we discover who who the other person is? And it breaks down the barriers that cause problems in communities, so that's why I like to do it.
Janice Chaka [:Okay. Now my normal question after that is like a misconception, but you have a lot of things going on, so I'm going to go BANG. Before you started writing books and publishing books, what did you used to do?
Andrea Putting [:Oh, what did I used to do? Well, I started my journey as as an at home mother. I wasn't at home. I managed to be at home with my children right through their school life. But while I say that, I didn't just sit around and do nothing. I I went back to school. I studied naturopathy and homeopathy, And then I jumped online when when when the Internet was all bright and shiny and new back last century in the dinosaur era of the Internet. So I started online business. I worked at that for about 7 years and then thought, Yeah.
Andrea Putting [:There's gotta be more than than than this. So I sold my business. I went and Worked for somebody else for a few years as as a business manager, and I was evolving all of my skills that I had learned from naturopathy to computer skills to business, the whole thing. And after a few years, I'm like, this isn't quite it either. Yes. So then next thing was well, When I've had enough of that, I kind of got on the, well, what now? And and went on the exploration of what are we doing? Why is why why is going to work such a drag? Why are people so depressed in the workplace. Why do we get so unsatisfied with what we do? And then that all led to the other work that I do with social mission because that's where I found I found the greatest joy when I started chocolate and coffee day, and it was like, hey. There's something to this, Lynette led to the podcast, led to the book, led to the whole story.
Janice Chaka [:So with all the things that you do, and and, it's great to see that evolution of, like, I did this and then and then I did this and then and now I'm doing this. I didn't get about it, and I'm sure it will pivot in many other ways that you haven't even thought of yet. Can you tell me something that you do regularly that is has changed or has has benefited your career or business.
Andrea Putting [:Well, as I talk about social mission and volunteering, that's probably the thing that That has cemented what I do. It's standing up and and putting my hand up and getting involved with people and community. And that's where you hear what people are wanting, what they need. We connect with people. Connecting with other people in different environments is a really important thing. That's kind of been a very important part of what I do along with one of the important things I do is I write and and keeping that flowing. So I sometimes I just stop writing, and it's and it's kind of I start to feel like there's something missing in my life. It's like, oh, hang on a minute.
Andrea Putting [:I haven't been writing for a while. Maybe if I start writing again, then That might start to flow again. So things like that are really important to me to keep going, keep my connections going with with people, with community, and to continue to express myself through writing, through speaking. They're the most important things for me.
Janice Chaka [:It's interesting you kind of you have to have that balance, and then you you get wrapped up in whatever it is, and, like, oh, I haven't done that thing in a while, and that thing brings me back to center. What is something that you say no to?
Andrea Putting [:I am a classic yes person, so I had to learn To say no, and I actually I actually coined this phrase of in order to say yes, I have to say no. I had to learn to say no because if we have a bigger picture of something we wanna do, if we're saying yes to all these other little things, them. We're not gonna reach that big big picture. So I have said no to numerous things that have come up that would take me away from what I'm doing, where my direction goes. I've been asked to take on leadership roles and things, and I've had to stop and think, well, ship roles and things. And I've had to stop and think, well, is that going to take me away from doing from this path that's important to me. And some of them, I have to say yes because they're just gonna drain my energy. So I have to say no to anything that's gonna drain my energy to take me away from what I really wanna do because when we're doing something that isn't really what we wanna be doing, that isn't taking us towards what where we're going, Then it is gonna be draining.
Andrea Putting [:When we're doing those things that excite us, they're not draining. So there are things that I say no to, things that are kind of everyday because I am a big picture person. And I'm really good at details, but I have to stop dealing with the details, with the everyday details, and go, no. That's no longer my job. I need to give that to somebody else. So it's working the fine line between the detail of what I wanna do and what needs to be done. Yeah.
Janice Chaka [:Making sure
Andrea Putting [:it happens. Yeah. It's just fun trying to work out what the no is sometimes.
Janice Chaka [:Right? And so you mentioned one of the things that you do is that you do public speaking, Internet speaking. So can you tell me some misconceptions people might have about that?
Andrea Putting [:One of the misconceptions is that you have to be an extrovert. Yeah. Because I am not an extrovert. You see me a room of people a year ago, she's definitely an extrovert. So I think that I think that's an important one. I remember seeing an interview once with Billy Connolly, the comedian, and he said he is an introvert. And I was like, yes. Because it's so easy for an introvert to get up on stage and just block out all the people.
Janice Chaka [:Do your thing.
Andrea Putting [:Do your thing, but you're not doing this 1 on ones because sometimes the 1 on 1 can be harder for an introvert trying to think of, okay. What am I gonna say? But you get on stage, and you can just you can just say whatever you wanna say, and the audience to listen to you. And without questioning
Janice Chaka [:till later. And then you're like, oh, no questions.
Andrea Putting [:Yes. All gone. Did you like it? Great. Off. Yeah. So I think that's the greatest misconception, And I'd really like introverts to to embrace being on stage because it is, In a way, it's a safe space to be able to express yourself.
Janice Chaka [:Yeah. I I agree. I use it as a a reason that people then have an excuse to talk to me. I don't have to go find them. They're like, oh, you spoke about blah blah blah blah. And so I don't have to go and talk find people. They will the magnet. It's a it's a little magnet.
Andrea Putting [:Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Because I don't wanna go looking for people. Here I am. This is what I've had to say. You wanna hear more about it? You know where I am.
Janice Chaka [:Exactly. It's a great shortcut. Thank you for that. And last but not least actually, no. I've got 2 questions, because you mentioned about leadership. In your opinion, is are leaders born or cultivated?
Andrea Putting [:A bit of both. A bit of both. So I think we have some innate leaders who are born leaders. However, you can be born a leader, but unless you cultivate that, you're not going to be there. You're not gonna be the leader that people need. You need to put in the hours. You need to put in the training. You need to be up willing to take feedback and learn and develop as a leader.
Andrea Putting [:So it's it's kind of this both thing that happens. You can't just for some people, it can be cultivated, I guess, but I think if you look at most people who find themselves in in leadership positions, there has been a a threat Through their life of that but without that extra cultivation of who you are and what abilities you have, You're not really gonna be a leader, are you?
Janice Chaka [:Not gonna be a good one. Yeah.
Andrea Putting [:No. No. And leadership's also good for introverts for the same reason we talked a speaker. It's like, hey. They will come and find me. Yep. And when I'm not the leader, they don't wanna know about me. So it's like, Okay.
Andrea Putting [:You know who you know who you know who you wanna spend time with because they they'll still keep coming to you when you're no longer the leader.
Janice Chaka [:Right? Yeah. The the official named leader thing. Yeah. Okay. And so final question for you is, in your opinion, is a hot dog a sandwich?
Andrea Putting [:Well, a hot dog is between bread, And I think the definition of a sandwich would be between bread, wouldn't it? So if it's a sausage that's in bread, then it must To be a sandwich.
Janice Chaka [:Alright. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Can you let my listeners know where they can find more information about you and what you do.
Andrea Putting [:They can hop over to my website andriaputting.com.au. I am very easy to find. Just put my name in, Andrea Poutine, into Google, and my LinkedIn search will come up. My My Facebook will come up. Articles will come up. All sorts of things will come up. So
Janice Chaka [:my friend.
Andrea Putting [:World. You've come find me.
Janice Chaka [:Nice. It's nice when you have a name that, like, well, no one else has this name. So Mhmm. I have that luxury as well. They're like, where can I find you? Like, did you even try? Some. This is just one way to find me. Just Google. I'm the only one.
Janice Chaka [:Thank you so very much. I really, really appreciate it. This is Janice other career introvert helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your
