Today we’d like to introduce you to Shea Bart Andreone.
Hi Shea, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story starts in the borough of Queens in New York City. I grew up with a musician for a mom and a science teacher for a dad. There was a lot of importance put on education and creativity, and both still resonate with me today. I moved to LA soon after graduating from college in NY and have been here since. I was a competitive and then professional figure skater. I acted off-Broadway for nearly a decade. I then moved to the West Coast and continued to act in TV, films, and theater. While I love NY and travel back often, LA is where my husband, children, dog, and I call home.
My writing, from my book “Carry On,” my own blog (Twig-Hugger) to numerous articles in mom and parent-oriented platforms (The Next Family, Motherfigure, LA Parent, Your Teen Magazine, and Chicken Soup For The Soul) has given my views and opinions platform to reach interested and like-minded eyes and ears.
I have been a featured speaker at Expressing Motherhood, a live storytelling event held in major cities across the United States. I have shared my story about living with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). I dealt with HG for all three of my pregnancies and have participated in research studies through HER, the world’s largest network of HG survivors and experts. I have also been the guest speaker on several podcasts to discuss the difficulties of getting and staying pregnant.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Does anyone have a smooth road? If they do, I would like to meet them.
I reflect on my life so far and I am pleased with what I have accomplished and am grateful to be surrounded by a loving support system, but I don’t take for granted that I worked for the success I have had and I didn’t always have the amount of love around me that I do now. It was not a smooth road. In my twenties, I was determined to be successful with my career and put so much focus on it that it comprised all the other areas of my life. In my thirties, I was focused on building my relationship and starting a family. I didn’t know how to multi task and although it seems like some people could “have it all”I had trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. It has taken me a while to get the hang of it, but after much effort, failed attempts, determination, and perseverance I now have a family, a career, and love.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a writer, speaker, and author. I am also a mother who knows the agony that can come with trying to have a baby. My journey to becoming a mother to two healthy children was punctuated by pain, hospitalizations, and death. My book Carry On offers a candid, intrepid look into the real stories of the many people for whom this universal drive to start a family doesn’t come easily. These stories are an exploration of these people’s love, hope, and desperation to keep trying.
I am most proud of being able to put into words the challenges that I and others go through and hope that they provide comfort, connection, and a community for anyone who needs them.
I am also so proud to call myself a mother. It has been one of the most coveted role in my life and I am so grateful that it came to fruition. It was looking pretty shaky there for a while. My family means so very much to me.
What sets me apart from others is my stubbornness, sometimes to my detriment. I am no quitter and even if I have to pivot along the way, I get where I need to go.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Other people’s stories inspire me. I love podcasts like “This American Life”, “The Moth” and Wiser Than Me.” I love books and read whenever I can sit down. Even if it is five minutes, I can’t wait to see where the next page leads. These all fill my heart and my creativity because if I can get thrown into someone else’s story and it moves me then it resonates. If I can do that with my own words and my own story then my writing reaches people the way these other’s spoke to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sheabartandreone.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carryonthebook/
- Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/carryonthebook/
