I was negotiating away the unborn baby's life.

I mean, I thought, like, let me do anything to keep my husband alive.

Is there some, like, deal I have to make with the universe in order for me to keep him alive?

He, you know, was my soulmate and the person I wanted to be with and I didn't have attachment to any child just yet.

And so what I found during that process is that we were in it together.

He and I, my late husband and myself.

So we were having a lot of conversations around it, but I had to visit the worst case scenario and not live there.

So I had to live in the present and not live in the what's the worst thing that could happen.

He could die, but not sitting there all the time allowed for us to almost utilize that two and a half years as this beautiful transformative time for not just the two of us, but ultimately the three of us and I'm so grateful that I'm going to say he had the wisdom to guide us there and that I could go there with him.

I'm Sreeni Rao and this is the unmistakable creative podcast where you get a window into the stories and insights of the most innovative and creative minds, started movements, built driving businesses, written best selling books and created in

insanely interesting art. For more, check out our 500 episode archive at unmistakablecreative.com.

Andrea, welcome to the unmistakable creative. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us.

Yeah, thanks for having me, Sreeni.

It is my pleasure to have you here. So I was referred to you by Sherhail Huay, basically considered the podcast whisperer of pitching guests for the unmistakable creative at this point since she's the only person I've never said no to.

So, you know, she's just given us a steady stream of amazing guests. So no pressure at all.

No pressure.

I wanted to start asking, what did your parents do for work and how did that end up influencing what you ended up doing with your life and career?

That is such an interesting question. I would say that my grandparents were the biggest influence, but my parents were sort of living the American dream.

They were the first, I come from Jewish descent. So they were the first generation to really make money in a different way and live a middle class life.

My mom was a teacher. My dad was a salesman, but my grandparents were more intellectuals and they were musicians and they spent all of their summers.

They bought a little cottage in the Berkshires, which is where the Boston Symphony spends their time.

And so I grew up spending every summer with my grandparents, their friends, some of whom were Holocaust survivors. So they really engaged in the joy of life.

...