In the inaugural episode of The V Spot, host Andrea Mancuso, founder and CEO of Intentional Healing and Wellness, introduces herself and the podcast’s mission. She shares her Brooklyn upbringing, education in psychology, and 14‑year career as a school psychologist before stepping into full‑time entrepreneurship during the pandemic. Andrea defines vulnerability—distinguishing it from weakness or full disclosure—using Brené Brown’s three‑component model of risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. She recounts a pivotal personal crisis involving her father’s death, panic disorder, and a conscious decision in 2016 to embrace vulnerability as a leadership super‑power. Over the past five years she has practiced intentional healing, emphasizing forgiveness, courage, and self‑acceptance. The episode outlines the V Spot’s purpose as a safe, empathetic space for deep, courageous conversations, inviting listeners to join the community via email, social media, and reviews. The tone is conversational, reflective, and motivational, with a hopeful, supportive sentiment throughout.
Chapters
Hello everybody and welcome to The V Spot. I'm your host, Andrea Mancuso, founder and CEO of Intentional Healing and Wellness. I created this podcast because I believe vulnerability is our true superpower, and I want to promote a safe space where we can come together and engage in conscious and courageous conversations to encourage individual and collective healing. In the V Spot, we will choose courage over comfort as we speak our truth and pave the way for others to do the same. For each episode, we will unite in empathy and embrace our superpower as we spend quality time together here in the V Spot. Thank you for tuning in.
Hello everyone, I'm Andrea Mancuso, founder and CEO of Intentional Healing and Wellness. Thank you for tuning in to episode 1 of The V Spot. I want to begin this podcast series by sharing a bit about myself. As time goes on, you'll certainly learn more about me, but for now, let's start with some basics. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, a native New Yorker. I know, I know, my accent told you that before I did. But as you can see, I can't hide it. And actually, I no longer want to. I'm a proud Brooklyn girl. My fellow New Yorkers know the significance of representing our borough. It's a New York thing. And as the late, great Biggie Smalls once said, "If you don't know, now you know." So who am I? Such a simple yet complex question to answer. Well, I'm a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece, a cousin, a friend. I'm a coach, facilitator, consultant, mental health advocate, school psychologist. I love all things psychology. I love to write, take photographs. I love music. I sometimes communicate in lyrics, as you can see. I went to Bishop Ford High School in the early '90s. A good Catholic girl. Well, not quite. It's amazing they didn't kick me out. I was a real badass back then. Hard to believe, right? It's true though. I guess a leopard can change their spots after all. I attended St. Francis College. My parents encouraged me to go there, and after a lot of pushback, I finally agreed. Of course, I thought I knew better, but they clearly knew that I needed the convenience of a local college. Wake up, stroll to school, and make my way back home again. Anything more complicated at that time would have ended my story in a very different way. In my sophomore year, weeks before my father died, he knocked on my bedroom door as he always did when he passed by my room, and I responded. My father was in his final days when he entered my room and sat on my bed to have a talk with me that night. He knew I was struggling with his illness and was terrified to lose him. What I now know is that he was terrified too. After a long heart-to-heart, he asked me to promise him that I would finish college and keep going. I didn't even know what keep going meant, but I promised. My father was my best friend, and though I didn't know how I would go on in his absence, I promised him that I would. I graduated from St. Francis with my bachelor's in psychology in 2001, just as I promised. Then went on to get a master's degree in therapeutic interventions and a professional diploma in school psychology from Fordham University in 2007. I'm now fulfilling the requirements to be a mental health counselor here in New York. I've been practicing as a school psychologist for the past 14 years, though I recently resigned from my position to step into my role as CEO on a full-time basis. Yes, we're in the middle of a pandemic, Yes, I gave up the stability associated with my position. No, I don't have all my next steps figured out. But if the pandemic taught me anything, it's that tomorrow isn't promised. So I no longer wanted to ignore the voice that was getting louder in my head and the nudge that was getting stronger, both encouraging me to step fully into my passion and purpose. A vulnerable act, to say the least, right? But as I've said, I believe vulnerability is our true superpower. So with my invisible cape on, I decided to leap and trust that the net would appear. And in many ways, it already has. So let's talk about vulnerability. The word is thrown around a lot these days. I want to start by clearing up some common misconceptions. Vulnerability is not a weakness. Now, I recognize that depending on your upbringing and culture, this goes against everything you've learned. We'll be doing a lot of unlearning together here in the V Spot. My request is that you stay open to setting down some beliefs if you come to identify that they no longer serve you. Vulnerability is also not full disclosure. It's not about telling people everything. So then what is it? Vulnerability is the willingness to show up and be seen. It's the practice of being uncomfortable. It's having the courage to show up when you can't control the outcome. Are you ready for all of that? I know my fellow controllers are cringing right now. But if you look vulnerability up on the internet, you will find an abundance of definitions. Brené Brown is a clinical social worker who has spent much of her career studying vulnerability. She describes it as having 3 components: risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. For the purpose and context of this podcast, we'll go with Brown's definition of vulnerability: risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. I was first introduced to the power of vulnerability 5 years ago. No mistakes that I'm recording the first episode of this podcast 5 years later to the week that I first came face to face with vulnerability. It changed my whole life. When I was first introduced to vulnerability, I was blown away at how uncomfortable I was with risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure. Well, uncomfortable might just be the understatement of the year because actually the idea of risk and uncertainty terrified me, if I'm being completely honest. I'm a controller, an analyzer, a planner. I like to know what's next. I enjoyed the predictability of my comfort zone back then, but I was knee-deep in panic disorder when I first met vulnerability. I had no idea how unfulfilled I was. Depressed, anxious, insecure, completely playing it safe. But no magic happens inside of the comfort zone. So needless to say, there was no magic happening in my life at that time. But what landed me in such a space, you might be wondering? Well, a series of hurts, pains, betrayal, trauma, self-destructive behaviors, fear, shame, You name it, it played a role at that time. But I was fed up with my own shit back then. I was hurting in ways that I couldn't even put into words. So I entered into a new contract with the world. I called myself forth in ways that up until then I didn't have access to— trusting, vulnerable, courageous. So I vowed to be just that, a trusting, vulnerable, courageous leader. You see, my contract was a different type of commitment. It was a way to rise above my current circumstances, a way of calling myself out, calling myself forth. It was my opportunity to level up, a reminder to get into the arena of my own life. That was August of 2016, and since then, well, I'm absolutely in the arena of my own life, taking consistent risks, Facing my fears, allowing myself to be seen, experienced, accepting that I'm not for everyone, embracing my worth, a journey all in itself, realizing my value, owning that I am enough, facing setbacks, catching curveballs. It's been 5 years of intentional healing, 5 years of choosing courage over comfort, 5 years of taking responsibility for my life. 5 years of really looking within and many times not liking what I see. My journey involves forgiveness, grace, acceptance, love, persistence, honesty, courage, trust, and so much more. I'm incredibly grateful for the insight perspectives, support, strength, empathy, determination, blessings, lessons, opportunities, but most importantly, for the people. I have amazing people in my life— family, friends, mentors, coaches, guides, supporters, clients. My path regularly crosses the paths of individuals that I admire, respect, and cherish. Creatives, leaders, change agents, visionaries, brave hearts, people who are out here working very hard to leave the world better than they found it. Men and women who are committed to service and the gift of contribution. The V Spot is one of my latest gifts to the world. It's a sacred space where I will speak my truth, share my experience, and invite some of the most phenomenal people I know to share a bit of their genius too. We won't talk about vulnerability here in the V-Spot. We'll demonstrate it. We'll dig deep together. We'll laugh. We'll cry. We'll have aha moments. We may have breakdowns. We'll certainly have breakthroughs. We'll have epiphanies and everything in between. So come as you are, imperfectly perfect, real, messy, human. You see, each of us have experiences and stories, but those experiences and stories don't define us. They don't impact our value or determine our worth. They're merely our experiences and stories. So let's share them. Here in the V Spot, we'll own our truths, share our insight, connect in compassion, process our pain, shine light on our demons, spend time with trust, have stare-downs with shame, examine our joy, embrace our creativity, choose proactive healing and wellness, celebrate ourselves, honor each other, and let the trauma go. But most importantly, we're gonna do all of that while embracing our superpower. So buckle up, or for my adventure seekers, don't. Make yourself comfortable, or maybe I should say uncomfortable, and come along for this special ride. You're in good hands, and I promise you'll be in great company. As the African proverb suggests, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Here's to our journey of intentional healing and wellness. May we travel far and travel light together. Thank you for tuning in to episode 1 of The V Spot. To be continued.
Thank you for spending quality time with me here in the V Spot. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, write a review, and tell a friend to tell a friend to meet us in the V Spot. To stay connected and in the loop about all special events, join the email list at www.intentionalhealingandwellness.com. You can also join the Intentional Healing and Wellness community on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Catch you soon.
