In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Vera Anderson, founder and performance coach at Global Elements Consulting and creator of the Financial Confidence Mastermind for female entrepreneurs. Vera shares a formative story from her youth: a high‑school ambition to become an international executive that later materialized in a demanding private‑equity role in London, prompting a crisis during a market crash that led her to re‑evaluate success beyond titles and finances. She emphasizes the importance of envisioning an ideal business and lifestyle, taking incremental steps toward that vision, and trusting one’s gut rather than forcing decisions. Vera advises cultivating curiosity and the habit of asking for what you want, and identifies helping others as the key to personal happiness. She recommends the book The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, highlighting its message about breaking self‑imposed upper limits, and cites a favorite Napoleon Hill quote about mental limitations. The episode concludes with Vera’s contact information: LinkedIn (Vera Anderson), her consulting website (globalelementsconsulting.com), and the Financial Confidence Mastermind Facebook page.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Vera Anderson with us. She is the founder and performance coach at Global Elements Consulting, coaching and consultancy firm for world's elite entrepreneurs, and creator of Financial Confidence Mastermind for female business owners. So welcome to the show, Vera.
Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
Of course. Grateful to have you on. We'll dive right into the first one. The first question I have for you, Vera, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
That's a tricky question. I, I grew up in Russia, so I have a lot of stories from traveling internationally with my grandfather, who was a diplomat. When I was 7 to learning how to garden and grow things from my great-grandmother who's gone through the war. But I think the one story that sticks out in my head, and I think that's the most relevant for a lot of work that I do now, is when I was in high school, I made a decision that I wanted to become an international executive. And I was very adamant about it. I shared it with all of my friends. And about 7 years later, I was based in London. I was an operating partner at a private equity firm and running all over the world, serving on boards, moving millions of dollars around. I was running the treasury. And I had a conversation with a friend of mine from high school who reminded me that I wanted to be an international executive. And at that point, I kind of had a pause because I was working 90-hour work weeks. I was stressed. I was jet-lagged. I did not expect for my dream to feel the way I was feeling. And at that point, I started taking a step back and a lot of things have happened. It was in the middle of the market crash. So I, I had a forced step back, but it really started me on this path of understanding what it is that we want to create in life outside of the financial side, outside of the career, outside of the title, and really focus on what does my lifestyle, what does my ideal world look and feel like. And that's something that I work on with the CEOs who engage me, with the female entrepreneurs who are starting to build their businesses. It's that big vision of how does my life and my business correlate, and, and what do I want to feel? Because a lot of us end up achieving the goals on paper but not achieving that level of internal freedom and success and fulfillment.
And, uh, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
It goes back to spending time on looking at the big picture and really creating the vision for your ideal business, for your lifestyle, and starting to take steps towards that and taking incremental steps. But it's really kind of going into the big picture first and really pushing it out.
And it could tie in, but what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Sure. I find that A lot of the clients that I work with, and just people in general that I interact with, we put ourselves into the state of uncertainty and vulnerability and higher risk in certain situations because we don't follow our gut. You know, when, when something doesn't quite feel right, but because we have ulterior motives, we really want to make it work, we kind of force our way into things. And then they end up costing us time and energy and relationships. So it's really just kind of taking a step back and trusting yourself when the decision or situation doesn't feel right or when it does feel right and then just going for it.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Can we take me back in time? I think it would be two things. One is to really be more curious, because I find it now that the more curious I am, the more I learn and the more I build relationships and the more doors open up to amazing experiences. And the other one is just ask, really. It's amazing what happens when you just ask for whatever it is that you want, and how easily sometimes it just comes to you.
And kind of going a little bit of a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
For me personally, it's helping other people, and it's supporting other people and helping them solve challenges or achieve something great in their life. I, I feel most proud, most excited when I'm able to do that and really taking it outside of myself. Because when you focus on yourself, it's so easy to kind of go down the path and down a rabbit hole instead of just really enjoying what you're creating.
And I'm excited for your answer on this next one. In, uh, what is the best book that you have read and what was the number one thing you learned from it?
Kind of goes back to that, you know, big vision. It's The Big Leap by Guy Hendricks. Have you, have you read that book?
I haven't, but I have heard of it.
Yeah, it's incredible. It's, it's talking a lot about hitting your upper limits. And it's relevant for everything, for your career, for your business, personal development, your relationships, you get to a stage where you kind of get to your upper limit. And then you have two options: you either stay there, or you start exploring what's keeping you there, and then break through. Because in a lot of cases, those limits are not real.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
The favorite quote, I would have to say— there's a lot again, but I'd say Napoleon Hill, said, there is no limitation to the mind except those that we acknowledge. And it kind of goes back to that whole idea of the big vision and what we are able to create with our lives if we don't put self-limiting beliefs on top of it.
And yes, thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and connect with you online?
Absolutely. I am very accessible on LinkedIn under Vera Anderson. It's A-N-D-E-R-S-O-N. I also have a website. It's globalelementsconsulting.com. And if you're a female business owner and looking to increase your confidence in the financial side of your business, take a look at my Facebook page, which is Financial Confidence Mastermind.
Perfect. Thanks again for joining us.
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