London resilience coach Andrea Marsh on why capable women still wait to lead

London-based Andrea Marsh has helped more than 500 entrepreneurs and business owners build resilience, confidence and performance. Here, she talks about pressure, leadership and the self-doubt that keeps capable women waiting.

Andrea Marsh’s authority is built on practice. Founder of Deeper Connections UK, she is a nine-time award-winning high-performance empowerment and resilience coach, author and motivational speaker whose work spans mindset, mental wellbeing, communication and female empowerment.

Her route into coaching was shaped by more than three decades working closely with people in the hair and beauty industry, followed by her own family’s experience of serious mental health crisis. That combination gives her work a practical edge: resilience as something people use under pressure, not just talk about afterwards.

In this exclusive interview with the Female Motivational Speakers Agency, Marsh explains why resilience needs flexibility, what separates high performers from those who plateau, and why women should stop waiting for permission to lead.

Question 1. How should leaders understand resilience beyond the expectation to simply “stay strong”?

Andrea Marsh: “It's a really good question because I used to think staying strong was about being a rock, being unchangeable, being unmovable, and whatever happens, everyone says to you, "Oh, you've got to stay strong. You're a really strong woman."

“But I think there's a massive difference between staying strong and being resilient. Because I do a lot of teaching on resilience. And I believe that resilience is the ability to bounce back in the face of struggles, challenges, adversity, and having that flexibility to be able to pivot when you need to.

“Not just in your personal life, but also in business as well. And I think resilience is a bit like water. It's about being fluid enough to find a way around obstacles and whatever life throws at you, you're able to face it and deal with it without actually crumbling.

“It's also about how you weave yourself back together afterwards because we all go through struggles and challenges. And I think it's important to take those struggles and challenges, learn from them, and just move forward in a positive way.”

Question 2. What distinguishes high performers from those who stop progressing?

Andrea Marsh: “I think high performers have a different outlook. High performers have a different mindset. The people I see that are plateauing are usually the ones that are terrified of losing their expert status.

“They work so hard to get to the top of that one hill that they won't look at the mountain next to it almost. They feel that if they do that, they've got to start at the bottom again.

“Whereas high performers have a bit of a weird relationship with failure because high performers actually embrace it and they seek it out as a challenge rather than as a weakness.

“And from my mindset point of view, I like to think that I'm a high performer. And I'd rather be the dumbest person in the room of millionaires and giants than be the smartest in a room of peers because that's how we learn and that's how we grow.

“So prioritising growth over your ego, over your own ego, I think is the crucial piece every single time.”

Question 3. What prevents more women from fully occupying leadership roles?

Andrea Marsh: “There are quite a few things I think that hold women back from stepping into leadership. I think the first one is we're often carrying this invisible backpack of I should have done this, I should have done that, or I should have another certification, or I should wait until the kids are older, I should be more like them. All of these shoulds.

“And sometimes women wait for a formal tap on the shoulder to be able to go out and lead. And the truth is that leadership's claimed, not given.

“It's about what holds us back is the myth that we need to be polished. And we don't. We just need to be powerful. And I think that's the difference because we don't do that.

“A lot of women don't do that. And it's just about needing to be present and willing to take up the space that we've already earned because there's a lot of powerful women out there that are frightened of taking that step outside of that comfort zone and into their limelight.

“And there's a lot of shining women out there that are perfect examples of that. And I like to think that the only thing that holds women back really is their own self-doubt. I suppose a little bit like what I said earlier.”

Question 4. What do you want audiences to leave your talks ready to do?

Andrea Marsh: “I want to be the person that where they walk out of a room, they walk out and remember me not as being the person on stage of, oh, she's a really good speaker. I don't want people to say that. I want people to walk out of that room and go, "Oh my god, what she said will stay with me for the rest of my life."

“What I want people to have permission in themselves to take those next brave small steps when they feel vulnerable to inspire themselves rather than look at inspiration externally as well.

“I want them to feel that they've got that inner strength and their own resilience to be able to look at themselves in the mirror and go, "Do you know what? It doesn't matter that I'm not perfect. I still rock and I'm still good enough and I'm still worthy and I can still go out there and make a difference."

“And I want them to go away with tools, not just walk away on a high. Does that make sense? I want them to feel like they've taken something valuable from what I say to them and it's not just a lasting memory for them, but it's something that they can maybe use in their own world, their own practical world as well. I want to make a difference.”

This exclusive interview with Andrea Marsh was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.