Who’s That Gal: Hanneke Antonelli, Author, Business Coach

Name: Hanneke Antonelli
Age: 39
Pronouns: she/her
Occupation: Life & Business Coach
Currently living in: Stoneham, MA
Hometown: Ceres, South Africa
Currently reading: The Hunting Wives by May Cobb
Favorite workout: It changes, currently it’s Pilates.
I never leave home without: Well, these days it’s hand sanitizer, but also lip gloss and mascara!

Let’s start with the basics. You are both an author and a business coach. What made you want to become an entrepreneur? 

I refer to myself as an accidental entrepreneur. I wanted to create a career where I had freedom to do what I want when I want to do it. Something where I could use all my strengths and creativity. So I left my cushy Wall Street job as FX Money Broker, and started my first business, Pilates with Hanneke.

Your background was in Finance and you spent many years on Wall Street. Do you think that prepared you to start your own business(s)?

 Yes, working with rich, powerful clients, and people from various cultures, helped me hone my communication skills and ability to build strong connections. Building a successful business is all about building honest and real relationships with people.

You’ve relocated to the Boston area by way of South Africa and London. What made you travel around the world and ultimately end up in Boston?

 I had a huge student loan to pay-off. Unlike the U.S., students in South Africa borrow money directly from commercial banks with higher interest rates. I moved to the U.K. to take advantage of the stronger currency and economy, and to travel. While on vacation in Portugal, I met my now husband, and as a result, I transferred from London to New York, and when we got married in 2009, I moved up to Boston. 

Can you tell our audience more about your work as a business coach and how you help clients?

 I help established service-based business owners with agency-type companies to get out of the day-to-day client-facing work and expand into their role as visionary and business growth strategist.

 I use my honed coaching skills, as well as my 16 years of business experience growing businesses in various industries to shift clients' perspectives. In our co-creative sessions I help them to cultivate a strategic mindset, while also providing the practical business strategies that help them to scale profits without giving up freedom. 

You’ve written a book, the Up Level Project, can you tell our audience in your own words what they can expect from reading your book? 

My intention in writing this book was to bring a business and leadership book to the market that was real, honest, and went way beyond the dry boring business strategies and facts.

 The Up Level Project highlights my personal journey of overcoming depression and starting from scratch in multiple cities around the world, to finally building two award-winning businesses in under five years.

 By sharing these vulnerable stories, I show the reader all the strategies I used to overcome these challenges. I also share practical tools to help entrepreneurs reach their full potential in their businesses as well. These exercises help readers unlock higher profits and freedom in their companies.

Tell us about the Up Level League?

 As I mentioned earlier, I’m all about creating community and connection. In my Up Level League small group masterminds, I bring together established agency-owners. In this intimate container we focus on personal development and the crucial business strategies that need to be implemented to scale effectively long-term. 

Any insights or words of encouragement for someone thinking about a substantial career change and/or starting their own business? 

 Starting and growing a business or making a drastic career change comes with a massive learning curve -- give yourself grace and be patient. The journey is so worth it! Ask for help and hire support as often as possible. 

What are the biggest challenges and biggest rewards of what you do?

 The biggest challenge is talking my talk and walking my walk. Effectively what I help clients to overcome are often the very demons that I battle with and face every day. Ultimately, I know that allowing myself to be human and sharing those vulnerabilities with clients help them stay the course and do the hard things. 

 The biggest reward: When I see my clients do the thing they thought was impossible. Holding the space of “anything is possible” and guiding them to it is such an honor. And it’s so gratifying (and inspiring) when you see them step into that strategic mindset and owning it for themselves.

How do you balance your career and your personal life knowing you have a business, podcast and are now an author? 

 I set firm boundaries around my time. I check in with my gut and energy levels often, make adjustments as needed, and strive to incorporate joy as often as possible in everything I do. I work on letting go of the idea that we’re working towards a specific destination and try to focus on making the journey fun and enjoyable. I also accept that there will be sprints, and crazy times where I’ll feel ungrounded and trust that I know how to get back to calm and centeredness. 

What’s next for the Up Level Program? What’s next for you personally? 

 The Up Level Program is the companion course to The Up Level Project, where I go deeper on the foundational work of the book to help entrepreneurs cultivate the leadership skills to grow their teams in a strategic way that will optimize productivity and profits while freeing up time. What’s next for this program? It’ll be getting a spruce up over the summer and I plan to run it again sometime in the late summer/early fall when my expansive retreats will also be making their return.

 What’s next for me personally? A trip somewhere fun as soon we can. I’m hoping I can make it to South Africa once the borders open again. 

If you could give our audience one ‘pro’ tip about finding what’s passionate for them to turn into a sustainable business, what would that be?

 You don’t need to “find” your passion. It’s not somewhere or something outside of yourself. It’s already inside you (along with the “how” to turn it into a sustainable business.) All you need to do is let your practical brain be quiet for a little bit and allow yourself to dream without all the “buts” and “shoulds” that tend to fog up all those great ideas and clarity.

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Julia Blanchard is a content contributor for JUGs by night, by day she works a Senior Technical Program Manager at HERE Technologies. You can follow her @jcblanchard6 on Instagram.

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