How Did I Get Here?

Traveling The Road To Resilience

Non-Fiction - Memoir
208 Pages
Reviewed on 05/26/2023
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Author Biography

Andrew Fitzgerald is a native of Cork,Ireland and now resides in Oceanside, California. He’s the author of How Did I Get Here?

A global beverage brand builder, Andrew has launched, managed, and scaled some of the world’s biggest alcohol brands through his unique approach with retailers, distributors, and sales teams. Additionally, he’s an expert in negotiation and coaching sales teams in the corporate world.

Andrew has travelled extensively throughout the United States which ultimately resulted in making a permanent move with his wife in 2012. His immigration resulted in many challenges, fears he faced, and the resiliency he demonstrated in facing adversity.

A father, husband, and author, Andrew speaks on what it takes to be successful in the corporate world and how to overcome health crises and other losses.

His experiences allow him to show others how to recover in order to flourish and thrive with resilience.
Andrew enjoys all sports, especially golf, as well as cooking and hiking when he’s not thinking about the next big brand launch.

He’s available to work as a coach/consultant with individuals, teams, and companies in all industries

    Book Review

Reviewed by Rich Follett for Readers' Favorite

How Did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience by Andrew Fitzgerald is part memoir, part guide to wisdom for life, and part call to action for self-advocacy. Fitzgerald offers heartfelt anecdotes from his extraordinarily varied and intriguing life, which has included life-threatening health challenges, emigration from Ireland to America (more than once), and devastating personal losses, all of which he has weathered with tremendous wisdom, persistence, prayer, and the resilience of the title. How Did I Get Here? is written in an effortless, conversational style that readers from all walks of life will relate to easily. Fitzgerald’s advice and his life lessons are truly universal, and his honesty and integrity will no doubt completely disarm all cynics.

Good friends—real friends—as a general rule give advice that resonates as truths we already know and just need to be reminded of to be happier and more productive. This is exactly the type of voice Andrew Fitzgerald uses in How Did I Get Here? At the conclusion of this sage, heartwarming and benevolent book, readers will feel as if they have been counseled by a trusted friend. Fitzgerald has succeeded wildly on many levels with How Did I Get Here? just as he has succeeded wholly in many diverse personal and professional situations. He is a man from whom almost anyone can learn something valuable. Fitzgerald’s skills, wisdom, and insight in How Did I Get Here? are wonderful gifts for anyone willing to open its covers and imagine the possibilities inherent in believing that anything is possible.

Grace Ruhara

How Did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience by Andrew Fitzgerald is an inspirational memoir that readers will appreciate and learn from the extensive life lessons, strategies, and tools to help them gather strength to face life’s challenges. At nineteen years old, death stared Andrew in the face as his heart accelerated abnormally, requiring stopping and restarting. After marrying Jane, they moved to the United States from Ireland, hoping to have a better future. They soon returned to Ireland but later relocated to the United States permanently on the condition that they would push themselves beyond their comfort zones. As a child, Andrew was actively involved in his family’s business, which enabled him to develop an excellent work ethic that served him well throughout his career. He was a global beverage brand builder who worked with big names like Heineken, Cadbury, Guinness, and Smirnoff. While he was still working for Coca-Cola, his company was restructured, and COVID hit, resulting in layoffs that put him out of work. Devastated and frustrated, he fell into depression but came around, managed his thoughts and feelings, and even attained higher levels in his career. Andrew and Jane did not give up hope of having a child, despite the four miscarriages that Jane experienced.

Andrew Fitzgerald offers links to various topics that he discusses. These provide readers with reference sources where they can discover more about specific issues related to his ideas. The author also shares the life lessons that he learned through his challenges. Readers will benefit from the attitude and determination that Andrew had while searching for solutions to his predicaments. Andrew’s journey is a motivational story that will inspire readers with courage, hope, and resilience to overcome life’s challenges instead of wallowing in self-pity. I recommend How Did I Get Here? to readers facing stressful and challenging situations in their lives. Through this story, they will draw strength, hope, and courage to overcome their problems and move on.

Foluso Falaye

In How Did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience, Andrew Fitzgerald recalls his gains and losses and the lessons he learned from life while living in Ireland and the USA. His story began in Ireland, where he fell in love with sports and experienced medical challenges that came close to claiming his life. Andrew was forced to confront adversity, from facing obstacles while attempting to move to the US and dealing with his wife’s miscarriages to defending himself against slander in a board meeting and enduring the challenges COVID-19 brought to the corporate world. Fortunately, Andrew's story is one of triumph and rising above the challenges. As a father and husband with an impressive business career, he writes his story to inspire readers facing difficulties and discouraging circumstances to keep their heads up and keep pushing for better days.

It's clear to see that Andrew Fitzgerald is an intelligent, keen observer when you follow his perceptions about the things he noticed when comparing Ireland with the USA, such as the fast-paced culture of the USA and Ireland's smaller, closer-knit communities. The memoir includes captivating stories from the different stages of the author's life and the various lessons he learned in the process. A summary of these is made available at the end of each of the book's four sections, making them easier to access. I especially loved the advice about going with the flow instead of getting too attached to outcomes, as my goals felt less burdensome after embracing this mindset. How Did I Get Here? is both deeply insightful and entertaining. It's a must-read for travel enthusiasts, business people, sports lovers, and fans of knowledge-packed memoirs. Thank you for this transformative experience.

Astrid Iustulin

In How Did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience, Andrew Fitzgerald tells us about his life and the lessons he has learned along the way. The first thing Fitzgerald reveals is how he died twice, before describing how he and his wife managed to move to America after winning the Diversity Visa lottery program. At first, they only stayed in America for a short time and then returned to their native Ireland, but later decided to move to America permanently. In addition to these events, Fitzgerald tells us about his work experiences in America, explaining the differences compared with life in Ireland. There were personal tragedies, such as four miscarriages before the birth of his son, Alfie.

How Did I Get Here? is much more than a memoir. Andrew Fitzgerald does not just tell his story and explain to readers what it meant for him and his wife to move to America and what differences they found, but he did something much more special. He has used his life experiences to share what he has learned with his readers - things that can help them when they are in painful situations or do not know what to do. I appreciated the honesty with which the author told his story and his courage in revealing the painful facts that he and his wife faced - many would not have dared. This inspirational book has a lot to teach readers, and I recommend it to those fascinated by other people's life experiences.

Christine Nguyen

How Did I Get Here? Traveling The Road To Resilience is a memoir about Andrew Fitzgerald’s journey through life from Ireland to America, using resiliency as his talisman through difficult times. He traversed through two deaf experiences as he flat-lined in Cork Hospital and had to be resuscitated twice at the age of nineteen. Fitzgerald was diagnosed with WPW Syndrome, Wolf-Parkinson-Whyte Syndrome, which causes a rapid heartbeat that can be lethal. Fitzgerald learned not just to survive, but to thrive. He and his wife, Jane, decided to relocate from their native home of Cork, Ireland to San Diego, California to begin a whole new life. Jane suffered four miscarriages in four years as they attempt to start a family in America. Fitzgerald and his wife never lost faith or hope of becoming parents as they struggled through the stages of grief to reach their dream.

Andrew Fitzgerald’s comparisons between living in Cork, Ireland versus living in San Diego, California are the highlights of his memoir. I was interested in reading the comparisons and contrasts of two different cultures, yet very similar as they are both Western countries. Fitzgerald’s passion for his business really shines through as he discusses his corporate climb to different positions. This short, but comprehensive read emphasizes how resiliency is such an important trait in dealing with life’s struggles and carrying on. How Did I Get Here? shares Fitzgerald’s wisdom to help motivate, encourage, and inspire readers to overcome their own adversity in life.