Her Story
About Amanda
I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I graduated college. I went to school for marketing and found my way as an account manager, and the next thing you know, I was working with a bunch of buyers out in the field. I thought, 'I think that's the path I want to take.' I explored it, talked to a couple people that were in that space, and really loved what it had to offer. I literally randomly fell into procurement through a friend whose sister-in-law was a recruiter for an outsourcing company. We hit it off one night when we were out, she said send me your resume, and here we are 19 years later in the procurement space. My main area of expertise is contract negotiation and relationship building. I currently stepped into a co-lead of our Her Story ERG, where I'm hoping to bring my experience in corporate America as a woman growing through the ladder, and I'm hoping to bring that to younger women and really empower them to find what success means for them. I'm a member of HBA, and I had some really great women mentors through college and in my early years of corporate America who I learned a lot from, and that's what I hope to pass along to other younger women as I continue to get older and spend more time in corporate America.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amanda
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think my upbringing. My dad was one who pushed me - I was the oldest, so I was always pushed to the limit, and I think that as a young child growing up in that mindset of 'how far can I go?' that's what I've carried with me: what's next? What can I do? I know there's more. I also had some really great women mentors through college and in my early years of corporate America who I learned a lot from, and that's what I hope to pass along to other younger women as I continue to get older and spend more time in corporate America.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Have patience. Figure out who you are, what you want, and where you want to go. I had some really great women mentors through college and in my early years of corporate America who I learned a lot from, and that's what I hope to pass along to other younger women as I continue to get older and spend more time in corporate America. Through my role as co-lead of our Her Story ERG, I'm hoping to bring my experience in corporate America as a woman growing through the ladder, and I'm hoping to bring that to younger women and really empower them to find what success means for them.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenge is AI. While it comes across as beneficial to the naked eye, I think from a contracting perspective and from a procurement perspective, I think it's challenging in the fact that people think that they can use it for their contracts versus working directly with those who have that skill set and the knowledge of what we actually do as a business. You can put a contract into AI and it can spit all kinds of stuff out at you, but unless it's really trained for your specific company, it may not be the most beneficial.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are respect and being true to yourself, because then I think you're true to those around you. It's not really a value, but I'm a huge believer in communication - it's key in everyday life, personal and work. I also believe strongly in self-care. I enjoy working out because it allows me to have that time to myself to be better for others around me. I'm a huge believer in taking that half hour or an hour for self-care.
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