Amanda Noguera

I attribute my success to being unapologetically myself while always striving to know more than everybody else in the room. When I was starting out in the beer industry as a young woman, it was a male-dominated world - there were probably only 3 female beer reps in the entire distributor. A lot of men tried to tell me what to do and didn't validate me, or thought that the way I talked, the way I walked, the pink hair that I had defined who I was. But what nobody knew was that I was always 10 steps ahead. Preparedness will get you so much farther than just being there, being on time, and knowing your products. Being prepared, doing a lot of homework, studying where the industry and the market is going, and having that level of knowledge, education, and preparedness coupled with your true personality and your quirks - that combination will catapult you volumes ahead of where you expect to be. I never lost myself. I stayed the crazy, outgoing, let's drink a beer, let's go have fun type of gal, but I was able to keep that as my brand while also consulting on some of the most important areas for business owners. I made that leap of faith with fear, hustle, grace, and most importantly, never losing myself. I know that I can't hurt anybody, and when you know you can't hurt anybody, you know that you have every right to be a part of a conversation.

The best career advice Amanda ever received came from two influential mentors who helped shape both her confidence and leadership style. Miladros Reyes, known as “Roses,” taught her the importance of being assertive, confident, and unafraid to use her voice as a woman in business, while Christopher Cueller showed her that strong leadership is built on empathy, active listening, emotional intelligence, and genuine relationship-building.

Be unapologetically yourself. Stand up for yourself, because especially starting in this industry as young as I did, it was a male-dominated world. A lot of men tried to tell me what to do, didn't validate me, or thought that the way I talked, the way I walked, the pink hair that I had was what defined who I was. But what nobody knew was that I was always 10 steps ahead. So be unapologetically yourself, but always strive to know more than everybody else in the room. Preparedness will get you so much farther than just being there, being on time, and knowing your products. Being prepared, doing a lot of homework, studying where the industry and your prospects are in, where the market is going, and having that level of knowledge, education, and preparedness coupled with your true personality, your quirks, how fun you are - that combination together will make everybody around you want to work with you. You're real, you're familiar, and you are intelligent. You cannot be tense. That combo right there will catapult any woman, any young woman into the industry, volumes ahead of where they expect to be.

The biggest challenge I see is that the underserved population here in Miami is vast. There's a lot of big corporations and big business, but nobody's taking the time to teach everybody how to stay afloat in such a competitive market. There's money being left on the table every day in tax credit opportunities that are out there. Nobody's knocking on anybody's door teaching them how to access these resources or how to stay relevant. The opportunity is in servicing the community and educating them. I do a lot of workshops and education for the small to mid-market business community - tax credit workshops, anything to put money back into the business. There's a lot of Spanish speakers out here who can't read the IRS rules or understand a lot of the information that's out there, and I'm so happy and lucky to be bilingual and help them navigate these programs. During COVID, I was able to educate the community on how to get PPP money, formalize a lot of systems for my clients, and help them apply for forgiveness. Servicing my community is probably 50% of what I do, and there's so much opportunity to make an impact by being that go-to resource person for my partners, the banks, institutions, and nonprofits I work with.

The most important values to me are authenticity, confidence, hard work, and having a huge heart. I believe you can't hurt anybody, and when you know you can't hurt anybody, you know that you have every right to be a part of a conversation. That very quickly changes the way that people respond to you and receive you. I'm passionate about breaking cultural barriers and helping first-generation women succeed. I'm planning to launch a podcast called First Generations for women who are first generations of any background - Hispanic, Indonesian, European - because a lot of women have to break the trail. We have a lot of customs and cultural boundaries placed upon us, and in order for us to succeed, we have to break that mold, break that cycle. I want to give badass women a stage and help other females and girls out there know what they can do, how they can make themselves better, stay true to themselves, make good money, make an honest living, and create an empire for their family. Servicing my community is a huge part of who I am - probably 50% of what I do is helping underserved populations access resources and opportunities.