Her Story
About Amanda
Amanda Phillips owns and operates Be Well, an ecommerce company she founded in 2022 specializing in adaptive clothing for chronic illness patients. Prior to launching her business, she spent 17 years at Vanguard in various roles including back office, middle office, and front office with traders and portfolio managers. She holds a bachelor's degree in finance and personal finance as well as an MBA, along with product management certifications including Scrum and product ownership, technology certifications, and investment studies. Her passion lies in growing small businesses and product design, which she applies to creating items like multi-access hoodies that provide warmth and easy IV access for patients undergoing dialysis, chemotherapy, or infusions. Phillips attributes her success to her combination of professional experience, firsthand knowledge as a patient with Crohn's disease, and a lean operational approach that avoids investors and debt while outsourcing distribution to allow flexibility and growth.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amanda
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think the combination of all of my previous experience, being a patient myself so knowing what my community needs because I know what I need, and keeping as tight as we can a leash on Be Well. We don't have any investors. We don't have any debt. It's just my husband and I. And so we can be very flexible, there's no bureaucracy red tape, we're not too big. Outsourcing the right things like distribution has made room to grow.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I would say it just has to be the take a chance part. If I didn't take a chance and leave my day job, I wouldn't have had the capacity to spend on growing Be Well. Sometimes you just have to take the leap. And you need to give yourself the chance to succeed. Maybe you'll fail, but you'll never know if you don't do it.
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