Amanda Sansevere

The best career advice I've ever received probably came from my father, and it was along the lines of just having heart in everything that you do - having compassion and giving it all that you have. You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to be the best, but you always have to give it your heart. What that always meant to me was not giving up, following through, doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do, and being proud of making those decisions for the right reasons, even though it's not always the easy decision to make. At the end of the day, can you put your head on your pillow at night and be comfortable with those types of decisions that you made? Always having heart in everything that you do.

I would say to have grit, be resilient, and learn from every opportunity that you have and every relationship that you engage in. Know that you can still learn from someone that may not have a need right now, but build relationships with people and really care about those relationships. There's a quote I always liked to use: they don't always care how much you know until they know how much you care. Once someone understands that you're there more for their well-being, that you have heart and that you care about what's going on, they're more open to listening to you versus just thinking you're there to give them something or sell them something. Having that personal connection with someone can take you so much further for your personal well-being as well as your professional well-being. The relationships and the networking are important, so cherish that.

The opportunities in my industry are endless - it's very much an entrepreneurship mindset, so the more that you're willing to hustle and break through and have resilience within the industry, the opportunities are endless. That's fantastic. As far as the challenges, I think it's having resilience and staying the course, because it can be challenging. You're dealing with professionals, but people may not be answering their phone or returning phone calls. It's just a matter of understanding that that's the line of business and that's very normal - it's not personal. You just have to always have the grit to find opportunity and keep going forward.

I think the values most important to me fall along the lines of having heart, working as a team, working as a family, and knowing that not everything's going to be picture perfect or a smooth ride. When you're able to work as a team or as a family, you're able to overcome things. Everyone's going to achieve things in a different way and at a different pace. In your professional life, it's about understanding that and working as a team. In your family life, it works the same way - people aren't perfect, mommy and dad are not perfect, you're not going to make the right decision all the time, but just knowing that that's life. When you have your family and you have unconditional love, you're going to make it through, and it's going to be just fine on the other side.