Her Story
About Amanda
I've been in the construction field for about six years now, working in a company I started with my brother. We really rebuilt it from the ground up together - he had been working in concrete construction for 20 years for somebody else, and I had the business acumen while he had the boots-on-the-ground skills. We didn't expect to see a profit for 2 to 5 years, which is pretty standard, but we were profitable within the first two years, which is pretty cool. Honestly, I never saw myself in this field. My history was working with events, specifically within academia at two different universities, and getting my education simultaneously. Then my dad was diagnosed with cancer when I was living in Arizona, so I moved back to Wisconsin and put all of my effort into him and the family. Now me and my brother have this beautiful business together. It was just random, the universe doing its thing that kind of led me into this. In my role, I handle a lot of the client-facing work - meeting with clients, writing up and going over contracts, helping my brother with financial bids based on the measurements he takes, communicating via email with partners for licensing and permits, and of course the back-end work like accounting and bookkeeping. My main area of expertise is really on the communication side, acting as a liaison between our company and our clients and building those relationships and rapport - that's where I thrive. Before this, when I was working for Arizona State University, we were a very small department that did a lot of things, so we wore every hat in the book. We were our own recruiters, our own HR, our own accounting, absolutely everything. One of my responsibilities was to coordinate with international researchers, connect them with local labs on campus, and facilitate their transition from their home research university to ASU. Through that, I got to talk to NASA like 3 or 4 times a week and learn about different projects they were working on, like using sea algae to make synthetic skin for burn victims. Having even the smallest hand in that, I was really proud of and really loved doing.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amanda
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would really attribute my success to the mentorship I received from my director at Arizona State University, Jodi. She was, and is to this day, even though we don't work together anymore, just one of the most phenomenal women that I've ever met in my life. She was so encouraging, she was a mentor without being asked from everything from proper ways to communicate in different situations, to what clothes to wear, to what event. She became like a big sister, and she had my back. She really gave me a lot of confidence when I was navigating these new waters to dive in and want to go above and beyond, and it gave me a lot of courage in myself. If I didn't meet Jodi, I wouldn't be as confident in my abilities as I am. Working at ASU was the first time where I really had somebody that I felt like wanted to see me succeed in such an intense way, and was looking out for me. What I learned from her is invaluable. Beyond that, the Disney College Program was huge for building my confidence - I went from being afraid of doing things by myself to being comfortable in my own skin, going to theme parks alone, talking to strangers, and really finding that independence.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just the biggest thing is to just be comfortable in your skin. The world's a scary place, but confidence can shut down a lot of that fear. If you walk into a room and you look like you're supposed to be there, people are gonna know you're supposed to be there. Otherwise, the worst thing someone can tell you is no. You're gonna get 100 no's for every one yes, but that yes is gonna feel like such a win. Just ride that high, and do you, boo.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Family is absolutely central to my values - when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I realized very quickly that family's not going to be around forever, so I moved back from Arizona to Wisconsin and put all of my effort into him and the family. The universe had other plans for me, and I had to prioritize what mattered most. Eventually I'll get back to the work I loved in academia and events, but in the meantime, I'm just gonna rock the family vibe. Building meaningful relationships is also incredibly important to me - whether it's the mentorship I received from Jodi that shaped who I am, or the relationships I built with my student interns at ASU where I got to watch them grow from terrified to confident young professionals. I'm also deeply committed to the special needs community because I grew up with a brother with Down syndrome. That community taught me so much about joy and gratitude - these kids are always smiling and always so thankful, and there's just so much you can learn from them. It makes you think, what the hell am I so angry about? Their perspective on life is invaluable.
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