Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Michelle.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’d imagine my story is about the same as everyone’s, we all just have our own font. I grew up in the great state of Utah, I wouldn’t consider my childhood or adolescent years healthy or stable, and was able to form a sense of independence and self support very early on. I’ve had such a rich life full of highs and lows and have experienced and explored so many avenues in the pursuit of finding myself. Fresh out of high school I moved to Seattle Washington, then to summit Colorado to be a ski bum and found my way back to beautiful Utah with such a deep appreciation for the state and everything it has to offer. I began pursuing photography on and off for years until finally finding my niche in creative portraitures, and from there each new experience and new project I had was like a slow trickle of gasoline on my creative spark. All the while I’ve been working as a ski lift mechanic in Park City Mountain Resort, if that hasn’t been the most challenging and rewarding chapter(s) in my life I’m not sure what will be. I live each day now in the mountains as the only female lift mechanic park city has, and unraveling the never ending pursuit in combining creative arts and the needs of local businesses running my Branding photography business, constantly trying to add more richness to this life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not has my path been “smooth” And quite frankly I wouldn’t change anything… well, most things. Every struggle I’ve faced in my life has never been so much the acute moment of struggle or hardship. I faced a lot of instability in childhood and unfortunately endured a lot of abuse through the majority of my adolescence by the hands of a trusted adult, although these situations are never by any means the child’s fault, the emotional and psychological fall out absolutely becomes their damage to repair. I, like unfortunately so many children and adolescence, were never given the foundation to be self confident, or be able to fully live life out side of a survival mind set. All that being said my biggest challenges in my life have been the ones in my mind, the self doubt, the inner voice of generational shame, the challenge of seeing myself as someone worthy of success despite the message that I was not. I believe everything starts in the mind, and how strong your ability is to believe yourself to be worthy to overcome the challenges in your life.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I always describe my life as “rich” and my professional life is no exception. I work full time as a ski lift mechanic since 2021, and love the challenges being in a very niche blue collar industry offers. I also have started my own business in branding photography to express my artistic creativity, and building that beautiful state of duality has just added more richness to my life, being able to experience two very different fields and lifestyles in such a immersive way. I started branding to bring my creative style to brands and businesses because I truly believe that life is about creating and expression, and I want to be able to help creators and business owners really showcase what they’ve built, their brand, products, etc. in the most creative inspiring light, there’s always more than what’s on the surface and to be able to give someone else’s creation that visual expression and depth is my purpose in this life.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Having an open mind to life and all
Its experiences is my greatest mentor: I take advice from everyone I can. I like to find the correlations between people’s views and inputs on life and recognize how that’s built their circumstances. I don’t believe anyone is necessarily right or wrong, I believe everything is relative. I like to hear other people’s life stories their failures, their success and take what resonates with me. Say yes to opportunities, be open to people’s stories and perspectives even if they’re not the same as yours.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Brandedbymander.com
- Instagram: @shotby_mander
