Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Pearson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

While I took advantage of every internship opportunity I had as a student, completing one every summer in college, I feel my most helpful experiential learning has come through my mentors. I have had the wonderful fortune of working with 6 Board Chairs and countless volunteer leaders over my career here at the chamber, and it has been nothing short of a blessing. Each of these individuals are incredibly successful leaders, and I have not only appreciated their sincere dedication to the Leadership Collier Foundation’s mission, but I have personally learned a great deal from each one of them. I have picked up so many big and small leadership traits from each, and I consider this to be one of the greatest reasons why I have found success. 

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was an early childhood teacher for years prior to this role. When a friend encouraged me to apply for this job, I was hesitant due to my perception of having “no experience” with this kind of work and not seeing how being an educator and this role could relate. Even when I was selected I had apprehension, but I am so grateful the CEO at the time understood how the skillsets I had were perfectly aligned and transferable. Now, 10 years later, it brings me so much joy to see how this work and our mission changes people’s lives and builds up our community in more ways than I can count!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In my 10 years with the chamber and Leadership Collier Foundation (LCF), I have seen a tremendous amount of transition, which is neither good nor bad, it just is. This has included 4 CEO’s, 2 interim CEOs, and a wide variety of staff changes in every position. With each new staff member comes new ideas on how we should accomplish our goals, which presents both opportunities and challenges. I am the longest serving staff member within our organization so my biggest story of resilience comes with riding the waves of transitions, working to not only maintain, but grow our work and mission through many seasons of change.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

It sounds very simple, but if 100% of the clientele you work with have a genuinely positive experience, that word of mouth is very powerful in a community-based, mission-based business. As a charitable 501c3, our “business” is to build a stronger community. Each year I see firsthand how people’s personal and professional lives are transformed, and their sharing this impact with those they feel can benefit is our largest generator of new clientele.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leadershipcollier.org/