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

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My mom and stepdad broke many generational curses inspiring me to break even more. They were both born into poverty and families with a history of mental illness, and worked their way out of poverty while I was growing up. They were always very open and honest about money and about mental health struggles. They were always there for me to talk to and for help in any way and still are, even when we do not see eye to eye. I already knew I wanted to go to college when I was little, so I did not have to struggle as much as they did and would have more opportunity. My real father passed away years ago and he struggled with alcoholism, but I learned a lot from him as well. I think he was a gifted person who questioned things that was born into a strict religious environment where that was not allowed. I think my daughter is like him in many ways, except she has been allowed to be herself and to question everything, and so far that has turned out a lot better. He also taught me a lot about music, religion, history, government and just having fun and not getting too caught up in the rat race like many do.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I went through severe Postpartum OCD, Anxiety and Depression after I had my daughter in 2008. I did not get help for a couple of years. I along with those around me knew hardly anything about it at the time, so I eventually started blogging, then turned the blogs into a book when others I knew and even strangers told me how much sharing my story helped them. I still have a blog that mainly focuses on mental health and parenting. I have had my writing published by the Mighty, News Break, The Huffington Post, Yahoo and MSN. I started a podcast a little while back as well, but have not had the time I would like to commit to it yet but still hope to soon maybe. So far I have donated any money made to related causes.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I went through my depression it was partially because within a two year period I had my first child, my real father passed away, I was laid off from my job, my grandfather died and then my husband left me. We eventually worked things out and became even stronger from it, but this was the hardest to deal with because we had been together since high school and I felt so alone. My doctor also said I mourned the end of our relationship like a death, which was all the more confusing when we started working things out. We got so close to divorce, it was filed and stopped by him at the last minute at the courthouse. I eventually got a paper in the mail confirming it was stopped I still have to this day. I lost a couple of friends too who did not want to deal with me in that state and have not spoken to me since even over ten years later and man that was painful. I tried to explain and apologize and not only did I recover and get back to my old self, they missed out on the better version on myself that came out of the other end. I have noticed the better version tends to pick better friends these days and sets better boundaries, etc. even though that is still always something I am working on. I did luckily have my mom and stepdad, who also had never dealt with me like that before and did not understand at first either, but as always never abandoned me, and I had some good friends that stuck through it with me who are still around today. I only missed one day of work and still took care of my daughter this entire time and our relationship and bond grew stronger as I healed.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Well after I had recovered from my depression and things were going pretty well in life, there were some changes in management at the job I had been at for over four years. Most people either eventually left or were fired. I stayed almost a year and half before I left, way longer than I should have. I should have found a better job while I had that one. Instead, by the time I finally left, my mental health was so worn down from the experience that I quickly found something else making a lot less money. I did not even think I could handle a corporate job anymore. I felt like I needed a break to work with children, or animals or the elderly again. I had worked at a retirement community and a vet in the past. My husband and I had also been unable to have more children, and while I wanted to adopted, it scared him, so I became a preschool teacher for a while to also fill the void of not being able to have more kids for a while. It really did help with that, and I really did enjoy the experience, minus one preschool I worked at that did not take very good care of the children. However, one of the places closed due to Covid and never reopened, I also ended up Nannying in what I eventually realized was an abusive home and another place closed for Summer and it was hard to find work just for the summer. My cell phone and car were too old for Doordash. I eventually came back to a corporate job I love more than any other job I have ever had after a couple of years. I also make as much as I once did working double the hours in former positions. My husband is now earning more as well yet we are still paying off debt from the time I made less or was out of work for a short time. It really hurt us financially. We are on a path to not only recover, but to probably have way more money than we even need eventually, but in the mean time it has been a little rough.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.justbuyheradress.com
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Image Credits
Allison Garza