We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Marks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I came up with the SoloInSeattle as I moved to the Seattle area about 10 years ago and found it very easy to do things solo. I noticed that finding events and adventures to attend or even tag along to was fun and I would meet people along the way and become permanent plus ones in certain circles because I am reliable and dependable. My aura is the vibe in any room.

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’m a 41 year old divorced mom learning how to navigate life in a newly single world after ending a long term relationship. I created the social media account to release my creativity and show others it’s okay to be alone.

I am a master level clinician and hold a Master of Science in Counseling degree. I specialize in Marriage and Family Therapy but in consulting roles and hosts a series of workshops. I’m also trained in The Gottman Institute for Bringing Baby Home & The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work.

I offer a variety of workshops to help others build and maintain relationships within their family systems.

I am most proud of maintaining my autonomy and resilience through my own personal life and showing how choosing myself lead to opening up doors to creative outlets.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the lessons I had to unlearn is that everything can be done alone and you can choose yourself it is not selfish. I always refer back to the analogy of the airplane mask. They tell you to help and protect yourself before you try to help those around you. I want to breakdown the systems that make us think we serve others first and put ourselves second. It’s unreal and needs to be unlearned because it creates resentment.

How did you build your audience on social media?

All of my followers have been mostly gained through organic meetings in person or through others. I’ve had the opportunity to mix and mingle with others who have larger accounts and those accounts have been really generous of sharing my account and getting followers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: solo_inseattle