Meet Amanda Brinkman! On the Simon Says Inspire Podcast – episode 42

John Simon 0:00
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John, Simon, SR

Dina Simon 0:14
and I'm Dina Simon.

John Simon 0:15
Our guest today is Amanda Brinkman. Amanda is a producer, filmmaker, branding expert and sought after, keynote speaker and a future author. Amanda, welcome to our podcast. Thank you for having me. I was telling Dina when I was reading your bio and all your information, a lot of accomplishments.

Amanda Brinkman 0:36
Oh, thank you. Thank y'all. Isn't it interesting when you look back at your journey, though, like, actually, they shouldn't be separate, but you're both your career and your life, and you look back and all these different things that you worked on or accomplished, like at the time, were like, a really big deal. And it's, I think, sometimes helpful to go back and remind yourself of what you have accomplished, because sometimes we're just so focused on that next thing, or the thing we're working with or struggling with right now. And I don't know, you know, all of us have come so far, and it is nice to sometimes look back and be able to reflect on it. And people saying, like what you just said, give you an opportunity to be reflective. So thank you.

John Simon 1:12
Sure. Last week, Dina was in town with rich and and our other children for my wife's 75th birthday. And one of the things I was looking at my desk, and I found a business card from Dina back, many, many years ago. And she said, I wish I would have kept one of every business cards that I had, because that way you can look back a little bit easier and see the progression that you went through. And we all know what it is, but to just be able to look at it is, I think it's fun, plus it makes you feel really good about yourself.

Amanda Brinkman 1:43
Yeah. Oh, that we should tell, well, I don't know if kids have business cards anymore coming out of school, but we should tell graduates to do that. That's a great idea to keep them. I remember keeping the first couple, especially after those first couple of promotions, which isn't it just fun to think back on some of those where it was, like, such a big deal, or like, there's a certain amount of money you had as a goal to make, and then and now that that dollar amount seems, you know, precious. So I just It's fun when you think back on it, and how those accomplishments early in your career were such a big deal. And if anything, maybe we derive more joy from them than we do now with all you know, with all of this perspective. So anyway, yeah,

John Simon 2:23
I remember saying, once I get to $10,000 a year, I'll really be set mislead. It certainly has changed. Yeah,

Dina Simon 2:35
So Amanda, we are so excited to have you on and we can talk a little bit about our journey and our connection and how we know you, but the conversation, I think it depends on your job. But business cards still, like, they're still a thing. I mean, I even recently have gone to something like, oh, I should have my business card, and I didn't have it. You certainly can take your LinkedIn profile and, you know, do the scan, and people can connect that way. But having a tangible business card for people still to go through and look at. So I do think that's a great piece of advice for our young friends, to save those along the way. It was really fun because it was a business card from, I mean, John, that was 30 years ago, my business card. So it was really fun to see. And then, as you said, Amanda, just reflect back on like, whoa. You know, just the accomplishments and where we were, and that journey, which is so much of what we're excited to talk to you about, and all the reflections and everything that you've done, I'd love to share just how we originally met. So it was over a decade ago. When's it? When did you

Amanda Brinkman 3:37
it feels like a minute ago, too, at the same time. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, when did you start at Deluxe? It was 2013 2014 I'm sorry, yes, 2014 so

Dina Simon 3:47
it probably was you had just probably started. And I came and met with you because I was friends with Julie loose Brock, and deluxe has done some work with Simon says, Give Were you there when they did the 100 birthday boxes for us. I don't know. Okay, so, yeah, I think we had done that. And then you came on board, so Julie's like, you need to know Amanda. So we met, and then maybe it was two years later that you emceed our fashion show. Just so crazy. And then our Devin block, our Devon joined your team at Deluxe. And I love for you. I mean, we want to talk about a lot of things in your career, but I'd love for you to share a little bit just about that Deluxe journey and the Small Business Revolution and kind of what you did there. We've had Tamika on the show as well, so John's met her both on Zoom and in our podcast, but then also we had a happy hour in town, so he's got to spend some time with her.

Amanda Brinkman 4:45
Oh, how fun. Isn't she the best. She's just like human sunshine. I swear it's just She's amazing. Yeah, I feel very blessed to know her, and thanks for having her on. I love that. I love to see all the incredible exposure she's had. Which she deserves, and is so fun to see. So thank you for featuring Yes.

Dina Simon 5:04
Oh my gosh, absolutely. So you want to share? Do you want to just kind of start there? We can talk about other things too, but I'd love just for you to share about the Small Business Revolution, what you did, and then maybe your pivot out, yes.

Amanda Brinkman 5:14
So I joined Deluxe a year before they were about to celebrate their centennial, so their 100th year. That's what tripped me up on the answer of the 100th birthday boxes, I was oh sure I was connecting those two things. So I was hired as the Chief Brand Officer, and my job was to help Deluxe be known for all of the new product offerings that they had. People either didn't know the name Deluxe, or if they knew the name Deluxe, they thought of checks, and checks was still an important part of our business, but we had evolved to support both our small business customers and our consumer customers and our financial service partners with all these other new services, and so we needed to use our centennial as an opportunity to get in front of those customers, specifically small businesses. It was a big focus, because we could help small businesses not only move their money, as we had for 100 years, but we could help them with all of their marketing. Now, we had built out all of these services to help them with their websites and their logos and promo apparel and all those things, but nobody knew that we had less than 1% brand awareness with small businesses, and so as a marketer, I grew up. My whole career has been in marketing and in branding. And I think, you know, for all the data we have as marketers and as business people, I think there is nothing that can replace just good old fashioned, qualitative, almost ethnographic, like anthropologic, go out and spend time with the customers, like go out and figure out what it's like to be them. How do they make purchase decisions? What are they struggling with? What are the pain points? You can spend a lot of time in boardrooms thinking up names that we think makes sense, and then you go out and spend, you know, 30 minutes with a customer, and you're like, Oh, that is not how they're going to search for that. That's not what they call it, you know. So I'm just a big fan of, if I'm going to try and, you know, communicate and convince a customer to do something. I need to understand them deeply. And so I was out spending time with small businesses and trying to crack this code of, how are we going to use our centennial to reach small businesses? And as I was meeting all of these entrepreneurs, it was just so incredible. You mentioned Tamika. You meet these business owners, and you're just so moved by their stories. You know why they started their business and what's hard about it? And as soon as you hear that story, you just, you want to support them. You've literally put a face, you know, to a business. And so that's when the idea for the Small Business Revolution was born. In my mind, I felt like we could own as a company. We could own sharing these stories. And for my whole career, I've been kind of trying to prove this thesis that companies could do well by doing good, that instead of thinking of them so binary, you could actually bring them together. And so doing well by Deluxe standards, would be raising our awareness with small businesses. But what could we do that would be good for them? Well, getting more people to support them would be, you know, would be good for the small business community, and by sharing these stories, we felt like That was how we could draw attention to not just the businesses we were going to feature in sharing their stories, but by and large, could we kind of create a movement to get people to understand the importance of supporting small businesses? So in that first year, we shared the stories of 100 small businesses all through beautiful films and photo essays, and it was all about them, and it was it branded the Small Business Revolution championed by Deluxe it was about the stories first, and then we rolled those out throughout our 100th year. And the bet I was making, and what I promised the board is that we could reach more people by sharing these stories than we could if we just spent that same amount of money on traditional, paid advertising, because I did not have incremental funding for this. I had to earn direct ad dollars to it, and we did. We ended up reaching 12 times more people than we would have reached. And we were changing hearts and minds, and we were bringing joy and enthusiasm to these businesses. It was just goodness all around and so we wanted to keep going. And so it evolved into a television show where we not only shared the stories, but then we walked alongside them and helped them with kind of a called it a business makeover, but with heart. So it wasn't your classic unscripted coming and telling what they're doing wrong type of a reality show. It was much more about, you know, walking alongside these businesses. So that ran as an unscripted series for six seasons, and it was on Hulu, and it was on Amazon Prime, it was on Delta, it's still in some country, and it was nominated for a few Emmys. And it was just incredibly rewarding. It was moving. It was a great demonstration of how companies can do well by doing good, like doing well by our standards, again, of raising brand awareness, we, like blew that metric out. You know, we, we totally achieved that. But what's even more important to me is that we really, truly changed the lives of these businesses, I think, by communities, yeah, the communities Yeah, because I didn't mention that, but each season took place in a different town, and. Different community, and those communities felt the ripple effect. And anyway, I can go on and on, but it's been that's a long answer already. I gotta figure out how to tell it in two minutes. No,

Dina Simon 10:09
no, no, no, that's great. Yeah. You know,

John Simon 10:13
I've mentioned on a few of the podcasts before, because we've had a lot of entrepreneurs on, and the admiration I have for small business owners and entrepreneurs all through my career, I signed the back of a check. And when you're owning that business, you're signing the front of every check that goes out. And it takes a special person to be able to do that. Yeah, you're absolutely

Amanda Brinkman 10:33
right. And it's just, it's a lot of weight. And I think that was part of what we were trying, you know, and one of the favorite things that we used to hear from small business owners who watched the show is that they would say, you know, we love when they would say, we couldn't take notes fast enough. Because, like as part of the makeover, what we were doing is we were helping them with their marketing, with their finances, the things that Deluxe does in real life. But it was so we played a very natural kind of character in that makeover, because you can't help a small business and not help them with those two things. So we love when they would would write in and say, but they couldn't take notes fast enough. They were learning so much we were providing great education and value for them. But what we loved the most most is what you just acknowledged. It was just they felt seen, yeah, and they felt like someone got it. Like, Oh, you get how hard this is and how serious this is. This is my money, like, it's nothing more personal than that, and yeah, and so, and for us to also show consumers that too. Like, when you're supporting a small business, like you're quite literally supporting a person's family, it's not this corporate entity and this, you know, 15 hands that goes through. It's like a real person who's also employing real people in your community, they're sponsoring your kids Little League teams. You know, it's, it's, was really fun to shine a spotlight on just how vital those businesses are to our communities.

John Simon 11:51
And there's a lot more people working in small businesses around the United States that are working for corporations. Yeah,

Amanda Brinkman 11:58
yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think that's one of the unknown facts about, like, the economic impact that small businesses have,

Dina Simon 12:06
agreed, yeah, you were able to shed some great light on that. And there's some communities I do a lot of work, in Hennepin County, who has an amazing program for their small businesses. You know, there's different areas and pockets, but, yeah, there's just not enough, there's not enough education out there on truly, you know, shop local and support those small businesses. I think we've made a lot of changes and movements over the last few years on that. So then share with us. So I'm gonna go forward to where What are you up to now? Amanda, yeah, so

Amanda Brinkman 12:35
one of the things that I realized halfway through my time at Deluxe what I'm up to now is I started my own business, and I'm focused on speaking as a career. And so those are the two things that that I'm doing right now. I started a production studio, and I'm focused on my speaking. But what led me to that decision is, you're about halfway through, you know, I was on this career track to continue to be kind of a Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Brand Officer for for bigger and bigger brands. I had really been working my whole career on that particular journey, everything from the groups I was associated with, the skills I was collecting along the way, that was kind of my that was my focus. That was the track I was on. And I even when I took the job of Deluxe, that was going to be the plan was on the other side, I would, you know, then go to a bigger brand, and take that learning. And about halfway through, I just, and I don't know if it's the life stage I'm in. I'm totally in my mid life chrysalis. I don't know if it was a pandemic and how that changed all of our minds, just, or just, you know, changed our focus, or, I don't know. But about halfway through, I thought, You know what the days I really love are, the days I'm either on a set, like a film set or on a stage, and how do I create more days like that and less days? I was just not as energized anymore by the, you know, sitting around the executive table or some of the other things that come with being an executive. And again, I was grateful I worked my whole career to get to that table. And there aren't many women at the table, and I was, for sure, the youngest, and so I was very proud of that accomplishment, but it was no longer like fulfilling you. No, yeah, thank you. So I think I shared that because I think people, I think a lot of people, are struggling with that. And again, I don't know if it's again, my age or this time, this time post pandemic, but I want to share it as almost a source of permission, like you can change your mind, like even if you're on some sort of track, like you can it wasn't like, I completely shifted and now I'm like, you know, a forest ranger or something, right? But all of that sounds fun, but I just took the pieces of it and figured out, how do I create this career and this lifestyle that allows me to have more days that that fuel me and give me energy versus draining me. And was just really honest about what those things were. And I think sometimes we feel like we can't abandon those because we have put so much time and blood and sweat and energy into that particular path. And so it was a it was a pivot. It was kind of a, you know, 90 degree turn. So I decided to. At my own production company so I could help other brands do work like the Small Business Revolution was for Deluxe so brand entertainment, long form, documentaries, series, things like that, and it's called Sunshine studios. And the three things that are really important, that the three circles that we say overlap, are, it needs to move business. It needs to be good for business. You know, we're not just there to make soft films. We're there to make something that is working really hard. This is replacing your advertising the other circle, it engages audiences, just by the very nature of it, like we used to always say, with the smallest revolution, like, instead of creating ads that interrupted what people wanted to be watching, we were creating the show they wanted to watch. And there's real power in that level of engagement. So, by the very nature of the format of what we're working on, it engages. And then the third circle that's really important to us is that it does some sort of good. It stands for something that matters in the world. And that can be a big, large net, that can be, you know, not every company or every brand or every film needs to be, you know, addressing homelessness or food insecurity, but, you know, even things like bringing people joy and and fun, remember fun? Like, right? Fun, well, like, let's bring all of that back and so and community and harmony and people being alone. So there's a, there's a big how we define good has actually gotten bigger over the years, because I think more thing, we just need more goodness, especially on television. So, yes, so that's what sunshine studios focuses on. That's going well. We love it. And then on the speaking side, I, you know, having gone through this journey of really trying to figure out what I wanted to do next, and then after I was out on my own being an entrepreneur, I really though I had really orchestrated and architected this departure and and my new business and everything, I didn't expect I would go through such an identity, kind of crisis around it, like really redefining who I was in that new, you know, without the title, without that path, had I made a mistake, you know? And so I did a bunch of I just started to deep dive into what is personal purpose. You know, I spent my whole career on brand purpose. But what about personal purpose? And how does that show up in our work? Because I kind of felt like I left my mojo at Deluxe. I felt like I left I especially when you come off of something so purpose driven like that. I felt like we still owned it, and so now I have this new talk called the purpose pursuit, and it's all about how we find purpose in our work, in our lives, and it's taken from all the things I was I did this deep dive for two years after leaving I read all the books, I listened to, all the podcasts, I went on the yoga retreats to the desert, and I just started to find some similarities and some things that I wanted to tell other people, because I was starting to talk to a lot of people my age, and not all women, but a lot of them were women, and they were starting with the same thing, and like, Oh, I'm I'm learning some stuff about this. Let me share it. And so anyway, so I turned it into a talk so that I can share it more broadly. And it's interesting. It has a real play in corporate, but we can circle back to that. But anyway, so those are the two things, Sunshine studios and the purpose, pursuit. Keynote. Yay.

Dina Simon 18:08
So I was at when was the event? Now? Is it September October? Yeah, it was September 26 Oh, there you go. A date you won't forget. So how many you had? Like, 300 people, yeah, yeah, yeah. So John, she did a beautiful event where it was sharing this journey on this purpose, pursuit that she has been on, and and sharing the learnings. And then I would imagine, so we teased about how you are soon to be an author. So my guess is the book might have something to do with the pursuit. Would that be correct? Yes,

Amanda Brinkman 18:44
correct. I think I'm what. Right now, what I'm trying to figure out is the format I have, kind of the content, but I'm trying to figure out if it should be a bit of a guided journal. Should it be a bit of a Yeah, so I'm still kind of working through the format of it, but in the meantime, I'm actually turning the talk into a series of online modules, so like a master class, yes, because the biggest piece of feedback I get from from the talk, people love it, but they're like, I wish I could have paused you and stopped and thought about that, like, what are my superpowers? Or how do I want to create that sunshine? This all make more sense if someone's heard the talk. And so I felt like, you know, these online workshops are so popular right now, and I think it's because you can do it at your own pace. You know, each of the videos will be no longer than 12 minutes, and it's just me talking to camera, telling more stories about each of these things, and then giving kind of a prompt. You know, some will be exercises. Some will be things to think about, things to watch for, extra anyway, exercises, things like that. So, yeah, love it, yeah. So that'll come out, hopefully in the spring of 2025

Dina Simon 19:51
Nice. So one of the things that we've kind of mentioned this, but you know, so the like the journey we started talking about, you know, the my business card. That John found. And so much of, like, what you talked about is this career path and where you were headed, and then, like you said, an identity crisis, like, I've left so much of who I was was back there. We've talked on some other podcasts. You know, John retired in his early 50s, and that's part of why, again, we're doing this podcast, because he still has so much to give back in a conversation about business and leadership, and I saw his head going like this, when you were talking about relationships with clients and like he was always out with customers, you know. So John, you can speak to some of that, and what's resonated with what you've heard from Amanda,

John Simon 20:38
yeah, you know, I always used to say when, what I would travel. You know, my counterparts for the business I was in, a lot of the Presidents didn't travel to go visit customers or anything, and I felt it was my obligation to go visit a customer, a prospect, a suspect, anybody that would really want to hear our story and could be a potential customer. And our sales people used to love that, because the other competitors, they couldn't get their, you know, C suite people to come out and spend time with future customers. And I always looked at it as a great way to market our organization.

Amanda Brinkman 21:15
Oh, absolutely. I think that's so smart, too. And then when, when you think about it, I mean, sometimes things come down to price, but oftentimes it's still and people always say, like, well, you know, spending time with customers matters a lot. Like, in a more of a B to C, like, if your business is, you know, selling more direct to that consumer, but I think it's just as important in B to B, like, it's still a human being making a decision. You know, maybe there are more regulations and hoops to jump through in terms of how they weigh those decisions. But you can't say we haven't all been, you know, if the prices are similar, or if it makes sense for the company, you're going to go with the company you just have a good feeling about or trust, or, you know, the people. And so, yeah, I think that's, that's so actually, that's why you were so successful. I

John Simon 22:02
used to say, we're in a relationship business. We're not in a transaction business. Dina remembers a company that we work for, the associates our chairman, he had what he always called the three eyes, and one was integrity, intelligence and intensity, and we live by those three eyes. I mean, you know, you had to be, you had to have the integrity. You had to be a company that people could trust. And intelligence, we're gonna work smarter than anybody else, and intensity. We're there every day.

Dina Simon 22:30
Yeah. I love it, yeah. So Amanda, what would you tell your 20 year old self? Oh, I love that.

Amanda Brinkman 22:40
I would tell her something that I didn't learn until I was probably, I think probably 27 or 28 I had a I had a boss who said something that kind of would change my career. He said, Amanda, I need you to speak up more in meetings, like, when, when you do what you say is quite valuable, like you're smart, like you should be saying these things. You're making good observations, you're connecting dots, like you're advancing the conversation, you know, but, but you don't do it all the time. You're just, you know, sometimes and usually, with just, you know, you're just saying it to me, you need to say it in the meeting. And I remember, I was raised in, like, the ad agency side of marketing, and there was still very much at the time when I got into my career, it was like, there was the hierarchy in the room, and you let the most senior people speak, and you were there to make them look good. And there was still a lot that was still kind of and I'm glad to have learned under that structure, actually. But sometimes I always just thought, like, Well, what I'm thinking must be so obvious to everyone else, like, why we will say it. And then I did start to realize, like, No, what I have. I do have good ideas. I do. I am connecting dots that aren't, you know, and so I'm so glad that you said that. I do wish I would have done it even earlier in my career. So I wish I would have kind of gone, you know, known that kind of right out of college. I think I could have saved myself some I actually got to save myself some pain earlier in my career, those pieces of it, and maybe advanced even faster earlier. But I thought that was really good advice. And so it's the the number one thing I always tell recent graduates is, you know, just speak up, even if you think that other people are already thinking that you don't invite people back who don't contribute to meetings, you invite the people who are active. And so even if you're just agreeing with people, even if you're just but just speak up, let your voice be heard. And so I think that's and that's the biggest thing. And if you don't like an idea, when we're talking about, you know, bringing purpose into the workplace and making sure that that exists, I think no greater way can you do that than to even if you're just one voice, and even if they say sorry, we're not going to accept that if you have an issue with something, or you're thinking that that's not a good move for us to do as a company, or that the optics of this aren't going to look great to this particular community, you need to say it because that that's your ability to have a ripple effect and to perhaps. Just like plant that seed about something that maybe the executors didn't know or you know. So anyway, so I think finding my voice earlier would be what I would tell my 20 year old self, like, don't be afraid to speak up in meetings. Most you know you're my colleagues now, would find that's crazy that I But

John Simon 25:17
years ago, there was a tagline that you reminded me of whenever you were talking about that. It was when EF Hutton talks people listen, and, and when Amanda talks people listen. That's, that's the value you add whenever you do go into those meetings. Oh,

Dina Simon 25:34
thanks, yeah. And, and that you had a leader that, that that gave you that advice, right? Because then also you felt comfortable like, oh, okay, I have his permission, and so he's inviting me to the conversation. And so that empowerment and partnership in that, yeah,

Amanda Brinkman 25:50
man, some people are thinking about, like, their purpose. I think about that. His name was Baba, Shetty, and I have everyone from I'll just text him and thank him for that. And I've seen him in person since, you know, decades later, and thanked him for it, and he, of course, doesn't quite even remember seeing it. And so think about the the opportunity we all have to do that for other people. If we see things and it's delivered with kindness, you could really so I think oftentimes we think about purpose so narrowly, like it's just, what am I specifically doing that's big, and it's like it could just be kind words, it could be encouragements, it could just be, quite literally, in that, in that meeting, turning to someone and saying, What do you think? And that might be the first time they've ever spoke up in the meeting of that size. That's a big deal to them, and changes their trajectory. So I think that's a huge message that that you heard in the purpose pursuit. But you know, I think it's really important for us to never underestimate the power of our of our own ripple effect and how we affect people around us.

Dina Simon 26:53
Yes. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your personal life, because I know you have a beautiful daughter, yes.

Amanda Brinkman 27:00
So she is 13, so I am again, as this is the second time I'll mention diving into the research, as we're starting to round that corner. I know Mandy was great. And no, no issues. You didn't have to even worry about it. Oh, whatever. But, but I'm, I'm, you know, starting to see some of these things. I when I used to tell people I had a 13 year old, they'd be like, oh, boy, you're in it. And I was like, What? No, she's great, because she she wanted, but I'm starting to, I'm starting to pick up on some of these things that maybe people were referencing, yeah, and so I just really want to be well equipped as a parent to understand, you know what? I just want to make sure I'm, I'm equipped well, and that I'm supporting her in the way she needs best. And so I've been doing a lot of reading and listening to parenting podcasts about how you raise a teenage girl, especially today, like it's it's different than when we were kids, and it's certainly different than when our parents were kids. And so

Dina Simon 27:56
yeah, so I am not certainly going to compare myself to Amanda Brinkman, but she has a high powered mother, and so like with Mandy, sometimes people will joke too, like, yeah, my mom's kind of a lot, right? Like the raising girls in what we're also doing, then in our careers, it can be hard because there's so much going on, and it's as working moms, there's a lot to there's a lot to keep up with. And they see that. They see the good sides of it, and they see the complexities of it and all of that. Yeah,

Amanda Brinkman 28:33
yeah. What I'm finding really hard is to walk that line of honesty and transparency. Like, I'm very quick to like, name, what's going on? Like, if she and I are arguing about something like, oh, let's say, like, what a bedroom floor should look like, she and I have different opinion, you know, differing opinions on on that. I will tell her. You know, my reaction right now is not just about this pile of clothes. My reaction is that i i see it 15 steps from now. I now picture you having a messy house. I see you going off to college and not be able to find your paper. Like, this is what's happening in my mind. So maybe my reaction seems disproportionate to or a just a pile of clothes, but for me then, and I go back in time, and I'm like, did I pick up your stuff too much? Because I am a neat Nick and so was I in your room organizing too often? Like, and so I'll explain this to her, you know, like, and I think I'm being, you know, so transparent, because I don't really remember hearing the word trigger, or my mother explaining why she was upset about something that just wasn't how parenting was done then. And I think I'm it's such a gift that I'm telling her all this. And anyway, I just, I don't think she thinks this is a gift at all. And so I'm trying to find that, that, that fine line between also, you can't be too honest and transparent, so that you're using your child, like, almost as a therapy. You know, we've heard a lot about, like, how we can't, so I don't know that's very interesting. Where I have to it is super interesting how I'm the truth, but not like, you know, too much. I don't know. So it's like the feelings chart, like, here's why I'm reacting the way I'm reacting. I think that's super powerful. Amanda, I love that, and it's really funny. The clothes on the floor conversation. So John will tell you that Mandy now at college, like, so she was a she was a train wreck in her multiple rooms that we have here in this house for her as an only child. And you have an only child, and you she goes off to college, her room and her apartment, like, we can't even go in it, because she doesn't want us to, like, sit on her bed or touch anything. It's so pristine and perfect. Ah, okay, where she still comes home, she just left from Thanksgiving yesterday, and in so, yeah, so there's a difference at home, and then when they go off in the world, it is really interesting how they show up. I

John Simon 30:45
was gonna say I was with rich in Lincoln a couple months ago, and we went into the apartment and Mandy take your shoes off. And at home, she probably wouldn't do that, but in the apartment, take your shoes off before you go into my bedroom. Oh,

Amanda Brinkman 31:00
I love it. I love it. That sense of ownership. Oh, I remember when I got my first apartment suddenly, like, cleaning wasn't like so much a chore as it was, like you were improving your space. There's no sense of ownership to it that was important. But, yeah, I think that that's always like, one of the pieces of advice I try not to give unsolicitedly, but like when, when young parents are talking, it's like some of the things that you think are gonna like become these big problems, like they're just not and so just save yourself the headache. So thank you for telling me that, because, yeah, you're right. I could see her going Yes, and even if she doesn't, I can't actually change it about her. It's not everyone's brain is wired like mine, and I don't think I'm super organized and a neat just because my mom was though I did learn it from her. I think you're just either. I think you're just either that way or not. And so I need to love and accept. And

John Simon 31:52
the funny part about it is the last thing they want to hear is, Well, when I was a kid, here's the way we did things, you know, because that they they don't care about that, and they'd want to hear about it. Why don't you? Why don't you take a minute Amanda and talk about your best friend, your husband and your puppy?

Amanda Brinkman 32:08
Oh yes, so Michael is both my husband and my best friend. And what a gift to be married to someone that you can kind of just bounce everything off. I mean, I I'm sure you guys could both relate like you when you, when you you can tell these ideas that you I always have ideas, as you may guess, and so I could tell these ideas to my friends and to colleagues, and Oh, we love it. We love we love it. I just I know when I tell Michael whether it's a good idea or not. I just know, even if he says all the right things, I can like, just know. And so he has been my true north, and so much, especially in these last couple of years, with me going through this journey and then pivoting to really expanding this keynote to a program and taking it into corporate environments. And he's just been Ed sage advice. And I'm, I'm grateful for that, and we truly enjoy spending time together, which I think is is a gift. I don't know that all couples have that. And, yeah, so he's great. And he's an entrepreneur too. So it's been very interesting, too, just managing, you we did, we did a lot of planning when I left alux, you know, around finances, around how's this gonna work? How are we gonna, you know, just everything. And I just feel like he's been such a good partner in it. And he was so cute, too, Dina at the actual purpose pursuit, too. He was, he was such a, he had such a, like, kind of, like a vested interest. It was like, it felt like it was our thing, even it wasn't just my speech, it wasn't just my event. It was like a he took a sense of ownership in it that was just, it touched my heart. And so when he made it better. And so,

Dina Simon 33:40
yeah, one he had to be so proud to see you fill that room of so many people that, I mean, I'm sure there were a few people in the room that didn't know you, you know, because friends brought friends. But all the people that I saw the front row with me and watching the people walk in the back were people that are very connected to you in this community and and what joy was in that room for that event. So hopefully you'll even do, you know, whether or not you do that kind of setup again, but you know, in the future, you'd have no problem filling another room in of similar or larger size.

Amanda Brinkman 34:12
Well, thank you for saying that. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out the evolution of it. Like, I think previous versions of me would have had a specific plan, like, oh yes, it's gonna be an annual event, and it's gonna be exactly I would exactly I would have, like, already had that figured out. I'm still letting it speak to me. I mean, I think it's clear that people want something again or something more. But is it, yeah, to your point, is it the same format, or is it, yeah, retreat, is it? I don't know what it is, but it, um, I think, I think there's more, yeah,

Dina Simon 34:40
it'll speak to you. And then the puppy that we see in the back there,

Amanda Brinkman 34:45
yes, Cooper. Cooper has been just a delight in our life. So we just, he's so great. He's so great. He recalls him, her brother. So, all right, it's like, yeah, you know when you have a one and only you know, pet pets becoming more. Coming to a role.

Dina Simon 35:00
Hey, to do? Yeah, so as you were preparing to be on the podcast with us, is there anything else that you would like to share with us or the podcast listeners that we didn't touch on?

Amanda Brinkman 35:12
That's such a great question. That's so interesting. I think something I would share is in doing all of this work around purpose. Like the name of the of the talk is called the purpose pursuit, which is very much about how you pursue purpose in your work, in your life. But I think an alternate title could have been we just need to chill out like we need to like, we have made the thought or the concept of purpose too big, and we have given it this this incredible weight. Like, let's go find our purpose. We tell our kids, go find your purpose. Live your purpose. And it's we've made it so big and heavy, and we've given it a big capital P. And what we do when we do that is we make it almost paralyzing, like we almost are in purpose paralysis, because we're not sure what to do with it. We're not sure where to find it. We even use the word finding, like, find your purpose. Like finding like a verb, like, go, like, is this an action to it? And in all my research and my perspective is that I actually think purpose is much smaller than that. I think your purpose is how you move through the world, each moment, each day, each week and each month. And it's much more about thin, slicing your impact and thinking about it in that context. And not only does that just make it much more manageable, but it means we're truly present in our lives and understanding the ripple effect, and then cumulatively, that's your life. It purpose. Isn't this thing you suddenly arrive at. It's, it's how you've lived. And so that's my big message for for those who may if they never hear the purpose, pursuit of everything, that's a big thing I always want people to realize, or I want to share is because I think it's urgent to tell people that, because otherwise I feel like people can be wondering, you know, why can't I find my purpose like you already have it. It's within you.

Dina Simon 37:06
It is within you. I love that. Yeah, nice. It's so exciting to see you on this journey, and thank you for allowing us to kind of tell that story. And we'd love to have you back on in a year and see where the journey continues to take you, but we're just so I'm just so excited, and it's so fun to just watch what you're putting out in the world, and we'll continue to do just congratulations on all of that and all the hard work that you've done along the way. Thank

Amanda Brinkman 37:32
you, and I truly appreciate I mean, talk about ripple effect like, Dina, you were one of the first people to buy tickets and to post about it. Like, I couldn't actually see who was buying tickets, but you posted about it right away, and I and I could see that two tickets had had sold right away. And so I'm like, Oh, that was her. And so I just want to thank you. What, what incredible belief in me and support and showing up for me in that way, for something that was so personal. You know, I again, companies bring me in. I go and speak at conferences, but this was my first like, it felt personal when people bought tickets. It wasn't, you know, and so I appreciate

Dina Simon 38:05
that. So you're welcome. I wanted to be in the front row, and I I had a hold on my calendar for that day, and so I pinged my client to say, Are we still doing this? Because I have an event I could go to. And they said, Actually, I think we're going to move it. So I'm like, great. So I bought the ticket, and then I had another thing where I almost had to be out of town for the time, and that got changed. So I was just so glad I was there, because I wouldn't have missed it, and it was just so fun again to see all the wonderful people that were there.

Amanda Brinkman 38:33
Yeah, thank you. You were meant to be in the room. Yes.

Dina Simon 38:36
Well, thank you so much for joining us. Yes, thank

Amanda Brinkman 38:39
you for having me and John Good job like Dina Mandy, and then think about your legacy that you have left behind that's just it's unbelievable, and that all ladders up.

Dina Simon 38:49
I would like to thank Amanda Brinkman for joining us on the podcast. She is a speaker, filmmaker, producer, small business advocate. Believes in doing well by doing good, and has an amazing talk on the purpose pursuit. And I will make sure in the show notes that you can find out how to follow her, stay involved and see as new things are happening as she's got a lot, a lot going on in the years to come, but just so excited. And thank you so much, Amanda, for being on the podcast with us, as always, I thank my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host, and the podcast is produced by Simon and Associates and a proud member of the C suite radio until we talk again. You.