Amanda Richardson (BCom’08) embodies the Telfer spirit of giving
Amanda Richardson (BCom’08) is the director of Brand, Marketing & Communications at the Telfer School of Management. Throughout her 15-year career at Telfer — at the Career Centre and on the marketing team — Amanda has transformed the lives of many lucky students with compassionate motivation, educational empowerment, and a quiet force of confidence. Amanda also owns a health & wellness business and fiercely supports women in leadership. For her unwavering dedication to the well-being of Telfer’s students, this year Amanda Richardson is our Telfer Spirit of Giving Award Winner!
The Telfer student experience: “Getting involved changed everything”
Amanda only had two years at Telfer when she was a student here. First, she studied business administration and marketing at Algonquin College for three years. “When I was a student in my first semester at Telfer, I wasn’t involved,” shares Amanda in an interview. “I had a hard time adjusting because I came from a different school and went from being involved to doing nothing. I actually almost dropped out. I remember talking to my mom in tears, not sure I’d make it, but then I connected with somebody who inspired me to get involved and that changed everything!
Thanks to that serendipitous moment, Amanda took the leap of faith and became a Teaching Assistant for the ADM2381 Business Communication Skills class. She also joined the Commerce and Administrative Student Charity Organization (CASCO), the student charity organization, and became their creative director for the annual gala. Both of these activities got Amanda her first job out of school and set the foundation for her to come back to Telfer to work.
But what was it about getting involved that was so important? “I’m social and I get energy from people. I thrive in community and when I find people with similar interests, it makes my whole life better,” says Amanda. “I’ve only realized this in my later years. But getting involved as a student was what connected me with the School. I met new people. I felt supported. It was the best! I made amazing connections.”
Why alumni giving back to students is indispensable
Giving back is at Amanda’s core, whether financially or with time and energy. Even in her household, the family strongly believes in giving back and improving the life experience for others. “When I was a student, I was fortunate to have the student experience I needed to get to where I am today,” says Amanda, “But not everyone has that same fortune, if, for example, they have to work to support themselves through school and they don’t have time for activities.”
Amanda feels forever grateful for her role as a TA and for CASCO—they were core parts of her growth and development—and she gives back as a donor so those who cannot afford to do so can still partake in the student experience. She also supports the student body at Telfer with her time and energy because giving back can also look like mentorship and sharing life’s experiences and knowledge. “That can change somebody’s future” says Amanda. “I’m a giver, I serve others. I give back to the place I work at because I want to support students and faculty and staff.”
Helping others fuels the Brand, Marketing & Communications Director with satisfaction, even without knowing the direct impact. Amanda often gets messages from students from the years gone by, thanking her for helping them advance in their careers. “I was mentored and now I am mentoring others and I hope they pay it forward and the momentum continues,” she adds.
Unwavering #TelferNation Spirit: a 15-year-career at the School
After graduating from her BCom in 2008, Amanda worked in consulting for a year, and then the economy crashed. She lost her job. She travelled to Europe for a month and then applied for a position at the Telfer Career Centre. One of her direct managers on the hiring panel was the late Professor Peter Koppel, who taught ADM2381 Business Communications Skills, where Amanda was a TA during her degree. She interviewed with Koppel and with Marc Albert (who received the Spirit of Giving Award last year!) and got the job.
“I felt comfortable and loved the environment,” says Amanda. She held four different roles at the Career Centre, from student-facing to working with employers to managing the team. In October, Amanda is celebrating 15 years of working at the School. Throughout this decade and a half, she’s always been involved, even as an employee, sitting on different committees, building community, and making new connections. “I believe in the School, in the vision, where we are going. This community and the people keep me here,” adds Amanda.
Women in Leadership: “Take responsibility and go after your dreams”
On par with getting involved and mentorship, Amanda is fiercely passionate about women in leadership. And not just in theory—she went back to school and completed Telfer’s “Boundless Leadership: A Breakthrough Program for
Amanda has always had strong female role models in her career and they made a significant impact on where she is today. Women must be able to see themselves in a leadership position so they feel inspired to follow their dreams and go after the big goals, with others leading the path. “As women, we need the opportunity to be presented, but we also create the opportunities,” says Amanda. “We need confidence, leadership, and a growth mindset to do that.
In her years of working with students, staff, faculty, and external stakeholders, Amanda saw women in particular play it small, not go after their dreams, or think they can’t do it because someone told them they are not worth it. “I want to break that mindset,” says Amanda, “Because anyone is capable.
Women need allies—of all genders—to help them along the path, but as women, they have to take responsibility to go after their dreams. As a woman in leadership, Telfer’s Boundless Leadership program connected Amanda with peers, and she realized her role in encouraging others to embrace female leadership. Today, we are seeing a lot of change and more female leaders than ever. However, women still face barriers, and Amanda is working to break them for herself and others looking to be in a leadership position.
Confidence: the missing ingredient
“I’ve seen it in the Career Centre,” shares Amanda. “Young women think they are not qualified and it stems deep. I value self-empowerment just as much as empowering others. We learn core skills of empathy and connection as women and as moms, and we need to use these skills to accomplish what we set our minds to. As a leader, I know that if you dream of being a leader, you have everything in you to make it happen.”
Amanda wasn’t always this confident. Her real transformation started three years ago. After having her son, she went through postpartum depression. While staying at home with a newborn, she realized that personally, she needed the challenge of both working and parenting. But she felt guilty, and it impacted the roles she pursued. The “mom guilt” affected her confidence and she wants to share with women that it’s normal: it’s okay to want to be a mom and to have a great career. If you want that for yourself. If not, that is just as okay. It’s the ability to be honest with yourself and make the choice, that is individual for every parent. It took Amanda five years to get there. Now that her son is 8, she is glad she prioritized her well-being alongside parenting.
“I really didn’t believe in that innate confidence until I started to take care of myself,” says Amanda. Like they tell us on airplanes, put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. Amanda realized she couldn’t give as a leader or as a mom if she wasn’t pouring into her own cup first. “Empowerment from within? I didn’t believe it until I began investing in my personal development, mental health, and physical wellness. I saw that I became a better leader, a better parent, and a better spouse.”
Continuous learning: 1% better every day
On top of a full-time job, school involvement, and an active family, Amanda also runs her own health and wellness business, getting up at 5 am to fit in a workout or a meditation. Yet, she never thought she could be an entrepreneur, crediting the thought to an old self-limiting belief. Amanda thought she was meant to work in a business and not come up with her own ideas until she did, thanks to the self-empowerment work she bravely took on after her postpartum depression.
In hindsight, Amanda realized just how much she’s learned through her career to become a business owner: understanding client service, how to market herself thanks to a marketing background, experience in communications and social media, and the ability to learn and grow. She built the foundations while still in school and continues learning to this day, driven by the “1% better every day” mantra.
“I originally never thought I’d go to university and went to college,” explains Amanda. “But when I got there, I didn’t want to limit my opportunities so I enrolled at Telfer. Working as a TA for the presentations course pushed me outside my comfort zone, too. It’s a class students love to hate but they later realize just how much value it offers. Without it, I don’t think I’d be a confident speaker today.”
The learning didn’t stop there. Telfer is a bilingual environment and Amanda had to push herself to expand her French immersion skills and present to hundreds of people in her second language. Confidence comes with action.
Amanda’s advice to current Telfer students
Don’t stop learning, and do your best to adopt a growth mindset. When you are faced with challenges, use them as an opportunity to learn something. Amanda is a fan of the FAIL acronym: First Attempt In Learning. To her, it conveys the importance of learning a lesson and trying again. Be willing for something to not work out and be comfortable in the uncomfortable. Ask yourself, what’s the worst case scenario and what’s the best case scenario?
The Telfer team is grateful to Amanda for her inspiring commitment to our students. We can’t wait to see how much more she will accomplish in her future years at the School!