She wanted to humanize people that work with animals and typically get a bad reputation in the media due to some extremely biased opinions and documentaries. In 2019, she was laid off from her dream job working with killer whales, due to a companywide restructuring – that when she started really struggling with her mental health. Instead of hiding it, she chose to share her journey online and began building a like-minded community. She chose to take this moment of hurt and loss with her chin up and chest out – turning this into an opportunity to pivot from working with marine mammals to elephants and other terrestrial mammals.

Once the global pandemic of 2020 hit and shut down the world, Amanda was furloughed like so many others from her non-essential (to the world, but oh so essential to her identity) job and was forced to be alone, at home, with her overflowing list of mental health issues that were piling up. Later that year, she contracted the ‘vid and while at home with her symptoms, her mental health was getting so bad that the mere thought of returning to work was sending her into daily panic attacks. She was beginning to toy with the realization that maybe she didn’t want to be in the animal field anymore… and that she wanted to pursue other dreams

During the Spring of 2021, Amanda started a mental health podcast, Sunshine and Rainbows, to begin peeling back the veil of social media and its highlight reel to lift up REAL people who have overcome some incredible things – showing that everyone deserves a little more kindness and grace.

“It‘s ALL Sunshine + Rainbows… until it‘s not. This mental health podcast starts important conversations in hopes to peel back even more layers of what it’s like to live in a society full of highlight reels. Join your host, Amanda Young from ThatMandaGirl, each Monday morning as she creates a welcoming space where listeners are challenged to look at a situation with a different angle, hear from special guests who share incredible stories AND laugh along the way!”

Later in 2021, Amanda started her author journey with a whimsical and colorful children’s book series. Her first book, Jumo the Unicorn, quickly reached Amazon’s #1 Bestseller list and continues to touch the hearts of little readers. This story is about a little rhino going through an identity crisis and a pink haired zookeeper who spreads messages of love, friendship and kindness in order to help teach kids some pretty valuable lessons.

Amanda has used this endeavor to continue spreading her messages of inclusivity, empathy and bravery by writing a second book in the series, Manda’s Magical Zoo. This story shares with readers the importance of speaking up for those in need, even when no one is watching. While these books are filled with whimsy and color, each message holds sentimental value to Amanda because of her connection to each animal that inspired the stories.

Once the Fall of 2021 came around, Amanda’s mental health journey took a massive shift. While her life on the outside seemed to be aligning into something anyone should be proud of, she found herself in one of the deepest spirals of depression she’d experienced to date. She searched for answers from her primary care physician, but with the global pandemic and working from home, her Dr. was convinced that she was just depressed and anxious like everyone else in the world.

Amanda refused to stop advocating for herself, so she found a psychiatrist that really listening to her symptoms. Even though she was on a max dose of antidepressants, she felt out of control of the storm spiraling around her. Finally, she was given answers: 5 mental health illnesses and a whole new cocktail of medications that completely turned her life around. After the major diagnosis of Bipolar 2, Amanda’s entire life became clear, aligned and finally under control.