Use What You’ve Lived to Lift Someone Else

BY AMANDA HAMILTON
Amanda Hamilton Interior Design
SEPTEMBER 7, 2026

When I think about the idea of using your voice to elevate others, I don’t think about a single moment. I think about everything that shaped me long before I knew I would need it.

I grew up in a small bungalow with one washroom and seven people. My
grandparents, their four children, including my mother, and me. When people talk about “it takes a village,” I lived it.

It wasn’t always easy. Space was limited. Privacy was nonexistent. But what I gained from that environment was something I didn’t fully understand at the time: adaptability. And independence.

 

Learning to Navigate Change

By the time I finished school, I had attended more than 13 different institutions between Kindergarten and University. You don’t go through that without learning how to adjust quickly. How to read a room. How to start over, again and again.

I didn’t always thrive in change, but I learned how to move through it. And over time, that became a strength.

Growing up in a family of educators also shaped me deeply. There was always a respect for learning, for curiosity, for pushing yourself to understand more. That mindset stayed with me, and it still drives me today.

 

The Moment That Changed Everything

After moving from Edmonton to Calgary to attend Mount Royal University, I was working in a restaurant to support myself when I decided I wanted more.
So I went after it.

I “semi-stalked” my future employer, showing up, putting myself in front of them, making it known I wanted in. What started as a three-month probation period turned into three years. But I wasn’t done.

I started freelancing on the side. Evenings and weekends, building something of my own while still working full-time and holding onto a part-time job.

Eventually, I was given a choice. Stop freelancing, or leave.

At the time, a client encouraged me to start my own business. It wasn’t something I had planned. It wasn’t something I had mapped out. But I took the leap. I started my business in the middle of a recession, with no money, but just enough belief that I could figure it out.

 

An Accidental Entrepreneur

I’ve always described myself as an accidental entrepreneur. Not because it wasn’t intentional, but because it unfolded organically. One decision led to another, and suddenly I was building something of my own.

What I wanted was simple.
Creative control.
The ability to choose the work I did.
And the opportunity to build a life that created financial independence.

Over time, that became something more.

 

What You Carry With You

Not all of what we carry forward is easy.

Some of my earlier experiences made it difficult for me to trust, especially other women. That was something I had to work through. And over time, I chose to lean into it instead of away from it. To build relationships with women I admired. To challenge each other. To support each other. To become better, not just for ourselves, but for the people around us.

Because when women support each other, the impact extends far beyond us.

 

Lifting Others as You Go

I didn’t become a teacher like much of my family, but in many ways, I still became one.

Mentorship has become a natural extension of my work. Whether it’s business, finances, marketing, or strategy, I find myself drawn to supporting others as they build their own paths.

And like most mentorships, it’s never one-sided. I’ve gained just as much from those experiences as I’ve given.

 

What We Do With Our Story

If there’s one thing I’ve come to believe, it’s this: Everything we’ve lived, our challenges, our strength, our experiences, has value beyond us.

Not because it’s perfect.
But because it’s real.

When we share that openly, we create space for others to do the same. We remind each other that progress doesn’t happen in isolation. That none of us is doing this alone.

And that the very things we’ve had to navigate may be the exact things that allow us to lift someone else forward.