Meet Amanda Kushner | Founder, Glitter & Spice

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Kushner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I actually fell into blogging. I grew up in Austin, then went away from college (in Upstate New York) before boomerang-ing back down to Austin after graduation. In the 4 years I was in school, Austin went from having a small-town feel to being an actual big city. As it grew, the food scene basically exploded. So, in 2012, I moved back to Austin after being away for 4 years and it felt like an entirely different city. I got my first apartment in downtown Austin, and I started rediscovering the city through food. As a creative outlet / just for fun, I set up an Instagram account and a blog and started taking [quite horrible] photos of my meals around Austin. Occasionally, I’d post other fun things to do or – very infrequently – my outfits. My style has always been more “classic” or preppy than trendy. I have a collection of cardigans to rival any grandpa’s and I just might love pearls more than Nancy Reagan. During college, I really started getting into the preppy / “collegiate” look. My go-to outfit was a crisp button-down shirt under a cable-knit sweater (with the collar of the shirt poking out) and a blazer on top, paired with a skirt and riding boots (or cowboy boots as a nod to my Texan roots!). In short: in 2012, I stood out like a sore thumb in Austin, a city known for dressing casually. So I set up an Instagram and a blog – called “Amanda Takes Austin” – and started using my free time to post about restaurants and activities in Austin… and my incredibly overdressed outfits I wore to those restaurants and activities. Both started taking off as I was featured multiple media outlets around town, and I grew my Instagram to roughly 2,500 followers in that first year. Fast forward one year. I received a job offer in Dallas and decided to relocate for the opportunity. Prior to my move, I’d spent next to no time in Dallas – I barely knew the city at all. Two things I did know before the move: (1) Dallas is known for its fashion and (2) Dallas has a great food scene. So I kept posting restaurants and outfits on my Instagram and blog, but the name “Amanda Takes Austin” no longer fit now that I lived in Dallas. While the name “Amanda Takes Texas” would probably have been the logical new name, I absolutely *hated* that name. Plus, I knew I would want to expand past Texas as I began traveling more. One month into my new job, one of my new colleagues and I were chatting about my blog (still a creative outlet) and he came up with the name “Glitter & Spice.” I secured the URL and social handles shortly thereafter and launched my new site within a few weeks.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My career path has definitely not been linear. I studied engineering in undergrad, only to realize in the spring semester of my Senior year that I was more interested in pursuing marketing / business (in the technology industry). My first job right out of college was in product marketing in the semiconductor industry. After 9 months in that role, I found out that the company was downsizing and my role was eliminated. The following few months were extremely challenging for me. I felt like a failure due to getting laid off as I assumed it must have been a reflection of me or my performance (I know now that it wasn’t). I spent 4-6 hours every day applying to jobs and I felt disheartened after getting turned down so many times. I was nervous about money and was just generally very on-edge and unhappy. Part of why I spent so much time on the blog during those months was because it was a shining beacon in my day – I loved being creative and feeling like something I was doing was actually productive. As I spent more and more time working on the blog, my mood started to improve. I received the offer that brought me to Dallas in the summer of 2013 and I moved two weeks later. This new role bridged marketing and sales. I loved it. And I was really, really good at it. I loved interacting with customers and coming up with unique solutions to solve their problems. As I showed an aptitude for marketing, I was specifically asked more than once to help launch or run marketing campaigns, plan events, write or edit marketing collateral, and even develop the company’s CRM processes. Yet, as the executive team changed over at the company, the culture changed. After a few years, I realized that I was no longer happy. I was sick of a culture that I believed embraced misogyny. I was bored in what had become the monotony of my role. I wanted more responsibility, but I did not see any opportunities for advancement within the company… nor did I see any roles I found of interest within the industry. And then the roles I did find interesting outside of the industry weren’t interested in me. Thus, in the summer of 2016, I left my role to join the full-time MBA program at SMU. Following my MBA graduation, I joined a massive global company (very different from anything I was used to at the time!) in a role that really capitalized on my skillset, interests, creativity, and knowledge. After a year, I was promoted to another extremely unique role which I absolutely loved. Both my new role and my previous role had their own challenges: I had times where my projects weren’t taken seriously as people either didn’t understand the project or just didn’t see how it was relevant to the company’s core business. Ever-evolving privacy laws and public perception impacted my role and my success daily. Yet, I persevered and chose to focus on the small successes each day. Unfortunately, the pandemic and lockdown hit right when I was hitting my stride. I was in the travel industry, in a role that worked with a variety of companies across the travel industry. As the uncertainty of the pandemic set in, my work ground to a halt. The “let’s touch base in 2 weeks” emails became “let’s just circle up in the fall.” My role was impacted in a massive downsizing effort a few months into the pandemic so once again I found myself unemployed. This time was different though. I knew that I could get through it – after all, I’d done it before. I didn’t blame myself because now I knew that it wasn’t my fault – roughly 30% of my former colleagues were in the exact same boat, as were many of my friends. I’ve always prided myself on my natural resilience. While I took it for granted when I was younger (bouncing back from disappointment was just a part of my personality in my mind), I now believe that learning how to be resilient might be one of the most important lessons to learn in order to be successful in business. If you’re not a naturally resilient person, do what you need to do in order to be able to bounce back. That might be spending time with family or friends. It might be accomplishing a project at home, just to help you regain your confidence. It might be binge-watching a Netflix show to help you clear your mind. You just need to bounce back. And if you’re in a financially secure position and you can take some time (even just a few days) to clear your head and bounce back before you start applying to jobs, you’ll have an even better outcome. Just keep at it and be patient. While it took several months for me to find my new role, I am now in a position I love. I am in charge of all marketing and sales activities for a startup, and my role brings new and interesting challenges each and every day. I am constantly learning and I go to work (more like walk downstairs to get on my computer at home) every day, feeling inspired. Working for a startup, you never know what the future may hold. Yet, after 8 years and a few twists and turns, I know that I’ll be able to bounce back no matter what gets thrown my way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Assuming the weather is nice out and I don’t need to be at work during the day, here’s my recommended itinerary (this is definitely missing a lot of my favorite spots, but this is how I would show one of my friends around Dallas): Day 1: Park Cities – Walk the Katy Trail and have brunch at Henry’s Majestic (I love their chilaquiles!) – After brunch, walk up to SMU and go to the George W. Bush Presidential Museum – In the late afternoon, have patio drinks at the landing at Lounge 31 in Highland Park Village – Do some shopping (or window shopping!) in Highland Park Village – Dinner at Mi Cocina because everybody needs to try a mambo taxi at least once in their life Day 2: Uptown & Downtown – Brunch at Sixty Vines – Wander over to Klyde Warren Park and the Arts District – Check out whats new at the DMA, Nasher Sculpture Center, and the other museums in the area – Have late afternoon drinks at Waterproof at The Statler Hotel – Dinner at Scout at The Statler Hotel – Drinks at Bourbon & Banter at The Statler Hotel and then at Midnight Rambler at The Joule Hotel Day 3: Fort Worth – Brunch at Snooze, an AM Eatery on Oak Lawn – Drive to Fort Worth – Visit the Kimbell Art Museum – If there’s a rodeo, go to that! (Non-Texans love this!) – Head over to the Stockyards for a kitchy laugh – Dinner at Joe T. Garcia’s – Drinks and dancing at Billy Bob’s Day 4: Oak Cliff – Brunch at Oddfellows – Check out the Dallas Zoo – Wander around Bishop Arts District, popping into The Wild Detectives for a coffee or a drink – Dinner at Lockhart Smokehouse BBQ – If you don’t smell like BBQ (unlikely), get after-dinner drinks at Bishop Cider Company, Whitehall Exchange, and The Botanist Day 5: Deep Ellum & White Rock Lake – Grab coffee and a small bite at LaLaLand Kind Cafe – Walk around White Rock Lake – Freshen up, and then grab a late brunch at Stirr – Wander around Deep Ellum, popping into all of the shops and bars – Dinner at Nori Handroll Bar and then check out Dallas Comedy House Day 6: Uptown and Trinity Groves – Walk to brunch at Ziziki’s (they have THE BEST brunch) – Walk down the Katy Trail to Katy Trail Ice House for a few rounds (and snacks!) – Progressive dinner at Trinity Groves (aka grab an app or two and a drink from several different restaurants – best way to try everything!) Day 7: Design District – Breakfast at Ascension Cafe (their avocado toast is great!) – Go antiquing / consignment shopping in the Design District – Play and drink at the Cidercade – Dinner at Ferris Wheelers

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
While I owe shoutouts to so many people in my life, this one has to go to Melanie Ofenloch. If you’re not familiar with Melanie, you need to follow her blog, dallaswinechick.com. Her blog is consistently recognized as one of the top wine blogs in the world… and somehow she also has the time to run her own marketing consulting business (she has been the Chief Marketing Officer at 3 separate companies) AND have a family (whom I love dearly!). I’m constantly amazed by her kindness, her willingness to help me whenever I call, and all she’s accomplished thus far… and I’m a little convinced that she must have a Time Turner because there is NO WAY somebody can do so much in just 24 hours. She’s been a great friend and mentor to me for over 7 years and I am so incredibly thankful to have a role model like her in my life.

Website: www.glitterandspice.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/amanda.kushner

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandakkushner

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glitterandspiceblog