Hi, I’m Amanda, and I’m glad you’re here!
I’m the founder of Illuminated Insights, LLC
and throughout my life, I have worked with people who were moving through life transitions: grief, caregiving, major decisions, identity changes, and financial uncertainty.
Over many years, in both my professional and community roles, I kept meeting people at the same moment: right when life stopped matching the plan. A death in the family. A responsibility they didn’t expect to carry. A decision they suddenly had to make without enough time, information, or emotional space to think clearly. When we are overwhelmed, the mind looks for relief before it can find clarity. Conversations get postponed, decisions get rushed, and people hand choices to someone else just to make the pressure stop.
What I learned is that most people don’t need someone to take over.
They need someone calm enough to sit with them while they think.
Before starting this practice, I spent more than a decade in regulated operational and client-support environments. As a Trust Operations Officer and Community Engagement Leader at a community banking and trust services organization , I worked with families navigating death, estate transitions, and financial decisions under stress. The work required careful documentation, clear communication, and ethical responsibility.
But what mattered most was steadiness. Helping people understand what was happening allowed them to participate in decisions instead of feeling carried by them.
Earlier roles in technology support and incident response taught me how to stay grounded while situations were actively unfolding and emotions were high. Across every setting, I saw the same need: people function better when they are given enough space and clarity to understand their options.
Illuminated Insights, LLC grew from that.
“What if the things that have caused the most hurt in your life become the birthplaces of your deepest passions?”
Why This Work Is Personal to Me
This work is not only professional for me; it is lived.
I grew up in a split-household formed after divorce where money stress and adult responsibilities were present early. As an adult, I have navigated sobriety and have supported others on their parallel paths. Being the primary caregiver for my terminally ill father, I later carried out his final wishes, as well as those of my maternal grandmother. I sat at their bedsides, handled practical decisions during grief, and walked with them through death and others through mourning. I have also officiated funerals for pets and trees, written wedding vows for friends, and have helped to mark both beginnings and endings of other sorts within my community.
I have faced serious illness myself and am on a consistent healing journey from childhood neglect, unhealthy relationships, and abuse. Those experiences have not made me fearless, but they have taught me how steadiness is built.
Slowly, with honesty, support, and clear choices made one step at a time.
Because of this, I am not uncomfortable with the parts of life many people feel they must hide: grief, addiction, conflict, uncertainty, and the practical realities that come with them. I don’t see people as problems to fix or stories to interpret. I see people as capable of finding their footing when they are given enough clarity, space, and respect. I am comfortable with conversations many people avoid, and I don’t dramatize those moments. I don’t rush them either. I help people move through them with steadiness and understanding.
You will never need to protect me from your situation.
I can sit with you, and offer a light of hope, while you understand it.