Amanda Richardson

TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED

By Jane K. Asher, Ph.D.

Photos by Stylish Detroit

During the economic downturn 11 years ago, Amanda Richardson, along with her then-fiancé, now-husband Dave Richardson, were both let go from management jobs at Chili’s Bar & Grill. As a result, Amanda found herself in a tough predicament, but, fortunately, she also found an opportunity to reroute her career and take control of her future.

“We went from having well-paying, promising careers to unemployment, and with the economy crashing, finding a new job was extremely difficult,” Amanda said. “I knew then that I never wanted to leave our lives in someone else’s hands, and I was determined to find a way to make an independent living and put my future in my own hands.”

At the time, Amanda was no stranger to financial hardship. She had been raised by a single mom who worked two jobs and had spent most of her life living in subsidized housing in a rough area. “Growing up, I moved from apartment to apartment without ever having a place I felt was ‘home,’” she said. “I always loved helping people, and I knew that I wanted to help people find a place they could call their own — not just a house but a home.”

From a young age, Amanda learned that she would have to work hard to move beyond the socio-economic conditions of her childhood and to succeed without the support and guidance of her parents or family. “As much as I didn’t realize it then, it gave me the ‘you can do anything and be anything you are willing to work hard enough for’ mentality that inspired me to believe I could succeed,” Amanda said. “I never allowed my circumstances or my underdog status stop me from achieving my dreams.”

Amanda’s can-do mentality was especially helpful when she entered the real estate industry amidst the 2008 crashing housing market. It was a volatile time for a lot of experienced agents, let alone for brand-new agents like Amanda who had no personal or professional sphere of influence in the industry. “There was no such thing as an ‘easy’ sale, and I never took a single client for granted regardless of their price point,” she said.

It wasn’t until Amanda joined The Bittinger Team at RE/MAX Classic in late 2011 that she “learned to operate like a business.” Today, Amanda has a career volume of $68 million, $12 million of which she generated in 2019. Amanda is one of Michigan’s top 10 agents for client satisfaction, as well as Yelp’s highest-rated Canton real estate agent. She was also recently inducted into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame.

Education and ethics drive Amanda’s career in real estate. In addition to prioritizing her own continued learning, Amanda helps to train and support new agents, as well as gives back to the industry by serving as the vice-chair of the GMAR Grievance Committee. “I am passionate about raising and enforcing the ethical standards of our industry and ensuring that agents and members of the public have a voice in situations where their rights have been violated,” Amanda said.

For the majority of her career, Amanda worked solo and employed licensed agent Jackie St. Andrew to handle her showings. Doing so freed up some of Amanda’s time for her two sons, Cameron, 16, and Carson, 9. “It was worth getting less of a commission to make sure I could volunteer in their classes, never miss a game, be the one helping them with homework, etc.,” Amanda said. “Because my husband still worked in the restaurant industry, he worked primarily nights, weekends, and almost every holiday, so my choices were to hire a nanny or find another way to be the one taking care of my kids while not letting my clients suffer.” Between caring for the kids and also for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s and lives Amanda and her family, Amanda found herself growing stagnant in her business and needed to make a change.

Photo by Leslie Patterson Photography

Last year, Amanda’s husband Dave decided to leave his 32-year career in the restaurant industry and join her real estate business where he now handles a lot of her administrative tasks and errands. “Currently, Dave does not work with buyers/sellers, and we are still using a showing specialist, so we’re not a team by industry standards. However, I consider us a team because I would not be where I am today without Dave or Jackie,” Amanda said. “Our goal for 2020 is to become a traditional team with Jackie as a buyer’s agent — our long-term goal is to build a family business that our sons can join and eventually take over.”

Between their boys’ travel soccer games, Carson’s wrestling team and all of the time they volunteer to sports programs, school and church, the Richardsons rarely have a free night, but they do make family vacations a priority. Besides traveling, the Richardson family enjoys attending sporting events, and several of their family getaways have included something sports-related such as attending a Cub’s game in Chicago or a Bears vs. Vikings game after hitting up the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Amanda and Dave both strongly believe in giving back both their time and their money to those in need and are passionate about instilling these charitable values in their children. “Whether it’s adopting families from school, helping with tuition for a teammate whose family can’t afford the expense, or supporting local families through Angel Tree and food pantries, we jump in whenever there is a need,” Amanda said. Amanda also donates a portion of every commission to Children’s Miracle Network — being named a top donor for the network is one of her proudest achievements.

“As top producers, we have the opportunity to use our success to give back, help others, and change the negative perception of our industry,” Amanda said. “And when you live your life and run your business with that as a goal, you’ll have more than you ever need...and an abundance to share with others.”

Agent Spotlight- Amanda Richardson