I was born in Chicago, Illinois but my parents thought it was important that my brothers and I be raised in a small community so at the age of 2 they moved us from the big city to St. James, Missouri and then again to Jefferson City.  After graduating from JCHS (Go, Jays!), I attended Mizzou for a year before transferring to Central Missouri State in Warrensburg, Missouri where I graduated in 1994 with a BS of CJA with a functional minor in BA.  I then spent a few years in Columbia before relocating to St. Louis where I worked in Marketing & Entertainment Management.  In 2001, I was offered a job at Warner Bros. Records in Los Angeles (Burbank).  I have spent the last 9 years in LA working first as an A&R Scout for Warner Bros. and then Interscope Records.  Then moved from the label side of the music industry to the management side and worked as Entertainment & Celebrity Manager before finally transitioning to Sports Agent & Client Manager within the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.  I felt the pull to return home to Missouri to be around family and friends, so in February of this year I returned to my roots.  In my “spare” time, I run marathons & half-marathons, enjoy discovering new wines (I’m a definite “wine-o”) and love spending time with friends cooking, eating, laughing and enjoying this precious gift of life.

Amanda K. Barnes
Director of Sales & Marketing
Columbia Country Club
“The Original Club”
(573)449-4115 – club
(573)673-5929 – cell
abarnes@eaglegolf.com
www.columbiacc.net

What do you think are the biggest challenges for professional women today? Over the years, I’ve worked in industries where it is vitally important that women maintain a professional image in order to be taken seriously.  As a sports manager/agent in a male-dominated sport such as MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) I felt like I spent a lot of time proving myself.  The interesting thing being that I rarely had to prove myself to my clients or to fellow agents but to outsiders.  The sport of MMA is still very new and we are fighting to establish ourselves as a valid and respected sport.  Other professional athletes (i.e. NFL and NBA players) have completely embraced the sport but the rest of the sports industry has yet to come to terms with its place in the world of mainstream sports.  It’s only a matter of time.

What is something you wish you could change about your self? After years and years of teaching aerobics, personal training and running, I wish I had better knees.

Name one thing not many people know about you. I collect vintage clothes (with the help of my friend and former movie stylist, KK, who now owns her own vintage shop).  I have cocktail dresses from the 1920’s & 1930’s, dresses from the 1950’s and ‘60’s, and some seriously awesome disco outfits that were probably seen at Studio 54 from the 1970’s.  I’m dying to wear them out somewhere but haven’t found the opportunity here in CoMo… yet.  Hey, Ladies of CoMo – anyone up for a Studio 54 party?

What is the best business advice you’ve ever received? Perform every task as if it is the most important task to be done.

How would you describe your leadership style? I tend to take a more “team” approach so I have a very participative leadership style.  I feel if everyone has a voice and is part of the team, the team works better.  Everybody wins!

Has your career path held surprises along the way? My career path has been nothing but surprises!  If I look back at the path that I’ve been on it’s so crazy to see how one thing lead to the next.  At the time, it didn’t make sense to me but now I can look back and say “Ohhhh –so THAT’S why that happened.”  It’s been one crazy jump after another but together they created this amazing symphony of experiences.  I could write a book (and might just do it).

What do you do to relax? I am a runner.  I used to do yoga more often than I do now – that’s something I definitely want (and need) to get back into… yoga is wonderful!

What is one personal goal you haven’t yet achieved? While I am a published author, I have not yet had a complete book or novel published.  That’s at the top of my goal list.

What is your workplace pet peeve? If I have to ask more than once when I will receive a response to an email (especially if it’s a time sensitive matter), you can be sure that I am rolling my eyes and thinking bad words.

Who do you consider a career mentor and why? I am and always have been impressed by Teresa Maledy (of Commerce Bank).  She is truly inspirational and I have yet to meet anyone who can say otherwise.  She is the definition of professionalism and character.  She treats everyone with the same respect and grace no matter their position – isn’t that the way it should be?

What is your dream job? I love writing and hope to someday be a professional full-time author.  We’ll just have to see if that dream comes true…

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years – personally and professionally? Whatever I’m doing in 10 years (personally and professionally) all I care about is that I’m happy.  Everything else will fall into place as is meant to be.