I’m a closet journalist.

I’ve always enjoyed writing. From passing secret notes during prep at boarding school to writing internationally published print articles, I love the physical sensation of seeing my words and ideas staring back at me.

I never became a journalist because I didn’t get the final marks.

I ran away to Spain to find myself. As you do.

After months of living like a true Spaniard, I got myself a job at a summer holiday hotel. To translate for the foreign tourists, you see. In my excitement I had my hair and makeup done and splurged on a new pair of killer heels for my first day on the job.

I strutted with ‘tude through the lobby like any other self-respecting 18-year-old, ready to show these villagers a thing or two about the English language.

Instead, I was handed a mop and bucket.

What did I find?

The beginnings of humility. The desire to run my own show. And an incredible number of blisters on my hands and feet.

So I returned to Sydney, studied business management and IT network administration, then promptly donned my shoulder pads and got myself a job at Ernst & Young. For seven years.

Surprise, surprise, I felt unfulfilled. And it wasn’t until after a year-long honeymoon jaunt throughout Europe and Africa and the birth of a baby that I realised how unfulfilled I really felt.

So I started my first business. And it flopped.

One of the hardest business decisions I’ve ever made is admitting my time was up and it was time to let go. But the demise of the business wasn’t the problem. It was the realisation that everything I’d sacrificed had amounted to nothing.

I now disagree.

The success of Untangle the Web owes itself to my seven years in corporate, running a failed business – and wielding a mop and bucket.

What’s this got to do with Exchange, SharePoint, web design and copywriting?

Everything.

Because it’s not about the tools or the disciplines. It’s about having the skills to extract from you exactly what you need from your business.

Through a highly detailed briefing process developed over two years, I help you uncover what you want your business to achieve online. And then I deliver it with pinpoint accuracy. The tools and the disciplines, really, are just a means to an end.

What’s more, I can empathise with you. We’re all business owners here, and we know what it’s like to be in business.

I’m not afraid to admit I make mistakes.

Anyone who presents a perfect business is lying. What I can present to you, however, is a business that fails forward. One that learns from mistakes, and then evolves to stop it from happening again.

Here’s a few things you most likely don’t know about me:

I’d swum approximately 27,000km before I turned 18.

English is my second language (Spanish, my first), despite being born and bred in Sydney’s east. My French is a trifle rusty.

I’m terrified of being mediocre.

I’m a true child of the ‘80s; the music, the clothes, the hair. It’s also when I was born.

I’m left-handed, and hopelessly un-co with my right.

Red lipstick is my secret weapon.

My year 10 school report said ‘Amanda asks too many questions’.

Unless the life’s been melted out of it, I hate cheese. (Cheesecake doesn’t count.)

Exclamation mark abuse drives me to the brink. And almost the drink.

I love running-writing.

I bought my first car when I turned 18; a 1963 Ford Falcon XL Deluxe (column shift, of course). I bought my second when I turned 21; a 2002 BMW Z3. I’m still deciding what to buy for my 30th. Any ideas?

And that’s me.

Photography by the incredibly talented portait and documentary photographer, Alex Vaughan.