Community Highlights: Meet Amy D. Taylor of Advancing With Amy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy D. Taylor.

Hi Amy D., please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I didn’t start with a grand business plan. I started with a newsletter and a scrappy little podcast because I was tired—tired of whispering about mental health, tired of pretending I had it all together while living with bipolar disorder, ADHD, and anxiety. I knew there were women like me—neurodivergent, overwhelmed, brilliant, exhausted—who needed someone to say, “You’re not broken. You’re not alone. And you can do so much more than survive.”

My turning point wasn’t pretty. During my marriage, I carried a baby on one hip and a mountain of shame on the other. There was financial control, relentless gaslighting, and the kind of loneliness you feel even when someone’s sitting right beside you. Postpartum depression hit hard, and later it was used against me in court, as if needing help made me unfit to mother. That season cracked me open. I learned how stigma thrives in silence—and how silence starves us of the help we deserve.

After the divorce, I was a single mom, working and raising my kid who happens to have Autism, while rebuilding a nervous system that felt like it lived on high alert. Then came thyroid cancer. I wish I could tell you I handled it all with grace and green juice. Mostly, I handled it with grit, ugly crying in the car, and radical honesty with myself. Surviving that made my mission crystal clear: I’m here to help women move from coping to actually thriving—on their terms, with the brain and nervous system they have.

I’ve spent nearly three decades in social work, so I knew the theory. But it was the lived experience that sharpened my approach. I’m not here for toxic positivity or productivity culture that treats us like machines. My philosophy is simple: clarity → alignment → consistent action. First, get honest about what you want and what actually works for your brain. Then align your choices with your values (not Instagram’s values). Then take doable, repeatable steps—even tiny ones—until life starts to feel like it fits.

That’s why I built **Advancing With Amy**. It began as a place to talk openly about mental health and neurodivergence. It’s grown into a suite of practical, compassionate supports for busy, beautifully human brains: guided journals like the **Who Am I Journal** and **Warrior Hearts Attacking Anxiety**; for folks who want a spiritual practice that respects real-life limitations; low-spoons tools while neurospicy; short audio pep talks for those “I can’t get started” days; and **Inbox Coaching** for people who need steady support that meets them where they actually are—on their phone or laptop, in their inbox.

On my podcast, *Mental Health Warrior & Neurospicy Mama*, I keep it honest—no fluff, no shame, and a lot of heart. We talk about the hard things without making you feel like a problem to be solved. We also talk about skills: nervous system regulation, boundaries, habit scaffolding, self-trust, and how to build a life you don’t have to escape from.

What sets my work apart isn’t a magic formula. It’s the tone. I don’t tell women to “fix” themselves. I help them design systems and rhythms that fit their actual lives. I believe micro-actions beat meltdowns. I believe rest is productive. I believe you can be both a work in progress and a powerhouse. And I believe we deserve spaces where our complexity is welcome—neurodivergent, spiritual, skeptical, sensitive, ambitious, all of it.

Women come to me when they’re tired of performing “fine.” They want to feel steady, not perfect. Together we build the basics: morning and evening anchors that don’t collapse the first time you have a rough night; clear priorities that reflect your values, not your fear; and tiny, repeatable steps that add up to real momentum. We practice repairing with ourselves after the messy days instead of starting over with shame. We build self-trust by keeping promises so small you can keep them even on anxious, foggy, or overstimulated days.

If there’s a throughline in my story, it’s this: stigma shrinks when we tell the truth. I tell mine so women can tell theirs—without apology. I’m not here to hand you a new identity. I’m here to help you come home to the one that’s been there all along, under the noise, waiting to be seen and supported.

I started with a newsletter and a podcast because those were the tools I had. I keep going because of the e-mails I received, saying, “I thought it was just me.” It’s never just you. And it’s never too late to build a life that fits the nervous system you’ve got—one clear, aligned, consistent step at a time.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not and still isn’t a smooth road. I started with no understanding of what it took to run a business, let alone a newsletter and a podcast. When I first “came out” on social media to all of my friends and family as being bipolar, I thought I was doing okay, only to wake up one night in utter terror from what I’d done. I realized I could never go back and that I might be embarrassing my friends and family. I lay there awake until early morning and then text my Mom and apologized for embarrassing her and she said, “What are you talking about”, so I told her how I’d woken in the night to this revelation. She said, “No, I’m not embarrassed by you at all” This made me feel so much better and gave me the strength I needed to continue. I researched how to create and run a podcast and I talked to friends who had their own businesses and picked their brains. Even then, I did about 5 podcast episodes before posting any and then posted one for the world to see and sent it out on all of my social media, very proud of course, and my Mom listened and said, “Why do you keep interrupting that poor woman!?!” I was mad at first and thought she doesn’t know what she is talking about because I didn’t interrupt her. Then I went back and listened again and she was right on the money! I had to apologize to the guests I had interviewed already and edit out as much of my interrupting as I could and sent an apology via social media to anyone who had listened to it already. Then I practiced just listening and giving people a safe place to talk. I’m not perfect, I still catch myself interrupting from time to time, but I’ve improved greatly and am much more confident now because of it. I continue to improve with each episode I do. I keep learning more about how to improve my show and I’m not afraid to try new things. As for my business, well, it hasn’t been easy either. I have sold some journals and workbooks here and there and I have done some coaching, but I don’t have the time or money to invest in building my website like I want or create all the courses I want to and am going to eventually create. I spend most of my time, coaching, creating new products to put in bundles to grow my subscriber list and being coached by someone else, because I am still working a 9 to 5. It is my dream that I will eventually be able to expand my business and devote full time efforts to it. If you asked me in all this, what was the hardest struggle of all of it, well, I would have to say the tech! I’ve never been a tech person and it took me quite a while to learn the editing tech and the website tech etc. and I am still struggling to keep up and learning something new every day.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
# Advancing With Amy — What to Know

**What I do**

* I help neurodivergent and mentally struggling women move from coping to thriving—without toxic positivity or hustle culture.
* Through my newsletter, podcast (*Mental Health Warrior & Neurospicy Mama*), digital tools, and Inbox Coaching, I deliver practical support that fits real life, busy brains, and low-spoons days.

**Specialized in / Known for**

* **Neurodiversity-affirming coaching** that blends nearly 30 years in social work with lived experience of bipolar disorder, ADHD, and anxiety.
* A simple, repeatable framework: **clarity → alignment → consistent action** (tiny steps that actually stick).
* Compassionate, judgment-free guidance with a Gen X honest voice—spiritual **and** practical.

**What sets me apart**

* **Lived + professional expertise:** I’ve navigated divorce, single parenting, and surviving thyroid cancer—so my tools are pressure-tested, not theoretical.
* **Meet-you-where-you-are delivery:** Inbox Coaching for on-the-go support; short audio pep talks for “can’t get started” days; low-spoons toolkits for overwhelmed parents.
* **No shame, no perfectionism:** I design systems that fit your nervous system, not the other way around.

**Brand + offerings**

* **Signature resources:** Guided journals and workbooks (e.g., *Who Am I*, *Warrior Hearts Attacking Anxiety*, *369 Manifestation*), mini-courses and toolkits (*Parenting While Neurospicy*), quick **Voice Notes** pep talks, and **Inbox Coaching** for steady accountability.
* **Content ecosystem:** A candid newsletter and the *Mental Health Warrior & Neurospicy Mama* podcast—real talk plus doable steps.
* **Speaking & workshops:** Stigma-busting talks and trainings for communities, summits, and organizations.

**What I’m most proud of (brand-wise)**

* Building a community where women feel **seen, safe, and capable**—and where complexity is welcome.
* A clear, consistent brand voice: real, caring, unfiltered, and anti-shame.
* Practical tools that respect executive function limits and still create momentum.

**What I want your readers to know**

* You are not a problem to be fixed. With the right supports, you can design a life that fits your brain.
* Advancing With Amy is here for **steady, sustainable change**—one clear, aligned, consistent step at a time.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Invest in a coach and if you have the money, invest in a VA (virtual assistant) to help with your website and offers. You can grow a lot quicker with this help. Without it, you need to spend some real time educating yourself on how to create offers and a website as well as how to reach more people and grow your e-mail list. And don’t wait to start your e-mail list, it is the center of your whole business. I would also encourage you to do as many bundles and summits as you can, showcasing your offers and speaking publicly to grow your audience.

If I had it to do over again, I would have spent more time creating my website and offers before I went live, because I’m still struggling to catch up in that area.

Pricing:

• $30/wk inbox coaching.
• $27.00 digital workbooks & journals
• Courses will be $47 when I get them posted

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.advancingwithamy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advancing_with_amy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdvancingwithAmy
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-danielle-taylor-2023802b/
• Twitter: @AmyTaylor543983
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancingWithAmy