Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Doyon.
Hi Amanda, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in the Suburbs of South Kansas City there wasn’t much that had happened in my life to really give me much perspective. When I turned 15, I got a car and when I got married in 2009 my parents did everything to make it the dream wedding, I had planned for two years. It wasn’t until infidelity and verbal and financial abuse that really made everything I had put in my bullseye seem so unimportant. I attended UMKC-Conservatory of Music and Dance to get my Bachelor of Music Education. Before having my first child I wanted to make sure that I had all of my education complete, so I then went to Baker University to earn a Master of Education. I had spent 7 years making sure I was going to be the best music teacher that ever graced the classroom. After struggling with miscarriage after miscarriage I was so blessed to welcome my son into this world. JoJo was the happiest baby. Absolutely hilarious and incredibly smart. I was finally hired at a school full time and began really establishing my teaching career. My daughter, Ella made her debut 2 years later and was truly the exclamation point to our family. The cracks in my marriage started to really open, and I began to see that I couldn’t continue to live my life in the shadow of all of my insecurities on display. I asked for a divorce and moved back in with my parents. Never did I think that the family I had worked so hard to build would all crumble and fall apart. After a year I met a man that knocked me off my feet. I felt important, smart, and beautiful. All things I hadn’t felt before. It was only 4 months later we were engaged to be married. Our marriage lasted 2 years. During that time, I was gaslit, raped, beat, and cheated on. When he didn’t show up to the divorce, I knew I meant as much to him as the fake engagement ring I wore on my finger. It was during this divorce that I hit rock bottom. The administration at my school was bullying me to quit, turning me into the school district for being suicidal, and constantly monitoring my social media. My amazing son had been through so much in his short life and was suicidal as well. When he was in 2nd grade, he was hospitalized for a week for having a plan to kill himself. It was then that my administration told me that my personal life was distracting me too much from my job and I had to choose between my job and my family, I threw my keys across the desk and have not stepped foot back in a classroom. I was dropping my children off at school shortly after and had a plan to go back home and end my life. It was at this moment that my whole world changed. A song came over the radio, You Say by Lauren Daigle. While listening to this song I thought it was a love song. Turns out I was right. It was, but with the Lord. The part that changed my mind and made me go to work instead was “You have every failure God; you have every victory.” My college friend was a church planter in Belton and had been inviting me for years. He saw what I was going through and begged me to come. Siting in the cold folding chair of an elementary school gym I had no idea what to expect. Growing up Catholic I had never put much into the message, just the ritual of up, down, kneel, up, down. That Sunday they were in a series called “At the Movies”. They put movie clips on the big screen and interjected with bible verses and stories. I sat there watching Will Smith do everything in his power to protect his family and make a name for himself in his career, but with the sole purpose of making sure they had a roof over their head and food in their belly. Tears streamed down my face, and all of my mascara was gone by the time my popcorn was empty. I wondered had they set this up. Did my friend tell them I was coming? I walked out into the cafeteria turned “Gathering Space” and met with a few people. That is when I met my best friend, Rachelle. We awkwardly talked about solar panels and chit chatted. That next week I sat in this stranger’s dining room putting together menstrual bracelets for an outreach for her nonprofit and spilled my guts. Everything that had happened to me since 2009 and how I was literally holding onto the last string I had. She listened, encouraged, and empathized with me. It was the first time that I felt heard, seen, and worth something. That was almost 4 years ago, and I am now the Chief Operating Officer for her nonprofit Bloom International. We have a vision to see a world where every woman and child knows they have self-worth and dignity. I now help over 10,000 people a year find their worth and dignity. I lost mine as an adult, but I have seen so many beautiful children struggle to see the light. Every day I am fighting for those that are underserved, underinsured, and unhoused. Making sure that they know they were put on this earth for a purpose, if they don’t know what it is then we will help them find it. Every day I thank God for the opportunity to spread His word and show that love and light to my children. It’s been several years since my divorce and I have not only found myself, but I have found my purpose and place in this world. I met a man at church that is the most amazing Christian. He is showing not only me, but my children as well, that God is so good. We are taking things slow, but healing wounds in each other that we didn’t make. My son has a chronic illness that makes day to day life more challenging than we ever thought, but we are together as a family rooted in Christ and trying to shine the light in a dark world. None of this would have happened without the sins of my past and the hurt that I endured. But every warrior must learn to endure to win the war.
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?
The road was full of potholes. 2 failed marriages, 2 miscarriages, for several years I worked at multiple schools to make my schedule full time, I was abused in every sense of the word, made to feel less than, and left my career after 12 years teaching, I had to completely start over. I had wanted to be a music teacher since 5th grade, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do. A single mom of two kids working multiple jobs just to maintain a household, the book writes itself.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Bloom International?
Our Mission is to help people discover their purpose and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. With a small staff of 5 people, we are making a huge impact. Our founder Rachelle Morlok was a missionary in Thailand and started Bloom. We have many programs that we put our heart and soul into including but not limited to Women’s Conferences, Mentoring, 3 Children’s Homes, Empower Her Education and Hygiene Kit distribution. My focus is the Hygiene and Menstrual distribution. Here in the United States we work with 50+ nonprofits and community organizations to distribute hygiene kits (these provide enough hygiene for an entire month) as well as a partnership with the Cass County Health Department distributing Menstrual Kits. There are enough supplies in each of those kits for an entire cycle. We want to make sure that women and girls don’t have to choose between going to school and staying home because of their monthly cycle. In just 4 short months we have distributed over 1,156 hygiene kits, 365 tampon kits, 379 pad kits right here in the KC area. We are so excited to be expanding into Oklahoma as well. We have 4 mission trips that go to our home village in Thailand every summer. This is an opportunity for us to come around woman and children from all around the world and make sure they know they are loved. We encourage, we empower, and we inspire.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Endurance is my most valued quality. I know that there is a time for ever season and a rainbow after a storm. So, I just have to push through and do what is needed of me to be able to provide for my family. I work Bloom International during the morning; I work for a credit card company at night and do real estate on the weekends. If I didn’t have endurance I wouldn’t be able to provide as I have been able to.
Pricing:
- Blooms Angels- individual donations each month
- Corporate Sponsors- company support either financial or in kind
- Bloom Coffee- this is fair trade coffee imported from Thailand that we sell to fund our Children’s Homes. We ship and have local pick up.
- End of the year giving- This is usually at the end of the year before tax season
- Gala- November 15, 2025 sponsorships and tickets available.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bloomintl.org
- Instagram: bloom_international2020
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bloomintl20
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bloominternational5903
- Other: http://www.coffeebybloom.org/
