As a married mom of three “tiny queens” and two beautiful Samoyed dogs, content creator and podcast host Amanda Bouldin seems to have found a career that perfectly complements her vibrant family life. However, for Bouldin—who currently has over 1.6 million followers on TikTok and champions kindness and female empowerment—her online presence has a deeper purpose, one rooted in personal tragedy. “I don't want anyone to ever feel alone. That's my greatest fear,” she shares.

Tell us about what you do. 

First and foremost, I’m a mom and that’s the most important job to me. But I’m also a content creator; my handle is @afterhourswithamanda (After Hours with Amanda), and I host a podcast, too, which is my favorite! 

What sort of content do you create?  

I try to show the real behind the real of life, such as mental health and mom life; the seasonality as well as the realistic view of it: some days you get dressed, some days you don’t. I work with lots of brands, too, and always make sure their values align with mine, because, the only thing that I truly have at the end of the day, if online blew up tomorrow, is my authenticity, my honor, and my integrity. And you cannot purchase that back ever. I have a manager who helps me with all the legal jargon of contracts, but I’m not really into all the strategy behind influencing. People follow my account because they’re trusting me, and I take that trust so seriously, which is why I tend to be pickier. 

You talk a lot about mental health in your content and in your podcast. Where does that stem from?

My mother struggled with mental health issues, and in 2019, my brother passed away. He dealt with different struggles throughout his life and his body had taken the hits on that. I want to highlight the mental health journey of real life and never want any mom, woman, or human to feel [like an] outcast [or] alone.

How did you start your online career?

I was a manager for a company, and they decided to move out of California. I was offered a position elsewhere but decided not to take it. During the pandemic, a girlfriend messaged me saying, ‘You should start a finsta and tell all your mom stories.’  

What’s a finsta?    

Finsta means ‘fun insta’ or ‘fake insta.’ It’s a social media account for fun—your friends don’t know about it so you can post things freely without judgement.  

Intriguing. Please continue…

I started posting videos on Instagram about being a mom. I did a 30-day sweatpants challenge—yup, I wore the same sweatpants and styled them for a month! I thought, this is fun, but it’s a slow build; Instagram is so saturated. I began posting on TikTok. I thought, ‘No one's going to be on here. No one cares. No one I know is on here.’ And then the Golden Globes aired, and Michelle Williams made a speech about female empowerment and women supporting women. As a mom of three daughters, I was like, ‘I'm here for this.’ But that week, we had been at a park, and there was an incident with another little girl who was saying things to my five-year-old that a five-year-old shouldn’t be saying. I still remember the video [I made]: I kicked in the bathroom door and thought, ‘If we’re going support women, we need to start with our own kids. I’m all about women and female empowerment, but the fact that we're still attacking each other is insane to me, and the fact that it's starting at five—get it together, ladies! Come on!’ Thinking nothing of it, I closed the app.  And then my neighbor texted me and said her niece loved it. I logged on and saw the video was at 100,000 views; in 48 hours, it had over a million. 

What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m up at 5 a.m. taking care of the girls (cooking up a batch of pancakes on Mondays to make the week easier). We commute an hour to school, and I do drop off and pick up. When I’m back home, I’m filming. I can do anywhere from three to seven videos a day, chatting to the camera as if I’m on FaceTime. It sounds like a lot, but when you’re just propping up your phone, it’s simple. I run into people and the number one thing they say is, ‘You’re just like you are online!’ and I say, ‘What were you expecting?!’ Usually on Mondays and Wednesdays I record a podcast, which I love. I talk about mental health and other [physical] health issues; it’s very much about real life. At the end of the day, my goal is to come on and share what’s going on in my life so that when someone logs on who doesn’t have anyone or leads a solitary life, they can [relate and realize that] we're in this together.  

FAVORITES

Coffee shop:
I go to Sacramento every day to take my girls to school and always stop at Philz Coffee. It’s my favorite; you’ll see their cups in lots of my posts. 

Restaurant:
Mikuni. I love it! 

Way to relax:
I have a weekly walk and talk with my best friend.  I don’t take the dogs, as they’re too rambunctious! 

Work perk:
Being home with my kids and being able to volunteer in their classroom…stuff like that. 

by Caroline Kings
Photo by Tori Wible Photography.