Amanda Bruen

Real Estate Advisor, Visionary, and Community Advocate

Now more than ever - it's time to RISE!

The past six years — and truly, many chapters of my life — have been some of the most challenging I have ever faced.

I have been in real estate since 1997. Tony Robbins' Awaken the Giant Within wasn't just a book to me — it was the catalyst that shaped my mindset and launched my career, helping me become one of the top agents in my market. I grew up in the real estate business. My parents owned a brokerage in Dayton, Ohio, which my son now runs today.

In 2011, I moved to New Hampshire and once again built a successful business using the same principles, values, and mindset that had carried me for decades.

But even after starting over once, I was forced to navigate profound adversity again.

Between 2002 and 2007, after my first divorce and while living in Columbus, Ohio, I was in a four-year physically abusive relationship with a man I had a beautiful daughter with. He repeatedly threatened that if I ever left him, he would take my daughter from me.

One day, while he was on top of me punching me in the face, my two-year-old daughter walked into the room and spoke her very first sentence: "Daddy, quit hurting my mommy."

In that moment, I knew — no matter the cost — I had to leave and get her out of that environment.

He fought me for custody. He had money, power, and resources. I didn't. I lost my daughter for several years. When she was 16, I was granted emergency custody after he began abusing her as well. Today, she is my best friend and has chosen not to have a relationship with her father. That experience shaped my strength, my resolve, and the depth of my love and purpose as a mother.

Then, in 2019, my life collapsed once again.

Four days before we were set to close on a home in Puerto Rico, my former husband left me for another woman. We had rented out our house, packed up our lives, and believed we were beginning a new chapter. Instead, he took off with $80,000 and left me stranded at the Florida airport with seven suitcases and no plan — facing the very real possibility of homelessness.

At that moment, Carlos — who was a friend and future business partner — stepped in. He helped me regroup, return to New Hampshire, and regain possession of my home. In the midst of chaos, we fell madly in love and began our journey together.

The divorce that followed was horrific. I lost nearly everything I had worked my entire life for and once again found myself starting over from scratch.

As I tried to rebuild my real estate business, I invested $25,000 into a coaching program. Around the same time, I developed a severe facial condition. Lesions, scarring, and deformities consumed the next three years of my life, leaving me unable to fully show up.

That season forced me inward.

I began a deep spiritual journey to heal my mind, body, and soul. Along the way, I realized I could no longer keep my childhood trauma locked inside. I publicly shared that I had been sexually abused by my brother from the ages of 8 to 13.

That truth cost me dearly.

My parents and my son disowned me. They believed it was a "private family matter" and wanted the world to continue believing we were the perfect family. We have not spoken since. My son recently got married — and I was not invited.

Just as it felt like life was finally coming back together, I married the love of my life and best friend, Carlos, on December 30, 2023.

And then we were knocked off course once again.

I choose to live with intention, mission, and purpose. I choose gratitude — for every breath, every sunrise, every day the universe gives us together. I choose courage, truth, and love — even when it hurts.

If you are reading this and you are in your own season of collapse, loss, or uncertainty, please know this: you are not alone, and your story is not over.

Now more than ever — it is time to rise. 🌅