Amanda Lou Holt has always been adaptable. From working in restaurants for 20 years to managing a hotel to working for the University of Houston, Holt thrives as a leader and team player.
Holt graduated from Dublin High School in 1997 and moved to Stephenville, where she worked as a manager at Sonic. She enjoyed the work so much, she ended up working in restaurants for 20 years.
A few things kept her in the restaurant industry for so long. “For one, I love just taking care of people,” she said. “That’s my biggest thing. When you meet or exceed their expectations, you know, it’s just rewarding on its own.”
She also loved the pace of the work. “I just love the adrenaline that you get from a rush,” she said. “You have time limits and expectations. I worked for Sonic for 12 years. I enjoyed the competitiveness between different locations and I had a lot of success there.”
Soon after graduating high school, Holt transferred to a Sonic in Orlando, Florida, where she worked her way up to general manager.
She enjoyed training people and helping them learn new skills. “I used to work with a lot of young adults and I’m still friends with some of those folks,” she said. “I want to encourage them to pursue going to school and, and what their desires are. Some of them didn’t have the home life that I had with that encouragement, so that was another rewarding part.”
Moving to Florida was fun for Holt. When the market crashed in 2008, though, she had to move back to Texas. “That was very difficult,” she said. “I actually went back to the Sonic where I worked as a teenager.”
While working at Sonic back in Texas, Holt decided to go back to school to study business at Houston Community College. She moved, and found new restaurant jobs in her new city. But right before she graduated, Holt suffered a heart attack and had to take a step back.
Around the same time, her sister moved to Houston and found a job at a hotel near where Holt lived. “When I was able to start going back to work after a doctor’s release, she said she needed help. So I just jumped right in and then I got promoted to assistant general manager.”
Work at the hotel was never boring. Holt and her sister had to deal with drug problems and other crimes, as well as help out a few people who lived there full time. They would take in women who had experienced domestic violence, as well as four veterans.
She worked at the hotel until July of this year, when a devastating fire destroyed the building, causing millions of dollars in damages.
“We lived and worked on property, so we had to reorganize our lives,” she said.
Holt found her next job at a job fair for the University of Houston. The University was looking for an accounts payable analyst, and Holt’s managerial experience fit their criteria.
She started this month. An average day for Holt includes responding to emails, keeping track of and reviewing different departments’ expenditures and budgets.
In the future, she plans to continue working at the University of Houston, finish her bachelors degree in business, and go to law school. She eventually hopes to be a prosecutor or do tax law work.
Her interest in law stems from an early high school experience. “We [briefly] moved to Merkel, Texas when I was in high school, and they had a course that was geared toward learning about the court system,” Holt said.
The first part of the class focused on the ins and outs of the courts, and the second half was a mock trial setup. Students also spent time with a judge in Abilene. “I loved it,” she said. “It was always kind of a dream afterwards.”
Holt attends church at Lakewood Church in Houston, where her pastor is Joel Osteen. She sings in the choir there, and volunteers as a freedom mentor, helping people create a devotional life. She’s also part of the relief and outreach team, and helps with various community events.
Throughout her life, Holt has found inspiration in her faith. “Even when things were not going right, I would just lean into Him and everything just worked out the way it was supposed to,” she said.
She’s also inspired by meeting new people. She drives for Uber on the side of her University of Houston job, and enjoys interacting with her riders. “I get to meet people from all over the world, and I love hearing their opinions,” she said. “Some people help change my thoughts and my thought processes.”
Holt’s advice to Dublin graduates is to dream big. “When we were in school [they told us], ‘The sky’s the limit,’” Holt said. “And that is still absolutely true today. You can do anything that you set your mind to.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.