Seventeen Years in the Family Business. Then She Built Her Own Voice.

Amanda Stein didn’t always know she’d start a company. But she always knew she was a writer.

After college, Amanda joined her father’s commercial furniture business, where she ended up staying for 17 years. What started as a way to write a few case studies turned into a crash course in everything—from proposal development to customer service, vendor negotiations, operations, marketing, and eventually executive leadership.

“I had no business writing experience. I just got thrown in and had to figure it out.”

Over time, she did. She learned how to lead teams, manage budgets, build systems, and carry the weight of the business. The plan was for her to eventually take over. But when the pandemic hit, Amanda realized she wanted something different.

Her priorities shifted. She wanted more time with her kids. More freedom. And a business of her own.

It wasn’t a clean break. Amanda spent the next few years bouncing between short-term roles: a toxic agency job, some freelancing, a content role at a Milwaukee tech startup, and a leadership position at a community-based company. But through it all, she kept returning to the same thing: her love of writing.

She also knew she was done working for someone else. People with that mindset typically need a different kind of support.

“I loved working with founders,” she says, “but I was having a hard time being an employee. It felt like the right time to try building something on my own.”

In 2021, she quietly started Gioia Creative—a content studio for female entrepreneurs who are ready to be taken seriously. She worked on it part-time while consulting and freelancing. Then in late 2023, she made the leap full-time.

"The first few months were the highest highs and lowest lows," she says. "But I finally felt free to build something real."

Gioia Creative helps founders clarify their voice and build trust with the people they care about most. Amanda offers three main services: ghostwriting and done-for-you content, founder-led brand messaging frameworks, and a hybrid strategy model for those who want to write but need a push.

Her specialty? Helping women who are 2–3 years into running a business show up with a more professional, polished brand—without losing their personality.

She’s not interested in gimmicks or scale-for-scale’s-sake. Amanda is building a business that feels good, both for her and her clients.

“I love working with entrepreneurs who are passionate about what they do but stuck on the words,” she says. “Helping them break through that—that’s what lights me up.”

That passion started early. Growing up, Amanda always wanted to write. In her 20s, she even ran a side business baking and delivering cupcakes just to see if she could. But it wasn’t until she stepped away from her father’s company that she started seeing entrepreneurship as a path to creative freedom.

“I’d been in a bubble,” she says. “Working in a family business, you don’t always get exposed to how other people build. I wanted to see more. Learn more. Stretch myself.”

She joined an accelerator in Milwaukee, led by entrepreneur Kelly Peters, and used that experience to refine Gioia’s positioning. She interviewed 12 ideal clients, tested offers, and built three clear pricing tiers.

“Talking to real people was everything,” she says. “There’s no better way to figure out what you’re doing right—or wrong—than to get feedback from the people you’re trying to help.”

Those conversations helped her identify a new throughline in her work: helping founders express who they are through what they say.

“I found myself doing a lot more brand messaging work than I expected. And I realized—I love this. It’s not just about writing content. It’s about helping people feel seen, and sound like themselves.”

Amanda’s goal isn’t to become an agency. But she has started building out her team. A graphic designer recently joined to support visual deliverables, and she’s exploring new ways to deepen her support for clients.

She also knows how critical it is to stay connected. As a solo founder with three kids, Amanda relies on a close network of other entrepreneurs to stay grounded.

“The gut punches are real,” she says. “The wins are amazing, but they’re not every day. You need people around you who remind you why you’re doing this. Who pull you back to center when you start spinning.”

Amanda still works directly with every client. Every sentence, every post, every messaging framework still runs through her. Not because she’s afraid to delegate, but because she knows the work matters.

“I’ve held in my writing for so long. Now I get to use it to help people find the words they couldn’t get to on their own. That feels like a gift.”

Gioia is still small. Still evolving. But it’s real. And it’s working—because Amanda’s building it on her terms, in her voice, and with the clarity she spent years helping others find.

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