Amanda Sweet is an unconventional source of inspiration—a creative fashionista who cleverly uses her “Creative Fairy Godmother” persona to guide others on a distinctive path to success that mirrors her own journey. Holding the international title of the first-ever Miss Voluptuous America of 2022, the native Detroiter is a captivating innovator who is in the midst of repurposing a thrift clothing store, eloquently called “Revamp.”
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“I don’t really consider myself a social media influencer but […] my personality lends itself to being an influencer. I view social media as a place to spread love but in reality, my day-to-day is much more impactful and meaningful because I get to work with these beautiful people all day long. And I think that’s the real influence,” says Sweet.
A Sweet Inspiration
Before becoming a prominent figure in Detroit’s emerging fashion scene and eventually being selected to host this year’s 11th annual Michigan Fashion Week, Sweet faced cynics who doubted her headlining potential. Back in her Actor’s Loft days, when she pursued studies in mixed media and acting, her professors recommended she stick to sideline character roles, citing her appearance as a factor. Unwilling to settle for supporting roles, she worked to establish her presence as a leader in the entertainment business, using the constraints of typecasting as a catalyst to amplify her creativity within fashion.
“My passion is creating, doing photography, setting up backdrops, setting up spaces, [and] creating environments; to me, it is fun,” says Sweet. “I have been working for ten years. I have been modeling and styling, I have been doing photography, I have been public speaking but wasn’t moving towards what it was that I really wanted and that’s to bring people together. I was hungry to work on projects but I was not getting a lot of roles.”
“One of my teachers in acting class said to me ‘you’re not going to get the lead role,” remembers Sweet. “I was like ‘alight, let me just prove you wrong. You don’t know me and I didn’t know me either but it lit a fire in me.”
Through Sweet’s infectious personality and work as a plus-sized model and event producer, she was invited to host Michigan Fashion Week (11th Annual) and holds the international title of the first-ever Miss Voluptuous America of 2022. Sweet has carved her own lane, authentically sharing her unique perspective in the Detroit community and beyond.
Amanda Sweet’s Morning Routine
“I’m a simple girl. I like it to be simple and light. In the morning, I usually put on “pump-up jams.” I Love my Disney tunes and my show tunes from my 90s-2000s pop so I put on some great music before hopping in the shower.
In the shower, Sweet uses Pattern haircare for her hair and CeraVe and Dove body wash for skin. After the shower she mixes about three different lotions together: cocoa butter and shea butter and a standard lotion. She tells Reflect Beauty that there are times when she’ll add an essential oil to the mix.
When it’s time to put on makeup, she transitions the music to her astrological tarot reading or she listens to an audio book or Abraham Hicks. She’ll typically apply CeraVe and Urban Decay products and has been experimenting with some of the Hero Mighty Patch products for dark and dry patches.
Finally, she never misses SPF for the day and Urban Decay’s tinted glow hydrator.
A Place for Community
Sweet is also the community manager at Bamboo, a chic community co-working space with two Michigan locations: Detroit and the suburb of Royal Oak.
“I do understand that my personality does attract people and I get to use it as a superpower to help people. I’m the community manager but I like to call myself ‘Creative Fairy Godmother,’ because I like to run around and wave my magic wand to fix things and make things work to help people’s dreams come true,” says Sweet.
“Of course that need to make magic resignants inside Bamboo but also outside of these doors in the ReVamp organization as I’m strengthening my legs in this thrift store that we’re building and even in my pageant journey, I’ve always just wanted to help people.”
As the inaugural community manager at Royal Oak, Sweet wears many hats, including but not limited to orchestrating community events, workshops, as well as personalized support to ensure members remain active and successful business owners.
“It’s such a beautiful melting pot of diversity. We have students, big businesses that have scaled down due to COVID, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, small businesses, tech startups, and that’s the most beautiful thing to me,” says Sweet. “There are so many amazing humans that I get to work with everyday. I feel so lucky. It’s not even a job. The leadership here allows me to flex both my leadership and entrepreneurial muscles by just telling me flat out ‘just come as yourself’.”
A Family Passion
What began as clothing swaps has grown into the opening of her own thrift store, ReVamp, which will sell its goods both inside other vendor spaces, as a popup and online.
“Being around entrepreneurs all day, including my friends working on side projects, I was motivated and always dreamt of owning a thrift store. My grandmother was a big thrifter and I got it from her and mostly because I’ve acquired a great deal of clothes,” says Sweet. “This was something that has always been in alignment. We are creating content and people are getting excited about it.”
