Amanda Kopman Hammer’s Post

I walked away from my high-paying Amazon job after 8 years - and I never looked back. Burnout hit me hard. The job that once fuelled my passion left me exhausted and disheartened. Conversations with colleagues revealed a shared disillusionment; we were all stuck, simply going through the motions. **I decided - enough was enough.** Quitting wasn’t just about escaping the grind. It was a commitment to reclaim my life and, more importantly, to help others do the same. I wanted to channel my journey into empowering others to break free from burnout and find their true purpose. **Life’s too short to settle for a job you hate.** Today, I’m dedicated to helping people rediscover joy and fulfilment in their careers. It’s not an easy path, but the rewards are immeasurable. **Feeling stuck? You’re not alone.** Reach out and let’s support each other. Together, we can create lives we truly love. #bigtech #career #coaching #purpose #personaldevelopment

From the follow up from #Hired, my new book #TheFutureofWork will be available on #Amazon this Tuesday. The traditional way of growing up, getting a college degree, and grabbing a W2 job is broken and is quickly now going away. Today's workforce dynamics reveal a stark contrast between the retiring baby boomers and the new generations entering the job market. As a significant number of experienced professionals retire, the incoming workforce brings with it new expectations, values, and work habits. This generational shift necessitates a rethinking of how individuals and businesses approach careers. #Hired #JobOpportunities #jobsearch

It’s never easy to make the decision to step away from your career, but due to a situation within my own family, I’ll be leaving my role at Amazon in a few weeks. While this choice is incredibly difficult, it’s a reminder of what’s most important—family. Careers will always be there, but these moments with loved ones can’t be replaced. I’m grateful for the support I’ve received, and I know that sometimes, the strongest thing we can do is put our priorities in the right order. I’ll be back stronger, but for now, family comes first. #Amazon #FamilyFirst #WorkLifeBalance #Gratitude #NewChapters #HealthAndWellBeing

A key insight from a recent conversation with a friend and fellow product leader at Amazon that I’d love to share. After 5 years with their current team, they’ve been actively searching for a new role over the past few months. While the search continues, they’ve found themselves with "extra" time due to a manageable workload. During our chat, we realized something important: periods like this, when we have extra time on our hands, are a rare opportunity. The next role will come eventually, but this kind of time doesn’t come often, and it’s easy to let it slip by. I’ve been guilty of this in the past too — letting these transitional periods pass without fully taking advantage of them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. This can be the perfect time to tackle long-pending personal or professional pursuits. Whether it’s upskilling in your domain or soft skills, spending more quality time with friends and family, focusing on physical and mental health, or exploring side hustles, creative interests, and hobbies—these moments provide a chance to make meaningful progress. This extra time can be a golden opportunity for personal growth and moving closer to long-term goals. What do you think? Have you ever been in a similar situation? PS: This post has been written with my friend's permission. #PersonalDevelopment #Productivity #Leadership #Motivation #Wellbeing #CareerGrowth 

As a worldwide leader at Amazon, I get to meet a lot of interesting people. One such person was Jorge Luis Pando, who started an amazing initiative called Effective@Amazon. He had a passion to help his colleagues develop their skillset to be more effective and prouctive at work, and he and his volunteer team helped over 50,000 do just that! He recently struck out on his own and is creating the dream of sharing his Effective skills with the world. Here is a thoughtful article that Jorge wrote about the power of quitting while ahead, something he just did himself. Jorge prompts us to ask an important question about work (and other aspects of life): is the juice worth the squeeze? In the article, Jorge details 5 practical things you should do regularly if you want to maximize your effectiveness: 1. Evaluate your progress and satisfaction with current project(s). 2. Reassess goals and milestones. 3. Analyze Costs and Benefits (Is the juice worth the squeeze?).  4.  Aim to reduce biases by seeking an unbiased perspective. 5.  Develop a Quitting Strategy. Read here to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gtNfjxRX. You would do well to consider this at various points in your career. When the ROI of our squeeze is no longer satisfactory, you should give serious thought to what change(s) you will make. It doesn't necessarily mean you change your job, but you should change something! Did you ever make a decision to quit while you were ahead? What was a change you made when you realized the juice was not worth the squeeze? I'd love to see in the comments! #career #decisions #quittingwell #selfawareness #grit #success #effective #productive

I had an opportunity to sit down with John MacDonald to chat about my career at Amazon with the Amazon Delivery team last week and it was such a fun and reflective way to kick off what will be my 9th year at the company this Spring. One of his questions was about the best advice I've been given. I've had incredible mentors and role models in my career so it was hard to choose just one so I shared three -- two from Amazon leaders and one from my sweet parents and I thought I'd share their wisdom (and some of my thoughts) with this community too. 1. Careers shouldn't look linear: I love the societal conversations we're having about changing the way we think about success and the role that careers play in that definition. Our priorities in life don't look linear and so we have to make career decisions that reflect and allow us to prioritize those motivations as they evolve. I've made decisions in my career that have centered on moving up the "corporate ladder" while other periods have been much more focused on my personal learning and development no matter how that reflected in a title. For others, there are times when family is the biggest motivator or the need to earn is the top priority. All of these motivators are what make careers interesting and every decision you make that's best for you is OK. 2. Trust your gut and take more risks: One peculiar fact about Amazon is our high tolerance, and frankly encouragement, to make smart mistakes. We are empowered to test, try, and move quickly through 2-way door decisions to innovate often. As a recovering perfectionist, making mistakes is hard and I am guilty of marinating in those mistakes for far too long. Slowly, I've learned to trust my ability to Deep Dive and be Right, A Lot and focus on the learnings that mistakes bring and celebrate when those risks pay off. 3. Success is 95% about consistency and hard work: My parents raised my sister and I to earn everything through hard work. If we weren't the smartest person in the room, then we'd need to be the most prepared. For example, my parents used to check out the text books for the following school year so that we could pre-read everything during our "summer vacation." Turns out, this mental model of consistency and hard work applies to all aspects of life -- whether you want to get healthy and fit or make progress in your career. Thanks mama and pops for the sage wisdom.

🌟 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻! 🌟 After an incredible 7-year journey, filled with growth, learning, and the privilege of working with amazing colleagues I have decided to look for new adventures. 😊 From my start as a Senior Content Acquisition Manager at Print on Demand to leading transformative projects and launching EU Amazon Vendor Services in Books, I've learned to embrace change and push boundaries. Watching the team nurture strong talent and develop future leaders fills me with immense pride. 🍀 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆: 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗴 ✨: In my very first career conversation, I articulated my aspiration to become a Head of Programs someday. I had no idea what this would look like or how I could even get there and still had this clear vision in my mind. As I continued my journey life sorted out the details and brought me to my current position where I´m doing exactly what I imagined back in 2016. I encourage you all to envision your future, broaden your network, and seize opportunities as they arise. Dream big and let life sort out the details! 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗚𝘆𝗺, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿: 🧗♀️  Inspired by Sheryl Sandberg concept from #LeanIn I learned that career paths are not linear. I faced this challenge when choosing between 2 career opportunities. Opting for the „underdog“, despite limited growth prospects on paper, turned out to be the best growth opportunity for me. Explore the jungle gym and find your unique path to success! 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 👣 : As I leave, I reflect on the footprints I've left behind. "𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲" embodies this for me, leaving a legacy of well-being and community with over 1000 participants. Building this program taught me the importance of taking time for personal passions. Pursue what energizes you and strive for work/life harmony! 7 years at Amazon is my longest working relationship. I will take an intentional break to reflect, recharge, and explore how I can use my superpowers in the future. 🌟 Thank you all for being part of this journey. Let's continue to inspire one another and I’m free for a coffee chat or any other catch up! 😁 #Goodbye #AmazonJourney #Grateful #DreamBig #CareerGrowth #StayConnected 😊

March 12, 2022 Me to my manager: can we connect for a few minutes ? Manager: give me 5 min. Just wrapping up something. Me: Sure. Ping me once you are available After 10 min Manager: Hey Prankur. I'm available now. Let's connect. Me and my manager in a call Me: I have decided to pursue another opportunity outside Amazon. Manager: Why do you want to leave ? It has been just 6 months for you at Amazon. Me: I don't think I'm capable enough to work at Amazon. I think, it will hinder my growth in long term. Manager: You are making a quick decision. This feeling is normal. There is no benefit in quitting. What if you feel the same in other company ? Just give yourself some more time. I have seen your curious nature. I have seen a great potential of leading this team, in you. Me: I think, I have made my mind. Manager: I will give you sometime to re-think. Otherwise, you always have an option to quit. After call, I took two days to revisit my decision. The belief of my manager in me and, the thought of quitting made me re-think my decision. I mean, it was my dream of working at Amazon. How can let it go without creating any impact ? I thought, what if it's just my own mindset which is stopping me from giving my 100%. I decided not to quit and, informed my manager about it. I gave myself another quarter by putting my 100% effort with positive attitude and, the results were unreal. Not just I got promoted to SDE-2 within one year, I also solely contributed the most, in improving the performance of the world's most visited webpage for year 2023. It reminded me today, how a right direction provided through a small conversation can impact your life. #softwareengineering #corporatelife

Perception Do you have a Job or a Reward? Example: A family lived far out in the country. Each day the young children would be given a Reward to do. Feed the cow, gather eggs, work in the garden or clean house. If they did something wrong, they were not able to have the Reward. They would beg to do the dishes or one other of the other tasks. When they were older they went to school. They found out from the other children that it was a Job that they were doing and not a Reward. Your perception of what you do can be a Job or a Reward. So do you Get to go to work or Do you Have to go to work? Only you can answer the question. #job #creative #positiveattitude #ceo #Musk #amazon #investment #revenue

The employee gave me his resignation letter the very next day, when I announced his promotion. I was surprised, or, if I get more specific, confused. He seems to be very sound in his career choices. This was the promotion; he has hustled too hard, competed with other competent fellows, and now he is giving up on his own earned achievement. It was a riddle until then. I saw his WhatsApp message received after 2 hours of his resignation submission. "I am not meant for this job; I can’t keep you in denial anymore. The reality is, I am not competent enough." These phrases were sufficient to understand the whole situation. He was struggling with imposter syndrome. At the time, we all thought that he was too humble to own his achievement. Actually, the thing was that he was afraid to get caught. Now that the situation was crystal clear, I called him back, assured him of his capabilities, And to make a very long story short, he joined us back. This was not a single story. There are a lot of them in our work surroundings. I want you all to be kind to your office colleague. Help them believe in themselves, as this is the least we can do for our competent fellows. #amazonusa #amazonppc #amazonwholesale #privatelabel #ecommerce #amazon #impostersyndrome #people #employees #kindness #coorporatelife