Seven years of leading her daughter's Girl Scout Troop certainly helped prepare Amanda Brown for the roll of head wingmom, a job involving organizing and training parents to handle kid gear.
Before Brown became the head wingmom she worked for Arapahoe County assisting individuals in need with public assistance. That all changed right before her son Logan, now 8, was born. After a hard pregnancy and some health issues with her baby, Brown decided the best thing for her family was to take on the role of a stay-at-home mom, which she did until he was 7-years-old.
At the time Brown's older child Cassidy was about 4, and as any parent of two under 5 knows, taking care of small children is a huge job. After years being the main caregiver, as her children got into school full time Brown was ready for something new. Luck had it she was perusing Facebook one day and saw a post in one of her mom groups about an opportunity to work from home cross posting baby and kid gear.
"I was so excited and thought it was perfect for me," she says. "I always sold our used baby and kid gear on Facebook so I knew how that side of it worked."
Hence, she immediately messaged co-founder Jessica Crothers and joined the team at Good Buy Gear in April 2018. Starting out at around eight to ten hours a week, Brown grew in her role as the company expanded. A year from her start date she got promoted to Lead Wingmom and went from part time to full time.
"I grew to love the business, people, and participating in the entire process, so that eight hours per week, grew and grew and I never looked back," she says. "I absolutely love my job and the company!"
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, the 38-year-old Brown moved to Colorado 26 years ago after her mom took a job in the Centennial State. While most of her family still lives in Florida, her core, including her two children and husband Parker, remain solid in Westminster.
Brown travels a lot with her family, and their favorite place to visit is Disney World, which works both to satiate the need for rides and theme park fun, as well as to visit relatives. She also travels with Cassidy's competitive dance team and this summer they will go to Texas where her daughter will compete in nationals. Not that she's a dance mom, Brown would much rather be riding the Twister at Elitch Gardens in Denver than performing on stage.
When the Browns are home they get down with a game of Apples To Apples, Monopoly or Candyland. While her daughter dances her son Logan plays keyboards, soccer and baseball. Both kids are really into the Gorilla Gym, an indoor swing that goes in the doorway and provides fun when the weather outside is frightful. The whole family enjoys catching a Broncos game, though if it's pouring they would rather watch it from the comfort of their new home.
Working at Good Buy Gear not only got Brown out of her house and back working, but it's helped her learn even more about baby and kid gear. She works both behind the scenes and does the customer service side, helping those who contact the company with issues. One of her favorite parts of the job is getting people excited about Good Buy Gear. Helping people, she says, is one of the best aspects of the job. If only this company was around when here kids were little, she says she definitely could have used it as a resource.
"I honestly wish I knew about all of the stroller options when I had my babies," she laments. "We only ever had the travel system for our car seats and I never knew there was such a variety."
Brown has taken her roll as troop leader for Good Buy Gear and given it 100-percent, popping up in the warehouse to take pictures, training new wingmoms, organizing second hand products and working with Crothers and co-owner Kristin Langenfeld to evolve Good Buy Gear into a service many people love. As she now assists in helping to organize 25 Girl Scout troops and leads the team in cookie sales in and around Denver, she also has helped this company grow and expand. Next stop, Dallas, but don't worry Mile High moms, Brown might assist in getting the new location all set up, but she won't be leaving Colorado anytime soon.
