Ok, ok. You guys win! I was tagged by the lovely and talented Shannon Paul AND the brilliant Damien Basile to post about seven things that are interesting or different about you. I actually did a similar post to this on my personal blog, and I hesitated to put this here on the Brand Box because I know what you guys come here for. But I also think it’s important for you – my colleagues, friends, clients, and future clients – to see a bit about the Amber behind all this jazz. So I hope you’ll bear with me (and you can thank Shannon and Damien for their instigation). So here goes.

1. I majored in music performance. My primary instrument is flute, but I also play a bit of piano (though heaven knows how rusty I am). My flute is one of my prized posessions – an incredibly generous gift from my grandmother – and I still play it on a regular basis. And by far, the hardest part of that path of study was overcoming my nearly petrifying stage fright.

2. I worked at the Renaissance Faire in Kenosha, WI the summer after my freshman year in college. I played a young woman in Queen Elizabeth’s court, complete with elaborate (and sweltering hot) costume. And they were darn serious about this stuff: we took dialect classes, dance classes, history classes, and were NOT allowed to break character in the public eye. I truly did meet some amazing people and got to flex the acting chops I messed around with in high school. (Notice the art nerd theme, here?)

3. My early career was in non-profit fundraising. I started working in the arts for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, which led me to development and fundraising work for a few arts and social service organizations over the next few years. It’s there that I fell in love with community-based work, and saw the glimmers of the potential in social media through volunteer networks.

4. I’m afraid to fly. I do it often enough that I’m much better about it that I used to be. But the one time I went to Australia – about 12 years ago – I had to drug myself to make it through the flight. And I don’t sleep on planes, which complicates a 21 hour trip…

5. I’m a hell of a cook. I’m not much for bragging, but food and I have a very affectionate relationship (which is why I’ll never, ever be skinny). Cooking to me is like therapy. I love it. I don’t do overly foofy or complicated, just simple food really well. And I’ll eat just about anything, except peas and caviar.

6. I have a house full of rescue animals. Two dogs (pit bull mixes), Riley and Maggie, and two cats. I worked for a veterinarian for many years and animals have always been part of my life. I wear dog hair everywhere.

7. I’m a cryer. I’ve never been very good at hiding my emotions (I know you guys are shocked), and I cry when I’m happy, laughing, sad, angry, frustrated. It’s not a chick thing. It just is. But it’s hilarious how I freak people out because they think I’m this tough as nails person, and then I get all misty eyed about something.

Bonus Round: I can recite every line of Weekend at Bernie’s and so can my brother. We’ve been known to call each other and leave messages back and forth. Because we’re dorks.

Okay, so there you have it. In accordance with the rules, I guess I have to tag seven more people. So here we go:

Mack Collier

Frank Martin

Geoff Livingston (who’s gonna get all mad at my forcing his personal brand to do a silly meme)

Beth Harte

Danny Brown

Ike Pigott

Jason Baer

And the obligatory rules:

Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.

  • Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
  • Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
  • Let them know they’ve been tagged