Meet Amanda Powell | Disability Advocate & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Powell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Sharing my life with the people I love and sharing my passion with the world while helping others is what makes me most happy. That is why I decided to create my own brand to share with the world that the outdoors and travel is for all ability levels. Spreading awareness by sharing my story , finding more accessibility for all in the outdoor , and sharing with companies home important inclusion is for their brand.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
School and grades were always tough for me but I was able to get a bachelors degree in behavioral science. I then began working towards what I feel has helped me get to where I am now. Right out of college I got a job doing ABA Therapy with Kids on the spectrum. I then went on to working as a employment specialist advocating for people with disabilities to get employment in the workforce after a few months as a employment specialist I was promoted to be a manager over a team of employment specialist and job coaches. After working in that for a year I decided to further my skills in my professional life to be a case work for the state to advocate and watch over my clients to make sure they living their greatest life and not being abused or exploited by those agencies that helped support them. After having my daughter and being in a pandemic I decided to stay home with her . This is when I decided that there was more for me to do. Since I loved visited the national parks so much and had been for the last 5 years I decided to share it with the world and begin hiking and finding trails for all ability levels. As I started sharing my story I saw that there was alot of work to be done about showing more inclusion in the outdoor community , that is when I decided I would start to build my name and brand so that in the next few years I can open a non profit to help people of all abilities get the equipment they need to get outdoors more such as off roading wheelchairs, adaptive sport equipment and everyday gear.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would probably take a three hour drive down to one of my favorite Utah national parks that I feel is very accessible to many different ability levels. I would travel to Moab and go to Arches National Park. I would take them to a few wheelchair accessible trails – balanced rock, Delicate Arch Viewpoint, double arch trail, and park avenue trail. If it was within their ability level then I would take them to the sand dune arch trail and to see landscape arch. I would take several of my favorite scenic drives and if we had time go see the views of Canyonland National Park. I would definitely take a visit to the Moab Brewery and eat their Moab Monster burger.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I dedicate this to my mom. She was my first advocate. While as a single mom they told her I would never be able to walk because of my Cerebral Palsy , she said ” Oh yes she will.” All growing up she supported me and encouraged me to let me know despite my struggles that I could do anything I put my mind to. She was/is my biggest advocate because of her I feel like I have grown the strength and confidence to put myself out there to now advocate for others of something that they may not feel included in.

Website: https://nationalparkcapable.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalparkcapable/