Bryan College’s Amanda Cotton Brings the Student Perspective to Admissions

Within the admissions team at Bryan College, senior advisor Amanda Cottons brings a unique perspective to the job as a graduate of the Advanced Medical Spa Therapy program herself. She’s able to use her passion for helping students, her experience learning at the school, and her time spent working in the industry to connect with students on a personal level. 

Amanda chose Bryan College after interviewing at seven other schools which just weren’t the right fit. She graduated from the AMST program in 2014 and spent five years working in the industry before she returned to the campus to visit and ended up with a job and she hasn’t looked back. 

"I actually love it, and I was a natural. I hit the ground running,” she said. 

Before she was a student at Bryan College, Amanda’s professional journey was multifaceted and diverse which allowed her to develop a broad range of skills. Originally from the UK, Amanda initially went to school to be a chef. She traveled to Canada on a holiday in 1988, fell in love with Toronto, and never left. 

In Canada, she took what she thought was a temporary position in a corporate environment, but she stayed with the company for 20 years. She started in an administrative role and worked her way up to a real estate position, and in addition to that she edited the company magazine for 12 years and was the chairperson for the company’s annual charity campaign. 

When she was 48, her position was eliminated when the company restructured, and she revisited what she wanted to do with her life. She met with a career counselor who said something so profound that she herself uses this with students today. “Imagine yourself five years from now, getting up each day to do the work you love to do, not the job you have to do.” 

"You've got to walk towards that eventual goal. You've got to see that door right there at the end of that tunnel, and you've got to take steps. If you never take a step, you're never going to get there. You've got to take steps, and that path is going to lead you where you want to get to.”

Amanda has loved working at Bryan College and being able to connect with students on so many different levels — as a student, as someone who moved to another country, and as someone reevaluating their career after being laid off. 

"I always kind of look for that door of opportunity to connect, that entrance into that conversation where I know how you feel because I think if I can put myself in that person's shoes, it's like the empathy in me comes out,” she said. “I know how you feel, and here's some reassurance because I've been in your shoes, and I've walked that path so that enables me to build those really solid, reassuring relationships, and that carries all the way through my students' experience as well right into graduation and beyond." 

Her favorite part of her job is building those relationships with students and getting to watch their success. "I often get a hug at the end of an interview or a hug at the end of a graduation when they've completed the program. I've had tears of joy, smiles and I've had hugs" she said. "That's always been a really really rewarding experience for me to be able to connect with those students and see them all the way through."  

She loves her team at Bryan College and how they all work so well together. She said oftentimes it feels more like a family, especially when her coworkers were there to support her when she lost her mom in 2022. 

"It's a great environment to work in. I've really enjoyed it. Not only did I come as a student, but I've transferred that into a working environment as well. It's a very cohesive and small team that feels like family." 

She finds motivation through her coworkers and the students she works with, but mostly she finds motivation within herself because she believes strongly in aligning your passions with your career and working for a company that values you. 

Outside of work, Amanda is an adventurous creator who thrives on trying new things. She loves to cook. She's a self-taught painter and sketch artist, she creates bold resin artwork, and she also produces music. She just recently released her 12th album on Spotify and of every creative outlet she has, creating and sharing music is especially important to her. 

"It's seen me through all kinds of emotions. It's seen me through all kinds of periods in my life,” she said. “My mum's deathbed, I sat beside her bed just playing her music and watching her mouth words to the old songs. Every Christmas, I'd go home, and we'd sit by the fireplace and listen to the old standards like Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, which are her favorites." 

In addition to music, Amanda is extremely passionate about women’s health and encourages more women to focus on their health instead of putting it off or sweeping things under the rug. 

She dreams of retiring somewhere tropical, where lemon trees grow, and she can see the beach. 

Her advice to others, whether it’s someone just starting something new or going through a huge life change is to never let fear hold you back. "Never be afraid to fail or try something. If it doesn't work out, you'll figure it out. Always, always go for it," she said. "You'll just take a leap, and you'll figure it out on the way down, and you usually land on your feet." 

The Bryan College Employee Spotlight is an initiative that recognizes employees monthly. All employees of Bryan College are eligible. Learn more about working at Bryan College here.