about AMANDA YOUNG

Amanda Young is driven to inspire others to live life wholeheartedly.

As a licensed social worker, fitness professional, educator, and motivator, she has spent the last two decades helping others to achieve personal goals and overcome physical, mental, and emotional challenges.

As a social worker in both community organizations and schools, Amanda counsels adults with mental illness as well as children and families suffering from trauma and disabilities.

Amanda is also one of NYC’s elite fitness instructors.  She was featured in Time Magazine as a HIIT expert, has received several awards and recognitions, and currently stars in AcaciaTV’s digital streaming fitness videos. With a desire to give back to her community, she currently leads a nine-month Fitness Instructor Training program through Shape Up NYC, offering both educational and practical skills to over 200 aspiring group fitness instructors.  Her passion for mentorship sparked Lululemon Athletica's interest to name Amanda as one of their Ambassadors and partner with her to build a program supporting health and wellness in New York City.

In 2008, Amanda was officially diagnosed with an extremely rare disease called Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN). While battling this extremely debilitating disease, Amanda founded Face the Change, a campaign to increase TN awareness in hopes of finding a cure.  Her personal story of facing physical, emotional, and mental challenges and her message of harnessing the power of vulnerability in living an authentic and productive life has been featured in the Daily News, Family Circle, and MSNBC.

Amanda hopes to bring her message to a wider audience and to inspire those facing life challenges to take a holistic approach to wellness as they travel on their individual paths to authenticity.