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

Hi Amanda, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
One of the most important habits I feel helped me succeed was accountability to myself, my clients and my partner/employees. Accountability to me means doing what you say you’re going to do and also owning up if you don’t get something done. It can also mean being realistic with yourself and with others about what you can get done and when. By being accountable to others they know that they can depend on you and your word means something. If I tell a client that I’m going to get their agreement drafted by a specific date I make sure that I get it done or let them know ahead of time why I won’t have it to them and when I will be able to do it. We all make mistakes but being accountable for our actions and taking ownership when things go wrong allow others to trust you and your word.

Another habit that has helped me succeed is structuring my days such that I make sure to fit in some form of exercise, whether that’s a yoga class, going for a hike or run or taking a class on our peloton. By being consistent about my exercise habit I also prioritize it and make sure that it gets done. I think this habit has helped me succeed because although I might not always want to start the workout I know that I’m going to feel better when I’ve finished it and since I often start my day out with a workout it puts me in a positive mindset for the rest of the day. It also allows me to prioritize myself and remain accountable to being healthy.

Lastly, although not directly related to my business I have a habit of always reading before I go to bed, sometimes that might be a page before I fall asleep with the book on my lap or that could be a few chapters if I’m really into the book and have time before I go to sleep. I read a lot of different types of books from fiction to nonfiction including memoirs and business books. I’m always learning something new no matter what I’m reading and the habit allows me to continue learning and to make sure that I’m always reading every day, even if it’s only a little bit. It also means that I’m often spending additional time reading, especially in my free time since I love reading so much.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business is West Coast Family Mediation Center and we offer family mediation services to couples and families including divorce mediation, premarital mediation, marital mediation, parenting mediation and other family mediation services. One of the things that sets up apart from others is that we truly value the familial relationships and understand the impact of strain on those relationships. We are all passionate about helping our clients families find their new normal. Additionally, our firm only does mediation and none of our mediators are also litigating. All of our mediators have their law degrees, most are certified divorce financial analysts and have extensive training in conflict resolution. We also work to offer resources and community events for our clients to educate and support them before, during and after their divorce. We offer flat fees for most of our mediation services so that the clients know what the process will cost upfront. Lastly, Toby is my rescue dog who is in the office usually when I am providing emotional support to clients. He takes his job very seriously and loves to be pet!

My partner and I started to grow the business together in March 2015 when we were still San Diego Family Mediation Center (which she had originally started in 2008 but not worked exclusively in) to grow a business a way that we wanted to work with clients and families. In 2018 we opened another location in Orange County as California Family Mediation Center and then in January 2021 we rebranded and founded West Coast Family Mediation Center. I am proud of how we have grown over the last 8+ years from just the two of us sharing a small office and doing everything ourselves to having a total of 7 members of our team at our max and currently at 6 members. It definitely wasn’t always easy and there were many challenges that we overcame over the years, especially learning how to run a business and lead employees when that is not something that they teach you in law school. I overcame these challenges by always being open to learning, making mistakes, being accountable to what I needed to get done and asking for help when I needed it.

Some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years are how to delegate and when to do something yourself and when to have someone else do it for you. I’ve learned to value my time and know that I’m not going to be the best at everything but there is someone out there that can help me with that (who not how for those of you who’ve read Dan Sullivan’s book).

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?
There are so many great places to take them to in San Diego and so many different types of things to do but I would definitely want to take them on walks/hikes around the city including walking through Balboa Park, Torrey Pines, Tecolote Canyon and with time even out to Julian to Vulcan Mountain (one of my Husband and my favorite hikes). Visiting the beach cities from OB dog park (my dog Toby loves to run around there) to La Jolla to Del Mar and Solana Beach. In OB would want to take them to Holding Company for sunset, drinks and food. Would definitely go over to Liberty Station to walk around and check out the Public Market. Also although we don’t spend as much time north of Solana Beach one of our favorite restaurants is Campfire in Carlsbad or the sister restaurant also up there Juene et Jolie. We like to cook a lot and eat a lot of fish so would definitely check out one of the weekend farmers markets and Catalina Offshore for seafood. For brunch would take them to Great Maple and although I’m not a big beer drinker these days checking out some of the breweries or even new kombucha places can be a fun time.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d want to dedicate my shoutout to my mediation professor in law school who later become a business partner and still works with me to this day. He was one of the first people I met at law school and he helped me complete both my JD and my Masters in Dispute Resolution (MDR) at the same time and supported me through all of it. During law school he was in charge of the Mediation clinic that I took, allowed me to help him in creating a new juvenile mediation clinic and encouraging me to go into mediation right out of law school when others weren’t as encouraging. We always kept in touch and when we were looking to expand our presence into Orange County he came on as a business partner to help us do so. Although he ultimately decided to take on less family mediation cases he is still one of our mediators and I’m so grateful to have him working with us. Throughout both law school and to this day he has always encouraged me to go for my goals and has helped me see how successful I’ve been and what a great leader I can be. I wouldn’t be in the same place I am now if I hadn’t had him guiding me along the way.

Website: www.westcoastfamilymediation.com

Instagram: @divorce_mediators

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/singeramanda/

Twitter: @Divorce_CA

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-coast-family-mediation-center-del-mar-2?osq=west+coast+family+mediation+center

Youtube: @wcfmc

Image Credits
Marcy Browe Photography

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