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

Hi Amanda, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Honestly? It started with frustration.
I kept watching agents spend thousands of dollars on leads, boot camps, seminars, and then the upsell into the next thing, and the next thing. And I’m sitting there thinking, none of this is how I built my business. I built mine by showing up, making friends, and being genuinely interested in people. I had already proved the model with Let’s Go Girls. What started as Wine Wednesday with a few women turned into a 50,000 person community. And it brought me clients. Real ones. People who trusted me before I ever asked for their business.
So I thought, what if agents had a place to learn THIS? Not the cold calling scripts. Not the door knocking. But the actual relationship-based approach that works long term and doesn’t make you feel like a used car salesman every time you walk into a room.
GBC came from me wanting to give other agents the shortcut I never had. The permission to build a business that actually feels like them. Because the version of “success” that gets sold to us in real estate is loud and aggressive and honestly just exhausting.
I wanted to build something quieter. And way more powerful.

Person holding a white mug with text, smiling, in a cozy indoor setting.

What should our readers know about your business?
Growth By Community is a membership community for real estate agents who are done building their business the way they were told to. No cold calls. No buying leads. No feeling like you have a target on your back at every networking event.
Everything inside is built around one idea: Connection leads to Conversations, which builds Trust, which creates Clients. Simple. But nobody was teaching it in a way that actually felt human.
Was it easy? No. The hardest part was me. I spent years wondering if I was doing it wrong because I couldn’t stomach the scripts and the pushy tactics. The shift happened when I stopped apologizing for my approach and started owning it.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that community isn’t a marketing tactic. It’s a way of being. The moment you start building it just to get something out of it, people feel that. You have to actually care.
What I want people to know is that there is another way to build in real estate. One that doesn’t require you to be someone you’re not.
We’re doing business differently over here. Come see what that looks like.

Group of nine women standing outdoors under a large umbrella, smiling, with a boat and blue sky in background.

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?
Okay San Diego is genuinely one of the best cities in the world and I will die on that hill.
We’re starting with morning coffee at Superbloom- Mission Bay and a walk along the water. Maybe jumping in the ocean before 9am because that’s the kind of reset that changes your whole day.
Liberty Station for lunch. It’s a converted naval base with incredible restaurants, art, and the best people watching. We’re eating at The Mixer and staying way too long.
Tacos El Franc in the Gaslamp for tacos at some point. Non negotiable.
A full beach day in La Jolla if they want to see seals and feel fancy. Pacific Beach if they want to feel 25 again.
Balboa Park because it’s one of those places that makes you genuinely proud to live here. The gardens, the museums, people doing random things on the grass.
A day trip to Temecula for wine because it’s an hour away and feels like Napa’s cooler younger sister.
And we’re ending the week at Sunset Cliffs at golden hour. No phones. Just sitting there watching the sky turn pink over the Pacific.
Once people come here they never really want to leave. Honestly I don’t blame them.

Four women stand together in a store, posing for a photo, with shelves and a purple-lit sign in the background.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My community that helped me along the way.

Website: https://www.growthbycommunity.com

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

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaSDRealtor

Woman with curly hair smiling, standing in front of a presentation screen, wearing a white sweater and dark pants.

Two women sitting and talking indoors, one with long hair and the other with short hair, with a window showing trees outside.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSoCal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.