Since she was a teenager, Amy has been a salesperson, and she has sold everything from radio air to healthcare services. After LSU, she sold airtime at Guaranty Broadcasting, learning early that "if you can sell radio, you can sell anything."

Amy moved into healthcare marketing in Lafayette, Louisiana, where regulatory chaos demanded people with natural know-how. Within five years, she'd taught herself the administrative and regulatory functions of a publicly-funded healthcare agency and managed three locations. By twenty-five, Amy bought her first company—a home health agency in New Orleans—and merged it with the others to cover most of Louisiana. Over the next ten years, United Health Care Group became one of the state's largest agencies and an industry innovator, the first in the Gulf states to mobilize a hybrid car fleet, launch company-wide wellness programs, and implement electronic point-of-care documentation.

For nearly fifteen years, Amy managed United's six agencies, approximately 1,000 patients, and 150 employees. As CEO and owner for ten years, she grew revenue by four hundred percent while mastering every executive function from HR to compliance to IT. Most importantly, though, Amy developed a lifelong motto: one's mission must be honored in every action.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita displaced patients and employees, followed by burnout, Amy sold United to Gentiva and pivoted to her passion: sustainable furniture restoration and interior design. She purchased sixty-year-old Denicola's Furniture in 2011 and spent seven years building it into a craft-focused business known for creative design and stellar craftsmanship. Her projects included film sets, a Vanity Fair photoshoot, a casino disco club, and a world-class arts center.

During this time, Amy also founded Noelie Harmon, the Gulf Coast's first sustainable boutique. Each product was labeled locally made, eco-friendly, fair trade, or socially responsible. Open for ten years starting in 2008, Noelie Harmon championed local artists and brought iconic sustainable brands like TOMS and Klean Kanteen to Louisiana before any other southern store.

But Amy's most meaningful work has always happened outside business hours. She served on boards for the American Heart Association, Greater Baton Rouge Boys & Girls Club, and Manship Theatre. She co-founded the Baton Rouge Green Crawl to promote sustainable consumerism. For five years, she led multiple committees for the Baton Rouge Blues Festival, overseeing art vendors, posters, merchandise, and interactive performances.

Her most significant project was with O'Brien House, a recovery center where three of her family members sought refuge. As a board member, Amy spent years helping staff and clients build a storytelling program. In 2015, she founded an annual essay contest addressing Substance Use Disorder. The following year, she produced the first of four short documentaries about the opioid crisis—traditions that continue today. Through this work, Amy discovered storytelling's power as a healing tool and earned certifications as a Recovery Coach and Interventionist.

In 2018, Amy sold Denicola's and launched Strother Co., a creative consulting company for small businesses and nonprofits. She revamped the Greater Baton Rouge Arts Council's city market, created a mobile app for a juried art show, erected a holiday pop-up shop, and provided marketing services to organizations including O'Brien House, Red Cake Events, and Louisiana Marathon.

Then the pandemic happened. Amy and her husband Dave had been planning their move to Maine for years—Louisiana's weather and politics had become too much to tolerate. In March 2020, they packed their Jeep Grand Cherokee with hope, a family, two dogs, and headed north.

In August 2022, Amy founded Waxwing with her partner George, so she could continue working with local businesses and nonprofits. Since then, Waxwing has grown into a multi-client consulting firm. Amy’s work with Brooklin Boat Yard supports one of Maine's most storied wooden boat builders, while her partnership with Hewes & Company — a Blue Hill-based ESOP builder — reflects her long-held belief that craft and community are inseparable. Beyond client work, she has volunteered with Blue Hill Consolidated School, George Stevens Academy, Peninsula Pride, and Blue Hill Small Business Collaborative, bringing the same hands-on commitment to her adopted community that she brought to every city she's called home.

One of Amy's deepest professional passions has always been workforce development — connecting people with skills, trades, and pathways to meaningful work. That thread runs from her early management of 150 healthcare employees in Louisiana, through her years supporting reentry programs and recovery communities, to the work she is doing today on the Blue Hill Peninsula. She is currently deeply engaged in building career and technical education infrastructure for the region, helping local schools and organizations design programs that connect young people with the trades, industries, and employers that define coastal Maine's economy. For Amy, Career and Technical Education isn't a job description — it’s the future.