Amanda Lee’s life has been shaped by her culture and family history. Her parents immigrated to the US from Vietnam in the late ‘70s, escaping a war-torn country in search of a better future for themselves and their family.

Amanda’s parents took a huge leap of faith in moving to California. They were separated from their families and community, who ended up living in all corners of the world. In the States, they started from scratch, knowing very little about the culture and even less about the English language.

What Amanda’s parents lacked in community and language skills, they made up for with tenacity and perseverance. They both went on to become successful engineers, building careers and inspiring Amanda to follow in their footsteps.

“As I grew up, I found a lot of respect for my parents — where they started, how they sacrificed for their kids to have a better life. And my mom is just a badass. She set the bar very high,” Amanda says proudly.

Amanda’s parents encouraged her to follow a traditional path — get a good education, a full-time job, and a career in a respected field. This all sounded well and good to Amanda, but she sensed something was missing. While her parents guided her toward STEM majors, she found a more natural attraction to entrepreneurial ventures. She studied business and marketing at San Diego State University and then set out to find a career she aligned with.

“When I graduated, I started applying to full-time jobs. Nothing lit me up, made me excited. I turned down a bunch of offers because I felt something bigger was out there for me,” Amanda reflects. “In the meantime, I took up a bunch of side hustles — doing lashes, dropshipping, etc. I wanted that entrepreneurial adventure.”

Amanda eventually accepted an offer from Google in destination marketing. On the surface, it was a perfect match. She was sent around the country visiting travel destinations, talking with vendors, and improving the client experience. 

“ It sounded like the dream job,” Amanda says. “But after working long hours, wearing multiple hats, I still felt capped. I still felt there was something bigger out there for me.”

That’s when Amanda turned toward real estate. Her parents had been real estate investors, and she worked in commercial real estate during college. So with her entrepreneurial dreams in hand, she began her career as a marketing assistant in 2019. By 2021, she was licensed.

Amanda’s mom often referenced a Chinese concept: the gui ren, a mentor that makes a profound impact on someone’s life. Amanda has taken this concept into her own life and business, too.

“It’s a Chinese phrase that encompasses the synchronicity of a person walking into your life and taking you to the next level. My mom admired her gui ren and told me to keep a lookout for mine because they would change my life.”

Melissa Sofia became Amanda’s gui ren early in her career. As Melissa pulled up to show homes in her unicorn-wrapped Tesla and literally rolled out the red carpet for her clients, Amanda knew she had found someone she wanted to learn from. 

“Not only did this woman look like me, but she was producing at the level that I wanted to and also having fun while doing it,” Amanda remembers. 

Amanda reached out to Melissa, who agreed to take Amanda under her wing. Amanda went on to learn from a multitude of other top performers like Holly Sanders and Deven Ortiz.

“I took what I learned and found my own style,” Amanda offers. “I formulated my own secret sauce… I will be forever grateful for the way my mentors unconditionally poured into me and look forward to doing the same with aspiring agents entering the industry.”

Amanda closed 24 transactions in 2021, her first year in the business, followed by 33 transactions in 2022. In 2023, she’s tracking to close around 50 homes. She was recognized as a 2021 Rookie of the Year by the San Diego Association of REALTORS®, a 2022 National Rookie of the Year by Side Inc., a 2022 Rising Star by San Diego Real Producers, and a 2022 40 under 40 recipient for the San Diego Association of REALTORS®.

Amanda has achieved tremendous success in her first three years and is excited to continue growing. From her perspective, the possibilities are limitless. She’s broken through countless barriers and is inspired to continue reaching greater heights.

“I’m a young, female minority in an industry dominated by people that don’t look like me, but leaning into what makes me unique is actually the strength of my business” Amanda says. “The potential is limitless, especially because I’ve been blessed enough to find my calling at such an early age. I'm just 26. To imagine what can be done in the long term, the amount of families I can serve and how many lives I can change… real estate is where I belong.

“I want to leave a legacy to inspire young female minorities that they can do what they want and be powerful while doing it. Most people have limiting beliefs — glass ceilings because of what society says. But to consistently shatter those ceilings and inspire other people to realize their worth and believe in themselves... that's what life is about. If I can affect one more person, be an inspiration to stop playing small, that's the type of legacy I want to leave.”

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Amanda stays involved with the Asian American / Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. She sits on the national and local Board of Directors for the Asian Real Estate Association (AREAA) and makes an annual trip to Washington, DC to speak with state representatives about various issues such as language barriers, AAPI safety/hate crimes, and affordable and fair housing.

“A lot of times, you think of real estate moments as celebratory, which they are. But the moments that really ground me are being deep in my community, listening to the trials and tribulations of my people. I’m a child of immigrants, so I have a different perspective listening to these stories and walking into these homes. Culturally, we are taught to put our heads down and work, [not to] complain and [to] be grateful to live the American dream. But to be a voice for others who feel like they don’t have one — that’s truly empowering,” Amanda says. “These injustices are happening in our own backyard. Language barriers, appraisal discrepancy gap issues, and low homeownership rates for minorities — even in a place as diverse as San Diego. There are significant issues in the system [and[ a lot of work to be done, and we are making waves. This is the work that fulfills me.”