Meet Amanda Goggin

We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Goggin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I moved to the US from Ireland twelve years ago and spent my first few years here in an abusive relationship. It took me years after leaving to truly understand everything I had been through. I heard a TedTalk by a woman named Leslie Morgan Steiner who was speaking about domestic abuse. She said the words ‘I didn’t know I was being abused’, and in that instant, my whole life changed. I felt like I finally understood why I had stayed so long when I had been questioning myself for years. Having felt so much relief from that one statement I began to wonder if my own story could bring other victims and survivors some relief. Maybe if more women knew that all the traits and tactics of abusers are the same and that other people are going through exactly what they are, they would understand what they had been through or try to get help. I decided I wanted to tell my story. I became involved with the Allstate Foundation Survivor Network after being chosen as one of nine women from hundreds of candidates to tell my story publicly. There I received training on how to tell my story and learned so much from hearing the other women share theirs. Then I got the confidence to start my podcast, ‘IPV and Me: My Journey with Domestic Abuse’, where I tell my story and share stories of other survivors and women who weren’t so lucky. Doing all of these things has made me understand and heal from my own journey through a very confusing time. I have been contacted by so many women since opening up and now feel like my purpose in life is to help others through my own story.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have a podcast called ‘IPV and Me: My Journey with Domestic Abuse’. I tell my story of domestic abuse and things that I have learned about the topic through research and working with the Allstate Foundation Survivor Network. I also share other women’s stories on the show and invite anyone on who would like to speak to me and share their journeys. I even got the opportunity to meet my childhood idol Mel B from the Spice Girls and speak to her about her journey with abuse. I find it very enjoyable and so fulfilling when I have women reach out to me who say my podcast has helped them. It has helped me to heal from my trauma and to understand more why this happened to me. My dream is to one day have the show monetised and be able to do it full-time. I put as much work into it as possible in between having a full-time job. I have learned so much and met so many wonderful and interesting people. I didn’t have any idea how a podcast worked before I started but I was determined and bought some equipment and googled what to do! So many opportunities are open to us by just trying and keeping a focus on our goal. Seeing my listener numbers grow every week and how the show has been streamed in so many countries brings me endless happiness. The podcast is available on all streaming platforms.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Determination, confidence in yourself and consistency are the most important and helpful qualities on my journey. I had an idea that I wanted to execute and was passionate enough about it that it made me determined to do whatever I could to achieve it. I had to be confident enough to open up on a very personal story. I began on social media by speaking about violence against women and some statistics before then speaking much more openly on my podcast. It was hard to put myself out there, especially as quite an introverted person who has a fear of being perceived, but I just recorded myself and then hit the post button and pretended no one else was ever going to see it! It worked! And now, I am confident enough that I simply don’t care what people think or say about it. I will never hear their thoughts anyway! Finally, and what has proven the most critical for me, is consistency. You have to keep at it regardless of if it is successful or not. Very few things are successful from the off. Think about the most famous and talented of people, there was a lot of work happening for years before you ever saw the finished product. Every social media influencer, performer, actor, podcaster, and writer had to face a lot of rejection before they gained success. And what was the key? Consistency.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always looking for guests to interview for my show. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about their own story of abuse, anything they want to talk about in relation to the topic of violence against women, things they have witnessed or been through themselves, even just to be a sounding board while I tell someone else’s story. I am open to anyone who works in the field in any shape and would like to speak about their work. Anyone who wants to contact me with more questions can reach out on my Instagram @mandgoggs or my podcast email ipvandmepodcast@gmail.com

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