Meet Amy Pagano

We recently connected with Amy Pagano and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?

My Bold Journey Interview –Alex Hernandez
Prompt—What do you do for self-care and what impact has it had on your effectiveness?
Self-care is defined as “the practice of doing things to improve and maintain ones physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health.”
Pivotal Events that transpired in both my Personal and Professional Life:
• Experienced lots of trauma, death, and narcissism as a young child.
• Bullied and went through high school feeling alone as a teenager.
*Abused by an ex-boyfriend
• Suffered twin miscarriages which shaped my young adulthood and motherhood.
• Became a teacher, curriculum facilitator, school principal in both the private and public sector–served over 18 years in the field of Education. I didn’t believe in the “system or curriculum” that was being delivered to our children anymore.
• Dedicated my life to my family’s wellbeing, but didn’t take care of me at all. Deprived myself of the finer things in life.
• Left the Catholic Church and reflected heavily on religion versus spirituality.
• For three decades I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders (during my 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s), I allowed my family (ex-husband, parents, and sisters) to influence my daily decisions that coincided with “their” philosophy of life, not mine. Instead of caring for my wellbeing, standing up for what I believed in, and making decisions that fulfilled my own desires or fostered my own creativity, I aligned with their wishes for me.
*Fear of failure plagued me. I had poor self-worth and lacked trust.
• In 2017, I shifted careers from education to healthcare, which was not easy. I took a job as a Life Enrichment Director at a CCRC (Continued Care Retirement Community); was then promoted to VP of Resident/Administrative Services revitalizing the community and providing authentic engagement.
* I realized that once I was not actively elevating employees in the healthcare business, I lost them. I never felt like people genuinely accepted me for me –rather more for my position and their gain. I was being used…a tough lesson for a leader to learn.
• I moved to TN and accepted a position as the Executive Director/CEO of my own Retirement Community at the height of COVID, while still married.
*I went through the separation alone with no core family support because they didn’t “believe in divorce.” And, then didn’t hear from them for almost a year.
• Emotionally, I was healing and developing new skills. I refused to spend the next 30 years of my life unhappy and in a vicious cycle. I was too vibrant to have my goals stifled and not pursue a growth mindset. Prior to my separation for 15-years I heard often that nobody was truly happy. It was apparent that what my family wanted was not to feel uncomfortable in anyway. I finally said, NO MORE! Something had to change. I needed to change the way I responded to everything in my life, so I could yield different results.
• I started putting myself FIRST and not listening to anyone else’s advice. I set boundaries, practiced meditation and grounding through nature. I did everything I used to do differently—from how I responded to negative energy; reciprocating only to people that took a genuine interest in me as a human being, making it clear not to mistaken my kindness for weakness, taking frequent breaks, avoiding burnout and saying no if it didn’t suit me at the time, sleeping when necessary instead of going 24/7 until my body collapsed, learning new skills that inspired me, taking time to reflect and write business plans for all my NEW ideas, & detoxing from technology to clear my mind. When I did all this, I was called “selfish.”
• I prayed, attended a non-denominational church, changed self-talk from fear of approval or failure to answering God’s calling for my life and not being afraid of anything. I knew I needed to align with HIS time, not mine. Instead of forcing every outcome and “working hard” as I was taught in the past, I decided to let go, evolve organically, not compare myself to anyone, ate and drank healthy, cooked with a passion, and improved my overall wellbeing with daily exercise, massage therapy, halotherapy, and walking! I was finally healed myself and became aligned with the universe. I decided to move back to Greensboro and took a sales job. This laid the groundwork of future entrepreneurship and provided my young adult boys a place to come home to. I also reacquainted with Rusty Collins, who is the love of my life.
• In December 2023, I worked in the copy/print machine sales business and lead the department. I took a tour at the iconic Revolution Mill with General Manager, Nick Piornick. The former bar owner was moving out. We talked to the GM for a few hours that evening and signed the lease thereafter. Rusty and I have owned Grapes and Grains Tavern for about 3 months to date. We impact individuals daily and provide a place for relaxation, cocktails, and entertainment.
• On September 3rd, we were in a horrible car accident going eastbound back to Greensboro after a vacationing for a few days in the mountains. A tractor trailer’s left front steering tire blew out, as we were passing him at 70 mph. The semi hit us, blew out his front fender and hood. He pinned us against the guard rail, tried to pull right and then hitting us again flipping us over both guard rails and landing on all four tires going westbound. God saved our lives and spared us. Clearly, HE still has an assignment that we have not fulfilled yet.
• Self-care is the most important gift you can give yourself and my advice is to practice it daily regardless of what anyone else thinks of your decisions. We are here to be the best versions of ourselves and believe that God wants us to be happy. Stop making excuses and holding onto the past. Practice an Attitude of Gratitude, be cognizant of positive self-talk, uplift & inspire others and know that life happens “for you”, not “to you.”

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

As the Co-CEO of Grapes and Grains Tavern, I am excited to impact the Greensboro NC Community in a profound way. We offer a classy and cozy craft cocktail lounge (wine, beer, specialty bourbons & scotches, and fresh mocktails), a piano bar, engaging events/activities to enjoy, food trucks, & private party space venue upstairs upfitted with your very own bar, couches, tables/chairs, and pool table for guests. We also provide VIP Membership Services and VIP Seating for all “live” entertainment. We will open Grapes and Grains 2 in the future and look forward to many celebrations at our bar, as well as starting a 501C to give back to our heros/veterans.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three skills or areas of knowledge that shaped my growth, improvement, and development were—1. Changing my mindset re: what people thought of me. 2. Always following my heart. 3. Actively living MY TRUTH!

Advice to individuals that are just starting their healing and spiritual journey —Be true to yourself and your personal needs; do not let chaos/noise overpower your thoughts and actions. Breathe, Mediate, and Ground yourself daily. Do not allow your old story to define you. Detach from the past. Create a new identity and know you have a destiny. Close your eyes and listen only to your chakras, GOD’s voice, and your gut. Be a trailblazer and break the rules. Choose to be wise instead of wounded! And, most of all–FIND true love.

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

Yes, I am looking to collaborate with someone that can write my story. You can contact me at paganoamy1@gmail.com or 336-601-9292. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Amy Pagano
Sons-Giovanni Pagano; Cosimino Pagano

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Perspectives on Being an Optimist

We’re often asked if we’ve seen a pattern of success among the many thousands of

Leadership Development
Mastering Communication: Stories & Lessons

“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.”

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,