Meet Amanda Janssen of Camarillo, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Janssen.

Hi Amanda, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been someone that thrives on creativity and connection in my professional and personal life. Whether I was captivating my friends by telling a funny story at a party, or giving a presentation in class about anything under the sun, the ability to connect with an audience has always felt natural and invigorating. Losing my mom unexpectedly last year reshaped my perspective on everything. It made me realize that life is too short to ignore what makes you feel alive. For me, that’s performing, storytelling, and finding ways to make people feel at least a little better after spending time with me.

Once I identified what gave my life that spark, I soaked up every opportunity I could to chase that passion during my college years at California Lutheran University.

I was deeply involved in my university’s communications department where I embraced leadership, creativity, and connection through multiple roles. I served as President of our college radio station, iCLU Radio, during my senior year and hosted my own radio show entitled “Spill Ur Guts” for two years. My show was a heartfelt and humorous commentary on the loss of love. In exploring hookup culture and the challenges of dating in today’s world, I connected with guests and listeners in ways I never could have imagined. I have always believed the pinnacle of the human experience is loving and being loved, so the only thing more powerful than that is the loss of the love we hold so tightly. “Spill Ur Guts” featured only breakup songs and intimate interviews with guests about their own heartbreaks.

Beyond campus, I was honored to co-host the Tim Conway Jr. Show at iHeartRadio not just once, but twice! This was an experience that expanded my on-air presence and deepened my love for broadcasting.

I acted as vice president and historian for the Public Relation Student Society of America from 2023-2025 where I helped organize standout events such as a private tour of the Crypto.com Arena prior to an LA Kings game, and a panel in collaboration with the Ventura X-Games, a sporting event featuring some of the world’s leading extreme athletes. I was also inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communication Association’s honors society.

Outside of communications, I explored diverse interests in school. I participated in theater productions, served as co-treasurer of CLU’s History Club, and interned abroad as a Social Impact Intern at Photofusion in Brixton, London, during the summer of 2024. Immersing myself in UK culture and workplace dynamics broadened my worldview and gave me irreplicable perspective on both professional and personal levels.

But no matter what avenue of life I explored it always came back to the same core passion I have for performing. And all of that work led me to who I am today: a proud college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication that has overcome more in her 22 years than most people will in a lifetime (see more about those struggles in the next question).

Looking ahead, I’ve decided to stray from the expected path of college graduates and take a gap year to fill my life with travel, quality time with family after a tragedy, and 365 days of saying yes to everything! I am beyond blessed to have this opportunity to reset and am looking forward to diving head first into a career dedicated to connection, positivity, and entertainment at the end of it.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My journey through college was the exact opposite of smooth. After a very blessed 16 years of life, my mother Janet Ross Janssen was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer in late 2019. After countless doctors appointments and what felt like an impossible journey for my family, in early 2021 my father Larry Janssen was also diagnosed with cancer. Shortly after this we found out my childhood dog Wags had a tumor in paw which left me and my brother Dylan alone to take care of the rest of our family.

This tragedy took a hold of my life and made me grow up almost overnight. My college years consisted of missing parties to stay overnight at the hospital and going straight from classes to a doctors appointment. I commuted to my university to help out at home and wore a mask around the house for the duration of my parents’ diagnosis.

Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine and catching it pretty early, today my dad stands strong, healthy, and in remission, which is something I am endlessly grateful for. My dog ended up also entering remission, living to be 16 and passed away peacefully in his sleep after a long, happy life. Another thing that I’m grateful for. Something that I am not grateful for, is that cancer didn’t spare every member of my family.

My mom passed away on August 24th, 2025, the Friday before the start of this recent academic year. Just days before what was supposed to be the celebratory start of my senior year of college, I was forced to grieve the unimaginable. While all my friends were celebrating their last first day of school, I was at home crying about the fact that I would never see my mom again. I even cried this morning about the fact that she wasn’t able to be at my graduation. And I have cried a thousand times between those moments.

But one thing that helps me and always sticks with me is a conversation we had early on in her diagnosis. She told me “Amanda, when I get better we’re going to Disneyland.” And she said this with all the confidence of a quarterback who knew they were gonna win the Superbowl. And what breaks my heart is that we could have gone. She was still strong enough, still laughing, still hopeful. But she wanted to save Disneyland until things were better.

But then things didn’t get better. They got worse, and worse, and worse. Until it was too late.

Cancer has changed my life forever and made the journey that I’ve been on so incredibly difficult, but I’m glad that this hardship taught me the most valuable life lesson I could learn which is to not wait for things to get better, just do them today. Do it tired, happy, sick, lazy, full of energy, hopeful, confused. And that’s what I’ve done everyday since not only my mom’s passing, but her initial diagnosis. I went back to school, I went out on the weekends with my friends. I told strangers that I love them and held the people I do know tighter everyday. I even get nominated to write about myself as an inspiring story for VoyageLA because I overcame these struggles.

And the tenacity and grit I needed to do that came from my mother.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
While I am currently taking a gap year some of my proudest work is through my radio show “Spill Ur Guts.” As I touched on in the “My Story” section my radio show is about the loss of love and all kinds of breakups. I think grief is such a uniting experience for people and, as I’ve mentioned, I’m always looking for creative ways to connect with others. As radio club president I was also responsible for teaching others how to use the radio station and giving others inspiration for their own shows!

The thing that sets me apart from others is my commitment to being vulnerable. I never shy away from asking the difficult questions and am always willing to stick my neck out into an awkward situation for my show. I have interviewed mutual friends about their breakups with each other, interviewed people in relationships about their past loves, and most notably interviewed my own ex boyfriend about our breakup once he heard about my show and knew he was a focal point of it. This doesn’t come from a want to cause drama or stir the pot, it comes from longing for connection and vulnerability with people that I love.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I believe risk taking is an essential part of life because no one remembers your embarrassing moments as much as you do and the best things in life happen when you take risks. By doing something as bold as applying for a job you’re under qualified for or something as silly as sending a risky text to your situation-ship you will feel more alive and be granted more opportunities than you would if you were silent. Risk taking is beneficial and rewarding whether you accomplish the goal or not. Simply taking the risk is the thing that makes like exciting.

A personal example of risk taking for me comes from the risk of being vulnerable after my mother passed away. Being honest and emotional in the face of a tragedy is a huge risk because you don’t know how the world and even the people closest to you will react and step up in the face of adversity. The easier road is definitely to shut down and deal with it internally, but I was brave and decided to continue my education and lean on my community for support and it helped me a tremendous amount to not only rationalize and understand this loss but continue setting myself up for a successful future no matter how easy it seemed to just sink down.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/callutheran.edu/sping2024practicewebsiteamanda/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_amandajanssen_/

Image Credits
Image Credits for graduation picture on previous slide: Caelan Jack. Instagram: @jckcinema