Hello, world! It’s ME and I am finally ready to release the side of me that I kept hidden behind my pseudonym Red Lipstick! This book, my book, was a gift to myself, but now I hope it will be your gift!
I guess a little backstory is in order?! Here you go... It all began in the summer of 2012 after having yet another horrific date. I met up with Adrianna at one of our favorite restaurants, Aji 53, for some delicious sushi & cocktails. The turning point was when I was two cosmos deep into my venting session, when Adrianna turned to me and said, “Why don’t you write a book! You can’t make this stuff up!”. At first, I thought she was crazy! Me? Write a book? Ha! I am going to be REAL here – at that time, I had never read a book cover to cover and NOW I’m going to write my own book?! That needed some serious time to marinate, but little did I know the seed was planted. That night, I actually went home and wrote up an outline and my book was on its’ way!
The first year of writing, I wasn’t really honing in on it – I didn't’ know what I was doing or even why I was doing it. Continuing to go out on dates, I used to my manuscript more as a journal, not sure if I would ever publish it. Everything changed once I started to read it out loud and realized that I was onto something. I couldn’t understand it or explain why, but, in my heart, I knew I needed to complete this for ME. Writing my book, wholeheartedly became my outlet to vent and a way to find some sort of closure from all the pain and disappointment. Flash forward, two years into writing, I obtained a far greater gift than I ever dreamed possible – I found my self-worth! This began and lead to my own personal self development journey! I went from a young woman who thought life didn’t begin until you found a man to share it with, to a woman who said, “F that nonsense, it is time to start living my life with the true golden ticket - my happiness!”.
On December 2, 2015, “Table for ONE, Please” was released into the world under the pen name, Red Lipstick. I wanted to give a voice to all women out there who felt that they weren’t good enough and struggled internally feeling that they were seen purely for their relationship status, “single.” Single women should not be viewed as a flaw, but rather as something to be valued. I created this alias because I wanted to keep a part of me hidden since I shared so much of myself in my book. Plus, I wore red lipstick when I went out on my dates. I thought it was fitting, especially since wearing red lipstick gave me extra confidence! The self-publication of my book truly was one of my greatest accomplishments, but, as time went on I felt it was hard to relate to this Red Lipstick image I created for myself.
Full speed ahead to 2018, when I decided I needed to re-vamp my Red Lipstick image and relaunch “Table for ONE, Please” fully under me! As I started to re-read, I realized, I wasn’t the same person who wrote the words on those pages. Heck, if you put that version of me then in front of me now, I wouldn’t even know who in the world that woman was! Repeatedly, I shook my head in discuss and thought to myself, “Who is that person? Why would you let a man do that to you and not speak up?”. Even how social media has evolved over the years! I wrote this book at the start of hashtags and now hashtags are tools to help businesses! Point being, I didn’t realize it in the moment, but there was a reason for all those experiences and lessons. I can proudly say now, I finally figured out the reason. This was the journey that led me to love myself exactly as I am and to evolve to my best version!
You are probably wondering, “how come no more Red Lipstick?”. Well, why don’t I tell you! While attending a conference in New Jersey, a woman I was chitchatting with, asked me, “what line of work do you do?”. As I began to talk about myself, it hit me out of nowhere – I created the pseudonym, Red Lipstick, because I wasn’t ready to share my full self with the world. Not to mention, I was too scared of what people would think of me! Ashamed of potentially getting another damn label, when in reality I needed the Red Lipstick name to fully emerge into the woman who stands here today!
Which brings us to August of 2018, one of my proudest moments, as I am ready to reveal that I am Amanda Fantastic – a fierce, strong, determined woman who is fully confident that my voice can and will change the world! I am 31 years young, living my best possible life! I wake up every day knowing that I control my own destiny and that the sky is not the limit – as there are no limits when you believe in yourself! “Table for ONE, Please” paved the way for me to became a self-love advocate! I released my stories to you, because I believe this book can make you love yourself, too! For all of you still wondering - YES, I am still single! 10 years going strong with the best relationship of all, myself! My book is my gift to you! I want you to understand that you are not alone, you are not defined by your status and you, are defined by YOU!
...I am a woman from Long Island, NY, and this is my journey that led me to become Amanda Fantastic!
