Amanda Miceli has made it her business to ask questions and encourage others to ask them, as well. As the founder of BOLD Marketing Agency, she was recently named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Greater Green Bay Chamber’s Future 15 and Young Professional Awards ceremony.
“As a company, we are on a mission to ignite human connection through authentic branding and intentional gatherings,” Miceli said.
To accomplish that mission, Miceli said there are three distinct parts of her agency: create bold events; ask bold questions, and the BOLD Marketing Agency. All three areas testify to her creative spirit.
Having been born and raised in the area, Miceli originally planned to pursue a career in book editing or art, but that changed when majoring in business at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay.
“My first class was marketing,” she said. “As I got into it, I thought, ‘Yes, this is it. I really like this.’”
During school, she was working at a local pharmacy and went to the owner with a pitch to take over marketing. Her request was granted and she was given the opportunity to prove herself. She succeeded and worked there until graduation, gaining valuable experience.
After college, Miceli moved to Naples, Florida, where she met a female clothier who took her under her wing and spent hours sharing her business expertise. While working with this mentor, she learned about freelancing and growing a client list.
Miceli said, “I was inspired by that and was going to start my own clothing company and go into production, but when I thought about how I would pay for the inventory and where I could store it, I thought, ‘Why don’t I market myself?’”
Her personal mission statement was created: “I am on a personal mission to inspire and assist people in being their most authentic selves.”
The name BOLD was chosen as a strong statement of what could be accomplished. In June 2022, the LLC was formed and a business model was coming together.
She said, “I have always been a bold, creative person. As an Italian, I am never shy and was always willing to do the things that others didn’t want to do because it scared them. I went headfirst into this.”
The business started in Naples, but when Hurricane Ian ravaged the area a few months later, Miceli had second thoughts about living in the area. She stayed until June 2023, but after returning back home to the Green Bay area for a visit, Miceli decided to stay.
Her mother, Deborah Zalif, owner of FOODelicious Catering in Luxemburg, impacted the decision to stay.
“I worked with her at the catering company and met people and started to feel like I belonged here,” Miceli said. “I can ask anyone to have coffee and have a genuine conversation and I love the business atmosphere here. We really honor the past, but also move into the future to make it our own. We aren’t trying to be New York or Chicago; we are Green Bay.”
And she says that her business is bringing something unique to the area. Although the original business model was to be more of an all-encompassing marketing agency, an event that BOLD hosted had her see the value in developing relationships. It was a fashion show at Hamlet Creek that included a collaboration of businesses with different designers walking the runway.
That led to more events; with the goal of bringing businesses together.
“Why am I doing this?” she said. “I have existed in two worlds – the creative and big business. These events bring them together with sponsorship, vendors, and walking the runways.”
More events have followed including a Ladies Cigar Night where a company gave a lesson on how to smoke cigars, the various flavors and where they come from, and how to cut and light a cigar. Her mom’s catering business provided an “awesome food setup.”
It might seem unusual, but it is events like that one that get people talking. And talking is a big part of her mission. To accomplish that, BOLD offers brand workshops with a panel, workshop, and networking.
“These aren’t typical events,” Miceli said. “They are facilitated to encourage in-depth conversations. Participants sit at a table where we have a list of personal and professional questions. It is like a card game, and at a recent one, when it was scheduled to end, no one got up. I heard people telling beautiful, raw stories and there was laughing and crying. The feedback after was incredible.”
Miceli said her role is founder, CEO, and visionary. Other team members, all independent contractors, serve in operational and creative roles. Together, they have the “super power” of building a brand.
But the methods have evolved. Initially, about 95% of the jobs consisted of social media management. That changed in April 2025 when Miceli made the decision to pivot.
She said, “I got to this place where I was exhausted managing 10 social media accounts myself and thought I couldn’t continue to do this and build my client list. My thought was that you need a brand before a social media presence so I decided to go back to my roots and focus on brand creation. Personal and company branding is our niche.”
There are frameworks for building either type of brand with surveys and questionaries as part of the process. There are assessment meetings and a validation discussion. Once that information has been compiled, different packages are proposed that are tailored to the client.
The list of recommendations includes team building days, executive follow-ups, client calls, leadership cohort meetings, sales and connection calls, brand guide development, event planning, and more.
A new project in the works is a deck of cards: Ask BOLD Questions.
“My goal is to be a national brand and support communities in Wisconsin and nationally to ignite human connection and spread conversations and host gatherings,” she noted.
By asking questions, Miceli believes that the biggest mistake in branding – inconsistency – can be avoided. Successful branding means having words and visuals that accurately portray every part of a brand.
She practices what she preaches with both her company and personal brand development. When people hear the word bold, she wants them to think of her. Yet, she knows it won’t happen overnight.
Miceli said, “I can say, ‘Wow, look at this and how far we’ve come.’ But the reward of it all comes in time with experience. I love birthdays because it takes that space of what was accomplished during the year and then looks ahead to where I can go next year. I ask myself what impact I’ve made and what impact can I make.”
Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Being bold is helping business owner Amanda Miceli achieve her dreams
Reporting by Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt, For Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt, For Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
