Amanda Wanotch: Empowering Others Through Healing, Fashion, and Lived Experience

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Amanda Wanotch is a Métis, Cree, and Dene model, spiritual intuitive, and community facilitator based in Alberta whose work bridges fashion, healing, and Indigenous creative spaces. Raised in northern Alberta, she has built a career in modelling and Indigenous fashion platforms, including international runway opportunities and participation in major fashion showcases in cities such as New York, Paris, and Cannes.

She describes her work across community, healing, and creative industries, but says it all comes back to one purpose: empowerment.

“I am an empowerment person,” Wanotch said. “I love to teach, empower people [to use] their natural abilities in whatever they’re doing currently in their life or whatever they’re involved in with me.”

For Wanotch, empowerment is not limited to one role or title. It moves through every space she occupies – from healing work and fashion production to mentoring emerging models and supporting community initiatives. At the centre of her approach is a belief in helping people trust their own instincts and personal journey.

“My choice is to do better and be better,” she said. “My grandson is my lead person – he’s my guide.”

That relationship shapes how she moves through life and leadership. It influences how she shows up in creative environments, community spaces, and personal relationships.

“I want to treat people and love people the way I love him,” she said. “That’s my standard.”

Modeling, fashion, and stepping into opportunity

Wanotch’s work in fashion and modelling has taken her from local creative spaces to international platforms, including runway opportunities and Indigenous fashion showcases highlighting Indigenous designers, models, and creative leadership.

Her entry into modelling became a turning point in how she understands courage and self-belief. She describes realizing that if she is going to encourage others to take risks, she must also be willing to do the same.

“If I’m going to empower people, I have to be willing to do the same things I’m asking them to do,” she said.

That realization shifted how she approaches fear and opportunity, leading her to trust her instincts and move forward when opportunities felt aligned with her path.

Wanotch says the modelling industry taught her discipline and focus, especially while navigating competitive environments while staying grounded in her identity and values.

She also reflected on her accomplishments in the industry, noting that she has stayed committed to her own path while avoiding unnecessary distractions. She said she is proud of what she has accomplished by staying focused on her own path and avoiding distractions from negativity around her.

Stepping into global spaces with grounding values

That shift in mindset eventually led Wanotch into opportunities she never imagined for herself, including international fashion work across major creative hubs such as New York, Paris, and Cannes. Her presence in these spaces marked a significant expansion of her journey, placing her within global fashion environments while still holding onto her personal grounding and cultural identity.

“Every time I went to those spaces, I couldn’t believe my own reality,” she said. “But I also carried my belief systems with me – my kindness, my grounding, who I am.”

Even in high-profile environments, Wanotch says she remained rooted in her sense of self and responsibility to representation, ensuring she carried her values into every space she entered.

Alongside fashion, Wanotch’s work as a spiritual intuitive and healer shapes how she understands personal growth. She describes healing as something formed through lived experience, reflection, and accountability.

“It’s how we handle problems that makes us strong,” she said.

She views life as a balance of challenges and support, where guidance often arrives when it is needed most. “I always feel like God’s got me,” she said. “He’s going to send me someone, and it always happens.”

Each day, she grounds herself through gratitude as a way of staying present and focused. “I wake up and I try to find at least one thing I’m grateful for,” she said. “My daughters and my grandson – that’s what grounds me.”

Community work and the Okimaw Awards

Alongside her independent work, Wanotch has also been involved in community recognition initiatives, including the Okimaw Awards, where she has participated for nearly three years. The awards honour Indigenous excellence, leadership, and achievement across multiple sectors.

Her involvement reflects her commitment to creating spaces where people are recognized, supported, and uplifted, while strengthening connection within Indigenous creative and community networks.

Wanotch also engages in advocacy connected to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG), focusing on survivor-centred storytelling and lived experience. “When I advocate, I advocate for the survivors more so than the people that have passed,” she said. “How do you survive, and how do you keep moving forward?”

She emphasizes that advocacy looks different for everyone, and that individuals must choose approaches that align with their emotional wellbeing and capacity. “We all deserve safe spaces to share,” she said.

At the same time, she highlights the importance of boundaries and emotional responsibility within community spaces, and the need for communities to continue creating their own pathways of healing. “We’re not waiting for the government to do it,” she said. “We’re taking it into our own hands.”

Leading with love

At the centre of Wanotch’s work is a consistent commitment to love, accountability, and intention. She sees leadership not as position, but as daily action in how people treat one another and move through the world.

“He’s my lead,” she said of her grandson. “He keeps me grounded in who I want to be.”

That grounding connects every part of her life – fashion, healing, advocacy, and community work – into one guiding direction.

“My choice is to do better and be better,” she said.

For Wanotch, that choice is not a moment, but a daily practice of showing up with care, moving with purpose, and leading through love.