An Inspired Chat with Amaya Roberson

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Amaya Roberson. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Amaya, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
Many might call this answer cheating, but I think I’m doing a bit of both! I lean a bit more towards wandering lately, because when I’m wandering it feels very unstructured, and the feeling of being able to be on a path without defining it has been super freeing as we’re nearing the end of the year! Wandering looks like connecting with myself, planning out my goals, and playing Mario Kart allll at the same time, and it’s amazing path to be on right now. I don’t feel like I’m in a rush or a rebrand era, but I’m going with an unrestricted (yet purposeful) flow as we’re winding down 2025.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Amaya Roberson, and I’m the host of The Intentional Intern Podcast, and the founder of The Connective Course Meal, the first 3-course conversational dinner series here in Atlanta.

The Intentional Intern Podcast is a show where conscious connections are made through student stories. Students with minimal resume or professional experience come on to share their story and potential for their future career industries while gaining a unique media form that they can present to recruiters. Professionals also come on the show to share their stories, inspiring students and creating a space where students can relate to them through their reflective talks about their careers.

The Connective Course Meal is an intimate dinner series designed to revive lost recipes, skills, and cultural wisdom through the shared ritual of a meal. It moves beyond simple networking to create a curated space for meaningful conversation, intergenerational connection, and community preservation. Every month, engaging topics are discuss in intimate dinner spaces where people all share one common theme–just wanting to know more. It’s a living archive where food is the medium and conversation is the method for ensuring that the flavors and wisdoms of the past remain alive in our collective future.

Outside of my creative endeavors, I spend my time working in the people space and supporting HR and early career students through tips, advice, and more via LinkedIn & speaking engagements!

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
When it comes to thinking about hard work and having a good work ethic, how my family operated created the foundation for how I operate now. When I didn’t know how to get through something, I went to them. My undergrad major and minor were picked by them because I couldn’t figure it out, haha.

My mom and dad made it possible to understand that work could be something fun, passionate, and something that could create impacts beyond myself. While they were still realists in letting me know that achieving anything takes time and hard work, I learned that I was always growing (even when I thought I wasn’t). I kept in mind that every experience you have while working towards something should never be taken for granted, and I hold that with me every day. (It’s probably where my attention to detail and Type A mentality come in, lol.)

The most important lesson I learned from them when it came to work was always connecting with those around you. Making sure to remember a fun fact about someone, saying hello to receptionists and janitors that keep things running–doing the little things that make work for everyone worthwhile was something extremely important to our family. It created culture, and that lesson led me to the professional and creative work that I’m doing today.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
I remember I had one of my biggest fails mid-last year. After that, I spent so much time constantly comparing myself and having a post-college career crisis. I hit a rock bottom and had such a toxic relationship with how I viewed failure. As I was scrolling through my phone to make myself feel better (as one naturally does), I came across a video where in the comments, someone said that “True success is failing without losing enthusiasm.”

I love the quote because it’s compassionate and motivating. It’s supportive, but also holds me accountable. It’s a quote that pushes me to continue while softening the blow. It helped me make a huge mindset shift where I can go after the things I want without the inner monologue of all the reasons I shouldn’t do something–it keeps me from getting in my own way and telling myself no before even trying.

Now, I have a completely different relationship with not only how I take failure, but also how I take rejection and inner anxiety too. I ask myself about what the “fail” is teaching me, and how I can use it to fail forward (and push through), instead of leaning back on the failure and just spiraling with no game plan to get up.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
For me, I value children in the community and around the world for their character! I firmly believe that the “small but mighty” phrase was met with a kid in mind, 100%.

Some of the coolest, thought-provoking conversations came from my peers when I was in elementary, middle, and high school. The ideas were bright, bold, and they built on top of each other with creative ideas from other kids at the park or sitting at lunch tables. You didn’t have to be a workplace or special events to find your community–kids always find a way to actively create them as soon as they see other kids they can connect with.

They ask questions transparently because they’re curious, they share their emotions honestly because they care. They don’t hold back, and it’s something I think everyone can learn from! Their fun minds create the future, and finding ways to create nurturing, warm, and connective spaces where people can unapologetically share their curiosity or their whimsy (like children do) is something immensely powerful in itself. I aim to do that every day.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I feel extremely grateful to say that I’m doing what I was born to do, which is being a dot connector. I just had to build some of the avenues myself.

As someone who’s Gen Z, we’ve grown up with the practical idea of what we were told to do because it offers a lens of stability and guaranteed “success”. However, we were quickly shown by COVID that the traditional idea of stability isn’t something that’s super stable at all. My mind (along with many of my peers) quickly shifted from having dream jobs to dream journeys in our foundational development years, and I started building the paths for myself before I graduated college here.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do professionally until my senior year (so for anyone in college thinking you’re running out of time, trust me you’re fine). Once I found it, I found areas that I would enjoy and continue to do that now. When I realized that professional work wouldn’t fulfill me personally, I ended up building opportunities for myself since I didn’t see what I was looking for out there. I didn’t see opportunities for students to showcase their true potential, so I created it with the podcast. I didn’t see a space where people could connect over food through conscious conversations, so I built a dinner series for the community. I’m excited to see what I’ll do next with both of these initiatives–or new ones in the future, too!

I’m thankful to have found and created purposeful work right out of college–it’s something I look forward to expanding every day. I want to continue to show students and recent grads that it’s possible to do both. You can have your personal and professional work that you’re passionate about at the same time. Don’t doubt yourself, just do it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.intentionalinternpodcast.com/
• Instagram: amaya.melll
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amaya-roberson/

Image Credits
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