How This Chef Went From Homeless to Half a Million Dollars and 10x’d Her Views

Amanda Schonberg is a chef, podcaster, and online instructor based in Baton Rouge, LA, who teaches bakers and sugar artists how to grow their business through multiple income streams. From food service manager to bakery owner and full-time coach, Amanda has built a career that reflects her purpose—and empowers others to pursue theirs.

Today, she runs Baking for Business—a coaching brand dedicated to teaching bakers how to generate more sales, grow their presence, and scale through courses or digital products.

Her approach is rooted in service and radical transparency, whether she’s guiding new bakers through their first $1,000 sales day or helping students build the confidence to quit their 9–5.

Discover how Amanda went from facing homelessness to building two multi-six-figure businesses in just three years and 10x’ing her Instagram views—plus her top advice for Creators.

The Challenge: Building a Business After Loss

Amanda’s entrepreneurial journey began with a love for baking and a moment that changed everything. After enrolling in culinary school in 2009, she moved her mom next door to care for her during the early stages of dementia.

One morning, Amanda woke to devastating news: her mom’s unit had caught fire. That day, she lost her mom, her car, and everything she owned—including her apartment.

Even while grieving and temporarily homeless, Amanda persevered. She was fiercely committed to finishing her program, taking long bus rides to and from culinary school each day and working at McDonald’s—knowing her mom would have wanted her to keep going.

After culinary school, Amanda climbed the ranks in food service management, working with companies like Sam’s Club, Great American Cookie, and Costco. But the corporate ladder couldn’t take her as far as she wanted to go. So, she started her own bakery, Chef Schonberg Sweets.

Turning Her Expertise Into Impact

Her experience helped her quickly establish a flourishing bakery business with corporate and celebrity clients. As she posted recipes, business wins, and behind-the-scenes moments on social media, other bakers began to notice her success and reached out for advice.

“Naturally, I would help and try to serve people,” says Amanda.

But the questions kept coming, and Amanda realized there was a real need for her expertise. Bakers and sugar artists wanted to learn how to grow their business. And while her bakery business was successful, she realized she wanted more—to help other bakers build not just businesses, but lives they love.

Amanda began offering business coaching through Baking for Business. As she grew, she needed a scalable way to deliver digital products, classes, and coaching to bakers around the world.

That’s where Stan came in.

The Solution: Tools That Help Her Scale

As a busy entrepreneur with limited time, Amanda needed tools that make scaling simple. That’s why she uses Stan Store as the foundation of her business and Stanley as her partner in growing it.

A Simple All-In-One Platform To Sell Online

Instead of juggling multiple tools, she sells all of her offers through Stan Store. The clean, easy-to-use setup helps her streamline sales and show up consistently for her audience.

It’s also given Amanda the freedom to expand her offerings and diversify her income streams—something she encourages her students to do, too.

She hosts her community within Stan, the Digital Product Community, giving bakers a place to celebrate their wins, get advice, and inspire one another. “No win is too small,” Amanda emphasizes. “Seeing others succeed helps students realize what’s possible for themselves.”

From Guessing to Growing With Stanley

After years of consistently showing up, Amanda had a profitable business, a loyal audience, and a ton of content to work with. But she didn’t always know what to post next to keep her audience growing.

Stanley changed that. It connects to her Instagram, learns her voice, and tells her exactly what to post next based on what’s already working.

The Results: $500K+ Earned and 10x Reel Views

Stan helped Amanda build her business. And today, Stanley helps her continue growing the audience behind it.

Within three days of using Stan, Amanda earned $10,000. She challenged herself to an ambitious goal of earning $100,000 in 100 days. To her surprise, she didn’t just achieve that goal—she surpassed it.

With everything in one place, she’s been able to expand her income, simplify her workflow, and continue pouring into her community.

In three years, Amanda has gone from homeless to generating over $500,000 in revenue—and Stan has helped her scale her impact even further.

Now, Stanley helps her amplify it. One of Amanda’s standout Stanley wins came from a Reel she’d already posted. It had 47K views—but Amanda knew the idea had more in it. So she opened Stanley and asked for help.

Stanley suggested flipping her hook into something that pulled people in faster. Same B-roll—just different on-screen text. When Amanda hit publish, the Reel got 500K+ views—10x’ing her performance.

Today, Stan and Stanley give Amanda everything she needs to help thousands of bakers around the world build businesses of their own. Her community is thriving, with students regularly sharing wins: $1,000–$4,000 sales days, new bakery openings, and multi-figure months.

As she reflects on her proudest achievements—not her own wealth, but students like Tiara who left a 13-year job to open a retail bakery, or Karen who reached her first five-figure month—Amanda’s greatest success lies in her ability to transform personal pain into a platform that lifts others up.

What’s Next for Amanda

Amanda is dedicated to helping more bakers turn their skills into profitable businesses. She continues to expand her digital product library, launch new courses, and foster a community where students can support one another through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

This philosophy continues to guide her approach to business and teaching, turning personal tests into powerful testimonies that resonate with her students.

Building a Creator business? Here are Amanda’s top tips:

• Create your own digital products. The profit margins are amazing—you create something once, and then you sell it over and over again.
• Don’t let a crowded market hold you back. While something may have been done before, it hasn’t been done by YOU.
• Use Stanley to build your audience. “It has changed everything about how I create content on Instagram. I’ve been recommending it to all of my students, and they’ve all been using it and having so much success with this one tool.”
• In times of tragedy, give yourself grace. “Remind yourself difficult periods are just one small portion of your life,” Amanda adds—a perspective she embodies through her own remarkable journey from homelessness to financial freedom.

Ready to build your own Creator business? Grow your audience with Stanley and turn your skills into income with Stan Store—just like Amanda.