Reclaiming the Pieces, Building Beautiful Futures with Amy Peterson

*What if the pieces of your life that didn't go according to plan were actually leading you somewhere better?* Amy Peterson had a dream. From the age of 14, she wanted to become the first female general manager of a Major League Baseball team. She built her education around that goal, fought her way into professional baseball, and eventually became an attorney for the Detroit Tigers. But the career she thought was her calling ultimately led her to something very different. In this episode of Smart Women Talk, Katana sits down with Amy, Founder and CEO of Rebel Nell, a Detroit social enterprise that transforms fallen graffiti into beautiful jewelry while creating employment and opportunity for women facing barriers to work. You'll discover: - How Amy turned discarded pieces of Detroit graffiti into a business built around purpose - What the women of Rebel Nell taught her about resilience, confidence, and second chances - Why the systems designed to help women escape poverty can sometimes make moving forward even harder - How creativity and meaningful work can help women rediscover their confidence and worth - What Amy learned when the career she'd dreamed about since childhood wasn't ultimately where she found her purpose At Rebel Nell, there's a rule: never fall in love with the top layer—it's what's underneath that matters. That's pretty good advice for jewelry. It may be even better advice for life. Tune in and discover what can happen when we look beyond the surface, reclaim the pieces, and create something beautiful from what we find. Amy Peterson is the Founder and CEO of Rebel Nell, a women-owned social enterprise that transforms reclaimed materials into meaningful jewelry and gifts while creating employment, opportunity, and support for women facing barriers to work. Inspired by the stories and resilience of women living in a nearby shelter, Amy built Rebel Nell on the belief that business can be a powerful force for social change—combining workforce development with creativity, purpose, and economic empowerment. A former attorney for the Detroit Tigers and executive with RISE, Amy has built a career at the intersection of business, community impact, and social change. She also co-founded The Congregation and The Rectory, two projects dedicated to breathing new life into community spaces in Detroit. To learn more about Amy, visit rebelnell.com.