Amanda Puryear El

Amanda was born and raised in Pharr, Texas. She has always held a strong work ethic, which has given her the opportunity to work in many different avenues. Amanda turned her youthful stubbornness into a reality that required a lot of work, change, and dedication. She grew up expecting nothing for herself, but she always wanted and strived for more. Amanda beat the odds by changing her mentality and perspective. By focusing on changing her outlook and access, she grew to love working in marketing for the music and television entertainment industry, where she combined her local survival skills and introduced them to the national stage, working for several companies such as Telemundo, Advertir, Puro Tejano TV, Cennarium, and Wall Street. Amanda currently lives in Pharr, TX, and has published 11 books. On October 29th, she brought poetry to a TEDx stage. She has also been nominated for the 2025 State of Texas Poet Laureate appointment by the State of Texas Arts Commission. Amanda released her poetry album Daily Dosage on April 6th 2025, which features Tejano legend and Rio grande native Bobby Pulido. She is currently working on converting her children's book "The legend of la Chancla" into a short animation film.