It’s time to stop questioning your worth and start embodying it, radiant icons.

In this week’s tea time sesh, Amanda dives into your questions on dating, confidence, and connection — with her signature mix of honesty and humor. From navigating modern dating dilemmas to identifying her top icks, she unpacks what it really means to stay grounded and self-assured in a world that tests your worth.

She also spills the tea on her go-to confidence boosters, the mindset shifts that keep her feeling radiant, and how she’s redefining what it means to be iconic — one conversation at a time.

If you’ve been craving a reminder to protect your peace, trust your energy, and own your power, this episode is for you.

Connect with Amanda:

Follow Amanda's DTBI Journey!

Submit your order for the Two Years, One Iconic Celebration Sale!

Stream the Radiant Reign Era Playlist!

Explore the DTBI shop today!

Discover your iconic signature scent with Oakcha!

Got a question for Amanda or a topic you'd love to hear discussed on a future episode? Submit your question to the "Dare To Be Iconic Hotline" today!

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to Dare To Be Iconic

04:36 Quotes To Keep You Motivated

08:19 Feeling Iconic & Confident in Your Radiant Reign Era

12:35 Top Five Instant Icks

16:53 Staying Confident Amidst Lustful Boys

19:23 Making New Friends as an Adult

22:57 Discover Your Signature Scent With Oakca

23:57 See You Next Week!

What's up, radiant icons and welcome back to Dare To Be

2

Iconic, the podcast made for icons

who are daring to be themselves.

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I'm your host Amanda Paolicelli.

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And for today's tea time sesh we

are spilling the tea on everything

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and anything 'cause that's

right, it's DTBI hotline time.

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And you know, we love the

DTBI hotline over here.

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We love it so much that

y'all flooded the questions.

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Okay.

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I have not looked at these whatsoever.

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I had my interns sort through them

and pick the questions that I will be

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answering live for today's tea time

sesh and, um, they had too much fun with

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this assignment, but before we spill all

that piping hot tea, because I already

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know it's gonna be piping hot, make sure

to connect with me on socials, radiant

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icons, on Instagram and TikTok: it's

@amandapaolicelli_ and @daretobeiconic_.

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And if you're on LinkedIn, radiant icons,

you already know what I'm gonna say.

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Make sure to connect with me on there.

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It's Amanda Paolicelli.

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All of my socials are linked

in the show notes below.

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And speaking of the show

notes, radiant icons.

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Make sure to check out Dare

To Be Iconic's: Two Years, One

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Iconic celebration sale that

you cannot find anywhere else.

22

This exclusive sale includes one piece

from the Radiant Reign Merch collection

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of your choosing and the Breakup With

The Past, Fall In Love With The Future

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Journal for an exclusive bundle price

that again, you cannot find anywhere else.

25

You cannot find that

on the DTBI Etsy Shop.

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You can only find it in the order form

that is linked in the show notes below

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and on the Dare To Be Iconic website.

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So make sure to check out that sale

and connect with me on socials.

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All right, radiant icons.

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Enough chit-chatting.

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Let's get to the piping hot tea.

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I am a little bit nervous for these

questions, but let's do it, shall we?

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Are you ready?

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Radiant icons, because your

tea time sesh is starting now.

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You guys are diabolical.

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This question is insane.

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Okay,

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Amanda, I love the

dating dilemmas episode.

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So, who would you French Kiss, Mary,

Kill: Italian boy, ATL Boy, or Mr.

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Canada

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for the ratings icons who have

not listened to the dating

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dilemma, crushing on potential.

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I beg of you to stop this episode, go to

that episode and then come back 'cause

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then this question will make sense to you.

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But to answer your question,

this is absolutely insane.

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I can't believe I'm doing this.

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Um, okay.

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I would kill Italian boy because

he doesn't respect boundaries

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and we don't have time for that.

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As we mentioned in last

week's tea time sesh.

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I would not French kiss any of my options.

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They don't deserve the opportunity

to kiss me because again,

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kissing me is a privilege.

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Um, and then if I had to marry someone,

like, literally like twisting my arm had

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to marry someone out of these options.

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The best, I can't believe I'm saying

this, the best option would be Mr.

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Canada.

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And the reason why I say

that I will marry Mr.

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Canada is because I could deal with

the potential of him in this scenario.

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In this scenario, I can deal with

the potential of him because what was

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attractive to me when it came to Mr.

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Canada was his actions and

how he consistently showed up.

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So I think out of the three

options, that's something that I'm

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attracted to and, and would want in

a partner that's for life, right?

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So yeah, I, I would marry Mr.

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Canada even though I was falling

for the potential of him.

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But you know, he does get some points

for consistency for the in-person

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portion, not for when he left me

on read, but yeah, he would win.

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He would win that round.

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Oh, I love this.

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Next question, Amanda, do you

have any quotes that you repeat

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to yourself often that helps you

continue working for your dreams?

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Actually have two quotes that come to

mind when I think of this question.

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They actually come from my vision board.

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And the first one is she needed

a hero so that's what she became.

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And the second one is, I gotta pull

my phone close to my face real quick.

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I can't see without my glasses.

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I'm getting old.

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Y'all, um, was, I was born with

something inside of me that

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refuses to settle for average.

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I don't know what it is,

but I am grateful I have it.

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And when I think of those two

quotes, it propels me forward in my

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entrepreneurial journey because running

a business, owning a business, however

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you wanna phrase it, is no joke.

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It is ridiculously hard to keep going

at times because sometimes things don't

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pave out the way that you imagine them

to or projected them too, and that can be

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discouraging, that can be overwhelming.

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And well, there's a lot of

risk in business, right?

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And I knew that going in, and even though

I knew that going in at times, it's

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still, it still is a little bit daunting.

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And being so incredibly young on this

journey of creating something that

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really has never been done before.

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There is nothing like Dare

To Be Iconic out there.

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And I am so proud of that.

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But that also means there's no

blueprint for me to look up to, right?

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I, I am creating that.

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I am opening doors for someone else,

and I take great pride in that.

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But it gets hard.

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It gets hard to keep moving forward.

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And those two quotes remind me of my why.

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I started Dare To Be iconic.

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For the Amanda who was heartbroken three

years ago that had no idea who she was.

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I started Dare To Be Iconic for a

little baby Amanda, who got bullied

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severely for having big dreams.

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I created the space that little

baby Amanda would've wanted

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that would've dreamed of.

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You know, like I just always think of

younger me and that quote of she became

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the hero, let me get it right, is she

needed a hero, so that's what she became.

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I became the hero that younger Amanda

needed and that that makes everything

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worthwhile, and that helps me and propels

me forward in continuing to make dare to

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be iconic, the best business it can be.

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When I think of the second quote,

"I was born with something inside me

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that refuses to settle for average."

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Yeah, no, that's absolutely accurate.

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I am a very ambitious woman.

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That's, that's not a secret to anyone.

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And you know, when I get down in

the dumps, I have to remind myself

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that my ambition is one of the most

amazing qualities about myself,

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and I just need to keep on pushing

forward because I know that I can

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do anything that I put my mind to.

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So those two quotes really motivate me

and challenge me, and I hope that when

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you listen to those quotes that it pushes

you and motivates you as well to keep on

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going and pursuing your dreams because you

can do anything that you put your mind to.

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I know it sounds so damn cheesy,

but honestly, it's so damn true.

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Create the opportunities for yourself

and keep pushing forward even when the

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world tells you no, be the person that

the younger you would've wanted, right?

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Create the space that you would've

needed to thrive when you were younger.

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Do that no matter what anyone

else says, even when it gets hard.

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And those two quotes, remind me of that.

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What's one thing that makes

you feel instantly iconic?

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The one thing that makes me feel

instantly iconic is press on nails.

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Now, I know that may sound a

little bit like, mm, Amanda.

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Like, what?

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But hear me out- in this new era

for myself, this radiant reign

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era, I have been putting a lot

more time into my physical being.

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Whether that's movement that makes

me feel good in my physical self, or

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it's putting more time in my physical

appearance and feeling good in my skin.

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So experimenting with things like

press on nails and like a lip combo

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and a scent, or like doing movement

and trying out different outfits and

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seeing what my style is, like, those

things make me feel instantly iconic.

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But the one thing out of all of them will

always be press on nails because when

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I have a pair of press on nails on, I

feel like the baddest version of myself.

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I feel like the most iconic

version of myself 'cause I

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just carry myself differently.

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I feel so put together.

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When I don't have my pressed on nails,

I'm biting my cuticles, I'm like a mess.

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So no, I need my press on nails.

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I know my nails are bare right

now, but my press on nails

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make me feel iconic instantly.

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What can I say?

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You know, taking the time for

my physical self and my physical

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being has been so important.

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And yeah, press on nails

are a big part of it.

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Next question, what is something

that you've started doing that's

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completely changed your confidence?

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My answer is so simple and so easy.

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You may already guess what it

is, but it's heels classes.

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Heels classes has changed

my life and my confidence.

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I was a pretty confident person

before my breakup, right?

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Like that.

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No doubt about it.

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I, I did the work to get to where

I was right before that breakup.

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And out of that breakup, I felt very

disconnected to my body and it's been

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a really hard healing journey when

it comes to my body and me and being

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comfortable with my sensuality as a

young woman who has grown up in the

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Catholic church and there's a lot

of things behind that, as you know

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from the podcast episode with Becs.

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There's so many layers to it and going

to heel's classes has made me feel so

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connected to my body after the longest

time and has tapped into this other level

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of confidence almost like this sexy,

sensual side of me that I've never really

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ventured into before or even given myself

permission to kind of like have fun with.

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It Has really allowed me to tap

into what does sexy mean to me?

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What does sensuality mean to me?

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How do I embody that?

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Because sexy is an energy, right?

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It is a state of being.

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So what does that look

like and feel like to me?

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And I truly do believe that going to

heal classes has put me on another level.

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It's unlocked this like sexy, sensual

confidence that just like radiants

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out of me every time that I'm dancing.

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That I think I low key have like

brought into everyday life of

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being like, yeah, I know I'm hot.

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I know I'm that girl and that's on period.

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I just feel so beyond confident, connected

to my body, and it's such a freeing

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and liberating and empowering feeling.

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I've never truly felt like that

before and it's just really nice.

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So yeah, heal classes has

completely, completely, and

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instantly changed my confidence.

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It's unlocked this new side of me that

has been like really fun and really

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exciting and like truly very healing.

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And I didn't expect it, but

I'm really happy about it.

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I have so many answers for this question.

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Um, what's a man's behavior

that gives you the instant ick?

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I simply cannot give you just

one ick because men give me

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the instant ick all the time.

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So I'm gonna give you my top five.

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Okay.

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So my first one, oh God, my first ick

would be leaving me on read after we've

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been texting days on end, weeks on end.

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And when I'm talking texting, I'm

not like a, oh, hi, how are you?

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Yeah, this and that.

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No, no, no, no, no.

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I'm talking like long ass Bibles, book

texts like we are writing each other

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novels, they're in depth, they're

detailed, and then all of a sudden

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you leave me on read and then you

don't text me until two weeks later.

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And then all throughout that

two week period where you didn't

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text me back, you were liking my

Instagrams and my hot tiktoks.

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Hmm.

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Interesting.

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That gives me the ick.

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That gives me the ick when we

were actually rooting for you.

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That's disappointment.

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Disappointment.

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Anyway, ick number two, bullshit excuses.

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I hate bullshit excuses.

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I rather you tell me straight

up what the hell is going on.

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If you cannot be man enough to

tell me the truth, you are not

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man enough to be in my life.

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Point blank and period.

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Don't let the door hit

you on the way out Anyway.

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Now, God, I love this question.

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Ick number three.

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Withdrawing emotionally and not being able

to have an emotionally depth conversation.

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If you cannot have an emotionally

depth conversation with me, or honestly

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hold a conversation whatsoever, oh

my God, it's not gonna work out.

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Instant ick.

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Instant ick.

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If you cannot talk to me and

contribute something meaningful,

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holy shit, please, please just leave.

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Please just leave.

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And on the other side of it, if there is

something wrong and you decide, Hmm, I'm

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just gonna wait for her to bring it up.

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I'm not gonna say it.

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I'm just gonna emotionally withdraw myself

and I'm just gonna make her go crazy.

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I'm gonna gaslight the shit out of

her until she brings it up and make

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her go crazy, crazy, crazy, and

make it feel like it's her fault.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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No, this one is pinpointed

to someone in particular.

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Um, yeah.

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No, no.

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No, you cannot emotionally

withdraw from someone.

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Absolutely not.

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That is absolutely disgusting

behavior and it's a major ick for me.

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If you emotionally withdraw and you can't

have an emotionally depth conversation,

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you can't even carry a conversation.

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Point blank in, period.

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Get outta my life.

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Get outta my life.

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You're wasting my time.

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And ick number five, if you're

condescending and sarcastic,

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stay the hell away from me.

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Absolutely not.

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I ooh, no, I do not respond

well to condescending men.

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Mm-hmm.

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No, no, no, no, no.

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Because who the hell do you think

you are talking to me like that?

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No.

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Genuinely.

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Genuinely.

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Who the hell do you think you

are talking to me like that?

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Absolutely not.

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That may fly with your friends.

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That may fly with your friends,

your family, your coworkers, but me.

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Woo.

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Boy, boy, boy, boy.

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You don't know who the

hell you are dealing with.

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You don't know who the

hell you're talking to.

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Treat me with some respect.

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You do not talk to me that way.

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Absolutely not.

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So if you are sarcastic and condescending,

please, please get the hell out of my

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dms and get the hell outta my life.

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And that's on period.

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Those are myicks those are my top five.

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Its because I cannot stand that shit.

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So yeah, if you're a man listening

to this podcast and you're interested

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in me, don't do any of that shit.

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Absolutely not.

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You have no chance if you do that.

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Anyway, let's get to the next question.

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Amanda, how do you stay confident

when you're constantly meeting men who

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only seem to want something physical?

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Hmm.

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What a timely question because I

just chit chatted about this on last

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week's tea time sesh, The Dating

Dilemma: Crushing On Potential.

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So if you haven't listened to that

episode, pause this episode, come

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back to this one later and listen

to that one, because that will

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give you some, some background on,

on this question in particular.

289

But this is a good one because it's

hard to stay confident when the men that

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you are constantly meeting only want

physical access to you and non-emotional

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connection or commitment, honestly.

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And I think that's a big

problem in today's generation,

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especially our dating pool.

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So when it comes to staying confident,

when that's all that you kind of are met

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with: my biggest thing is remembering, I

have to remind myself this a lot, okay?

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Is that a man will never have a

problem with you having a boundary.

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A man will never have a problem

with you having a boundary.

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In fact, they would want to make sure that

you feel safe and comfortable and seen.

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They would do anything to make

sure that you feel that way.

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They would.

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A true man would, A boy

does not give a shit.

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A boy does not give a shit.

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If you have a physical boundary, they

don't care because they're all, at

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the end of the day, lustful boys.

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That's all they see, right?

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They, that's all they want.

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They want lust.

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They see lust and

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in order.

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To stay confident when you face lustful

boys over and over again is one,

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remembering that a man will never have

a problem with you having a boundary.

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And also that lustful boy is not

your future husband because your

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future husband will never make you

feel that way about your decisions.

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He will never make you feel that way.

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Absolutely not.

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And the second thing is standing

firm in your values and beliefs.

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If you are not comfortable with

something, don't ever let anyone

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pressure you into doing it.

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So if a boy makes you

feel like shit about it.

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Well, like I said last week,

he can go fuck himself because

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that's not a man, that's a lustful

boy, and you don't need that.

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He's not your future husband 'cause your

future husband would never do that to you.

323

And our last question.

324

How do I make new friends as an

adult without it feeling forced?

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I've been having a really hard time

and I just don't know what to do.

326

This is such a good question because

I think as adults it's just so hard to

327

make new friends because everyone is like

in their own little world, they already

328

have their established friend groups.

329

So even the idea of making new friends

and meeting new people is like, huh?

330

Like it's a little bit

discombobulating, right?

331

So my biggest piece of advice when

it comes to making new friends as an

332

adult is to go somewhere by yourself

and challenge yourself to do something

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that you haven't done before,

that you feel like, you know what?

334

I actually may enjoy this.

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And then when you go to that thing by

yourself, right, challenge yourself

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even further to talk to at least

two new people and just introduce

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yourself and get to know them.

338

My trick is I'll eavesdrop on a

conversation and if it's something

339

that I'm interested in, I'll

be like, oh my God, wait, are

340

you talking about X, Y, and Z?

341

Like, I actually did that

the other day in dance class.

342

I was sitting there and I

wasn't really feeling it.

343

I was a little bit sad.

344

I was like, okay, like I'm just gonna

go like this is always good for my mind.

345

Whatever.

346

I was in my own little world, right?

347

Hadn't introduced myself to anyone yet.

348

And there were these girls sitting on

the couch in front of me and they were

349

talking about this club that I've heard

of briefly at the singles mixer from the

350

guy that was like, so in love with me.

351

And they were talking about the

event and everything and I was

352

like, huh, that's so interesting.

353

So I was like listening to it

and I was like, okay, Amanda.

354

Just like say something.

355

Just ask them if that's the

club that you've heard of,

356

like, you know, it's that one.

357

But like, just start the conversation.

358

Like, just say it.

359

Okay.

360

The worst thing they can do is like, just

look at you weirdly and not say anything.

361

Right.

362

But like, just ask the question.

363

Okay.

364

Ask the question.

365

So I was like, excuse me, are you talking

about the MFers who can't run club?

366

I knew that's what they were

talking about, but I didn't know

367

how else to start the conversation.

368

So then I said that, and

then they're like, oh my god.

369

Yeah.

370

And then we just started talking

and we did the whole class together.

371

We exchanged Instagrams, got

their numbers, and now we like

372

go to dance classes together.

373

And I'm going now to the MFers

don't run club for the first

374

time coming up this week.

375

And we're all doing it together, you know?

376

I would've never made those friendships

if I didn't just start yapping and

377

push myself outside of my comfort

zone, even though I wasn't feeling it.

378

And if you don't want to eavesdrop

on the conversation, you can

379

always pay someone a compliment.

380

It's a great way to start making friends

is always pay someone a compliment.

381

If you like their shirt, if you like

their shoes, if you like their smile,

382

Hey, by the way, I love your shirt.

383

Where did you get it from?

384

Oh my God, you are so beautiful.

385

Like, your eyes are stunning.

386

Oh my goodness, your shoes.

387

I've been looking for a pair of them.

388

Where did you get them?

389

Great way to start the

conversation and make friends.

390

Pay a compliment.

391

Listen to the conversation.

392

Try to get a question in that way, or

simply just start chatting to them if

393

you, you know, if you feel comfortable

with that, but force yourself to

394

go outside of your comfort zone.

395

Go somewhere by yourself.

396

Do something that you think that you would

enjoy, that you've never done before,

397

and then introduce yourself to at least,

honestly, I would say two to three, but

398

like, let's do one to two for this, right?

399

One to two people, and that's it.

400

I, I think that is my biggest advice when

it comes to making friends as an adult.

401

Okay, radiant icons.

402

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.

403

As you know, we are in our radiance

rain era and for me in this era, I have

404

been finding little things that make me

feel powerful, that make me feel sexy,

405

that make me feel unapologetically me.

406

And one of those is my

iconic signature scent.

407

I have crafted mine with oakcha.

408

I do sinful layered with that girl,

vanilla, and it is delectable.

409

It is sinful and it is

sexy if I say so myself.

410

Every spritz just feels

like confidence bottled up.

411

It is my reminder that I am evolving

for myself, not anyone's dusty ass sun.

412

And you can have that too.

413

Radiant icons.

414

Make sure to build your own fragrance.

415

Through Oakcha, use the discount

code linked in the show notes

416

below to save yourself some cash.

417

Because icons do not follow trends.

418

We set the standard.

419

All right, radiant icons.

420

That is your Tea Time session for today.

421

If you enjoyed today's episode, make

sure to subscribe to leave a rating,

422

a review, to tell your friends about

us, to tell everyone and anyone,

423

because you know, we love "what?"

424

more radiant icons in our

iconic community of ours.

425

Oh my goodness, you guys, I'll

never get tired of saying that.

426

I just love y'all so much.

427

Thank you for submitting all

of your amazing questions.

428

I know there were a lot more, and

trust me, we will be having more

429

DTBI hotline specific episodes

as season three continues.

430

This was just the, the beginning

taste of it and oh my goodness,

431

you all kept me on my toes.

432

But you know what?

433

In return, I'm gonna keep you all on your

toes because next week's tea time session

434

is going to be a surprise with a very

special and iconic surprise announcement.

435

So make sure to subscribe and tune in next

week at 7:00 AM Eastern for that surprise

436

episode with a very, very, very special

and iconic and sexy surprise announcement.

437

What can it be?

438

I'm literally so excited.

439

I, I can't wait.

440

I can't wait.

441

But anyway, I'll chat

with y'all next week.

442

Then remember, Radiant

icons, Dare To Be Iconic.

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Bye.