At St Margaret's 1982-1986
Amanda Stein is the owner of Panda Pearls Australia. She first attended St Margaret's as a 12 year old boarder in 1982 when her family were living on Bougainville Island in PNG. Her mother Wendy Wippell and her two sisters and an aunt also attended the school.
After graduating from St Margaret’s, Amanda went to Canada on rotary exchange. With an adventurous spirit combined with a love of travelling, Amanda then worked for Queensland Tourism and enjoyed opportunities in London and Tokyo. In 1991, she applied for and was chosen to participate in a then Goss Government youth delegation to China. This trip opened her eyes to the immense opportunities available to businesses here in Australia. With a love of the pristine unpolluted pacific and her early introduction of the pearl industry, her eyes widened on this educational tour to advances in perliculture. This combined with Amanda's love of antique jewellery created a business model and Panda Pearls Australia was born.
Located in Wavell Heights in Brisbane, Panda Pearls is an emporium of treasures with pearls of every shape, size, colour and lustre combined with cabinets of enhancers. Panda Pearls is most proud however of supporting charities through its sidewalk Sundays and other charity donations for various causes.
Amanda was announced as the St Margaret’s Patron for 2014-2015 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to St Margaret’s through her generosity and her advocacy role in promoting St Margaret’s to the wider community.
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