In this episode of Beyond the Blend, we sit down with Amanda Hay, a journalist-turned-data leader whose career spans community newspapers, graphic design, energy reporting, and now global commodity intelligence at ICIS.

Amanda’s story is a brilliant reminder that skills aren’t linear, they evolve. From her early days in local newsrooms to now guiding global base oil insight for one of the industry’s leading data organisations, she has built a career rooted in curiosity, communication, and clarity.

This conversation dives deep into journalism, data, visual storytelling, AI, and the human side of the lubricants supply chain. It’s thoughtful, real, and full of insights for anyone navigating change or looking to bring meaning to technical work.

Key Takeaways

1. Journalism Never Leaves You

Amanda’s first love was journalism - community storytelling, accountability, connection. Those instincts now underpin her work in base oils, proving that clear communication and curiosity are universal career assets.

2. Data + Story = Impact

When she says “data is integral to storytelling,” she means it. In a world of shrinking attention spans, Amanda believes the job is to turn complex commodity data into narratives people can act on, not just charts on a screen.

3. The Art of Visualisation

As a former graphic designer, Amanda champions accessible, thoughtful visuals. Clean design, readable colours, and simplicity matter - especially for neurodivergent audiences and overloaded industry professionals.

4. A Global Lens on Base Oils

From Houston to Brazil, Singapore to Cape Town, Amanda’s role gives her a truly global perspective. She sees firsthand how base oils markets are shifting, integrating, and demanding faster, clearer insight.

5. Journalism Skills Belong in Our Industry

As commodity markets evolve, Amanda highlights a rising need for “data journalists”, people who can decode complexity, ask better questions, and translate insight for modern buyers.

6. AI Isn’t the Enemy - It’s the Amplifier

ICIS is deep into AI adoption. For Amanda, AI isn’t replacing intelligence, it’s enhancing it. The human job now is to interpret, question, contextualise, and bring the data to life.

7. Creativity Still Matters

Outside work, Amanda channels her creativity into photography. She captures her travels, her life, and her curiosity through a lens, a reminder that creative energy fuels analytical clarity.

8. Advice for Early-Career Professionals

“Keep your options open.” Journalism gave Amanda skills that transferred beautifully into energy, base oils, data, and storytelling. She encourages new talent to stay adaptable and to carve paths that didn’t exist 10 years ago.

Connect with Amanda

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahay/

• ICIS: https://www.icis.com

Why Listen

If you sit anywhere in the lubricants supply chain; technical, commercial, data, marketing, or leadership, this episode is a masterclass in how human stories and hard data collide.

It’s also a fresh reminder that careers aren’t straight lines, and that our industry benefits massively from people with unusual, creative, or journalistic backgrounds.