The Story
Sam fell into modelling…
As much as you can fall into something that has an epicentre hundreds of kilometres from your home. The small Australian country town she grew up in had a grand total of three streets. The growing population surpassed one hundred people. While it was bustling for the farm animals, for the humans, it was deafeningly quiet.
The ripples from the aftershocks of the earthquake of consumerism hurtled her towards Sydney, where she signed with eminent agency Vivien’s, the largest agency in Australia and the second oldest agency in the world. With a strong desire to expand her view beyond the small lens she had been given, Sam entered two very different worlds – modelling and academia.
After realising the pull of travel was far greater than her desire to be the next Perry Mason, she completed her double degree BBusiness/BLaws, left her career as a human rights lawyer at Amnesty International and set sail in the uncertain waters of international modelling.
Being crowned Miss Universe Australia 2000 took Sam to many of the world’s biggest cities. As a model, she worked for numerous iconic brands. She graced the screen as a Fox Sports presenter, was the face of the New York Marathon, and featured in a Superbowl TVC.
Years of travel allowed Sam to realign with her childhood passion for writing, and she is about to launch her first novel.
Sam now resides on the East Coast of Australia with her husband and two children, who regularly drive her bonkers.
Onboard her boat is: Dan (hubby) watching the world from the bow, always living in the moment and stopping to smell the salty air; Sam at the helm, steering everyone forward with perpetual motion and purpose; Avalon (the little lady) dangling from the crow’s nest ready to meet adventure headfirst and Atlas (the little man) a rudder guiding them all on course.
Her family have appeared in campaigns for Hamilton Island Australia, The Havanah Vanuatu, and Fiji Tourism.
Sam relishes alliances with charitable organisations. After working pro bono at Amnesty International, she became a board member of the Young Starlight Committee. She was fortunate enough to be included in the coffee book ‘Women of the World’ featuring Australian female celebrities to raise funds for UNIFEM/UNICEF.
Like everyone, she hasn’t coasted through life without a battle scar here or there, including the undeniably tricky task of being a frazzled mum. Personality traits of fear of failure and flights of perfectionism have led to bouts of depression. Learning to give herself a humungous Kit-Kat size break has been a steep learning curve.
Sam’s advice – throw caution to the wind and wholeheartedly sail through your own crazy, unique life.
