The Story
Sam’s journey has been anything but predictable.
She grew up in a tiny Australian country town with a grand total of three streets and barely more than a hundred residents. It was a wonderful place to grow up—if you happened to be a farm animal. For everyone else, life was decidedly… quiet.
Curiosity eventually won out, carrying her to Sydney, where she signed with Vivien’s, Australia’s largest modelling agency and one of the oldest in the world. While building a career in modelling, she was also quietly collecting university degrees, completing a double degree in Business and Law before beginning work as a human rights lawyer at Amnesty International.
The courtroom, however, never stood much of a chance against a passport.
After being crowned Miss Universe Australia 2000, Sam swapped legal briefs for boarding passes and spent years travelling the globe. She worked with iconic international brands, appeared as a Fox Sports presenter, became the face of the New York Marathon, and even popped up in a Super Bowl commercial. Somewhere between airports and adventures, she rediscovered the childhood love that had been waiting patiently all along—writing.
These days, storytelling is where her heart truly lives.
She writes fiction, travel stories, essays and the occasional tale about the delightful chaos of family life. She lives on the beautiful east coast of Australia with her husband Dan, two wonderfully spirited children, Avalon and Atlas, a husky who firmly believes he’s in charge, and a few other furry companions who ensure life is never dull.
If life were a boat, Dan would be standing on the bow, happily admiring the horizon. Sam would be at the helm, convinced there’s another adventure just over the next wave. Avalon would be climbing the mast before anyone noticed, while Atlas would somehow be keeping everyone on course despite looking like he wasn’t paying attention.
Together, the family has appeared in tourism campaigns for Hamilton Island, Fiji Tourism and The Havannah Vanuatu, creating memories far more valuable than any frequent flyer points.
Giving back has always been important to Sam. Alongside her work at Amnesty International, she served on the Young Starlight Committee and was honoured to appear in the fundraising coffee-table book Women of the World, supporting UNIFEM and UNICEF.
Life, of course, hasn’t been all passports and sunsets. Like many people, Sam has navigated seasons of perfectionism, fear of failure, motherhood, and depression. Learning that life doesn’t require perfection—just persistence, humour, and the occasional family-sized KitKat—has been one of her greatest adventures.
She hopes her stories leave people smiling, thinking, travelling a little further, laughing a little louder, and embracing their own wonderfully messy journey.
