About Samantha

Samantha is on a mission to understand and rebuild the world around her. Whether she is helping a client design their dream career, fixing relationships in corporations or in homes, or building a self-sustaining biosphere in her office, Samantha is adept at understanding how people and systems tick, what barriers stand in their way to happier performance, and then creating plans for an inspired future.

Samantha earned a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering at MIT in 2008, and a BS in Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000. Samantha’s coaching style is akin to the processes of scientific inquiry and product engineering: she and her clients gather data, watch for emerging patterns, understand the underlying causes, and then design and build a better product (your life!). Samantha couples the analytical and problem-solving skills of a scientist and engineer with the proaction and insight of a coach and mediator to guide clients in designing a life that inspires them.

Samantha originally joined the Handel Group through the MIT class Designing you Life. She served as a teaching assistant, and designed a curriculum to teach the class at other institutions. After training as a coach, Samantha joined the Private and Corporate Divisions of the Handel Group in 2008, and currently leads workshops and coaches individual clients of different ages, careers, and personal backgrounds. Samantha has given talks at corporations, government agencies, and universities such as the Scripps Research Institute and MIT.

Samantha complements her training from The Handel Group with studies at a Buddhist monastery and Massachusetts mediation training. Through volunteer work in Thailand, Tanzania, rural France, and a Lakota Sioux reservation, Samantha has learned how to tailor messages to suit people of different cultural backgrounds.

More about Samantha:

Chronicle of Higher Education article about Samantha’s career transition from biological engineer to life coach

Article about Samantha’s 2010 workshop at Scripps Research Institute

Samantha’s outside interests:

• Playing with her Papillon, Ptarmigan.
• Running
• Meditating
• International Development work
• Exploring new things and learning from them.