Day 349: Samantha Thompson
“I think it’s also our responsibility as people that want to be inspired to keep up with people and to continue that inspiration, because it doesn’t just happen once. We have to continue to sort of feed that funnel of connection, because life doesn’t stop after one day. We have to get up the next day and start all over again, and find a way to connect with the world. The more that we do that, the more we keep growing and changing and evolving as a community and as a society.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Samantha, for agreeing to be part of our Project, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Samantha Thompson: Sure. My name is Samantha Thompson.
Toni: And Samantha, what do you do?
Samantha: I work with the Washington Business Journal. I work mostly in public relations and business development.
Toni: Okay. And you have been doing that for a while, or …
Samantha: Yeah, after leaving the Chamber of Commerce … I left from having a communication-related position. I was a Communications Director of the Chamber and then kind of fell into doing PR for the Washington Business Journal, and I’ve been there for a little over a year now.
Toni: Oh, okay, fantastic. So Samantha, when you think of that word inspiration, who do you inspire, and how does it happen?
Samantha: You know, with my job I come in contact with about 100 to 150 people every single week, and they come from all different walks of life, and they come from all different backgrounds. Their motivations for talking to me are really varied.
And so what I find is that I don’t always realize that I am inspiring someone until they come back to me and they say, “You know, because of our 10-minute conversation, I was able to take the information you gave me and propel it in a direction that I never thought that I could.”
And so really, I feel as if, you know, I wasn’t expecting when I came into the role to feel as though the impact would be as high as it has been, but there have been changes made and businesses that they said would probably take them, and I quote, “more than five to 10 years to make those changes without being connected to somebody in media.” So I think that that counts as, you know, being inspiring, I think for people to take resources and then it’s really up to them to use those resources.
Toni: Absolutely, and I would imagine then what you would do is you basically open some doors.
Samantha: Correct, yes.
Toni: And you have to be accessible in order to do that.
Samantha: Right.
Toni: So I would imagine that for someone in your position, and I have met other people in the type of position that you’re in, Samantha, that that accessibility alone might inspire someone, that you really took the time to open those doors for them, give them the information that they need so that they can further their business and/or their cause. I would imagine that’s very inspiring.
Samantha: Yeah, I definitely feel that it’s a dual inspiration. I never feel as though my role on this earth is just to go and to be this force. I think it’s a mutual force, and I feel as though it takes two to kind of, per se, tango.
So what I like to do is I like to listen, and when I listen to people and I hear their story, I start putting the pieces together in my head in how I can help them. My goal really is to help them, and if I can help them in one small way, then that’s great. And what then happens is that we develop a bond and a relationship, and they in turn come back and they help me, and together we’re inspirational, I think, to each other.
Toni: That is the ways it’s supposed to work, isn’t it?
Samantha: Right.
Toni: And that is so great to hear that it’s actually happening in your world. That’s amazing. By helping people that way, Samantha, how do you think that you’ve helped others with their own potential?
Samantha: Well, I think it again goes back to being very authentic and being a very good listener. At 32 years of age, I never realized that my name actually means “listener” until recently, and I really believe that that’s really where it starts.
It starts with ground zero, listening and hearing exactly what the person is telling you, and therefore connecting with them in that way. If you don’t understand where someone is coming from or what their end goal is, then it really makes it hard to kind of create that connection. Whatever that connection might be, whether you inspire them or not, it’s about good and strong and direct communication.
Toni: I really like that you create the connection with that very strong communication. And really, how can you help somebody, move them forward if you’re not authentic and if you’re not listening, really? You can’t, can you?
Samantha: Right. No, I learned that a long time ago. Actually, I’ve been to so many seminars, and you really don’t learn good listening skills overnight. I believe that it’s a very … it’s a practiced skill, and there’s a way to listen and a way that you’re not just hearing what their needs are, but you’re able to propel sort of that next thought process for them so that they’re thinking more forward instead of just in that constant, sort of even level.
So meaning, you know, sometimes you have connected conversations with people, but you’re not engaging them to move forward by not giving them resources to do that. So it’s really about putting that puzzle together and giving them that next step so that they can actually be inspired to take that next step, and then see where it goes.
Toni: So what inspires you, Samantha?
Samantha: I am actually inspired by people like yourself, to be honest, because I think that … and I really, truly mean that. I’ve been thinking about this for a couple days now, because I think what happens is that we meet these very inspirational people, we connect with them, we may start a relationship or a friendship either mentoring or business or personal, but we never actually acknowledge in a profound way.
I think sometimes we get caught up in, “Oh, this person is great” and “That person was great” but we don’t bring them all together and we don’t celebrate it as a whole, and I think that that is where that missing piece is. And that’s why I’ve been so touched by what you do, because I think that it’s so important for us to always to be able to remind ourselves of what great things are going on around us.
I’m very blessed in my position with the company that I work for that I get to meet amazing people every single day. Just today alone, at one event, I came in contact with 175 people, and I would say over half of them I have very significant relationships with. But that’s my life – that’s not everyone else. And so to be able to open that door for people to go to your website and to always remind themselves of what else is going on is extremely inspirational to me.
Toni: Thank you so very much for saying that. I really can hear in your voice that you really … you really are passionate about that, about bringing that recognition to people. I like the way that you said that it’s your life, that you are in a position – I don’t think it’s luck, I think you’ve created your path – but I think that you’ve been put in a place where you can make those connections, and where the really cool thing is that you do it. You do it. You’re not just talk. I think that that … is that what you mean as well by what inspires you, others who are not just talk?
Samantha: Right. Yes, that’s exactly what I mean by that, because again, it goes back to, you know, what are those individuals doing outside of, say, the presentation or the seminar that they run? What are they doing in the next month?
Oftentimes I’ll see keynote speakers that really touch me and tug at me, and then I’ll check back with them a month later, and I ask them, “Oh, what are you doing now?” and their answer is always something bigger than what they were doing the month before.
And so I think it’s also our responsibility as people that want to be inspired to keep up with people and to continue that inspiration, because it doesn’t just happen once. We have to continue to sort of feed that funnel of connection, because life doesn’t stop after one day. We have to get up the next day and start all over again, and find a way to connect with the world. The more that we do that, the more we keep growing and changing and evolving as a community and as a society.
Toni: Samantha, have you always shown up at the table this way?
Samantha: Have I … I’m sorry, what?
Toni: Have you always shown up at the table this way? Have you always been like this, this passionate person that just believes in doing … you know, connecting people and making it happen? Have you always been this way?
Samantha: I think so. I actually will firmly say yes. I grew up overseas in a third world country at age three, and I had to learn at a very young age – like I shared with you when I met you – how to connect with people that didn’t look like me, that did not speak my language, and that looked at me as if I didn’t belong.
And so, at a very young age I had to learn how to make those connections, and quite frankly, learn how to make friends. You know, you don’t always make friends or connections with people that look like you. You make connections with people that are different, because that’s what brings the world together.
So I definitely think that this has been something that’s been a part of me my whole life. I love being a leader in any type of capacity. It seems just a natural connection for me, because I really care about personal growth in myself and with other people, and I can’t grow myself without great people around me.
Toni: It’s interesting, Samantha, you know, I write certain things down when people are talking during this interview. There’s words that come to me, and I just write them in my notes here. And for you, I just wrote down yes you make connections, but you’re making connections for good. And it is for the greater good.
I don’t get to meet everyone that I’ve interviewed, obviously, on the Get Inspired! Project, but for those who are listening and reading the transcript, I did get to meet Samantha, and it’s almost like there … when people say you can see someone’s light shining in their eyes and shining out their eyes, that’s what I saw with Samantha. So what you’re hearing is really what is evident, and I wanted to make that point.
Samantha, what are you doing now to explore your own potential?
Samantha: What I’m doing now is really … I actually have a book that I’ve been starting to collect names and contacts and reasons why these individuals have meant so much to me, and my goal with that is to just pick the top three. I don’t believe that you need, you know, so many people in your life. I think that to really grow, you need to keep things very simple.
So what I’ve started to do is reach out to those people and make the effort to connect with them on a more regular basis and explore what that connection that I feel really, truly is with them. That’s a goal of mine is to really sort of utilize those people that I’ve met. It’s hard to keep up with all the great people, but I think part of it is just being very real with yourself and knowing what you need right now, both professionally and personally.
I think if we’re not … you know, there’s a phrase that I always use, and it’s “Clean home, clean heart” and I feel that when your home is clean, you have a clean heart, you’re able to open to the people that are around you, and that goes also with your professional life. When you have good, strong, clean people in your life, that projects out to others around you, and I don’t think that you need, you know, so many. So just focusing on a couple strong mentors, three at the most, I think is a great way to keep yourself grounded and keep yourself accountable.
Toni: What a great piece of advice to bring to the Project as well for those who are listening. What’s next for you, Samantha? I know you’re connecting to your mentors and you’re doing some great work with the Washington Business Journal – what do you see is the future for you?
Samantha: Yeah, I really have started to have a better vision for myself. I definitely see myself going at a bigger direction as far as media is concerned.
One thing I love about my opportunity with the Business Journal is of course meeting great people, but really letting the cards fall in front of me. Meaning that when I go to these functions and I meet all these people, I’m able to then just let myself kind of develop within those relationships. Sometimes I meet people once, sometimes I get to meet them seven or eight times; and what happens is that the relationships develop on their own.
Recently, for example, I had an opportunity to meet with Maureen Bunyan, who works for Channel 7, and you know, I never expected to have almost 30 minutes alone with her. After speaking with her, she said to me that I’m going big places in media. And I’ve never been told something like that, and I’ve never been so sure of my career until I met someone like her who has been in the industry for 37 years. I definitely am inspired by that, because it’s not every day that you get to meet someone like her who has won eight Emmys, who has done more in this community than any news broadcaster. It’s moments like that where you really just have to soak it in.
And I think for me I’d like to take my career in a bigger media direction, meaning the news, maybe in a different state, maybe not even here. But ideally, I would love to either be right in the face of news physically, or doing PR for an even larger organization where I feel like I can take the contacts that I keep building and just keep going with it and keep growing my contact base, because that’s really what it’s about. It’s about putting those people together that are the right connections, but you have to have a base of connections to do that, and I’m fortunate enough to have that with me already.
Toni: Well we wish you the best success, Samantha, we really do, and I know that there’s more in store here, and I’m encouraging people to watch this face, because there’s a lot more that’s going to happen with you. Thank you so very, very much.
Samantha: Thank you, Toni.
Toni: I know that you’re pulled over there in your car for the interview. We thank you very, very much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project, Samantha, and we look forward to talking to you soon.
Samantha: Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Toni: Take care.
Samantha: Take care.
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For more information about Samantha Thompson: sathompson@bizjournals.com
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