Meet Samantha Schalit | Editor, Brand Strategist & Story Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Samantha Schalit and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samantha, why did you pursue a creative career?
Growing up, I always felt more comfortable — more at home — in creative-leaning spaces. That comfort zone formed early.

I struggled in math. I was more taken with the magic of science than the actual mechanics of it. Chemistry formulas made me dizzy. I don’t think I ever met an art form I didn’t like. Except maybe tap dancing. I was terrible at that, and it’s best left to Fred, Ginger, and the next generation.

My closet was packed with canvases and paints. I dabbled in jewelry-making. I’d spend my free time sprawled out on the carpet with a sketchbook or reading fantasy and adventure novels. I wrote a lot of bad poetry and short stories.

My education started to focus on story: creative writing and journalism. That helped me write better poetry and short stories. I found a deep love for magazine craft. Then it evolved into advertising and marketing. The application of story across these media and the integration of digital technology became a fascination I just followed.

When I found myself working as a project manager and later designing customized operations workflows for agencies, I started to see how being artful and analytical didn’t make me a misfit; it made me adaptable.

As much as my skill set has evolved, storytelling is the art form I always tap into. It’s a tool for driving social impact, growing businesses, solving operational puzzles, and designing processes fit for people who run organizations — not the other way around.

Creativity is world-changing. Why not make a career out of it?

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
There’s quite a long story about how I got here, but you’re probably more interested in what’s happening now.

I’ve recently launched Samantics, a story consultancy for evolving brands. In my experience on both the artful and analytical sides of agency work, I noticed two things:
1. I got very good at navigating change.
2. I love figuring out the best way to evolve through change. Collaborating with agencies or brands to do differently and do better is exciting work.

It doesn’t matter if it’s creative output or operations. The way to accomplish better outcomes is to know your why. WHY do you need a new website? WHY do you want a total brand refresh? WHY is there a disconnect between your brand and your ideal audience? WHY is your workflow inefficient and WHY are your people disengaged? WHY does “this” system work better than “that” system for time tracking?

My practice revolves around the search for meaning because it’s literally human nature. As much as AI makes some things easier, I’m here for the people. Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, says the “uniqueness and singleness which distinguishes each individual…and gives a meaning to [their] existence has a bearing on creative work…”

So if meaning has bearing on creative work, it has bearing on your brand and business decisions. When you know your why, you can figure out any how. I love helping people find their why: their position and purpose, or a central human truth. I love shaping that into guided strategies and content that your people (behind the scenes or on the street) connect with. Strong stories make moves.

At Your Service For:
Brand Strategy & Positioning | Distilling murky ideas to make clear connections.
Editorial & Messaging Development | Quieting the noise and amplifying meaningful messages.
Creative Marketing Campaigns | Bringing it all to life in tandem with your team, or mine.
Process Design & Workflow Consulting | Stemming the chaos by modifying the narrative embedded in your ways of working.

If you really want to know I got here:
There are intentional choices and steps one takes in their life, the things you make happen, and then there are the things that happen to you.

I intentionally studied creative writing & journalism at UCF because I loved story craft — still do, perhaps even more than I did back then. The managing editor role I was up for post-graduation didn’t pan out. After years of wanting to be somewhere other than Miami, I returned home. Happy Accident #1.

I wanted to be a journalist, one who writes in-depth human-centric features. Even though moving back to Miami wasn’t my dream, I didn’t want to live in New York. At that time, job searches were location-dependent. Remote work wasn’t a thing, and it certainly isn’t a great option for someone on the first pages of their career. I started seeing copywriter roles that were looking for journalism grads. Seemed like a perfect fit. That’s how I fell into advertising. Happy Accident #2.

The transition to ad copywriting was tougher than I expected. It took me a long time to get the hang of it. I wasn’t having much fun, either. And ironically, Happy Accident #3 is the turning point that allowed me access to every department of an ad agency and I learned a bit about everyone’s craft. I became an adept project & program manager, which showed me I had an ability for analytical thinking. This was a revelation. In the 10 years that followed, I was learning brand & narrative strategy, design principles, business operations, tech & digital marketing. I became so much more than someone who was a pretty good writer.

In December 2019, came Happy Accident #4. I met Yulia Strokova, a brilliant woman with a resume much more impressive than my own. She has become one of my closest friends. She had started Impact.Edition, interviewing ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Miami. She shared her vision for Impact.Edition, a nonprofit publication dedicated to sustainable development, over a glass of red wine, and the rest of history. This is our 5th year working together, and the growth we’ve achieved is really stunning. We’re elevating the voices of South Florida’s changemakers through solutions journalism that our community can experience online, in print, and yes – even in person. We’ve hosted live readings and panel discussions where our community can learn to walk the talk, where they can leave knowing what they can do next to engage in their community, making Miami stronger and more resilient. This was the journalism I had always dreamed of, and by extending our stories & storytelling off the page into public storytelling campaigns and workshops, its shown me I’m more than a wordsmith, I’m a good speaker and educator, a great panel moderator, and a fine editor. We’re even developing Solutions Journalism workshops to explore how climate stories intersect with health, housing, jobs, education, social justice, and more — and how to craft those stories in ways that inform and motivate action.

Happy Accident #5 didn’t start out very happy. A year ago, I got caught in a round of layoffs at my day job. It forced me to think about what I really wanted my work life to look like. And I realized there was an older dream I hadn’t pursued yet: owning my own business. Happy Accident #5 said, Sam, it’s time to work for yourself. You’ve learned a lot from some of the best & you’re more than capable.

So now I’m right in the middle of Happy Accident #6: owner of Samantics Story Consultancy.
And something else I learned: everything is meaningful if you choose it to be.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite things to do involve great food & drinks, relaxing, and plant-packed atmospheres. If there are books nearby, even better.

Okay, here are the hot spots for me in no particular order:

Flora Plant Kitchen in MiMo. Relax on their garden patio, first with coffee. Then their shakshuka. Everything they make is delicious, dare I say, divine. Dessert is passion fruit mimosas. I swear they are the best mimosas in Miami.

Farmers Markets: Legion Park, Vizcaya, Pinecrest. Buy local whenever possible!

Walk around Coral Gables and hit Books & Books to look for literary fiction, short story & poetry collections. I mean, come on, books + coffee + wine. Motek is another favorite spot in that neighborhood.

Wander Coconut Grove, then settle at Monty’s for drinks by the water.

Midtown & MiMo Garden Centers. I really think I’m happiest when I’m standing in a garden.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There is a series of people who saw potential in me that I didn’t see myself. From the CTO who asked if I wanted to learn program management to the mentor who told me, “I have no doubt one day, you’ll be running the show” and the publisher who trusted me to shape local solutions journalism for Miami. The marketing and creative directors who said, “Have at it, kid” as we built new departments from scratch. The friendships built from the trenches of agency life — who challenged me to rethink how I see myself and what I’m capable of. To my husband, who’s my biggest fan and, basically, my agent.

Website: https://www.samantics.co/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthaschalit/

Other: https://www.impactedition.org/

Image Credits
Personal Photo and photo of the panel discussion (only) are credited to Image.Miami