Sisterhood Spotlight: Trust Yourself And Learn To Do You

This month we are featuring 4 incredible women who are part of the Modern Match community. Seeing that International Women's Day is this month we wanted to bring you empowering content from some of the most inspirational and incredible women we know. Grab your coffee, or wine, and let's dive into our interview between Shauna, Founder of Modern Match Lingerie, and the amazing Samantha Parker.

Get ready for a glitter bomb, because we’ve just interviewed the glitter Queen herself, Samantha Parker! 

I met Samantha a couple of years ago, it was at the inception of Modern Match Lingerie, prior to the launch of the product line, bumping along on my entrepreneurship journey and Samantha was popping up everywhere on my IG and FB feed. This woman was killing it in the social media marketing game. But what I loved the most was how raw and authentic she was. I landed in her Facebook community and I learned so much from her! How thoughtful she was, connected with her community and present. Since then she’s launched a new business and she’s going to share with you all her tips and tricks to being seen… like really seen. ;)

Shauna Allan: Ok Sam, before we dive into some glittery questions, give our audience some back story. Who are you and where are you from? 

Sam P.: Hey babe! I’m Sam, sometimes I’m even known as the glitter bitch…eek! I live in sunny southern Utah with my two growing kids (yes, one is graduating high school this year) and sometimes my husband! He is currently serving a 3rd tour with the U.S. Army. 

I own ONE umbrella company, The Samantha Parker, which is home to my digital marketing company, Jade Your Gram, and my newest birth- Chill Glitter! 

Shana Allan: What has been your biggest failure, and what did you learn from that experience? 

Sam P.: That’s so easy. My biggest business failure, without a doubt Badassery Magazine. I literally created it from such a place of passion and drive, that when things went south, I just kept trying to pour money into it. 

I can easily look back and see exactly where I let go of the vision to compromise what someone else wanted. I can also see how my over emphasis on, “I’ll just hustle more”, didn’t give me the ability to step back and put my foot down. 

But you just don’t know, what you just don’t know. I was young to business, and just really was listening to every “expert” out there. Honestly, at the end of the day, you are better off to flush 99% of the methods out there and just do you. I did that last year and came away with my most profitable business year yet. I’m talking $100K more… 

Shauna Allan: I have always admired how involved you are in your online community. So much that it set the bar for me when I started the Bra Bra Sisterhood. It can be challenging for women to commit that amount of time to manage their social media, working, and family lives. What is something every woman in your industry should stop or start doing? 

Sam P.: Stop doing what everyone else is doing right now. My team and I manage a lot of social media accounts for all kinds of businesses! So I say this with experience and genuine love. You need to literally pause, do some kind of walkabout, and get right with who you are, then reappear swinging. 

The world doesn’t need another carbon copy. You don’t need another strategy or plan. You just need to show up with your unique blend of YOU…and hit the ground running. 

And every time you get caught up in the, “well that flopped”. Shut up and do it a 100 times before you can count it as a failure. Video is really where it’s at…and before you lose your mind. It’s way easier than we are all making it. 

Tiktok is emerging as a leader platform because it’s messy. So get messy. The curated feed is a thing of the past. Circle back to what I said at the beginning of this question. Double down on your form of you and I promise, you’ll blow up in what seems like an overnight sensation 

Shauna Allan: What is your favourite productivity hack and how did you learn this? 

Sam P.: The idea of productivity is bullshit. And that’s my best hack. Sometimes you’ll be experiencing life. Such as a family member's death, a spouse issue, a lack of motivation, a raging period, whatever… So the sooner as you realize

you didn’t inhabit a human body to be productive, the more shit will just flow. 

Shauna Allan: You are a powerful and influential woman. You exude confidence and I know you’ve taken time to have your own empowerment journey! What we know to be true is we can have confidence one day, and lose it the next. What are the character traits that were most instrumental to your success and keep you feeling confident?  

Sam P.: I generally don't walk around in my life feeling confident. I have incredible anxiety around new groups of people, and I often criticize myself for talking too much. It’s easier for me to show up on social media with crazy f-this attitude, because it feels safer to me. I know, I’m just being honest. 

What I do when I feel like criticizing myself to the point of drowning, is I just address it. For example, my trainer posted a video of me doing weighted lunges and I had a full blown mental breakdown over my butt. I full on cried on the bathroom floor and wanted to run away forever. Instead, I went in deep. AND asked myself why would this upset me so much? Why do I actually feel this way? Where did this belief come from and why is it choosing to present itself today? 

You just have to acknowledge that sometimes your mind is a little whack. BUT that you won’t let it be the defining factor of your life. So yes, I am always scared as hell, but I choose to be present anyways. The alternative is a life full of “shoulds” and I just refuse to live that way. 

Shauna Allan: Tell us about your new product launch and what it means to you? Why did you launch it? 

Sam P.: Thanks for asking! I just launched a brand new product based business, called Chill Glitter. Girl, this project came from the depths of my soul. I have been known to battle a demon or two in my lifetime and I’ve had to really pull myself out of some dark spaces. 

Life to me doesn’t just come looking for you. You have to go out and find it. That’s how I feel about glitter…It’s that everyday magic you have to find. It’s in a funny sign, noticing a bird or the real big things like helping someone when they need it the most. 

I took that glitter vibe for life and turned it into high end luxury items. In short, Chill Glitter is a highly holographic line of handcrafted and glitter infused products! Think Coachella vibes meets your local favorite hand cream and so much more! You really haven't seen anything like this before. Luxury. Dimensional. Fun AF. It's just GLITTER on steroids.

Shauna Allan: What does it take from you to run a successful team? How do you keep your staff/partners motivated? 

Sam P.: Conversations. Sometimes we are really just wanting to be heard and seen. A simple conversation goes a really long way. Truly value the people you surround yourself with. They are sometimes doing all they can do, and you are just too busy to notice. 

Shauna Allan: If you could go back and do something differently, what is it and what would you do? 

Sam P.: I honestly wouldn’t. We are always placed on our paths for a reason. Don’t worry about the past. Always be looking forward. You’ll trip if you spend too much time trying to look at your ass.

Shauna Allan: How do you create a healthy balance in running a business, self-care, and family life? 

Sam P.: I create balance by understanding that it’s not a thing. Sometimes I’ve needed to block off an entire week for family stuff. Sometimes I’m head down and do the work. The more I flow, the more I create. You don’t need to put things into boxes, like a lot of people will tell you to do. If you need to pick up your phone and take care of something, freaking do it. It’s off your mind and your plate. If you need to go on a trip through the desert and talk to random apparitions, do that. Just do whatever you want. That’s the secret sauce. 

Shauna Allan: What does an empowered woman look like to you?

Sam P.: Honestly, so many things. She might be rocking two days of the same tee or all done up. You just never know and it really doesn’t matter anymore. She’s got her eyes on her own dreams and she’s not spending a damn second trying to tear down yours. 

Samantha Parker - Sometimes I’m even known as the glitter bitch. The online world is full of shiny objects and big, bold claims and it's easy to start chasing them and to ignore your own instincts. I envisioned this space to share what I've learned, through both my successes and my failures.
I created it to provide a support system for the future builders - people like you! I'm passionate about what I do. I've been featured in some pretty amazing places like- Now This, LA Weekly, Good Morning LaLaLand, and Bold TV.
My biggest and most epic boss moment this far- interviewing Gary Vee and a few other online legends. However…I’m finding out that our biggest moment is yet to come!