Samantha Rimando, is a childhood friend and also an entrepreneur. She is a mother and one of the most kindest souls you'll ever meet. When I started this series, I knew I wanted Sam to be one of the interviews.
In our conversation, we get real about the journey of entrepreneurship and as a working mom. She does not hold back as she shares her honest views on her experiences. Dive deep with me as we get into perspective on how it is to navigate motherhood, building a business and staying true to your mission.
Let’s get to know you! Tell the world who you are and the name of your business and what do you do?
Sam: Okay. I'm Samantha. The name of my business is AssistHer Movement. What we do is a bit hard to describe. I've literally spent this past* year struggling to really define what we do. Originally what I wanted to do was build a community. I wanted to throw events, have speakers and people sharing stories - kind of like a career counselor, but influencer style. So that's kind of how I originally had it, but it was very hard to form an elevator pitch. The goal for the upcoming year is hopefully to turn it into like a mentorship, or focus on the mentorship program.
I wanted to focus on a program where you know what your options are and know what you can do especially for women. We've made so much progress over the years, but at the same time you don't know too many stories of women in entrepreneurship, women in leadership roles, women who started their own business and more. It’s all about finding these groups of women who want to share their stories and hope to inspire young girls and young women, and maybe even women in the older generation.
Why did you choose AssistHer Movement as the name of your business? Sam: It can be very isolating sometimes trying to navigate your career and see what options you have. So if you have a community to kind of help you out and assist you, and also assist in increasing your brand awareness as well. It's good to know that have that option as a resource.
I actually went to a conference and originally the name I had wasn't AssistHer Movement. It was something like “move her” or something like that. The whole idea stemmed from me wanting to be able to raise money and then give it away. I thought that it would be so simple to do.
However, it evolved, as my mission was focussing on wanting to ASSIST. So then I played around with “assist her”. It was like a play on words where it's like A-Sister/ Assist-HER. However, another company had that name. So that's where the word “movement” came from. I felt like adding the movement solidified the mission I’m going for.
I definitely see AssistHer Movement as a go-to resource, a community and for people who are looking for mentorship.
Sam: There's so many things that I wasn't aware of and I'm still learning by the way. Like all of the legal stuff, the contracts, like who knew this was all included. I know it looks so easy. I totally jumped the gun. Like I made Instagram, the website and then that was it. I didn't even have anything. Then a month into it, I realized there was a lot more planning required when building a business. So yeah, I really jumped the gun on that but this was probably an advantage for me in a way. It helped me learn. You start to see what's missing and what I need to put my attention to. In my case, jumping the gun was good because I learned.
Tell me about yourself.
Sam: Oh gosh. I hate this question because I never know what to say. So I always say I am a mommy of two boys and married. I am an operations manager at a clean tech company. I love my job and I love being a mother and wife, but I'm trying to learn to be able to speak about how I'm so much more, and that's what I struggle with. All I do know is I love giving resources to people and helping people find those resources. I just love sharing, helping them, uplift them, and giving them opportunities wherever I can.
I know the businesses that entrepreneurs start, it stems from who they are.
What is the biggest lesson you've learned from being an entrepreneur so far?
Sam: I guess it kind of goes back to what I originally said: it doesn't have to be perfect. Just do it because when you just do it, it just gets you into the motion and the momentum starts to build. Even though I went into it not fully knowing what I wanted to do when I started, I didn't think of it as a business. I just really want to help people.
So once the title of business came, that's what I went into a shock. That's when I kind of froze and shut down because it was just so much pressure. I didn't know what to do, but because I put that pressure on myself at the beginning and I just went ahead and did it. I kept going.
I was already in motion. I already had followers. I already had this expectation for myself and this brand. “I can’t stop now.” That was one of the things that I kept saying. I've had a few burnouts this year and the reason why I didn't stop was because I was like, I can't stop now because there was so much momentum already there.
I know you’ve already answered this, but what is your mission behind the AssistHer Movement - reiterate and summarize.
Sam: AssistHer movement is basically bringing opportunity and resources to people. Everything is out there already, but people don't look for it. So the main purpose of me starting on Instagram was to connect with everyone on Instagram. Then I want to bring the resources to people and present it in a way where they'll actually look into it and see what’s available for them.
Do you have a morning routine? If yes. Describe it?
Sam: Um, It doesn't happen all the time, but on my good mornings, I wake up at least like an hour or two before the boys, which is like 5:30am ish. I've been working on not checking my phone right away and telling myself “I need to get up”. So I get up and I do the chores, as boring as it sounds.
I do my chores. I do the dishes from the night before. I fold the laundry. I catch up on my shows. I know some people do it at nighttime, but it doesn't work for me. I'm not a night owl. I'm a morning person. So I prefer getting up in the morning and Daylight savings time helps me so much. It's a new routine. I wish I could say there's some exercise in there, but not just yet ;).
What do you do on days where you feel like you're stuck or when you feel like the productivity internally is just not happening.
Sam: Um, it depends on my children when those days happen, I do need my ALONE time. So I’ll tell John (Samantha’s husband) “Get out and take the kids with you.” I just need silence for like an hour or if it can’t be silent, I just need to be alone. Then before going to bed, I have a gratitude journal I like to do when I can. I do like my to-do lists because when I'm able to see it all, it doesn't seem as overwhelming usually, but yeah, it's my lists that help a lot.
What is your personal mission statement? So it doesn't have to be business. It could just be who you are as a person. Sam: I think one of the things I really like or I feel like I did naturally, especially when I became a mother, because it was a very hard transition for me. I constantly prayed. I want to do everything with gratitude and grace.
I feel very privileged in terms of my life. I like the opportunities I was given, like with the job that I have. I just feel so beyond blessed. I feel so many people who don't have that passion and love for their job go home miserable. I’d like to think I inspire people to actually really look for something that they feel gratitude and love towards.
For instance, there was a girl that I talked to. She loved reading and she didn't know what to do with it and later on she became a filmmaker.
Who are your biggest inspirations?
Sam: My boss. I love my boss. I look up to her so much - just everything about her, how she openly talks about her experiences, how she talks about the struggles she's had, how open she is to it. How optimistic she is, and how human she is when she makes decisions for the company. She inspires me. I hope that I could be in a position one day to be able to provide opportunities like she does for people.
What is the one thing you would share to those who want to become an entrepreneur?
I think it's literally just doing it. JUST DO IT. Nike! haha. Just do it and not get so hung up on trying to get it perfect. You can change your logo, you can change your brand colours as time goes by, but just do it. If you at least put it out there and see how people react to it, you can adjust things. I feel like that that's so important, but people think that once they do their first posts, it's going to just blow up and everyone's gonna jump on it and want to buy it or will buy into the brand or whatever it is. So Just do it, going into this life of entrepreneurship, that you're going to have to adjust.
Last question is what is your social media handle and available contact information.
@assisthermovement
*Note about the interview: This Interview was conducted in 2020 during the start of the pandemic.