“Hustle culture is a cult. It really is.”
- Sam’s transition from corporate finance to a life of adventure, purpose, and freedom.
- The burnout traps ambitious professionals fall into—and how to break free.
- Why balancing ambition with inner peace is the real challenge (and how to navigate it).
- Reflections from Sam’s transformative journey in Bhutan—what she learned and how it shifted her perspective.
- The risks and rewards of making bold moves, embracing uncertainty, and trusting the journey.
Meet Our Magical Guest
Samantha Plavins, Founder and Entrepreneur of She Walks The Walk
Samantha (Sam) Plavins is a Canadian adventurer, entrepreneur and staunch advocate for taking back lost time. A former workaholic, she set out in 2019 to walk all 800 km of the Camino de Santiago, where she had the epiphany that her career in finance was killing her. So, she decided to follow a new path and launched She Walks the Walk in 2020.
Sam helps women rediscover themselves through her Global Walking Adventures. She urges you to step off that treadmill, because life is NOW. Not in some fantasy future. She’s led her clients on epic journeys to Norway, Tanzania, Guatemala and Jordan. When not adventuring, Sam is typically looking for her lost phone or dispensing unsolicited advice to her two daughters. She lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario and has recently become a “woman of a certain age.”
“In Search of Happiness” by Kendra Slagter and Samantha Plavins
In the remote kingdom of Bhutan, nestled high in the Himalayas, lies one of the most challenging and least-traveled long-distance treks in the world: the Snowman Trek. Over the course of several weeks, filmmaker Kendra Slagter and expedition partner Sam Plavins — founder of the women’s adventure organization She Walks the Walk — journey across countless high passes, through sacred landscapes, and into isolated mountain communities few outsiders ever reach.
But this film is more than just a record of a rugged adventure. It’s a story about resilience, cultural respect, and the strength of women walking with purpose. As they battle altitude, weather, and the limits of their own endurance, Kendra and Sam reflect on what it means to move slowly in a fast-paced world, to connect deeply with local guides and yak herders, and to carry the stories of those they meet along the way. Shot entirely on location in Bhutan, In Search of Happiness is a raw, cinematic, and soul-stirring journey through one of the world’s last wild frontiers—an exploration not just of geography, but of what it truly means to live well.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
She Walks the Walk: https://shewalksthewalk.com
She Walks the Walk Community: https://community.shewalksthewalk.com/
Osprey Backpacks: https://www.osprey.com
The School of Greatness Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/07GQhOZboEZOE1ysnFLipT?si=tzpuXhf2Rfq_Xmmp6QU6hg
Camino de Santiago Info: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/
500 Days in the Wild Documentary: https://500daysinthewild.com
Calm Meditation App: https://www.calm.com
Chopra Institute: https://www.chopra.com/
Connect with Sam!
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