Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Salvaggio. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Samantha , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

My defining moment happened to me in 2005 when I was a sophomore at Ohio State – I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a progressive chronic illness. Obviously something as impactful as that is going to define your life, but if you asked me 17 years ago HOW it would define my life, I know I wouldn’t have said that it would shape my career and who I am as a person in a good way. But, that is indeed what it did.

When I was diagnosed I was a more unique case b/c I was so young. It was practically impossible to find others like me, especially since social media wasn’t as prevalent as it is now. Consequently I went through the ups and downs of living with a chronic illness alone and I often felt confused, overwhelmed and lonely. It was a dark time but I figured it out. I continued to study pharmaceutical sciences, then earned another degree in Nutrition while learning how to live with illness in a healthy sustainable way. After revamping my own health and wellbeing, I became a certified personal trainer and behavior change specialist.

While MS has dished out countless challenges over the years, it’s also given me the opportunity to build trust and confidence and reshaped my perspective. Most importantly, my extensive experience with it coupled with my education laid the foundation to help others with chronic illness feel less alone and be informed and empowered to live their best life with chronic illness, which is what I do today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a chronic illness coach, advocate and creator. Whether it is providing insight about the mental, emotional or physical challenges of MS and illness in general or breaking down confusing medical jargon a lot of what I do is rooted in my mission to inform and empower others with a chronic illness to live their best life.

To dig a little deeper, living with chronic illness is like a rollercoaster ride with lots of ups, downs and surprises. I know first hand how isolating it can be. I always struggled to find relatable support that wasn’t coated in toxic positivity or unrealistic expectations. It felt like no one talked about the grief, anger, shame, fear and other topics not to mention how to get through those things. Instead it was rainbows, butterflies and thinking positively. That really didn’t resonate with me especially when I was going through a rough time.
It was obvious there was a need for a realistic, educated and straight forward take on how to thrive with illness. Since I never want anyone to be alone and overwhelmed like I was, I started creating and sharing my knowledge and experience to fill that gap.

In my opinion, life (especially with chronic illness) isn’t black and white and it’s vital to show the full experience. The difference with my work is that I share everything – the good, the not so good and everything in between. I refer to myself as the ‘No BS Chronic Illness Coach and Creator’ because I keep it real. I’m a firm believer that yes, things can really be hard, but it doesn’t need to completely rule your life – you can be in pain and still have fun, you can be sad but find glimmers of happiness, you can be scared and keep going. There is a way to accept, adapt and move onward – it’s hard and not perfect but it’s possible.

The other unique aspect I have is my background in pharmaceutical sciences specifically, because I can explain things you hear in the doctor office in a way that’s easy to understand. Plus since I’ve had MS for a long time, I’ve had plenty of time to find ways to thrive physically, emotionally and mentally amongst the progression.

Currently, I offer a wealth of information on all aspects of living with illness – mindset, nutrition, fitness, relationships, specific info about what MS is, symptoms, medicines, and more on my blog, newsletter and social media (TikTok and Instagram specifically). It all has the same goal – to inform and empower you to live your life with illness without being consumed by it. With that in mind, I’m also working on other products too – exciting things are in the works as we speak!

I love how all these differences set me apart in a good way – a way that allows me to make a meaningful impact to others living with chronic illness. It always brightens my day when I hear when someone has a good doctor appointment, or advocated for themselves, or adapted and found ways to stay active, or made it through an emotionally challenging time because of what I have created and shared. I really do love (and live for) hearing others’ wins while living with illness – knowing I helped lighten the load of illness for someone makes all the struggles I went through 100% worth it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Like many, it was engrained in my head that productivity equals worth – if you weren’t doing something you were a burden. In both experiences – running a business and living with an illness – it’s very easy to give into the pressure to hustle and try to keep up with others, but at what cost?

The truth is you are worthy regardless of what you do but truly learning that was a hard but necessary lesson.

Knowing what it’s like to not have control over your body/health and seeing the toll stress and long hours took was enough to shift my mindset around rest. At the end of the day rest is productive and mandatory – you can’t show up for yourself or for others if you don’t prioritize your well-being first and foremost.

Learning to rest and how to work with my body vs against it was something I had to consciously remind myself to do – over and over again, but over time it stuck. Of course, I’m not perfect by any means but I’ll take progress over perfection any day.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My reputation is built on the foundation of authenticity. People know when you’re being authentic and are drawn to those that are unapologetically themselves.

’m not afraid to show the hard days. I share the twists and turns of living with illness in a way that honors the entire experience. It’s refreshingly relatable and builds trust.

On top of that, I don’t sugar coat information and it’s appreciated by those going through the challenges of living with illness. When you’re going through the unimaginable, you just want to know the truth and how you can still enjoy life.

Building a reputation isn’t easy but you can’t go wrong with being authentic to yourself and your experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.samanthasalvaggio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slsalvaggio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slsvanderman?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@slsalvaggio?lang=en Blog: https://www.samanthasalvaggio.com/blog Newsletter Sign Up: https://www.samanthasalvaggio.com/newsletter