We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Wangberg recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

In a lot of ways, this is something I’m still working on. In my day to day, routine around my business is ever changing for the better but a process nonetheless. When it comes to taking a vacation this is the one thing I know I will always take at least a month off on purpose. Travel is a big part of my life and what drives me. I feel a lot of inspiration from being surround by other cultures. When I step away, I’m able to soften into myself again and re-aline my values and my why. I’m still figuring this all out, but I feel strongly about this time for myself. Everyone is different, but in order to achieve this I save 20% of every check towards low work months and travel. Depending how finances look when I get closer to that date will depend on how “shoe string” I’ll get. As a food storyteller my main goal, when traveling, is to meet the people I’m surrounded by. I want to see what their lives are like around food and everyday life. That’s what drives me and it doesn’t have to break the bank.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I fell into this career. I had no idea that a photo stylist was even a thing, but I would help friends with their passion projects and really enjoyed the work. I saw a posting for a soft stylist and jumped at it. I was absolutely not qualified, but they saw something in me and everything sky rocketed from there.

As a freelancer, I work in all things art department but my main passion is food styling. Even years before I knew about this world I would ask street vendors how they made their roti canai, what was in their laksa, or where I could get the cheapest and best Nasi goreng. I pay attention the what, why and how of their foods choices. This is where I like to call myself a food storyteller.

With food styling, the work is often totally different, but I love being able to bring the technical aspect to my creativity. I get to experiment with ingredients in order to make a client’s food look the best it can while also highlighting each ingredient so the customer knows exactly what they are getting. I love the challenge of navigating the spectrum of food styling.

What I love about the direction of my work is my right and left brain come together for my passions of travel, food, and storytelling all together. There’s no limit as long as I keep pushing and trusting myself.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I love food and I love exploring foods and cultures. I don’t totally know what that means for me yet, but l know I’m in the right direction. Learning all of the tools and tricks sets me apart in a technical way, but there is so much to learn across the board. I hope at some point I can live wherever while still building my business and not relaying on one location for work.

Have you ever had to pivot?

For years, as a traveler, I taught english or worked in restaurants. What I loved about this work is I was surrounded. by people from all over the world as teaching was online or in schools and restaurants were abroad. Teaching online taught me how to navigate technical aspect to business where as restaurants taught me hustle, relate ability, and working with loads of different personalities. I knew I wanted to transition into something different but I didn’t know what. On a trip in Mexico, I helped a friend with a photoshoot. The whole process was really fun and I loved what she came up with.

When I got home I started researching work outside of my current industry and found an opening for photo styling with a focus on soft goods. I didn’t know what that meant, but I felt excited about it. For the preliminary questions I decided I was going to things a little different. Instead of writing back my responses, I stylized a set and edited a video of me answering the questions. I ended up working there for a year and a half before I went fully freelance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.samwangberg.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samwangberg/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/samwangberg

Image Credits
Shad Gorringe, Emily Anstadt, Jeffrey Larsen