Meet Your Leader: Samantha

Hey Guys!

First and foremost, if you've found this page, it means you're a volunteer who is on this journey with me to help change lives for those around us.
For this - I thank you for your time, energy and devotion to this program.

A little backstory on me...

I have a degree in Hospitality Management from Florida State University (Go Noles!) and a degree in Finance from University of Arizona.
I have time in my career working at Walt Disney World, as a Hotel Manager for Marriott, a Baby Boutique Store Manager, and recently I'm juggling 2 jobs beyond my time with Pompeii.
This past year I became partner at a Travel Agency and have since grown our agency to have over 70 agents working on my team, helping our clients book trips all over the world.
While I'm not doing my "fun" job, I'm working as a Finance Analyst at a car dealership helping individuals with challenged credit obtain a vehicle who otherwise may not be qualified elsewhere.

So how exactly did I end up here you may ask? Well, this past January my husband and I experienced our first pregnancy, unfortunately it ended up being an ectopic pregnancy which resulted in the loss of my pregnancy and my right fallopian tube. My doctor said to hold off from "trying" for 3 months, then we were good to go. Well, here we are to November, and we have still yet to conceive again.

I have always been a "fluffy kid" my entire life, I have flucuated over the years and lost 85lbs in 2018 "the old fashioned way", which was great! Unfortunately (like most of us), I fell back into bad habits, which resulted in me gaining it all back and then some. So, I'm not oblivious that my weight has played a party in my possible fertility struggles. I reached out to my health insurance to see what options I had for bariatric or fertility coverages, come to find out, I have absolutely no coverage. That news was almost more devistating than losing my pregnancy because in that moment I had lost what's most important, hope.

They say that God works in mysterious ways, well, I had 2 friends who had gone to Pompeii about 2 years ago for the gastric sleeve. I've watched their journeys and they are both so much healthier and happier these days, which warms my heart. Ironically, one of them is a Police Officer who reached out to me at my car dealership to inquire about buying more vehicles for their department, which eventually started the conversation on Pompeii. I asked if had any side effects or regrets for getting the surgery and he said his only regret was not getting it sooner. This prompted me to start doing my own research into Pompeii, and I was stunned! The facilities are nothing like here in the States (they're better!). The application process is far easier to go through. Most importantly (for me), it was substanitally more affordable than paying for anything in the States without any insurance coverage. Although, while still being more affordable, it is still something we can't afford right now. 

That's okay though, I started the conversation with my family. I was shocked when they shared such hesitation with me. "Mexico? Samantha are you nuts?" these are the kind of responses I received and I was stunned. If my police officer friend and his wife who is a nurse felt comfortable going to Pompeii, they why shouldn't I? So I made a deal with my family, I'll give it until April 2024 to try again the "old fashioned way", and should I still feel the desire to have the surgery for this "tool", then so be it. I agreed. This past month I've lost 15lbs and applied for Pompeii's Volunteer Program as I was stalking their Facebook Page (afterall, that's what all of us likely do prior to committing to surgery, right?). To my surprise, I was starting this process the very next day for the Volunteer Program.

So, here I am now, writing to you, excited to be part of an amazing Volunteer Program that I hope will provide countless opportunities for those who need it! Who knows- maybe next year I'll get my surgery, or I'll be pregnant and hold off. Either way, I'm along for the ride with you all in this amazing adventure and I'm here with you every step of the way!