It’s often debated whether nature or nurture make us who we are. Most of the time, it’s a combination of both.
Samantha Wagner, Advantum Health’s chief administrative officer, is one of those people, with a complicated personal life that drove both her personal growth and her dedication to help others.
Here’s her story.
Early years
Beginning at age 4, Samantha was abused in her home by a close family member. “I remember flashes of some of the worst days…being outdoors and being pushed down repeatedly. When I cried, he used my overalls to hang me on a hook in a barn. I don’t know how long I was there alone and scared, but it felt like hours before he came back for me.
“The last night he ever hurt me, he hit and kicked me so hard and so many times that I had serious internal injuries. I remember the ambulance ride, bright lights and so many people before everything went dark.”
After a long recovery in the hospital and relearning some basic body functions, at the age of 5 Samantha moved in with her father and his family, who until that time had been complete strangers to her. Everyone has their personal demons, and this family was no different. The police were at their home often due to verbal altercations and violence.
After her father divorced when she was 13, Samantha found herself living with her ex-stepmother and a new family again. But just as before, the adults in her life needed more from her than what they could give. Right before her 16th birthday, she was told “We think you are good; you should go ahead and move out.”
Take that all in. Physical abuse at 4, shuffled from living one place to another, and then being a mid-teenager told you were on your own.
Samantha pressed on. She got her first job, filing charts in a physician’s office after school. “I was lucky that my Accounting teacher, who was also an advisor to the business club I was President of, suggested this internship. Quickly, I moved to the office’s billing department; that was interesting…a 16-year-old telling people who were my friends’ parents’ age that they owed us money, or that they couldn’t have another office visit until they made arrangements to pay..”
Living independently and with a strong sense of commitment, by that point Samantha had committed to doing virtually anything. In the doctor’s office, she would also work the front desk, answer the phones and often work late at night. She became skilled at rooming the patients, performing triage and giving injections. “If there was an hour to be worked, I was going to work it.”
Samantha kept going. To gain business experience she performed internships in the administrative department at hospitals, and took hours whenever she could at a nursing home. “I got my CNA certification at night so I could have some additional income.” Needless to say, Samantha’s career path — “and my life up to that point, for that matter — was definitely non-traditional.”
She recalls that “Living independently was hard. I lived in a drafty trailer with no insulation underneath. I had no idea how much things cost or how to pay bills. I remember that the first winter I came to realize the high cost of staying warm. My first electric bill was $700…more than I made in a month of working at the doctor’s office part-time! Thank heaven for laws that prevent the company from turning off the services during winter.
“I spent the rest of that winter making payments on that bill and eating cereal for dinner, while I turned the heat down to just warm enough to keep the pipes from bursting,” she continued. “I remember being so cold I couldn’t get dressed unless I was under the covers on my bed. I can’t tell you how long I would go without a shower, because I couldn’t imagine getting out when I could see my breath inside my room. That first winter felt like the longest three months of my entire life.”
‘The things you learn’
Samantha noted that “There are so many things you learn in life…sometimes the hard way. The car I was driving — which I’d bought from a family member — was never transferred into my name. Who knew that would cause me to find myself with that car being repossessed to pay the debt of that same family member? So what’s a 19-year-old girl to do…find a man to take care of her, right? Wrong! Yet another lesson learned the hard way.”
She decided to go to culinary school to get out of the house and avoid the man who was supposed to take care of her. While culinary school lasted only a semester, it gave her the confidence to get out of that last bad situation. She moved into her first apartment solo and started writing her own story.
Never one for tradition, Samantha’s first child was born in April 2009 and she was married in September to her lab partner from culinary school. Her goal was to go to college, move up at work, and be an active parent — which life circumstances finally enabled her to add to the mix of responsibilities she was juggling — by age 21. “But I knew the best option was online school while I worked.”
The path to success often occurs by taking one step at a time. “I started with an associate’s degree; I figured I could probably do that in two years. And I did.” Next was a bachelor’s degree. Two more years. And then a master’s degree in 2017. All online…and while giving birth to and raising three children! And then a fourth child shortly after she joined the Advantum Health team in 2020.
Organization, standards and structure are key
Not surprisingly, Samantha cites not herself so much but her commitment to organization and structure …and perhaps a deep desire to control things. “There’s no chance I could have gotten to this place in my career and my life without organization, standards and structure. I’ve worked as President of the PTA, a Girl Scout Troop Leader, and elected member of School-based Decision Making Councils while attending classes, raising a family and building my career. Setting standards, holding accountability, building structure, and being organized are what make all of those things a success.”
The art of making things happen
Samantha tells her children that “You might have to work harder to accomplish what you want. You might have to work five times harder. But you have to achieve anyway! Each of us has to figure out a way to make things happen, regardless of the hand we were dealt.”
As with her children and the organizations she has belonged to, it’s obvious that Samantha is dedicated to translating her commitment to standards and hard work to teaching others. “There have been times in my life when people have asked me if I could do something. And I can. But whenever possible, I use it as a ‘teachable moment’ to empower others in how to do something. I think it’s a responsibility we all have…but especially anyone in a leadership role.”
Continued growth
It’s been yet another busy year for Samantha…with her Advantum Health career, her family responsibilities and in her continued education. In summer 2024, she was promoted from Vice President of the Project Management Office (PMO), Education and Training to the company’s Chief Administrative Officer. As CAO, she oversees Human Resources, Training & Education, Quality, PMO, and Implementation, among other things.
As CEO Tammy Taylor put it, “Samantha’s promotion to CAO is a reflection of her outstanding achievements and the respect she’s earned from her colleagues and peers. Her promotion is a testament to her leadership, dedication and contributions to the organization. Samantha’s focus on employee development, operational efficiency and client satisfaction perfectly align with our organizational values and long-term objectives. Her strategic vision and operational acumen have already proven to be instrumental in driving Advantum Health’s growth and helping ensure we continue to deliver exceptional value to our clients.”
Tammy concluded, “By sharing a bit of her extraordinary life challenges here, I think readers will gain a greater understanding of where her commitment to excellence came from, and why we are so proud to call her an invaluable member of the Advantum team.”
Ever upwards
In what could only laughingly be called her “spare” time, as Samantha takes the helm of her expanded duties as CAO she has also been working to achieve her PhD. “I’m taking the PhD slowly with these new responsibilities, but I’m committed to accomplishing it. And I will.”
We have no doubt.
