Meet Samantha Vance

We recently connected with Samantha Vance and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I am still figuring out my purpose everyday. I don’t think it is to work, or to end up in a certain city. I don’t think my purpose is to travel or go to school. I think these are all things that are apart of my journey, but not necessarily my purpose. Maybe my purpose is to find someone and help them feel a little bit less alone. Maybe it is to help just one person understand that everything on this world’s stage contains so much more than just what the audience sees.
Or maybe I’m misinterpreting purpose.
I am a seventeen year old founder, author, podcast host, stage manager, and more. I am a girl from Indiana who is passionate about theatre and helping others. Maybe my purpose is to keep living my life and learning. Maybe that is everyones purpose and the question isn’t so hard after all. We are all living and learning, we are all just human.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

At a summer camp (the summer going into my third grade year) I saw a video of three boys putting a buddy bench into their school playground.
I learned that a buddy bench is a place for someone to go when feeling lonely or in need of a friend. It is a signal for others to come up to the person sitting on the bench.
I was only eight years old, but the idea of a buddy bench resonated very deeply within me. It’s not a great feeling to feel alone and shy and afraid to go up to someone at recess and ask them to play. I had felt that many times before and I was sure that about every person on this plant has felt that way at some point in their life as well.
I got home from camp and immediately asked my mom if we could get a buddy bench for my school. With research, we found a company that took plastic materials and turned them into benches. (This way, as I like to call it a ‘three-in-one’, we could help create friendships, help our environment, and help bring the community closer together while collecting the plastic!) I made an appointment with my principal before the school year started, and Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project took off from there.
The goal was to get one buddy bench for my school in one year (at the time, it took 400 lbs of plastic caps to get one bench) but with the help of my community, we ended up getting three buddy benches in two months, plus extra caps to get another school started.
This project that started with one cap suddenly turned into something much much bigger. At twelve, I published a book. During covid, I started a project to help spread smiles to anyone and everyone who needed one. I became a podcast host and started other projects as well! I have spoken to many schools and groups. I have met the coolest people doing the most amazing things.

I like to think of Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project as the trunk of a tree. Over the past eight years, many projects have stemmed from Sammie’s Buddy Bench Project, but at the roots of the trunk and all of these projects and branches is kindness. My main goal and mission is always to spread kindness.

Throughout the past eight years, over 650 of Sammie’s Buddy Benches have been spread across the world. I am 17 years old now and am grateful for all the connections I have made and the message that I am trying to get out there, spreading across the world. Anyone can make a difference. Everyone deserves a friend. Always be kind.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three things that I have learned through this journey (and in tern have impacted it very much) are how to speak up, how to ask for help, and how to be a friend to everyone.

My advice to anyone who wants to make a positive impact in this world is that one small thing can make a huge difference. You never truly know how far one simple act of kindness can go. Just opening the door, or smiling at someone can cause a huge chain reaction.
My project started with one plastic cap. One idea. Even if it never grew to be something global… even if it has only helped ONE person know they are not alone…that is enough for me.

You don’t have to be an adult to make a difference, you can be a kid too!!

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

I have experienced burnout many times before. Most of the time, this comes from me feeling overwhelmed, and it results in me being completely unmotivated.
As a current highschool junior, founder of a project that constantly has something new coming up, and stage manager for local theatre productions, I often find myself building a mountain that I will eventually go crashing down.
I am still always trying to find better ways to balance the things that I do, because in the end, I wouldn’t trade any of them in for anything. I love stage managing and volunteering and helping others. I love being a teenager and hanging out with my friends.
I don’t think there is a perfect formula for a perfectly balanced life, and everyones equation will be different.
But when I find myself starting to feel overwhelmed and burnout, I think about the outcome of what I am doing. I think about the past, present, and future.
“You’ve overcome this before. Don’t give up now.” “Remember that letter you got from a kid saying the buddy benches helped her find her best friend?” “This production could change someones life for the better.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sammiesbuddybenchproject.com/
• Instagram: @sammiesbuddybenchproject
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SammieSmilesPodcast