In a small town just outside Rockhampton, Samantha Howard has quietly led a transformation; not just in her school, but in herself. With over 30 years of experience in education, Samantha has spent decades nurturing students, supporting staff, and navigating the ever-evolving demands of leadership. But it wasn’t until she began studying Thinking Into Results (TIR) and later The GPS for New Success that she discovered the missing piece: herself.
Samantha didn’t come to this work looking to improve her leadership, she came searching for clarity. After years of prioritising others as a wife, mother, principal, and daughter, she realised she no longer knew what she truly wanted.
Her mindset journey began with one powerful question from Karen:
“What do you want?”
At first, the answer was elusive. But through TIR and GPS, Samantha began to untangle decades of programming, grief, and unprocessed patterns that had quietly shaped her identity: both at home and at school. She explored the terror barrier, faced deep truths about her family and upbringing, and began to reclaim her own self-image with clarity and compassion.
And as Samantha changed, so did everything around her.
She began to see her role as a leader differently, realising she was selling every day: selling a vision, a culture, a standard. She brought gratitude into her executive meetings, transformed team culture, and shifted her school’s focus from managing problems to celebrating progress. Today, every team meeting begins with three things her staff are grateful for and it’s changing everything.
Samantha now leads from a deeper place of alignment. Her school’s new vision, “GROW,” fosters a growth mindset, respect, and wellbeing, not just for the students, but for the entire school community.
What started as a personal journey to find herself has evolved into a powerful ripple effect across her leadership team, her students, and her entire school. Samantha’s story is proof that the inner work isn’t separate from the outer results, it’s the cause of them.
Watch the full interview here:
If you’re a leader ready to go deeper, recalibrate your identity, and create legacy-level impact, The GPS for New Success and The ELEVATE Frequency Club are the spaces to start.
