Some people you meet radiate energy and inspiration. They have a smile that’s contagious. They walk in a room, and it instantly brightens. Samantha Lauver-Marion, AIHM’s Head of Student Engagement, is a shining example!
At AIHM, our hospitality students benefit from Samantha’s boundless positivity energy and genuine passion for helping them explore and follow their dreams.
Samantha Lauver-Marion, Educator and Head of Student Engagement at the Asian Institute of Hospitality Management
Samantha’s hospitality journey began in her home country of the United States, training at Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Philadelphia. After internships in the Maldives and Thailand, she embarked on a career in Thailand.
While working in customer loyalty and partnership marketing, she continued to explore her creativity and passion for inspiring others. Moving into hospitality education was a natural progression!
In addition to managing the student experience at AIHM, she’s played a key role in developing AIHM’s professional development courses through its Executive Education programme. Highlighting the importance of lifelong learning for hotel professionals as well as others in a variety of business industries, this suite of courses gives working professionals the tools to advance in their careers. As part of the Executive Education offering, she teaches the Public Speaking course as well the Supervisory Development course, helping new and aspiring managers to build the skills to excel in their new roles.
Get to know Samantha better in the Q&A below.
Q&A with Samantha Lauver Marion
Why do you teach?
I teach because it was during my university experience when I truly bloomed. Up until my time as a student at Temple University’s School of Tourism & Hospitality Management, I was a shy person. Our Dean, Mr Jeffery Montague, created a community which allowed students to utilise their unique strengths while gaining experience in the hospitality industry. I want to co-create a space with our students to bloom too so that they can become the person they have always dreamed of being with a life to match.
You have one afternoon free in Bangkok. What do you do?
I would go to Lumpini Park. I love being in nature. Taking a quiet walk around the beauty of this park allows me to reconnect with myself and remember what is truly important to me.
Credit: https://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/lumpini-park
Give us four adjectives you would use to describe yourself.
- Creative
- Collaborative
- Encouraging
- Entrepreneurial
What is your dream vacation?
Having worked with Minor Hotels for 13 years and being based in Thailand for the majority of that time, I’ve had a chance to travel around Southeast Asia and experience so many incredible places. Now, I would love to go to the Maldives again. I completed my second internship there and lived in the Baa Atoll for 1.5 years at Anantara Kihavah. I’d love to bring my husband and daughter there so that they can also discover the amazing diving sites I had a chance to see while I lived there. Maybe they’ll even have a chance to see a whale shark like I did, as they migrate through that part of the Maldives seasonally. Sharing that with them would be a dream come true.
Do you have any traditions or superstitions for the first day of school?
A new semester at AIHM begins with the Induction Weekend. I start the first day by welcoming our students with a simple game which allows them to get to know each other in a relaxed way. At the end of the game after all students have had the chance to share something about themselves and their aspirations, I remind them that they are more alike than they think and that they are a team who will support each other during the next three and half years. Everyone is unique but we are also very similar. Together we can create a community that is welcoming, kind, inspirational and a creative space to learn and grow
What inspires you?
Being able to be a part of a team and community that values collaborative, creative thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit are the things that inspire me most in my classroom, in my career and in my personal life. I am always building something new, and having a chance to use the full range of my creativity is something that inspires me everyday.
If you could pass on any wisdom to your students, what would you share?
Be brave and ask questions at AIHM, during your internships and in your career.
Wherever you find yourself, strive to work together collaboratively with your team by utilising your strengths and the strengths of those around you to meet your goals together.
Take the time to stop and ask how those around you are doing, listen to their answers and work together to create a better world for yourselves and your communities.
What are your biggest hobbies or interests outside the classroom?
Any student who has been in class with me knows my hidden talent, and I encourage all of them to develop their own hobbies. Having a hobby is as important as having a career because a hobby will spark your unique creativity, bringing joy and a positive effect in all areas of your life.
My hobby is painting. I call myself a self-taught artist because I have diligently cultivated this area in my life in a unique way compared to my other endeavours. I have purposefully never taken a painting class, and I don’t look up techniques or passed-down methods because for me the joy is in the exploration and self-discovery.
My favourite way to create is through mixed medium paintings. I have worked with watercolor, acrylics, oil pastels, ink and more, creating thousands of paintings over the last decade.
What could a visitor to your classroom expect to see?
Safe, collaborative, creative, open-minded discussions.
We learn through reflection and exploration. We learn together, sharing our ideas and insights, in a spirit of creativity by stepping outside of ourselves, thinking beyond what we know, evolving what we know with input from others.
What’s your favourite thing about AIHM?
I love that AIHM encourages students to have big dreams and to test them out, inviting students to change their minds as they learn more about who they are and what they like about themselves and their future careers.
What’s your favourite your Thai food?
I have been in Thailand for 13 years. The first place I lived was on the island of Koh Samui, where I was doing my first internship as a Front Office Management Trainee at the Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort. The colleagues I worked with during my internship made it their personal mission to introduce me to all of the different kinds of Thai salads, curries and rice dishes. My favorite Thai food right now is miang kam because of its unique combination of ingredients—peanuts, lime, chili, ginger, shallots, dried shrimp and a special sauce neatly wrapped in a leaf. If I go out with a group, I like to order som tum (papaya salad). My favourite is Som Tum Thai, kai kem, prik neung met.
What is a course you have never taught but would love to develop?
I am endlessly excited about everything so to say what course I would like to develop would make this blog article very long. Being able to work together with experts to develop our suite of Executive Education professional development courses has been so fulfilling. Everyone has a unique area of interest and wisdom to share and through this initiative I can empower experts to share their knowledge effectively with their audience and make a difference.
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