Meet Samantha Blank: Marriage and Family Therapist & Social Skills Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Samantha Blank and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samantha, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had been working in the schools as a Marriage and Family Therapist, after doing an extensive internship working with survivors of sexual trauma, and realized that what so many children and teens were missing was true social skill development, or what is now often termed as social emotional learning. I was very fortunate to have made some wonderful friendships during graduate school and one of my friends having a similar experience, although working in a different district and with a different population. After months having many conversations, and many glasses of wine, we decided that focusing on the social skill development of children, teens and families would be our journey. We opened Social Coaching Club in 2009 and over the years have expanded our services to include therapeutic services, parenting coaching and a variety of trainings.

What should our readers know about your business?
Being a business owner is hard. There is no other way to put it. You have to be willing to take all the risk, put in everything you got, and then when you think you got nothing left, you put in even more. I think this is even more challenging in the context of coaching and therapy when the business is about being completely there for others, sometimes even at 3am when a client feels they have nothing left. I am incredibly proud of our business. When we (Kathy Zotnowski, my business partner) started Social Coaching Club we were both mothers of young children and we made the commitment to own a company that would truly allow for a work/life balance. We wanted to ensure that as we promoted the growth and development of our clients that our own kids would not get neglected! I am very proud that in the past 11 years as our company has grown that we have stuck to our core values and not only seen hundreds of children and teens flourish and thrive, but have had the opportunity to be there for our children, attend every science fair, school play and to kiss (most) of the boo-boos. Over the years Social Coaching Club has grown and expanded. We started as a small Coaching Center for Social Skill Development, working with children, teens, and families to increase social-emotional learning. Today, beyond social skills coaching, we offer therapeutic services, parent and co-parenting coaching as well as training to schools, businesses, and within the community. We are “Recivilizing Civilization on Family at a Time.”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Los Angeles is a mecca for fun. There are so many wonderful places in this city it is always hard to narrow it down! Obviously we are talking pre-COVID, otherwise, she would be spending time in my living room, eating my cooking and watching Netflix. In a time long ago when going out was still an possiblity….. Friday night: Dinner at Teru Sushi and dessert at Salt and Straw, window shopping up and down Ventura Blvd Saturday: Universal Studios (my friend being a huge Harry Potter fan) with dinner at one of the places on Universal City Walk Sunday: Brunch at CiCi’s Cafe, then a trip to the Huntington Gardens and Museum with high tea in the Rose Garden Tea House.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
So many!!! My husband who has been my ultimate support system in every way. My incredible business partner who has been with me every step of this journey. My parents who have given me the most wonderful foundation and taught me the importance and value of trusting yourself and willing to take risks to reach your goals.

Website: www.socialcoachingclub.com
Instagram: socialcoachingclub
Twitter: Social Coaching Club @Clubhouse5353
Facebook: Social Coaching Club
Yelp: Social Coaching Club

Image Credits
Paid images from Big Stock