Meet Samantha Iwamoto

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

Hi Samantha, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
Deciding to join forces with my mother was the most important, but obvious decision that led to our success. I am a speech-language pathologist, and my mother is a former preschool teacher/special education teacher with over 30 years of experience. Together, our whole is so much greater than the sum of our parts. Having my mother as a business partner is an honor I don’t take for granted.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I was a stay at home mom with an itch to use my professional skills once again, and my mother missed her days spent in the classroom where she was surrounded by children. We were just about to launch a circle time program in my parents’ backyard when the pandemic hit. We were forced to create a new paradigm. We took our penchant for teaching young children and brought it safely into the homes of families with little ones… on Zoom. Through music, story time, dramatic play, and direct instruction, the program focuses on basic preschool readiness concepts, expressive and receptive language skills, and social and emotional development! We test out all our ideas on my daughter… and she approves! The class is perfect for toddlers and their parents, grandparents, and nannies! We also launched our YouTube channel to reach even more children from a safe distance (behind the computer screen).

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Pick favorites in LA?! That is nearly impossible!! The beauty of living in such a vibrant city is the ability to always have a new spot to check out. With that said, I do have my favorite “regular” haunts. As far as restaurants, I love Rockenwagen for breakfast, Joan’s on Third for delicious salads, and Ekkami Thai for the best take-out. I couldn’t let a friend visit LA without having dinner at Café Brasil in Culver City. I have a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Poppy, so my current hobby is finding the best playgrounds and parks in town. So far, we have been quite successful in our search. Glen Alla park in Marina Del Rey, Culver West Alexander Park, and Clover Park in Ocean Park to watch the airplanes are in our current rotation. My husband has a special talent for finding the most unique activities around town- we love busting out of escape rooms in the nick of time and taking our daughter to Covid-safe events and attractions (e.g., Hauntoween and other seasonal festivities, botanic gardens, local farms, etc.).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Well that is easy… I owe it all to my mother, Vicki Sussman, who we affectionately call “Lovey”. She is in her late 60’s but has more energy than most of my friends. When Lovey retired as a teacher, we knew it wasn’t the end of the road for her. She has a true gift for working with children and she had to continue to share her gift with others. I must admit, teaching her how to use Zoom has been no easy feat, but she is catching on! I also have to thank my husband and father for watching my one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Poppy while we teach our classes and my sister, Zoe, for being our biggest fan!  

Website: www.circleoffriends.me
Instagram: @ourcircleoffriends
Facebook: facebook.com/circleoffriends.me
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCciXErvfDA5omiikeFPxGoA/videos?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Photo credit: Ryan Iwamoto