Samantha (Sam) Pantazopoulos is a maverick social entrepreneur, brand strategist and connector of people and ideas. As the co-founder and CEO of Vizer, a social wellness platform on a mission toward Democratizing Wellness®, she is responsible for leading the company’s growth and direction, scientific research, marketing efforts and community relationships.
Pantazopoulos was inspired to create Vizer while studying abroad and struggling with unhealthy habits. She took a last-minute opportunity to join the program’s Social Innovation Challenge, where she learned about how to use business as a resource to sustain social good. The potential impact of social innovation blew her away, and she set out to create a platform that would make healthy living more accessible for all members of the community, regardless of circumstance.
Since launching Vizer nationwide in 2019 with her cousin and close friend, Dylan Barbour, the platform has converted more than 2.5 million workouts into meal donations distributed through U.S. food banks.
Pantazopoulos graduated summa cum laude from the University of San Diego in 2017, where she majored in business administration. She is the recipient of multiple social entrepreneurship awards and was named the Rising Star Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2019 Women’s Venture Summit.
When Pantazopoulos isn’t busy creating social change through tech and community resources, she can be found spending time with friends and family, mentoring the next generation of female entrepreneurs and soaking up the local health and wellness scene in San Diego.
Today on Christina The Channel:
7:47 – Get to know Sam
18:50 – Sam’s vision for Vizer vs. the reality of how it’s like to build the company
21:45 – How Vizer started
33:30 – Evolution of boundaries
35:40 – Choosing freedom over being trapped
47:20 – Impact of spirituality on Sam as an Entrepreneur and CEO
49:40 – Biggest lessons that Sam learned that supported her journey as an Entrepreneur
59:10 – The changes and shifts that happened as Vizer grew over the years
1:01:50 – Managing high-pressure situations
1:11:00 – Professional and personal leadership
1:14:20 – Different layers of wellness and what it really means
1:18:30 – What to expect after downloading Vizer
1:21:35 – Advice to anyone who wants to venture into app creation
