Sam is a language lover through and through. Since joining Aker Ink as Copywriter, she’s now moved into a senior role, helping clients across industries find the right message, tone and timing for their audiences.

But wordsmithing is just one piece of the puzzle. Outside of work, she is a longtime gamer, pug parent, proud Spanglish speaker and much more.

Here are five things you didn’t know about Sam.

1. Logging In for the Lore

Sam’s love of storytelling started with a controller in hand. As a kid, she’d watch her dad play Halo and Ratchet & Clank, drawn in by the way action and narrative unfolded side by side. And that fascination with game lore stuck.

These days, she games on a custom-built PC she assembled herself, using it to explore digital worlds and stay connected with friends across state lines. She also takes the lead on coordinating their annual meetups. Most recently, she wrangled the crew for a trip to Canada.

2. A Pug Named for the Stars

Orion (or Ori) is Sam’s four-legged shadow. Named after the only constellation she can confidently point to, Ori’s been her sidekick since college graduation. Loyal to a fault and proudly introverted, he thrives on french fries and quiet time with Sam and her husband Mikey.

Houseguests may get a polite hello, but Ori’s ideal night involves everyone heading out so he can reclaim the bedroom and nap in uninterrupted silence. And honestly, that’s pretty close to Sam’s dream night too.

3. Speaking with a Forked Tongue

Raised on both sides of the Arizona–Sonora border, Sam speaks what many would call a bastard tongue. Spanglish has shaped how she communicates with the world for as long as she can remember. To her, it’s a cultural fingerprint, a “kind of” love letter to colloquial expression.

That relationship with her hybrid way of speaking even inspired a personal essay that helped her land a college scholarship. She likes to think it’s a big part of why she can shift so easily between voices, whether for personal or professional projects.

4. Loving Animals Isn’t Just a Phase, Mom!

Sam was the kind of kid who’d catch lizards at recess and come home with a roly-poly or two. Building ant farms out of old Tupperware and campaigning hard for any pet her parents might even slightly entertain were all regular pastimes.

Over the years, she’s cared for fish, turtles, lizards, hedgehogs, cats and always a few dogs in the mix. Today, the animal obsession shows up in slightly more adult form: making her annual pilgrimage to the Phoenix Reptile Expo to admire the creatures.

5. Certified Coffee Connoisseur

Since the days of tippytoeing to see what all the commotion was around her grandma’s dinner table — adults congregating, talking and sipping cafecito — Sam has been enthralled with coffee.

In true Mexican form, her parents let her try it at an undisclosed (and probably questionable) age. She blames them now for the coffee station that’s taken over a corner of her kitchen.

When she’s not dialing in her espresso at home, she spends most of her free time visiting local coffee shops, as well as her most-loved staples around the Valley.