Samantha at sunset on the beach in a pink dress
Hi, I'm Sam
Founder · Designer
The Story

This isn't the life
I had planned.
but I wouldn't trade it.

I'm Samantha. Army National Guard veteran, brand strategist, designer, mom of four, full-time motorhome resident. I build brands for business owners who've already built the business. They just need the brand to match.

Service
Army National Guard ·
Woman-Owned
Featured In
Women Leaders of
Rock County 2025
Author · Forthcoming
Building Brands,
Making Waves
Built On
10+ years building
brands & community
01

Where it actually started.

Before Traveling Wave Design Co., I served in the U.S. Army National Guard, then spent eight years building a direct sales business from the ground up. I started knowing nothing, just a stubborn willingness to learn everything I could, one lesson at a time.

That business grew to a quarter of a million dollars in personal sales, with a team of 200+ women under me. Ranked number nine in the company. Four years on the company's Social Media Advisory Council, helping shape content strategy for the field.

I was told again and again that's not how you build a business, but I built it anyway, leaning into social media when everyone told me not to, because with a growing family I needed something that fit my life instead of the other way around.

Building that business taught me how much a recognizable brand actually matters. I used branding to grow it and to set myself apart, and eventually I realized I wanted to teach others to do the same, under my own name and on my own terms.

Under my own name. On my own terms.
Samantha smiling warmly in a soft studio setting Samantha laughing in a teal jumpsuit
02

Then my world shifted.

For years, I built beautifully for everyone but me. I had the gift and the drive. I just kept pouring both into someone else's name.

Then my world shifted. I lost my baby brother, Colton, to suicide. And it shattered me.

He and I shared a love for creativity. Photography. Design. Capturing beauty in the everyday. His absence became a reminder I couldn't ignore: if not now, when?

Grief did not make me brave. It made me honest. I started treating creativity as a calling, not a side thing.

In my grief, I realized it was time to truly do my own thing. So I founded Traveling Wave Design Co., to honor my brother by not wasting this precious life, and to cope with his loss by creating.

That's why every brand I build carries more than aesthetics. There's strategy and systems underneath to make it run. For me, the mindset behind the work is creating something for my clients that will truly work for them. I want them to win as badly as I want my own business to win. Every client is personal. Not just a transaction.

Colton's story is woven into mine, and in some quiet way into every brand I build. He's the reason I stopped waiting. We only have one life. Why are we not running toward our calling? Why are we not stepping onto the other side of fear?

If you're struggling

You are not alone. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7. Call or text 988 in the US, or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Our motorhome at night with dramatic clouds overhead
03

Why my work actually works.

I have a BS in psychology, a Creative Strategist certification through Motion, four years on a Social Media Advisory Council, and eight years of direct sales experience leading a team of over 200 women. That mix is what quietly shapes every brand I build.

Color psychology. Typography psychology. The science of why a certain shade of teal feels trustworthy and a certain serif feels expensive. Branding is the study of how people feel before they think. If you don't design for that feeling, you're decorating. Not branding.

Combine that with a track record of helping clients look more established and convert better once their brand finally matches the business they run.

What you get is a strategist who happens to be exceptionally good at making things beautiful.

Our family and dog in front of the motorhome Sunset over the highway from the road Standing on a sandy boardwalk by the water
Our motorhome at a mountain overlook with the valley below Palm trees and white sand at a beachfront campground Our family at a driftwood shelter on a lake beach
04

The unfair advantage.

While I was starting to build this business under my own name, my husband and I had already been building a different kind of life.

In under 100 days, we sold our 2,400 sq ft house, finished a basement remodel, and downsized our entire lives into a 32-foot fifth wheel. I was pregnant with baby #3. Homeschooling our older two. Carrying the emotional weight of the biggest transition we'd ever made.

We did it because we wanted to travel together. My husband's work takes him all over, and he often doesn't know where he'll be until the week before. So we needed flexibility, but we also needed stability. So we built a life that holds both.

Eventually we bought land as a home base, a place to return, reset, and park between adventures, and one day build our dream home.

We are in love with this life. From exploring the mountains, swimming in the lakes, and being by the ocean, my happy place, to traveling the roads less traveled and enjoying sunsets at our favorite destinations. Our kids getting experiences most kids will never have in their lifetime is the greatest reward.

I don't fake the travel aesthetic. I'm in it.

That shows up in the way I work. The way I shoot. The way I write. Every brand I build carries some of that air with it. Our travels have shaped and inspired my creative process.

Samantha and her husband by their Jeep Our motorhome at sunset Our motorhome and Wagoneer at the campground
05

Pink, kept on purpose.

You may have noticed the pops of pink in my branding. Some people read pink as unprofessional. In reality, it's the acceptance of femininity, and femininity is innately creative. Hiding it would have meant building a brand that wasn't honest about who's behind it.

I don't put pink in every brand I build. Most of them never get it. My own brand kept the pink because it symbolizes my creative process, grown over the years, and my three beautiful girls who help inspire it.

That's the difference between a logo and a brand. A logo is what you put on your business card and call it a day. A full brand, the colors, the typography, all of it, is what makes someone feel something. It creates a brand identity. It's what makes them choose you over and over again.

Building Brands, Making Waves, a book by Samantha Alsmo
The Book · Coming Soon

Building Brands,
Making Waves.

An honest guide for the business owner who wants to build a brand that creates impact, not just impressions. Everything I've learned in a decade of building businesses, leading teams, and helping others do the same. Distilled into one book.

Drop your email below to be the first to know when it launches. No spam. Just a heads up when the book is ready and a few of my favorite resources along the way.

Beyond Client Work

The work that's closest to my heart.

A brand is also what you make room for. Here's what I make room for alongside the client work.

Photography for the dancers.

Some of my favorite work happens close to home. I love being part of the community my daughters are so in love with, and at recital time I shoot portraits for the dancers. Every dancer deserves portraits that capture who she is at this stage of her training.

The Wave Makers Collective.

A community I'm building for business owners ready to brand boldly, post consistently, and grow together. Not a course. A circle. Coming this year. Drop your email above to be first to know.

Family, newborn & lifestyle photography.

I photograph families and newborns when the schedule allows. I started with weddings, then shooting my own kids as newborns, and grew from there as my client list did. It's still where I find quiet. Golden hour, real moments, made to look like you.

Speaking & writing.

I speak and write about brand psychology, content strategy, and building a business that fits inside a real life. I spoke at Startup Spark in 2025 on defining your brand, and designed the event branding and workbook while I was at it. Featured in Women Leaders of Rock County 2025, with a few more conversations on the horizon I'm not yet allowed to talk about.

Samantha speaking to a room about branding
Samantha on stage with a microphone during a talk
A final thought

Build something that
travels further
than you do.

That's the whole point of a real brand. Not noise. Not numbers. Something that carries your story to people you'll never meet, in rooms you'll never walk into. That's what I'm building here.
Samantha Founder · Wave Maker
Let's build yours