Why would I live in a country that hates me?” asks Davia Antonia Samms, founder of Lifeaholic Costa Rica. Davia, a “Melanated person,” as she calls herself, said the PTSD of daily micro (and macro) aggressions from living as a person of color in the US was overbearing.
So she changed the playing field, founding her company, Lifeaholic Costa Rica, a relocation consultancy that is building a community of like-minded people, wounded souls from around the world, in Costa Rica. That community now numbers over 100 professionals, families, artists, and children who are finding space to breathe and live the authentic life they never thought was possible elsewhere.
Dr. Karla Steingraber explored Davia’s story, as well as that of Davia’s husband, attorney Gregory Samms, through the lens of both a psychologist and a mental game coach. The central question was looking at how people stay focused, find the zone and succeed when faced with great and often unfair obstacles. Together they looked at the parallel to professional sports in the US, a microcosm of the challenges facing Black and Brown people, with many athletes being people of color, performing in a system with majority White team franchise owners.
From school to work to seemingly simple everyday interactions, Davia and Gregory shared their lived experience of facing racism in the US. And they painted a picture of what it feels like to live and thrive without that.
Watch the Full Interview Now.
About “What’s Your Everest?”
“What’s Your Everest” features interviews with professional and amateur athletes and those that support them (families, media, coaches and more), as well as high-achieving individuals, about the mental game and mental health side of competitive sports and competition. What drives them? What interests them in broadening horizons and conquering another frontier? And how do they do it when the challenges of life get in the way?
For these accomplished athletes and sports leaders, we also ask “What’s Your Everest?”–that goal or metaphorical mountain on the horizon still to climb.
Watch and ask questions during this livestream interview, Tuesday November 9 at 10 am CST, on Everest Strong Coaching on YouTube or Everest Strong Coaching on Facebook.