Meet the Ambassador: Tia Samuels

Associate Director, Business Development

Workthere by Savills

From sports rehabilitation to flexible workspace advisory, Tia’s career journey is proof that leadership rarely follows a straight line.

Now leading business development for the flex advisory team at Savills, Tia brings a unique combination of commercial insight, resilience, and emotional intelligence to the industry. Her path into flex was unexpected, but every step along the way helped shape the perspective she brings to the sector today.

“I began in sport, working across sports rehabilitation and physiotherapy, which gave me an early grounding in performance, resilience, and the human side of recovery. What I did not realise then was how transferable those foundations would be.”

Her transition into the workplace sector came through The Instant Group, where she started as a sales consultant supporting flexible workspace operators before progressing into a senior business development role across the UK market.

Later, at NORNORM, a circular furniture company focused on workplace design and sustainability, Tia worked closely with flex operators, landlords, and occupiers to build the UK sales and partnership pipeline.

“That chapter deepened my understanding of how people actually experience the spaces they work in, not just where they are, but how they feel inside them.”

Today, her work at Savills combines all of those experiences into a role that sits at the centre of workplace strategy, people, and the future of work.

Learning to lead with confidence

One of the biggest lessons Tia has learned throughout her career is that leadership is not about having all the answers.

“That intellectual humility is not a weakness, it is a competitive advantage.”

For Tia, the most effective people in any room are those who remain curious, ask thoughtful questions, and stay open to learning.

“The willingness to learn, consistently and without ego, is what compounds over time.”

She also speaks candidly about one of the biggest challenges many women face in professional environments: balancing warmth and authority.

“Women in professional environments are often implicitly asked to choose between the two, as if credibility and approachability cannot coexist.”

Over time, she learned to reject that binary.

“It requires developing real clarity in how you communicate, ending the habit of over-explaining as a way of softening your position, and operating from a place of genuine conviction in your own perspective.”

Owning your voice

For Tia, owning your voice is not about being the loudest person in the room.

“It looks like resisting the urge to qualify every opinion before you give it.”

She believes confidence often comes from clarity and consistency rather than volume.

“Concision is not coldness, it is confidence.”

Her perspective on impostor syndrome reflects a similar mindset. While she says she has not experienced impostor syndrome in the traditional sense, she recognises the quieter pressure many women feel to minimise themselves.

“The pull to make yourself smaller, to moderate your ideas so they land more easily, to conform to what others have already decided you should be.”

Instead, she believes the key is leaning into individuality.

“If you are genuinely innovative, if you bring a perspective that does not fit neatly into existing frameworks, the worst thing you can do is flatten it to fit the room.”

Why representation matters

Tia is refreshingly honest about moments where she questioned whether the industry was truly for her.

“What stands out most is attending industry events, dressed and prepared for the room, and having people assume I was there in a service capacity rather than as a peer or professional.”

Rather than stepping away, those experiences strengthened her belief in the importance of visibility and representation.

“If I leave, I close a door. If I stay, I hold it open for the next person.”

She believes this is especially important in an industry that positions itself as progressive and people-focused.

“The flex industry positions itself as the future of work. That promise has to be reflected internally, not just in the product.”

For Tia, representation in leadership is about more than optics.

“It is a signal about whose judgment is trusted at the highest level.”

The value of Women in Flex

As a Women in Flex ambassador, Tia sees the initiative as an important platform for visibility, connection, and opportunity.

“Women in Flex creates something that is harder to manufacture than people assume: a genuine environment for peer development, honest conversation, and strategic connection.”

She believes real industry change happens when talented people are seen, supported, and given access to the right spaces.

“An ambassador, to me, is someone who creates proximity. Who puts people in the right rooms, amplifies the right voices, and ensures that talent is not left undiscovered simply because the right door never opened. That is what I want this role to stand for.”

Beyond the workplace

Outside of work, many people may be surprised to learn that Tia trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Karate.

“The discipline that comes with that practice has shaped how I approach almost everything else.”

She says the experience of constantly learning, being challenged, and remaining a beginner has transformed how she thinks about pressure, leadership, and growth.

“The parallels to sales and leadership are endless.”