Sam Blinde

Sam Blinde

Engineering Manager

Sam Blinde is an engineering manager who joined Nearform in April of 2022. Before Nearform, Sam worked at Wilmington University, Realtime Media, and most recently, Accolade Inc. Her biggest career accomplishments include traveling to Washington, DC, where she trained a WordPress client, and at her last role, delivered a significant internal application within healthcare to production and supporting it as a release manager and on-call engineer. At Nearform, Sam uses her specialties in accessibility, user experience, and her educational background in design and production to lead a team of engineers and contribute to the repo using React and JavaScript. Sam is passionate about mentoring junior and student engineers, particularly those from under-represented communities, and advocates for people with disabilities and diversity and inclusion in the technical space. Outside of work, Sam is a mom of a three-year-old, enjoys painting, and is also a gamer. She particularly enjoys horror games and has led a larger guild in the game, World of Warcraft, since 2016. If you picked up on some spooky vibes, it's probably because Sam was born on Halloween. 👻

Managing Remote Teams

December 3, 2024
In the past five years, we’ve seen a significant shift in how companies approach work, with many moving towards remote-first environments. While some champion this model, others question whether it harms workplace engagement, raising concerns about maintaining strong connections and collaboration. Personally, I believe remote-first work can be just as enriching and fulfilling as any other structure no matter the distance—when it’s approached with intention and care.