Island Insider: Malia Sampson

by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino

Sanibel’s future is in good hands with young people like Malia Sampson on the island.

Sampson, 33, was the owner of Spoondrift restaurant in Bailey’s Center until Hurricane Ian wiped it away. She owned it with her parents, along with Malia’s restaurant in Beachview, which closed during Covid.

The family moved to Sanibel from Michigan eight years ago after having visited for vacations since the 1970s.

Sampson is active in the community, going to almost all events. “I try to,” she said. “I personally just like to get to know as many people as I can. I think that’s important to make connections. I also feel like I may be a little different than most younger people because I like to form connections with people of all ages. I try to be consistent with myself. I think that maybe sets me apart a little bit. I just like it.”

Her commitment to Sanibel grew. From the first weeks she lived on the island, she would go to the potlucks at the Community House and that’s how she met a lot of people. She particularly remembers going to a 4th of July barbecue when Billy’s Bikes had the miniature golf set up. “We met so many people,” she remembered. “I said, wow, it never felt like this in my hometown growing up. You knew a lot of people, but we never did anything together like that. And I felt Sanibel had so much togetherness, and that’s one thing I love about Sanibel.”

Another thing she loves, like so many people on Sanibel, is “just driving over the causeway and going ‘ahh, it’s so good to be here.’ It just makes you feel small in a way, like the world is so big and I’m just so grateful to be here. I can’t picture myself living anywhere else.”

Spoondrift restaurant was doing very well, getting better and better every year, Sampson said. The family had owned first an Italian and then a Mediterranean restaurant in Michigan, and then Malia’s at Beachview on Sanibel. “My parents came to Sanibel thinking they’d retire and sold the company in Michigan, but neither of my parents could give up working,” Sampson said. The idea for Spoondrift began at the Farmer’s Market. “Dad and I always noticed the guacamole stand did so well and always had the longest line, because it was a show. And that’s what we did, started at the Farmer’s Market and then found a place in Bailey’s Center and went there.”

Sampson always hired teens getting ready for college. The whole staff was younger, ages 16 to 20, and “they were really great,” she said. They would come back over the holidays and spring break. The staff was like family, something that Sampson’s parents always promoted.

Sampson was devastated to lose Spoondrift. “My work and my job is my life and my identity,” she said. “I kind of lost my identity after the storm.”

That’s why Sampson decided to do something for the business community she loves. “I feel like I didn’t do as much as I hoped to or wanted to. I just felt so helpless after the storm. I wanted to get all the business owners together and just talk,” she explained. “We didn’t need to solve anything at that time, we didn’t need to bash anyone, it was just a group therapy session to talk together. I had so many ideas and wanted to do so much, and there was so much red tape and we couldn’t do things.”

About 75 people attended the session, which was covered by the news. “It was really nice. I was shocked. I thought if 10 people come, I’ll be happy!”

The effort hasn’t grown into regular meetings yet, although Sampson hoped it would. She obtained everyone’s email addresses and started a Facebook group. “I don’t want to step on the Chamber’s toes,” she said. “It just would be nice to have businesses meet with businesses. Our island is so small, and what’s really hard – I support the Chamber, love what they do, but it’s hard for people like me. I have to work during the Chamber luncheons. I don’t know how we could meet later or just connect on social media.”

Sampson is working at Pack’n’Ship right now. She’s working 9 to 5 but expects her hours may be cut in the summer. Still, she considers her job to have more flexibility than working at Spoondrift, which was seven days a week between her and her father Jeff. “You have to make sure an owner is there every day,” she explained. She thought she’d work at Pack’n’Ship for maybe two months but she’s in her second year now. “I like it because it’s something I never knew how to do,” she explained. “I see all my customers, which is nice, as well as meeting new people.”

After the hurricane, Pack’n’Ship opened a pop-up store in the Sotheby’s building, which was great for the community. It also served as a FEMA center. When it moved back into its original location in November, the business was expanded to include a gift store. The owner wanted to take advantage of Sampson’s creativity and love of design. “Now we’re double the size and I do the gift shop, buying and merchandising. It’s been really successful and is an outlet for my creativity,” Sampson said.

“I’m so appreciative of my job, especially right now. I love working there, but there’s nothing like having your own business. I feel like I thrive on pressure. I’ll get back to it. I have to do something. I don’t know what it will be, but I have to do something on the island again. I’m not leaving, and I’ll just have to figure it out.”

Sampson is optimistic about Sanibel’s future. “I am sad like everyone else that the cute little quaint Old Florida cottages and everything are not going to be the same, but I hope that it doesn’t turn into an uber-touristy Miami-Ft. Lauderdale type of thing,” she said. “I don’t think it will. I think the young people will keep the values that have always been on the island as we get older. I hope that it remains the same beautiful, very nature-forward place. It’s so hard, I’m shocked at how far we’ve come already.”

Still, seeing everything on the beachfront, she said she’s shocked at how slow some of it is coming and hopes the 4th of July will give the island a boost. She’s excited and looking forward to the parade. She’ll be taking part in the Road Rally, dressing up as the Founding Fathers with six of her friends.

Sampson said her next venture will probably be in the food industry. “I feel like I have a ton of ideas,” she said. “I just have to push myself and do it.”

Sampson is engaged to be married in May 2025. She lives in the Dunes with her parents and her beloved long-haired dachshund Nola. She loves shelling, shopping, doing events, and being with her friends, who are very important to her. While hobbies have taken a back seat lately due to her responsibilities – her parents have been in Texas since November where her mother is undergoing successful treatment for lymphoma – she said she’s always willing to try something new, at least once.”

Sampson’s mother Kathy is on the FISH board and does marketing for both FISH and Community Housing & Resources. “I like to help her,” Sampson said.

Like mother, like daughter.