Tanya Sam

Background

Tanya Sam is one of the most recognizable faces to have appeared on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” even though she was only “a friend” on the show and not a full-time member. Viewers loved Sam for her beauty and her positive and energetic personality. Sam was born on December 13, 1978, in Toronto, Canada. Her father is a Ghanaian migrant, and her mother is from England. Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and she is bi-national, partly African and partly English. She lost her mother when she was only 12 years old.

Sam grew up in Toronto with her two sisters, Tamara Sam and Lanalee Araba Sam. She holds two medical degrees from Canadian universities. She received a Bachelor of Science in Genetics and Cell Biology from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and later, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto. After completing her studies, Sam worked as a nurse for over 10 years in various top hospitals’ hematology and oncology units. She worked at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto from 2002 to 2006. Afterward, she worked at NewYork-Presbyterian from 2007 to 2012. Her final stint was at Northside Hospital in Atlanta between 2012 and 2015.

Sam founded the Limitless Smart Shot company while working at Northside Hospital. The company provided supplements to boost brain performance — most of its customers were elderly people looking for $5 brain enhancers. In 2015, Sam left her job at Northside Hospital and shut down her company to join TechSquare Labs, where she helps founders and tech entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. She joined Season 11 of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” in 2018, and left in November 2020 because she was upset about the excessive focus on ‘Strippergate.’