Press & Biography — Sam Rowlands
Stages, bio
Sam Rowlands is a multi-award-winning Creative Director, founder of Pink Chip and former Executive Creative Director at LePub. Ranked number one in the Netherlands in The One Show’s 2025 creative rankings, she builds ideas that change how people think, how businesses grow and where money flows.
Her story began on a farm in rural Australia, far from the creative capitals where she would build her career. Working with brands including Gucci, Nike and Tourism Australia, Sam developed an approach that combines an art director’s eye with a grounding in UI/UX, experience design and data. At AKQA Amsterdam, she helped the agency become the Netherlands’ highest-ranked agency at Cannes Lions 2024, before going on to lead creative as Executive Creative Director at LePub. Throughout, she has brought a direct, questioning perspective to the work, finding opportunities in the conventions others accept.
That instinct led her into finance. Sam founded Pink Chip to challenge the bias surrounding female leadership and make its economic value visible. Launched with UN Women Netherlands and DEGIRO, its US index tracks the performance of companies led by women, giving investors the evidence to question their assumptions—and act on it. Featured in Forbes and Bloomberg, Pink Chip takes a creative idea beyond communication and into the decisions that shape markets.
Since 2021, Sam’s work has earned more than 95 global awards, including the Glass Lion at Cannes and two Eurobest Grand Prix, alongside recognition from D&AD, The One Show, Clio and the Webbys. Pink Chip was also named a finalist in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards.
She has spoken at Cannes, New York Ad Week and SXSW London, serves as a board advisor to e.l.f. Beauty’s CTBG initiative, and has judged many awards including Webby Awards, the Lovie Awards and Dubai Lynx.
Across her creative work and her own venture, Sam returns to the same ambition: to uncover value others overlook, and build something powerful enough to make them see it.