A Kentucky steel magnolia wrapped in Manhattan silk, Samantha Rath proves Southern charm can survive anything—even New York’s hustle real estate development. From the Fashion Institute of Technology to the runway to Maidenform’s bra design empire, she mastered the art of making things look effortlessly beautiful, a skill tested daily by her husband’s constant construction chaos. Their own love story reads like a rom-com with power tools: Southern model meets Connecticut WASP in a dive bar called The Raccoon Lodge, leading to a French proposal and a New Orleans riverboat wedding complete with masquerade masks—a fitting prelude to the masks they’d both wear through years of financial high-wire acts. Fluent in Spanish and the language of survival, Sam transforms from fashion designer to construction project manager, juggling twins’ diapers with building permits. She’s the eye of Colin’s hurricane, the voice of reason he rarely heeds, and the steel backbone behind his “ALLIN” bravado. But as their dream home morphs into a $13 million nightmare, she faces her toughest design challenge yet: restructuring their family’s future while their present crumbles around them. She rides each wave of crisis with grace—until she can’t anymore, wanting Colin to realize that some things, like watching your children grow up, can’t be refinanced for a second chance. Loyal to the point of madness, she stands by her man through foreclosure, lawsuits, and global sailing adventures. But by season two’s end, even Southern steel has its breaking-point, proving that sometimes the bravest design choice is knowing when to start over..
