Abby Sams is going for gold

Changing career paths and making Team USA for the 2028 Summer Paralympics: sustainability analyst Abby Sams‘ journey tells a story of discipline, balance and passion. 

Abby Sams, based in Huntsville, Alabama joined the Baker Hughes Sustainability team five years ago, but sustainability wasn’t always on the cards. Similarly, Sams never predicted that one day she would be training with Team USA in the Paratriathlon, aiming for the LA2028 Paralympic Games.

Energy Forward caught up with Abby to find out how she makes it all work  

Question: 

Could you tell us a little about your role within the Baker Hughes sustainability team? 

Abby Sams

I work as an analyst within the strategy and performance group of our corporate sustainability team. This group compiles the company’s Corporate Sustainability report every year.

I work on writing the report and help manage the company’s sustainability online support tool. This means going through sustainability questions or questionnaires we receive from our customers, as part of their own corporate responsibility strategy. It’s a very collaborative process. 

The biggest part of my job is communicating with all the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating agencies we report to yearly. For example, Sustainalytics, S&P Global, and EcoVadis, to name a few. 

Question: 

What inspired you to pursue a career in sustainability? 

Abby Sams

I was fascinated by creatures who live under the sea since I was a child. So, when I went to college, I was planning to major in marine biology. 

In my last years of high school, and early college, I got sick and found out that I had a genetic disease affecting my muscles. This is when I became a wheelchair user. 

I therefore had to rethink my choice of field research, as a wheelchair on a boat didn’t sound like the best idea. When a professor assigned us a sustainability project as part of our final exam, I really loved the month-long assignment. 

My professor then suggested that I should transfer from marine biology to sustainable business. So, I switched, and I joined Baker Hughes when I graduated. It worked out well. 

Question: 

What is one project you are particularly proud of and what impact did it have? 

Abby Sams

I’m very proud of our company’s annual sustainability report. I feel like we improve year-on-year as a team and as a company, towards our net-zero goals. It’s important for everyone to recognize that. The report is the proof.

Pulling a coherent and inspiring story together, visually and with the data to back it up, across 100 pages, is an incredible achievement.

We work hard as a team, looking back at our efforts across the company in the last 12 months. It’s a lot of data to go through but the result is always worth it. We were recently awarded Best Sustainability Report (Large cap) at the Corporate Governance Awards in New York, hosted by Governance Intelligence. Our team was a finalist in three categories — a recognition that reflects our commitment to transparency and accountability. 

Question: 

Beyond your day job, you are an active member of the Baker Hughes Enabled Employee Resource Group (ERG). How does it connect to your values and your personal journey? 

Abby Sams

When I joined Baker Hughes, I was very excited to find out about the Enabled ERG. I remember my manager explaining ‘It’s like clubs in high school, but better’. 

I reached out to the Enabled team and found out they only organized one to three events per year at that time. I asked, ‘How can we do more?’ and I proposed multiple ideas, offering my time to coordinate them. With the employee resource groups, the second you find out people are interested in some of the initiatives, you are motivated to do more. It is so rewarding.

Enabled is a refreshing mix of people with disabilities, neurodivergent, or family members of people with disabilities. Everyone is welcome, including those who just want to learn more. 

The best thing a person can be is curious. It was exciting to see so many people eager to be involved. For example, we recognize International Day of People with Disabilities and organize several events around the world. October was International Month of Hiring People with Disabilities, so we published a newsletter about what it means to work with a disability or neurodivergence. 

We recently hosted a panel with several deaf people to talk about the difference between American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL). Our Chief Sustainability Officer, Allyson Anderson Book, comes from a family with deafness so she is fluent in ASL, as am I. It was so inspiring. 

It has meant a lot for me to be part of that community, and to see how interested other employees are in finding out more. My direct team are always supporting the Enabled ERG too, and as a company, diversity, inclusion and belonging is important to us. Baker Hughes is like having a family at work. 

Question: 

You were recently selected to train on Team USA for Paratriathlon with your sights set on the 2028 Summer Paralympic Games in Los Angeles- Congratulations! How do you balance your professional life with training? What does your preparation routine look like? 

Abby Sams

This is one of my proudest achievements. I keep a strict work life balance, with some flexibility built in of course. Let’s say, if I do three workouts a day, I will train before work, during my lunch break, and after work. You must be organized to make everything work.

In peak training season, you have a gradual build of training blocks, so you’ll have peak weeks, then taper before a race. This can mean three to four workouts a day: one-hour strength session, a 13-mile push run, 3000-meter swim and then a two-hour bike. And of course, I also have my job at Baker Hughes within the day.  On weekends, I’ll do a four-hour bike ride. It’s a lot during peak weeks, but the company has been very supportive throughout the process. 

We are off-season now, so I only train once or twice a day, which is still a lot. Keeping that strict time schedule is essential. I also do a lot of meal prep. When you’re exercising that much, you need to eat. I discovered there’s a lot of math involved in nutrition too. I never knew that was something you had to do until I started this sport. But now I have a dietitian through Team USA who helps me. 

Question: 

What was the selection process like to join Team USA, and how does it feel to represent your country on such a prestigious stage?

Abby Sams

I have been doing wheelchair track, specifically road racing for 6 years. I enjoyed doing local races. In 2024, a representative from USA Triathlon reached out and asked about my swimming experience. I mentioned I swam a lot when I was an able-bodied kid and love the water, so they told me to investigate paratriathlon. This is how it started. 
 

Every two months I submitted a 1km run time and 200-meter swim time. The national team coaches look at those times to see if an athlete has any development potential, if the speeds are nationally or world competitive. And then they go from there. 

After several months of encouragement, I managed to drop my run and swim time by over a minute and a half.  The USA Triathlon rep came back to me, obviously impressed by the result, and asked me to join their Team USA camp. It’s five days where certified paratriathlon coaches work with you, along with other potential competitors. I was the oldest one there, aged 27! 

It's just like training: you wake up, you swim, you have lunch, you do bike, you do a run and then have dinner. Afterwards, you talk to your coaches about it all. They told me I was doing very well, and it was shocking that I’d dropped my time by so much in a short period. I also podiumed in all my races this year.

After the camp, they asked me if I would like to continue training as part of USA Paratriathlon. There’s a Paralympic & Olympic Training Center in Birmingham, Alabama, and I joined their Science Performance Center resident team shortly after the bootcamp. 

Question:

Behind every athlete, there is a team-can you describe who supports you?

Abby Sams

I have a dietician, a strength coach and a conditioning coach.  I also have a coach who is part of a non-profit organization called ‘Dare to Tri’ that helps people with disabilities get into triathlons. She works with everybody else to create my routine and training program.

In addition, I have access to the sports psychologist in the training center. It is great to have somebody to talk to about the anxieties or the stresses of competing and training. 

Having that team around me is essential. I wouldn’t be where I am now without them. 

I’ve done a lot of adaptive sports but starting this in less than 12 months and getting to Team USA- it’s quite special if a little daunting. I was also national champion this year. I thought to myself, ‘Yes, this is where I’m supposed to be.’

Baker Hughes’ sustainability strategy starts with People as one of its pillars, and diversity, inclusion and belonging is at the heart of keeping people first. Abby Sams is certainly a great example of bringing diversity, inclusion and belonging to the podium. You can read more about the Enabled Employee Resources Group, with Charles story here.