The unique trajectory of Sam's life has shaped a confident, capable, and skilled communicator. With a background in the circus, an innate thirst for knowledge, and a lifetime as a trainer and entertainer, Sam loves to face a crowd, win people over, and effectively communicate his ideas.
In his early teens, Sam’s father (and Rotary Club president) forced him to give presentations at the Rotary Club of Tampa, FL, dispelling any fear of public speaking at an early age. At the same time, Sam was cutting his teeth in the retail industry, handing out flyers at the Tampa Bay Boat Show. Watching the crowds, Sam realized that a family's decision to buy a boat was driven by mood — cost seemed nearly irrelevant. If the goal is to sell something, he decided, the first step is to win over the customer emotionally. After that, the financial negotiation falls easily into place. This would become a repeatable process that Sam used to fund his way through high school and college, working in all aspects of retail.
In 2000, Sam took a job at the consulting company, Lemco (Founded by Powersports Icon Ed Lemco) as a Trainer for the Finances & Insurance, and Sales Departments. Due to his natural aptitude and determination, he was running the Training Division within 3 years. In 2004, Sam and his financial partners bought out Ed Lemco and changed the name of the consulting company to Retail Powersports Management Group (RPM Group). The dramatic shift from employee to owner introduced a slew of unfamiliar responsibilities — cultivating clients, maintaining and managing staff, plotting the future course of the company through a changing retail landscape.
In the ensuing years, Sam and his wife Brandi launched the online training resource Sam’s Powersports Garage (now called Wheelhouse College). In 2015, with his long-time friend and Iron Man racing partner Tony Gonzalez, Sam launched Garage Composites, a new dealership consulting company. Sam continues to expand the envelope with these businesses, reaching into new industries and helping businesses understand customers, grow their profits, and build constructive relationships with retail partners, employees, and clientele.
After leaving the RPM Group in 2009, Sam found himself studying psychology and human behavior in every spare moment. Much of what he read validated the retail-sales insights he'd been intuitively collecting for two decades. This concentrated study brought one thing into focus: Humans move away from pain and towards gain, period. Our biggest fear is rejection, and our biggest hope is inclusion and acceptance. This understanding is the underlying current of his successful training programs about closing strategies, customer experience creation, and customer retention.
This insight into human behavior — the secret-sauce in Sam’s aptitude for sales training and business consulting — can also help drive success in areas far beyond the sales floor. This perspective has the capacity to shed light on any situation where outcomes are shaped by human interactions. Today, Sam strives to spread this message through the retail world to help businesses grow and find success; but he’s also striving to spread the perspective to broader audience through motivational speaking engagements and philanthropic work with publicly-minded organizations around the world.
Sam is available for corporate keynotes, company retreats, and management roasts. Whether you’re looking for a discussion of customer experience, internal team dynamics, or relatable content to bring together company vision and employee direction, Sam is the guy for the job. His casual, conversational style on the stage never fails to engage an audience and deliver the message at hand.
Sam's Chasing Blue message is the motivational push everyone needs to take goals into reality. Ready to get your team fired up, loyal, and crushing it? Chasing Blue Keynotes are the answer.
Sam frequently laments, “The only thing I wish is that I had figured all of this out 20 years ago.” The drive to “be the best you” can start at a very young age, and Sam would love to inspire kids around the globe to find the best in themselves. From Boys & Girls Clubs of America to the Scouts, from local grade schools to Church Groups, Sam is available, pro bono, to spread the Chasing Blue message to tomorrow’s young leaders.