Hi! I’m Sam, an operations executive and innovator who enjoys removing bottlenecks to progress and is passionate about driving the social good.
My 22 years of operations experience began at age 14. During my brief stint in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., I attended a dinner where I met a couple in the process of adopting a child. They mentioned the term “Dear Birthmother Brochure”, which I’d never heard before. They couldn’t find anyone to make one, and this brought their search to a grinding halt.
I mentioned that I’d been fiddling around with Microsoft Publisher to make small things, and I asked if I could try making a brochure for them. They agreed – and this became my very first project! I started my first business, doing almost everything alone with Web 2.0 and my mom’s access to college textbooks (she was a student at the time) to guide me. She did her best to help me find an accountant and attorney a year later because I was underage, and I continue to mostly outsource those duties to this day.
By this point, I was 15 in 2002 with over 100 completed projects and a profitable business. I built exclusive partnerships with adoption agencies, and solid relationships with local print shops. A year later, I cobbled together the first project management system I used in Microsoft Access because it came pre-installed on my mom’s Compaq.
During this time, I also became the assistant children’s director in my former church, maintained a 3.5 GPA in high school, and later worked a part-time W2 job my senior year so future employers would have evidence of a “real job” 🙂
I later attended college, but did not finish; the curriculum was not conducive to my project-based learning style.
I look forward to using my ambition and drive to help your company succeed!