Samuel was also Vegas-born and has played football since he was 5 years old. He dreamed of playing professionally but always had a backup plan. After his high school graduation from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California, where he received letters for Basketball, Football and Track, he was recruited to the University of Illinois and played free safety, wide receiver and cornerback on their D1 program. Sam earned his Bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Sports, and Tourism from U of I. Since he had another year of football eligibility, he enrolled in Adams State, where he played on the football team while he initiated his master’s program in Sports Management (with an emphasis in coaching).

He was unable to move further in his football career because of a sports injury but remained focused on his backup plan, which was helping athletes achieve their highest levels of performance. He decided to do so at Danaus in Las Vegas. Sam has a great deal of experience working on teams and for team managers. He worked throughout college with high school athletes to help them focus and physically and mentally train to develop their character, as well as their athletic skills and performance. He landed in Las Vegas in promotions before he took the training that led him to Danaus.

He saw that Danaus’ tools helped further the possibilities of working with athletes to help them overcome their distractions and their barriers to higher achievement at all levels. Having been on a professional track and performed as a Division 1 college athlete, Sam acquired the experience and devotion of striving to achieve the highest degree by taking care of the inside, not just appearances, because talent and strength come from within. To fly the athlete must take care of his or her emotional as well as physical health and well-being. Sam fully appreciates, having been on both sides, that if emotional and physical factors are not addressed they can impact the best-trained athlete and reduce his or her chances of success. The longer the barriers remain, the more likely it is that bad habits will be set up, and the more powerful the techniques are that are necessary to repair the athlete from the inside out. The character strength it takes improves not only athletic performance but communications, emotional competence, relationships and enjoyment of life. It’s not just about the sport–it’s about the player and their well-being within the context of their team and their lives.

Since completing his mentorship and coursework leading to his certification, Sam has blended his experiences from almost two decades of playing high-intensity sports and youth coaching with hypnotherapy. Establishing trustworthy and respectful relationships creates the rapport that is necessary to help athletes go “inside” themselves to connect with the most powerful source of their success, their true selves, unbound and uninhibited by negative messages and bad habits.