/youtube

Embracing Rejection and Mastering Soft Skills

Sam started knocking on doors as a missionary and later sold pest control. The common thread was learning to handle rejection with grace and developing the social and psychological skills to connect with people. He shared how “selling with indifference” (focusing on whether a product is right for the customer instead of just making a sale) builds trust and improves outcomes.

Pivoting into AI and Entrepreneurship

After returning from his mission, Sam was introduced to vibe coding tools like Cursor and Bolt. He and his friends began turning ideas into functional prototypes, building platforms that help students study better, find housing and connect startups with investors. For example, he built a podcast-tracker for me simply by speaking the requirements into the tool and refining the blocks until it worked.

Combining Human Performance and Systems Thinking

Sam studies exercise physiology with a finance minor at BYU‑Idaho, inspired by his chiropractor father’s focus on health. He hopes to merge his interest in human performance with his aptitude for systems, believing healthier bodies reduce medical debt and open up better lives. Excellence, he says, should be pursued across all parts of life: sports, studies, relationships and business.

Advice for Young Adults and Future Plans

Having changed majors three times, Sam urges young adults to explore different paths instead of worrying about a fixed plan. Consider what you’re good at, what interests you and how you can serve others, then pursue where those overlap. In ten years, he hopes to be helping people who want to change by using technology and healthy living to optimize their performance.

If you’re an entrepreneur, a returning missionary or simply curious about how AI can empower local service businesses, this conversation is for you. Watch the full interview on our Local Service Spotlight YouTube channel and hear Sam’s story in his own words

Finding Joy and Staying Grounded

Sam finds joy in his faith, his family and his fiancée, as well as in creating, innovating and optimizing human performance. He wants to be remembered for bringing happiness and hope to people’s lives, not just for helping them build businesses. That focus on faith and family keeps him grounded even as he explores the frontiers of technology and entrepreneurship.

Learn More

• Visit Sam’s personal site: sammcleod.net to follow his latest projects and insights.
• Learn about Local Service Spotlight: localservicespotlight.com, the platform Sam and I co-founded to turn real-world proof, such as photos, reviews and jobs, into authority that makes phones ring.

Thanks to Sam for sharing his journey and for being a constant source of grit, grace and innovation in our work together.