Sam was funny, creative, intelligent & also very moving.
Probably the most inspiring presenter I have come across in my entire career. His spirit, energy and ideas will live with the Ella’s Kitchen team, and we could not have asked for more. Simply outstanding.
Mark Cuddigan, CEO
Ella's Kitchen
BIOGRAPHY
Sam’s mission has always been to help people achieve more than they believe they can, from empowering thousands of young people to challenging leaders of the world's biggest businesses
Sam’s career began running nightclubs as a teenager, where he enlisted Banksy and Shepard Fairey to design posters for his first business, the now Bafta-winning creative agency Don’t Panic.
He then founded the legendary social enterprise Livity, where he won Agency of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year, the Queen's Award, and a commendation from the UK Prime Minister.
His best-selling book, Be More Pirate, has become a global movement flying the flag of ‘professional rule breaking and Good Trouble’ as new approaches to positive disruption and rewriting rules.
With Netflix and University College London, Sam created Uncertainty Experts, the world’s first interactive documentary, scientifically proven to transform our ability to handle change.
Sam also created Hard As Nails, a cutting-edge campaign and ‘empathy engine’ that utilises behavioural science to measurably increase healthy masculinity, challenge stereotypes, and improve mental health.
His next book, ‘The Uncertainty Toolkit: How to Worry Less and Do More’, is out with Pan Macmillan in January 2026 bringing together the world's largest study into the human impact of uncertainty.
In 2022, Sam turned down his MBE in an open letter to the Queen, saying he’d reconsider if she updated the E of British Medal for Empire for Excellence. Sam is still waiting for a reply.