“Sam was funny, creative, intelligent & very moving.
The most inspiring presenter I have come across in my career. His spirit, energy and ideas will live with our team for a long time. We could not have asked for more. Simply outstanding”
Mark Cuddigan, CEO
Ella's Kitchen
SUMMARY:
Sam IS MORE than A THOUGHT LEADER, HE’s a movement builder whose ideas have inspired millions.
A keynote speaker, best-selling author, award-winning entrepreneur, social scientist and Pirate.
Best known for Be More Pirate, Uncertainty Experts and Hard As Nails, Sam’s projects have helped AUDIENCES AROUND THE WORLD rethink leadership, creativity and courage.
FULL BIO:
Sam’s career began as a teenager running raves. He enlisted Banksy and Shepard Fairey as designers for what became the Bafta-winning creative agency Don’t Panic.
Sam then founded the world renowned social enterprise Livity, where he won Agency of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year, EY Entrepreneur of the year, the Queen's Award, and a commendations from multiple UK Prime Ministers.
His best-selling book, Be More Pirate, has become a global movement advocating ‘professional rule breaking and Good Trouble’ as a new approach to positive disruption.
With Netflix and University College London, Sam created Uncertainty Experts, the world’s first interactive documentary, which was scientifically proven to transform our ability to handle change.
Sam most recently created Hard As Nails, a cutting-edge campaign and ‘empathy engine’ that utilises behavioural science to measurably increase healthy masculinity, challenge harmful stereotypes, and redefine leadership.
His next book, ‘The Uncertainty Toolkit: How to Worry Less and Do More,’ will be published by Pan Macmillan in January 2026, culmanting what is now 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 title to Medal for British Excellence, instead of Empire. He is still waiting for a reply.
2007 — Appointed as one of 25 Social Enterprise Ambassadors for the UK Government
2008 — Sam has a chapter dedicated to him in the once-name-drop-worthy Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s book, Everyday Heroes
2009 — Named as one of the UK’s 50 new Radicals in The Observer
2010 — Awarded UK Social Entrepreneur in the EY Entrepreneur of The Year Awards
Awards & honourable mentions
2015 — Livity wins Social Enterprise Of The Year at the National Business Awards
2016 — Don’t Panic wins Gold at Cannes
2017 — Livity becomes the first agency to win Grand Prix at BIMA Awards (for redefining the agency model)
2018 — Awarded CSR Leader of the Year at Global CSR Awards
2019 — Becomes an international best-selling author with Be More Pirate
2020 — Awarded an MBE for services to young people, but declined, in an open letter in support of Black Lives Matter.
2011 — Livity receives The Queens Award for Enterprise and Innovation and Sam is awarded a Big Society Award, nominated by that other once-name-drop-worthy Prime Minister, David Cameron.
2012 — Livity wins best Marketing Agency, and Campaign of the Year at Marketing Agencies Association Awards
2013 — Don’t Panic wins a Bafta for the Revolution Will Be Televised
2014 — Named on the Happy List, the people making the UK happier, and the Maserati 100, the people helping the UK’s entrepreneurs
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAM
01
Uncertainty Experts
20th Century Leadership is so, last century. Sometimes the answers we need the most, come from the people we expect the least. I wrote and directed, the first of it’s kind, live, interactive and immersive documentary.
02
Be More Pirate
I wrote my first book as a love letter to change-makers and rule-breakers, it became a global bestseller and created a thriving crew of Good Trouble makers. How To Be More Pirate (the sequel book) is also out now along with the Be More Pirate podcast.
03
Livity
I co-founded the youth-led, purpose-driven, multi-multi-award-winning social enterprising marketing agency that still brings together the worlds biggest brands with the worlds most pressing challenges, in a unique bit of alchemy that’s changed the lives of thousands of young people.
04
Digify Africa
I co-founded a pan-African NGO delivering digital skills to create opportunity, employment and enterprise, co-led, co-created and co-delivered by young Africans, to hundreds of thousands of young Africans delivered with breakthrough technology, social enterprise and a wicked sense of humour.
05
Live Magazine
I founded and ran the UK based Non-Profit platform that over 15 years was a voice, launchpad and safe creative space to an entire generation of young people from less advantaged backgrounds across the UK. Nothing has ever taught me as much as those kids, to whom I’ll be forever grateful.
06
somewhereto_
I ran a unique space matching service for young people to access empty or underused space in every region of the UK, which was the flagship youth initiative of the Cultural Olympiad of the 2012 Olympic Games but became a successful community enterprise incubator in its own right.
07
Dubplate Drama
I exec-produced the “worlds first interactive multi-platform TV series” that first bought the UK grime scene to mmainstream screens and over three series changed youth culture and empowered young people on key social issues in a unique collaboration between broadcasters, platforms and charity.
08
Don’t Panic
I began the original activist agency, that began in the club culture of the late nineties, and went on to win Baftas, Cannes, Webbies and more for pioneering content and campaigns, from ending Shell’s relationship with Lego to launching the most successful charity campaign of all time.