We’re looking forward to introducing you to Peter Samuelson. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Peter, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
All important, but in this moment in history, clearly integrity. We live in a time of hatred, corruption, lacking empathy and full of cruelty. It is up to every one of us to speak truth to power, lift up the lives of those around us, and exert our citizenship every day to make the world a better place. Whether from a religion or the Second Law of Thermodynamics, in any closed system… an engine, a family, a country or a planet… unless energy is applied, the system decays to random nothingness. So the need for balance, for empathy, for integrity and social justice are core to our existence. I do my best to support them every day. www.samuelson.LA
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m an immigrant who was granted the American Dream 50 years ago, and every day I try to repay this by lifting up the lives of seriously ill children (www.starlioght.org) of foster kids (www.firststar.org) and of the unhoused (www.edar.org). I’ve produced 27 films and that is my career, but entrepreneurial philanthropy, the same toolkit as producing it turns out, has allowed me to found seven separate charities.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
When I was in 10th. grade in England, my English teacher, Mr. Lund, told me that if I worked twice as hard I could get into a great university. I laughed at him and told him nobody in my entire family ever went to university, and my Dad left school at 14. He said “well, that’s even better, because you’ll be the first one.” I did what he said, earned a full scholarship to Cambridge Uniuversity, and earned my Masters there. David Lund’s mentorship saved my life.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I’ve written a whole book to answer this: Finding Happy, easily available on Amazon etc. I’ve mentored hundreds of young adults through my charities, and I’ve developed pattern recognition on what bothers them most, so where they need help. Overall, I believe long term happiness comes from helping others. In www.FirstStar.org I teach a class called Random Acts of Kindness and Pay It Forwards. We turn penniless foster kids into philanthropists!
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
The political leadership of this country is failing ethically, pragmatically and in the largely poor moral example it sets. They have forgotten that the arc of history bends slowly but inexorably towards the truth, and those who are so proud currently of their othering, their cruelty, their ruthlessness and their self-interest have not realized that their great-grandchildren will be ashamed of them. Germany is full of adults now who would rather forget what their great-grandparents did and allowed to happen. Nobody puts tgheir financial wealth on their tombstone. Nobody cares. Legacy is helping others, building helful structures and leaving the world better than you found it.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
They think I’m a selfless saint. I’m not. I realized 40 years ago that happiness comes most often and in the largest quantities when you help other people, especially children. Do that and find the Meaning of Life. It’s in the book!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.samuelson.LA
- Instagram: @petergsamuelson
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersamuelson/
- Twitter: @PeterGSamuelson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuelson1/
- Other: www.firststar.org
www.starlight.org
www.edar.org
