Story & Lesson Highlights with Sam Qavah John

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Sam Qavah John. Check out our conversation below.

Sam Qavah, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Teaching my incredible Elementary students at Kids Church and finally giving in to the reality that the term “6-7” is part of my regular vernacular.
Spending moments in enriched silence with my God and Savior, Jesus Christ and spending a day without technology and my adult pacifiers.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Systems of Care. That is the goal. Stretching oneself far beyond sappy sentiment that is rarely backed by thoughtful and intentional research to build systems that can truly benefit those around me.

My brand is me. I built my reputation in this foreign land on the shoulders of my ancestors that came before me and I stand before you a man who has been broken, beaten, and destroyed by life’s hardest warriors… yet still I stand. With a vision born out of my pain of abandonment. A vision that sees every element of our shared earthly reality grow stronger and more enriched by the present moment.

The Qavah Collective is a brand, yes but it is also a war cry of rebellion and revolution. One that is devoted to the redesigning of workplace efficiency, profitability and the one thing upon which these other factors depend: care. I believe my experiences in the worlds of entertainment, guest experience, and business leadership have given me the tool kit I need to empower and embolden a new way of work and life.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I firmly believed and still sometimes grapple with the idea of not being “correct”, of not being “normal”. I was always the weird kid, the one that wasn’t the right amount of this or that and at its core, enough. I wanted to believe that I could adapt or change to fit the mold of what was expected and hoped for. I didn’t. I couldn’t. Looking back, I am so glad I was build and designed in this way by my good, wonderful, gracious, and expectant Heavenly Father. The standards I hold myself to today reflect the grace and mercy by which I was saved.

“Folk don’t change. They just become more of who they truly are.” I truly am and will always be the weirdo, the art kid, the failure, the loser, that other guy, the nice guy and my God, am I thankful for it. None of these are my identity. My identity is “good and faithful servant with who I am well pleased.” I believed that I was broken and that I could never fit in. I know I’m not broken, now and fitting in is something I don’t care for much anymore.

I wasn’t called to fit in. I was called to stand out.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Every single pain you are experiencing right now will be used to do something majestic someday. You are not alone. You are loved and made beautifully and wonderfully.

I know you want to quit. God knows that I know. I wanted to quit. Every single day. Just get through each minute of each day.
Your life is going to be full of pain and full of purpose.

You are enough with and without anyone else. Your loneliness will continue but your comfort with yourself and your Lord will grow into something beautiful. A small acorn that turned into a giant oak tree.

And most importantly, You are stronger than you know, my love.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Jesus, my Elementary Sunday School Students, Family, and Growth.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am doing exactly what I was born to do. I wish it looked different at different stages and phases of my life but I am living out the true destiny God had for me. I know I could have been very different. Made very different choices. Stayed in my addictions and become the worst version of myself, destroying everything in its wake. However, I chose life. I chose help. I chose the program. I have become more than I was born to be and have done far more that I was born to do.

All of this. The achievements, the accomplishments, the stories, the victories, the losses, the wealth, the health. All of it is vanity before the throne of my King. The King of Kings. Now, it is all a humble sacrifice towards him, lit by the flames that made me the intense, thorough, thoughtful, and unrelenting chief that I am. The servant leader of my family and hopefully one day, the state of California (2050).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/thecreativearray
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qavahcreates/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-johnvg/
• Twitter: https://x.com/qavahcreates
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563398761037
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@qavahcreates

Image Credits
Nick Berryman
Sam Qavah John