Sam Wood and I met years ago at one of my fried chicken pop-ups at Garage Bar. She recently recognized me at our gym, where she’s known as a boss for her relentless workouts. Turns out, Sam and I have more in common than just fitness and food. We’re both entrepreneurs, marketers, instructors and parents. Sam is the full package.
“When you’re in sports, you’re creating strategies; you’re thinking on the fly. And I like to bring that into my work life.” — Sam Wood, Inzpire
Wood draws a line from her athletic background — “I was a college soccer player, played every sport under the sun, as a kid — you name it,” she says — to being CEO of Bala Cynwyd-based creative marketing agency, Inzpire. “I like creating things, starting adventures, problem solving,” she says, “When you’re in sports, you’re creating strategies; you’re thinking on the fly. And I like to bring that into my work life.”
Listen to the interview edition here:
Inzpire isn’t a one-woman show, but it’s close — just Wood, another creative director / brand strategist, and contractors. “When you work with us, you work with me,” she says. I appreciate the hustle, because I say the same thing when brands reach out to me. I tell them: I’m the office.
“My goal in my career has been to prove people wrong, that I could be successful.” — Wood
Inzpire’s design and branding clients include the Salvation Army, the Avenue of the Arts, MarRosa’s Old World Cuisine pasta and sauces, the Upper Darby Arts & Education Foundation, a financial software company out of Texas, organizations and businesses in the $5 to $15 million range.
“Our main focus is really to find brands that are at a tipping point, whether it be they were a startup, and now they’ve really gotten traction, or they have a lot of clients, and they need to up level,” she says. “They don’t look the part anymore, and they need to have a brand strategy and brand foundation, that reflects the quality of their work.”
“But after [having my baby], I was like: I can do anything.” — Wood
Wood majored in graphic design at Shippensburg and got her Master’s in media design at Full Sail University. Here, again, she’s competitive. “When you go to art school, there’s a lot of people that are like: What are you gonna do with your art degree? Be a starving artist? My goal in my career has been to prove people wrong, that I could be successful.”
She’s recently gotten her real estate license, started investing in properties and became the VP of programming at the American Marketing Association (AMA) of Philadelphia. For the past 10 years, she’s been an adjunct design instructor for Temple’s communications department.
Nine months ago, Wood had her first child and renewed her belief in her physical abilities. “After having my daughter, you’re like: Wow. I just grew a whole ass child in my body, pushed them out of my body, and then sustained their life, with my body” she says. “That put things into perspective. I never really wanted to do a marathon, or a half marathon. But after [having my baby], I was like: I can do anything. My body is fully capable of doing anything.”
She ran her first half marathon this winter, is doing a triathlon this month, and a bodybuilding competition in November. “This year, before my daughter’s first birthday, I’m going to be in the best shape of my life.”
West Philly born and raised with a slosh of Brooklyn, Big Rube partnered with Mitchell & Ness in 2000 to help make it a global brand marketing and selling high-end throwback jerseys. He has been photographing Philly since 2009, including in a Daily News Column from 2011 to 2017. He’s also a chef, operating Chef Big Rube’s Kitchen seven days a week at Pitcher’s Pub in Manayunk, selling the best handmade food in a Main Street dive bar.
Correction: A previous version of this post misnamed an Inzpire employee.
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