The former BSGA president and founder of Make It Happen rejoins the board with 25 years of industry experience
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Sam Armstrong, CEO and founder of sign industry training provider Make It Happen, has rejoined the board of the BSGA. A former vice president and president of the association, she returns after a two year break spent growing her business in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. She will put her time, experience and industry network behind the board’s work on standards, education and training.
Sam has spent 25 years in the sign and graphics industry, including 15 years in trade manufacturing. She founded Make It Happen a decade ago after fielding the same fabrication and illumination questions from customers every day and realising nobody was training people in either. The company marks its 10th anniversary this year.
A familiar face with a proven record
Sam first joined the BSGA board 10 years ago at the invitation of Mike Smith, then a director at Signfab. Over seven years, she served two years as vice president followed by two years as president, a term that coincided with the Covid pandemic.
“I remember being absolutely petrified. It was just me in a room full of people who, to me, were industry gods, running huge sign companies. But I felt it mattered to have someone at the table representing smaller businesses like my own,” she recalls.
After a couple of years as vice-president, Sam became president just ahead of the pandemic. This meant that much of her presidency involved supporting members directly by phone. She estimates she gave around 20 hours a week to the voluntary role while still running Make It Happen. During her term, she also brought new people onto the board, including Linda, now managing director of the BSGA.
Sam explains, “The BSGA is about raising standards, education and training, so given what I do with Make It Happen, it was a perfect fit. For me, it is really about community. I have a passion for people and a passion for helping them.”
Why she is coming back
Sam stepped back from the board to concentrate on developing Make It Happen, writing new courses and taking the business overseas. Wendy Graves and Michelle Henry now run boot camps in the United States, Australia and New Zealand on the same model as the UK programme.
With Make It Happen thriving, Sam can look beyond her own business again. “During my break, people kept ringing me for help, assuming I was still on the board. So I went back to Linda, Craig and David Allen and said I could give a couple of hours a week. There is a new team now, and I am confident I can support the association in many ways,” says Sam.
What it means for members
Sam brings continuity and experience, with a decade of training expertise at Make It Happen that sits squarely within the association’s remit on standards, education and training. Her operations in the United States, Australia and New Zealand give the board a direct line on how other markets develop skills. She also first joined the board determined that smaller sign companies should have a seat at the table, a perspective she brings back with her.
“Sam is a passionate advocate for the signage industry and a dedicated champion of the Association’s values. Her return complements our insight into our sector and the issues affecting businesses and individuals within it. I look forward to working alongside Sam once again as we continue to develop the Association in line with the Board’s collective ambitions for its future,” says Linda Edwards, managing director of the BSGA.
Sam’s first priority is to listen. She wants to take stock of where the association stands before drawing on her industry contacts to bring more businesses and individuals into its work.
“I want to digest where we are at first. I see a lot of people across the industry, so I would like to use those relationships to get them on board. I would like to do more with colleges or universities and with the voluntary work for the BSGA.”
She concludes, “I gave myself a kick and said, get on with it, make it happen. So I did.”