This week, we sit down with keynote speaker and author Sam Demma to explore the critical role of empathy within the world of construction. Recorded live at NAPA’s Annual Meeting, Sam shares his unexpected journey from a high school volunteer initiative to becoming a sought-after motivational speaker. Sam dives into the concept behind his upcoming book, Return on Goodwill, explaining how acts of kindness create lasting impact both personally and professionally. We explore how the asphalt pavement industry can better connect with Gen Z talent and why is important to assume positive intent. Season sponsored by FleetWatcher by AlignOps.
Published February 17 2025
R: We are doing something different today. Typically, we record one episode at a time, but we are jumping in today while we have someone here to record Episode 101. To help us talk more about the people in the industry, we are going to spend some time talking with one of our keynote speakers.
B: I am definitely interested to hear more about the empathy side of things. Within the construction industry, there is a rugged, rough, and tough attitude. Sometimes the topics brought up during our general session are not always front of mind, so I think this conversation will be very interesting.
R: We invited Sam Demma to be part of the conversation today. Sam, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and introduce yourself to the audience?
SD: I am super excited to be here. I am a big fan of the asphalt industry. I am a keynote speaker and an author. I am also a brother, a son, and a grandson, and I am honored to be here today.
B: You shared some stories regarding your path toward soccer and other interests. I am curious how you ended up in the area of being an author and a keynote speaker. What drove you into that field?
SD: I fell into it by accident. My friend Dylan and I decided we wanted to build an initiative picking up garbage in high school. We needed more volunteers, and I realized I needed to speak to more people. The first place I thought of was my own high school. I walked into my principal's office and asked for permission to give a two-to-five-minute speech at the end of a pre-existing assembly in the hope that we could rally volunteers.
I did the speech, and it was absolutely terrible. Fortunately, it was filmed so I could watch it back and cringe years later. It is still on my Instagram if you scroll down far enough. Despite the terrible delivery, we got 60 people who gave us their email addresses to volunteer. I figured if I did this in all the local schools, we would get tons of volunteers.
My principal was kind enough to introduce me to the rest of the schools in the district. I visited all of them, and at the end of one of the speeches, a principal I did not know pulled me aside. He essentially said he thought I had a gift for this because people love when I share stories. He asked me to come back and speak for 30 minutes for $50. I knew what minimum wage was and thought he was going to help me retire my family. It was one of the first times in my life where I felt useful again outside of athletics. I went back to the school and told stories for 30 minutes. It was not great, but I continued following that curiosity of performing and storytelling, and that is what brought me to where I am now.
R: I am going to use Jay's question. You do a lot of speaking to students, and yesterday you were in two different high schools talking to students and encouraging them. Where do you think you have the most impact? There were numerous people at this meeting today whom you touched and encouraged, but it is a very different audience than the one at the high school.
SD: What is interesting about telling a story or performing in any capacity is that you have no idea how what you are sharing is connecting dots in somebody else's mind. I spoke for a private school a few months ago, and we did an evening event for parents. One gentleman approached me after the speech and said he had been forcing his son down a pathway he wanted him to pursue, but he was going home that night to tell his son that he was proud of him no matter what he chooses to do in the future.
Maybe there was a person in this crowd today who has a young kid in university or college and, seeing that I took a unique path, thought they should support their own kids in pursuing what brings them fulfillment. My own limiting belief tells me that I make the biggest contribution with young people, but I do not want to discount the fact that all stories can connect with all ages. I have to get over that limiting thought in my own head as I continue to grow, but I am still drawn to young people in education.
B: Along those lines, when you go to a school versus coming to a professional organization, do you have different versions of how you deliver your message to ensure it resonates? I can tell you put a lot of thought and research into who you are talking to, so I am curious about that process.
SD: Research is probably the most important part for me, especially when I am in an arena I do not know much about. I usually do three 30-to-45-minute calls and one or two calls with the organizing team to ask as many questions as I can. For this event, I watched as many episodes of the podcast as I could find to prepare.
Having human conversations with people allows me to pull in relevant information or shift the way I tell my stories to ensure it connects with those in the room. With schools, I have a better idea of what young people are challenged by. When you step into an industry that you do not work in, you should do due diligence to figure out what the challenges are and try your best to make connections to them.
R: When you were speaking this morning, you told the audience to assume people are coming from a positive place. I look back on my life and there are times where that was fairly easy to do, and there are times where it is very hard. What advice would you give to someone who is struggling with that, perhaps due to personal circumstances or a mentality that the world is out to get them?
SD: I would tell someone that when you default to the negative, you sometimes have to face it twice. If you assume positive intent and find out the person was not acting in your best interest, you only have to deal with it once. If you assume negative intent from the start, you deal with it at the time you assume it and again at the time it shows up.
If you give people the benefit of the doubt and nothing bad actually comes from their actions, you avoid a period of worry and stress. It is helpful for yourself just as much as it is helpful for the other person you serve. I would advise people to give themselves grace. I sometimes do a bad job with this myself, but it is something I strive for and a way of living worth challenging ourselves toward.
B: You talked about unloading the weight from the metaphorical backpack we carry of expectations and criticisms. You also shared that you woke up the morning of a talk pacing and thinking about your choices. I assume that is the feeling of wanting to meet your audience's expectations. Some of those weights can push us to achieve our goals, while others can weigh us down. How do you separate those items in your backpack to know which ones are driving you to the next level versus holding you back?
SD: One of my favorite authors and speakers, Jim Rohn, always said that communication begins with preparation. For me, if I have done my research calls, filled five pages in my journal, and spent hours preparing the weeks leading up to a speech, I know in my heart that I have done what I need to do. If self-doubt or the weight of the backpack shows up, I can rest assured because there is proof in my preparation that I will be okay.
If I feel self-doubt and I have not done the research or practiced the opening and closing of my presentation, then I am in big trouble. Business leader Alex Hormozi says to put up so many reps and so much volume that the outcome becomes inevitable. I try my best to over-prepare so that when those thoughts come up, I can reassure myself I have done what I need to do to deliver on my word.
R: It is time for the quickfire section. Traveling for work or working from home?
SD: Traveling for work. I am still single, and I enjoy seeing the world.
B: Pretzels or cookies?
SD: Both. I actually got that question from an audience member today.
R: Essential item in your physical and metaphorical backpack?
SD: My journal, a hundred times over.
B: Favorite place you have lived?
SD: Home in Pickering, Ontario, where I am from.
R: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you bring with you?
SD: Water, food, and an iPhone.
B: Favorite football or soccer team?
SD: Juventus in the Serie A.
R: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
SD: I brought on a young man named Matt. When we started working together, he had a tough time communicating with people. He now talks to strangers in coffee shops, which he is very proud of, and it brings a great deal of joy and gratitude into my life.
B: What is one thing you are looking forward to in 2026?
SD: I am surprising my great-grandmother with a trip back to Cyprus. She has not been in decades and has no idea. I am very excited about it.
R: I hope she does not listen to this.
SD: She actually listens to things on cassette tape, so I think we will be good.
R: This afternoon, you are going to talk about small, consistent actions that make a big difference. Is there a story or example from your life where those ended up making a significant impact?
SD: I am writing a new book right now called Return on Goodwill. The core concept is that there is a return we receive in life when we choose to do good while expecting nothing in return. Often, it is just a magical moment created for another person. As part of the research, we asked people to share moments of kindness that deeply impacted them.
A gentleman named Marco Lana from Hamilton, Ontario, shared a beautiful story about his time as a banker. A young man and his mother came in to open the boy's first bank account. Marco helped them and told the young man to reach out if he ever needed anything. Three years later, Marco was working at a different branch with glass offices. He saw a man walking toward his office with his hand tucked in his jacket pocket, and he initially thought he was about to be robbed.
The gentleman opened the door and said, "Marco, you might not remember me, but a few years ago you helped me open my first bank account and said you would help if I ever needed anything." He pulled a tie from inside his coat and said, "I am on my way to my first job interview. I noticed you always wear ties; can you help me tie it?" Marco tied the gentleman's tie, and the man went to his interview and returned hours later to set up direct deposit. Decades have passed, but Marco still thinks about that moment. It was a beautiful display of humanity.
B: Do you have any surprising or unexpected memories from your career?
SD: The thing that comes to mind most often is the people who supported me when they did not have to. When I was 20 years old, I was approached by an agency that wanted to represent me. I was unsuccessful at the time and working full-time as a waiter because I did not have bookings. The agency offered a 10-year agreement where they would take 30% of everything I did. My intuition told me it was not the right choice, so I turned it down.
An incredible human being named Chris Cummins happened to stumble into my life. He MCed an event I spoke at and gave me his phone number. After I decided not to join the agency, he was the first person I called. He became my coach for the next three years, almost like a second father. He talked to me weekly for two hours for three years, and it changed the course of my entire life. I do not think I would be where I am today if we had not crossed paths.
R: We have a few minutes for questions for Sam from the audience.
Q: You made a joke this morning about the one-backpack carry-on. To a room full of engineers and project managers, what are the logistics of traveling from one location to the next with a backpack filled with items?
SD: Initially, I tried using an inflatable jukebox from Amazon because it was the perfect shape for a backpack. However, it popped on stage. Now, I use packing peanuts. Twenty cubic feet of packing peanuts perfectly fills the backpack. Yesterday, I stopped at Office Depot and bought four giant bags. To remain sustainable, I will return them in the bags before I leave and then fold the bags back up in my luggage for the next event.
R: What was the volume of the bag?
Q: Any soccer advice for a high school senior who is trying to play in college?
SD: I tell every athlete that whether or not you reach your massive goal is not what matters. What matters is giving your best effort because of the person you become in the process. I also tell people to fall in love with the game so much that they want to play even when there is no practice. The athletes who do well are those who love kicking the ball around in their free time. If you truly fall in love with the game and give your best effort, there is no bad outcome, even if it does not result in a professional career.
Q: Through the research you did to prepare for today, what surprised you the most about the asphalt pavement industry?
SD: How good it smells! Honestly, the thing that surprised me the most was that I never thought about paving crews as first responders when disaster strikes. I always thought about police, firefighters, and paramedics, but paving crews fix the roads so everyone else can get where they need to go. That was a big realization for me.
Q: One of the workshops today was about recruiting and retaining the next generation. Since you spend a lot of time with Gen Z at the high school level, how can the industry effectively get in front of them?
SD: You are competing with the short clips they watch on their phones all day. If you want to capture their attention, you have to tell well-written stories. I lead from a lens of entertainment, not just education. It is also important to ask them questions to figure out what their desires are and see if we can position these roles in a way where their goals fit inside the career. My mentor, Dan Martell, said that if your vision is big enough that your staff's dreams fit inside of it, you will have an ever-expanding team. Showing them how a career in paving can lead them to their goals would be very helpful.
SD: It has been a privilege and a pleasure meeting many of you. The kindness, generosity, and curiosity you have shared really touched me. I wish you nothing but the best this year.
B: Thank you, Sam. We really appreciate you taking the time to join us on the podcast and share your insights and experiences.
R: Never doubt your ability to connect with people. While you speak to younger audiences, there is a lot we can gain from those insights. Those lessons transcend generations, and we all need to be reminded of them because we all get beat down sometimes. Thank you for your inspiration and for being on the podcast today.