Meet Sam Qavah John | Servant, Performer, Author, Leader, and Learner.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam Qavah John and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam Qavah, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?

I ask myself what my 16-year-old version of me would want me to do. My story was bound by fate to end at 16, 18, 21, 23, and 25. So, when I question whether I should keep going in a project, in a challenge, or a new role, I always go back to that North Star. If he didn’t give up then, who am I to dishonor his choice and give up, now?

Each project that has been worth my salt always felt like a challenge. It felt like something that I had to conquer. Something that I had to step up and work through. The process of moving to a foreign country on my own? A challenge and a triumph. The process of pursuing my B.F.A. in Acting, Singing, and Dancing after coming from a culture, family, and society that wanted me to be a Doctor, Engineer, or Lawyer? A challenge and a triumph. Moving across the country to work for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences two hours after I graduated? A challenge and a triumph. Authoring and self-publishing my books? A challenge and a triumph. Breaking generational cycles of bitterness, addiction, and anger through the power of Jesus, therapy, and community? A challenge and a triumph.

I am the man and the creative professional that I choose to be, today because I understood and recognized the power of both my yes and my no. It has been a journey that has left me awestruck and in a posture of unending gratitude and servitude and one that that very same 16-year-old would not believe was real.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My art is centered around and founded on vulnerability. Nothing I make is ever devoid of honesty and emotion. I spent the longest time repressing it only to find the sheer power and reliability it allows people to feel. Every single work I craft is soaked in heartache, joy, grief, trauma, etc. and it brings me such great joy and fulfillment to allow people to feel seen, heard, and understood.

I am most proud of my first book, 60 < I: Learning to Love Myself First, and all the incredible Film Sets and Theatrical Productions I got to be a part of. Every time I sit down to write or hop up to act, I bring a sense of fearlessness and hopeful expectation to work. It makes my mind race and my heart soar while my soul quietly keeps pace.

It was a very long, painful, incredible journey to get to where I am today. I knew no one in this country. I knew no one in the arts. I fought for every single thing I had in this country and this industry, truly living out my American Dream. Everything that I wished I knew how to do, I taught myself to do, and out of the tragic ashes of the pandemic, I emerged so desperate to have something to control and craft. This led me to writing, acting for myself, voice-over projects, and so many more passion projects that allowed me to do what I love and do it freely. Free of the need for them to be liked or enjoyed. And enraptured in the peace I found in using my beautiful, bold voice to tell such a vast variety of stories.

Every challenge that presented itself asked just one thing of me. To leap into the unknown. Trusting that my God had me safe in His arms and that my work would get me where I needed to go. With each leap of faith, I got more and more lost and enamored by the free fall and the accompanying euphoria that comes with doing the unknown, failing brilliantly, learning more than I ever imagined, and every once in a while, experiencing undisputed triumph.

I want the world to know that each one of us is still here for a reason. 100 people pass away every minute. 1 person takes their life every minute. You are still here. You chose to still be here. There is a reason you are still here, and I am so thankful that you are.
My story has been one of Hopeful Expectation (Qavah in Hebrew) and everything I do is in the tireless pursuit of paying that forward. If my beautiful yet strange career path were to be boiled down to one thing, it would be this: The challenging yet joyful pursuit of helping people and admitting my need for help.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Oh wow! I adore this question.

I am the biggest fan of Savannah, Georgia, so this question is both incredibly easy and challenging at the same time.

We would hit up one of my favorite coffee shops each day to start: Franklin’s, Origin Coffee Bar, Foxy Loxy, Gallery Espresso, and Savannah Coffee Roasters.
For our other meals, these are the spots we wouldn’t dare to miss: Mrs. Wilkes’ Dining Room, The Grey, Green Truck, Goosefeathers, Namaste Savannah, Ruan Thai, Good Times Jazz Bar and Restaurant, Treylor Park Hitch, The Public, Vinnie Van Go Go’s, Frali Gourmet, and Zunzi’s.
For must-do Savannah stops: We would start out at The SCAD Museum of Art (where I’ve had the honor of working for the past 5 years), we would explore the Saturday Forsyth Farmers Market, go to a Show at the Civic Center, enjoy a GhostPirates game at the Enmarket Arena, and check out The Portal: Arcade and Bar, Starland Yard, Moodright’s, The Peacock Lounge, River Street, and Forsyth Park.

And, of course, we can’t forget the quiet, serene, and delightful city squares!

This city is bustling with beauty, activities, and communities just waiting to be explored and engaged with and I adore the intersection of an art school and the deep-south that Savannah finds itself in.

An intersection that can only be addressed through communication, and the acceptance of the reality that we are a lot more alike than we are different.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I dedicate my shoutout to two organizations, one couple, and 2 individuals, and 1 God.

I will always thank Jesus, first and foremost. My story doesn’t exist without him.

My hope is found in him, and he will never leave or forsake me. He took my story that seemed irredeemable and turned it into a dream come true, not without its challenges but with the strength and resources to endure and overcome them in a posture of servitude, humility, and hopeful expectation.

My heart belongs to him, first, and always.

My Pastor, Martin Antoon is one of the two people. He has been a pillar of kindness, strength, honesty, and accountability. His impact on my life is unquantifiable and I will forever be grateful for his mentorship.

The other person is Cathy Traynor. She is a therapist at SCAD Bee Well. She has enabled me to heal exponentially through her incredibly engaging and thought-provoking approach to therapy and I don’t believe I would be here today without her.

I want to thank my parents, Dr. John George and Dr. Lisa John who gave me a chance to come to this country and chase my dreams. No parent-child relationship is perfect and ours is far from it, but I am thankful for the communication, growth and healing we continue to experience.

I want to thank SCAD. This school took a shot on a high-school dropout with a 1.8 GPA from Bangalore, India when no one else would and I will always be grateful.

I want to thank The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for giving me my first job as a college-graduate and giving me the platform to grow as an individual and be deeply immersed in the art form that brought me so much hope and brought me to this country.

My story is a dream come true. It’s a story of immeasurable loss countered by unfailing hope. Hope anchored in the love of Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection.

Thank you ShoutOut for this tremendous honor and opportunity to tell my story and I hope it makes someone feel seen, heard, and understood. I would love to connect with you all. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and have the most beautiful day.

Yours faithfully, Sam Qavah John.

Website: thecreativearray.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samjohncreates.qavah/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-johnvg/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyUk6CX0ORd9mpYBzYaeeOA

Other: Book 1: https://linktr.ee/60islesserthan1 Book 2: https://linktr.ee/fragmentsofhope Portfolio and Contact Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thecreativearray

Image Credits
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The SCAD Museum of Art SCAD The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures