How to Analyze and Elevate Your Business with Megan Randig, Mezoozah Boutique

It's been 10 years. Can you believe it? It not only has been 10 years here at the Hub, as you know, but with so many members of our community today I'm really excited for you to meet my friend Megan who is one of the owners with her mom of Mezuzah now for a long time, honestly way back to the beginning of the Hub, I can remember following Mezuzah Boutique on Facebook. They were one of the early adopters, but they were one of the early adopters really with a different business model and, and they have evolved from a home and gift line into a full scale boutique. So I'm excited. Today Megan is taking us behind the scenes of what it's like to to run that business, to really buy that business 10 years ago with her mom and to make big changes that have shifted and allowed Mezuzah to become what it is. Today we're going to talk about going in depth and managing inventory and understanding the big changes in in their business and why they made them and how you can analyze your business in the same way. It's so important to know your numbers and to really know what is going to sell through in your business so you can continue to make great buying decisions as you go forward. So get to meet my friend Megan, the owner of Mezuza Boutique. As we celebrate 10 years together. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast this week and to our 10 year anniversary series series which I'm so excited to continue today with Megan from Mezuzah. I've got to start here. So we were just talking before the podcast started. I can remember following you guys a long time ago, even early in the boutique Hubs journey. So it's so cool that we're sharing this business anniversary together. But you have a really unique story as to how you started, how you started in the business. So take me back to 10 years ago where things started with Mezuzah.

Okay, well thanks for having me today. First off, I remember when you guys first appeared on my social feed 10 years ago and I thought this is pretty cool. And I, you know I think that over 10 years, the growth of y' all's company, our company, has been something that is just really exciting to see in a world where things sometimes just don't go as you always think they should. Right. Ten years ago we bought the company. So a little lay of the land. Before that I was. My husband and I did a side business. We, it was called Starr Designs and we went to shows, craft shows, local festivals. I did Canton train days and if you're from Texas, you kind of know what that is. We did that. My mom would come in and help me on the weekends and at one of these festivals we met up with a person who was selling a product and then they gave us that information because that person was no longer going to sell the product. So we got in touch with the company. Back then it was called Mezuzah. And within about a year or so we had been approached about purchasing the company. You know, the owners were looking to sell and that's what we did. So January of 2013, I left my full time job and went into business with my mom. I come from a family business. My parents have an office together. So self employment is something that kind of runs in the genes. And so this was just a pretty cool experience to get to run this and operate this fully with my mom and have that time with her. So awesome. We originally when we got Mezuza, it was more wholesale. It was a sign company and I, you know, I'm not like signs like, like home decor that you would see in your, in your home, you know, pegram done kind of things if you're familiar, you know, with the, with the bigger brands out there now. But 10 years ago, that industry doing these signs, we would hand make them, we would go and set up at shows. And so our business has changed a little bit in the last 10 years obviously because now we're fully retail and no wholesale at all. But to get that opportunity 10 years ago was just something that was a God thing and it was something that I will be forever grateful for.

So I love that I want to talk through all the details of just how the product did change and moving from wholesale to retail, all that. But before I do, just take me back to this part of the story. What is the meaning of Mezuzah? Where did that name come from?

So originally when we purchased the company, that's what it was named. And in our mindset at the time, we were afraid because it was 95% wholesale that we would lose our customer base. You know, we Were new to the game, new to the whole retail side of it. Honestly had no idea what wholesale even meant. I mean, we understood, you know, maybe half the product kind of thing as far as value, but it was just a whole thing. So we were afraid to lose that customer base. So we kept the name the same. A mezuzah in biblical times is, it was a holder of the Jewish laws. So back in biblical times, the mezuzah, they would write the laws of the time on a parchment paper and it would go inside of this container that would be applied or put up next to the doorpost of their home. And so with the signs being mostly inspirational scriptural, that is where the name was originally derived from. So.

Okay, awesome. Good to know. I did not know that story until recently, so. So good. So how did you. When you guys got started and really were, you know, getting, I. I would say cutting your teeth in this industry, right? How did you guys first decide that you needed to switch up product lines and move from wholesale to retail? Like, what led you down that? And how did you start to grow and just, I would assume it was a deepening of your understanding of just your inventory management and your financials and where you had opportunity for margin. Talk me through some of those decisions that kind of led you to what you have today for a product line.

Okay, well, like I said, it was mainly handmade signs, you know, and so as we worked through things, we. We didn't even screen print those at the time. I mean, they were straight out using stencils, just Mylar stencils, all kinds of stuff like that. And over time, as we, we were just in business, meaning we moved the business here from Waxahachie, I'm sorry, from Weatherford, Texas. And when we got it here, we needed a place to land. It made more sense for us to have a place that would offer some kind of walk in traffic so that we could, you know, sell some of the goods and not just do the wholesale side, you know, kind of help pay for the electricity and the water and that kind of thing. And so we found a building downt in our town in Taylor and we rented it, renovated it, and just over time, as we had more and more walk, walk in traffic, you know, a lot of people we found were looking for additional items. You know, they, they would come into a store and they wanted to be able to find, you know, a home decor, but also an easel for that, for that sign. And then, oh, hey, they want a candle to go with it kind of thing. You know, to make a complete package as a gift option. And so as we moved through that industry and just kind of the. The years kind of changed, and we started bringing in, you know, we brought in T shirts first. Couture Tea company was one of our, you know, brands. Still is one of our brands, but, I mean, we've been with them for the long haul kind of thing nine or 10 years now, and just started bringing in. We brought in some candles. Then we went into the. I'm trying to think what else. We started bringing in more home decor. We started going to market. We were already vending at market for wholesale. So we would take a day or so out of it and go and shop for the store itself. I would say 2017. So about four years in, we brought in clothing, and it was a slow introduction. You know, we bought a sign company. You know, we bought a wholesale sign company. And so bringing in that retail side was a big step. You know, the money side of things. You know, you're already, like, investing so much money and capital into employees and making a product and visually putting things out there and then trying to adapt and learn the retail side of things and really go from just a basic product of something that we made and just having only those handmade items in the store to other items. You know, it took a lot of leaps and bounds and faith to just get that far for us. But once we bought clothing in, it just kind of skyrocketed for us. To be honest, it has been. I think the first company that we started with was Southern Grace. I don't remember if it was called something else at that time, but those crochet tanks at the bottom, they had, you know, it was a solid tank and the crochet bottom, like, staple, you know, and all of our ladies loved it, you know, and it just kind of went from there. So.

Yeah, you know, what's so interesting about that, Megan, is I think this is always a surprise to me. Even 10 years in, this has been a surprise. I always thought of a boutique as, you know, like a curated, independent boutique. Like, you might carry clothing, you might carry home gift, like all kinds of things. To me, it's very intermixable. But really, like 10 years ago, there was really a divide of I am home and gift or I'm clothing, like, two very different things. So you're a really great example of someone who came from home and gift and then brought in the boutique and the clothing, and it really grew. And I just think there's so much opportunity for that crossover from both directions today to help businesses be successful. What are some of the things when you made that transition to first bring in clothing? It sounds like number one, you found a really hot product so that, you.

Know, money makes money makes anything easier.

But what are things you wish you would have known or you think would be helpful for those who are still in home and gift and want to carry clothing? What were some of those biggest lessons you learned through that process?

One of the biggest lessons I guess would be that find your niche as far as within your clothing. Know what your customer age is looking at currently in your, in your store. You know, I mean if your customer age ranges 25 to 45 or that, you know, early mom to like later mom, high school, teen mom of a high school, high schooler. Look for, go for the clothing that they will wear. You know, I mean linens and stuff may not be what they wear or the super young chic, like trendy older teen, I guess college age. That may not be your market. But find whoever your customer is and start diving into that. Don't try to bring in an 18 to 75 year range. There's just no way in the market that you can do that affordably. And I wish at the time we kind of tried to go wide and I think at the time, had we narrowed our aspects down a little bit more and really focused on who our customer was or is still currently, that we would be. It would have been easier for us.

Man, that's solid advice. That's such solid advice. Because I believe when you target everyone, you reach no one. And as simple as like it sounds simple, right? Like know your customer and build into the niche. There's just too many options when it comes to clothing to try to be everything to everyone. But even some of the biggest boutiques today still struggle with that. But like that is the thing that separates you is really dialing in that customer base and not trying to get greedy with going too wide and reaching everybody. What, what about like kind of going hand in hand with that? I'm sure you learned a lot just in inventory management and dialing down those numbers and really creating a plan as to what you were going to stock, how much you were going to stock, how you're going to mark it down. What have been some of your biggest just inventory management lessons over 10 years.

For us, one of seasonally we do really well with Christmas and then another huge season for us would be game day. Not necessarily collegiate level, but high school. You know, we have kind of really niched into that. And for us, it is dialing down and finding those. During this time. What I am trying to sell is game day. I am not trying to sell, you know, home and, like, not home and gift, but I'm not. I'm not trying to sell candles or things that garden supplies I like. I'm not trying to sell that kind of thing right now. So for me, it would be knowing the time of the year and planning for that as you plan ahead for things, you know, as you're planning in March for your summer launch and as you're planning maybe in May for your game day launch, really being dialed into that and really putting that time and knowing I, you know, my money allocated during this time really needs to focus on that, because that's going to give us the biggest bang for our buck right now. That's going to reach the most customers because at that time, that's what they're looking for. And I'm not perfect. We're not perfect. You know, it in doing this, we fail at some of these seasons sometimes. So it's not always something that I can speak it all day long, but it's not necessarily going to be something that I still struggle. I mean, I still struggle with it. I don't follow it 100%. Mom is really great. Carrie is her name Carrie Surratt. She is really great at kind of trying to dial me back in, like, okay, do we really need to. To get, you know, A, B, A through F? Can we just start with A through C? Because that's really going to hit that market. And so having her as that sounding board has been really a blessing because it really helps to narrow down what we're looking for and what really is going to hit our customers and what they're going to need at the time.

So, yeah, yeah, That's, I bet, very helpful. It's an overwhelming process, isn't it? Just really trying to hit the mark on your own. So good for you to have your mom. What about if someone's listening in there? I'm going to say, in the first two years of business, like, still pretty new. Walk me through, in just a little bit more detail, your process as you're setting up that launch, as you're getting ready to go to market, like, kind of step by step, what do you and your mom work on? How do you create your plan? What are some of the must dos when you go to market? Just to make sure you're hitting the inventory and just keeping those numbers in check, but also hitting your Opportunity for margin at the same time.

So let's talk game day because that's kind of the hot topic right now. So if I was, you know, back in May, we're starting to gear up for this last year we really boosted and, and did some booster boutique, not booster boutique, some like fundraising options for some of our local booster clubs. And it was a really neat option that I had actually gotten from a local friend who owns a boutique and a different town pretty near to us. But if I am, if I am getting ready for a July and August launch, then I need to be, you know, in May I really need to have. Okay, I'm thinking what schools am I going to buy for? Are we looking just for T shirts this year? Are they going to want clothing like additional pieces? Some of our greatest vendors, Texas True Thread, some of those have come out with just solid game day options. A purple cardi or a maroon pullover or something like that that would go with these additional accessories that we're gearing for. But as we start looking in May, we, we really just start planning for what schools locally we're really going to, going to try to hit. And then as we start looking at clothing, we know that clothing is going to come, you know, we're seeing a, you know, a shoot date for mid July. Then we need to make sure that the clothing coming in that time is set to match somewhat to our local school colors. I'm not going to bring in lime greens and other offset, you know, lavender when my local school is actually a deep purple and white, you know, or a forest green and white. I'm going to really dial in my outside accessories. As far as looking at marketing, I would if I was going, you know, June is one of your big home and gift ones for Dallas area. We don't, we've never been to Atlanta, but going to Dallas by June. I have nailed down what I think our T shirts need to look like. You know, I know that our jeans need to be. We carry a lot of Judy blue and I know that it needs to be just non distressing, you know, sending coming out in July because teachers are going back to school and you can't wear holy jeans to school, that kind of thing. And so when I hit, when we hit market in June, we're at that point not necessarily purchasing game day tees as far as specific school spirit with Taylor or Thrall or anything like that on it. But we're purchasing, you know, do we, do they want coasters, do they want cups, you know, mugs or something tumblers. We've really hit some great products from different vendors that have come out over the last couple of years that just really kind of puts all of that niche together that it becomes more than just a T shirt season that I'm trying to sell tons of T shirts. I'm trying to sell a full, you know, a shirt and a cardigan and a necklace and some earrings that match it as far as upselling all of that together, that complete outfit. But then if they're hosting a, you know, a party or a senior football, you know, parent night before the game the night before, then they, they want, you know, those glasses or those mugs or whatever that have the tiger on them, you know, just really dialing into whatever the school spirit theme is for your local, for your local schools.

Hey guys, real quick. It is a big week and I wanted to just give you this heads up. I know you are hustling trying to prepare for the fourth quarter and your biggest holiday season yet and we're trying to do the same for you on hubventory.com this week is our holiday feature week on Hubventory helping you map out by collection, by brand, however you like to shop to get you the goods that are going to sell through in your boutique during the fourth quarter. So this week check out featured exclusives from main strip, tons of live sales from brands on Hubventory, Member exclusive discounts, free shipping, 5%, 10% off for those of you who are members at the boutique Hub, plus all kinds of new products and new boards to help you plan your season. Check out gifts for the homebody, gifts for your best friend, gifts for teachers, stocking stuffers, gifts for the western fashionista, all the different types of gift ideas. Whether you sell apparel, home gift, children's and men's, there are tons of new brands and products every single day@hubventory.com plus I'm going to let you in on a little secret. You're the first to hear it. If you also sell your products on Shopify, we have a brand new feature this week launching where when you purchase products on Hub and Tory, you can automatically sync your new products into Shopify. With one click. You can set the prices. You can use the photos provided to you by the brand. It should save you tons of time and energy getting your products once they're purchased or once they're shipped. You choose automatically uploaded to your Shopify account so that as soon as they come you can start selling quicker. You guys check out holiday feature week on hubventory.com. when you think about, you know, all of that inventory and just, even just marketing strategy of launching those collections, what has been some of the biggest like maybe do's and don'ts you've learned on launching those collections on social over the last 10 years? Obviously we know it's changed a lot, but what's been some of your just go to social strategy.

I do. Some don'ts would be don't wait. Sometimes the waiting game, sometimes there is that fear of putting and spending that money, not necessarily on social or advertisement there, but just the big step you're going to take in trying to put out multiple products at a time. And for me, I'm an overthinker. My mom and I both are the same way. And so I know that if one of my suggestions is just not to, you know, not to wait. If you are comfortable with what your, your game plan looks like for whatever season you're going into, then be ready for it. You know, pull that trigger, go ahead and get those, those, you know, clothing items ordered. You know, know social media wise, you're going to need graphics. So jump onto Canva and start playing around with things ahead of time, A month or so ahead of time before the launch just to kind of get an idea of like layout. Are you, you know, are you looking for something more modern, more sparkly, like what, what fits your store? And that's kind of for us, as we've grown, that has helped us a lot is, is me or one of my team members jumping into Canva or looking at different social options, planning TikToks around game day launches, that kind of thing.

Yeah, that's helpful.

Yeah.

So let's just say you get the dreaded overstock, right. Let's say you plan to launch and you brought in all this inventory and then God forbid there's a bunch left over. What have been some of your most successful promotions or ways of just moving over stock after that launch season's over.

For us to really honestly, you go back to the early days of Facebook before there's, you know, comment selling and even before, you know, before the numbers or whatever, we, we do sell threads. I know that that's probably like a kind of thing like, oh my gosh, you have to like invoice manually but still work customers, our customer base, like that's what they, they look for. You know, if I'm trying to move inventory, I'm not necessarily the first couple of times maybe that I'm trying to move it. I am not necessarily marking it down to like, to wholesale price. You know, I'm going 25% off. Or I may do an in store event at the end of the season saying, hey, let's, you know, let's stock up. Or I may, you know, if it's a, if it's whatever, I don't know, say it's school spirit again because literally that is what my life is right now. School spirit. Because it's such a big thing for us. But say it's, you know, November and football is over. School spirit really doesn't end with football. It's, it's, you know, basketball time or wrestling or, you know, tennis is starting to kind of think about it because it happens in January. How are you pairing those leftover school spirit items to really drive to that traffic for the next season? It doesn't have to be a huge visual merchandising display. It can be a smaller one. But for us it's. We're either moving things through sell threads or we are repurposing them and just maybe minimalizing some of that down. If we've had a successful sale thread, you know, again, my customers, they, they really love that I could put everything on sale on the website and I may get 20 orders maybe, you know, but I can do a sell thread and we'll have 65 orders. And it's just something that over the years, this is what we've trained them for. And I can't ask them to start going online and trying to buy something because they want me to post it there for them. And I feel as a, as, you know, as what I'm trying to bring in as, as customers and customers that become friends and that kind of thing, they want that extra touch or that extra communication. And so for us, that's how we have to do it. I think that some, if you're running through social media as far as like maybe you have an app and you're just doing sale launches through that with those notifications, that works too. Because if you've trained your customer to use the app and really just check out through that often, then I would launch that, you know, I would launch whatever your customer base kind of has become used to with, with your business.

So I think you bring up a really good point and that is there is no one size fits all answer or way of doing things. Right?

No. And if that's what works for you.

I think that's kind of the blessing and the curse even of like what I see in our Facebook groups at the Hub from time to Time, time. You know, one boutique might be killing it with this certain strategy, but if you've trained your customers totally different, that might not work for you. So I love that you bring that up because it's absolutely true across the board. I. I would assume that in 10 years, you've also had lots of team stories you could share. Tell me about your team and how you've trained and built and really optimized your team to help you and your mom along the way.

So we'll start with. My mom lives two hours away, two and a half hours away. So she lives up north, you know, south Fort Worth in Cleveland. I live in Taylor, and that's where the store is based. So she has been able to be there and come down often. But really building that team outside of that is finding. Finding those. Those people that really just mesh with what you're trying. What your customer, they're really just trying to mesh with. Not. It's not my vibe. I'm not looking for someone to necessarily, like, think I'm awesome, because that's not what it is. It's about what fits with our customer. You know, are you. For us, I need my team to be able to talk to our customers out on the floor. That's a big thing because when they come in and that brick and mortar experience, they want that conversation. You know, there are some that were just like, hey, I'm good, please don't bother me kind of thing, and that's okay. But as far as our team members, I want that conversation happening because that helps with upselling. It helps with getting to help those customers relax in a setting that maybe they're kind of nervous about. What do I do? What. What do I spend my money on? I don't know what to get kind of thing. So having for us, our team members, just having that conversation flow with people, that's super important to us. I have made many, many mistakes over the years, and I'm sure anybody in this position would say the same thing. I have learned so much. I would even say at times I would love to just fade into the background and just kind of be the back end, you know, but that it doesn't always get to happen. You know, I don't get that option. But I think as far as when you're building a team, you want to find like minded individuals that are there to really promote your brand as well. You know, that that's. It's not about them spending the money in your store all the time. It's not that it's more about, you know, are they. Are they comfortable coming and talking to you? Are they comfortable bringing their kids in and their husband in after work, in the. In the evenings when we're all up there late and, you know, their husband brings us all food kind of thing? Creating that family atmosphere is important. And, you know, again, I say as over. Over the years, I have failed with, you know, with some, but our team members, I. I've learned that the growth that happens can be internal as well as with your team members. And that as you develop and as you grow as a. A boss, as a communicator, you realize that sometimes just. Just having that relationship, that familial relationship with your. Your girls that are working for you or your guys that are working for you, that's super important, because you want them to be able to feel comfortable enough to come and talk to you. Not only about a customer who was maybe, you know, rude to them or maybe, you know, they felt like they overstepped on a customer's boundaries, but also if they're having their own issues, you know, or their own personal issues, you want that communication there because that's how you build those bonds with them. I've got one person that's been with us for about five and a half years, and she's incredible. You know, before that, I had another person who was there who was with us for about four and a half years. It's kind of like, you know, Kendra. Kendra kind of left, and then Tracy came in, and it's just. You find with your team members, you find who your right hands are, who. Who, like, I couldn't do this without, you know, Tracy or some of my other girls that have come through. You know, I've had some that come and go, you know, go off to college, and then they come back and then for the summer. And I think it's super important to try to build as much as you can, a team atmosphere. But again, I'm gonna tell you that I've failed at that sometimes. So it's never going to be a perfect thing, and it's never going to be what on paper it should be and what it should look like.

And.

But I think as long as you're trying your best with your team and they're putting forth the effort, too, and you're just trying to grow your business or that business together, then that is all you can ask for.

Yeah, I love that. And I would bet everyone listening who has a team can 100% raise their hand and say, been there, right? It's not perfect and it's certainly not easy. It's humbling to grow a team, isn't it? It is something.

It is humbling very much. Say something I hear you say that.

I think is so important. And this is the vibe I get from you, Megan, is you're more interested in developing a human and a person than just building somebody who's going to help you grow your business. Like, you're really invested in your team as individuals and helping them all, like, kind of mesh together and form a common goal more than just what can you do for me? And I think that probably speaks volumes for you and your business and anyone growing a team is to have that focus on the individual first. So that's, that's awesome. Thanks.

Yeah.

All right.

My husband. So, yeah.

All right, tell me this. So after 10 years, what is the best piece of advice you've ever gotten?

I've heard, I believe you say this, but don't give away the farm. And then the meaning of it is set your margins to where you can make. I'm not talking about a frothy living. Like, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about enough to be able to set those margins. Don't just, you know, double, but take 25 off, that kind of thing. Don't short, short yourself on any aspect because you are not giving yourself enough credit for what you bring to the table. And if you don't give yourself enough credit, then what is going to make those customers or those team members buy into you, so to speak? You know, you're not spending money with them necessarily in that, in that you're not trying to buy them off. But don't shorten, don't short yourself in, in the making of what you're trying to do because otherwise you may lose yourself in that. And that's not always a, a viable option in the end, you know. So, yeah, with family, sometimes it can be, you know, it can be hard and it's stressful. And so I would just say just your kids are only going to be young once. Build that brand, that, that business to where you can still step away. You know, I mean, early on in our, in our time frame when we were with our business, we did shows. We did shows almost every weekend. And I don't do shows anymore. We quit that about four years ago. But those early years, I miss my kids, you know, not their first steps, but I missed full out weeks with them sometimes if we're traveling to Canton, you know, I mean, we left on A Monday and came back on a Sunday kind of thing. I miss those early years. And don't short yourself personally. Don't short yourself emotionally. Take care of yourself, because that will reflect in your business as well. If it's. If you let it go too far, if you. If you. You know, if. If you let your anxiety take over, then you're not helping anyone. You're only hurting yourself and those around you. So I would just don't short yourself. You know, be the best, but take time for your family. I wish, you know, if I could go back, I would take more time with my family and figure out better ways to grow the business outside of me thinking I have to do it all or I have to be there for everything. You know, trust other people enough that they can. They will help grow your business as well.

All right, Megan, well, I have one last question for you, and you've been so generous with time and input, and I. That was really good advice. I couldn't agree more with everything you just said, man. Especially just making time for your kids and family. That all. When people say it goes fast, I don't think I realize what that means until now. It goes so fast. So let's fast forward, right? Thinking about time, let's fast forward even 10 years from now, 20 years from now, and you're with your family and you're sitting on the front porch somewhere, and you're looking back at this journey you've been on in business and life and experience. What's the thing, as you're looking back on all of this, that you want people just to remember the most about who you are and how you live?

I think for us and for me personally, I would want people to remember us as being kind and showing grace and us helping other organizations, you know, schools, locally, that kind of thing is something that fills my cup, honestly, as a person and as a business owner, being able to offer and help those other organizations out, you know, giving those fundraising items when they need it, that. That is something that doesn't always come easy. But for me, it's a fill. It's a personal fill. And I would want them to. To remember that we sh. You know, we should. I showed kindness, you know, grace, and that in all things, that we did whatever we could to help them out as well. So.

I love that generosity above all else. Right. An opportunity to not only build a business for yourself, to share in it with others. Awesome. Well, Megan, thanks so much. Congratulations on 10 years. Thank you for being a part of the boutique hub for such a long time. And just for sharing your wisdom and your story with us today.

Thank you. We appreciate y'.

All. Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.

Sam.