I received the sad news today that Samantha Sam Ritchie passed away! No one last forever and life is too short as it is and I am sure Samantha (“Steve” 30 years ago around 1990 when we met in Greensboro when I was starting) is transcending to a better place, free of pain, criticism, and controversy.  There was never a hypocritical thought that came from her brain. She was pure!  She always traveled to the beat of a different drummer and did it well.

Sam was always an independent thinker and a kind person. Back then he was a great dad and a great friend to me back in the early days in Greensboro.  Later in his independent and unabashed way became Sam or Samantha.  We actually met in another company for which I was consulting.  He was a great coder -architect and programmer. 

What stands out to me about Sam more than anything is that she was an independent un-influenceable thinker and a genius programmer.  Her eyes would roll back into her head with fingers on the keyboard clicking 100 miles an hour when she got the vision of how to code something that I drew out on the board and explained late at night.

The entire world told me I was nuts and what I was trying to do was IMPOSSIBLE!  I showed her my vision of the vertical profitability plan based on 2 (binary) that (eliminating the dilemma of horizontal or width expansion in order to work) and with the even crazier (& never heard of before) – infinite search, paying weekly, and taking time limits off. According to everyone else and experts all asserted It was IMPOSSIBLE- mathematically and programming wise / impossible!  And everyone told me so and laughed!

But not Sam Ritchie. She thought it was possible. AND THEN SHE BELIEVED!  She listened intently and asked questions and said that it was possible.  She was the first one to really believed in it and my vision and me!  I did the math, mapped it out and she spent countless days and late nights helping to program it and the tracking system I talk about in the “movie genesis story”

So, what I remember most about Samantha is the magic moments of having someone else actually believe that it could work and then believe enough to actually help do it with me.  I would have given up.  She was even a UFO for a while. I really don’t know what would have happened if Steve back then didn’t believe in me and the concept and enough to help me for years. So, to that extent we may not have been here if it was not for my friend Sam Ritchie.  It resulted in a modern-day miracle in the MPCP and UnFranchise that has positively affected thousands of lives around the world.

Thank you, Samantha, and Rest in Peace until we meet again in eternity. 

JR Ridinger