Rick Huegli joins the Samson Strength Coach Collective to celebrate 50 years of Samson Equipment and reflect on his decades-long career in strength and conditioning. From his early aspirations as a college football coach to leading programs at Wake Forest and the University of Washington, Rick discusses the realities of earning athlete trust, navigating outdated myths about strength training, and building lasting professional relationships. The conversation highlights how leadership values, reliability, and communication—both in coaching and business—have defined long-term success.
Key Takeaways
- Trust is the foundation of effective strength coaching
- Winning environments accelerate athlete buy-in
- Coaches must consistently challenge outdated strength myths
- Long-term relationships drive success in coaching and business
- Samson Equipment’s reliability mirrors Rick’s coaching philosophy
- Leadership values shape culture and longevity
- Retirement can be a meaningful transition focused on growth
- Clear communication strengthens partnerships
- Consistency matters more than trends
- Legacy is built through people, not products
Featured Quote
“You want to buy it once.” — Rick Huegli
Richard Huegli:
in my approach to strength and conditioning, my value, my center, the goal is to be competent and ⁓
where you had discipline, accountability, and work ethic. ⁓ Are your kind of your North Star. And ⁓ that’s Samson, that’s Dave.
Samson:
What’s going on Sampson Strength Coach Collective listeners? On today’s episode, we have another very special guest helping us remember 50 years of Sampson equipment and celebrating Dave and Linda for such an amazing tenure and such an amazing career. On today’s episode, we have Rick Hugley. I’m so excited to have you on. I’ve told you pre-show the legacy episodes have been my favorite ones to do so far since I’ve become a host.
I’m really excited to continue with you, Rick.
Richard Huegli:
Thank you very much. It’s my pleasure to be here and ⁓ participate in any kind of acknowledgement of ⁓ Dave and Linda and the Sampson Company. I’m flattered.
Samson:
Yeah, well, you know, it’s just been so amazing to work for them. And then what I like about these legacy episodes too, is I get to speak with people who have had the same experience I’ve had with Samson, which is just nothing but positive. It’s just been a really, really fun experience. Well, can you just give us a background of your career? You know, what your career has been like in strength and conditioning and then what you’re up to now. We’re curious too.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
you
Yeah, thanks. Oh, my career, you know, went into college and know what I wanted to be a coach figured and I wanted to kind of coach college football. And, you know, if you’re to work your way up the levels, you kind of you need to be able to pay the bills. So I said, Well, I guess I got to be a teacher. you know, I kind of
Started off, you know, went undergraduate at Western Michigan, got to work ⁓ alongside the football program for a couple years. ⁓ Taught a couple years in Indiana and then went on and got my master’s at Bowling Green where I was a grad assistant. And ⁓ from there, taught another, ⁓ coached at Finley, now University for a year and then
went and taught at Defiance High School in Northeast, ⁓ Northwest Ohio, and was there for a year, met my wife at the time ⁓ who was working at Wake Forest. And we decided to get married. I knew I could live in North Carolina and like it better, and she’d like moving back to Ohio. And ⁓ long story short, through her connection, I got
hired as Wake Forest’s first strength and conditioning coach. ⁓ And ⁓ worked there. It was a sweet spot because Wake Forest had gone from not very good to having a lot of success. And I just happened to be the strength coach at that time. But, but,
you know, I got to be a head strength coach and never, And I thought that that would lead me into becoming ⁓ maybe a football connection, but it didn’t work that way. Coaching is coaching and ⁓ an opportunity offered itself. So ⁓ I was at Wake Forest for two years and then in 1981, ⁓
got offered the strength and conditioning job at Washington, at University of Washington. a long story on how all that happened. I was there for 19 years, 18, 19 years, from 81 to about 98, 99, so that’s about 18 years. And
lot of fun. I got to grow up as a strength and conditioning coach. Getting to do that. Probably the best thing was I was the head coach for all sports, but football was highest of priorities. And I got to work with a Hall of Fame legendary coach, Don James. And they were really, really good football staff. So
As long as I wasn’t screwing up the players, I was doing all right. And over that time, I got to grow up and learn. And this was in the very beginnings of the ⁓ National Strength and Conditioning Association. ⁓ yeah, that was a second year member for them. So got to learn and grow. ⁓ Anyway, did that for.
Again, probably 18 years and then as things happen in life ⁓ and coaching, ⁓ the Reaper is going to find you. ⁓ And so we had a coaching change and I didn’t want to move all over the country to have some guy couldn’t win six games, get me fired and have to move again. So I decided to stay in Seattle. ⁓
Figuring it out, I did some things I never thought I would do. I did work as a personal trainer for a few years and then an opportunity to work at a business that’s now kind of defunct, Velocity Sports Performance, offered itself and it was great opportunity. I did that for six years with the housing bubble in 2008 that went under and
And then very fortunately, timing is everything. ⁓
got the opportunity to be the head strength and conditioning coach at Lakeside School in Seattle. Lakeside’s a very prestigious private school and the kids are really interesting. And so ⁓ I finished off my professional career 15 years at Lakeside and then I retired a year ago last July.
of ⁓ enjoying working on me and still working on things professionally in growth that I couldn’t do if I were still teaching and coaching. ⁓ you know, you kind of live your life in chapters and I’m ready for that chapter right now.
Samson:
Well, congratulations on retirement. That’s very exciting.
Richard Huegli:
Thank you. I’m kind of enjoying it.
Samson:
Yeah, I’m sure. always tell my wife I can’t wait to retire and I think I’ve got about another 30 years at least.
Richard Huegli:
Every time I got
a paycheck I was going, ⁓ one day, one check closer.
Samson:
One more, one more. What
do you do? What’s an average day for you in retirement?
Richard Huegli:
man, it’s pretty boring. ⁓ Get up, get through the newspaper really well. And then one of my priorities, my priority in retirement was I wanted to be able to work on ⁓
my own physical fitness. I’ve always stayed on top of it, but I wanted to work on the things that were gonna make me feel better. so, you I’m in the gym six days a week doing stuff. ⁓ So that’s, you know, a lot revolves around that. And then I come home and ⁓ I’ve subscribed. I’ve signed up for…
probably take the rest of my life to get through it. A couple of ⁓ course certifications that I’m just interested in. Whether I ever use it, I don’t know if I’ll ever get fluent, but the program is from Z-Health and it’s a motor neuro ⁓ brain movement. ⁓
direction and it’s fascinating and it stimulates me keeps me in the mindset of training athletes, training people, having new answers and solutions to build on some of my experience. that’s that and then you know I get to go and do a lot of visiting, go see friends from around the country and so I’m enjoying all of that.
Samson:
Yeah, absolutely. mean, that sounds, you said boring. I think it sounds pretty fantastic. I would sign up for that right away.
Richard Huegli:
it’s it’s
i like it but i i could be pretty good at sitting around and killing time and so i’m trying to not do that too well
Samson:
I’m sure it must be tough to transitioning from being a strength coach where you’re doing something all day to basically having a wide open schedule and being able to do whatever you’d like.
Richard Huegli:
You know, you reach a certain age and ⁓ you know, go, there’s just that many more birthdays coming. you know, it helped me make the transition having that perspective. I had great relationships with kids, but ⁓ I loved the job. I had a good gig at Lakeside School, but… ⁓
Samson:
Hmm.
Richard Huegli:
It just kind of reaches a time that, like I said, the clock of the birthday starts hitting and so it’s okay to go do something else.
Samson:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I’m very curious. know, I think back to my experience when I was first hired as a strength coach, ⁓ it was very easy for me to come in and get the athletes attention and have buy-in already because there’s been years of strength coaches ahead of us and people who have already set those building blocks. You know, to say you’re the first full-time strength coach at Wake Forest is pretty impressive alone. But then on top of that,
Richard Huegli:
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
Having to battle a lot of myths about weightlifting, things that stuck around even when I was a kid about ⁓ if you lift, it’ll mess up your shot, or it’ll make you less mobile and all these ⁓ fallacies essentially. What was that experience like going into Wake Forest and having to try to get people to buy into what you were selling?
Richard Huegli:
Well, fortunately at Wake Forest, the head football coach at Wake Forest was John Makovich. I probably came on board their second year and ⁓ he had a, I think a brilliant assistant coach, man named Dennis Haglund who ⁓
kind of set up some of the structure of the strength program. He was assistant coach, he wasn’t strength coach. So they hired their first strength coach and he kind of gave me a template and it was solid. My athletic background, I ran track, I ran for about 60 seconds in college. But I was a teacher mindset, an educator,
and ⁓ you know I wasn’t I wasn’t all a stereotype at that time of a weightlifter and so it’s kind of like sometimes if you don’t know a lot you can learn a lot and ⁓ so I was given good guidance I stayed kind of
patient with the kids, you build relationships and they’re gonna listen. And they had a foundation, then they won. They had a really, really, really good first year, first, the two years I was at Wake Forest. ⁓ You know, I just was really lucky to work with good coaches and good athletes and get to learn and grow through the process of the growth of strength and conditioning.
Samson:
Well, winning always helps, right? It makes it a little bit easier.
Richard Huegli:
Oh,
yeah, you know what I had? I I worked in the weight room. did weight lifting. had an education and an exercise education and was an athlete. So I mean, it’s a no brainer that the weight room is going to be a benefit to you.
Samson:
But people didn’t know that back then. They kind of again assumed it could probably hurt you more than it could help. ⁓ I remember even when I was again, some small myths I had to deal with when I first started lifting when I was 12, my parents freaked out and they thought I was gonna stunt my growth and break every bone in my body.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Wake Forest had invested in, you know, we’re going to get around to some of this, but they had invested in having a weight room and equipment. you know, so when a university makes an investment like that, they want to, they believe in something, you know, so.
Samson:
Exactly.
Well, you know, we think back to your journey and obviously you’re on the show because you’re a big part of helping Samson to succeed. When did you first encounter Samson equipment?
Richard Huegli:
Oh, man. Probably 1986, 87, 86, I was at a Southern California Strength Coaches Conference that was put on by Jerry Simmons, one of the people you’ll probably talk with. And Jerry was a go-getter, dynamic personality, really, really kind of cool. And he put this.
this clinic on and had half of the Pac-10 strength coaches speak and the other half showed up just to kind of hang out. If you’re with Jerry, you’re going to have a good time. we did that, but he had vendors and he had Dave Schroeder was there with, you know, this was probably, they were two, three years into the business probably at that point in time. And
And so I met him there. And I don’t exactly remember if that was also at the same time I was ⁓ planning on building a new weight room at ⁓ University of Washington. I believe I met him before we knew for sure. ⁓ I just, Dave is very welcoming, very capable, very, I think,
He was on top of building a relationship. I think that’s the beginning of, you got to trust the people you’re going to work with. And Dave made that easy, easy.
Samson:
Absolutely.
What was your first impression of Dave when you first met him?
Richard Huegli:
A competent guy, know, friendly, warm, he listened. I got to say he’d ask questions, but he was a good listener. you know, as I built my relationship with him, he made me, because of his, I don’t know, his confidence, his experience,
He could handle my questions and anxiety when it came down to having to plan and put together a weight room, which kind of the project we were doing was pretty daunting because the athletic director told me, listen, we’re only going to do this one time and we got to get it right. And it was, you got to find the right people. And he was the right people for me.
Samson:
Now, I totally understand what you’re saying. And even looking at small projects I’ve been a part of, which is maybe three racks and a little bit of flooring, I’m very anal and very particular about how things have to go. So if it’s a large project, I can only imagine, like you said, kind of the anxiety and the reassurance you’d need with a project like that. So can you talk to me about that University of Washington project? Because ⁓ Brian explained to me that it was a really, really big
⁓ initial project for Sampson and they’re really happy to be able to help you create that weight room. So what was the project? How was the process of actually going through everything and how was it working with Sampson?
Richard Huegli:
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it was great work with Samson. It made the job of filling in that weight room and making it a great weight room so easy for me. I I just didn’t, I found my guy and that’s the guy I wanted.
The project we were building, and this was at the time, everybody builds a new one, it’s kind of cool. I got to do homework and research, I got to visit a variety of universities and check out their equipment, but also their space design. ⁓ for one of the projects, we took architects with us.
had a clue of what a weight room was supposed to be and look like. ⁓ So anyway, we had that kind of commitment to it. It was ⁓ gonna be a 14,000 foot facility, I think at the time. ⁓ And again, the athletic director told me, we’re only building one, not. So we have to do a good job with it. yeah, yeah. And so, I got the architects.
got a plan, we had a certain space, we bought the biggest that we could get, and in the space that we had allotted. they figured out space and some of the cool amenities for making it a decent place, but then we had to equip it. from there, you gotta talk to people.
And I have built the relationship with Dave. And one of my big concerns, he’d ask questions and he’d listen. had a pretty, your space kind of defines some of how you’re going to lay it out and the number of items that you’re going to have. And so my
I had a clue of the big rocks that I wanted to have, the power racks, and we did free benches. It’s laid out way different than they lay them out now. figuring out how to lay it out, we got this space. What’s the best way to lay it out? And I had, you know, I
He had the answers for me. He had the computer that could take the equipment, move it around, ⁓ give it back to you. And nobody had anything like that that I talked to. I didn’t even talk to too many people because David ⁓ made me very confident ⁓ that he could help me with that. That was a high priority, that you’re going to help me.
get this thing done right. And then the Samson equipment was great equipment. When you buy something, you’d want to buy it once. You don’t want to have to buy it again and again and again. And so I met Dave maybe at Jerry’s conference, but then every year I’d see him at the NSEA conferences. so
I got to see a lot of his equipment, got to build a relationship with him. I’m certain that’s the order of how things went. And it was great equipment. you know.
Samson:
easy to choose. Go ahead.
Richard Huegli:
Well, I was going to say, because I don’t know if I’ll come back to remember this, so ⁓ and we can bounce back to Washington. ⁓ When I took the job at Lakeside School, I lucked out. The weight room was already tricked out. It was the coach before me.
came from the same perspective and all the equipment was Samson equipment. So, you know, I’m a lifer on Samson, you know, it was, it it just made it easy. And again, stuff doesn’t break. So, you know, it lasts forever. And that’s the way I like to.
Samson:
Did you reach out to Dave right away
when you found out it was all Samson equipment?
Richard Huegli:
Dave was kind of out of it. was more than at that time, Brian and Scott. yeah, yeah, yeah.
Samson:
But that’s got to be exciting
because I remember going into a new weight room we had at Texas Tech. ⁓ And it was from another company that I’m not a very big fan of. And ultimately, was like this coach went down the catalog and just literally picked every single thing that he could possibly buy. And we could not be more misaligned in our values of what we wanted out of a weight room. And so I ended up calling the company and saying, can we get a refund for half of this stuff? And of course not. ⁓ I mean, obviously I shouldn’t have my answer.
⁓ It’s frustrating to go inherit a space that basically you don’t really want and it doesn’t really fit with what you would like So I’m very happy to hear that was not the case for you at the high school
Richard Huegli:
⁓ yeah, no, it was fabulous. it was, it’s, it’s, you know, and then we, we built a new space. ⁓ It’s pretty close to the space that we had. It was very much a very nice area. And so we had to have some customizable things to help make our space a little more efficient. know, Brian and Scott were, we can do that.
We got that. And I knew they could. You just tell them exactly what you need, and they’ll figure it out. And that’s the other cool thing with Stamps. And can, however you want it done, they can figure it out. Now, kind of back to Washington, my challenge in doing all of this was we were a state institution. And stuff has to go on a bit.
And that was my other big anxiety because to a state purchaser, a bench is a bench. A test tube is a test tube, you know? And ⁓ so you got to spec it out. And Dave helped me with specing out the kind of caliber of equipment that we had.
⁓ that we wanted and I mean I spelled it out to thickness of the steel and you know all that stuff. I I wrote I wrote everything for him to be successful. Unfortunately when we went to the buyer the buyer ⁓ said there’s another guy that bid who’s local and and he’s got the low bid and I went to my supervisor and it’s probably the best thing this guy ever did for me.
Washington. He went with me to the head of purchasing at the University of Washington and we brought, because we were anxious about the other guy with the bid being upset and he’s got due cause to put up a stake and he came in there and we talked. ⁓
with the purchaser, the purchaser was a friend of the athletic department. But this guy said, yeah, I can do this. I can do this. But he hadn’t done it before. ultimately, thank goodness, the ⁓ head of purchasing said, you know, our athletes deserve the best and to be safe. so that’s how we were able to finally, to my relief,
get to completely ⁓ go with SAMHSA.
Samson:
Yeah, I’ve heard so many, especially since hosting this podcast, so many stories about the purchasing department. Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ But it’s so interesting to me and the common theme I’ve seen amongst it for sure is that ⁓ all the companies who would underbid Sampson on these projects no longer exist or really struggled with what they were trying to do. There was an amazing story that
Richard Huegli:
⁓ it’s political. It’s bureaucratic.
Samson:
Brian told me about a showdown they ended up having with equipment with another company that again, doesn’t exist anymore. And it’s so funny to me because these companies would come in and bid maybe 5,000 under on a, you know, it’s a minimal amount for a large project. And of course, purchasing is going to say, well, let’s just save $5,000 on this. And then all of a sudden, like you said, you’re to have to buy a whole new weight room within the next 15 years, 10, 15 years.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah, yeah, no. The guy couldn’t have gotten it done in time. couldn’t. Just all of those things. I mean, you got a timeline when you want to get it done as well. so it was a team effort getting the thing done. But you got this great space, but you got to have good equipment. And ultimately, the job is your athletes are going to use it. And you know.
If you can’t train very well, then you’re looking for a new job. ⁓
Samson:
Exactly.
You know, like you said, there’s I’m sure there’s some anxiety going into that meeting, hoping it can work out. Was there a moment in the meeting where you’re like, all right, we’ve got them. We’re good. We can definitely go Samson.
Richard Huegli:
They really pushed me on safety and ⁓ you know, and I kind of just hit, you know, there was customizable stuff. was some of it customizable. Honestly, the thing that I probably, Samson did the best that I really needed to have was their combination bench. Something simple as that, but I really, really.
That was big and it was a key feature of how we were going to use that weight room. And the guy couldn’t have done it the same way. He couldn’t have done it. And I had seen what Sampson had. And then I knew that they could, for other things, build it the way I wanted it built. again, trust. ⁓ They had experience.
⁓ He had credibility among my peers. were other, you know, Jerry. I mean, there’s a bunch of us and you’ll talk to who ⁓ were very loyal to Samson Equipment because you could count on him and you could count on him. It was going to be really good. They’re going to do it. The customizable ability. You know, all of that, you know, and he was West Coast too. That probably helped, you know.
Samson:
Which helps
for sure.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah, although
we’re West Coast, South Alaska. yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Samson:
⁓ Yeah, certainly a little bit of a different West Coast when you’re talking
about completely North and completely South within America. one of the things I’ve always heard about business is just that it’s best, the best advertising you can possibly have is word of mouth. You know, what was it that other people were saying about Samson? Was it the trust factor? You know, what set them apart from other companies?
Richard Huegli:
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you know, I think probably again, meeting Jerry ⁓ Simmons, he says, you got to talk to Schroeder and you know, Jerry, Jerry knew some things and ⁓ had a good, evidently a good relationship with Dave and then meeting Dave, he’s got answers to your questions.
and questions that help you get your own answers. ⁓ so that was the start. And ⁓ I needed to turn somewhere, and I needed to have confidence. And I wasn’t in the screwing around with finding play in the field, so to speak.
Samson:
Yeah, absolutely. You know, and again, I’m just so happy to hear that everybody kind of had the same impression of Samson. And it’s one of those things where people ask me when I host the podcast, like, would you actually recommend working with Samson? I was like, yes, like there’s no doubt because they’re such an amazing company to work with. And I remember ⁓ when I got to meet Brian for the first time at the ⁓ CSCCA, you know, I mean, I walked in the door and ⁓
Richard Huegli:
Yeah.
Samson:
Here’s one of the biggest guys in the company just sitting down on the couch and we spoke for 30, 45 minutes, you know, just hanging out, waiting for everybody else to get back. And when you call Sampson, it’s the owners who pick up. It’s the people who run the company. It’s not outsourced to other people. So I really love the family feel of the company. In your opinion, how did Sampson influence the field of strength and conditioning?
Richard Huegli:
Yeah.
Mm-hmm
⁓ well, you kind of spoke to it a little bit. mean, you could depend on them. They were always going to be around. They were always, I don’t care where in the country we had a national conference, Dave was there. He was there with his stuff. ⁓ He made relationships. so me and my peers, we’d go into the booths. We’d go into the, you know, the…
the area with all the vendors ⁓ and we’d hang out near the Stamps and Rats. We wouldn’t bother Dave, but it was just good stuff and I think we helped sell him some stuff. But we were users, so we’re happy, but they were always there. it’s…
I mean, he proved that they’re not going to go away. And ⁓ he explained their process. We all got to understand in Las Cruces, Las Cruces, the process, the people that are working there, the size of the company, ⁓ always talked fondly and favorably about the…
Samson:
Yep. Yep.
Richard Huegli:
the people that are working for him. And it was truly a family feeling with that company. I mean, he communicated that. And then in my dealings with Dave, and then he gave Scott more responsibility, and then Brian, and I mean, they’re just like Dave. They’re warm, they’re welcoming, they’re easy to work with, they’re…
and they get stuff done. When you got an issue, you want to pick up the phone and it’s always better to talk people you know.
Samson:
Yeah.
Well, it’s just, you know, I, again, with the same company that I mentioned earlier, like I was infuriated and I would call him every day because this guy would not get back to me. He would not. I mean, I literally at one point was just like, look, if you just pick this equipment up, you can have it for free. And he was like, well, we can do that. Right. And then it took two more weeks of me calling for him like every day for him to say, well, I don’t know if we can do that. You know, and then it was just like, just be straight with me and it’s fine. But it’s something rare that you deal with.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah.
Samson:
with companies that, know, the bottom line can be profit for a lot of these companies. But to me, the bottom line of Samson is providing a quality experience and a quality weight room. So I think it really stands out and makes a difference in the work that they do.
Richard Huegli:
Well, know, in some of the questions that you fast forwarded me, I thought about part of what sticks. So in my approach to strength and conditioning, my value, my center, the goal is to be competent and ⁓
where you had discipline, accountability, and work ethic. ⁓ Are your kind of your North Star. And ⁓ that’s Samson, that’s Dave. There was discipline. I knew that we’re going to make this right. We’re going to fix it. And we’re going to get it. And you communicate. There was respect among the people that worked for Samson. That link through.
He’s accountable. mean, a company would, you know, they’re going to pick up the phone and they’re going to get it. mean, because he’s relationship and and obviously there’s a work ethic because here you are 50 years later. So that’s that’s. Any organization, any football team. Plays to the character.
of its leader, its head coach. It’s a given. Any organization plays to the character and influenced by the leadership at the top. And if you’re fortunate enough to be in a good organization, you got great leadership. And that’s Dave in spades and he’s passed it on. I talked to Brian and Scott every once in how’s your dad doing? And he goes, oh, he still has his two cents in.
I think keeping it on the straight and narrow for as far as the core values for the company.
Samson:
I think that’s almost impossible not to. You built this company from the ground up, I think it would be very hard to give up on it. What was your experience like working with Dave versus working with Brian and Scott? It’s funny for me that you’ve worked with both of them throughout the process.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah, it’s his baby.
you
⁓ I worked with Scott more before I worked with Dave and I think Scott was more into sales and I was, know, sometimes sales is, you they got a spiel and Dave was a little more…
I don’t need to sell you. And Scott wasn’t ever trying to sell me. I I was actually, I wasn’t a repeat customer a lot because I bought it once and I didn’t need to buy it again. I mean, they helped me when I did need something, but they weren’t making their living off of me and my facilities after, you know.
the intention. you know, I’d see Scott, Scott was, I’d see him, you know, socially, we just, we just stayed kind of connected. ⁓ Then more when I got into high school and had some things I needed at the Lakeside School.
I’d call Scott and he’d pass me over to Brian. It soon became Brian’s a guy who gets stuff done. So, ⁓ yeah, they were good. ⁓ They were great. When we moved from the old facility into our new facility at Lakeside School, my anxiety was, how do I move?
stuff and get it set up right and this and that and so and they sent a guy ⁓ to just oversee and get it in reinstalled and that was good because that isn’t usually how how how it goes sometimes you’re on your own and make it fit perfectly and they they you know again
They were supportive for me and I think I worked through Brian to get that part done. he had some individuals that were leads with stuff that were very good, very responsive. Trust is kind of the thing, and they took care of me with all of that.
And then so I have high trust. And it’s easy to do this podcast talking about them. I sound like I’m a plant for the company, but no, they earned it.
Samson:
It seems to be a universal experience for everybody. It was like you said, it almost sounds like you were hired and paid a kickback on the side to help support Samson, but no, it’s just how the experience has been. It sounds to me like a lot of your experiences have really just been relieving of anxieties. There’s always a stress with the new facility, but with how they approached everything, they were just able to kind of, I can’t think of the right word, abate or help lower those anxieties by how they approach the process.
Richard Huegli:
100%. I looked through your booklet that you sent me ⁓ and the first third of it.
It’s exactly how they dealt with me ⁓ in 1987. It’s probably more refined. The company definitely has expanded its products and what it does and what it can do to probably be a full service facility provider a little differently than back in the day for me, which is normal growth.
⁓ yeah, the process is solid. It’s not different. It’s not different.
Samson:
I love it. again, it just goes to show why Samson has been able to celebrate 50 years. You know, if you had to describe Samson in one word, what would it be?
Richard Huegli:
⁓ man,
⁓
Consistent, constant, yeah. ⁓
would also say relationship. mean I got a lot of one but those two are I think hand in hand.
Trust, you know, again.
When I’m hanging out there and the athletic director says we’re going to do this one time, you got to do it the right way. You know, and I don’t know everything. I needed some trust and that’s that’s the basis of the beginning for me with with Samson. Dave says I can do that. We do this. We do that. I didn’t. If I had questions, you know you couldn’t you couldn’t bother him enough, you know so.
He just wanted to make sure it was going to be good because his name’s on the product. His name’s on the company. And I think it’s also one of the great things about being not a corporate. mean, they’re…
founder’s still involved, his kids are still involved. Probably many of the employees have been there forever and ever. And so you’re going to be consistent, you know, because you’re taking care of people. those are my, guess, I know that to be true, as well as I would assume that to be true. But I know it to be true because I talked to Dave and Scott I have over the years.
Samson:
I think it’s a really good thing when you ask somebody to describe something in one word and they’ve got a million positive words to come back with. It’s tough to narrow it down to just one thing.
Richard Huegli:
Yeah, that’s true. That’s
because it’s a hard question.
Samson:
Yeah, it is. It is for sure. ⁓ You know, do you have any funny stories with Dave or with Brian or Scott? You know, I’ve heard some pretty good ones, so I just want to see if you have anything in your back pocket.
Richard Huegli:
you know, if there’s any funny stories, it’s just at conferences, you know, hanging out with Scott a little bit, you know, he’s the sales guy, he’s a good social guy. But, you know, Dave, got just, Dave was just solid, ⁓ consistent, you know.
He wasn’t into the goofy goofing around nonsense that me and my peers were in when we would see him. ⁓
No, I mean, he just, you know.
Yeah, yeah, well, that’s what you wanted him for, you know. You wanted him to help you. He’s a spoke in the wheel of facility development and ⁓ an important spoke, kind of like a strength coach is a spoke in the wheel of a program or a team. You know, it ain’t all about you. It’s about being competent at what you do to be a part of the whole team success.
Samson:
He was there for the work. Yeah, there for the job. Yup, yup.
Absolutely. Well, you know, what would you like to say directly to Dave and Linda as they celebrate 50 years?
Richard Huegli:
⁓ man.
Thanks for being disciplined, accountability, and having a great work ethic. ⁓ People in this field, strength and conditioning, and it’s changed into many tentacles of fitness and performance. ⁓ They really appreciate having somebody that they can go to, and they know it’s going to be there for another. ⁓
many years and you you want to you developed it into a trustworthy brand and ⁓ congratulations on that that’s hard work and it happens because you’re high caliber character and I mean that’s leadership starts at the top so congratulations on on your fundamentals and and
built a great company and you’ve got a lot of loyal people that are very grateful that you could help them solve their problems.
Samson:
No, I love that. I think that’s a fantastic message and I truly appreciate it. ⁓ You know, again, like you said, it’s very hard work. It’s hard to do. It’s hard for a company to last five years, let alone 50 years and know that there’s even better stuff on the horizon. So I think it’s very cool to see that.
Richard Huegli:
gotta work at it hard. you know, I know a little bit enough about businesses you gotta work at it really hard every day. Or it, your reputation goes away really fast as does the business. So 50 years, that’s getting after it.
Samson:
Absolutely. Well, Rick, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your stories with us. I really appreciated it. And again, you did not disappoint me whatsoever. These continue to be my favorite episodes we do. So I greatly appreciate it.
Richard Huegli:
You ⁓
thank you so much. It’s been a privilege and an honor and to be able to even get to say thank you to Dave and Linda and Scott and Brian and the whole Samson organization is really flattering that I get to get to do that. They’re important part of, ⁓ really important part of my journey in this field. So yeah don’t minimize that. That’s a big deal.
Samson:
Well, I know they feel the same because they have told me directly so. So I can share that sentiment back from them. So thank you, Rick, so much. I appreciate you.
Richard Huegli:
Okay, cool. Good.
You’re welcome.
