An entrepreneur whose brain ‘exploded’ when he sneezed has described how the near-death experience became the inspiration for his success. Sam Messina, who is now 26, was studying at the University of Alabama in September 2016 when a freak incident led to the discovery of a deadly aneurysm in his brain. While lying in bed, he sneezed and suffered a stroke before being rushed to the hospital. Doctors later diagnosed him with arteriovenous malformation, which causes a tangle of blood vessels in the brain. Sam underwent three surgeries in a week to remove the blood clot and thankfully made a full recovery.
Despite the terrifying experience, Sam chose to use it as positive inspiration, and it led to the creation of his business. He is the founder of Moouse Media and Moouse University, which specializes in creating videos for brands. Sam told Jam Prime, “It immediately revamped my whole life because I didn’t have hockey, I didn’t have school, I didn’t have friends to hang out with. All I really had was myself and my passion. So that was how I came into this whole career, having a really random brain surgery that you would have thought threw my whole life off track. But in reality, it pushed me to where I needed to be, and that was behind the camera.”
What started as a hobby has turned into a six-figure company, and Sam’s business is on target to turn over seven figures. He first began by making sorority and brand videos, and his business took off as more people wanted to capture their college memories on camera. Sam graduated with a major in advertising two years later, and he decided to keep his business going as well as launching a second company called Moouse University. During Covid, Sam spent a lot of time planning his next move for the business and decided to move to Los Angeles, where he now lives in Beverly Hills.
Moouse University is a community where Sam helps college students who are trying to find their passion and build a brand for themselves. He teaches them how to do the business side of things and connects them with work, helping them to be professional and how to become a brand themselves. Sam also works with well-known brands like Gucci Mane, Acura, MLB Network, and personal brands. His dream for the next five to ten years is to connect with as many cool brands as possible and see them grow as he grows.
Sam Allcock is the CEO of PR FIRE – PR & Content Marketing Platform
Talks about #pr, #blogs, #marketing, #socialmedia, and #pressrelease
Writes for The Dial in his own time.
