Each day, as you will learn from his interview, Sam wakes up simply happy.

Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Just ask his girlfriend and coworkers. To quote Forrest Gump, “- – it happens,” but we haven’t seen him with anything but a happy face.

HofArc’s Project Manager prefers the simple life. Sam Jaquette (prounounced ja-KET) hopes to inspire others to live a simple, mobile lifestyle.

Raised in the Midwest by entrepreneur parents, he endearingly refers to as, “a couple of hippies.” When he moved out to California for college, Sam lived in his car for a week, then a hostel. “I could not have been happer!”

Simple. Happy. Clearly, he inspires by example.

HofArc: Would you share a bit about yourself? What influenced your decision to work at HofArc?

Sam: I grew up in the middle of Michigan’s woods on a 300-acre farm with two sisters and a brother. When I was in high school I caught the bug of owning my own business and starting washing my teachers cars after school and finishing decks and cleaning houses on the weekends. I also started a motocross club in my local community so my friends and I could receive discounts on parts and labor for our motorcycles.

By the time I was in college, I lived on and managed a 20-acre arabian horse farm. I was sitting on the couch with my girlfriend one day, reading the LA Times, when I ran across an article about what this guy named Matthew Hofmann was doing with Airstreams in Santa Barbara, CA. I was like, “omg! That’s awesome!” I went online, wrote Matthew, and started keeping an eye on him as he uploaded videos showing how he completed that first Airstream.

HofArc: Can you tell us about how you got into living a simple lifestyle and how that led you to find HofArc?

Sam: When I was about 15, I caught the travel bug. I just wanted to get out and see the world. My home was pretty much like a hostel. We had all sorts of people from all over the world rotating through the place. I like hearing their stories, so one day I started to think, “Wow, the whole world’s out there and I need to see it.”

That’s when the simplicity started engaging me. I went to five different colleges before I graduated in a four and a half years. I met a lot of interesting people along the way. One concept I was drawn back to over-and-over-again, was simplicity. The more I moved around, the more I adapted the less is more lifestyle.

I moved out to California in my Saturn Vue. My first week in Santa Barbara when I was 18, I moved into a room that was $950 a month and soon found another college student to move into my room to split the cost.

For the past 4 years, I basically just kept my radar on this company. It was my dream job. During the past five years I’ve bought four vintage Airstreams, as well as a 24-foot RV that I lived in two summers.

I traveled the world working the solar industry, learning a lot about business management and myself. This time taught me what I wanted, and what I did not want, to do for the rest of my life. So I ended up here because I kept my eyes on the prize.

As HofArc grew, I saw myself as wanting to grow with it, and that’s what brought me here today.

HofArc: What do you do at HofArc?

Sam: I’m the Project Manager. My role is to handle the communication between customers, our acquisitions team, the design team, and our craftsmen in the yard. I help develop the client’s vision, handle any customer wants and needs, and educate them to be sure they have a good understanding of what is going into their Airstream.

From there, I work with the design and construction teams to sort out those wants and needs. Step-by-step, I bring together a realistic timeline and design to meet the customers requirements. From beginning to the end, my main goal is to give the customers the best experience possible at HofArc.

HofArc: How do you hope to inspire people to lead simple lives?

Sam: As I build up in my career and get systems in place, I plan to be off the grid into a custom-designed house. Our founder and lead designer, Matthew Hofmann will be helping me on that design. I am going to build an industrial, very modern and sleek house on my family’s property, then digitize everything so I can still manage a growing role in HofArc.

HofArc’s message can be boiled down to an emotion that is very important to people — their home. HofArc’s an Architectural firm that focuses on designing smaller, simpler living spaces because the typical 2600-square-foot American home is just too big. People lose themselves.

Living in a small space allows undiluted reflection for the folks who live in them. This is why the typical HofArc project is about 175 square feet. An Airstream is also cool to look out on the outside.

As Matthew has been saying for years, “We make fit-sized stuff, with everything you need and nothing you don’t.” Both Matthew and Wally (his father, partner and HofArc CEO) have lived in an Airstream each for a year and proven this concept truly works.

I will continue to be indulge myself in a small space living so I can better enjoy life. However, this firsthand experience will better serve our current and future customers, too, because I’m living proof of how to live life to the fullest.

HofArc: I can see you really enjoy camping and being outdoors. Any other activities or hobbies you enjoy?

Sam: I love to stay active which can consist of playing soccer, going to the beach, hiking, Stand Up Paddleboarding, motorcycles and snowboarding.

People are a huge hobby in my life. I get energy from people, and my personality feeds other people energy, too. Every day I wake up happy and excited to discover what the new day has in store.

HofArc: What is your favorite part about working at HofArc?

Sam: The part of working at HofArc is the opportunity to share our collective passion with our clientele. It’s fun to engage with the customer. We are helping them prepare for the next stage of their life that’s going to be amazing. They are taking a leap of faith with us, so it’s exciting to earn their trust.

Another aspect is the opportunity for growth at HofArc. I like the way we’re growing organically. We have doubled our capacity in the past three years, yet we’ve taken on no debt. We are in a growth stage, but we’re investing in our product, our people and our process. We’re moving from a scrappy start-up to a structured company that is able to serve greater and greater markets. We’re also growing in quality, sharing this growth with our crew, and having a good time. It’s an awesome time to be here.

HofArc: Any future plans or aspirations? Dream career?

Sam: I’ve always envisioned myself with early retirement, yet being a busy body. Each week, I usually take a day off to go work on something else. I like making things with my hands. Some evenings after a day in the office, I’ll head out to one of the Airstreams and work for a couple hours, to give my body a chance to sweat and learn more about what we’re building.

In 4-5 years, I look forward to starting a family. I look forward to taking care of my parents, as they get older, too. I look forward to watching my nieces and nephews grow old and supporting my brothers and sisters along their life’s journey.

I look forward to maintaining the relationships and creating new ones. I look forward to traveling.

In regards to career path, obviously HofArc is my main focuses. We have an unlimited potential to develop the small space/mobile living concept around the world. We will respect and develop our core values for treating people right, with fairness, quality and service.

In everything we do we will interweave sustainability, renewable power, recycling and technology. I love the environment, so whatever I do in my career I know the great outdoors will play a large part in my life. That’s one of the best things about HofArc; we are rebuilding vintage trailers. Bring something back to life that was nearly thrown out.

We are giving them a second chance. Now THAT is awesome!