Gef’s 30 Under 30 2024 Winners: Q&A with Sam Levi

Ten categories. Thirty young visionaries making their mark on the Isle of Man. Introducing the 2024 #Gef30Under30 winners: the next generation of our island’s leaders.

The Startup Grind Entrepreneurship Category Winners knocked our judges’ socks off, proving that living on a small island is no excuse for small thinking.

What is your name and age?

Sam Levi, age 29.

Job title or role in the community?

Managing Director at Smoky Sam’s BBQ.

How did you start your career or role in the community?

I started as a chef when I was 15 in a small pub kitchen washing dishes and running food, over my career I have worked in fine dining hotels, ski resorts, restaurants, café bars and smokehouses, I always wanted to open my own restaurant so finally getting that opportunity with Smoky Sam’s was a dream come true.

In one sentence, summarise your journey so far as a young and successful person under 30.

It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest, an incredible whirlwind.

Tell us about your business/industry, is there something interesting about it that most people wouldn’t expect?

I own a world inspired BBQ restaurant, I think that it can often be over looked how much work goes into producing each item that goes on a dish before the customer gets it, especially in BBQ when some of the meats take up to 18 hours to cook. I really enjoy how food and eating brings people together.

Have you experienced any hurdles in your career or community efforts and if so, how did you overcome them?

Hospitality is a challenging industry with a lot of long unsociable hours that can lead to difficult mental health issues and strains on personal relationships, I think that over the last few years since COVID there has been a large push from the industry to make it a more sustainable working environment with staff welfare and work life balance being a main topic of conversation. Hopefully this will lead to more young people seeing hospitality as career that they could thrive in rather than just a stop gap job.

Tell us about why you think you won in the Entrepreneurship category?

I’m very surprised that I was nominated and won, it was not something that I expected. I am super proud of myself and everything that I achieved after having moved here 2 years go, from being apart of Tacoma opening to starting my own business and seeing that grow into a restaurant has been an incredible journey.

Who are your role models, either on-island or off, in your sector or outside of it?

One of my first bosses, Phill Jeffrey who became a close friend, taught me so much about hospitality and has been a huge support during our opening months with lots of tid bits of advice from his own experiences opening and running his own restaurant.

My girlfriend Nicole has been a constant pillar of support and helped me to believe in myself and build the business to where it is today, with both of us being experienced chefs she really understands the daily pressures which has been invaluable to me.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

To believe in myself and that if you are genuinely passionate about something and you work hard you can achieve anything.

What do you wish you knew when you were getting started in your career?

I wish I had slowed down and took my time, I pushed pretty hard up the ladder and took my first head chef position at 21. If I could do one thing differently it would have been to take my time and work my way up more organically. Everything always seems to have a way of working itself out though!

What are your plans for the future?

We are looking to grow the restaurant into a full time site that can operate all year round (if you know of any restaurants kicking around let us know!)

What changes do you hope to see in your sector or community in the coming years?

With the costs of everything going up the customer is beginning to see less ‘value for money’ when dining out as they have less disposable income and restaurant prices increase to cope with increasing bills, I would hope to see some support from the government to allow businesses to offer better rates of pay to younger people and make the industry a more appealing career path.

What, for you, are the benefits of staying on or moving back to the island for young people under 30?

As someone who moved to the Island under the age of 30 I think it offers a lot of opportunities in a close knit community that is second to none, without the community support I wouldn’t have had the opportunities that I have!

What does being a Gef’s 30 Under 30 winner mean to you?

Sometimes be hard to see the value in what you are doing when you are living it everyday, and being nominated for Gef’s 30 Under 30 really gave me a confidence boost. It has made all of the hard work feel validated and recognised and I am so grateful that I have been selected as a winner this year. THANK YOU!!!