About

Samuel Paladin

I was 43 years old, and 17 years into my corporate accounting career when one day I said to my wife, Michelle:

“I just want to quit and start mowing lawns.”

What brought me to this point was having worked long days for 16 days straight, including on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. I had even worked a few hours on Christmas Day, and I was completely burned out and exhausted — mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

That was the day I realized I had built my life around my career, rather than my career around my life. It was also the day I recognized I didn’t have the tools to cope with the stressors in my life.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was starting to learn that changes in life require new tools for my life-management toolbox — that I would never have it all “figured out” because life + experience + age will always challenge me.

That day happened nearly 10 years ago.

I ended up not starting a lawncare business, although that always remains an option. I love being outside in the sun, being in motion, and the end result of a well-cared-for yard, so I always keep that as a backup plan.

What did happen though:

• I immediately got out of a toxic work culture and then …
• Helped three other back office teams recover from similar toxicity by leading with empathy and developing a high-challenge / high-support culture
• Changed my career focus and learned how to build and scale businesses across multiple industries
• I started writing fiction, studying all about how to tell stories and wrote six short books pretty quickly in succession and then stopped writing for a season
• Created a CFO consulting practice which has led to me having advised many different companies
• And now, in 2022, after a difficult four years, I’m returning to my love for writing — in both fiction and in sharing what the past four years had taught me

My wife, Michelle, and I have been married for more than 30 years. This woman, the love of my life, has recently recovered from stage three cancer as of this update, and is beginning the healing process. We have five children together and we’ve gained two children-in-law so far. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future we will have some grandchildren to spoil.

I studied accounting at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and then business admin at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I have a couple of certifications to go along with my two degrees. More important to me is that I am in constant learning mode. I appreciate those early learning and certification experiences which gave me some core tools and a foundation of the love of learning.

At the age of eight I had a sacred experience with the Holy Spirit during my too-young mother’s funeral which gave me a firm testimony of the divine role of Jesus Christ in Heavenly Father’s Plan, and I was baptized a few weeks later. That early experience has guided me my entire life

After marriage, Michelle and I lived in Utah for ten years, Arkansas for a year, Mississippi for four years, and Oklahoma for 13 years. Thanks to the flexibility of today’s technology, the location of our family members, and the call of the mountains, we now make our home in the Magic Valley in Southern Idaho. Do a search for the Snake River Canyon or the Sawtooth Mountains and you’ll see how magic it really is.

About Samuel Paladin LLC

Samuel Paladin LLC is the publishing, education, and e-commerce company run by Samuel Paladin. The Company is based in the Magic Valley of Southern Idaho, not far from the Snake River Canyon.