Sam Gipson

I was born in Washington State November 24, 1984. . I grew up in a town of 372 called Mansfield, WA. My family was a party of five with my mom, dad and two younger brothers: Nathan and Rocky. My middle brother and I were close in age, which made us extremely competitive, but this contributed to our success in sports.

My high school years rolled around and I was restless, eager to hang with the big boys, ready for adult life. I was your typical high school athlete my freshman and sophomore years. Trouble here and there, sports, and girls. My junior year I decided it was time to grow up and started concentrating on school, sports, and drama. I participated in FBLA, Drama, ASB, basketball, football, and baseball. See Football Highlights

I was a very talented athlete. I had a passion for basketball and I was a natural football player. I could never watch baseball but loved to play it. My high school dream was to go to the state basketball tournament. My senior year, I led our team to the tourney for the first time since '87. For that year I was honored - Associated Press "First Team All-State."

After high school I went on to play college basketball for a junior college near Fresno, CA. That year I decided to red-shirt because I was never use to sitting the bench and competition was very good. I wanted four years of playing time. With practice and training four and a half hours a night, there was no way to join the drama club, which also practiced at night. I really wanted to keep acting but didn't have the time.

Juggling the hobbies, I decided that during the summer I was going to test the other option and go to Fashion Rock in Orlando, Florida, which has now changed it's name to Talent Rock. Lou Pearlman, the manager of a couple groups you may have heard of; N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, LFO and more, founded the event. I competed for acting and modeling and ended up taking home the title of "Top Commercial Print Model" along with $5,000 and an endorsement contract for Fashion Rock.

I had eight callbacks the next day and talked with many managers and agents from LA and New York. I went home and sat on it for a couple weeks. Out of everyone I spoke with in Florida I decided to sign with Patrick Welborne from AKA Talent. I just had a good feeling and felt he was the most ambitious. Weeks later, after major conversation with Patrick, I decided to make the move to LA and pursue the career.