Jordann DeFrias (Hazelwo o d)

as this years re c ipient of the Indigenous Leader Award.

Celebrate kindness in Kindloops with us

We’re asking for your submissions to highlight our community’s random acts of kindness. To participate, tell us the name of a local individual and something kind they did for someone else in Kamloops. We will publish your positive stories in the July 19 edition of Kamloops This Week.

Those who enter will be placed into a draw to win a $100 GIFT CARD TO A LOCAL KAMLOOPS BUSINESS

This person under 40 is recognized for going above and beyond in our community who in a variety of fields and endeavours.

The secret sauce for success is never hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock, according to Sam Thacker.

“That’s the first choice you make every morning,” Thacker said. “Are you going to hit the snooze button and be lazy and go back to sleep or are you going to get up and go out and give 110 per cent every day.?

Winner of the 2023 KTW Community Leader Awards Elite Under-40 Award, Thacker, 21, has dedicated himself to Kamloops and advanced in his career faster than any other member of the Clarke Automotive Group. After just two years in sales, Thacker was promoted to the position of new car sales manager at the highestperforming dealership in Kamloops — Dearborn Ford.

Thacker’s commitment to the community involves sponsoring athletes and attending and supporting multiple fundraising initiatives in town.

In fact, when he learned he was the recipient of the award, Thacker was attending a fundraiser for the Kamloops Hospice Association.

“It was an honour to receive that news,” he said.

Thacker said he views life as getting out of it what you put into it and sees the auto dealership business as being more about hospitality and going the extra mile for customers.

“I don’t view this dealership as just selling cars,” Thacker said.

Born and raised in Kamloops, Thacker completed a year of study in the business program at Thompson Rivers University before finding himself at a crossroads — whether to continue studying or enter the workforce.

That brought him to the automotive industry and Dearborn Ford in Valleyview.

Thacker recalled sitting for the interview as an 18-year-old kid with not much knowledge of the automotive industry, but noted those at Dearborn “saw something” in him.

In his first month on the job, Thacker was salesperson of the month. Eighteen months later, he was named a customer service leader and salesperson of the year.

Thacker said he is always trying to better himself and figure out the next step once he has given something his all. That led to him taking on the floor manager position and, a few months later, a promotion to new car sales manager. Thacker is now the youngest person to ever serve in the sales manager position for the Clarke Automotive Group, a job he has held the past eight months.

Always looking to the horizon, Thacker’s next goal is to secure a general manager position.

Having ascended to a leadership role quickly, Thacker provides his passion and experience to his whole team at Dearborn.