Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Haught. Them and their team share their story with us below:
As he shows you Wild Florida’s expansive collection of alligators and starts rattling off facts about the natural ecosystem of Florida, you’d think Sam Haught ’08 MBA has lived here his whole life. Instead, it wasn’t too long ago that Haught was over 2,000 miles away. Instead of his now-standard khaki outdoor shirt and lakefront view, he found himself sporting a traditional necktie in a cubicle.
Just over 12 years ago, Haught was already very successful in his own right, holding a secure finance job at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up in the Western United States, working on a family-owned cattle ranch in Arizona and completing his undergrad in Utah, developing a love for the outdoors in some of the United States’ most beautiful natural scenery. As much as he loved it out West, he found a new climate to explore and enjoy when he met his future wife, who had Southern roots.
“I met my wife out there [in Utah] and got married. What I learned with Southern girls is that they always go home. It wasn’t too long after we were married that we moved out here to Orlando,” said Haught. Relocated to Central Florida, Sam Haught started to explore getting his MBA.
“I always wanted to get an MBA; that was a life goal for me. When we moved back here to the Orlando area, Crummer was at the top of my list because it has the best reputation, the best ranking and the campus is beautiful,” said Haught.
Already with years of professional finance experience under his belt at one of the most recognizable names in investment banking, Haught credits Crummer to developing his entrepreneurial spirit as he took night classes in the Professional MBA program.
“I think that my undergrad experience was really good at teaching me broad spectrum business skills, but Crummer allowed me to hone in on entrepreneur-like skills and gave me real-life experience that I needed to be able to start a business like this,” said Haught.
He got his first taste of entrepreneurship when he started developing, flipping and titling Central Florida real estate during the housing boom. It was going great, but everyone knows what happened next.
“The market crashed, and we were left with a lot of property, not knowing what to do with it,” said Haught.
Instead of collapsing under the pressure of the housing crisis, Haught looked at it as an opportunity and started dreaming of combining his passion of the outdoors with his newfound entrepreneurial spirit.
“The idea of a tourist attraction came up, with a chunk of 50 acres in Osceola County, in-between Disney and the beach,” said Haught.
At the time the land of what would become Wild Florida was a fish camp, a cheap place for northerners to park their RVs, escape the cold and fish off the shores of Lake Cypress. Noticing the potential of something more than a fish camp, Haught started thinking.
“We started to dream that the retention pond in the middle of the property could be a gator pond,” said Haught. “We dreamed people from all over the world could see native Florida animals in the wild. We would manage an airboat operation, maybe open a restaurant and build meeting spaces.” Haught found quickly that when you combine your passion with hard work, success happens.
Right at the time Haught decided he was going to go for it and create Wild Florida, Goldman Sachs came knocking at his door again, offering him a new position as a manager of a team they were creating. He says it was a very attractive offer and left him at a crossroads. However, he decided he couldn’t leave behind what he was building in Florida.
“I love the outdoors and the passion really drives this—my passion is the outdoors. If I had my choice, I’d be hunting, fishing, camping, airboating and doing all that sort of stuff any given day. This is a lot closer to that than a desk job at Goldman Sachs,” said Haught.
It wasn’t always easy, as Haught says he heard time and time again that Wild Florida wasn’t a great business model, and they would be a “two or three years and done” kind of company.
“Everyone said you’re too far out, you’re in the middle of nowhere and nobody will drive out that far to come see you,” said Haught, who says Wild Florida had over 275,000 visitors last year.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In the first two years we had to part ways with our veteran partner that had been in the airboat business for 15 years. The industry said we’d never make it on our own, but we had a vision that clashed with our seasoned partner and knew what needed to be done. We had a long-term vision of turning the 15 acre property into a full-scale tourist destination, not just an airboat ride. We parted ways in 2012, changed our name to Wild Florida and never looked back. At the time, we were basically a fish camp (RV park) with a booming airboat business. Everything on the property was dedicated to the fish camp folks. This revenue stream wasn’t working. We weren’t selling enough supplies to the fish camp people and they weren’t very happy with our vision. The decision was made to close the fish camp and move forward with our plans to turn the entire property into one large tourist attraction. We quickly became the ONLY airboat and gator park attraction in Central Florida. The combination of these two products and leaving our partner was our defining moment resulting in explosive growth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Samuel Haught was born in Mesa, Arizona on February 4th, 1977. He spent his days as a youth growing up on a cattle ranch, going on adventures, and even hunting for the defunct “Jack Adams Alligator Farm.” In second grade, Sam joined the Cub Scouts and eventually earned the rank of Eagle Scout at age 14. He has enjoyed hunting, fishing, and being outdoors his entire life, which made Scouting the perfect activity to be involved in. While a teenager, he was an active athlete participating in many sports including football, soccer, basketball, and track. At the start of every summer Sam’s dad would announce what job he had found for him, such as roofing, concrete, construction, auto body repair, and even hay farming. He also raised cows to be sold at the market every year. Sam has been an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, serving on a mission for the Church right here in Central Florida from 1996 to 1998. Sam ventured off to college with his best friends from high school, attending the University of Utah and earning his bachelor’s degree. Sam also earned his MBA from Rollins College.
Sam later fell in love and married a beautiful Florida girl named Kara and returned to live in Central Florida. Now, 16 years later and a happily married father of five, ranging from 8 months to 15 years old. Sam is currently co-founder and co-owner of Wild Florida Airboats, LLC. Prior to Wild Florida, he has 11 years’ experience at Goldman Sachs, Bountiful Development, and Live TV. He is an active member of the community with leadership roles in his Church, several chambers of commerce, convention and visitors’ bureaus, charitable organizations, and school groups in the State he loves. He and his family inspire others with their appreciation and enjoyment of all the beautiful things wild Florida has to offer. Eternally proud of his wife Kara and their five kids, he knows they will be successful in life and everything they hope to accomplish because of her! Sam is driven by his love for his family and savior Jesus Christ.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Find partners and mentors to help you along the way that behave the same at work as they do at home and church.
Contact Info:
- Email: sam@wildfl.com
- Website: WildFL.com
- Instagram: wildfloridairboats
- Facebook: wildfloridairboats
- Twitter: wildflorida
- Youtube: wildfloridairboats
- SoundCloud: samhaught
Image Credits
Wild Florida
