Employee Spotlight
Sam Eam
Staff Accountant, Catapult Headquarters
Sam Eam likes Catapult so much, she came back.
She joined Catapult in January 2007 as the executive assistant for CEO Randy Slager and President Barry Kane, managing their schedules and supporting the security and human resources operations, which were much smaller then than they are now.
She then became an Accounts Payable Specialist. “I did that for two years,” she says.
Then she got an opportunity as a payroll accountant at another a government contracting firm.
“The culture was very different from Catapult,” she says. “There was a negative tone that trickled down from top management. I’m not used to people walking by you and not saying hello. I had a hard time adjusting!”
Sam came back to Catapult in early June as a Staff Accountant, a new position that reports to Controller Shoshana Levy.
What made her want to come back to Catapult? “For one thing, this is a much friendlier environment,” she says. “That’s important to me. I realized at the other company, everyone was in their own world doing only what they needed to do to get by. Here, it’s a team effort. We all get along.
“The environment you work in makes a big difference in quality of your work and how you feel. After all, you’re at work at least 40 hours a week.”
As Staff Accountant, Sam focuses on billing of customer invoices. “Since it’s a newly created position, the department is still working on the details to take advantage of my prior experience,” she explains.
Before she originally joined Catapult, Sam worked as the administrative assistant to the Chief Operating Officer at the headquarters office of Total Wine and More, a wine and liquor retailer based in Potomac, MD.
A benefit of working there was that she could participate in wine tastings and educational seminars on how wine is produced. “I developed a taste for wine,” she says. “At first, I got into white wine. It was easier for me to savor.”
The first time she tried red wine, she says, “I didn’t like it. It’s an acquired taste. But now I love it!” Her favorite red is cabernet sauvignon.
Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Sam’s family moved to the metro DC area in 1980 when she was eight months old. Currently, she lives in Silver Spring, MD, and just bought a townhouse with her fiancé Gregory Johnson.
In addition to learning about wine, Sam has a green thumb. While she has “tons of house plants,” the town house doesn’t have a lot of land. In the meantime, she enjoys arranging fresh flowers. “I’m learning more about orchids,” she says.
As she pursues a BS in accounting and minor business administration at the University of Maryland, University College, her hobbies are often on hold.
And, of course, work is important to her. “At Catapult, you’re free to do your job. You’re trusted to do your best,” she says. “And if you express interest in a certain field and work hard, you have a lot of opportunity here. If you prove yourself, the opportunity is there for you.”
