The world according to Sam Leftwich is a sphere of fun and flair. Sam is Founder and Head of Business Development at Leftwich Event Specialists. His love for flawless events inspired Sam to start Leftwich Event Specialists Inc. in 1994 after a successful career in catering and event planning for both corporate and non-profit organizations.

Sam’s event planning career began in Public Relations at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and David-Jones in Sydney, Australia where he coordinated in-store events featuring personal appearances by top designers and liasoned with Vogue and local designers to co-ordinate events featuring new lines.

On his return to the USA from Australia, Sam settled in Boston for several years. Throughout his years in NYC and Sydney, Sam explored his passion for fine food, taking occasional cooking classes and throwing dinner parties for his close friends. Sam’s friends in Boston enjoyed his cooking so much; they talked him into catering their small parties. He enjoyed creating these receptions and dinners so much that when he moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s, Sam established a catering company whose client’s included San Francisco Ballet, Grace Cathedral, and Temple Emanuel.

Affiliation with these non-profit institutions piqued Sam’s interest in fund raising and he began to assist them with their event development, planning and fundraising. In 1994, Sam retired his chef’s hat permanently to found Leftwich Events, allowing him to focus full time on event development and production.

From 1999 until 2007, Sam was Manager of Special Events for San Francisco Ballet, where he worked in partnership with the San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary to successfully create the annual Opening Night Gala and annual fashion show in partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue. As a member of the development team at SFB, Sam designed and coordinated numerous stewardship and donor events. Sam departed the world of ballet in early 2007 to focus on the re-invention of the Leftwich Events brand.