This Isn't Goodbye, It's, "to New Beginnings."
The start of a new chapter for C.C We Adapt.
This summer brings some bittersweet change at C.C. We Adapt, as Thomas Sampson steps down as an owner and transitions out of the team at the end of the year. Tom and I have known one another through some very pivotal moments in each of our recoveries and challenges, and the organization is better because of Tom’s contributions and the time he’s spent with our team. His departure isn’t a goodbye, but a continuation of his journey down a new road, as Tom and his wife Jen recently welcomed their newborn baby boy into their family. For those who know Tom, he strives to know everything he can about his responsibilities or roles, a quality he’s brought with him as a new father. Tom has run a CrossFit gym, built other businesses, and helped build C.C. We Adapt into what it is today. For a family of two, that’s a hectic schedule, but for a family of three and a newborn, something has to give. Tom has given a lot to the organization and to participants, and now he’s prioritizing his family.
The family members of his participants have glowing feedback about his work as a peer mentor. “He respects you,” one wrote, and “he is making different decisions just knowing you will be checking up on him.” Another reflected, “Tom and my son have a bond. I have not seen him connect with someone like this before. He has been such a good influence.” One parent said to Tom, “I don’t know what you did, but it’s like my son is a completely different person. He graduated from high school and got his driver’s license.”
Asked about his approach, Tom says, “My method has always been to not judge my participants on their past behaviors and decisions. When I show up to see them, I ask how their day is going, genuinely listening to what they have to say, and then we get on with our activity.” He knows participants may have been punished or demeaned by others and doesn’t see a need to add to that. Instead, he says, “I am there to empower them to believe in themselves and to model positive behaviors. If you hang around positive people long enough, eventually you will start to do positive things.”
I can personally attest to the positive influence Tom has had in my life. He and I met in 2012. It was early in the morning, and I was moved from a housing unit in the Dane County Jail to a holding cell downstairs to await transport to Dodge Correctional Institution. I sat alone in the cell, at what must have been 3:30am, with no way of telling the time. The door opened, and in walked a person who looked like a straight-laced kid. It was Tom. We didn’t talk much, only exchanging short phrases, mainly about working out, until we were moved to our transport bus. At Dodge, we went our separate ways. Eighteen months later, I was sent to the Earned Release Program in Chippewa County, where I ran into Tom again. To my surprise, the straight-laced kid was now super jacked, having spent his time in prison fanatically working out. We had that in common and connected through that shared interest, working out together at recreation. If you drove by, you’d see us through the fence running the track or carrying medicine balls, even in the freezing rain. In the summer, we’d do muscle ups on the pullup bars and jump to the ground for burpees, even in ninety-five degree heat. We both prioritized and invested in our physical stamina and mental resilience, supporting and challenging one another to grow.
Tom got out after me, and while I slipped back into making terrible decisions, he chose a different path: opening his own CrossFit gym, becoming one of the fittest athletes in the state and (depending on the tournament) in the midwest. Tom and I reconnected in 2015, after I left prison for the last time and got into CrossFit. From there, we became friends in circumstances much different than how we met, now able to support and challenge one another in continuing with healthy habits.
After starting C.C. We Adapt in 2020, I approached Tom because I knew he was someone who could both put in the work necessary to help build a business, and because he had the lived experience to relate to and advocate for the individuals we serve. The company was growing quickly, and it needed more than me and Alicia to keep up with the demand for peer mentorship. Tom stepped into a leadership role, understanding the hardship and barriers ahead, and how owners are the last stop for every failure and success.
Two individuals who meet in prison don’t typically have these kinds of experiences. The recidivism rate in Wisconsin is 40-50%, and that alone makes it unlikely both of us would step out of the cycle of incarceration, let alone find stable, meaningful work or build a successful company together. Our success isn’t measured in dollar signs and accolades but accrued through the participants and families we’ve helped over the years. For them, having a mentor by their side when they come up against barriers which seem too immense to overcome can make all the difference. Even more so when it’s someone who has been there.
We’ve been extraordinarily lucky to have Tom bring his personal and professional experience to help C.C. We Adapt grow from a small organization with a handful of participants to a thriving one which has expanded across the state of Wisconsin. We’ll miss having Tom on our team, and are glad this isn’t goodbye, just good luck as he embarks on the important work of raising and nurturing a new child. We’re excited to watch Tom and his family grow.