Sam Xia

Australia

Sam Xia is an Australian with a family of three ( wife & two kids), but rumors persist that he comes from China. So he decided to work for BD Asia in China to pursue the truth of his origin. Soccer is his favorite sport to watch and he spends more time now on improving his climbing skills, which he believes would help his mission of pursuing.

Year you first started at Black Diamond? February 2006

Memory/story of your first week at Black Diamond? It was a small dungeon office in Zhuhai FZT, filled with weird BD staff and cool BD gear.

What does working at Black Diamond mean to you? BD is a company that I feel proud of when talking with relatives, friends and people. It is also a company that makes you feel that the products are so close and relevant to you.

If you weren't working for Black Diamond, what would you be doing? I would still be working with figures but those figures might represent a totally different and strange products and culture which would never be like the uniqueness & attractiveness of BD.

Worst job you've ever had? My first job in Australia was in Sydney with a 3rd tier chartered accountants firm. The office was jammed with desks and accountants, it was totally a no-fun environment and the partners only discussed one thing with their employees—the chargeable percentage of the accountants’ work hours.

Do you have any pets? No, but I would love to have dogs in the future.

Favorite sports/activities? Recently my favorite sport competition is with my 7-year-old son playing Wii-tennis during the weekends, although he beats me most of the time.  He is crazy at Wii games so at the moment I use Wii as leverage to ask him to do things that he usually refuses to do.

Favorite climbing area and why? BDEA Climbing Wall is my favorite place to climb as it is easy to access and it also has a few 5.10+ routes waiting for me to challenge.

Best climbing experience? It was an ice climbing in SLC with Mike Schultz in January 2007, which is the only ice climbing experience that I have ever had so far. It was in early morning with freezing weather and tired body. We climbed a harsh but achievable route. The ice climbing was indeed awesome.

What's your dream trip? Where? With who? My dream trip would be taking the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship with my family to circle the globe for adventures and entertainment.

Guilty pleasure? My favorite guilty pleasure is to watch a wonderful movie then go to bed after midnight.

What/who inspires you? In recent years it was my kids who inspired me a lot.

What's in your iPod? My kids’ video clips on taekwondo performance & roller skating, family photos, songs in English & Chinese & Classic music.

Strangest place you've ever woken up? It was a cold street besides a train ticket box office in Beijing in 1986. I was hoping to buy a train ticket for one of my best high school mate who visited me during the University school term, so he could be able to take the 14-hour train home with a seat.

Strangest person you've ever woken up with? (Continued from the above story).  He was one of my competitors that slept besides me on the street at that night to fight for a train ticket. He was complaining and yelling and his loud voice woke me up and then we both jumped into the queue. He was in the age of 40s and what we wore was the same – an old style red army overcoat.

Three things you'd never travel without? Passion, money & electric shaver would make a perfect travel. Superstitions? Never have.

What's your dream job? An island caretaker in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. I would have to build a climbing wall on the island to make climbing as one of the daily activities, other than surfing, swimming & snorkeling.

If you could steal one thing and not get caught, what would it be? A passenger jet from the airport, and then I would be flying the plane around the world with my family and friends.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be? Barack Obama, Confucius and my Grandpa. It would be very interesting to have a conversation with three of them together.

Do you have any tattoos or piercings? I do not have any, but I would like to try tattoos if I could go back to the ages of 20s. Never think of piercing.