Exclusive Furniture’s Sam Zavary Credits Luck, Hard Work and ‘Mom’s Prayers’ for His Success
Jun. 18, 2022
How did you get to where you are today? I am a firm believer that hard work and having dreams that you strive to achieve will motivate and inspire people to achieve their potential. Working hard, dreaming, and making sure to take advantage of every opportunity is something I learned at a young age. I credit God and God’s grace firstly, but I know that success is a direct result of hard work. I tell my podcast subscribers and followers to continue setting goals, evolving, improving, and planning, and I practice what I preach. I am proud to have started my business in the fastest growing major city in the United States, and I attribute a lot of the success of Exclusive Furniture to the family culture we create in the best city — Houston’s diversity, philanthropy, and innovation have helped me achieve a lot of the milestones in the furniture business (and the “low prices”) you see today!
Whom do you credit? I credit my mom’s prayers. And, to his credit, in the words of Snoop Dog, “I want to thank me; For showing up every day with a plan. Me for caring about my employees. Me for caring about my customers; Me for caring about my community.”
I am truly thankful to have my siblings work with me. I surround myself with great people and therefore great things happen. I want to credit luck, hard work, dedication, good planning, prayers, and believing and having faith in the vision of Exclusive Furniture — “Where Low Prices Live!”
What lessons have you learned that might enlighten and inspire others? I am constantly learning. You should be learning something new every day as there are new lessons. Some more advice: Don’t take things lightly and don’t underestimate or overestimate people. Judge people on their performance. This includes employees, vendors, and contracted people. Make sure you do your due diligence. “You can only expect what you inspect, or something will fall through the cracks.” Don’t dwell on your setbacks, instead use your setbacks as a learning session so as not to repeat pitfalls again. And, don’t worry, you will always have setbacks to learn from; you will just have fewer if you learn from the past.
It seems to me that luck has a lot to do with success, and the harder I work the luckier I get.
What’s new in your life or work that you’re excited about? I am excited to open the new Exclusive Furniture Spring location in June! This will be my 8th location. Not bad for a guy who started out in 1998 with one 2,000-square-foot store. Proud to be where I am today. Now my smallest store is 12,000 square feet. Our 8th location is 61,000 square feet! I am excited about expanding into more Texas locations and continue the brand and culture of Exclusive Furniture.
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Children’s Museum Supporters Go Goth-Glam at Million-Dollar Gala
Alexander's Fine Portraits
Oct. 30, 2024
THE CORINTHIAN WAS the scene for a haunted happening benefiting Children’s Museum Houston. The decidedly adult bash was filled with dark allure, gothic glamour, and generosity to the tune of $1.14 million, the second-highest total in the event’s history.
Noir Ball chairs Whitney and Ryan Burns and Allison and Iván Chávez pulled out all the stops in creating a memorable evening shrouded in gothic romance — a la lace veils, caged roses and eerie candelabras. Guests, clad in leather, feathers and fake blood (oh my!), were greeted by waves of thick fog emanating from a rose-petal-filled fountain. Actors portraying Maleficent, Dracula and Wednesday Addams posed for pics with galagoers in between perusing silent-auction items and grabbing a cocktail.
The live auction certainly added some light to the otherwise (purposefully) dark evening: Auction chairs Devorah Krieger and Elizabeth McIngvale-Mackey secured some covetable packages, like an extravagant dinner for 24 inside The Corinthian’s historic vault, complete with a custom menu by Jackson & Co., and centerpieces by Bergner & Johnson Design. A Thomas Markle Jewelers diamond necklace and Lark & Berry diamond earrings were also up for grabs, as was a getaway to a Costa Rican penthouse. A raffle touted a pair of white-gold diamond-encrusted rings from Valobra Master Jewelers.
The cutest part of the night was the puppy auction! K-9 Angels donated two Labrador retriever/Pointer mix rescue pups, who sparked bidding wars and found their forever homes.
The Spazmatics
Iván and AllisonChávez, Whitney and Ryan Burns
Alexandra & Alex Cabraie
William and Natalia Young
Antoinette and Julian Duncan
Veronika and Mark Adler
Ashley Sloan, Kathryn Boeker, Erin Smith, Bethany Buchanan
Travis Boeker, Matthew Mackey
Elizabeth McIngvale-Mackey, DevorahKrieger, Kathryn Boeker
Bo and Courtney Hughes
Cassandra and Ryan Dalton
Tyler and Courtney Hassen, Rana and Todd Hassen
Trey and Kelly Mattson
Deanna Altenhoff, Darren Brasher
Steven and Liz Bender
Michael and Jessica Bertuccio
Evan and Kathleen Shemonsky
Stephanie Wiegand, Laura Hines-Pierce, Mary Catherine Jones
Shawnie and Paul McBride
Freddie Minahan, Stephanie Wilcox
Heather and Mark Teshoian
Rebecca and Bill Adler
Neil Badlani and Rekha Muddaraj
Jake and Carolyn Sabbat
Rayanne Darensbourg
Morgan Allen, Annabel Florescu, Lindsey Collie, Ricky Perusquia
Matt and Maya Pomroy
Lacey and Matt Goossen
Jon and Allison Heine
Lucy and Babatunde Cole
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‘You’re the Inspiration’: Generous Donors Give $6.2 Mil to Kids’ Charity as Famous Band Takes Stage
Michelle Watson/Catchlight Group
Oct. 31, 2024
Morris Smith, Tilman Fertitta and Toni Smith
THE HOUSTON CHILDREN'S Charity gala is always anticipated, thanks to the big-deal musical acts brought in to entertain; this year it was Chicago. But the headliners this year were the generous donors, who seemed to surprise even event organizer with their largesse, with a total till of $6.2 million, a record.
The gala, overseen by HCC CEO and longtime philanthropic leader Laura Ward, was staged at HCC co-founder and board chair Tilman Fertitta’s Post Oak Hotel, drawing in hundreds of supporters and revelers. The millions raised will “directly fund programs that improve the quality of life for Houston’s underprivileged, abused and disabled children who have been otherwise left behind,” said a rep for the nonprofit.
A slew of notables took the stage at various times to spur giving, give moving testimonies of the good HCC does, and goose the elaborate auction. These include hip-hop star and mogul 50 Cent, football great Andre Johnson, Feritta, Mayor John Whitmire, HCC vice chair and longtime generous donor Gary Becker, and, calling in on remote camera, Hollywood star Jeremy Renner.
Richard and Jana Fant, honorees for the evening, offered one of the big surprises of the night, pledging to by 30 vans for HCC’s program that offers specially equipped vans to families with seriously disabled and otherwise immobile children. Other big donors included auction winners Gary Petersen, Katie and Mike Lowenberg, Randy Hopper, Anthony Pusch and Chi Nguyen, paying $500,000 for a unique dinner party.
Another fun auction item was a Porsche all-electric Macan 4, donated by Porsche River Oaks and Porsche West Houston.
“Finally, the crowd rocked the night away as the legendary band Chicago took the stage, delivering an unforgettable performance of their greatest hits, including ‘Saturday in the Park’ and ‘You're the Inspiration,’” noted the HCC rep.
VIPs spotted in the crowd included Supporters and notable guests included Rachel and Jeff Bagwell, Michael Carr, Gaston, Kim Ogg, Bess and Rob Wilson, Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees, Alicia Smith, Brigitte Kalai, Tom and Carol Sawyer and Sherri Zucker.
Kristen Cannon, Anna Reger, Maria Moncada Alaoui and Marie Taylor
Jana Fant, Richard Fant and Laura S. Ward
Gary Becker
Chicago performs.
Pam Ware, Gary Petersen and Stephanie Fernandez
Jeremy Renner calls in.
Edna Meyer-Nelson and Joe Mallon
Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees
Mike Lowenberg and Katie Lowenberg
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