DU alum Heath Sampson was named to ColoradoBIZ magazine's top 25 most influential young professionals list.

By just about any measure, former University of Denver hockey forward Heath Sampson has done an admirable job of transitioning from his scuffed skates to polished Oxfords.

In the 14 years since he graduated from DU with a master’s in accountancy, Sampson’s made a steady and impressive rise in Colorado business. And people are noticing. Case in point: this fall, ColoradoBIZ Magazine named him to its top 25 most influential young professionals list.

But you might be surprised to learn what qualities he says helped him make his climb: humility and emotional intelligence.

Remember, this is coming from a numbers guy — accounting is his gig. Today he’s the chief financial officer at SquareTwo Financial, a leader in the asset recovery and management industry.   

“When I first came to DU to play hockey, I was used to being at the top, especially athletically. But I ended up with a lot of injuries, and what I took from that was humility,” says Sampson from his Denver office. “I often tell people it’s important to have a good balance between confidence and humility and to be conscious of your humility so that they listen and consider other opinions.”

Sampson says when he thinks about being honored as an influential professional, the quality of emotional intelligence comes to mind first.

“There are a lot of intelligent people out there with a lot of experience. And at this level in business, everyone has the IQ, but what makes someone great as a business leader is the ‘EQ,’ the emotional quotient or emotional intelligence.”

He adds his EQ is something he’s been able to work on and improve as he’s gotten older.

“I suppose you’re born with the framework and then you can develop it more throughout your career,” he says. “Once you have the basis for emotional intelligence, you can work to magnify that through your own experiences and continue to learn and to have empathy and to understand people and emotions.”

When pressed for specifics on why he believes he was named to the influential professionals list, however, the humility comes through.

“The award means a lot, but I wouldn’t have been able to win it without the support of those in my company,” Sampson says. “All the things that go well around me happen because of the people around me in the organization, people who are good at using their strengths.”

Paul Larkins, president and CEO of SquareTwo Financial, calls Sampson a “dynamic” executive. 

“Heath’s talent, experience and dedication have distinguished him as a true leader … who’s made major contributions to our company,” Larkins says.

Larkins also lauded Sampson for his role in SquareTwo Financial’s public bond offering earlier this year during what Larkins called a “difficult economic period.” 

“He helped position [our company] for growth and new job creation here in Colorado,” Larkins says. 

Sampson does admit he has an innate desire to succeed.

“I do have this drive, a drive to do my very best at everything I do,” Sampson says. “I remember some of my friends when I was growing up didn’t think you could be successful in sports, in the community and in the classroom, but you can be.”

A lesson he says that became clear to him while at DU.

“DU helped me by simply by being a good school that I had to be accepted into,” he says. “It had high expectations and the professors were exceptional and everyone pushed you to be good at school.”

In 2006, DU recognized Sampson as a young alumnus of the year for the accounting profession for his work speaking to students and faculty about his business experiences and sharing advice on careers and internships.

Sampson’s advice for today’s DU students: “Identify with your emotional intelligence, your work ethic and your experience and then be very proactive. Understand that if you’re going for a job, there may be 10 others trying for that same job. You have to be able to differentiate yourself and be creative. Tell the employer you’ll work for free for six months if you have to. Be different. Be creative.”