leaders
Cathy Grogg
Cathy Grogg was born and raised in Harrisonburg, VA and graduated from Harrisonburg High School. After high school she went on to work for Harrisonburg City Schools. She retired from Harrisonburg High School in July 2019 after working in the Attendance Office for 36 years. She took pride in filling each day with love and compassion for every hardship, every heart, every struggle, and every success that she came into contact with. After retiring, she jumped on board with the Sampson Family Foundation to help carry on their legacy. She is married to her high school sweetheart and has 4 kids and 2 grandchildren.
founders
Valerie Sampson
Owner of Salon Eleven, Valerie has been in the cosmetologist industry for 27 years. Valerie takes pride in giving her clients the best service possible and loves being able to make people feel great about themselves. She has experience doing weddings, special events, and fashion shows, and she does a mean pin-up up-do. Her passion and creativity show through in everything she does. She is led to educate, nurture, and empower women one beautiful healthy head at a time. She believes that when you do something you love you never lose energy.
Joyce Sampson
Joyce Sampson-Franklin was born and raised in Harrisonburg, VA and graduated from Harrisonburg High School. After high school she went on to a stellar career at Radford University and played basketball during her 4 years career. Her business career spans for over 30 year in the retail space working mainly for TJX , Marshalls and Frito-Lay. Joyce’s focus had been mainly in management with each company she has worked for.
Ralph Sampson
Perhaps the most heavily recruited college basketball prospect in history, University of Virginia legend Ralph Sampson was one of only two male players in the history of college basketball to receive the Naismith Award as the National Player of the Year three time and the only player to win the Wooden Award twice. Additionally, Sampson was the #1 draft pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, 1984 NBA Rookie of the Year, a five-time NBA All-Star, and the 1985 NBA All-Star game MVP, Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, College Basketball Hall of Fame and most recently the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in sports and life.