The first time Sam Eckholm stepped onto a flight line, he was a kid watching his dad climb into a KC‑135 tanker. Decades later, he’d find himself suited up in a pressure suit, riding to 70,000 feet in a U‑2 spy plane, filming what would become a viral YouTube episode seen by millions.
The line between those two moments isn’t luck but a determination to do something different with the military story.
“I don’t always say I’m a military brat per se… but I definitely came from a military family. That’s what inspired me to serve,” Eckholm told We Are The Mighty.
At 8 years old, his dad left the Air Force, and the family moved around a lot as his their patriarch worked for different airlines before ultimately settling in Dallas with American Airlines.
“Back when I was in high school, for projects I’d always choose the ‘make a video’ option. I always loved storytelling,” Eckholm recalled.
He ultimately followed in his dad’s footsteps by going to the Air Force Academy, but ultimately, Eckholm decided he didn’t want to be a pilot due to the time commitment. As a legal studies major, he loved arguing cases and being part of the Mock Trial team.
“There are so many things I wanted to do. It was hard for me to lock onto one thing,” Eckholm said. “I worked really hard and ended up getting one of only a handful, like less than five public affairs slots out of the Air Force Academy.”
His first duty station was Travis Air Force Base in northern California. Eckholm spent the first six months learning the job and getting acclimated. Routine PT time would change the trajectory of what he had planned for his career.
“We were doing unit PT when the jet took off, and it started doing all these maneuvers. It was like the loudest thing I’ve ever heard, and my boss was like, ‘That’s the F‑22 demo team. He explained that they travel around the world and perform in front of air shows,” he said.
When the position became available to be assigned to that team, Eckholm jumped at the chance to apply. And got it.
“I found out I was selected. And then for the next two years, I went all over the world with this team to air shows,” he added.
What most people never saw was what happened after hours. While his peers decompressed from 12‑hour days, Eckholm was hunched over a laptop, teaching himself storytelling frame by frame, grinding on Instagram and YouTube for an audience that didn’t exist yet.
When he started with the team, the Instagram page had around 16,000 followers. Eckholm called this season “no life-ing it.” He spent every waking moment filming and building content. By the time he transitioned out of that role, the page had over 300,000 followers. He knew he was on to something.
“I knew that I wasn’t done creating content and storytelling, but there wasn’t a way to do it in the military anymore,” he shared.
With the Air Force wanting him to go back into what he called the “PA lane,” he found himself stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and spending all his free time making content.
Using his own money and time off, he built a following.
“In my free time and as my hobby, I started making videos. I didn’t really have a master plan of wanting to ever do this full time. I was just having fun with it,” Eckholm said. “All of a sudden, we developed this style and format of bringing people into this military world, humanizing it and taking them along for the ride.”
When his commitment to the Air Force was done in 2023, he took a leap of faith and went all in on SE Media. The following for his videos and eventually what became “Access Granted” exploded.
Access Granted | Official YouTube Show Trailer
The immersive docu-style series takes viewers behind the scenes of the high-stakes and harder-to-access world of real military operations. Today, Eckholm’s show has over 2.5 million subscribers and followers across all platforms.
“When you’re a creative and an entrepreneur, there’s no ceiling,” he said.
In 2026, he partnered with the Air Force and Space Force to produce a nine-episode series. The results were astounding and led to him winning a Shorty Award. He also made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Despite all of the accolades and recognition, Eckholm remains humble about his accomplishments and doesn’t sugarcoat the work and dedication it takes to maintain the trajectory he’s on. Or the physical sacrifices.
“I get very airsick, motion sick, and seasick. So people think I’m this rock star dude who flies in the back of these jets and can handle it. No, I’m puking back there,” he laughed.
“The coolest feedback I get is from people who watch and say, ‘Oh, this inspired me to serve,’ or ‘I remember watching Sam’s videos a couple years ago, I’m now in basic training.’”
Eckholm has also received feedback that his videos finally help explain to family members what their service members truly do for a living.
What began as tutorials about joining the Air Force has evolved into a full‑time production company, a team of five and a slate of projects that may soon stretch from YouTube to streaming platforms. Yet, the mission remains deceptively simple: give viewers honest but beautifully crafted access to the stories behind the uniforms.
“I feel like I’m serving more now, even more than when I was in with all the stories we tell and the people we reach,” Eckholm said. “It’s just a different type of service.”
You can follow his journey and check out “Access Granted” by clicking here.
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