Born in 1978, Sam Ita grew up in a small town near the Canadian border. His fascination with paper airplanes began at an early age when he attended a paper airplane contest held at the Kingdome in Seattle, WA. From the stands, thousands of contestants would throw airplanes with the goal of landing theirs closest to the center of a prize target. Hardcore competitors purchased stacks of paper and brought homemade launchers, and other tools. Sam found himself woefully ill-prepared, with only half a dozen sheets tofold. Sam watched his attempts fail one after the other, the planes not even clearing the stands below. Regardless of the outcome, the activity was incredibly fun, and Sam was hooked for life. He went on to study graphic design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.

After graduating, Sam answered a classified ad, which led to his first paper engineering job. Sam now works for master paper engineer and acclaimed children's book creator, Robert Sabuta.