Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Ratliff.
Scott, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been playing professional lacrosse for seven years. As I was going through my playing career, I knew I wanted to find something career-wise that I could leverage my experience as a professional athlete, as well as impact people globally in a positive way.
First, I came up with the idea to create the Give & Go Foundation. A non-profit focused on providing opportunities to play lacrosse for underserved communities across the globe. Lacrosse has made a massively positive impact on my life and my growth as a person. To help provide more opportunities for kids to participate in this game is something I am very passionate about.
Second, I entered into a career in leadership development. One of the great benefits of sports is that it forces you to learn how to be great at dealing with adversity. Through my leadership development talks, workshops and 1on1 coaching, I have been helped to help people from all walks of life learn the skills and strategies it takes to leverage adversity and develop an optimistic and resilient mindset in the face of challenging circumstances.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No road in life is a smooth road! I have failed on multiple occasions but every failure has provided a great lesson. I am still failing and still learning!
Please tell us abut your organization.
Give & Go Foundation: Provides financial and educational support to lacrosse programs and players in underserved communities worldwide. What is unique about G&G is that we focus largely on the international lacrosse community, providing opportunities for American and Canadian coaches to travel the world and share their knowledge of the game. We have found that our programs not only make a massive impact in the communities they are operating in but also on the coaches who travel there and become a part of a new community in a different country.
Scott Ratliff Leadership: I do keynote talks, small and large group workshops, as well as 1on1 leadership coaching. Clients include multiple Division 1 Athletic Programs, The Green Bay Packers, Chick-Fil-A, Junior Achievement, as well as numerous HS athletes in the greater Atlanta area. All of my talks and workshops focus on how we can learn and grow from the day to day challenges we all face. A big AHA moment for me in my life was when I realized the correlation between my behaviors and habits on and off the athletic field. I learned that I could leverage adversity in my playing career to become a better leader in my relationships and home life, vice versa, I could leverage the challenges I was facing off the field to become a more resilient leader and better communicator on the ground. I am incredibly passionate about helping others learn these skill sets so they can thrive both at work and home!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The day we received our letter from the federal government approving The Give & Go Foundation as a non-profit was a special day. I was young and had never started a business on my own up to that point. The letter came on the first anniversary of the death of coach Dave Huntley, a former pro coach of mine who was very special to me. Coach Huntley was a big part of the inspiration behind starting the Give & Go Foundation, so to receive the letter on that day made it extra special.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.GiveGoFund.com & www.ScottRat.com
- Email: GiveGoScott@Gmail.com
- Instagram: @ScottRatliff2
- Twitter: @Srat2
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