BEHIND THE KEYBOARD

Hello Everyone,

A little about me. I graduated from Rowan University during its era as Glassboro State in Southern New Jersey and started a career in Sports Medicine, Athletic Training and Education. I went on to receive a Master Degree of Education at Trenton State College, (now TCNJ- the College of New Jersey) and became the Director of Sports Medicine at Notre Dame High School, in Lawrenceville NJ. Here I taught Biology plus Anatomy / Physiology at the scholastic and college level for several years.

This is when my ocean rescue journey begun.

I was fortunate enough to get a opportunity to join the Wildwood Crest Beach Patrol (WCBP) at the age of 23. It was such a rewarding experience sitting the chair, teaching CPR / First Aid and enjoying the fellowship of a close knit fraternity that comes with being a part of that team. Over 40 years later, I’m still involved as the “voice” of the annual Cape May County Lifeguard Championships, attending just about every lifeguard competition as the “un-official” beach patrol photographer and visit the WCBP Headquarters every day the wind is not blowing and the seas are calm enough to swim the coast with current and past-guards. Hence the saying, “Lifeguards for Life.”

After teaching, I transitioned over to the business world in a Sports Physical Therapy center and later as an Orthopedic Sales Consultant for the medical device company, Smith+Nephew. Eventually the career led to over 30 years in Technology Sales / Marketing with over 9 years as part of a team helped drive Salesforce.com to be the fastest software company to reach $10 Billion run rate.

Currently, my role is to head up the leadership development programs at Medidata (a Dassault Systemes Company) and routinely speak to global corporations around the world on leadership. Being passionate about leading teams of professionals who build, iterate and deliver programs to train new sales leaders and B2B sales reps around the world is the full-time gig for now. Along the way, FLIP’D Coaching for Performance was born to guide emerging leaders on their growth and skills in people management. (Link: flipdcoaching.com)

For fun, I’ve been an IAABO (iaabo.org) high school basketball referee for over 45 years and currently serve as the New Jersey State Insterscholastic Athletic Association’s (NJSIAA.org ) Basketball Rules Interpreter. I share time between Southern New Jersey and the West Central of Florida trying to play as much golf as possible !!! #endlesssummer

This AOR passion project was over a year in the making — with the idea — EVERY guard should be equipped with a “manual for success” in their role whether an experienced veteran or just graduating from rookie camp.

One year later … the AOR Manual was born. The goal is to periodically update and improve this resource while supporting the amazing instructors that teach and train our future patrol rockstars.

Each year a scholarship will be awarded to a WCBP college bound rookie that demonstrates outstanding AOR leadership skills and mentaility.

All proceeds from this project are targeted to be re-invested in continual education and awards, such as this.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Reach out if there’s anything I can do personally to help you or your team grow professionally.

-Billy