Craig Petrus - Founder & Chief Inspiration Officer
My Mission
To teach, coach, lead, and inspire you to embrace your Mile-18 Moment and overcome the suck of your life and career to reach your finish line...over and over and over again!
Self-Proclaimed Dreamer
I am a self-proclaimed dreamer. I am one who constantly dreams of the big dream and says to myself, “why not” and "what's next." Why not compete in an a full-distance Ironman (a daunting 140.6 miles of swimming, biking and running), why not achieve the goal of working in professional sports, why not write a book and start a podcast, why not become a famous rock star, why not adopt a child to start a family, why not switch careers midway through my professional life, why not….what’s next?
As the youngest of seven children, growing up in Lakewood, Ohio to two awesome parents who loved us unconditionally, I had many examples before me of what my life could look like and how it could turn out. Examples such as a Rocket Scientist, a successful lawyer, automobile executive, salesman, healthcare PhD, a Hawaiian beach-bum surfer, and a household full of collegiate athletes. My childhood was filled with dreams of what could be and what would be, all of which helped shape the way I am today and how I coach and inspire others to chase after their dream careers.
Today I continue to be a self-proclaimed dreamer who has a yearning for being inspired, with a passion for inspiring others. That's what "inspire others to the point where they inspire you" is all about!
Successful "Career Guy"
My career has been anything but linear, which when I think about it, has set me up perfectly for what I do today. Having earned a few degrees along the way, finding myself working in multiple industries within a number of different functional areas of business such as sales, marketing, talent acquisition, talent development, and team leadership, my career is all about taking what I have learned from coaching and inspiring hundreds of senior executives and business school students on their journey, and empowering them to go after what they seek in securing their dream career.
Having joined the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida in 2009 as the Director of Graduate Business of Career Services and growing my career to my current role of Assistant Dean, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Warrington College of Business Career Services Office and ensuring the delivery of quality career development programming and services to students representing the Heavener School of Business (undergraduate students), Hough Graduate School of Business (graduate business students), and the Fisher School of Accounting (undergraduate and graduate). In this capacity, I lead my team towards continuous corporate development, along with working one-on-one with the business students in providing career counseling, career coaching, obtaining internships, and ultimately securing employment in their fields of study upon graduation. Overall, my team and I are responsible for providing career services and programming to over 6,000 students within the College.
Prior to arriving at the University of Florida, I was an Executive Recruiter with two of the world's largest executive search firms, Korn/Ferry International and Spencer Stuart. In these roles, I was responsible for placing C-level and VP level executives at companies such as Assurant Group, Akerman-Senterfit, BankAtlantic, Baptist Health South Florida, Bijoux Terner, Coca-Cola, DHL, Florida Power & Light, Hawaiian Airlines, Jabil, Microsoft, Paxar Corporation, PBS&J, Puma Energy, Pinnacle Airlines, Winn-Dixie and ZipCar to name a few.
Prior to my career in Executive Search, I had an exciting and successful eleven-year career within the professional sports industry, working in sales and marketing roles for both the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers.
My degrees consist of a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Barry University where I was a student-athlete in baseball, along with an MBA from the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business & Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University.
I currently live in Gainesville, Florida with Mercedes, my awesome wife of 20+ years and Logan, our high-school aged, student-athlete (lacrosse) son who continues to amaze us and makes us proud each and every day.