What Gets You Up in the Morning?

Steve Sclafani: All Access Pass

A supporting and loving family? A higher belief? Good health?

No doubt that the above three are the most important factors in our lives, but what else gets you up in the morning? What are you passionate about?

For me personally, the challenge of building a business in the game I love and helping young kids achieve their dreams gets me motivated each and every day.

As our business grows and my role evolves, I rarely get the opportunity these days to work with a player in our cages here at the Factory. Hitting lessons have been replaced with board meetings, strategic planning sessions and power lunches. It’s all a natural progression that I really enjoy, but a few times a year I like to get on the field with our kids or go back into the cages to get the juices flowing and connect with players and parents.

Last week I arrived at work and the first e-mail I read was a thank you note from Cathy Hart, the mother of Patrick Sapp. (All mornings should start with a great testimonial!) Patrick is a young man from Delaware who has been in our program the past four years and has worked very hard to get the most out of himself, both on and off the field. We’re very proud of his accomplishments and have enjoyed working with him. We wish him well as he begins his college career next year at Frostburg State.

The last two lines of the e-mail Cathy sent really struck me. She wrote: "Don't ever lose sight of your roots from where you came. That is one of the keys to true personal success in life."

This past Saturday, I got the opportunity to return to my roots and work with a very young, talented player who came in with his family from Connecticut. Matt Schilling, our senior director of on-field instruction, and I, had the pleasure of working with 14-year-old catcher named Ryan Daiss.

As I walked through the office to meet Ryan and his family, it became increasingly clear that I needed to get out of the front office more often and back into the cages. Why? Because as Cathy said, returning to your roots is essential to continuous growth, happiness and professional and personal success. Also, man is it fun to teach this game of baseball that we all love!

So what gets you up in the morning (besides a screaming 2-year-old!)? What is your passion? Do you ever stop and go back to your roots?

By the way, Ryan turned out to be a very good, left-handed hitting catcher who is an "A" student. A definite "Factory" type of kid who we look forward to helping over the next four years. I hope he had as much fun as I did!

Steve Sclafani is the CEO/Founder of the Baseball Factory.

Sclafani’s ability to create new opportunities for baseball players nationwide and to develop exposure vehicles has led to over 20,000 Baseball Factory and Team One players competing at the college level, $500 million in scholarships, and over 2,000 players selected in the MLB draft. Sclafani was recognized as a member of Baltimore’s prestigious 40/40 Club, honoring 40 top executives under 40 years of age. Steve is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he played second base.