Steve Legatto: From the Rink, To the Office
Sports has helped me grow into a person who
doesn't get fazed by change and allows me to
adapt to any situation.
Connect with Steven on LinkedIn.
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Background
I started out playing Junior A Hockey in Alberta after I graduated from high school with the dream of obtaining a full-ride Division 1 scholarship. After three years of riding the bus and winning hockey games I finally reached my lifelong goal of securing a full ride scholarship to Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, USA. While playing hockey for the Pioneers I was able to graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Sports Management and begin to set my sights on professional hockey. Signing in France gave me the ability to follow my hockey dreams while also living and exploring Europe. After the season I made the toughest decision of my life…to hang up the pads and focus on my personal development. This led me to George Brown College to build on my Sport Management degree and secure an internship with the Brampton Beast Hockey Club in Sales. The experience I had within the classroom and in the field helped me grow professionally and personally. I now have found a full time position as a field sales representative for TTi Canada which represents brands such as Milwaukee, Ridgid and Ryobi power tools.
Resume In A Flash
Field Sales Representative TTi Canada - George Brown College Sport & Event Marketing Postgraduate- Brampton Beast Hockey Club Account Executive - Sacred Heart University, B.S Sports Management
Steve, let’s first talk about your career as a hockey player – you played throughout the collegiate system and even played professional hockey in Paris, how has that affected you and allowed you to grow as an individual?
Hockey is truly an amazing sport since it teaches you so many life lessons without you even realizing it. Moving around the world and playing hockey has taught me to adapt to new situations. Each team I had new coaches and teammates who brought on new expectations on and off the ice. Being able to adjust to different living conditions, cultures and people has helped me to become mentally tough and react to change. In the business world there are constant changes but the experience I have had with hockey has taught me to deal with adversity and persevere. It has allowed me to grow into a person who doesn't get fazed by change and allows me to adapt to any situation.
Since retiring from the professional circuit, you joined the GBC Sport & Event Marketing Program – what was the decision making process behind this? Was the opportunity worth it?
The decision to hang-up my pads was one of the toughest decisions of my life. Firstly, hockey was all I have known since I was seven-years-old and I was scared to move away from the game and become my own person. It was a personal decision for me since I felt in my heart that spending another 5-10 years playing pro hockey would not help me accomplish my personal goals. I had to start thinking long term about my personal career and the steps it would take to start “real life”. Every hockey player’s career has a timeline and after dedicating my life to the game I knew my time was up.
The opportunity was defiantly worth it since it gave me the opportunity to transition to the business side of hockey and see what happens behind the scenes. I never realized the hard work and dedication that it takes to work for a hockey team and it was an experience that has led me to where I am today. If I did not join GBC I never would have realized my potential or what I wanted out of a professional business career.
How has having a background in professional hockey affected you in your job search? Has it served more as a benefit or as a hindrance? Is it frequently a conversation piece in interviews?
Having a background in hockey has had its pros and cons. Firstly, hockey teaches you many transferable skills such as teamwork, work-ethic, preparation and leadership. These are all skills that companies these days are looking for and it was easy for me to show examples of each of these skills. The con of playing hockey your whole life is that I have minimal job experience since I would spend my summers training for the upcoming season and not working in a relevant field. This is an issue that I have had to overcome with recent job interviews. It is a frequent conversation piece since I need to spin my hockey career as a job and show how the attributes I learned will transition into the workplace. Overall it has been both a benefit and hindrance.
Your internship at GBC was in sales for the Brampton Beast Hockey Club and you have since moved on to another sales gig – is this where you found out you had a knack for working in sales?
Previous to working for the Brampton Beast Hockey Club I never had any first hand sales experience. I knew the only pathway to a front office sports position was through ticket sales. After a few weeks of training from the Beast staff I was ready to dive head first into the role and get out of my comfort zone. Phone sales was something I never saw myself doing but after pushing through the first few calls it became second nature to me. The competitive side of sales is what captured my attention and gave me the drive to succeed. Having success in the role gave me confidence that sales could in fact be a career that I could have a future in. The patience and training the Brampton Beast provided me is something that I will always be thankful for since it has propelled me to where I am today.
Is there anything in particular that you learned in your time as a hockey player that has benefitted you the most in your current professional development?
The number one trait that has benefited me the most from my hockey career is work ethic. I may not be the smartest or the most talented but the one thing I can control is my work ethic. If I dedicate myself to a position and go above and beyond with my work ethic than I know I will be successful. As a hockey player I had to continually prove myself and the best way to do that was to work hard on and off the ice. Same goes in my professional career as a new hire I have to continually out work my colleagues to prove that I deserve the position and show my contributions to the company. Every person has the ability to control how hard they work each day and my background in hockey has taught me NEVER to take a day off!
What would you say to a current athlete that is looking to hang up the laces and looking to make a move to becoming a business professional? What advise/tips would you give them?
My advice to a current athlete that is looking to become a business professional is to trust your experience. Sports gives you a leg up on the competition since you have had to overcome many challenges that your peers have not. Facing adversity is common in sports and in the business world. Fighting against the odds makes you stronger and if you apply the skills you have learned such as preparation, perseverance and work ethic than you will have success. Focus on what has made you successful in the past and realize that sports has taught you transferable skills that many companies in today’s competitive market are looking for.
