Gabriella Malta LaRiviere

I would attribute my success to my community, specifically my parents. They work hard, and growing up, we were never members of country clubs or anything of that nature, but my parents knew I loved golf, and so they found a way for me to take lessons and encouraged me to reach out to those country clubs and still put my name in the ring for applicants for summer work through middle and high school. They're really the inspiration behind the work that I do now. My mother is also a personal trainer, so we grew up sort of being a turkey trot family. I have two sisters, and we're all very athletic, and so we attribute our athleticism to our parents.

I was told to follow my passions, which sort of led me to leave teaching in a school and strive for a place in the golf business. When you really enjoy what you're doing, it doesn't feel like work. I'm super fortunate to be in a place where my work also doubles as my lifestyle, coaching young women and being outside, which is something I enjoy. If you really enjoy doing things, it shouldn't feel laborious or taxing.

I would say have courage and don't shrink. On a day-to-day basis, in meetings, I'm the only female in the industry who knows the games and the rules of golf and tennis and pickleball. I think it's about breaking your ground. If you're passionate about something and you deserve to be there, show it. Don't be shy. You're there for a reason, and people can either kind of get on board or get left behind.

Despite the gender gap getting a little bit better throughout the country within the game of golf, I would say it is still a male-dominant sport, a male-dominant world out there, so I would love to see more females pick up the club. I would also love to see people of color, people who identify different than just a white heterosexual male play golf. I would love to see Black people out there, Hispanic people out there, more females out there, queer people out there within the space. That would be great.

The values most important to me are respect, leadership, and empathy. These three values guide both my professional work in making golf more inclusive and accessible, and my personal approach to coaching and mentoring young women in the sport.