Barb Smith is a former Division I college athlete, Division I college basketball coach, motivational speaker, author, entrepreneur, and advocate for all levels of leadership. Having both played and coached at the college level, Barb knows that sports go beyond winning and losing.

Having experienced the highs and lows and twists and turns both in sport and in life, Barb has learned the meaning of resilience. Her story is one of extreme highs, like winning conference championships and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, but also extreme lows, like not winning games or losing a player to spinal meningitis. Barb has shared these stories and others as she speaks on organizational principles, leadership, inclusivity, and team-building.

Barb is the Founder of Courtside Leadership, an organization that promotes leadership, teamwork, and team dynamics. She has authored a book entitled, Beyond the Talent: Profile of a Winning Team, which details some of her research in building successful teams.

Most recently, Barb founded Find My Team, a startup company that partners with aspiring female student-athletes, parents, and coaches and empowers them with the knowledge necessary to make the college athletic recruiting process a positive, proactive, and successful experience.

Barb majored in Health Education at The Ohio State University and earned her MBA in Organizational Behavior at Iona College in New York. She coached women’s basketball at Iona, Univ. of Colorado-Boulder, San Diego State, Univ of California-Berkeley, Univ. of Minnesota, Saint Louis University, and Illinois State.

When not working, Barb enjoys family, nature, birding, cycling, traveling, attending sporting events, meeting new people, and playing with her two rescued greyhounds.