ABOUT THE ARCH AWARD
The University of Georgia Athletic Association and United Bankshares have joined forces to create the Arch Award, which spotlights and celebrates former Bulldogs excelling in the business world. These former athletes, now Arch Award recipients, have taken what they learned on and off the field at UGA and applied it to the pursuit of their dreams as entrepreneurs and business owners. By highlighting these business success stories, The Arch Award presented by United Bankshares hopes to inspire current and future student-athletes as they transition from the field to business and entrepreneurship.
THIS YEAR'S HONOREES
CJ Byrd
Chick-fil-A Corporate Support CenterAtlanta, Ga.
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Nick Cassini
Cassini Holdings, Inc.Atlanta, Ga.
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VIDEOS
QUOTES FROM THE RECIPIENTS
Man, I never thought in a million years that I’d be working for a fast-food company, but it has been the most life-changing opportunity for me.
C.J. Byrd
Football
I’ve think what we’re trying to do is create a place that takes some aspects of some of the best places we’ve seen, and make it it’s own thing.
Nick Cassini
Golf
The reason I do what I do is because I enjoy seeing people grow and develop. Over the last 24 years of my career at Waffle House, that's kind of what I've been in charge of.
Greg Bright
Football
It's important to have conversations about the challenges that we go through, it's important to normalize that as humans, but I felt like I was leaving them hanging and I needed to create the tools and pathways to help people go from where they were to where they wanted to be.
Samantha Livingstone
Swimming
I'm so appreciative of being acknowledged for the work that I have done at EY, and the fact that I was a student-athlete that had an opportunity to be a part of the Georgia family and to be somewhat successful in business. To be recognized, it's really an honor, and very humbling.
Tina Taylor
Women's Basketball
It's always to be recognized by the university that I hold so dear to heart. Being an entrepreneur is tough, and there are a lot of ups and a lot of downs, and any time you can be recognized for the successes, even the hard ones, it's always a good thing.
Leah Brown
Gymnastics
I always say, my purpose drives my plan, and I just always stick true to my purpose and my business. And the plan is going to have to change because circumstances around you that you can't control are going to change.
Katie Jacobs
Equestrian
When you talk about culture, when you talk about diversity, inclusion and equity, you're trying to get whatever your team composition is, you're trying to make that the best that you can and you're trying to get those pieces to work together for a desired angle.
Mohammed Massaquoi
Football
This award means a lot because the goals I set in college, I was able to accomplish. Just putting time and effort in, getting up every morning and going to class after mat drills, and walking across that stage with my degree from this university was just a blessing to me.
Randall Godfrey
Football
Setting the bar so high as far as having a really incredible college experience, when I went off into the world of business, I was definitely self-motivated. I've always been ambitious, a self-starter, and always just destined for greatness, I feel like. That experience shaped the whole course of my life.
Brandi Hunter-Lewis
Women's Basketball
I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit and always wanted to do something. I'm never one to sit still. If I'm not out doing something, I'm in doing something — and always looking at things and trying to discover pathways for things to be done.
Will Witherspoon
Football
I really believe my athletic background really fed the idea that we can make anything happen. I think the hungry, aggressive, competitive side really comes out strong and we decided early on that it wasn't ever about being big, it was about being great."
Carrie Zimmerman
Gymnastics
The right partner makes all the difference.