About Eric Matthews

Growth has been the defining theme of my life. Whether helping a new salesperson find confidence, guiding a leadership team through transformation, or writing stories that inspire others to embrace change, I believe our greatest potential is realized when we commit to continuous learning, meaningful relationships, and the courage to evolve.

Helping People Perform at Their Best

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the youngest of six children, raised by an incredible single mother in a low-income neighborhood. When I was eleven years old, my father passed away, and our family learned firsthand the value of resilience, hard work, and supporting one another. From an early age, I looked for ways to earn money and contribute. Before I was ten years old, I was running errands for neighbors, carrying groceries, cutting grass during the summer, shoveling snow in the winter, and collecting aluminum cans on weekends to recycle for extra income. Those experiences taught me responsibility, work ethic, and the importance of serving others long before I understood business.

In high school, I enrolled in a Business and Finance Magnet Program, where I developed an early appreciation for business strategy and entrepreneurship. Rather than immediately attending college, I entered the workforce, eventually finding my way into sales at twenty-four years old.

That decision changed my life.

Before offering me my first sales position, the hiring manager gave me two assignments: read Tom Hopkins' Master the Art of Selling and Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Those books transformed the way I thought about personal growth, leadership, communication, and success. From that point forward, I became an autodidact, immersing myself in sales, leadership, psychology, business, and personal development books. That passion for continuous learning has never left me and continues to shape how I lead, teach, and serve others today.

During my very first year in sales, I became Salesperson of the Month seven times and was honored as both Salesperson of the Year and Employee of the Year.

More importantly, I discovered something that would define the rest of my career:

I loved helping people succeed.

That passion eventually led me beyond selling and into developing salespeople, leaders, and organizations.

Driven by a lifelong interest in understanding human behavior, I later earned a degree in Psychology and Human Services from Clayton State University, where I studied one of my favorite subjects—why people think, learn, and perform the way they do. I later completed my Executive MBA at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, combining behavioral science with business strategy to better help organizations create lasting performance improvement.

Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of designing global revenue enablement programs, leading onboarding initiatives, coaching sales leaders, supporting customer success organizations, implementing AI-powered learning solutions, and helping thousands of professionals build the confidence and skills needed to perform at their best.

I've also developed a deep passion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, helping establish and lead Employee Resource Groups that create stronger cultures, develop future leaders, and build communities where people feel they belong.

Today, through Successful Talent, I help organizations bridge the gap between strategy and execution by designing practical enablement programs that improve performance, accelerate learning, strengthen leadership, and prepare teams to thrive in an AI-driven world.

Whether I'm consulting with executive leaders, facilitating workshops, speaking at conferences, or writing books, my mission remains the same:

Help people become the best version of themselves—and help organizations unlock the extraordinary potential already within their people.

Long before I built global enablement programs, led enterprise learning initiatives, or earned an Executive MBA, I learned one of life's most important lessons:

Success is created through opportunity, preparation, and perseverance.