Sean brandes

About the Author

Sean Brandes is a retired U.S. Navy Captain, former high school soccer coach, and author of Always Ready.

He spent twenty-seven years leading teams in some of the most demanding environments in the world, then took on what may have been his most unexpected leadership challenge: coaching the women’s soccer program at Aquinas High School, a 250-student Catholic school in Augusta, Georgia. His first season, the team went 0-10.

That record turned out to be the beginning of something. Sean and his fellow coaches spent a year earning trust that wasn’t automatically given and turning a staff of strangers into a team. The very next season, Aquinas went undefeated and won the Georgia state championship. The season after that, they won it again.

What he learned on that sideline, about culture, connection, and what leadership actually looks like when things aren’t going well became the heart of Always Ready. Sean writes and speaks about leadership, resilience, and a simple idea: you don’t have to be ready when the opportunity arrives. You just have to be willing to get ready.