Erin Cronin Becomes Newest Honor Caddie of Caddyshack to Corner Office

Written By Kai Sato

Please welcome former Evans Scholar of the Year, Erin Cronin, to Caddyshack to Corner Office as its newest Honor Caddie. Though still early in their careers, they are current or former caddies well on their way to the proverbial corner office. Beyond their love for golf and the unique job of caddying, they are intelligent, hardworking and offer a fresh perspective. With their help, we’ve not only told stories of some of America’s most successful former caddies, but we’ve established a unique audience comprised of older golf fans who recognize the caddy’s special role in the game as well as an ambitious younger generation which sees how the game can alter a life’s trajectory.”

Please enjoy learning more about Erin below.

Erin Cronin

Erin Cronin is an Evans Scholar graduate from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she studied Speech Language Pathology. She is currently a first-year graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she will graduate with a MS in Speech Language Pathology in May 2022. She serves as a Graduate Resident Advisor for the Evans Scholarship Chapter at UW-Madison. She began caddying at Midlothian Country Club in the southwest suburbs of Chicago when she was 12 years old. As an Evans Scholar and current alumna, she particularly enjoy being an advocate for the female scholars and caddies by providing them with resources and guidance for their continued success.  

From Erin: “For me, caddying has gifted me incredible perseverance and perspective. I’ve walked alongside some wonderful, kind, and accomplished people. With each person, gaining an even deeper understanding of what it really takes to be successful, whether that be in my future career, in how I treat those beside me, or in the things I do to help others when no one else is looking. Caddying has also taught me to fail forward, to get uncomfortable, and take steps to advance my character with every new experience that comes my way. In short, caddying has undoubtably changed my life and I could not be more grateful. 

In her free time, she enjoys exercising at Orangetheory, reading, cooking, and baking with her new godson.  

Kai Sato

Kai Sato is a managing partner of Mauloa, a unique private equity firm where he is its west coast lead. In addition to Mauloa, he is an advisor to Forma Capital, a consumer-focused venture firm and a fund advisor to Hatch, a global startup accelerator focused on helping feed the world through sustainable aquaculture technologies. Kai is the author of “Marketing Architecture: How to Attract Customers, Hires, and Investors for Any Company Under 50 Employees.” Through his holding company, Kaizen Reserve, Inc., he also advises family offices and corporations on the design, implementation, and oversight of their venture capital portfolios, sometimes taking an active role in turning around underperforming investments. Previously, Kai was the co-president & chief marketing officer of Crown Electrokinetics (Nasdaq: CRKN), the chief marketing & innovation officer of Rubicon Resources (acquired), the co-founder of FieldLevel, and a board member of SportTechie (acquired). He has also been a contributor to publications like Inc., Entrepreneur, IR Magazine, and HuffPost, in addition to a speaker at various industry conferences. An avid golfer who put himself through college by working as a caddy, Kai is the creator of Caddyshack to Corner Office, a golf media platform that profiles successful people whose lives were transformed by caddying and also serves on the board of a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, called Friends of Golf (FOG). He graduated from the University of Southern California as a Presidential Scholar and now chairs the alumni board of its John H. Mitchell Business of Cinematic Arts Program. Follow Kai on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Previous

Megan Gallian Becomes Newest Honor Caddie of Caddyshack to Corner Office
Next

3 Rising Stars: Introducing the “Honor Caddies” of Caddyshack to Corner Office