Jay Platt is a highly accomplished adventure athlete, and nationally recognized speaker, author, and peak performance coach. He is the executive director of the "No Matter What!" Foundation, a non-profit organization whose fundraising ventures support charitable groups including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, and others.

Prior to his current position, Jay served his country for fifteen years as a United States Marine. Enlisting in the Marine Corps at age seventeen, he saw tours of duty throughout the world, taking him from Parris Island, SC to the far reaches of Southeast Asia, and various points in between.

In the fall of 1998, Jay's Marine Corps career was brought to an unexpectedly sudden halt when complications from a unusual cancer syndrome forced his medical retirement. He was initially transferred to the the Temporary Disabled Retired List, then later was fully retired as as a Gunnery Sergeant.

Refusing to allow the disease that attacked his body and ended his career to beat him, he chose, instead, to use his setback to prove that it’s not what happens to you that matters, but your response to it.

Since his retirement from the Marine Corps, Jay has worked tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of others by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars through various fundraising adventures, and has stacked up some pretty impressive accomplishments in the process.

In 1999, he completed a grueling southbound thru-hike of the more than 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail, becoming one of fewer than 300 people, at the time, ever to have done so.

And in 2005, he swam more than 1 ½ miles from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco (with both his hands and feet bound!) becoming one of only three people in history to complete the difficult swim in such a way. 

Jay has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, and has been a guest on every major TV network and on dozens of radio shows. His diverse clientele includes the National Institutes of Health, IBM, TAP Pharmaceuticals, and the United States Naval Academy.

Jay is the author of  No Matter What! How to be Unstoppable, Despite the Obstacles, Starting Today, A Time to Walk: Life Lessons Learned on the Appalachian Trail, and is a contributing author in both  Success is a Journey, and Transformational Leadership.

He resides in eastern North Carolina where he lives and loves life with his wife, Paz, and their dogs, Jake and Sadie.

Jay is a member of the National Speakers Association and the International Coach Federation.