The Patty Brandmaier Resilience Award
Brian Ferguson
Arena Labs
Each year, AFN presents the CEO Patty Brandmaier Resilience Award to honor a leader who reflects Patty’s legacy: service before self, strength under pressure, and a commitment to helping others endure and thrive.
We are proud to recognize Brian Ferguson, Founder and CEO of Arena Labs, as the 2025 recipient.
Brian brings more than 20 years of experience in high-performing teams across national security, special operations, and sport. A former Navy SEAL Officer and graduate of the London School of Economics, he has built his career at the intersection of performance, pressure, and purpose. At Arena Labs, that experience now serves those on the front lines of healthcare.
Resilience Is Beautiful. And Dangerous.
In our conversation, Brian offered a definition of resilience that captures the tension leaders face today.
Resilience can be life-saving. It can also become unhealthy when we glorify overextension and burnout. Playing hero is easy to celebrate. Sustainable performance is harder.
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In an environment defined by rapid technological change, increasing complexity, and constant pressure, resilience requires intention. It requires tools. It requires humility. And it requires leaders who model it.
Humility and Authenticity in Action
Brian named two personal values that guide his leadership: humility and authenticity.
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Humility means there is always more to learn, even as CEO. Authenticity means living the practices you teach. Daily trade-offs. Prioritizing sleep. Recovery practices. Micro-habits that prevent tipping from healthy resilience into self-destruction.
At Arena Labs, this is not marketing language. It is culture. As a human performance company, they expect their team to embody the very standards they bring to clinicians.
Leadership Under Pressure
Building a company that introduces human performance into healthcare has required conviction. In the early years, the team had to persuade hospitals that performance coaching belonged in operating rooms and ICUs. It meant swimming upstream and repeating the message again and again.
Brian spoke candidly about the loneliness that can accompany CEO leadership and the importance of relationships in sustaining perspective. That honesty reflects the spirit of this award. As Patty often modeled, a life worth living includes service and, at times, suffering for something larger than oneself.
Brian and the Arena Labs team carry that spirit forward.
The Right Leader for This Legacy
This award honors a leader strengthening the people who strengthen all of us.
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Through Arena Labs, Brian Ferguson is helping frontline clinicians build sustainable resilience in a system that urgently needs it. For that work, and for carrying forward the spirit of Patty Brandmaier with integrity and depth, we are proud to recognize Brian as the 2025 AFN CEO Patty Brandmaier Resilience Award recipient.
About Arena Labs
Arena Labs understands the relentless dedication required in healthcare. Drawing from the mental and physical performance principles used by elite military units, world-class athletes, and top performers, the company adapts those tools to meet the unique demands of modern medicine.
Through data-driven insights and Predictive Performance™, Arena equips clinicians to sustain excellence under pressure, helping those who serve others remain strong, focused, and whole.
Don’t miss Brian’s interview with Matt, an honest look at what resilience really requires in today’s high-pressure world.
Brian Ferguson, Founder and CEO, Arena Labs
“This is about our team and the work we’re building together. It feels incredibly meaningful that this award is framed in Patty’s legacy. She shaped who we are as a company, and to carry that spirit of service forward is something we don’t take lightly.”
Matt Sitter, CEO of AFN, Partner at Sixth Wing
“We are honored to recognize Brian Ferguson as the 2025 CEO Patty Brandmaier Resilience Award recipient. Brian embodies the spirit of service, humility, and sustainable performance that defined Patty’s life. Through Arena Labs, he is strengthening the people who strengthen all of us.”