2023 DUPR COLLEGIATE PICKLEBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS / MIX 1 - KSU VS MICHIGAN
2023 DUPR COLLEGIATE PICKLEBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS / MIX 2 - KSU VS MICHIGAN
Starts In :
Collegiate Pickleball Tailgate w/CEOs Summer Series w/Jorge Barragan, Founder The PICKLR
Thu, Jun 6, 2024
JORGE BARRAGAN
& ELLIOT ROTHSTEIN
TALK PICKLEBALL
Before Jorge Barragan founded America's leading franchisor of indoor pickleball court facilities, the entrepreneur already had two successful exits from startups he launched, and that's not the best part of his story! Get Summer off to the most inspirational start here...
Collegiate Pickleball Tailgate w/CEOs Summer Series w/Jorge Barragan, Founder The PICKLR
In EP#1 of our Collegiate Tailgate: Summer w/CEOs Series, University of Michigan sophomore Elliot Rothstein interviews Barragan, Founder & CEO of The PICKLR, in one of the most forthcoming, inspirational and insightful exchanges theTUNDRA has had the good fortune of producing. Viewers: This is a rare gem of an interview, guided by Rothstein's fresh and artful curiosity, that leaves you feeling changed in the way one does after listening to and learning from a great, inspired and inspiring leader who renews your faith in humanity, and in yourself.
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hey everyone I'm Elliot rosting with the tundra news and the host of Collegiate tailgate summer with the CEO today it's
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a pleasure to welcome our guest George Baragon founder and CEO of the Pickler the leading indoor pickle ball
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facilities franchiser hey George thank you for joining us today it's great to have you with us how's your Monday going
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so far Elliot not not too bad people will never know what it took for us to
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to get this working just seconds ago but I'm I'm happy to be on uh you know
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Mondays uh are always exciting to to start off the week right um so I'm just I'm just happy to be here oh yeah
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absolutely and and my pleasure to be to be interviewing one of the one of the leaders in the upcoming pickle ball
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space and why don't we just sort of start by talking a little bit how you how you found pickle ball how you found
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it to be a sport in a community you wanted to be a bigger part of um and then we'll talk a little bit more about
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the Pickler itself yeah great question so you know I
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I uh I grew up playing lots of sports never never anything related with a
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racket or or you know any paddle Sports um but as I I got older and joined a lot
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of these these tech companies a lot of people like to play ping pong so ping pong was the first uh the first board I
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was introduced to I I fell in love with it um and so naturally uh I felt like my
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skill set could translate uh to pig ball and I got invited One Time by a couple
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of friends um what worked at a tech company called plural site to go play and you know I thought it was such a
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funny sport you know with a funny name and uh you know it still had that stigma
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that this was only for old people and so that was my first introduction you know
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I got we all have that story where we you know you got beat by a 65y old couple my first you know pickle they
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would had me running left and right so you know that that's how I was quickly introduced to the game
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awesome yeah I I remember I I played tennis in high school and then I was always like all right at tennis and I I
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I picked up pickle ball and I I went playing with all my tennis friends and I would whoop their butts but yeah I had
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the exact same experience I showed up to an actual like competitive gym for the first time and there were there were two
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like 60y old dudes and me and like my like fellow tennis captain we're like oh
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we got this and no we just got kind of fully smoked right from the gate um but
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yeah did at what was there a point where you realized I could turn this into more
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of a a business venture type of Deal or was it as soon as you started was it
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sort of like there's potential here no no it wasn't even a thought so I think it clicked for me um so we continue to
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play outside I would I would join every once in a while to to go play um there's
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a there was a local uh Park that was just you know a couple minutes away from the office
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but I think for me when it finally clicked um we were at a Rec Center it same parking lot as as the pickle ball
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CTS and there was like 50 of us waiting to get on the pickleball court and I
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thought to myself like what what and this was in 20 2016 in 2016 in Utah 50 of us waiting to
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get on the court you know people had their paddles out and and I could just not comprehend why why we we would be
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waiting to to get on the court just to to play this game um and it wasn't until
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I saw a couple of young kids that they had they had have been your age Elliott that they they must have had a tennis
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background but they were hitting the ball hard you know they were jumping high to hit the ball them it immediately
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clicked in my head that no one was representing the game the right way it still had the stigma that it was old for
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old people and and at the time H for those that are you know the ogs of
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pickle ball they'll remember remember the Z5 the Z5 was kind of the the topnotch paddle out there at the time
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and it sounded like you were hitting with a frying pan it was so loud uh the design was and again I don't want to
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talk bad but it wasn't great and so I thought to myself you know I feel like I could come out with a paddle that's
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cheaper that looks better that's just that performs better and so the the juices started flowing uh in regards to
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hey I I love this game I started to fall in love with it I started to see this trend happening where you know there was
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a lot of old people playing it but you know the the Millennials are us old old guys now starting to pick up the sport
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um and immediately thought you know there there was a a pickle ball Venture opportunity there and that was kind of
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my first um first business venture I launched it in 2019 with a buddy of mine
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and we were just doing Instagram ads selling you know 100 P paddles a month
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um and and uh you know I decided to to take a little bit more serious and at
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the end of 2019 I redesigned it I went with a raw carbon fiber um you know
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paddle that was going to be really high-end performance and if you you know
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I sent my order to China if you remember what happened December 2019 that's when Co hit and all communication ended with
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with h the manufacturer and you know I didn't hear from them for 10 months and you know that it all it felt like all my
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dreams were were dead at that point because of you know nothing was being
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produced at that time and um you know I feel like I I had lost a lot of momentum yeah well I'm glad the pickle
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the pickle ball dream didn't completely die but your foray into paddles is that
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something you guys are are still big on or was that sort of the manufacturing and is it that at the point where you
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were like maybe we should focus on you know making facilities of providing like I don't know some supply for just the
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demand for people that wanted to play not for like a better paddle product yeah
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well great great question and I'm still an absolute nerd when it comes the the paddles and you know when the new Yola
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paddle came out I I bought all every single uh you know line and and design
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um you know because I I I love the the way that technology innovates but quite honestly um So Co year had the best year
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I I had had in my life financially had a great job um you know had just gone through a company that went through an
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IPO and then moved to a company went through an acquisition and I introduced
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my friend to this company I was working um they're an aggregator they come in
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lift up your e-commerce or Amazon presence your brand and you know they they come in and buy controlling um you
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know the the controlling investment of the of the company and that transaction went
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through it was awesome you know I had just gone through another acquisition and the CFO came from the
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other company and said who's this George veran guy he's making way too much money uh and they let me go they let me go and
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and uh that was in December of 2020 and and I had always wanted to be an
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entrepreneur you know my my father um growing up we would go you know he my my
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father originated from Mexico and and we' go to Mexico and you know he build Apartments out there for you know that
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he rents out and we helped him carry cement we helped him carry brick um you
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know when I was in fourth grade he he bought a little tortilla company and uh you know I was packing up tortillas in
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the fourth grade you know my summer was spent doing that all my Summers were spent uh doing landscaping jobs and so
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my dad always just had this entrepreneur spirit and in my senior year he decided to go full full in on on on being an
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entrepreneur and launch his his passionate always been mechanic and and tires so he opened up his own shop and
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for me that was an inspiration just to see you know at uh was it three years
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ago at 32 uh you know my dad at that point had been doing it for almost 15
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years and I was just I just reflected on all the entrepreneurship opportunities I
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had growing up and I said I never want to work for anyone again and I took a whole month to think of a concept and I
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was reminded of that time and Farmington Utah that Rec Center where all of us were waiting to play on these makeshift
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courts and you know we'd get kicked off by volleyball and basketball all the time we were never a priority and I was
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like why is there not indoor facilities that facilitate everything pick themall
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and that's where idea came up I called my best friend Austin and I said hey I have this idea and he's like I'm in I'm
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like well dude let me let me tell you what it is he's like no whatever it is I'm in so he was in uh you know I told I I
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finally was able to tell him about um indoor doing an indoor facility where we do Leagues and tournaments and Clinics
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and Court reservations and people can come and not have to wait in lines
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um a month a month later after that we signed our first lease and then three months after that we opened our first
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facility in Ogden Utah and the rest is history no there's a lot a lot that happened between them but that's kind of
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how how things happened yeah awesome congrats on like the Stellar growth out the gate it like
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so far since since you started like going into the business side of pickle ball in like 2018 2019 pretty much
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Everything You Touch Is Gold you know um and OB obviously it's like the perfect
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the sort of like the perfect right as the the wave hit you had like right place at the right time you caught on to
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the demand at the perfect time um and as we're seeing like year after year it's almost like another year another
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doubling of the pickle ball masses in America um but at some point you know
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the growth is going to at least Plateau a little bit right the the aggression of the is there any I don't know like
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urgency to want to set up the supply set up enough courts so that at the time
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hits when you know it sort of starts the plateau the Pickler is there and they've set up the courts and they've got that
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100% um man Ellie you're coming with the fire questions to
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No it's h there was a lot of urgency because when we opened doors April
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2021 prior to that you know because we post content of what we were doing um
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you know we we kind of let let the world know hey like this is the future of pickle ball and I'd have people flying
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from Florida in Arizona in Seattle I mean I had people taking road trips and and going home and making you know
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rerouting their trips just to come see the fa um I had people just just coming in and
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saying what are you doing um I remember there one of the founders of another
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franchisee um out there he came and forc his way to meet with us because he wanted to know what we were doing and at
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that point I I had said you know if if I'm having this much interest in what we're
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doing um and you're seeing facility start to pop up um you know people are are starting to think of this right and
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so my first thought is uh I got to raise money I I got to raise money um you know
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we got a lucky break uh two months in we're using venmo business to take a lot
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of payments and VMO business and PayPal headquarters in New York they started seeing all these transactions coming in
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and they wanted to know what is this pickle ball thing and this Pickler thing that's that's popping off and you know
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they ran a story in us and they asked me where I thought this the Pickler could be in five years and I fully believe
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that the time that we could dot the country so we we raised we ra funds um to do the next four facilities um but
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people kept always asking is my inbox probably had 75 you know from Instagram
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to LinkedIn to emails hey I want to franchise this I want to franchise this and you know zero experience in that um
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and so again I I knew that in order to do that I'd always heard how expensive franchising was the the kind of team it
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would take uh the scalability and processes that need to take place and so we we raised our our series a we did a
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first a friends and family one and then raised our series a and um in the last
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year I don't know 14 months we've hired around 80 people to support the
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franchise system um from our exec team to operations to marketing uh to our go
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team that goes out and helps you know Implement processes um and to this date
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we've sold around 311 franchises with you know a lot of of uh sweat and tears
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but you know it it I told myself that 2024 year was if I didn't have funding a
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brand marketing and scalability this is this was the year that companies got left behind if you weren't prepared um
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for this massive growth right yeah and as you were
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talking about like expanding do you guys have uh facilities in all 50 of the states so far not not yet so we've sold
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in in 36 States so far um we just opened our 10th
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facility uh this last weekend in Blaine Minnesota so our our 10th facility was
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just was just opened starting Q3 we will open a facility a week so uh so so when
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you when you start to to think about what it takes to support as a franchise or the
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franchisee I mean for us to to hire that many people before we even had that many facilities open we knew we knew the
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trajectory we were on and to your point there is a point where it plateaus right
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I still don't believe we're we're close because uh most of the United States is still underserved with with pickle ball
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courts and then you also got to remember of the N or the international um
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presence and what that's going to do to pickle ball we we talk I mean we we were talking to groups in in Canada in
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Australia in Japan in Mexico and Colombia Brazil you name it when the
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rest of the world catches on and they are where we were at three years ago but that is that is the next Mega wave of of
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pickleball right that's how we get to the Olympics that's how we get TV contracts and Deals right we're already
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see players starting to get play uh get paid um but that that International um presence is what's
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going to elevate and and grow the game of pickleball yeah and and it's interesting
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you mentioned uh Japan um as like one of the only like countries in Asia that you
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guys have sort of like looked at because and I know it's come out recently that that China's taking this sport really
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seriously and they're they're focusing on it as you said as a potential like sport in upcoming Olympics um do you
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think there might be any I don't know sort of popularity that could be drawn out from a business standpoint of having
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you know the American pickle ball scene dominating right now but we're inevitably going to see going to see
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China really really rise up and yeah you know that they're going to have their own Pickler down there and that could
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almost be like you know a little little rivalry between I don't know the two
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leading pickle all countries yeah well and I I think I mean number one
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competition is always great for everyone right it it raises all tides and and I think I think for me the biggest thing
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was you know yoa said you you be the first one or or be the one that do does
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it better and we're trying to be both right yeah and I think um for us that was that was
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a we we knew that we were going to be the first ones because at the time when we franchised we we had seven facilities
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open nobody else um in in the franchise space had done that right so we
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understood at that point scalability we had another facility in another state um
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and so we we understood what it what it took to operate um that many locations um then after that it was um
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really hiring the right people with the right experience and we hir top level execs in the franchise zor space that
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have done this you know they've been through IPOs they've been through exits they have worked for the Thousand you
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know unit franchise or you know they had they know the skillability operations and processes right and so that's that's
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where I think we differentiate ourselves is we are pickle ball people first and then we brought in the right experience
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and and now we're we want to be synonymous with pickleball so our our partnership deals um you know we we just
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got signed in a massive deal with pickleball L which they own the PPA pickleball Central they you know the up
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upaa the government the new government body of pickle ball they are on our cap table right they we work hand inhand
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with them because they understand the indoor space is where the amateurs are going to play Not By The Hundreds but by
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the thousands and then when you replicate that all across the country that the distribution channels that
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we're going to have with the Pickler are going to be massive and that's why we we are known as um a franchise or of of
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indoor facilities but we have other pickall companies that we've created using our distribution of the Pickler
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which we're very excited about and yeah and as an indoor facility space do you guys have any plans to
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maybe I don't know construct like outdoor facilities I mean especially in
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you know if you're expanding like to other countries where much you know warmer climates um yeah even as you were
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saying like places in South America I'm even thinking like being as you know they're seeing as you know they're more
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compacted than a lot of like American city suburbs um and they they do have more a like a community vibe to them
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with with like an outdoor space sort of like almost like a pickup like basketball Park would the Pickler sort
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of be able to I don't know set up that sort of dynamic in places where it makes sense 100% 100% And I think um that's
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one of the great things about our company is we're we're always looking for for the trends what do people want
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um I don't know if you saw our our announcement with the Utah black diamonds um but we are doing an indoor
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outdoor facility with them right so some of the courts will be covered uh but it'll be outdoor some of them will just
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be completely outdoor and then you know we'll have a uh indoor courts right so I
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think I think uh yes the answer is yes we're going to be nimble and especially like look at the end of the day
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um do I love playing pickle ball in a on a perfect you know spring day 100% but
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it gets above 75 78 degrees with a little bit more than five M hour wind
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and I'm like it's time to go indoors so I'm also a little bit little bit spoiled I've spoiled myself uh with
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having the the perfect uh environment right so it's it's indoors tough to be
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when when you when you are used to it got you awesome yeah and then if if I
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can make a a switch here almost little topic switch here um the the Collegiate
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uh sport of pickle ball right now it's pretty much just like a couple tournaments couple Regional tournaments
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and then there's like one big National one but there's no you know there's no real like NCAA regulated schedule
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anything like that you just sort of have to set up scages against other schools um is there any any any movement any
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talking about a making it a a regulated college sport at least in America yeah I
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mean I I would love to to be a voice in that um you know I I attended the early
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uh ear early Collegiate events in in Austin Texas when they were hosted in Dreamland there is nothing like collegan
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pickle ball right it's incredible the team aspect um the passion that people
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have not only for the sport but representing their school it's unmatched right you know uh being from Utah you
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know that Utah tech and and Utah state they're always in the top five top 10 Utah St is always Teeter tottering
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between first and second so we we have a lot of Pride when it when it comes to uh the Collegiate scene and quite honestly
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it it's going to take it's going to take some some some Brave universities to to
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start offering scholarships right I think that's going to be the the um you
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know on on the high school scene we have to do a better job we we we have to um
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encourage high schools to um you know it make it in in into high school sports I
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think Utah's is is ready and primed to do that you know it took a long time for lacrosse to get to in Utah to to be
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recognized as a as a high school sport um but I think the movement is there
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right the the the transition of of pickle ball and the age demographics the
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the highest uh amount of Rec players now is 18 to 25 and it's only getting
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younger right and so H we have to do a better job of of supporting our high school programs and I think the Pickler
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does a great job in in doing that and and there has to be some Brave um some
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some Brave universities that are willing to offer scholarships Utah Tech has done that they offered last year year two two
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scholarships um Dylan champeny I I I always give her a shout out but she she
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started in our youth program worked for us and now when she went to the to Utah
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Tech um and played for the club she treated like she was a Collegiate a
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Collegiate athlete right she she was going to school there and and and paying for school but the team had regular
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practices you know they traveled together they raised money um but but ultimately um the university it got to
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the point that I think their Club got to over 5,000 members um and the school had
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to recognize it that hey it's it's it's time to to to Really take the series
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offer two scholarships and I think other universities have to do that and then the NCAA will will pay attention and and
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approve the sport because it it I mean it has to it's too popular it's it's uh
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um I I think it would drive a lot of eyeballs to TV and I think it it could be a money generator for the
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NCAA oh yeah absolutely especially 5,000 people on one team that's that's C and
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maybe that's why it's and that's their club right their their Club got that much interest and then uh they obviously
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they're they're very picky on who's on the team but yes there's a there's that much interest yeah maybe maybe one reason
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like in like integrating a college system and bringing them all together to play against each other is just how how
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un uneven that would be because when I think about like the Michigan team like yeah we are nowhere near even even with
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like the non-competitive just sort of casual players I don't think we're even up to like 45 50 so against maybe do do
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you guys have dedicated I mean where do you guys practice like do you guys have a on campus there are no oncampus courts
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and in fact like the only place close by it's like a minute drive you know a lot
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of people don't really have cars um and you know that's a far drive you know I I only got there by like you know car
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pools um and yeah it is really selective where you know no one's coming in with
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like some long pickle ball background and then they can only take like 10 people for a competitive team because
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the tournaments that are set up aren't really set up for the college they're they're the same way like the pro style
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ones are formatted basically yeah um well we we got to change that um I don't
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know if you're aware of this but Drew Brees um you know former Super Bowl
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champ uh you know one of the best quarterbacks of all time he he uh he's an ambassador but he ended up buying the
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state of Indiana Michigan and Ohio to to franchise out so we're we're gonna get
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to Michigan right we'll we'll make sure because one of the great things we love is is the reason why also Utah Tech and
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Utah State are are are as good as as they are is because they have access to our facilities as well and we work with
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them right the University at Utah Tech has invested um in the team but also has
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invested in on on campus courts some of the the buildings are are the rooftops
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have been turned into bigle ball courts and so that the the the student body and the team has the place to play and you
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know we make it very dirt cheap for our universities to be able to play at our facilities because again you you need
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those resources too right and and I think once those resources are are available to you and and and your team
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OT you'll see the the interests go this way but also the talent pool go this way right yeah and I I think it's it's on on
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us businesses too to to to help you know create accessibility to to the
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universities yeah and with you guys you guys are stationed in you talk right
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that is correct Y and so maybe it's no surprise that like your backyard Utah is
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the like fastest growing you know Pickle Ball State there's been it it could just be because resource availability do you
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also think there's just something like about Utah in the water
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no lend itself to the to the game of pickle ball because I'm thinking you know pickle ball very I mean by by the
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pickler's mission it's a very you know Community minded organization sort of
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emphasizing the community structure of pickle ball and if I'm thinking of Utah obviously you know it's going to come to
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mind that a lot of you know like family uh family values are priority a lot of community-minded values do you think I
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don't know just that Utah and Community mindedness plays into their pickle ball craze 100% 100% um you know there
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there's definitely a a strong presence of of you know as people would call the
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Mormon religion it's really emphasizes families and so it's it's Community
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Driven but I think I think Elliot all across the country everyone wants a sense of community right and I think
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this is why why pickle ball is so popular that you know the three things that um that the Pickler we preach are
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connect Dink and compete right human interactions that happen because of pickleball it's it's unmatched right
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there's nothing like it I've I've been of part of movements and and companies where um you you see a little bit of
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that but the human interactions that happened because of of pickle ball are are incredible I my VP franchising
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started as a volunteer um you know met her husband at the Pickler they just you
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know recently had a kid and she she now is my VP of of franchising at the
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Pickler right th those are not uncommon it's it's the human interactions that
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happen and then the dinking portion of our mission pickall is meant to be fun right so you're on on the courts you're
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with your friends and family have fun doing it but then the competition side I always tell people you know I grew up
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playing sports I grew up playing soccer you know basketball football you know I don't I don't sit at the three-point
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line and and shoot three-pointers and you know can tell you my rating in basketball but I can tell you in pickle
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ball right I I will take two hours out of my day to practice dinking or my thirds or my you know fifth Drop shots
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like it's the weirdest thing like as an adult man it's like why am I taking time my day to want to improve but I I love
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the competition side that pick ball brings out of out of us and and it's in our human nature to want to be
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competitive and is there a better feeling than feeling the butterflies when you're going to play in a
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tournament you know I I miss I miss the the days of of competition and and as an
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adult man with six kids and responsibilities and you know I once in
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a while like to feel a little alive feeling those those you know those those uh competition juices and it's
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amazing yeah I definitely say the the wide appeal of pickle ball and the
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potential of the sport because of that is pretty unmatched with any other any other sport you've got the elements of
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like the things that make golf you know have the broad appeal the fact that anyone can play it any age any size any
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you know any any sort of Dimensions um and if you practice a lot you can get good but there are like obviously a lot
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of barriers to access for golf too yeah don't exist for pickle ball you don't have to pay a ton of money to show up to
30:01
a park you can just buy like a $20 paddle you don't need all these all these clubs so it has the sort of anyone
30:09
can play it anyone can try it and anyone can get good at it somewhat fast just with like hours of practice um but it's
30:16
also got like the anyone can come in and play it that sort of a pickup game of
30:21
basketball would have um yeah where it's just sort of like show up and play um
30:27
but yeah let me let me pivot here just ask what would what would be your advice to college students aiming to turn their
30:34
their pickable passions and aspirations into maybe a more competitive profession maybe turning it into like a sport they
30:41
can I don't know really grind out and take full-time yeah I that that's a great
30:47
question I think um you know that was always always preached to me right that to follow your passions and and in in
30:56
whatever profession I was in um I always try to find organizations that had great values or sold a great product and
31:03
ultimately it turned into being able to be in in my passion of of being in pickle ball right but I think I think
31:10
for me um following my passion from a profession standpoint establish a
31:16
foundation right understanding you know I'm I'm a Enterprise sales guy by by
31:22
trade um that how to learn um marketing as well and understanding top of funnel
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and in campaigns and what drives people and branding um but also understanding
31:33
what drives people to to say yes uh when it comes to a sell right so all those foundations were based off of great
31:40
companies right and So eventually you get to a point where you you have a bigger why in your life you know what
31:46
what what truly drives you what what gets you up in the morning what makes you come to work and it doesn't feel
31:52
like work right and and I think for me you know I woke up when I was 30 30 years old and I was like
31:58
30 years went like that like what what is my legacy what am I leaving and it's so funny because as I started to
32:05
explore I had my midlife uh crisis too early but you know I started to explore
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uh what what is my next move and step and and you know how can I translate um
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my experience to to a passion I even ran for city council and I ate like middle
32:22
middle of of my campaign I'm like what am I doing you know but I was just trying to find that that wider purpose
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you know my my why and I I think ultimately when I decided hey you you
32:33
have a strong Foundation you've learned a lot of things throughout your life not only in school but life experiences um
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professional experiences sometimes um when you when you decide to take a
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gamble on yourself and you and you have those foundations the drive is there I mean just just go for it I I tell people
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all the time you know I think I think we're all meant to be Entre R preneurs because we all have passions right and
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so I I truly believe that you can turn your passions into um you know a
33:06
lifelong career a and you know knocking on knocking here on on
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wood but you know I I want to I want to grow this this company to a Nationwide company and transforms people's life
33:20
through the game of pickle ball uh and introduce thousands of people to to the game and and if people have the passion
33:27
to be a pro there's there's a pathway for that now right there's money to be made in the game if you want to turn any
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aspect of of your passion in your life give yourself a shot right I think the
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the first step is is the scariest but I think once you're in it and you're grinding and and you're able to um see
33:47
the fruits of your labor like I I think that makes it all worth it and and if you're someone that sort
33:52
of has that drive and wants to take that shot um do you have any advice for sort
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of overcoming any butterflies that would have to do with really just risking it because that's really what it is you
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basically have to get yourself you know to go for it especially with like entrepreneurship yeah deal that's a big
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it's a big time sync and money sync yeah 100 per. and and I think uh Ellie one of
34:17
the big things is I surrounded myself with people not only that believe in the mission but also um you know that
34:24
there's there's there's people that will take chances on you right throughout your your career and I think that the
34:31
anxiety and the butterflies and the stress that comes from all this is it's natural right um you know it's not to
34:39
say that you know raising money I would never put my worst enemy through because
34:44
raising money is is a it's a Time sucker it's it's consuming it's stressful um
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but ultimately when you when you place um all that energy of of you know I've
34:59
learned to embrace the the anxiety and and the nervousness and turn it into positive energy and and I and again it
35:08
just as a CEO of a of a fast growing company I always ask myself how did I
35:13
get here right but every day is a learning opportunity that's why you surround yourself with people smarter
35:19
than than you right and embrace those learning opportunities because as
35:25
individuals continuous learning should never stop right and and you you'll get
35:30
to the point when you graduate and you have a career but you should never stop learning and growing as as as a
35:36
professional as an individual as you know one day as as a father businessman
35:42
whatever it may be in your life um always continue to learn and grow and I
35:47
think you'll surprise yourself but yeah thank you so much George for speaking with us today you gave us some great
35:52
advice some some awesome insight into the the growing Sport and also the industry side side of it um and and
35:59
hopefully we'll see you around and and the Pickler will take even more from here and if you're ever if you're ever
36:06
in uh in Utah come visit us Elliot I'm sure I'm gonna make it to the big house soon uh I'm a big Notre Dame football
36:13
fan so one of my dreams is is is to make it out there so if we're ever out there we'll we we'll sink together and let's
36:19
play some pickle ball abs and if you need a ticket you know I got you dude
36:24
all right I appreciate it well thank you so much Elliot you're you killed
36:29
it awesome well thank you so much you killed it even more thank you thank you
36:39
[Music]
36:40
Comments
Collegiate Pickleball Tailgate w/CEOs Summer Series w/Jorge Barragan, Founder The PICKLR
Thu, Jun 6, 2024 8:00 am
INFO
JORGE BARRAGAN
& ELLIOT ROTHSTEIN
TALK PICKLEBALL
Before Jorge Barragan founded America's leading franchisor of indoor pickleball court facilities, the entrepreneur already had two successful exits from startups he launched, and that's not the best part of his story! Get Summer off to the most inspirational start here...
Collegiate Pickleball Tailgate w/CEOs Summer Series w/Jorge Barragan, Founder The PICKLR
In EP#1 of our Collegiate Tailgate: Summer w/CEOs Series, University of Michigan sophomore Elliot Rothstein interviews Barragan, Founder & CEO of The PICKLR, in one of the most forthcoming, inspirational and insightful exchanges theTUNDRA has had the good fortune of producing. Viewers: This is a rare gem of an interview, guided by Rothstein's fresh and artful curiosity, that leaves you feeling changed in the way one does after listening to and learning from a great, inspired and inspiring leader who renews your faith in humanity, and in yourself.
Welcome to
Collegiate Pickleball Tailgate w/CEOs Summer Series w/Jorge Barragan, Founder The PICKLR
In EP#1 of our Collegiate Tailgate: Summer w/CEOs Series, University of Michigan sophomore Elliot Rothstein interviews Barragan, Founder & CEO of The PICKLR, in one of the most forthcoming, inspirational and insightful exchanges theTUNDRA has had the good fortune of producing. Viewers: This is a rare gem of an interview, guided by Rothstein's fresh and artful curiosity, that leaves you feeling changed in the way one does after listening to and learning from a great, inspired and inspiring leader who renews your faith in humanity, and in yourself.
Before Jorge Barragan founded America's leading franchisor of indoor pickleball court facilities, the entrepreneur already had two successful exits from startups he launched, and that's not the best part of his story! Get Summer off to the most inspirational start here...
Check-out University of Michigan sophomore Elliot Rothstein (also a leading member of the school's collegiate pickleball club) hanging out with comrades doing what students do best: hanging out, watching videos and picking-up a paddle occasionally.
Elliot Rothstein played high school baseball & tennis, rising-up the ranks to become a state runner-up, All-State caliber player, and captain of his high school (tennis) team. Rothstein started playing pickleball with kids from his tennis team before entering the 2022 GVSU Singles open, a 4.5+ tournament, and winning it. Since then, he's competed in one other 5.0+ tournament and joined the UMich team.
Elliot Rothstein played high school baseball & tennis, rising-up the ranks to become a state runner-up, All-State caliber player, and captain of his high school (tennis) team. Rothstein started playing pickleball with kids from his tennis team before entering the 2022 GVSU Singles open, a 4.5+ tournament, and winning it. Since then, he's competed in one other 5.0+ tournament and joined the UMich team.
Elliot Rothstein played high school baseball & tennis, rising-up the ranks to become a state runner-up, All-State caliber player, and captain of his high school (tennis) team. Rothstein started playing pickleball with kids from his tennis team before entering the 2022 GVSU Singles open, a 4.5+ tournament, and winning it. Since then, he's competed in one other 5.0+ tournament and joined the UMich team.
Elliot Rothstein played high school baseball & tennis, rising-up the ranks to become a state runner-up, All-State caliber player, and captain of his high school (tennis) team. Rothstein started playing pickleball with kids from his tennis team before entering the 2022 GVSU Singles open, a 4.5+ tournament, and winning it. Since then, he's competed in one other 5.0+ tournament and joined the UMich team.
Elliot Rothstein played high school baseball & tennis, rising-up the ranks to become a state runner-up, All-State caliber player, and captain of his high school (tennis) team. Rothstein started playing pickleball with kids from his tennis team before entering the 2022 GVSU Singles open, a 4.5+ tournament, and winning it. Since then, he's competed in one other 5.0+ tournament and joined the UMich team.
CRED: MIKE HALL – With Michigan coming into DUPR's Collegiate National Championships ranked No. 12, and Kennesaw State entering the tournament ranked No. 13, this promised to be an even matchup. Both teams went 1-1 across their first two games, making it a must-win for both schools as they try to advance to the knockout rounds. Watch their women's doubles teams compete.
CRED: MIKE HALL – With Michigan coming into DUPR's Collegiate National Championships ranked No. 12, and Kennesaw State entering the tournament ranked No. 13, this promised to be an even matchup. Both teams went 1-1 across their first two games, making it a must-win for both schools as they try to advance to the knockout rounds. Watch their men's doubles teams compete.
CRED: MIKE HALL – No. 9 Indiana takes on No. 4 Utah Valley in the final match of the group stage at DUPR's 2023 Collegiate National Championships. With both teams coming in tied for second place, it's a win-or-go-home match, as only two teams advance from each group. Watch the first mixed doubles teams compete with a spot in the knockout rounds on the line.
CRED: MIKE HALL – No. 9 Indiana takes on No. 4 Utah Valley in the final match of the group stage at DUPR's 2023 Collegiate National Championships. With both teams coming in tied for second place, it's a win-or-go-home match, as only two teams advance from each group. Watch the second mixed doubles teams compete with a spot in the knockout rounds on the line.