Mitch Dunn Interview: Ad Agency Wiz turns into Pickleball Entrepreneur
Diana Landau | March 11, 2025
This episode is about successfully reinventing yourself in your 50's AND building a huge pickleball community. What's not to love about that? Carl interviews Brand Developer and Pickleball Fanatic Mitch Dunn, who left the big ad agency life he'd been living for almost 30 years to pivot to the wide world of Pickleball. Mitch is now the co-owner of one of the largest dedicated indoor pickleball facilities in the country, with over 1,000 members.
Mitch grew up in Louisville, KY, the youngest of five siblings. Due to the age difference, he says he spent a lot of time alone. "I learned creative problem-solving at an early age because of that," he tells us. His love of creative expression stayed with him through high school, college and into his careers.
After graduating from Xavier University, he started with the legendary Leo Burnett Agency. "Boy did I learn a lot about media and brand strategy!" Mitch worked in the big agency biz for almost 30 years, working on all kinds of brands from Fruit of the Loom to Dewar's. In 2019, Mitch became intrigued with and then deeply passionate about pickleball. In 2020 as a side hustle, he launched one of the fastest -growing community clubs in the country, the Cincinnati Pickleball Club. His non-profit, all- volunteer organization eventually led him to the business side of pickleball.
He was a Senior Vice President at Empower when one day he was "uninvited" to stay at the agency and pivoted quickly to becoming a first time entrepreneur. "This part of my second stage of life is being focused on a brand that I created myself!" he says. He is now co-founder of the Pickle Lodge, one of the best places to play in the Midwest.
Mitch and his wife love Cincinnati. "I've never been happier in my entire career than I am right now. I get to make people happy every day. I get to help them have fun and I connect them to other humans. I feel like a kid. I'm 55 but I feel 25 years old."
Mitch's Tips on (un)retirement and becoming an entrepreneur in mid-life:
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"I'm glad I have the life lessons and career lessons to use now."
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"I'm a big believer in 'What if .....?' thinking. Go through the process of asking yes, and....? When you do that, you can come up with a really cool proposition."
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"I really encourage others to embrace pushing through the fear of becoming a late-stage entrepreneur. It's never been easier to start a business right now. You can publish content to communicate about your business. You can shoot videos about your business. You can start a podcast about your business. Those are important tools regardless of what your business is."
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog
Paul Giobbi: High Tech Entrepreneur Starts "The Exit Club"
Diana Landau | January 14, 2025
The insightful Paul Giobbi joins Carl on the podcast for an engaging discussion on how to transition from being a Founder and CEO to "....someone not defined by my business card." As co-founder of Zumasys, Inc., Paul led his company to become one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the U.S., appearing on the "Inc. 5000" seven times and being ranked #1 on Fortune’s list of Best Places to Work for Giving Back. His company grew to $30 million in revenues and had 100 employees. Over the past few years, he's sold parts of the business, he’s stepped away from day-to-day operations and he’s gone through an enormous personal transformation. Paul is making a difference in his own community and the wider world, and he's been on an amazing journey.
Paul grew up in San Diego, the youngest of four children. His parents divorced and he went to live with his entrepreneur father at age 11. "That decision changed my entire life," he tells us. Instead of school sports, Paul spent his time working for his father's publishing and events business. From a young age, "I knew in my bones I wanted to be an entrepreneur."
After getting married and leaving the family business, Paul relocated to Texas to join Jones Business Systems. In 2000, Paul saw opportunities and launched Zumasys in San Clemente, CA. Besides all the financial success, the company was known as an employer with incredible employee engagement. "We realized if we were really deliberate about investing in our people and culture, it would correlate to our success at work."
Zumasys began divesting of certain divisions of the company, beginning in 2018 and then in 2021 and suddenly Paul had more margin in his schedule. Personally speaking the transition was not so simple. "When you decide to step away from your primary act in life, it challenges your relationships, your identity, your ego." He goes on, "There are a lot of things I thought I would do: serve on boards, angel investing, do more volunteer work, etc. But instead, I'm investing in others and moving toward a different direction without expectation."
He searched for mid-life transition advice to minimize the sudden isolation and lack of purpose. He couldn't find a group of his peers, so he started "The Exit Club" with quarterly in-person meetings, speakers, forward planning, and offsite retreats. Strong bonds were formed, and Paul found new direction. "'Retired" is such a pejorative term in our country......it took a while to learn who I am was not my business card."
Now 55, Paul and his wife split their time between San Clemente and a small town outside of Park City, Utah. After two childhood friends were diagnosed with aggressive forms of melanoma, he founded "Paul Walks", a non-profit that has raised $120,000 for melanoma research while he walked 1,000 miles. Over 200 people donated, participants walked on 5 different continents and Paul reaped benefits as well. "Walking has given me time to write, to listen, to be in nature, to slow down and just kinda be."
Paul's (un)retirement advice:
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"Choose to move through it, (the transition). Just be in it!"
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"Reconnect with old friends--there's such a value in those long-term relationships."
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"Mid-life is about living a life true to yourself and not what other people expect it to be."
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"I have a new card which says IAHTEO. I Am Here To Encourage Others."
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog.
Suna Kneisley Interview: "Kitty Hotel" Second Act Success Story
Diana Landau | October 08, 2024
This Month I Used to be Somebody has gone to the CATS! Meet Suna Kneisley, who consistently combines her passions with success throughout her life. A former Marketing Exec in high tech for Intuit and Oracle, she began investing in real estate and helping her colleagues do the same. That has led to a 20+-year successful career in investing, as Founder of Freedom Investments. Along the way, Suna also fell in love with cats. After volunteering for a local non-profit cat adoption organization, Suna eventually became Executive Director in her spare time. In 2019 Suna bought Pat's Boarding Place for Cats, which she has improved on and expanded and they now have kitty condos for up to 78 cats. (Are we seeing a pattern here?)
Suna grew up in the Midwest, first in Indiana and then in Illinois to a U.S. military father and Korean mother. As a kid she was very social, up for any sport. She knew her father hated his career as a CPA. Her mother, who possessed keen business intuition, turned her focus to a very busy local Mr. Donut Shop. She kept after the owner until he sold it to her family. Working at the donut shop growing up, doing all kinds of shifts, instilled a sense of entrepreneurship in Suna.
She attended Northwestern and UC Berkeley and after considering a career in medicine, she was hired by Intuit and never looked back. After personally investing in real estate, she began pooling resources with her fellow employees and began managing various investments. "I don't like doing things alone. I love to share what's exciting and what opportunities there are with friends and family."
She started volunteering for Cats About Town Society (CATS) in 2008 and realized they had organizational problems. Suna took them on with mounting debt and turned CATS around. They now care for and adopt out 400-600 cats per year. When Pat's Boarding Place became available in 2019, Suna pounced on the opportunity. In addition to running her real estate investing firm, volunteering and managing the kitty hotel, Suna loves to travel, just about every month. She also loves to play pickleball. "The path is interesting. It kinda unfolds!"
Suna's (unretirement) tips:
• "Find what it is that gives you joy. Use your skillset. Or do something completely different!"
• "Keep moving! Movement for your body. Pickleball is the great equalizer--most everyone can play."
• "It can also be really helpful to just sit and be still for your mind. Meditate. It will help you find what you want to do."
• "Be open. Be clear about how you want to feel--the kind of person you want to be at your best. What does that look like? What does that smell like? What does that taste like? Be clear about that and then be open to the opportunity, whatever it is. Then follow, say YES to things."
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog
Edward Hechter Interview: High School Dropout Hits it Big Time as an Entrepreneur and in Pickleball
Diana Landau | August 10, 2024
Meet the remarkable Edward Hechter, who has "unretired" multiple times. He was a highly successful exec in tech, another incarnation as an entrepreneur with his wife, a consultant who helps companies overcome challenges and even the CEO of the giant Pickleball Central. "I tend to stay involved helping people that I adore solving business puzzles."
Edward grew up in Southern California in a typical middle-class family. "People say I was overly verbose and precocious." In high school he became active in debate, skills he would use for the rest of his working life. It was during his junior year of high school that he became one of the best high school debaters in the country. Midway through his senior year, he transferred schools and the new school didn't give him credit for some of his earned coursework. He decided to leave.
Edward began working in 1981 at the age of 17 in a tech consulting firm. He applied for the "girl Friday" position and as the company grew, he advanced. The company built websites for businesses all over the country and when Edward took the helm as the EVP and GM, the company went from $8 million in revenue to $100 million. "I was the right guy in the right chair," he tells us.
In his first unretirement, Edward figured he'd focus on becoming a soccer dad, volunteering and skiing on weekends. But he missed the intellectual side of solving complicated business puzzles. So he and his wife went shopping for a "broken" business to rehabilitate. They found a family-friendly, fixer upper in PartyPail, an online party supplies company. Edward says they went from just two orders a day to exploding in volume in just 5 years with $5 million in revenues.
In his second unretirement, Edward still wanted to help companies so he became a consultant/investor/mentor to help businesses break through whatever was holding them back. He loves helping countless entrepreneurs solve real world puzzles. "My love language is service," he says. "So I have to do good things for others. And if it turns out to be a good thing for myself too, even better." He was asked to come on board as the CEO of burgeoning Pickleball Central in 2015. And eventually helped the founders sell the business. In 2017, Edward created the Hawaii Open Pickleball Championships, the first sanctioned Hawaiian pro pickleball event.
Now in his third unretirement at age 60, (we see a definite pattern here), Edward and his wife live in Hawaii and the state of Washington. Edward still consults as much as he wants to and plays pickleball 3-4x a week. He says he's focusing on pickleball, poke, people and peace.
Edward Hechter's tips on life and work:
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"Know thyself, and what lights your fire."
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"It is often hard to tell what lit your fire until it's gone. Then you recognize you want it back." (Edward's example is his drive to help companies solve problems. He missed that.)
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"Figure out what your love language is. It's about finding the one thing that brings you a feeling of love. Start from a premise of joy and everything is easier."
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"Who do you want to share a foxhole with? That to me is the ultimate test."
• (Un)Retirement Travel with the Pro Allan Wright, Zephyr Adventures
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog
Maxine Clark Interview: Build-A-Bear Mega Founder Turns to Social Entrepreneurship
Diana Landau | July 07, 2023
Carl interviews Maxine Clark, a true catalyst and inspirator. After a two-decade career as a successful executive in retail, Maxine pivoted at age 48 and founded Build-A-Bear Workshops, which has sold nearly 250 million stuffed animals worldwide. In 2004, Maxine orchestrated the company's highly successful $170 million IPO, the first St. Louis woman to do so. Maxine, a woman of boundless energy and enthusiasm, continues to be a driving force for positive change in the world.
Maxine grew up in Coral Gables, FLA. Her father was an electrician and her mother had quite a remarkable career in the non for profit realm. Maxine tells us her mother graduated high school at 14 and went to work as a secretary for Eleanor Roosevelt. Fun fact: Roosevelt urged the women who worked for her to go out in the world and advocate for positive change. Her mother did so, first as a big fundraiser in the community and then started a school for children with Down's Syndrome. Maxine tells us, "My mother was very creative. No problem can't be solved. I like that."
Although she first thought she wanted to go into law, after college she began an illustrious career in retail, working her way up the ranks of the May Company. She became President of Payless ShoeSource in 1992. In 1996 at the age of 48, she moved to St, Louis and started thinking about a new business. Sparked by the idea of creating personalized teddy bears, she tried to buy a couple companies, which didn't work out. Everyone told her she was crazy.
But you guessed it--only nine months later the first Build-A-Bear Workshop opened in St, Louis. Carl asks Maxine how she could go from creating a concept to opening a store in record time. "I'm pretty good at planning and execution. I had experience and resources. But I also had a vision." As Founder and CEO, Maxine led her Build-A-Bear team to the pinnacle of growth and success just seven years after start up. She was the first woman to bring an IPO to Wall Street, managing critical relationships for the company to be publicly traded on the NYSE.
After 17 years with Build-A-Bear, Maxine wanted to pivot again, but this time in the not for profit world. In 2015, she launched a ground-breaking project to create positive change in her community. The "Delmar Divide" was an area in St. Louis historically known for segregating poor black neighborhoods from white neighborhoods. Maxine's team bought the old St. Luke's Hospital and is developing an innovative hub and collaborative space dedicated to helping not for profit creatives to work together, to improve the lives of children and families in the metropolitan St. Louis area. This once-neglected dividing line in St Louis is now being transformed into The Delmar DivINE. Maxine says, "This is joyful work. Dream the dream-- supreme!"
Maxine Clark's Inspirations:
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"Your experience is so valuable to somebody else. There's always something you can do to strengthen your community."
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"Look around at what interests you, whether its non-profit or volunteering and just meet people around it. Network!"
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"I like to bring experts to the table, and I also sit at the table, to make sure we find solutions and continue to move forward."
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” blog.
