Best of "Pickleball Chronicles with Traver"
Carl Landau | September 02, 2025
It's BONUS day in the Landau Tiki Bar this week. We're featuring The Best of "Pickleball Chronicles with Traver". Even if you're not a pickleball enthusiast, you'll really enjoy this episode. Six fun-filled and heartfelt stories.
Uh, let's scratch that. It's total Pickleball Mania -- anecdotes, insights, quirks, crazy cliches, true confessions! All in less than 30 minutes!
Traver West joined me on the show about 2 years ago. He works at Pickleball Central, the world's largest pickleball company in the world. We have fun every month just talking about the sport we both love...PICKLEBALL.
Enjoy our 6 favorite segments of "Pickleball Chronicles with Traver"!
• Valentine’s day, sweet customer anecdotes
• Playing in adverse conditions
• How my DJ career has helped in pickleball
• Being a good pickleball partner
• Turning a bad run around
• The growth of Pickleball
David Johnson Interview: The King of Pickleball Industry Begins His Second Act
Diana Landau | August 12, 2025
Carl is excited to interview David Johnson, an internationally recognized pioneer and leader in the pickleball industry. He co-founded Pickleball Central in 2006 with his wife Anna Copley at the dawn of the modern day pickleball renaissance. He built the company into the largest pickleball retailer and led the acquisition of Pickleball Tournaments and Pickleball Inc. while leading Pickleball Central to tens millions of dollars in sales annually before selling the company to Dundan Capital, owner and operator of the PPA Tour, Major League Pickleball, Pickleball Brackets and other related companies. And David has found new ways to give back to the industry in his (un)retirement.
David had an adventure-filled childhood, born in North Dakota and then living in Copenhagen, Denmark for 4 years. His father was a Lutheran pastor and his family traveled extensively while David was growing up. Right after graduating college in Seattle, David formed a software consulting business with partner and then launched Pinnacle Publishing in the early 1980's. (Seeing a serial-entrepreneur pattern yet?)
David has launched at least 7 different companies, everything from software to publishing to online funeral planning. But he saw a BIG opportunity with Pickleball. He and his wife, Anna, first started with a website selling t-shirts and merchandise, then pickleball equipment and the business took off. Sales soared to $40 million annually at Pickleball Central and eventually David and Anna decided to sell the company.
Carl asks about the stress of the transition. "When we sold, Anna retired immediately. I stayed on for a year and then retired. I took a full 8 months where I didn't do anything pickleball-related. But I started feeling a little antsy." So, David decided to do some consulting involving developing pickleball facilities, which led to him forming the International Association of Pickleball Facilities (IAPF). His team advises businesses and cities on building facilities. They've created a conference and trade show and also publish a magazine, "The Business of Pickleball" and more. David says they help their clients understand building requirements, develop programming, avoid mistakes and take that next important step--build a sense of community within a pickleball facility. "So when people come to play, they have a great time!" he emphasizes. When David isn't working in his new pickleball (ad)ventures, he spends time with his family in Seattle and yes, plays some pickleball.
David Johnson's (un)retirement advice:
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"I think (un)retirement can be more successful if you make sure you have some accountability that you apply to what you're doing. I found in the 8 months when I wasn't doing anything that I got bored. I didn't feel like I was accountable to do anything useful. Give yourself some structure, some accountability."
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"Focus on the things you enjoy and just look for opportunities. It might be advising smaller businesses that are just getting started as a way to expose yourself to other opportunities out there. On LinkedIn you can get some really good intel on an industry you're interested in."
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"I was sort of a behind-the-scenes guy. I am not fond of listening to my own voice. To get out of my comfort zone, I've really tried to work on in the last years or so, to be more public and forward-facing. I've moderated a number of panels in the industry and we're doing videos. I've got to push myself. Practice is the way to do that and get comfortable."
• I Used to be Somebody World Tour: Croatia
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
Meet the (Un)Retirement Experts: Interviews with Joe Casey & Judi Nadratowski
Diana Landau | July 15, 2025
This is a special bonus episode where Carl interviews The (Un)Retirement Experts. First up is the GOAT of retirement podcasts, Joe Casey, who has hosted more than 350 episodes of "Retirement Wisdom". He's a true retirement pioneer. Before his first retirement at 52, Joe had a very successful career working as a SVP for Merrill Lynch. He pivoted to executive coaching and retirement coaching after going back to earn 2 additional masters degrees, in Executive Coaching and Gerontology. "I was curious how it all worked," he tells us. He is also the author of "Win the Retirement Game."
Although Joe loves exec coaching and as well as helping people design their new lives in retirement, he says one regret he has is that he jumped into full-time right away and didn't take off any time in between. "When I started out, (again), I said, I'll do it until I get it right. I'm still doing it!"
Joe's (un)retirement advice:
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"Embrace retirement. Try new things. Know where to draw the line. What pace of work works for you now?"
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"Two common missteps are 1) Taking on too much too soon, and 2) Treating retirement as a vacation for too long."
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"Be willing to be really bad at something as you learn. (Which is really hard for people who have been very successful in their careers.)
Carl also interviews Judi Nadratowski. Judi is a relative newbie to retirement. She retired from an international law firm six years ago. She had worked for her firm for 40 years, helping to manage 1,000 professional staff and 800 lawyers in 9 different offices. She says that when she turned 60, she started looking at her life as more finite. She is now a successful writer, blogger and contributor exploring modern retirement.
"I didn't do much planning at all," she says. "I should have given retirement more thought. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I really would have known who I was until I was in this (new) place." She wanted to do something new, something different and more creative with less stress. Judi looked for inspiration everywhere, including following retirement sites on LinkedIn. "That really got me writing about lifestyle, changes and growth in this phase of life. It's allowed me to work through some things, to see myself in a new way."
Judi's (un)retirement advice:
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"Learning to say 'No' was hard. You start to question yourself. Am I being too lazy? Am I not seeing this in the right way? It's about discernment and knowing what fits and having the confidence to walk away (from another work opportunity) to something else that you're going to build."
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"Let go of old definitions. I gradually started to see what served me well in my career was not going to serve me so well now. How do you define success now? It's more about enjoying the ride than the end goal."
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I Used to be Somebody World Tour: Croatia
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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
Nick Mueller Interview: Mr. World War II Museum - Co-Founder & Former CEO
Diana Landau | June 10, 2025
We must learn from the past to move forward, and Carl's guest this week, Nick Mueller, PhD, has made a huge impact on our world. Nick's "day jobs" as a distinguished teacher, historian, Dean and then Vice Chancellor at the University of New Orleans led him to play a key role in developing learning programs and a University Conference Center in Innsbruck, Austria as well as a UNO Research and Technology Park. But his leading role as the Founding President and CEO of the world-renowned National World War II Museum (and campus) in New Orleans was a remarkable achievement. And he's not done yet.
Nick was born to German immigrant parents in Philadelphia and grew up in Louisville, KY. His father was a Baptist minister and theologian and the family of six traveled the country, often staying with other families. By age 18, Nick says he'd been to 46 U.S. states and 7 countries.
After college, Nick's passion for teaching led to his exemplary career in academia. Everything changed one afternoon in 1990 when Nick and his good friend and colleague, Stephen Ambrose, sat down to discuss creating a National World War II Museum. Stephen was a historian (best selling author and a true celebrity in the day), WWII expert and was finishing a new book. Stephen had located a historical site and had 1,000 oral histories about D-Day. Most importantly, he recognized a huge opportunity to create the museum and knew Nick Mueller could bring the vision to life. Nick adds, "We went broke three times, made a lot of mistakes, we didn't know anything about building a museum, but Steve was so mesmerizing and the board stuck around."
The museum opened in 2000. Thirty-four years and $400 million later, plus steadfast support from Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw, Steven Spielberg and Congress, the well-regarded museum has seven pavilions and is ranked by TripAdvisor as the #3 American museum and #8 worldwide museum to visit. Nick attributes America's part in WWII to resilience and the classic David and Goliath. "It's a powerful, good story that Americans can be proud of and draw strength from."
In 2017, Nick was going to try to retire again but he's been busy writing books, speaking and leading WWII-themed tours in Europe. At 85, he just launched his latest book, "Preserving the Legacy: Creating the National WWII Museum". Nick looks to the future with enthusiasm. "I'm looking forward to however many years I have ahead of me!"
Nick Mueller's (un)retirement advice:
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"I'm trying to simplify my life. My wife would like me to start with my office."
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"I wasn't running anything anymore and that was a huge change. I have no big deadlines now except the ones I set for myself."
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"Everyone says Follow your passion. Your passions are limited by your age and the time you have left to pursue them. So you have to adjust a little bit."
• I Used to be Somebody World Tour: Croatia
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.
Wayne Schmidt Interview: A Traveling (Un)Retirement Adventure 92 Countries and Counting!
Diana Landau | May 13, 2025
"Digital Nomad" Wayne Schmidt pauses long enough for Carl to interview him in this episode. Wayne and his wife, Sally, decided to resign from their jobs in 2017 and began a new lifestyle by traveling the world. So far, they've been to 92 countries! Wayne, a former corporate exec and entrepreneur, has crafted a business that lets him and Sally wander the globe and live their travel dreams.
Wayne grew up in a small town in Australia. "I was a good country boy," he tells us. In high school, he taught himself computer programming. A teacher noticed and even though Wayne's family was poor and he wasn't planning on college, the teacher enrolled him and secured a scholarship. "Thanks to my teacher, he changed my entire life."
After college, Wayne worked as a corporate exec in the accounting and insurance industries as well as founding his own computer start-up company. After 18 years as an entrepreneur, he went back to working in corporate. At the end of 2017, he and his wife were on a long vacation and he started thinking he wanted to keep on traveling. He and Sally talked it over, resigned from their jobs and sold the majority of their assets (including their home and cars) in 3 weeks. They began 2018 "....with no plans, no direction, no jobs--absolutely nothing!"
Wayne says he's made every mistake possible but has no regrets. "There's nothing I haven't done wrong in 8 years!" But he also emphasizes that people in their 50's and 60's have the net worth to travel. He acknowledges that since his parents have passed away and they have no children, that frees them up in a big way. He adds that the traveling life has really improved their marriage and they couldn't be happier. "We have a greater tolerance for other cultures, we have a much slower pace of life and we have become much less focused on a life of consumption and more on giving."
Wayne and Sally call Belgrade, Serbia their homebase now. They say the people are wonderful, it's very affordable and centrally located. "We can fly to Vienna in an hour and have lunch!" They have a website, Travel.Dine.Stay to share what they've learned and he now works about 2.5 days per week providing marketing consulting for accounting firms. Wayne says, "I call it a leap of faith. Be prepared to fall over. It's alright!"
Wayne's (un)retirement tips:
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"Don't plan. The more you plan, you set yourself for failure. Go with the flow. I'm a much nicer person than I was eight years ago."
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"I am not rushing to my grave. We want to go slow. Give me a three-hour meal any day!"
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"Avoid the mainstream media's "top 10" lists of places to visit. Personally, we love a language barrier."
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"Get a financial planner and be prepared to take some risks, even doing something unusual."
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
