Welcome to another episode of In Search of Excellence! Our amazing guest is Ben Johns, the greatest pickleball player of all time. He has been the No.1 player in the world in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles for most of the last 3 years.

On the business side, Ben is a co-founder of Pickleball Getaways, a vacation travel company that arranges pickleball vacations to Mexico, Portugal, Croatia, and other sunny locations. He is also the co-founder of Pickleball 360, an online instructional video subscription service that gives lessons on how to become a better pickleball player.

00:00 Introduction

Who is Ben Johns?

01:59 Ben’s background

Supportive, inspiring parents and 6 siblings
Encouraged to follow their own passion

04:15 Homeschooling of 7 kids

Mom used online resources and textbooks
Kids worked at their own pace
Personal responsibility
Social aspects of homeschooling
They pursued their interests, and social stuff happened naturally

08:59 Sports Ben played as a kid

Played baseball, tennis, table tennis, golf
Very eye-hand oriented sports

10:32 Ben's college experience

Switched majors from Business to Material Science and Engineering
How Innovators Think course by Professor Mark Wellman
Advice to people who don’t know what they want to do
Expose yourself to different things, experiment, research

17:24 Developing and innovating a new pickleball racket

Genuinely interested in how to make paddles better
Being genuine creates an opportunity in almost any area

19:27 Optimism and fear of failure

Optimism is important, but also confidence and work ethics
Do your utmost and put 100% of your effort
If you fail, learn from it

22:56 Ben’s first business venture

Pickleball had the stigma of an old person's sport
Wanted to make it more exciting

24:04 What is pickleball?

A combination of tennis and ping-pong on a badminton-sized court
Very easy to learn and very easy to play

27:19 The professional pickleball

The history of pickleball associations
The TPA and APP
The merging of 2 leagues

32:25 The ownership and worth of pickleball teams

The worth of major pickleball teams
Teams are part of venture capital groups
Who are the owners?

35:44 How do teams make money?

A revenue model
The vision is to make it like an NBA NFL type of league
No major TV contract but a rapidly growing fan base
Pickleball has fanatically engaged fans - a golden nugget for any investor

40:39 Pickleball statistics

Its popularity is growing among different groups
It has a great social component

45:43 The start of Ben’s professional career

First professional tournament – US Open in 2016
Won the US Open in 2017
Making money and covering expenses

Coaching and Staying Connected:

1-on-1 Coaching | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn

324. The Book of Genesis, Part 52 (Genesis 17:1-8) – Pr. Will Weedon, 11/19/24