The Future of Pickleball: Insights from jojo+Lo Apparel

November 15, 2023 00:30:50
The Future of Pickleball: Insights from jojo+Lo Apparel
Sleeve's SPR "People of Pickleball!"
The Future of Pickleball: Insights from jojo+Lo Apparel

Nov 15 2023 | 00:30:50

/

Hosted By

Mike Sliwa

Show Notes

In this episode of Sleeves Senior Pickleball Report, host Mike Sliwa sits down with Lori and Jodi from Jojo+Lo Pickleball Apparel to discuss their business and the current state of the pickleball industry. They delve into the challenges and opportunities facing pickleball entrepreneurs, as well as the future of the sport and its growing popularity. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just discovering the joys of pickleball, this conversation will undoubtedly provide valuable insights and inspiration. Don't miss out on this exciting episode of Sleeves Senior Pickleball Report! jojo+Lo https://jojoandlo.com/

Visit the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/q3gxm51ANmI?list=PL4zcMlR6d22wbwTjiJ0KCKCfVvcGgGwkO

Check out the article:https://stmdailynews.com/the-future-of-pickleball-insights-from-jojolo-apparel/

https://stmdailynews.com/sleeves-senior-pickleball-report/

 

 

Sign up for the SPR Newsletter and get news and episode release info right into your inbox: https://stmdailynews.com/sleeves-senior-pickleball-report/sleeves-spr-newsletter-sign-up/

 

Merch links and affiliate links...

 

Sleeves shirt and hat: PIKL Nation, https://www.piklnation.com

 

Visit Miles Jane and get $15 off by using code SLEEVES15OFF when you make a purchase.

https://milesjane.com

MilesJane on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milesjane_pickleball/

 

#PickleballFashion

 

Discover the newest apparel and accessories for the Senior Pickleball Report by SLEEVES, now available through Santa Barbara Happy! Use the discount code: Sleeve10 for 10% off.

https://santabarbarahappy.com/collections/sleeves-senior-pickleball-report-apparel-accessories

 

PiklNation: We believe that pickleball is not just a game, but a lifestyle. Our mission is to add joy, style, and humor to the pickleball community. https://www.piklnation.com/

 

Check out the Bread & Butter Filth and get 15% off your purchase ( use the code SleevesPBR): 

https://www.bnbpickleball.com/?sca_ref=4297023.2Ijsgs79j6..

 

Picklin is revolutionizing pickleball practice with The Dink Net! Improve your dink game and revolutionize your practice with this portable net that sets up in under 60 seconds. Perfect for practicing your skills anywhere, The Dink Net enhances muscle memory and helps you become an expert player faster. Picklin is dedicated to enhancing your game with innovative products, ensuring your transition into pickleball is smooth and enjoyable. 

 

Use code SENIORPICKLEBALLREPORT for 10% off your entire order. Elevate your pickleball experience with Picklin! https://startpicklin.com/seniorpickleballreport 

 

Fitville is offering a discount to you, the viewers of Sleeve's SPR... Use this code to get 30% off:   SPR30

35% OFF for New User:  SPR35 

 https://bit.ly/3PoES6w

Learn about the R.A.W. (Reign and Win) Excluder 1, a fantastic paddle that supports non-profit bee farmers and contributes to preserving bees. Use the promo code "Reign10" to get a 10% discount on your purchase. Let's work together to save the bees, who play a vital role in sustaining life on our planet. Click the link below to find out more about this product.

https://reignandwinpickleball.com/products/r-a-w-excluder-pickleball-paddle?variant=44046168129790

SPR Shirts and merch: https://stm-store.online/spr-merchand...

Just Paddles https://www.justpaddles.com/?rfsn=660...

 

#pickleball 

#seniorpickleball

#pickleballislife

 

 

Social Links:

SPR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...

SPR on WEB https://stmdailynews.com/sleeves-seni...

SPR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seniorpickl...

SPR on TikTok 

twitter: https://twitter.com/SeniorPBReport

View Full Transcript

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sleeve's senior Pickleball report is brought to you by TNC Network. Get ready for an exciting episode of People of Pickleball with Mike Sliva. We're about to dive deep into conversations with influential figures from the world of Pickleball, so let's get it going. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Today we are talking to JoJo and Lowe and we'll introduce who they are in the interview. But they are an apparel company that is taking Pickleball by storm and is big business starting to roll into Pickleball as all these companies start to gather momentum from the sport that just doesn't seem to have no end to it. JoJo and Low is one of those cool companies that have come out of this wave of Pickleball madness. But before we get started, if you like that kind of interview or that kind of content, hey, consider subscribing to the channel. We'd really appreciate your subscription. [00:01:03] Speaker C: Leave a comment. Let us know what you think of. [00:01:04] Speaker B: The interviews and the content as well. Check out our links in the description for our socials. There's things always being updated. And also check out our newsletter. We'd like you to subscribe to that. Get your daily fix of Pickleball news, plus all the discounts for shoes and paddles in the description. Let's get to that interview with JoJo and Lowe. [00:01:30] Speaker C: All right, welcome finally to the senior Pickleball report backstory later to JoJo and Low. Welcome. [00:01:41] Speaker D: Hi, Mike. Thanks for having us. [00:01:43] Speaker E: Yeah, thank you. [00:01:43] Speaker C: It's really great to have you. Teresa Tarn introduced us, I think, in 2012, I know it was about three months ago, and said I should touch base with you all, and I had come across your work and your company and your fabulous attire months ago. I think I was Instagram friends with you and all that stuff, but to touch base with somebody who's out there doing things besides just whacking the ball, but actually building this sport from a very important end apparel. I'm so glad to talk to you. So thanks again. [00:02:24] Speaker D: Thanks for inviting us. [00:02:26] Speaker C: Absolutely. So, hey, I mean, you just don't start a company without a friendship. So let's talk about how that began and give us a little backstory about how you came to be as friends. [00:02:39] Speaker E: Well, we were actually tennis partners, if you can believe that. And we were really good tennis partners. [00:02:45] Speaker D: We were perfect. We were really good. [00:02:49] Speaker E: Winning nonstop. I had a couple of knee injuries and a couple of knee surgeries and needed to make the switch. Had some stem cells put in and the doctor know, you just need to give up tennis. It's too much torquing, it's too much impact. And so I started playing pickleball a long, long time ago. And I'll tell you a little bit about that, but got Jody to switch from tennis to pickleball. But she still does play tennis. But she was my favorite tennis partner, so I had to get her into pickleball. [00:03:25] Speaker C: Yeah, right. [00:03:25] Speaker D: I relented after a lot of asks. [00:03:29] Speaker E: Yeah, a lot of asks in a few lessons. And boy, she took off quickly. So now she missed me a lot. [00:03:37] Speaker D: It's so fun. Love. [00:03:43] Speaker C: Know a lot of people. Oh, go ahead. [00:03:45] Speaker E: I was just going to say a little fun fact. So Simone Jardine used to play at our club, Michigan Athletic Club, when she was a Michigan State tennis coach. And a good friend of mine was a good friend of hers. And so we'd be eating lunch at the MAC, the Michigan Athletic Club, and Simone would come in, she'd be like, come play pickleball with me. I'm loving this new sport. So she was just getting into pickleball and she was looking for people to play. So my friend Becky and I played with her a number of times. So, I mean, I learned from the best from the very beginning, which know would have gone as far as. But yeah. And Catherine Parento was one of know tennis players on her team. So Catherine was playing at the know. Just a lot of Corinne Carr, if you know Corinne, she was playing at the MAC. Athena was playing at the MAC. Just all these superstars. Dan Howard, I don't know if you know Dan Howard. [00:04:47] Speaker C: DJ. [00:04:47] Speaker E: So it's kind of a little hotbed of pickleball in Michigan, but it really. [00:04:52] Speaker D: Is a small pickleball, right? [00:04:55] Speaker E: Yeah, it is. [00:04:56] Speaker D: Everybody has connections, for sure. [00:04:58] Speaker E: Once you get into the pickleball business or even just go to Tournaments, you start recognizing all these familiar faces, which is fun, right? But it's growing so fast. I hope it doesn't grow so fast that when we started our business, there were 5 million players and I think the latest number is right around 35 million. [00:05:19] Speaker C: That's insane. [00:05:20] Speaker E: Community doesn't explode to the point where we can't recognize friends anymore. [00:05:27] Speaker C: Right? Yeah. I don't know what it is about Michigan, but a lot of really good pickleball players come out of there. I mean, Eva Welsher is out of there, too. It's an incredible place for Pickleball. And obviously the Beer City open is what I think kind of becoming legendary because it's its own entity on some levels and it does its own thing. And I think that's and I grew up in Wisconsin, so I went to the University of Wisconsin. So we don't really like Michigan, but, yeah. You're not Wolverines. We dislike Wolverines more. Yeah, no, we're. I had taught with a bunch of people who moved from Michigan to Arizona, and so anytime I would ask them where they were from, in know, they would do the whole, like, well, I'm like, here. [00:06:27] Speaker E: Yeah. And that's right where we are. You nailed it right in the. [00:06:33] Speaker C: So, um. Okay, let's talk. Talked. We touched on your pickleball journeys a little bit. And, Jojo, many people, they don't stick with tennis like, they find pickleball and they are done. You are doing both, which is not easy on the body, especially for somebody who would be my age. I could not do both. I played tennis a little bit recreationally, and just my shoulder just couldn't take it after a while because of the overhand or the overhand serve. So talk about doing both and how you balance that a little bit. [00:07:05] Speaker D: Well, initially it was hard to go back and forth. I would say that pickleball really hurt my tennis game in the beginning. [00:07:14] Speaker E: In the beginning? [00:07:15] Speaker D: In the beginning. But actually, it's improved my tennis game, my net play. So, yeah, that's great. But I like singles, and I'm a terrible singles pickleball player, but a good singles tennis ball player. [00:07:28] Speaker C: That's interesting. [00:07:28] Speaker D: Tennis pLayer. [00:07:29] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:07:30] Speaker D: I just couldn't give it up, and I love to run, and I really do feel like, as a singles player, you get a better workout in tennis. [00:07:39] Speaker C: Oh, for sure. Yeah. [00:07:42] Speaker D: I like them equally now. [00:07:44] Speaker E: I love it. [00:07:45] Speaker D: And if I can play, like, both in one day, yay. [00:07:48] Speaker C: Wow. Good for. Yeah, yeah, nobody likes you. Cut it out. Wow. Well, let's get Jojo and Lowe the business, the company, the apparel. Can you walk us through the genesis of that, the idea, informing it, and it's become quite the hit in a very short period of time. So talk about that as well. Sort of that quick journey of, we're going to do this, and then, boom. Now we're at huge professional tournaments, and Pickleball Central is picking up our stuff. So talk a little bit about how it became an idea to what, now you're in Pickleball Central's site. [00:08:29] Speaker E: Well, honestly, we're blown away by how quickly it's grown. We didn't expect this. We were enjoying every minute of it. But when we launched Jojo and low, it was really out of the need for something cute to wear. We were heading to Arizona and we were going to play in the Arizona Grand Slam at the JW Marriott. And this is during COVID Like, this was a girls trip. We had a couple other friends lined up, and we just needed to get out of Michigan. We needed to have some fun. And so Jody and I were going to play as partners in the tournament, and it's maybe two weeks before the tournament. We're looking online together. We're on the phone, and I'm like, well, what about this? What about this? And we couldn't find anything. And what we did find was a lot of dancing, pickles and pickleballs with smiley faces. And we just thought, oh, my gosh, Jody's a graphic. Like, we could put those talents to use and create really cute stuff that we want to wear. So that's really how it launched. It took a little while to kind of get it started, but once we got the ball rolling, it keeps rolling. So it's been great. [00:09:41] Speaker C: Yeah. And it helps to have somebody who's got some skill sets in graphic design, for sure. So talk a little bit about maybe your baCkground, JoJo, in graphic design, and what you're bringing to the table with the company. [00:09:53] Speaker D: Okay. So I have been a freelance graphic designer for over 20 years now, and my fun projects are designing T shirts and logos and doing branding. But that wasn't my bread and butter. So once Lori and, like, put our heads together, I'm like, oh, this will be my creative outlet, designing apparel for JoJo and Lowe. So I'm still freelancing and I have a daughter, so I have like three jobs and I like to play pickleball and tennis. So I'm spread pretty thin. [00:10:22] Speaker C: But wonder it took three months. [00:10:26] Speaker E: She loves vacations, too. [00:10:29] Speaker C: She does. She's gone. Yeah. That's awesome. New paddle company Pickle PCKL Great Paddle line, great Price point. Anything you want, from starter paddle to intermediate to a pro Series high level paddle, check them out. Get 15% off using my discount code. Pickle is the future. [00:10:52] Speaker F: Are you looking to stay up to date on the latest Pickleball news and tips? Look no further than the sleeve. Senior Pickleball Report Newsletter get the scoop on the sport, learn how to stay healthy while playing, and find out about upcoming tournaments. Subscribe now to get all the Pickleball info you need. [00:11:12] Speaker D: Yeah, so we have a great focus group. We come up with an idea for a design. We'll run it by them and we get really great feedback. [00:11:21] Speaker E: What was so exciting is the first few designs that we created we would wear to our Michigan Athletic Club, and people would be so excited about it. And then they're like, we want to order them. So when you go now to our club, everybody's wearing JoJo. And we knew we were on to something when they started buying it. And they're know, they're our peers, they're our friends, and they were all buying it. We're like, okay, we got something good going here. And now we go across the know, we see our stuff, and that's super exciting. We'll go down to Naples and play Pickleball, and we see JoJo, and it's really. [00:12:04] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:12:05] Speaker C: You're sort of celebrities. Let me sign that. [00:12:12] Speaker E: No. [00:12:14] Speaker C: In the Pickleball world, people know who you are. [00:12:18] Speaker E: Well, that's good. We want them to know who we are. We want them to wear our stuff. [00:12:23] Speaker C: Right. So let's talk about being women and moving the world a little bit. In Pickleball, there are more and more women seeing to come into the landscape, really, with businesses. And obviously the best player in the world is, even if you look at the difference between Ben and Annalie, Annalie is here compared to her peers. So talk about being a woman in Pickleball, establishing this company and know, taking the lead. And I think really kind of moving the sport in a direction that it needs to go. Keeping it fun. [00:13:05] Speaker E: Keeping it fun. And also, Pickleball is a serious sport. So we wanted to make sure that we didn't have comical looking shirts. We wanted it to represent a sport that is very athletic. That was one of our themes early on was let's change the image of Pickleball one T shirt at a time. So make it a little bit cooler than those lime green dancing pickles, right? Yeah. So that's kind of been one of our motives in doing this, too. And as women in business, we're just blown away. People have been so helpful just reaching out to us and offering us whatever to do a story on us, to help know, do some creative posts. They give us design ideas. They're very. And as I said to Jody a little while ago, if we need something, we just got to ask for help because people are willing to share their knowledge and their time and their talents. And sometimes you just have to ask and people will come through for you. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Right. And I think that you mentioned before about growing so fast, and right now, there's this beautiful community in pickleball, and you see it in every sort of facet. You see it at the senior level, the Champions Tour. Those folks compete hard against one another. And at the end of the day, they're out having dinner and there's these friendships. And then obviously, I would imagine it's the same thing when you're at a tournament and there's different vendors and you all get to know each other over time and stuff like that. So building the community is really what you're doing, which is fantastic. So talk about that, really, because you touched on it a little bit and what that means to you going forward as far as building your brand and having this community kind of stay tight like this. [00:15:06] Speaker E: Well, building our brand is just. We just do everything we can. Tournaments, social media, we message people on LinkedIn. We'll do anything to get our name out there. And you're right, it is a challenge because there are more brands joining, but I think there's room for all of us. And everybody does something a little bit differently. And we've had people reach out to us and say, hey, I'm doing a line of jewelry. Can you give me pointers on your website? Like, what template did you use? We've been helped by so many people, by this community, by this pickleball community, that we are trying to pay it forward and do the same with newer businesses and just share what knowledge we do have. [00:15:53] Speaker D: We also had a launch party in October of 2021. And how many of our closest friends came? [00:16:00] Speaker E: About 45 of our closest friends. [00:16:02] Speaker C: Wow. [00:16:03] Speaker E: They all agreed to be brand ambassadors. One free shirt and loaded them up with business cards, and they were the initial kind of face of JoJo and Low and really helped us get the word out. And now we affiliates, we talked about Rick Whitskin and Teresa Drew Holder. There's a whole Sarah Ansbury, a lot of incredibly talented pickleball players who love our stuff. They want to wear it on and off the court. So they've approached us and said, hey, can we represent your brand? And we're like, absolutely. So we load them up with some fun, cute JoJo and low and set them free. [00:16:47] Speaker C: And they talk about, well, and, you know, not just great pickleball players, but everybody you mentioned, they're really good quality. [00:16:55] Speaker E: Absolutely. [00:16:56] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. [00:16:57] Speaker E: But that, I don't think. Play pickleball. Yeah. Jerks don't play pickleball. [00:17:03] Speaker C: No, I'm sure they don't. Yeah, maybe a little there. So let's talk about the new collection, Dink like a girl. And I think. I don't know, I read somewhere, I think it was on your blog that it's going to be on your site today. Is that correct? Which, by the way, is my birthday. Oh, hey, it's get some good mojo going with the JoJo and low launch. Right on, girl shirt. I didn't even realize that I was reading. I'm like, oh, it's today that you were doing the launch. I knew it went on Pickleball Central earlier. [00:17:40] Speaker E: Yeah. So this was a collaborative project. Know, we've been affiliated with Pickleball Central. They've been selling our stuff at tournaments, and we've done a couple of tournaments with them in their shop. So they just launched us about right before Mother's Day. Yeah, right before Mother's Day. And they wanted a collection just for them. And that is our Dink like a girl collection. And so they wanted it for one month to be exclusive to them. [00:18:07] Speaker C: Sure. [00:18:08] Speaker E: And so that's why we waited that month. And we're going to launch it today and get it up on our website. But there are six pieces, including the one that we already have on there. So six pieces to this collection. The point of it was kind of to encourage moms to play with daughters. That's why they launched it on mean, you know, Anna Lee Waters and Lee Waters. And then you've got Georgia Johnson and her mom. So it's just a fun sport, and we're moms, and we both have one daughter. [00:18:39] Speaker C: Okay. [00:18:40] Speaker E: We play with our daughters. [00:18:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:42] Speaker E: So that's what this collection is all about. It's really just about empowering everybody. I mean, pickleball empowers everybody anyhow. It does. It's about empowerment. And just anytime anybody has ever said, you can't do that or you do that wrong, Pickleball gives you that chance to just. There's always the next point and you can always play it better. So, yeah, that's kind of what the collection is about. [00:19:06] Speaker C: Right? [00:19:07] Speaker E: Add to that. [00:19:07] Speaker D: No, I was just about to say, in your blog, you wrote about how people used to say, oh, you throw. [00:19:12] Speaker E: Like a girls are some pretty, like you said, badass pickleball players that are girls. [00:19:24] Speaker C: Well, my wife's a prime example. My wife has not become a fanatic like I have or anybody else that I play with around here. She plays once a week and just walks on the court. It just stomps on people. She's just one of those people. She's a great athlete. She has really good court sense in anything she ever plays. She knows how to move people around, and she's coached other sports. So it's one of those things where she's like, when anybody. Because we'll have somebody pop off some guy once in a while. And she doesn't take much to rile her up against boys. So as she calls them, when they start getting a little dumb. Yeah, she'll tag them. I kind of glad she only plays once a week because she would just own me otherwise. I think it's a great line. I think it's a great collection. Talk about some of the other collections you have, because you have quite a few, and I was perusing through them the other day. So mention some of those and what those are about. [00:20:31] Speaker D: I still love some of our original designs, like our third eye design, which is right here. [00:20:38] Speaker C: I love it. Yeah, that's better. [00:20:40] Speaker D: And then Dink, dink, dink, dink smash, I think, was our very first design, which is retro feeling, and that inspired our retro collection. [00:20:49] Speaker C: Right. [00:20:50] Speaker D: Then our chill collection is more of our super simple. [00:20:55] Speaker E: Can you see this? [00:20:57] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Cool. [00:20:58] Speaker D: Okay. Yeah. So in the chill line is basically unisex. Men and women both love it. They wear it interchangeable. [00:21:07] Speaker E: And Dinker and banger are in there. [00:21:09] Speaker C: Right. [00:21:09] Speaker E: Just on lobber, because we all know those lobbers and they own it. [00:21:15] Speaker D: Poacher. But that didn't go over. Save the elements or elements. [00:21:19] Speaker C: Right. I like that. Yeah. Cool. You could do a hippie line, man. You could do. I'll do a little modeling. [00:21:31] Speaker D: Cool. Tiedye stuff out there. [00:21:34] Speaker E: The hipster. Well, we do have a hipster. [00:21:37] Speaker C: You do have a hipster line. That's right. Yeah. [00:21:39] Speaker E: And plum, we need to expand, but, yeah, we have Ernie in there, which. [00:21:43] Speaker C: Is just kind of. [00:21:46] Speaker E: Right. [00:21:47] Speaker D: A lot of people don't know what Ernie is, though. [00:21:49] Speaker E: Like the general public, but we think. [00:21:51] Speaker C: But they will. [00:21:54] Speaker E: It's going to explode pretty soon. Ernie's going to explode. [00:21:57] Speaker C: Well, that's the thing. I think sometimes people maybe forget this, and I don't know if you do, but you're on the forefront of something, as we all know, is this giant wave. And you are one of the early pioneers coming in doing apparel. Five years from now, who knows what this looks like and where you are and what the company is? But at this time, you're going to be the OGs as far as this goes, who started this? And it's like, well, they did. I think at some level, you have to look at some of the ground that you're breaking, and I think this dink like a girl line is a perfect example of that. You're doing things before anybody else is doing them in a sport that is really just starting to generate huge amounts of momentum. [00:22:43] Speaker D: Well, thank you. We got kind of lucky when we hit the market. [00:22:47] Speaker E: Yeah. And thank you. Yeah. That's very kind of you to say that. We hope we do continue to explode over the next five years. [00:22:56] Speaker C: You will. You're doing great things. And I could tell you're still excited about this and you still have a lot of enthusiasm about it. And I think it shows in your products, too. I mean, it's cool stuff. [00:23:09] Speaker D: We go back and look at our text thread and I just bust out laughing. Some of our greatest ideas come at 03:00 a.m. [00:23:16] Speaker E: In the morning for sure. [00:23:17] Speaker C: Right? [00:23:18] Speaker E: Yeah. I know. It's ridiculous. And this one doesn't sleep, so I can text. She'll respond. [00:23:27] Speaker C: Right. [00:23:28] Speaker E: And then we get up and go hit the courts in the cool. It's been, it's been a total blast. And just going to the big tournaments, Anna Lee will come by, we give her a hat, and Riley Newman, I mean, all these great people, so fun. Tyson, they'll come by and just meet us. And she's worn our stuff. So I'm not trying to name drop, but it's just to. We're like, we're like, oh, my gosh, they like our stuff. [00:23:59] Speaker C: Yeah. And it's just thing, once this explodes more on television and people wearing your stuff on television, I wasn't joking about the whole celebrity thing before, so you better get that little blue check. [00:24:19] Speaker E: Oh, my gosh. [00:24:20] Speaker C: So let's talk about what's coming up. Maybe you don't have to go into specifics, but what you hope this becomes for you specifically for the two of you as friends moving forward and as the company moving forward. So where do you like to see this go in the next couple of years? [00:24:39] Speaker D: Well, we actually have a collaboration with. I don't know if you've heard of the brand Pickleball 1965. [00:24:46] Speaker C: I have. [00:24:46] Speaker D: They were actually one of the pioneers, I think, in Pickleball. [00:24:50] Speaker E: They've been around for at least five years. [00:24:52] Speaker D: Yeah. We actually met the owner, Randy Sussman, at the Beer City Open, and he invited us to a tournament in Atlantic City. And we've become friends and our heads together recently. We're like, we want to do something really upscale and resorty. [00:25:08] Speaker E: And. [00:25:10] Speaker D: He has connections. He works with a Miami based designer who's amazing. So we can kind of be, like, the creative part of the collaboration, and he's like the get it done people, man. He has connections. [00:25:25] Speaker E: So we're going to start off small, but we're going to do a little bit more upscale. It's going to be a couple of women's tops and a skirt and perhaps socks and a visor. Just a small collection, but it's for partners to wear on the court, because what we've discovered is that women like to match their partners, and even men like to match their partners or mixed doubles. So that would be later. We would add the men's collection in there. [00:25:52] Speaker C: Right. [00:25:52] Speaker D: But we've actually co branded this. The line is going to be called Pickleball Partners. [00:25:56] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:25:57] Speaker C: Really cool. [00:25:58] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:26:01] Speaker D: So that's Max. [00:26:02] Speaker E: Yes. [00:26:03] Speaker C: Well, that's kind of huge. That's still like, oh, we're going to put on a cap. Right on. Yeah. So that's fantastic. So let's talk about where just at the end here where you see the sport going. I mean, obviously it's growing. I don't think, like anybody could really ever expect with all the celebrity class coming in and the billionaire class coming in, all of a sudden it's just everywhere and people are asking about it. So talk about where maybe you want the sport to sort of go, where your heart sits with it right now, because obviously it can go a number of different ways. [00:26:49] Speaker E: The Olympics would be great. That'd be a great start. [00:26:53] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll shoot low. We'll just go Olympics. [00:26:56] Speaker E: That would be awesome. I think in the school systems, too, playing competitively would be very cool. I think the tournaments, it's phenomenal what Pickleball has to offer in terms of tournaments. You could go to any state, any week you can play. So I feel like that has expanded incredibly quickly. And Michigan State University now has a club pickleball team. [00:27:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:27] Speaker D: That's big. [00:27:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I got kicked off some courts at a high school because they had a club practice and they had like 30 kids for like 2 hours. I was like, this is amazing. Like you mentioned, once it gets into sort of the institutions and all of a sudden you're playing varsity Pickleball. [00:27:47] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:27:48] Speaker C: Wow. Then where does it go? [00:27:51] Speaker E: It's going to happen sooner. [00:27:53] Speaker C: Or rather it is going to happen. I don't want to know. Well, that's the thing. These universities, like, I'll just throw football and basketball out. Know there are Nike teams, Adidas teams. Will there be Jojo and low pickleball teams at universities? [00:28:08] Speaker E: I mean, I'm just saying we are game. We are absolutely game. And we also want a Jojo and Lo Pickleball arena because we just want one. Is that a big. [00:28:23] Speaker C: Know at this point, I don't think anything's going to be surprising. We're talking in a year or two now. And you're doing the grand opening, cutting the thing. [00:28:33] Speaker E: That would be fantastic. Most cities have a chicken and pickle or one of those. The new one is social. What is the. [00:28:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I saw Pickle social. Zayn was talking about it this morning on Twitter. I saw something. [00:28:48] Speaker E: Yeah, I could be wrong, but that would be phenomenal. There's so many players here in mid Michigan. We just really need a phenomenal facility to kind of match the two. [00:29:01] Speaker D: The west side of the state has that admission, right? [00:29:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:04] Speaker E: And we have pickle and social. That's it. [00:29:07] Speaker C: Pickle and social. Yeah. And how many of those are going to be all these different ones? [00:29:12] Speaker D: We want one. [00:29:13] Speaker C: Right on, investors. Hey, I think it would probably be an amazing place. Obviously, you run a great company, so you'd be a lot of fun. And it would be. Obviously. I mean, JoJo would never be around because she's off doing something, but, yeah, you could run. I'm just messing with you. Well, hey, I don't want to take up any more of your time. I really appreciate you coming on and it was worth the wait. Obviously, you're doing phenomenal things. You have phenomenal people in your life supporting you, and I'd love to talk to you in another year and see what's going on then because you're already doing huge collaborations. So thank you again. [00:29:56] Speaker D: We would love to play pickleball with you if we're ever in New Mexico. [00:30:00] Speaker C: Yeah, if you're ever in the middle of nowhere out here. [00:30:03] Speaker E: Hey, I hear there's lots of good, fresh veggies out there. [00:30:06] Speaker C: There's a lot of good, fresh veggies. I live against the Gila Wilderness, which is basically a forest that's about the size of Connecticut, and there's no real infrastructure in itself. [00:30:17] Speaker D: That's incredible. [00:30:18] Speaker C: Wow. I got some sort of alarm going off. This is not my house. All right, so thanks again and we'll talk soon. [00:30:27] Speaker D: Okay, thanks, Mike. [00:30:29] Speaker C: Hope you enjoyed our interview. [00:30:30] Speaker B: Being introduced to JoJo and Lowe again. Check out our newsletter. Get your daily fix. All right, until next time. Hey, let's pickle.

Other Episodes

Episode

November 22, 2023 00:27:11
Episode Cover

Carol Ann DeMarco Reveals Pickleball Is Life Details!

In the latest episode of Sleeves Senior Pickleball Report, host Mike Sliwa, also known as Sleeves, engages in a hilarious conversation with the creators...

Listen

Episode

December 27, 2023 00:29:12
Episode Cover

Pro and Physical Therapist Drops Pickleball Knowledge!

(September 13, 2023) Join Sleeves as he dives into the world of pickleball with Jennifer Gallwas from Naples JBB United. Get ready to enhance...

Listen

Episode

November 18, 2023 00:26:14
Episode Cover

Creating a Connection Between Pickleball and Hemp Products!

Mike Sliwa engages in a captivating conversation with Alla and Richard, the founders of RA!, a hemp-based company. Together, they delve into the narrative...

Listen