Diana Braendly

Owner of i9 Sports – Delaware, New Jersey & Pennsylvania

“Thank you, Diana, for sharing your inspiring journey with us. Your passion and dedication to youth sports are truly remarkable. Wishing you continued success with i9 Sports and all your future endeavors! Diana Braendly owns three i9 Sports franchises across Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. She manages operations, hiring, and customer service, having grown the business significantly. With a background in IT and degrees in Economics and MIS from Notre Dame, where she played basketball, Diana transitioned from a 20-year corporate career to sports, driven by a desire for more meaningful work.

As a single mother, balancing business and family was challenging, but Diana persevered. She values mentorship, gender equality, and constantly learning from others. Her advice for young women: believe in yourself, work hard, and seek help when needed. Diana enjoys traveling with her son Aaron, and her long-term goals include expanding her business and personal growth.” – Zara Halabu

What is your current profession; company?

Owner of three i9 Sports franchises in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Please describe your role & responsibilities at that position?When I first started I wore all of the hats from hiring, accounting, purchasing, Inventory, customer service, operations, communications, marketing, etc. I still wear many of those hats, but I do have some full time help to split the load because the company has grown from the time I started in just DE about 5 years ago.

What did you study in college and how did your educational background shape your career in the sports industry?

I have a double major in Economics and MIS (Management of Information Systems) from the University of Notre Dame where I was also on the women’s basketball team playing for a legend, Coach Muffet McGraw and playing teammates like Niele Ivey and Ruth Riley. The economics helps me understand basic business concepts and to obtain a BBA I also took courses in accounting, management, and marketing which clearly help in any business. The MIS background truly helped me navigate all of the various IT platforms required to run this business. The experience on the basketball team helps tremendously in applying my general business skills to the sports industry. I offer multiple sports, not just basketball. I cannot say that I understand all of the sports as well as basketball, but knowing one sport at an elite level gives me a solid foundation to apply to any sport that I offer to kids in the community.

Can you share the key milestones in your career that led you to your current position in the sports industry?

I worked as an IT manager for companies in the financial industry for about 20 years. I enjoyed it, loved the people I worked with, but I always felt like I wasn’t maximizing my potential to make an impact because these companies are great, but they didn’t really need me – they move trillions of dollars a day so if I wasn’t on the team it would all still flow fine. I had felt the urge to do something I would be more passionate about, but wasn’t sure what so I stalled changing careers for a long time and then an opportunity to take over a local sports league presented itself to me, so I took a leap of faith. It was very scary, especially when I finally let go of my full time IT job to do this full time because there was no safety net. I had no health benefits, no steady pay check, if the league failed I had no way to pay for my mortgage or take care of my child. But, I knew this is what I was meant to do, so I pushed through the hard times to make it work.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a woman in sports business; how have you overcome them?

There have been times that male coaches dismissed my opinion, but another male could say the same exact thing that I just said and people listen. I saw this in my IT job, as well. There is definitely a double standard or unconscious bias with women in sports and in business in general. I am starting to see that change in a good way though, thanks to women like Caitlin Clark and all of the trailblazers who came before her including my former coach and teammates from ND. Balancing a career is demanding.

How do you manage a work -life balance? What strategies have worked well for you?

I am the wrong person to ask this because there was a time in my career where I failed miserably to achieve a work life balance. It was when I still had my full time IT job and I was building the business at nights and on weekends. My kiddo suffered the most from this. He often had to eat dinner alone so that I could push through the work. I was up until 3am most nights so he didn’t get my help with bedtime routines. He had to grow up faster than he should have. As soon as I was able to fix the imbalance I did, although I went a little too far. I hired help and spent a lot of time with my son, took him on vacation and to the movie and whatnot. I say it was too much because I stepped too far away from the business and then it suffered. The people I hired are good people, but no one will care about your business as much as you do. It took some time to recover from that mistake and in some ways I feel like I’m still undoing some of that damage, but it’s all heading in the right direction and I still get to spend time with my son. The biggest thing to remind myself is that no one is perfect so don’t get down when making a mistake because I can’t afford to lose time to depression or regrets. Adjust things if necessary, but always push forward. One thing I always remind myself of is I’m doing this without a partner … I raised my son as a single mother. I started this business with my own capital, blood, sweat, and tears. There is more to that story and one day I might write a book, but overall I have to stand tall and proud because despite some mistakes in business and in parenting, I survived, my son survived and is a great kid, the business survived and will be thriving again soon and I believe in continuous improvement in work and life so it will only get better from here!

How important is mentorship for women in the sports industry? Have you had mentors or role models who played a significant role in your career and can give some details?

I don’t discriminate by gender when looking for mentors. I find the people who are doing really well in the industry whether they are male or female and I pick their brain, try to learn from them, repeat what works well for them, but put my own flavor to it, too. One of the most successful owners of i9 Sports (I won’t mention his name for privacy) has always been willing to take a phone call from me to answer a question or weigh in on a decision. It’s super important to surround yourself with people who believe in teamwork and to pay it forward when someone helps you out. I’m a huge believer in putting good out into the world because it always finds its way back in even bigger ways!

In a male-dominated industry, do you feel women are given equal opportunities? What steps do you think can be taken to promote gender equality in the sports industry?

I think we all need to keep talking about it. Similar to trying to balance out racial equality or women’s right to vote, gay rights, etc….if you don’t talk about it nothing changes. People who have the opportunity to use their platform need to speak up because they can reach a lot of followers, but even us as individuals need to talk about it and do something about it because you never know who you are talking to or who will overhear it. If decision makers hear more people pushing for change then things finally start to change. In my particular company, which is a franchise, thankfully I do not feel there is inequality for female owners vs male owners.

What aspects of your work in the sports industry do you enjoy the most? What parts do you find the most challenging?

I love going to an event and seeing kids learning sports while having fun. All of our hard work behind the scenes pays off when you see lots of high fives and smiling athletes! There are 3 top challenges in this business. First we aren’t selling paperclips or oil changes. We are selling an experience for kids and every kid is different and every parent is different so it’s difficult to please everyone all of the time. The second most challenging thing is finding volunteer coaches because we don’t charge club ball fees to hire coaches. It’s a rec league with volunteer coaches and finding enough volunteers is always challenging. Finding staff (refs and people to set up and break down) is easier since it’s a paid position, but again the registration fee isn’t enough to pay high wages, so it is challenging finding people who are reliable, passionate, and in it for the right reasons – to help the kids and families!

What advice do you have for young women aspiring to build a successful career in the sports industry?

Believe in yourself, work hard, and find people who are good and successful at it and then don’t be afraid to ask for their help!

What is your long-term personal goal that you still want to achieve both business wise and personal?

Personal goal – I want to get back into shape and play in an adult league because all of the years sitting behind a desk messed with my metabolism and I developed bad eating habits. I also want to find a partner in life! Business wise, I want to continue to grow this league and bring it to more children in more communities! I also want to improve the experience we deliver by finding the right people to run the league in each of my territories (DE, PA, and NJ).

Any fun facts you’d like the world to learn about you? Favorite food, hobbies, # of kids, pet peeves, etc. The more the merrier!!

Food: I love all food, but some favs are sushi, Italian, Thai, and dessert!!!!

Kids: I have one son – Aaron, the best kid in the world (I’m not biased! ;-).

Hobbies: I love to travel with Aaron. We love Disney and we love cruises. We also did a European tour from London to Rome last summer and loved it. I’d like to do something like that again someday. We love board games and cards. I love home improvement projects, but rarely have time for that lately. An old hobby before I had Aaron was throwing pots (as in using a pottery wheel, not breaking things ha ha), but haven’t done that in a very long time.