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About the Founders
Heidi Block
Heidi has played tennis her whole life and started playing pickleball with her family on Long Beach Island, NJ during the COVID lockdowns. She was immediately hooked. But when she went online to research the sport and buy gear, she came up short and the idea for a great pickleball brand began to take shape.
Heidi spent most of her career building iconic household consumer brands before launching Play-PKL. She worked in brand marketing at industry leaders including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Bayer, and more recently for smaller companies, where she came to love the more entrepreneurial culture.
Heidi grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland and attended Washington University in St. Louis (BA and BSBA) and later The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania (MBA).
She launched her first start-up, Portobello Pasta Company--a gourmet pasta manufacturer and retailer--right out of Business School and has been looking for another great idea ever since.
She now splits her time between Surf City, NJ and Summit, NJ (and between tennis and pickleball!) and is married with three grown children.
Heidi is a USA Pickleball Ambassador and a member of USA Pickleball and the Women's International Pickleball Association.
Max Block
The eldest of the Block children, Max has a professional background in Customer Success and Digital Marketing, and has developed a fashion sense from following high profile designers and reselling rare sneakers. He has been playing tennis since the age of 8 and first learned how to play pickleball in his middle school gym class.
Using his knowledge of the fashion industry and trends in viral marketing, Max worked closely with our designer to create a pickleball-specific, contemporary, apparel line.
As Featured In
Third Shot Podcast Talks to Heidi Block
Founder Heidi Block tells the brand's origin story while doing pickle juice shots as a guest on Third Shot Podcast.
Elevate Your Game with Play-PKL
Read an interview with Ply-PKL CEO Heidi Block on Subkit Go Solo, a blog dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs.
Meet Heidi Block and Play-PKL
Lifestyle publication Shout Out Arizona profiles founder Heidi Block and her happy place, Long Beach Island.
An Interview with Heidi Block
Canvas Rebel Magazine caught up with Heidi Block to learn about how she came up with the idea for Play-PKL.
Empowering Pickleball Enthusiasts, One Court at a Time
Meet Heidi Block, the Co-Founder and CEO of Play-PKL, a revolutionary pickleball brand that emerged from her personal struggle to find comprehensive resources and suitable equipment when she began playing in 2020.
