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ame: Denise Richards
Title: Co-Founder and COO
Company: Dill Dinkers Pickleball
No. of units: 11
International units: 0
Growth plans: By the end of 2025, Dill Dinkers expects to have 11 open locations with more than 425 in the development pipeline
Public or private? Private
Year company founded: 2022
Year started franchising: 2023
Your years in franchising: 1
Denise has more than eight years of experience as a regional manager in the restaurant and weight-loss industries, about nine years of experience as a regional trainer, and more than 20 years of experience as a top-selling sales rep. She has a strong work ethic that she applies to operations. Her strengths include training and developing people and building meaningful relationships with staff and customers.
Denise had the honor of opening and operating the first Dill Dinkers facility. She hired and trained the front-desk staff, set up the Court Reserve reservation platform, and put all standards and procedures in place and drove membership and business advertising sales. Denise has also hired and trained the management personnel for new Dill Dinkers locations. She has a bachelor of science degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
What inspired you to start your business? I started playing pickleball in 2021, and I quickly fell in love with the game. But finding indoor courts, especially during bad weather, was nearly impossible. That challenge sparked the idea for Dill Dinkers, and we’ve been building spaces for people to enjoy the sport ever since.
What is your background? How did that prepare you for starting your business? I have more than 20 years of experience in sales, nine years in training, and eight years in multi-unit management. This combination has been instrumental in growing Dill Dinkers. I know what it takes to open and operate each club, and my background allows me to help franchisees and regional developers succeed by equipping them with the tools they need.
What’s the best and worst advice you got when starting out? The best advice I received was to create social spaces where players could connect and feel part of a community and to establish strong programming to bring people through the doors. As for bad advice, I haven’t encountered much. Pickleball is such a new industry that we’ve had to carve our own path and figure out solutions as we go.
Was this your first time in franchising? Why did you choose to franchise? Yes, this is my first venture into franchising. After opening our first club, we realized we had something truly special. The model worked, and franchising felt like the best way to share our passion for pickleball on a larger scale. It also gave us a way to expand strategically while staying ahead of the competition.
Did you have a partner/co-founder when you started? How important was that in building your company? Yes, William Richards co-founded Dill Dinkers with me. It’s been a great partnership: Will brings a visionary mindset and franchise expertise while I focus on operations, sales, and management. Together, we balance each other out: He lays the groundwork, and I make sure everything runs smoothly.
How did you fund your company at the beginning? As you grew? What were the keys to funding your brand? Our first investors were our very own pickleball friends. As we grew, more people approached us, wanting to invest. Eventually, the profits from our clubs and franchise royalties became important to our funding. It’s been amazing to see the support for what we’re creating.
What has been the best and the hardest thing about being an entrepreneur? The best thing has been sharing the concept and the joy of owning a pickleball club with others. Seeing people of all ages come together to play and contribute to the growth of the sport is incredibly rewarding. The hardest part has been building systems and processes from scratch. Coming from a corporate background, I took those frameworks for granted, but starting in such a new industry meant we had to develop everything from the ground up.
How has your experience in running a franchise business been different from what you expected? The diversity of personalities and approaches among franchisees was surprising. Each person brings their own perspective on business ownership, which makes selecting the right partners so important. I also didn’t anticipate how much demand there would be because people were eager to jump into the pickleball business, and it wasn’t a hard sell.
How did you grow the brand at first? What changed as you expanded? When we first started, it was just Will and me. Once our first club was announced, interest flooded in. We built a social media presence, launched a website, and started advertising. As we expanded, we brought on a PR agency, a marketing team, and a digital marketing company. With more people supporting us, we refined our branding and took a strategic approach to growth.
How did you transition from founding a brand to leading a brand? I spent 14 months running our first club, learning what worked and what didn’t. As we opened more corporate clubs, I stepped into the COO role. From there, that hands-on experience prepared us to lead the growth phase through franchising.
How would you describe your leadership style? I’d say I’m methodical, detail oriented, and relationship driven. I lead from the middle rather than the top, fostering open communication and collaboration.
What is the key to your company’s success? It’s a combination: being an indoor pickleball club that welcomes players of all skill levels, creating a franchise and regional developer model that supports scalability, and assembling a talented executive team.
Was being female an advantage or disadvantage for you in building your company? How? I don’t think too much about gender in business, but I’d say it’s been an advantage. My strengths in communication, creativity, and relationship building have served me well as an entrepreneur.
Have you found specific advantages or disadvantages to being a woman business owner? What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace? The biggest challenge can often be dealing with egos and needing to work harder to prove ourselves, but I’ve been fortunate not to encounter much of that at Dill Dinkers.
What has been your biggest challenge as a woman entrepreneur? There really haven’t been any challenges.
Why do you think there are fewer start-ups with female founders than male ones? Perhaps women may not be as willing to take risks, which could play a role.
From your perspective, what notable changes have you seen for women in franchising since starting your brand? It’s been great to see female regional developers joining Dill Dinkers. It’s almost a 50/50 split now.
Has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life? How? I learned a lot from a mentor at a previous company. I was inspired by his management style and how he put himself on an equal level with everyone. I always felt comfortable opening up to him, and I try to emulate that as we continue to grow Dill Dinkers.
What would you like to achieve in the next five years? I envision Dill Dinkers growing to more than 200 open locations fully equipped with the tools and resources to run independently.
What’s coming up that you’re excited about? Helping new clubs open is always rewarding. There’s nothing like working with people passionate about running their clubs and seeing the excitement pickleball brings to their communities.