We recently connected with Briana Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Briana , thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I’ll never forget, I was playing basketball professionally overseas in Kosovo at the time and I tore meniscus for the second time in less than two years. I was depressed, disappointed and and started really losing hope. I had worked so hard to recover and get back to playing, so it was a major blow to my mental. I had to have surgery again and post surgery I didn’t have the motivation to do anything. Then one day when I was lying in bed, I was just going through my basketball career in my head and I thought about how I had to really fight to be where I was in my career. Little recognition, Mid Major D1 University, and little support from organizations I played for. I thought back to when I decided I wanted to play pro overseas and how hard it was, because I had little guidance and knowledge about what steps to take. So from there I said, you know what, everyone deserves a chance to at least get the opportunity to be scouted to play overseas and to actually know what the process is. I know there were many other players who came from a similar situation as mine. So from there I created Pro Dreams Athletics and the Pro Dreams Women’s Basketball Combine. The Combine was created for the under dog player. The player who goes unnoticed or flys under the radar, to get the chance to showcase their skills in front of FIBA teams, agents, and scouts, with the ultimate goal of signing a pro contract. In June of 2022, the first ever Pro Dreams Combine took place. I planned out every detail I could think of. I had late nights and early mornings and no sponsorships nor help financially. Everything came out of my own pocket and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It went better than I could have imagined and my vision came to life. It was the beginning of something truly special.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Briana Williams and I played D1 basketball at Mercer University from 2010-2015. I then went on to pay professional basketball overseas for six seasons. I played in Montenegro, Czech Republic, Qatar, Germany and Kosovo.
In addition to Pro Dreams I am also a Certified Personal Trainer, Sports Performance Coach, Sports Nutritionist, and Skills Development Coach.

I got into my business by having the passion and purpose of simply helping other players that will come after me. The problem I solve is giving the player that may not have went to a huge D1 school, the opportunity to still continue their basketball career by playing professionally overseas. In addition to the Combine, my team and I help them build basketball resumes, placement services, and mentorship while they are overseas. I think what sets me apart from others is the passion I have fr what I do. Many other businesses similar to mine are money hungry and don’t provide a real pipeline. That’s not Pro Dreams at all. We really try to help each player to the fullest extent. What I am most proud of is executing my vision and seeing in though. We will be hosting our 5th combine this summer and have so much more growing to do. It’s still only the beginning.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Basketball had always been my life. I studied Sports Business management in school and got my Bachelor’s degree but I never fully knew what I wanted to do with it. I just knew I wanted to play basketball. So after going to camps and combines after I graduated and finally signing to an Agent who helped me land my first contract, I knew basketball was what I wanted to do but later I realized it wasn’t my purpose. When I was plagued with injuries which ultimately ended my pro basketball career, I had to figure out what was next. That’s when I started getting into personal training, and really just trying to figure out what was missing. After my fourth knee surgery, I knew it had to be something out there more fulfilling. The ball was in my hands, and I had lost my dribble, so I just pivoted and kept pivoting until Pro Dreams Athletics was born.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When I created the Instagram page for Pro Dreams, I really didn’t know where to start. I was a one woman show. I had to build a presence organically first by telling my friends and family about it. I was marketing from my personal page to begin with and then I created a separate page fro the brand. After our first Combine I was able to add some content. I only had like 500 followers. I then, heard about IG ads and decided to try it out. I came out of my own pocket to run the ad and next thing you know a video had 47k views and the page had over 1,500 followers. So from there I just kept building and running ads and even doing cold outreach to people I thought would be interested. The page is still a work in progress and growing everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://prodreamsbasketball.com
• Instagram: @prodreams_

Image Credits

Adrian Scott