We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Philippa Portnoy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Philippa below.

Philippa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The mission behind LaunchBreak is to propel women’s athletes in their professional lives. LaunchBreak is a free networking and shared-interest platform for athletes who play/ed women’s sports at the collegiate, national or professional level. Mentoring and supporting women’s athletes has been a passion of mine since graduating from college. I was a member and co-captain of the newly-formed Columbia-Barnard tennis team. Our team didn’t have many resources nor a large alumnae network. This inspired me to work to improve the landscape for future generations. I was the first female president of the Columbia Athletics alumni organization, the Varsity C Club. Also, I co-founded the Columbia Athletics Women’s Leadership Council which has raised $10M for the athletics program and assists women in their post-athletic careers.

Philippa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been a sports fan and athlete for most of my life. I initially pursued a career in finance, getting an MBA and working for Citibank for over 10 years. I left Citibank to start a family and have triplet boys who recently graduated from college. As I mentioned, sports, mentoring women and women athletes has been a passion of mine for years. Founding LaunchBreak with my good friend and former doubles partner, Teresa Saputo-Crerend, was a great way to make a difference and work toward parity in the workforce for women.

Our platform represents over 1600 athletes from 650+ universities and pro leagues. Years of experience enabled Teresa and I to recognize a gap in the marketplace for a networking platform to connect all women’s athletes. Our features include a job board, networking events, resources for our member entrepreneurs and a mentor-matching program.

LaunchBreak is unique in that the platform includes all sports, all ages (pre and post-Title IX athletes) as well as all industries. Our members have obtained internships, sports agents, research subjects for their startups, promotion of their businesses and a wealth of new connections. We also have fascinating members with inspirational stories including founding their businesses and non-profits, fighting for more equity in women’s sports, and being pioneers in their fields. Our members instantly connect due to their shared athletic experiences no matter the sport, age, or background.

I am most proud of the authenticity and supportive atmosphere that LaunchBreak provides. It’s wonderful to see members stepping in to help other members whom they have never met. We often receive thank you emails or notes from members and we feel like we are making a difference in our members’ lives and for women’s athletes in general. I am also proud that Teresa and I make ourselves available for our community whenever possible and prioritize their needs/preferences.

LaunchBreak is seeking marketing partners/sponsors for our community and employers to hire our athletes. Please see www.launchbreak.com for more information and use EMP100 to post any jobs for free on our job board. According to Deloitte: “85% of women surveyed who played sports shared that the skills they developed playing sports were important to success in their professional careers — the findings are even higher among women in leadership roles (91%).”

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Teresa and I met in college. We were doubles partners and co-captains on the Columbia-Barnard women’s tennis team. We have worked together on volunteer projects so we knew that we would make good business partners. We also complement each other in that I have a finance background and Teresa has a sports and marketing background. We share similar values and work ethics and are fully committed to making a difference in our members’ lives.

Our tennis teammates have remained very close and supportive of each other. That bond and closeness was also part of the genesis of LaunchBreak. We share similar life journeys with other women athletes and value the camaraderie. LaunchBreak represents a lifelong team for all of our athletes. We have been amazed at the reception and fast growth of the LaunchBreak community.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What helped us to build our reputation in the market is our track record of supporting women, women’s athletics and the positive impact we are making with our members. Aside from my work described above, Teresa ran the first university-wide women’s conference at Columbia which featured Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Teresa is also the Co-chair of the Columbia Alumni Association Mentoring and Networking committee. Our genuine desire to help our members comes through in our conversations with our members and how we support them within the community and promote them on social media. Our members believe in us and our mission. We are thrilled that 20 members have volunteered to be ambassadors and spread the word. Members regularly post testimonials and recommend LaunchBreak.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://launchbreak.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelaunchbreak/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/79099501/