Athlete To Executive: The Strategic Edge Of A Sports Mindset In Business

A growing body of research—and real-world success stories—suggests that women who’ve played sports are more likely to land in the C-Suite.

Philippa Portnoy, co-founder of LaunchBreak, is helping to make that connection even stronger. Her New York-based platform brings together a global network of former women athletes, creating a space to share career resources, mentorship, and support. Portnoy, who launched the company with co-founder Teresa Saputo-Crerend, speaks here about the leadership skills forged through sports, how even recreational athletes can benefit, and what aspiring women professionals should focus on early in their careers.

What is LaunchBreak’s mission and what successes have you achieved so far?

LaunchBreak is a professional and shared-interest community of 1850-plus athletes who played women’s sports collegiately, nationally or at the pro level. Our mission is to propel our members professionally across all industries, which we accomplish through our mentor match program, hosting events with leading industry executives, job search prep, job fairs, resources for entrepreneurs, and more.

Since our formal launch in January 2024, we have had much success. Our membership growth has exceeded our expectations. We added 1600-plus members in 2024. Our members have attended 700-plus universities worldwide. Members have found jobs through LaunchBreak, advisory board members, project collaborators, and good friends.

We were featured on the podcast GOALS: The Business Case for Women’s Sports with Caroline Fitzgerald and have been featured on Themuse.com, Popsugar.com, Nypost.com, and others. We are most proud of the authentic, supportive culture of our community.

When it comes to representation in the executive suite, women only make up 3.4 percent of CEOs worldwide and are far from winning the fight for gender parity—except when sports are brought into the conversation. Why is that so?

Athletes develop many crucial skills which help them succeed in the workplace. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation Play to Lead Report, sports prepare women to lead, with the top skills being teamwork (73 percent), learning from mistakes (53 percent), handling pressure (51 percent) and pushing physical boundaries (46 percent).

From our experience, two of the most crucial characteristics are teamwork and learning from mistakes. Success requires understanding the strengths of your teammates, hearing perspectives different from your own, and encouraging a welcoming culture.

We all know it’s important to be able to shake off failure and keep going. Athletes learn to do this over and over again. At LaunchBreak, we use the lessons we have learned from sports every day, including seeking honest feedback to tailor our platform and create a team atmosphere within the community.

The vast majority of C-Suite women have sports backgrounds. Is there any correlation between having a sports background and being a leader? How does having a sports background help women leaders in particular?

There is definitely a correlation between having a sports background and being a leader. Sports allow women to develop confidence. With women often being in the minority in senior roles, having the confidence to state your views and advocate for your team is important and sports provide that foundation.

There are many overlaps between being a top athlete and a great leader. According to a recent article by McKinsey, “The CEO as Elite Athlete: What Business Leaders can Learn from Modern Sports,” skills such as recovery, using time purposefully, embracing data and analytics, adaptability and resiliency are all honed in an athlete’s career and highly correlated with being a successful CEO.

At LaunchBreak, we have seen many women successfully pivot careers by relying on the crucial skills and attributes developed from their commitment to sports. We place great value on advising our members on how to weave the benefits of their sports experience into their elevator pitches.

What about women who may never have played a sport, but have always been active, say in backpacking or cycling for fun?

Being involved in sports on a recreational level also helps develop leadership skills. If you aim to improve in any sport, you need to train, understand the skills required to improve, and learn to deal with results that may be less than perfect. Anything that requires you to push yourself to improve, builds confidence.

I was not a runner in college, but running in recreational 5Ks or 10Ks gives me confidence. If you can join a team or do it with others, you will better understand team dynamics, which can be helpful in developing leadership skills. Women are active more than ever and there are so many opportunities to enjoy sports and apply the lessons learned.

What advice do you have for aspiring women professionals just entering the workforce?

There is so much advice to share. Focusing on self-advocacy, skill development, and building your network are so important.

Advocating for yourself is critical for women in the workplace. Transitioning into the workforce can be difficult and stressful. If you’re not understanding a task, getting help before you fall too far behind is important. Asking questions is not a sign of weakness.

Early in your career, developing skills is important. Even if you don’t land your dream job, work on developing your skills, and that will help you transition into other opportunities.

As an early professional, it’s important to start to build your network. You will most likely change jobs several times in your career, and having a strong network can help with finding your next opportunity.

Finding mentors at work and outside of work is also important. It’s important to have a peer to speak with who can understand what you’re experiencing and also someone more senior to help understand the skills you need to develop to succeed.