Meet the Team

Meet the team at Pickleball Media. Our motto? "If it's not fun, we don't do it!"

Photo of Carl Landau

Carl Landau is co-author of the new book, Pickleball For Dummies. He has been an entrepreneur since the age of 26 and now in (un)Retirement is founder of Pickleball Media. He has started and sold three successful media companies, published five magazines (software development, winemaking and craft brewing industries). He currently hosts the popular podcast I Used to be Somebody, inspiring 50-plus-year-olds how to build their (un)Retirement good life, including, of course, a little bit about the virtues of the game he loves — pickleball.

Personal Pickleball Trivia: Carl has recently learned that you're not allowed to jump over the net after a pickleball victory, which fortunately for everyone doesn't happen very often.

Photo of Diane Landau

Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. As a former corporate Sales & Marketing hack, she came to realize that bigger is not always better. She then found her passion in writing. For seven years Diana wrote/edited/managed the Niched Out News weekly blog. She is now enthusiastically diving into the worlds of podcasts and pickleball. Diana loves to cook and believes she can solve all the world's problems by making a great dinner.

Personal Pickleball Trivia: Diana promises to try her best to "stay out to the kitchen" when playing pickleball.

Photo of Bekah Darksmith

Bekah Darksmith is Pickleball Media's Jack of All Trades. She's coming up on her 25th year in publishing, running marketing & communications strategy for mid-size organizations. Bekah does a little bit of strategy, adds a healthy dose of marketing savvy, and is the team's sounding board on all things content. Bekah is a fairweather Giants fan with strong opinions on players she doesn't know, based on personal characteristics that have nothing to do with baseball (e.g. "I don't like his face!"). She also laughs at all jokes, funny or no.

Personal Pickleball Trivia: Bekah is a future pickleball superstar ("I guess I need to buy a paddle first?")

Photo of Vince Ridley

Vince Ridley is called "Big Brain" at Pickleball Media. He's our numbers guy. He's spent a lifetime in media at the senior level with Extension Media, Miller Freeman, CMP and Paperloop.com. With exec roles in marketing/sales/ business development, Vince's special sauce is building audiences. He lives in San Francisco, enjoys hanging out with his three kids and coaching little league baseball.

Personal Pickleball Trivia: Sadly, Vince doesn't know the difference between a dink and a backhand punch shot. But he's a very quick learner.

Photo of Reine Steel

Reine Steel handles Web development for Pickleball Media. She is a PCI certified pickleball instructor, HEAD/Penn sponsored tournament player, and co-founder of Positive Dinking. Reine has over 20 years experience in multimedia design and technical communication as a Senior Developer for STLi. She's known in the pickleball world as the creator of the popular website PlayTime Scheduler. During the rare times she's not on the court or squinting at a computer, she enjoys cooking and hiking.

Personal Pickleball Trivia: At the height of her addiction, Reine once played for 7 hours straight.

Photo of Mo Nard

Maureen "Mo" Nard offers weekly tips for folks to improve their pickleball game. She's co-founder of Positive Dinking, a pickleball instruction and events company. She is a PCI and PPR certified instructor who loves teaching and playing. Mo is also active with Canine Companions for Independence, an organization that trains service dogs for people with disabilities. She loves to hike, raft, camp, backpack, swim and generally get in as much "play" as possible.

Personal Pickleball Trivia: Mo is famous for her trick shots, some of which actually land "in."


podcast@pickleballmediahq.com Instant feedback to the team!