Kelsey Grambeau Dual Career Success: Kelsey Grambeau is proving that it is possible to excel in both professional sports and a demanding career. The 30-year-old APP Tour pickleball pro works full time as an enterprise account executive at LeagueApps in New York City while competing at the highest level of the game.
Building a Career and a Passion
Originally from Michigan, Kelsey Grambeau earned a biology degree at the University of Wisconsin before realizing medical school was not for her. After shadowing physicians, she decided medicine was not the right path and earned a master’s degree in sports management at the University of North Carolina. Following graduation, she worked for a youth sports nonprofit before applying for jobs across the country.
Her next big move came in April 2022 when she accepted a sales role at LeagueApps and relocated to New York City.
“I didn’t actually know one single person in New York at the time, so it was kind of a scary move. But like anything in life, if it doesn’t work out, you can kind of pivot and adjust. So I had that in the back of my mind.”(Kelsey Grambeau)
Finding Pickleball in New York
Looking to meet new people, Grambeau decided to try pickleball. With a tennis background and experience playing on scholarship at Wisconsin, she quickly fell in love with the sport. Just a week after first picking up a paddle, she entered the 2022 APP New York City Open, playing 4.5 singles and 5.0 mixed doubles. She lost every match but gained valuable connections and training partners. By the summer of 2023, she became a regular on the APP Tour pro circuit.
A Grueling Daily Schedule
Grambeau’s life blends work, fitness, and pickleball. She wakes at 5:50 a.m., drinks a Celsius energy drink instead of breakfast, and takes a 6:30 a.m. workout class at the Lifetime Fitness below her Brooklyn apartment. After a quick shower, she rides the subway to her Manhattan office to begin a 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. workday filled with client calls and meetings.
At 6 p.m., she has her second Celsius before heading to Penn Station for evening pickleball practice. She weight trains and plays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., returning home by 9:30 for dinner. Bedtime is usually around 10:30 p.m. Saturdays include long runs and time with friends, while Sundays are for rest, chores, and meal prep.
Cooking and Competition
Grambeau loves to cook simple meals like salmon with rice and vegetables.
“I love to cook salmon, and if I’m feeling fancy, scallops. I’m wildly obsessed with salmon and I probably eat it like three days a week,”(Kelsey Grambeau).
When traveling for APP tournaments, she takes Fridays off, flies to the event, plays Friday and Saturday, and returns home Sunday to start the cycle again.
Thriving in Two Worlds
Despite the demanding schedule, Grambeau has earned three bronze medals on the APP Tour this year and multiple awards at LeagueApps.
“You have to invest 100 percent of your time, and it is a very rigorous sport, and there is going to be more separation as [pickleball] gets more and more niche. But I would say, give it a shot and try to do both, because you might surprise yourself.
For me specifically, I think if I did pickleball full-time that would be great, that would be awesome. But it might also put more pressure on myself, and I may not perform as well in tournaments, whereas right now I play really freely, and I feel like I’m able to enjoy it a lot and have a lot of fun and take it seriously, but lightly, kind of like a little bit of both.”(Kelsey Grambeau)
Balancing Life and Goals
Grambeau believes balance is key to her success.
“I’m trying my best to fit in the fitness component, the pickleball component, still trying to get as much rest as I can, still trying to balance my friendships, my family.”
“I think life is a balancing game, and you want to give your utmost effort into every aspect that you can but some things at certain points in your life are going to take maybe a little bit more priority or a little bit more percentage of yourself.
So let that happen and keep reassessing and seeing what areas you want to push more in.”(Kelsey Grambeau)
Her ability to manage a full-time career and a pro sports schedule shows that dedication and flexibility can lead to success in multiple areas of life.
News in Brief: Kelsey Grambeau Dual Career Success
Kelsey Grambeau balances a full-time job at LeagueApps with a professional pickleball career. The 30-year-old APP Tour pro trains daily, works in sales, and competes on weekends, earning medals while thriving in both worlds. Her disciplined schedule shows that elite sports and a demanding career can coexist.