Co-Founder & CEO @ Ruley, the E-Referee | Start Up Business Expert | Entrepreneur

After 25 years building successful companies I found myself at a crossroads. I had built companies that helped people and families. I was proud of that legacy, I knew it was time for a new chapter.

In my early 50s, I sold my third company just a year behind schedule from a personal goal I set at 34. 

During COVID, I had the space to explore ideas that truly energized me. I enrolled in a six-month coding bootcamp to learn Python and deepen my understanding of the technologies shaping our future.

Now I’m the Co-Founder of Ruley, an AI powered smart sports E-Referee API  designed to help federations, sports media and consumer brands gain fans, players and spectators by being the go to venues for sports rules and insights.

My personal mission is to fuse decades of my experience and strategic thinking with modern tech to bring people together through playing sports and watching sports.  By working with these existing sports entities we can grow sports and all the good that comes with them.

At the heart of my work is this belief: we all deserve unbiased, instant information, and we all deserve to enjoy life like we did as kids. 

These ideas aren’t mutually exclusive. With the right tools, we can help provide knowledge in unique ways and inject more joy into everyday life.

Explore Ruley and our API rollout (and more) for sports:
🌐 ruley.ai

📸 Instagram: @ruley_ereferee
🎥 YouTube: @ruleythee-referee
📘 Facebook: @ruleytheereferee

🎾 Just Ruley it!

Cassandra Toroian

First time at the #PGAShow, and yes—I'm sure Tracy Thomas and I will be in the small minority of women attendees as is standard practice at most conferences we attend.

As an introverted entrepreneur, I’m embracing the challenge and bringing my best extrovert game face.

I'm excited because it will be an opportunity to interact with many other #golftech entrepreneurs and golf consumer brands and network for #ruley.

For the Volleybird Athletic Lifestyle team it will be an opportunity to meet and network with racquet sports brands and #hospitality companies that focus on #tennis and #padel who care about being eco-friendly and more #sustainable. 

So...it would really help me out if some of these folks would hit me up before we get there - because I am eager to meet up in person! Assuming you will be attending Teemu Ruuska Kira Peterson Jolyn de Boer Evan Roosevelt Tyler Trout or any other folks that are part of the #profluence community involved in the golf industry!

Please reach out via DM so we can plan a couple of minutes! 😊

Most tennis clubs underestimate how expensive “cheap” tennis balls really are.


The cost isn’t just on the invoice. 

It’s in their reputational cost by not being a leader in the tennis business.

It’s in the the cost to the air their players breathe when out on the court.

It’s the cost of the chemical waste from all those balls going into the landfills.

I’ve spent years as part of sports
organizations, and one business element is
clear. Unfortunately.

Sustainability conversations
stall the moment the cost shows up.

Everyone assumes the environmentally
responsible option must be more expensive.

After all, if all else is equal, we are trained to think sustainable products are always more expensive.

Renewaball | B Corp certified  saw this.

And the decided to make the BEST #tennis and #padel balls available.

That meant the ball had to meet a list of criteria - including wears better, lasts longer, and approved by international federations like International Tennis Federation and International Padel Federation. 

And, by the way,  that also meant making the ball a circular 100% recycled ball.

Now we’re their exclusive U.S. partner!
 
The organizations that win long-term
are the ones willing to question
what “cost” really means.

What “best” really means.

The rest keep throwing balls
away and calling it normal.

If your #tennis or #padel club
or academy, or #luxuryresort wants to be one of the first in the U.S. to be part of the next phase of tennis and padel sustainability, you need to get in touch with Volleybird Athletic Lifestyle the exclusive U.S. distributors for Renewaball.

Supplies are limited.

You’ll need to show your organization is truly concerned with sustainability.

I’ll point you to the right people.


#sports #sustainability #countryclubs #racquetsports #environment #tennis #padel #recycling

Continuing my outbound networking for the #pgashow next week.

I’m excited to be there with Todd Grasley helping us with outreach and networking- not just for #golf and #golftech but with #tennis #padel and #pickleball

We hear this is the biggest B2B event for those sports too! 

I’m excited to hopefully finally meet some folks from racquet clubs and facilities who may be there? Like Marcos Del Pilar - 𝗣𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗟 𝗨𝗦𝗔  Padel Haus PadelBizNetwork Val Goncalves Jr, MBA, RSPA, CDORS, DCA Philippe Azar Carlos Beltran Carlos R. Gonzalez just to name a few.

If any of you are going to be there please DM me I’d love to meet you in person.

And if you’re going for #racquetclub sports and looking to meet new people please DM me as well!

Want to get a different perspective on life in the 21st century and how much technology has changed society?

Inadvertently Tracy Thomas  and I stumbled upon a way to do this and it was easy and truly eye opening.

As GenX we lived before cell phones, apps, wifi, internet, and heck, even before the microwave.

But we forgot what life was like.

So now it’s easy to go back in time.

We chose to travel back through re-watching all 8 years of the series called Melrose Place. A drama/soap opera type show in the mid 1990s.

Here’s what watching it made me realize:
▶️ Life was less complicated without all the technology 
▶️ People interacted in more human ways face to face much more often as a result 
▶️ Clothing styles really have not changed much 
▶️ People used answer machines and called people back when convenient 
▶️ Nights and weekends were actually enjoyed and considered downtime 

Bottom line - life was simpler with less technology.  

Life was lived with more life.

We can’t go back to that, it will never happen.

Particularly now with AI.

But, watching these sorts of tv programs is a good reminder the sacrifices in society we have made by embracing technology.

My hope, and what I strive for, is to harness the good part of AI and technology into a true instrument to bring back more humanity.

More human to human interaction. 

More human joy and happiness.

Not use technology as a means to create a more sterile world. 

There are ways to do this. 

We are doing it with Ruley. That’s our small part.  

Harness sports and technology to create more meaningful human interactions again.

What are you working on that tries to do that? I’m curious.

Share below if you’re willing 💥💥

This is a good little list of “red flags” that can help make the decision to pull the trigger.

My hiring litmus test is easy. 

I ask myself one question.

▶️Does this person clearly know more than I do on the subject matter of the core function of why they are being hired.

So on the backend of that, little things may start to show that are on this list.

But the thing is before pulling the trigger on a disengagement with an employee there’s a second question to answer AFTER observing what’s on this list.

That question is also a simple one:

▶️Is it a fixable behavior? 

After all, shouldn’t they be given the opportunity to step up?

I think really then it becomes a much clearer ending conversation if there’s no improvement.

These functions of being a manager are never easy.

Never pleasant.

But extremely vital to maintain a culture of excellence, respect for the company, and of course, each other.

#SaaS #startups #management #decisionmaking

Open article: Dear SaaStr: What Are Signs It's Finally Time to Move on From An Employee? by SaaStr.ai • 2 min read

Dear SaaStr: What Are Signs It's Finally Time to Move on From An Employee?

Tariq Ahmad

Sports Court Consulting

* Lead end-to-end strategy and execution for an agency focused on NIL, branding, and sponsorships for collegiate athletes.

* Delivered 45+ brand campaigns with partners such as Raising Cane’s, Skullcandy, and Kaplan Test Prep.

* Designed and managed “Inside the NIL Educational Summits” at HBCUs, overseeing creative, logistics, partner communication, and financial timelines.

* Built an operational framework for NIL consulting across athletic departments, aligning stakeholders and enforcing deliverables.

* Created the NIL 411 Slack Channel (1,100+ members) and a high-engagement newsletter (55% open rate), advancing thought leadership in sports marketing.

* Produced digital content reaching 1M+ views; managed timelines, brand assets, and distribution across platforms.

Certified Sports Marketing Athlete Agent | NIL Educator

Northern Illinois University

• Educated undergraduate and graduate students on NIL topics like brand partnerships, revenue sharing, and legal aspects.

• Developed course curriculum and materials to enhance student understanding and engagement.

NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) Instructor

St. Francis College

Instructor in the Sport Management Department, teaching Introduction to Sport Management and Event Management for undergraduate students.

Adjunct Instructor

Marketing Manager

Gather

* Partnered directly with IBM Digital Media Director to manage timelines, team operations, and major initiatives across IBM’s sports sponsorships.

* Oversaw internal communications, executive briefings, and employee programs, improving team performance by 40%.

* Coordinated brand messaging for IBM and MetLife’s sports campaigns, ensuring consistency across social and experiential content.

* Managed creative teams, enforced brand guidelines, and drove campaign delivery in fast-paced, cross-functional environments.

Chief Of Staff, IBM Hybrid Cloud

Social Media Consultant

Mount Sinai Health System

Led enterprise-wide brand visibility efforts via digital content and strategic communications.

Developed and implemented a new content strategy framework, driving 20% growth across all social channels.

Initiated key sports marketing partnerships, including digital campaigns for the U.S. Open tennis championships.

Director of Digital and Social Media

SportShadow

-Created and integrated first site to track Facebook and Foursquare check-ins at sports venues. Successfully tracked over 24M check - ins and earned a feature in Mashable and The Next Web.

Co-Founder

Savannah College of Art and Design

Social Media Manager for SCAD President and co-founder Paula Wallace.

Create and execute a global social media relations program with the goal of publicizing SCAD and executive administration initiatives.

Provide communications counsel to senior management, helping to enhance the university’s success by applying proactive and reactive communications strategies.

Responsible for collecting, organizing and sharing visual content related to SCAD and the executive administration, as well as creating messaging for multiple social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and more.

Social Media Manager (President's Office)

Managed social media strategy for enterprise technology offerings, collaborating with product and marketing teams.

Drove a 150% increase in audience reach through data-driven strategy, creative innovation, and channel optimization.

Led cross-functional projects from consumer insights to post-campaign analysis.

Social Business Manager

Columbia University

- Created and co-teach graduate-level Social Media course at Teachers College, Columbia University

- Focuses on learning and development aspect of the medium, and how educators can use social media in the classroom and workplace setting.

Class topics/research include trusted sources, privacy, social TV, location-based services, theory, and application.

Social Media Adjunct Professor

Sports Marketing Athlete Agent | NIL Educator | Open to Work

NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) educator and certified Athlete Agent. Focused on educating colleges, high schools, and student-athletes on NIL branding, trends, and athlete representation. Additional services include social media education, personal branding, and career development.

Marketing Manager | NIL Educator | Certified Sports Marketing Athlete Agent

--Assisting schools, student-athletes, and brands with NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) education and services

--NIL Coordinator, Manhattan College (Bronx, NY)

--NIL Consultant, The NIL House (A Brinx TV property)

--Certified Athlete Agent, New York State

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Cassandra Toroian

Tariq Ahmad

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The Battle

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Tariq Ahmad

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