'Humbled' Goyal on entrepreneurship, obstacles and Billie Jean King

Trisha Goyal, the first woman entrepreneur to win the Tory Burch Sports Fellowship, reveals the motivations behind her start-up, how she dealt with being the 'only woman in the room', and being inspired by Billie Jean King.

Goyal launched ‘Break The Love’ in 2019 to help people play tennis during the pandemic and to provide a one stop shop for players via 'drop in' tennis clubs, going on to acquire 120,000 users.

Could you describe your immediate reaction to being awarded the inaugural Tory Burch Sports Fellowship?
Humbled.

Tell us about the origins and history of Break the Love. What inspired you to establish it?
I was looking for a flexible, convenient way to play tennis consistently and in an organised way and when we launched Break the Love it truly was just a meet-up. When I created the meet-up, we had over 3,000 people who signed up on a Squarespace page within the first two-and-a-half months. That is when I started realising I wasn’t alone - there might be something that is worth solving.

Since then, we have become a social sports booking platform that is democratising recreational sports by making it more accessible and affordable to play. We are breaking down the most common barriers to playing recreational sports: difficulty in finding a place to play, difficulty in finding other players, and the high cost through tech.

Did you always know you wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial career?
Prior to starting the company, I had a career leading product, tech, and design at ESPN, Giphy, and HuffPost. At each of these companies, I found myself in an entrepreneur role and so at a certain point I did have the urge to start my own company from the ground up.

How do you feel the Tory Burch Sports Fellowship will benefit you and Break the Love going forward?
I feel that the Tory Burch Sports Fellowship will provide me with the mentorship to take the company to the next phase of its growth with the access to a breadth of resources across entrepreneurship and sports.

What is your vision for Break the Love and where do you hope Break the Love will be in five years?
We believe that we are spearheading the next wave of physical and mental wellness for the next generation. Sport and recreation can act as a vehicle that allows people to unplug and connect with people while being active, so while we have started with racket sports we do have this vision to expand into other sport categories outside of racket sports, truly reinventing the sports club. Whether you grew up with a sport or not, we believe everybody has an inner athlete in them.

Who have been the most inspirational figures in your life and career?
I have looked up to Billie Jean King for a long time and so it is truly a privilege to be a part of this fellowship in partnership with the ITF. In many ways, I feel like what we are doing is an extension of her legacy to players at the grassroots level.

What challenges have you and Break the Love faced?
Challenges that I have faced have been mainly around confidence and feeling like I can take up space in a room. There have been many moments in the journey where I have been the ‘only woman in the room’. However, with allies along the way, I have gotten better at overcoming these challenges to have that confidence to step through the door into the room.

The Tory Burch Sports Fellowship is empowered by ITF Advantage All (the global governing body’s gender equality strategy). How important do you feel such initiatives are for improving gender equality?
Programmes that can continue to invest and help propel female founders to build and start companies are really important to change the stats around gender equality in entrepreneurship.