LaunchBreak Champions: How Philippa Portnoy And Teresa Saputo-Crerend Built A 2.3K+ Strong Network For Women Athletes

Meet Philippa Portnoy and Teresa Saputo-Crerend, two dynamic Columbia University alumnae who transformed their shared passion for women’s athletics into a game-changing business venture. Philippa brings a robust background from Citibank’s Global Aviation Department, where she spent a decade working with major airlines and aircraft manufacturers, alongside her extensive leadership roles including Co-Founder of the Columbia Athletics Women’s Leadership Council and Barnard College Trustee. Her fellow co-founder Teresa combines over 12 years of sports marketing expertise from Tennis Magazine and Evian Natural Spring Water with significant non-profit experience, having served on various Columbia University boards and recently receiving the prestigious Alumni “Varsity C” Award.

Together, these entrepreneurial powerhouses recognized a critical gap in the market: while male athletes enjoyed well-established alumni networks for career support, women athletes lacked similar resources. This insight sparked the creation of LaunchBreak, a free networking and shared-interest community that now boasts over 2,300 women athletes from collegiate, national, and professional levels. The platform offers everything from job boards and mentorship programs to virtual programming and dedicated networking spaces, creating that instant connection among women who share the unique journey of competitive athletics.

In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Loop, Philippa and Teresa share their remarkable journey from identifying market gaps to building a thriving community that’s reshaping how women athletes connect, support each other, and advance their careers across generations and industries.

Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

Philippa: I have a BA from Barnard College and an MBA from Columbia University. I worked for Citibank for 10 years in the Global Aviation Department working with major airlines and aircraft manufacturers. While raising my triplet sons, I held several leadership positions including Co-Founder of the Columbia Athletics Women’s Leadership Council, Barnard College Trustee, and a Governor of the Columbia University Club of New York. I was named as one of the 50 most influential Columbia athletic alumnae for the 50th Anniversary of Title IX celebration.

Teresa: I have a BA from Columbia College and an MBA from Columbia Business School. I worked for Tennis Magazine and for Evian Natural Spring Water in Sports Marketing for over 12 years where I managed sponsorships of the US Open Tennis Championships, World Figure Skating and AVP Volleyball, amongst other programming. I also have not-for-profit experience having worked for Each One Counts and The Jesse Kolber Foundation while raising my three children. I hold several leadership positions at Columbia University including Board Member, Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) and Member, Board of Visitors Columbia College. I am also a member and former Chair of the CAA Mentoring & Networking Committee and recently received the Alumni “Varsity C” Award from the Columbia Athletic Department.

 

Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

LaunchBreak is a free networking and shared-interest community of 2.3K+ women athletes who compete(d) on a collegiate, national or professional level. It offers a job board, mentorship program, job search prep, virtual and in-person programming, promotion and support for entrepreneurs and dedicated networking spaces for current student-athletes, athletes from the same university, and pro/national team athletes. It solves a few problems – student-athletes may have fewer internship opportunities due to training schedules, other platforms are too large for targeted networking and community building, pro and semi-pro athletes need to supplement their income. LaunchBreak provides a welcoming environment for athletes who feel that instant connection with each other because of their shared journeys. Our target audience is any women athletes who meet our criteria above, including current student-athletes to women who have retired. LaunchBreak includes women from all generations, all industries and all sports.

 

What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

Some of the biggest challenges initially were getting new members and structuring the platform to best suit our members’ needs. We leveraged our pre-existing women’s sports networks to have them spread the word and we also promoted LaunchBreak on social media and hired some student-athlete ambassadors. As we started marketing the platform, women were very receptive and many said they had been waiting for this type of platform and couldn’t believe it was true. In terms of structuring the groups within LaunchBreak, we polled our members for feedback often. We continue to poll our members to deliver the type of programs and structures that our members desire.

 

How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?

Our years of experience volunteering and leading initiatives to support women and women athletes at Columbia University helped us to identify a gap in the marketplace. We noticed that the men’s teams had really established alumni networks that helped with jobs and support. Women athletes didn’t have those long-established relationships, and many teams only reached varsity status in the 1990s or later. This left a gap for women athletes looking for more established mentors and support. By combining forces across all sports, we can better support all of us. Even to this day, there are many sports such as rugby that are still club sports. With the increased popularity of women’s sports, there will be many women who will need the support from more established sports.

 

Additionally, our teammates on the tennis team at Columbia University have been a source of inspiration, confidence and support for our professional and personal development for years. We believed that women athletes share a unique bond and we wanted to recreate that on a larger scale.

 

What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?

Our key strategies for growth have been leveraging our members and satisfying our members’ needs. We have created a volunteer Ambassador Board which helps us spread the word about LaunchBreak to their networks. We continually review our analytics on the platform to see which posts, events and topics create the most engagement. We also poll our members to determine their interests. For instance, we have a very engaged group of entrepreneurs on our platform. As a result, we have created 12 events in the fall geared towards founders – pitch deck basics, marketing your company on TikTok, reviewing the best business structure for your startup, meet and greets about fundraising and more.

We also have expanded our in-person events based on member feedback.

 

What does a typical day or week look like for you? How do you manage work-life balance?

Our typical day is never typical. Our days often start at 7 AM and can end at 9 PM, depending on the time zone of an event. Our members will post on the platform at any time, including weekends. We continually monitor activity and answer any questions. During a typical day, we will have meetings with members, potential sponsors and partners and our part-time staff regarding future events, member engagement and social media strategies. We achieve work-life balance by leveraging each other (co-founders Philippa and Teresa). One of us will work the early part of the day, and the other the later part of the day. We often hear that your time is your most precious resource and we take that very seriously.

 

What are some future goals or plans you have for your business in the next few years?

Our goal is to get to 50K members over the next 5 years. As participation in women’s sports grows, we aim to be there to support our member athletes. We intend to be the global networking community for women athletes, including job boards, mentorship and access to industry leaders. We also want to be known as the platform that supports and propels women athlete entrepreneurs as they raise money and launch their businesses.

 

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

We would suggest partnering with the right co-founder. A few of the key components in a co-founder:

• Similar core values – often there are decisions that are based on issues beyond business
• Similar work ethic – situations can arise that require working off hours, a partner with the same work-life balance beliefs is critical
• Listens to other opinions – willingness to compromise is crucial
• Complementary skills – someone who has strengths beyond yours

 

Philippa and Teresa’s journey with LaunchBreak exemplifies how identifying an authentic need within your own community can spark meaningful entrepreneurial success. Their vision of creating a global networking hub for women athletes, combined with their ambitious goal of reaching 50,000 members over the next five years, demonstrates the power of purpose-driven entrepreneurship. As women’s sports continue to gain momentum and visibility, LaunchBreak stands poised to become the definitive platform where athletic excellence translates into professional success, proving that the strongest networks are built on shared experiences and mutual support.