Daily Inspiration: Meet Shawn Paul

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Paul.

Hi Shawn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
11 years ago when Pat Eisnaugle (Pickleball Pat) put me on this pickleball path, he changed my life. I never thought I’d be where I am today and especially who I am. I don’t mean that to sound like I’m some big celebrity or anything, I mean 11 years ago I never thought I would be Shawn Paul Pickleball now because when pickleball was first introduced to me I thought it was dumb and now its my whole purpose for living. LOL!!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not! Alot has changed in my life since you first interviewed me in 2022. In 2022 I was still kind of new to the pickleball world and it hadn’t fully consumed me and took over my life yet so of course I was talking about how much fun I was having, the laughs and about how great the people are that I was meeting in this pickleball world, I fell so much in love with this sport that I had a conversation with my wife Lindsey telling her my thoughts and what I wanted to do. Although it was a hard decision she has my back. I decided to make it my life and tried/trying to make a living doing it and that’s where everything changed. I quit my job of 26 years doing private security to chase this dream because that job was very demanding. If I kept my security job I would still be able to play pickleball but not make it a life. Meaning If someone wanted to hire me for a pickleball clinic or if I wanted to do a pickleball tournament or event I couldn’t because if my agent called and told me I had a client that wanted me right away, that took priority. I would not be able to do any of those pickleball events. Trying to make pickleball a living requires me to make plans and set up dates. Doing private security I wasn’t able to plan anything more than 24hrs in advance. I know that sounds bad but that’s what I meant by “demanding”. As bad as it sounds that job allowed me and my wife to live financially secure for years. I eventually had to make a decision. Keep my great paying job and just play pickleball or quit my job to chase my dream where we’re definitely going to struggle financially and I could possibly fail? I chose to chase the pickleball dream. Believe it or not I haven’t always been a good person and someone told me awhile ago that I don’t have a soul or not much of one but I know with all my heart and what little bit of a soul may I have left that I am supposed to do more than just play.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
After leaving my job doing private security to chase this pickleball dream I needed to find a job to bring in some income while trying to build the Shawn Paul Pickleball brand. It had to be a pickleball job and the job had to be willing to give me the freedom I need to do events, tournaments and pretty much work with me on my master plan. The North Royalton Ohio YMCA leased a separate building dedicated only to pickleball and I was offered the position as pickleball coordinator. This is the perfect job for me! My job is now to teach pickleball and pretty much play pickleball. I’m also pretty much the pickleball social media personality for our facility. I love my new pickleball family here. My coworkers and the higher ups are definitely helpful and understanding in my main goal. Working here I have the freedom to attend pickleball events and tournaments because I can give them notice and my shifts would be covered. This is a great rest stop on the way to getting my Shawn Paul Pickleball brand to take off. My specialty I think is Patience. At least that’s what one of my students says. her exact words are “you have the patience of a saint.” I think she says that because she sees the way I treat and play with the lesser skilled players. That’s what sets me apart from most. I could care less about winning if I’m playing in a rec pickleball game unless it was high level competitive where everyone on the court was at the same level. Then I’ll play more aggressive and really be trying to win. I’m very, very competitive when the situation calls for it. When I’m playing in a rec game with beginners, the elderly or just people who can barely get the ball over the net, those situations don’t call for me to be competitive. Those situations call for patience and understanding that I was there once. Some people forget that. I have more fun helping them rather than crushing them. Nobody learns anything from getting beat up except how to take a beating. So yes, I gotta say patience is what I specialize in, what separates me from others and what I’m known for is I PLAY ACCORDINGLY. What am I most proud of? I would have to say one is that I have started a future Pickleball champion on her path. Kinda like Pat did for me except for when Lindsay came to me she had never played pickleball or any racket sport and now she’s winning 3.5 Pickleball tournaments. Pickleball Pat started me on this amazing path but I was a tennis player before so that helped me a lot in developing my skill. Lindsay didn’t have that to help her. I have helped a ton of players with their Pickleball journeys and I have a bunch of students now that are doing amazing but they all have played before coming to me. I brag on Lindsay so much because I trained her from the ground up. I’m very proud of the player she is and is going to be. The other thing is that I haven’t given up on chasing the pickleball dream. It has been a long road of financial struggle for my family but I’m still fighting. I recently had a total knee replacement and it put me out of work for a few months. We were already struggling financially before this happened so you can imagine what we were about to deal with. One of my Pickleball students/friend set up a gofund me to help our situation. I was actually against it at first then she told me it’s ok to ask for help. Someone made a nasty comment on my Facebook page saying to stop begging for money and to just get a job that will totally support my family? I had to laugh because I don’t think anyone knows or realizes how easy it would be to go back to my previous job but would have to give up chasing this dream. What I’m doing is a choice. Yes, as of right now it might not seem like the best choice but I also believe that something is going to happen for me. I just have to hold on a little bit longer. FYI: our family and a bunch of the Pickleball community actually came together and helped me and my wife with money for our bills and gift cards for groceries. My sister Brittany was/is an amazing help throughout this. Recently I thought about giving up and just going back to my other job because it got so bad but she talked me down. Thanks Brittany. As for that gofund me, I saw names on that list of people who donated that I have never heard of before. One of them was actually a pro Pickleballer that I watch on social media but I never knew he knew I existed. It really did feel good to know that so many people especially the ones who didn’t know me personally were willing to help. Plus, honestly I don’t know how we would have made it without that. If anyone who donated are reading this, thank you very much.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Never forget: Just because you can win doesn’t always mean that you should. PLAY ACCORDINGLY. I’ll see you on the courts.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sppickleballer
• Facebook: shawn paul sports adventures
• Youtube: shawn paul pickleball
• TikTok: shawn paul pickleball

Image Credits
Dan Godell