Free Agent
Feb 10, 2025
The transition from athlete to executive isn’t just about swapping jerseys for suits—it’s about carrying the same discipline, resilience, and pursuit of excellence into new arenas. Lindsey DiPietro, former NCAA Division I hockey player and seasoned executive, embodies this journey. From the ice to the boardroom, she has leveraged her athletic experience to navigate high-performance corporate environments.
For over 20 years, Lindsey dedicated herself to hockey, earning a Division I scholarship at Wayne State University. From the start, she saw her athletic career as a launchpad for future success, using it as a foundation to develop skills that would later define her professional trajectory.
After hanging up her skates, Lindsey returned to home and started her post-sport career at Lululemon, moving from retail floor associate to VP of Product Management and Data Science over 14 years. Now, as Head of Retail Product Management at a leading software company, she continues to apply the same principles that made her a standout athlete: discipline, leadership, and adaptability.
“I think being an athlete really establishes your character,” she says. “You experience a lifetime’s worth of highs and lows in such a short span. You learn how to win, how to fail, and how to carry yourself through it all.”
Athletes don’t just bring a competitive spirit—they bring an unmatched ability to perform under pressure, work within a team, and stay disciplined when motivation wanes.
“You learn what excellence looks like early on,” Lindsey explains. “And it becomes embedded in how you operate.”
Employers looking for high-performing, coachable talent should take note—athletes know how to pivot, push past obstacles, and thrive in structured yet demanding environments. That’s why Lindsey believes that a network like Free Agent is a game-changer.
One of the biggest challenges athletes face after sport is adjusting to a world without rigid schedules and team accountability. “I think one of the biggest challenges that athletes face is going from having a very structured calendar to having a very unstructured calendar,” Lindsey notes. “Having that kind of free time kind of eats away at an athlete in a very interesting way.”
This is where Free Agent steps in. By connecting athletes to like-minded professionals who have navigated the same transition, Free Agent helps ease the shift from competition to career.
“I wish I had a network like Free Agent when I was transitioning out of hockey,” Lindsey says. “Just having access to people who have been through it, who understand the challenges—it makes all the difference.”
Free Agent isn’t just about job placement; it’s about redefining how athletes think about their post-sport careers. With a focus on continuous learning, real-world skills, and elite networking, it’s creating a new playbook for success beyond the game.
As Lindsey puts it: “Free Agent is disruptive” in the best way possible.
From the locker room to the boardroom, athletes are proving they’re built for more than just the game. And with the right support system, they’re ready to take on their next big challenge.