local storiesJune 5, 2025

Daily Inspiration: Meet Marisha Darzyan

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisha Darzyan.

Hi Marisha, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Russia, where tennis was a huge part of my life from an early age. When it came time for college, I made the bold decision to move to the United States to pursue my education and continue competing in tennis at the Division I level. It was one of the best experiences of my life — combining high-level athletics with academics helped shape who I am today.

After graduating, I decided it was time to chase another dream: living in Los Angeles. So I packed up my car and drove from Houston to LA, ready for a new chapter. I started as a Tennis Coach at Braemar Country Club, and over time, I worked my way up to become the Head of Racquet Sports. After three incredible years there, I discovered a new love — padel.

Today, I’m the General Manager and Certified Padel Profesional at Padel Up, helping grow the padel community in LA while continuing to promote racquet sports as an influencer and content creator. I love being on the court with my clients that became my friends over time. I’ve also started diving into media and reporting, interviewing athletes and sharing their stories. It’s been a journey of passion, reinvention, and building community through sport.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road — but every challenge has shaped who I am today. I’ve always set high goals for myself and dreamed big. For a long time, my dream was to play tennis professionally. I trained intensely for years, but unfortunately, I suffered a major injury and had to undergo surgery on my right shoulder. After that, things were never quite the same — physically or mentally.

By the time I graduated, I was burnt out and heartbroken. I told myself I’d never work in sports again, especially not tennis. I put the racquet down and thought that chapter was closed. But life has a way of redirecting you. Ironically, I’ve never worked outside the sports industry. And through that, I discovered something powerful: even if you don’t make it as a professional athlete, there are so many other ways to succeed in sports — through building communities, coaching, managing clubs, and inspiring others through digital platforms.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that success in sports doesn’t only happen on the court. But reaching leadership roles as a woman hasn’t been easy. Over the years, I’ve seen firsthand how male-dominated the racquet sports world is — from coaches to club directors to executives. As a woman in this space, I want to do everything I can to bring more women into racquet sports and encourage younger girls to play. I truly believe this is a huge part of culture we’re missing out on.

Playing racquet sports — especially tennis or padel — should be mainstream. If you pick it up at a young age, it’s something that stays with you for life. That’s the beauty of it. It teaches discipline, confidence, connection — and it becomes a lifelong source of joy and community.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I like to call myself a “tennis girl but in love with padel” That pretty much sums up my journey! I started playing tennis as a kid and built my whole life around it, but discovering padel completely reignited my passion for racquet sports in a new way.

I launched my blog and Instagram @darmarisha to share that journey — from court moments to behind-the-scenes content, coaching, wellness tips, and lifestyle. What started as a creative outlet turned into a life-changing platform. It’s allowed me to connect with a global community, work with brands I admire, and inspire more people — especially women — to pick up a racquet and try something new.

Right now, I’m the General Manager at Padel Up, where I’m growing the padel community in Los Angeles. We just opened LA’s first indoor padel club with 3 brand-new courts, and it’s been such an exciting ride building something from the ground up.

One of my proudest moments recently? Working as a reporter and interviewer at the Miami Open — it was surreal! I got to ask questions to some of the top players in the world like Djokovic, Dimitrov, Medvedev, Sabalenka, and Tommy Paul. That experience opened up a whole new lane for me, and I’m excited to keep growing in that space — combining storytelling, sport, and media.

At the end of the day, my goal is simple: to bring more people (especially women and young girls) into racquet sports, make it fun, inclusive, and accessible — and prove that these sports can be a lifelong love, whether you’re playing, coaching, managing, or creating content around it.

How do you define success?
For me, success is about doing what you love and building a life around it. It’s creating a path where your work doesn’t feel like a constant struggle, but instead something that challenges you creatively and brings you fulfillment — both personally and financially.

Success also means staying true to myself, taking pride in everything I do, and making my family proud — which has always been really important to me. I believe that professional success should align with personal happiness. And ultimately, I dream of having a family and kids of my own, and being able to share the joy of what I do with them. That, to me, would be the most meaningful kind of success.

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