This CEO Has A Game Plan For Spotlighting Women’s Sports

In Bustle’s Quick Question, we ask women leaders all about career advice, from the best guidance they’ve ever gotten to what they’re still figuring out. Here, Laura Correnti, founder & CEO of Deep Blue Sports + Entertainment, talks about her “cold brew and content” morning routine and what it’s like to run a startup.

Making it to the C-suite is never a slam dunk, but one route makes it easier: playing sports. Studies have shown that 94% of women CEOs were once college athletes, suggesting their passion and drive don’t stop after they graduate. This is true for Laura Correnti, who drew from her background as a D1 soccer player at American University while building Deep Blue, an agency that helps land commercial investments for women’s sports.

“I’ve always been a student of the game,” she tells Bustle. “We’re constantly shuffling and on our feet.”

She founded Deep Blue in 2023 after she noticed a hole in the market: Women’s stories weren’t being told. As teams took off — look at the rising popularity of the WNBA, rugby, and soccer, to name a few — Correnti wants to address the investment disparity between men’s and women’s sports and bring female athletes into the mainstream spotlight.

To make it happen, Correnti is always on. “My days start with cold brew and content,” she says. “Every day starts with caffeine and a scan of what’s happening in the market, so I can go to work prepared. That’s my athlete mindset — I want to know more than anyone else in the room so I have a competitive edge.”

Every year, her firm produces the Business of Women’s Sports Summit and co-manages the Women’s Sports Audio Network in partnership with iHeartMedia. As part of their initiative to market worldwide, especially ahead of next month’s Women’s Euros and 2026’s Milan Olympics, Deep Blue will host the Women’s Sports Yacht Club from June 16-18 at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France.

The event, which anyone can register for on the Yacht Club’s site, will include networking opportunities, beachside dinners, live podcast recordings, and wellness experiences, as well as conversations with speakers like Olympic track star Allyson Felix, World Cup champion Ashlyn Harris, and Peloton instructor Kirsten Ferguson.

Here, Correnti talks about how her athletic experiences still inspire her, the workout that clears her head, and the best advice she got while launching Deep Blue.

What does a typical work day look like?

Women’s sports are accelerating at warp speed, which means every day looks wildly different, but typically it’s about making sure my team is set up for success. We want to focus on immediate projects, get in front of the right people, and look toward the future by thinking about where the puck is moving.

When you’re active, rest days are super important. Do you schedule those into your week?

I’m naturally a “no days off” kind of person, though I’m a big believer in carving out moments of rest and recovery. It’s a time to step back, analyze, assess, gear up, recharge, and then go.

How do you deal with stress?

I’m into Peloton Tread. I like to get my daily steps in. It helps keep me motivated and clears my head. I also read a lot and hang out with my four dogs.

What’s the best advice you’ve received from a mentor?

Beth Comstock, the former vice chair of General Electric, has helped me a lot. She would say, “Laura, if you see a better way, you have an obligation to do it.”

What’s the advice you’d want to give an aspiring entrepreneur?

When you have an idea that you go to bed thinking about and wake up thinking about, and it's in the core of your gut, you have to go for it. The key is to start. Maybe it’s with a side hustle. Maybe it’s your main hustle. To me, wondering about “what could have been” is so much worse than taking a risk.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.