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Leanna | The Footballers' Career Transition Coach

@_leannanewman

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I coach players to plan beyond football
@plyr.pathways
Identity. Performance. Transition
Founder @the.people.agency
Advisor @hergametoo
SM 0020401

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Had a little yap with the Girls Who Ball team over on Substack on all things @the.people.agency @plyr.pathways @hergametoo and being a female entrepreneur leading an all-female team ✨ Go take a read.. #plyrpathways #lifeafterfootball #beyondfootball #careertransition by @_leannanewman

YOUR Monday reminder to live, your, life 🫶🏾✨ by @_leannanewman

Leanna has spent her career in senior HR roles at some of the world’s biggest companies, like Apple, LVMH and Selfridges.

For the last five years, she’s been building her own people and culture agency out of Dubai, The People Agency.

For the last two, she’s combined those skills to coach elite footballers, helping them prepare for life after football. @plyr.pathways

She writes about all of this in her weekly insights, The Release Clause, on Substack, talking about all things player identity, performance and transition.

She’s also on the advisory board at Her Game Too, which champions representation for women in sport.

Her business was recently incubated by Ethara, and now she’s building an AI, data-driven platform for talent in the sports and entertainment industry.

If you’re in sport, tech or talent, give her a follow and say hello. And if you’re interested in what she’s building, reach out and have a conversation.

Main page: @_leannanewman

#business #sports #tech #talent #businesswomen by @_leannanewman

Football and corporate have the same development problem.

I’ve spent years watching high performers fail in boardrooms, and the last few watching it happen to players in football.

Neither room has a name for it. But there is a theory that explains it. This week I break down why it happens.

My new weekly issue of The Release Clause is live. Click the link in my bio or story, take a read and let me know what you think!

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #beyondfootball by @_leannanewman

Busy is a nice problem to have. Less than 3 months left in 2026. Time to finish building what I said I would.

I’m not looking back.
I’m not waiting for a perfect.
I’m making it happen.
Forward motion only.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball #FounderJourney by @_leannanewman

First @cipdme event of the year for me. Constant travel normally keeps me away, so it was good to be back in the room. Nothing replaces face to face. Good to see so many of my people & culture community.

People first. Always. by @_leannanewman

Because everyone always asks how I got here and why.
So here it is. (Part 1)

2019. Graduated top 3 in my class, with distinction. Promoted to senior leadership. Ready to live my best Dubai life.

2020 was going to be my year.
Studying done, career moving, world travelled.
Then Covid had other plans for all of us.

2021. Just as I found a new trajectory, life had other plans. I ended up fighting for my life.

All I could do was fight to live.
I asked God to spare me.
I promised to live in my purpose.

2022. I was scared.
I quit my corporate job anyway.
Took six months off to heal and go to therapy.

I went straight to the Maldives.
The place I feel happiest and most free.
Then London, to be with family.

Back in 2019, I’d already written the business plan for TPA. It had a different name then. I decided to pull the trigger anyway and figure it out as I went.

By 2023 I was busy. A team of 5.
Earned more in 6 months than a full year’s salary before.
But deep down, I didn’t love the pressure of running a team. (More on this in part 2)

Then life came at me again.
I tore my meniscus so badly I needed reconstructive surgery. Wheelchair-bound for months, I couldn’t consult. So I went deeper into coaching instead, and took on the executives and footballers I already knew.

I soon realised executives and footballers share the same high-performance traits and football needed my skills more than corporate did.

So I went all in on researching transition.
Plyr.Pathways was born.
It also took me back to my roots. An ex-competitive gymnast, swimmer and sprinter

I stopped introducing myself by my old corporate title.
I embraced the multi-hyphenate life instead.
Founder. Coach. Soon, Pilates instructor.

I went back to practicing gratitude.
In hospital, I’d written down one good thing every day.
Somewhere in the busyness, I’d let that slip.

Life got better. Work got busier. Things started to happen. Being invited to an event at Chelsea FC was one of the moments that changed everything.

I was living life on my own terms.
Building a business that felt right for me, not anyone else. Little did I know what it would become because transition isn’t linear (More in part 2) by @_leannanewman

Well today started off with an unexpected chat 🙊 #lifeafterfootall #careertransition #plyrpathways #beyondfootball by @_leannanewman

Do you plan your career? Or react to it?

Every quarter I take two half days to reset my business priorities.

What’s working.
What isn’t.

Most footballers never get that time. Or never give it to themselves. It’s go, go, go all season.

The season sets the schedule.
The club sets the priorities.
Someone else decides what’s next.

Career transition planning isn’t about controlling everything. It’s about giving yourself the space to see what’s coming and how you are going to handle it.

#PlyrPathways #CareerTransition #LifeAfterFootball #beyondfootball by @_leannanewman

Most players can tell you exactly what time training starts. Very few can tell you the last time they outwardly questioned a decision made about their own career. That’s not an accident. It’s what elite sport is built to produce.

This week I break down why the habit of asking is quietly trained out of players. Link is in the bio ✨

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball by @_leannanewman

I’ve been thinking about A Beautiful Obsession all week. Everyone’s talking about what it shows us about Pep Guardiola as a manager.

I watched it as someone who studies people and what stayed with me had very little to do with tactics.

Six lessons in career transition, hiding inside a football documentary.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #BeyondFootball #ManCity by @_leannanewman

Four issues deep into The Release Clause. Over 500 people have read my thoughts on career transitions in elite football. Even a few article collaborations in the pipeline.

Not because of any hype. Because career transition, identity and life after football are conversations players actually want to have. They just needed space away from the distractions of normal social media.

To everyone reading, sharing, replying: thank you. This is exactly why I started writing. More every Wednesday. Link in bio.

#LifeAfterFootball #CareerTransition #PlyrPathways #beyondfootball by @_leannanewman