Evan Specht

Evan grew up with a passion for sports and business.  He attended Embry Riddle in Daytona Beach where he studied Aerospace Engineering and graduated with a degree in Aviation Business Administration and was captain of the Men’s Tennis team.  After a stint as his alma mater’s assistant coach for 1 year he went pro on the ITF Futures Circuit where he met co-Founder AJ Barlett.  Coaching world ranked junior and pro players for 10 years in California, Arizona and Florida, he began developing designs and formulas for Diadem’s flagship string, Solstice Power in 2011.  

Launching sales in 2015 Diadem quickly grew under Evan and AJ’s leadership and grassroot and bootstrap mentality.  In 2019 they partnered with Roschman Enterprises and the 3rd Co-Founder Michael Manglardi. As Director of Operations, Evan is responsible for product development, sourcing, and inventory management, but can often be seen in the warehouse, marketing, sales, and accounting departments.   Evan is driven by the Live to Play motto Diadem embraces, and believes that his passion and hard work is instrumental in the success of everything Diadem and the Diadem Pickleball Complex has in connecting people with their passion.  

Evan is married to his lovely wife Chelsea, whom they share 2 beautiful children Capri and Roman.

Michael Manglardi

Michael is one of Diadem's Co-Founders and VP of Operations. His enthusiasm for sports and his competitive spirit was shaped from being raised in a household filled with four sports-loving brothers. Michael studied Business Management at the University of Central Florida. Upon graduating, he spent the early part of his career working with startups across diverse industries with a focus on operations, business development, and project management.

Michael joined forces with Evan and AJ in 2019 as the next chapter of Diadem was founded. As VP of Operations, Michael oversees the operational success and expansion of Diadem, staying true to the company's Live to Play philosophy. His responsibilities include managing key business metrics, marketing and sales strategy, fostering team development, and driving budgeting and recruitment efforts. In the ever-changing landscape of a fast-growing business, you'll find Michael and the rest of the Diadem Leadership team wearing many hats and deeply involved in all divisions of the company. Diadem's enthusiasm for future Diadem Pickleball Complexes is rooted in the belief that pickleball is a sport of accessibility, offering everyone the chance to Live to Play.

Michael is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he resides with his college sweetheart Taylor.

AJ Bartlett

AJ grew up playing sports, but specialized in racket sports at an early age. His competitive nature helped him climb the ranks of junior, collegiate and professional tennis. He inserted his competitive drive and passion for sports into business and co-founded Diadem. Using his vast knowledge and experience in racket sports to help Diadem become an industry leader in product development. 

In 2015 with a grassroots and bootstrap mentality, you could find AJ going door to door getting Diadem into the hands of every player. To this day you can still find him on the road at tradeshows , events and across the globe as he leads the business development and expansion of Diadem domestically and in international markets. AJ embraces the Live to Play motto that is embodied by Diadem and translates throughout the company. The passion and hard work put in daily has been the driver to the success of Diadem and the Diadem Pickleball Complex. Diadem's passion to grow the game continues as we make Diadem pickleball complexes more accessible so everyone has the opportunity for one more shot, one more moment. Live to Play. 

AJ resides in Los Angeles, he is married to his wonderful wife Karen and have 2 boys, Brayden (3) and Bolt (Golden retriever).

Jeff Roschman

Jeff is a serial Entrepreneur owning and scaling many companies such as Rally’s Hamburgers as it’s
largest franchisee, Papa John’s Pizza, Founder of Giantbank.com, Franchisee of Hampton Inn,
Florida Equities Commercial, Roschman Enterprises, Dynamic Color Company, Roschman Capital
Advisors, Intercomp, K.A.M. Specialties Technology, Custom Precision Technologies inc., Diadem
Pickleball Complex, Diadem Sports, and The Fort.
He is a graduate of the University of Florida

Rene Prats

Rene Prats is an experienced franchise entrepreneur with 40 years of diverse experience successfully
developing, acquiring, transforming, growing and selling major restaurant brands. Familiar with all aspects
of scaling businesses. Franchise sales, operations, training , real estate development, construction,
marketing, technology and evolvement of concept. Rene, has been a leader with brands such as Tony
Roma's, Luthers BBQ, Rally's Hamburgers & Papa John's Pizza.

Robert Roschman

Robert has over 30 years experience in site selection for many successful retail concepts.
He's a majority investor in a real estate firm with over 120 properties currently leased to restaurants, distribution
and retail tenants.
National brand tenants currently leasing from Triple R Real Estate include Papa John’s, Blockbuster
Video, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Popeyes, McDonald’s, O’Reilly’s Auto Parts and
Rally’s Hamburgers. Other real estate investments include, marinas, office buildings and multi-family.
Also, he's a major investor in numerous private equity investments, including spirits manufacturer and retailer,
The FORT pickleball complex, and many more.

Danielle Smith

Born and raised in South Florida, Danielle pursued her undergraduate education at West Virginia University, where she also swam on WVU’s Swimming & Diving Team. After completing her bachelor's degree, Danielle held various management roles within the retail space before joining the Diadem team in 2021. While working at Diadem, Danielle pursued further education and in 2023, she graduated with an MBA from FAU with a concentration in Finance. Danielle’s professional journey with Diadem began as office manager before progressing to her current role as Accounting Manager. Starting with Diadem in 2021 allowed Danielle to learn the company from the bottom up while gaining knowledge in multiple departments outside of accounting. Throughout her tenure, Danielle has been committed to optimizing internal systems and processes to enhance operational efficiency in and outside of accounting. Key responsibilities include financial analysis and reporting, system automation enhancement, ERP software management, and optimizing accounting procedures for improved integrity. Beyond her professional endeavors, she is passionate about the transformative power of sports in people's lives, valuing its impact on mental, physical, and social well-being at all levels. Danielle takes pride in contributing to a dynamic company of hard-working individuals committed to democratizing the benefits of sports for all.

Danielle is engaged to fiance, Jeremy and they live in South Florida with their dog, Khloe.

Paul Robinson

Paul P. Robinson is a strategic leader and brand accelerator with a strong track record of driving growth and profitability in corporate, agency, and trade organizations. One of the overarching themes that runs throughout his career is the ability to create revenue and marketing opportunities in emerging / transitional brands and technologies with innovative go-to-market strategies and campaigns. Additionally, he has driven thought leadership for industry trade groups and is passionate about continued learning.

Robinson is known for his expertise in business development/partnerships, product marketing, content marketing, sales enablement, integrated marketing, and commerce (with a focus on B2B, B2C, and B2B2C). Paul has held Senior Product Marketing roles at Panasonic, Brother International, and B&H Photo and led Marketing Agencies / Service Providers in Business Development and Production within ClearChannel, Shopkick, and Contemporary Marketing. Paul also led the Centers of Excellence at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in Commerce, Experiential, and Content Marketing. 

He holds an MBA in Marketing and Management from Fordham University, a Mini-Master of Business Administration in Digital Marketing from Rutgers University, and a B.S. in Sports Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 

Paul lives in Coral Springs, FL, with his wife Jessica, his twin daughters Lindsey & Nicole, and their two Doodles, Peyton & Archie.

Gene Devito

He came to Diadem from Fort Worth, Texas, where he spent the year 2022 developing Pickleball programming for Courtside Kitchen. He has 17+ years of experience coaching tennis, with 11 of those years being the Director of Programming for the Italian Center, in his hometown of Stamford, CT. In HS, Gene was a 5 sport athlete while being named captain of 3 and all state in 2. In 2022, Gene won the Dallas Fort Worth "Athlete of the Year" for his coaching/playing abilities.
Gene was also a High School teacher for 10 years and is a proud graduate of the University of Connecticut. Go Huskies!
He has a passion and enthusiasm for coaching/teaching that is unmatched. 
Even though he is a 5.5+ Pickleball player, he enjoys coaching beginner/new players more than anything. Gene's philosophy has always been that having fun is the key to learning!