This 29-year-old left her decade-long tennis career after a major knee injury. Today, her business brings in $25,000 a month

Sammi Ekmark, 29, co-founded personalized greeting and acquisition paper institution Ink'd Greetings successful 2023 alongside her hubby Andrew — a large pivot from her erstwhile vocation arsenic a prima tennis player.

Ekmark picked up the athletics erstwhile she was 10 years old, and by the clip she was successful college, she was playing connected a Division I squad wherever she was individually ranked among the apical 50 tennis players successful singles successful the United States.

"I truly focused connected tennis. I was 92-0 successful precocious school, truthful I ne'er mislaid a match," said Ekmark. "I played each azygous time for 2 and a fractional hours aft school," she said, adding that this was connected apical of her matches and tournaments connected weekends.

Her extremity was to go a nonrecreational tennis player, truthful she said she would often prioritize the athletics implicit her academics and societal life.

It didn't instrumentality agelong for assemblage recruiters to notice. As precocious schoolhouse graduation approached, she received galore offers from colleges astir the nation. Ultimately, she decided to spell with Arizona State University (ASU), which gave her a full-ride assistance to be the schoolhouse and play for their Division I team.

Unfortunately, 1 nighttime portion playing a precocious tennis tourney successful college, Ekmark planted her feet incorrect and tore her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), 1 of the main ligaments successful the knee. This is known to beryllium a large wounded successful sports.

"A batch of the times radical bash see ACL [tears] a monolithic vocation ender," she said. "When I got my wounded ... It made maine instrumentality a twelvemonth off, and it was precise tough. Tennis was inactive my life, but it was hard to get backmost into it arsenic bully arsenic before."

Ekmark recovered from the teardrop and got backmost to playing tennis, but on the way, she besides developed an involvement for concern aft taking an entrepreneurship people astatine her university. Although she had dedicated overmuch of her beingness to the sport, she yet decided to pivot and absorption connected gathering Ink'd Greetings.

Today, her concern brings successful implicit $25,000 successful gross a month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Ekmark's communicative is similar galore others successful the sports industry. Athletes — peculiarly those who imagination of going pro 1 time — dedicate years of blood, sweat and tears to train, and often backed by families who assistance carnivore the clip and fiscal commitment.

In the U.S., parents walk connected mean $3,000 annually connected their children's sports, with 64% reporting rising costs successful caller years, according to a 2025 report by security institution New York Life.

However, little than 2% of much than 500,000 athletes successful National Collegiate Athletic Association schools are drafted into a nonrecreational sport, according to NCAA data.

"I unluckily wasn't arsenic superior astir academics arsenic I would person liked to [have been] ... I was determination for tennis, and I cognize astir apt a batch of athletes are similar that," said Ekmark. "So sports, if you privation to [play on] a precocious level, are an utmost sacrifice .... The country for mistake is truthful small."

Those who privation to play professionally often person to prioritize their athletics implicit everything else. So, what happens to the 98% of NCAA student-athletes who don't spell pro? Well for some, beingness aft sports tin beryllium precise challenging.

"After they graduate, there's a batch of intelligence wellness [issues] and [some look an] individuality crisis," Kate Fitzgerald, erstwhile pupil jock and co-founder of SPORTx, a pupil jock task workplace astatine Arizona State University, told CNBC Make It.

"A batch of athletes postgraduate with these unthinkable accomplishment sets, but they person nary true, quote, unquote, firm resume acquisition to get them a occupation ... they're successful a sense, behind," said Fitzgerald.

While galore pupil athletes are forced to play catch-up aft university, Ekmark says that the qualities that marque a large jock are the aforesaid qualities that marque a large entrepreneur.

"I deliberation the champion entrepreneurs are going to beryllium radical who were erstwhile athletes," she said.

In June 2024, the House v. NCAA settlement was approved which ushered successful a caller epoch for the assemblage sports industry, specifically successful compensating athletes.

Following this landmark ruling, Division I assemblage athletes who played from 2016 to 2025, are acceptable to beryllium fixed $2.75 cardinal successful backmost pay. Previously, the athletes couldn't legally cod connected their name, representation and likeness (NIL) from their schools.

Colleges tin present besides "spend up to $20.5 cardinal per year, escalating astir years by astatine slightest 4%, to straight wage athletes. While galore prima athletes person been paid connected the broadside by NIL collectives for the past 4 years, this officially ends the epoch of amateurism," according to erstwhile reporting by CNBC.

The NCAA historically operated nether this amateurism model, which constricted student-athletes successful what compensation they could receive. Today, immoderate hold that the caller NIL scenery volition beryllium large for student-athletes who privation to go entrepreneurs oregon capitalize connected their ain brands.

"The accidental is bigger than ever now, due to the fact that they tin commencement that [entrepreneurship journey] portion they're an athlete," said Ekmark.

"So the NIL [landscape] has created the accidental for athletes to really acceptable themselves up for occurrence successful beingness aft sport," said Fitzgerald. In practice, pupil athletes contiguous tin beryllium compensated for endorsements, commercials oregon different deals that utilize their name, representation oregon likeness.

Colleges person besides stepped successful to enactment their athletes with their entrepreneurial endeavors, specified arsenic Arizona State University's SPORTx program, which aims to mentor the school's athletes, assistance them navigate the caller NIL landscape, and launch, build, grow and turn their businesses.

"I deliberation that we request to commencement giving athletes different way ... and we request to commencement instilling it successful their minds earlier than erstwhile they neglect and erstwhile they can't spell pro," said Ekmark. "I deliberation it does request to beryllium successful assemblage similar what [some schools] are doing now. And I deliberation that entrepreneurship is astir apt the champion route."

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