“I’ve always loved grassroots marketing, and when I started with the company, I was trying to think outside the box. I love getting into the community and having those face-to-face interactions with players,” said Weiner, PB5star’s events and account manager and the van’s primary driver. “So I loved the idea about getting a sprinter van, getting it wrapped, and driving it around to promote PB5star to the local community players. I pitched the idea to our CEO, Chris Gallagher, and he gave me the go-ahead to test drive some vans.”

“Of course, I had to go with a Mercedes. Chris jokes that I have good taste, but the Mercedes definitely drove the best,” she mentioned. “After that, I went on the road and test drove it for about 3,000 miles to show proof of concept in Florida.”

Weiner has brought the van to major pickleball tournaments across Florida, connecting with players and helping them find the right court shoes.

“It’s actually gone kind of viral in Florida. People are responding to the ads saying they bought shoes off the van and asking me to come to their courts now. It’s been really cool to become the face of the van,” she explained. “Once I hit all the big areas in Florida, we were thinking of what else we could do and where we could go with the van, and that’s how the road trip came to be.” 

There’s no question this grassroots approach is paying off for Weiner and the PB5star team. Seeing an ad for the latest shoes on Instagram is one thing, but getting to try them on and test them in person is a completely different experience.

These days, my feed is flooded with ads from paid influencers who don’t always feel authentic. That’s why it’s so refreshing to show up at a local pickleball court, shake hands with Weiner, and hear her passion firsthand as she advocates for proper footwear.

I saw it in action during one of their road trip stops. The moment Weiner and Farnsworth arrived with their bright green shoe boxes, players immediately started trying them on. Within minutes, more people drifted over, curious and eager to learn.

And that was just one small glimpse of the impact.

“That’s a big trend the team noticed. With the rise of AI and everything becoming digital and fake, you don’t know what’s real and what’s not. I think there’s a real craving for real-life interactions. That’s what pickleball gives so many people. When you play pickleball, you’re so in the moment that you can’t get stressed about the craziness of the digital media world or what else is going on off the court. You’re just in the moment with people,” said Farnsworth. “It’s amazing for people to almost go back to analog and just be human again, and that’s what pickleball does.”

Follow their journey on Instagram. And to keep up to date on all things pickleball, follow Pickleball.com on Instagram.