From Tennis Pro to Tech CPO: Career Pivot Advice

Louise Allen, the Chief Product Officer at Planview, has navigated a unique career path from professional athletics to technology leadership. After an 11-year career as a professional tennis player that included a third-place finish at Wimbledon in 1983, Allen pivoted to the tech industry in her 30s. She joined Planview in 2008 and has since risen to the C-suite.

Allen credits her athletic background for shaping her leadership style and approach to industry challenges. She highlights the importance of transferable skills and the value of building intergenerational teams. For those considering a later-life career change, she offers practical advice on leveraging diverse experiences and prioritizing work-life balance.

Louise Allen spent 11 years as a professional tennis player, ranking as high as 60th in the world. Her athletic career was defined by high-stakes competition and significant challenges, including back-to-back ACL injuries that required nearly two years of medical rest. After more than a decade on the circuit, Allen felt a calling to try something new and identified the technology sector as her next challenge.

Allen viewed tech as an opportunity to apply the skills she honed on the court, including vision, planning, adaptation, and a relentless commitment to improvement. At age 34, she returned to school to earn her MBA. Her entry into the industry was facilitated by a reference from tennis legend Billie Jean King, which secured her a product marketing internship at a small startup.

The transition to a corporate environment required a significant adjustment. While hard work was natural to her, Allen found it challenging to have her time directed by others after years of managing her own schedule as a professional athlete.

Allen joined Planview in 2008 when the company was much smaller, operating with a single product line. She entered the organization during the early days of product management, allowing her to get in on the ground floor of the function. As the company expanded its offerings and transformed its value proposition, Allen’s role evolved from tactical responsibilities to strategic leadership.

She served as the Senior Vice President of Product Management and Solutions Marketing for 13 years before being appointed Chief Product Officer in June 2021. Today, her days are filled with high-level conversations across teams, customers, and other C-suite leaders. She describes her role as acting as the "chief cheerleader," focusing on hyping up teams to align them with the overall vision.

A typical day for Allen includes:

• Strategy meetings
• Product road map reviews
• Customer-facing discussions (in-person and virtual)

These activities are all focused on "steering the ship in the right direction."

Allen offers specific advice for professionals considering a new path later in life. She encourages individuals not to be intimidated by the size of the leap. For older professionals, she emphasizes that businesses see significant value in curating intergenerational teams. She notes that age brings historical knowledge and insight, while youth contributes fresh eyes and new ideas.

Allen suggests taking the transition one step at a time through the route that feels right. Options include:

• Taking an internship or contract role
• Joining a professional network in the field of interest
• Finding a mentor to vouch for you

She stresses the critical nature of focusing on skills rather than work history. Allen argues that while technical details can be taught, core capabilities such as relationship-building, time management, presentation skills, and teamwork are more challenging to learn. She cites her own experience: tennis taught her risk management, strategic planning, and resilience—skills she uses every day.

As a C-suite executive, Allen has learned to be more selfish with her time. She explicitly states that putting in 12-hour days is not what she wants to do at this point in her career, nor does she want her teams to feel pressured to do so. Planview prioritizes maintaining the flexibility of a hybrid schedule across its teams.

Allen leads by example, modeling the work-life balance she believes is critical for preventing burnout and maintaining productivity and creativity. This approach marks a shift from her early career mindset, where working hard and learning were natural, but she now prioritizes sustainable work habits for herself and her staff.