Lyle Adams – Founder & CEO, Spry

In this episode of Defining Moments, Dustin Heise sits down with Lyle Adams, Founder and CEO of Spry, a leading collegiate athletics management platform helping athletic departments streamline operations and better support coaches, administrators, and student-athletes.A former professional soccer player turned sports technology entrepreneur, Lyle shares how lessons from elite sport shaped his approach to leadership, resilience, and building a high-growth company. He reflects on the challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of learning from failure, and why growth is rarely linear.The conversation explores the future of collegiate athletics, the increasing complexity facing athletes and administrators, and how technology can create more time for coaches to focus on what matters most: developing people. Lyle also offers thoughtful insights on athlete specialization, NIL, the transfer portal, and the evolving landscape of sport.This episode is packed with practical leadership lessons on perseverance, innovation, culture, and solving the right problems.What You'll Learn: Why failure is one of the greatest tools for growth  How elite athletes develop transferable leadership skills  The importance of building feedback-driven cultures  Why solving problems matters more than building features  The future of college athletics and sports technology  How leaders can create more impact by focusing on efficiency and people