Life doesn’t always turn out how you plan it…

Isn’ t that the truth?  For those of you who have taken the time to know the background

of  ‘DTL’ , then I guess it is time for the whole story.

Thank you so much for your loyal support.  I am the President and CEO of DTL Down The Line Sportswear Inc.

Tennis has always been an important part of my life.  I grew up playing tennis and was a nationally ranked junior player and later graduated from the University of Southern California,

 where I received a full tennis scholarship.  After college, I became a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA)

tennis professional and coach in San Diego, CA. 

I was the Tennis Director of The Rancho Bernardo Inn, a prestigious hotel and tennis faculty in Southern California, as well as the president of the San Diego

chapter of the USPTA.

 

A job transfer for my husband brought us to Houston. The timing wasn’t perfect – I was eight months pregnant with our second child –

but Houston is one of the most vibrant

 tennis communities in the country and I was looking forward to becoming a part of it.

 

But sometimes life doesn’t always turn out the way you planned it.  Our son was born deaf, with a profound hearing loss in both ears.  To allow him to hear, he received

bilateral cochlear implants on his first birthday.  The cochlear implant model he received was a new design that was less invasive for Michael, but he needed pockets in his clothing to

hold the battery packs that powered the implants.

 

Armed with a sewing machine as a gift from my mom, I started doing something I hadn’t done since I was a young girl –

I started sewing.

 

40 pockets later, his shirts were all modified.  But now that this goal was accomplished, I needed something else to throw myself into.  I was no longer teaching tennis and didn’t

have the energy or time to play much.  I searched around the house for more things to sew, and I started making tennis skirts.  I sent them to my mom and sister to wear on the courts

in San Diego and soon after people started asking how they could get one as well.

 

What came next, was not on my life “to do list”, but I felt deep inside that it was the next step in the crazy plan. 

I started DTL to bring top quality, trendsetting clothing to women and junior players. I partnered with an experienced fashion designer

and an internationally known fabric distributor that provides the highest quality of advanced moisture wicking fabrics to some of the biggest brands in the industry.

Finally, I contracted with a leading manufacturer of active wear in the United States to produce the line.

 

A year and a half later, you can find DTL in over 100 stores around the Unites States & Europe

 

Thank you to all of my amazing friends and family who have supported me through this journey. 

But most of all, thank you to my little man, Michael.

 The miracle that motivates me every single day.---Carla