Wharton dropout – Abigail McCulloch, founder of Alma Padel, says she left Wharton after realizing her long-term motivation wasn’t banking—it was building a community around padel. Backed by an UPenn accelerator and her own savings, she says the club opened within months and gen
Abigail McCulloch didn’t picture her future in banking, even after getting swept into Wharton’s recruiting loop.. She went to events. listened to the options on offer. and left feeling “apathetic.” What changed wasn’t a single pitch—it was a simple rule she says she learned about herself: when she isn’t genuinely invested in the project. the work becomes hard to sustain.
Driving home from padel one day, she found that truth again, but this time it came dressed as a joke. Someone said, “You should just open a padel club.” McCulloch laughed at the time. Then, she says, she went to work as if it had already been decided.
Her path from business school to opening day ran fast—partly because padel was still relatively new to the U.S.. and she felt “time was of the essence.” She started building the business plan and doing research immediately.. Within months. she wasn’t just thinking about an idea; she was turning it into a schedule. a lease. and a storefront.
Before the club could open, she secured outside validation through an accelerator hosted by UPenn.. She says she applied about eight weeks before the first major break—around eight weeks after the initial idea—and was accepted.. The accelerator didn’t just offer support.. She also credits the approval with credibility: she could point to it and tell skeptics. “Smart people think this is a smart idea.”
Money mattered, too. McCulloch says she received a five-figure grant, but the biggest commitment came from her own savings. Ultimately, she invested about 80% of what she had—“six figures”—into making the club look and feel the way she wanted.
That level of risk is part of why she says she told Wharton she was done. When she describes the decision, it isn’t framed as a debate. “At that point, I wanted to drop out of Wharton,” she said, adding that “it wasn’t a question” to her.
Her family reaction reflected the tension between entrepreneurship and conventional safety nets.. McCulloch says her dad “immediately understood.” Her mother, an entrepreneur herself, wasn’t as thrilled.. She comes from a family where education is a “very strong safety net. ” McCulloch says. and she believes her mother is still hoping she returns to finish her master’s.
The club timeline, according to McCulloch, moved with unusual speed once she made the leap. She says she signed a lease within eight months of the comment in the car. Six months later, the club opened. By the time she spoke, she said the club had been open for about 14 months.
Now, she describes her day-to-day work in plain terms—less glamorous than founder talk often suggests.. “There’s nothing sexy about being a founder at this stage. ” she said. explaining that much of her time is service-oriented.. She connects with the community and spends time “on the courts.” In her view. it’s the kind of role that doesn’t necessarily require a degree.
Despite the nonstop work, she says she hasn’t fully paused to take in what the business has already achieved.. During the club’s first year. she reports it generated “over $1 million in revenue.” She’s not where she wants to be yet. but she says she’s building momentum—excited not only about the business. but about the sport and the club she set out to create.
Wharton padel startup Alma Padel UPenn accelerator entrepreneurship revenue startup funding business school dropout