Maria Sharapova on the Keys to Building Grit and Discipline

I mean, Andre Agassi had this quote, "You don't have to be better than everyone else in the draw when you go out on the court. Like, you have to be better than someone that's across the net." And whether that is at a very high level, whether that's at a low level, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. You can't can't be great every single day. Like, there's only a handful of times where I've gone on the court and felt like I did everything well. Everybody, welcome to Impact Theory. You are here, my friends, because you believe that human potential is nearly limitless, but you know that having potential is not the same as actually doing something with it. So, our goal with this show and company is to introduce you to the people and ideas that will help you actually execute on your dreams. All right, today's guest is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and her real-life story reads like a work of Russian literature. Her mother spent several months, while pregnant, living in the literal shadow of the Chernobyl disaster, and after moving to the US during the collapse of the Soviet Union, when she was just 6 years old, her will, determination, and skill began to capture people's attention immediately. Despite not speaking a word of English, 5 minutes on the court with this 6-year-old wunderkind convinced an elite tennis camp to give her a scholarship, and the string of both good and bad luck that followed is truly stranger than fiction. But she worked her ass off day and night, year after year, her father sacrificing and doing whatever he had to to make sure she could blossom into the player that he believed she could become. And my god, was he ever right about her potential. She turned pro at just 14 years of age, and her love of the sport and absolute maniacal focus on winning pushed her forward at blinding speed, and she erupted out of obscurity at 17 with a victory over Serena Williams in the Wimbledon finals. While some relax in victory, she does not. Her hunger to win only seemed to increase with each victory as she climbed the ranks, ultimately becoming the first Russian woman to ascend to the sport's top ranking in 2005, a position she has held many times since. Almost certainly assured a spot in the Hall of Fame, she's already won five Grand Slams, a silver medal in the Olympics, and spent an untold number of years as the highest-paid female athlete, period. She's worked with iconic brands such as Nike, Evian, Evian, Porsche, and many more. So, please, help me in welcoming the tennis icon and author of Unstoppable: My Life So Far, the indomitable Maria Sharapova. Thank you. Such a great intro. My pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. I feel like you should have written the intro to the book. I was like, so well said. Yes. For the next one. Yes, definitely. Which years. We still have a few years. I truly hope you are right. That would be amazing. It was a long process, so I'm I told myself I'm definitely giving myself a few few more years until I ever write another one. I think that's pretty fair. Yeah. Speaking though of the intro to your book, I think a cool place to start would be Do you remember the quote from Nelson Mandela that you put? Yes. Well, I start with a Nelson Mandela quote because I've I've always believed that his quotes were about living life um not through just the eyes of success, but through the eyes of someone that you know, was knocked down many times, faces adversity, and gets back up. And um it's a very singular direct quote, but it really resonated as I was writing the book, and I didn't have a title um at the beginning of when I started the book. And as I was writing and I was speaking to my father and all all the figures in my life and all the obstacles that we have overcome, it just seemed inevitable that Unstoppable was was going to be the title. Mm. It's an awesome title. Tell people what the quote is specifically and especially now in your this part of your career, why was it so resonant? Um specifically word for word, I don't know, but don't judge me um by my successes, judge me by the by the times that I fell down and got back up again. Yeah, exactly. So, now obviously what you're going through, you've struggled with injury, you had the suspension, you're back. Right. How do you want to be remembered for that period? And then what is it what have you been focusing on to get going again? Mhm. You can't really form other people's opinions of you. Um and you know, I I became successful at a very young age and I like from the first day after winning Wimbledon, um you know, you would think like a teenager wins Wimbledon, but not everyone was positive about it. Everyone wanted to know the story and you know, blaming my parents for having their child to go through this crazy journey and working hard and not having a normal childhood. Like everyone is always going to find something in your success or in your story or upbringing um that will try to knock you down like literally. Um whether it's their purpose, whether it's a news outlet, whatever it might be, you never know the intention, but yeah, I I don't want to form people's opinion. I just want to be um and live true to who I am um every day and then that's the only thing that I can do. You can't really control what other people think of you or how how they end up remembering you. Yeah, it's a good point. You've talked about that like not wanting to get too obsessed with legacy or thinking about that. Yeah, I'm just not like I it's a question I get asked a lot about legacy like how do you want to finish your career? And I don't know. I I like I've been fortunate to set my life up in a way now where I've achieved a lot and maybe when you're young you set goals and like you know, I want to in order to prove myself and what I can do, I want to win a grand slam, then I want to back it up and I want to get to number one in the world, but eventually like you need to play for other things and you know, I I don't see myself saying this is when I want to stop. I want to reach that because that's also scary. Like what happens if you do? Like is that are you limiting yourself? So So for me it's not about like a particular goal. It's It's an It's an evolution. What are you playing for now? Like what is that driver? I think it's an internal feeling. Um you know, happiness for me is of course lifting a trophy is like that's it's a goal and that's what you want and your team and yourself you work towards getting that, but it's not always it's like the moments maybe the days after where you're just by yourself and like you wake up in those first few moments where you realize like what you achieved and your body is so sore and you feel like you've just given everything you could physically to get to that that point and it's so rewarding cuz you see this little replica next to you of a trophy and it's nice. Those are Those are the feelings. Like I don't know if an internal happiness can be taken on a picture. You know, like we have our whole life is like surrounded by pictures like smiles and you know, frowns and good angles of a of a face or you know, a filter, but it's very rare that the people in in those pictures are truly happy. And so I don't know, I don't want to identify those moments. I think sometimes they come like as a surprise, but I do you know, one of my wishes for myself is that I notice those moments cuz sometimes we don't. Like I I I look back and I think wow, if I was like I don't know. I built a home a couple years ago and I had it wasn't like a welcoming party, but I had people over my move to a bigger home and so I don't know. It felt like and I was getting ready. I had my music on and I was like dancing around in my room by myself and it was like internally I was just so extremely like grateful that I had I was able to invite all these people and they were coming to my home and we were going to party and you know that's like that. But in that moment it almost felt like every other day and so sometimes I wish that I recognize I think recognize is the right word that this is a pretty special moment. Why do you think you don't recognize? Is it that you're just caught up in what you're trying to do? I think so. I think my life is very busy. Sometimes I don't I don't think I settle down and I I think about what is actually important. It's interesting. I'm super conflicted about that because as somebody so reading your book it resonated with me in ways that I can't begin to tell you from the title of just wanting myself to be unstoppable and I'm going to read a quote from the book in a second. But I'm somebody that I I always want to move the goal post, right? So once I've accomplished something I mean just like you were saying you you win that first one now you want to win another Grand Slam. You really want to just keep going bigger and bigger. But I love that. Like I like the way that makes me feel. Not not even the having it. Right. Having the guts to want it, having the guts to go after it, to constantly move the goal post. Well, what if you didn't get like what if you had a goal and you didn't achieve it? How would it make you feel? Because I always think of one to understand that one of my fundamental beliefs is that it is possible, maybe not likely but it's possible I'll live forever. Because I think like that I always and the reason that I allowed myself to become obsessed with that is cuz it always meant that there was going to be time, right? That there'll always be time. If I opportunity, right? There will be a chance. So I may have failed now but like I can get up and do it again and my team knows very well about myself. I don't judge myself by what I accomplish, I judge myself by what I'm sincerely willing to pursue. Exactly. And that's where it gets exciting. But I want to read a quote from your book Uh, which when I read this I was like all right, she's my kind of peeps. I can get fancy and sweet about it, but at the bottom my motivation is simple. I want to beat everyone. Yeah. I think that's like a little bit of my Russian character coming out. It's like just straight to the point. Yeah, it's really that's what it's about. And I've had several conversations like with different people in my life. And when they ask me about goals and and victories and even when I interviewed um the coach that's coaching me now, um I didn't know him very well. I knew that he was a coach that's been on tour for a long time, but you know, in our first conversation he asked me cuz he had a long long time job that was in which he was comfortable in. He was making good money. Didn't really need the the change. And it wasn't so much that I needed to convince him, but he also didn't want to be part of this like farewell tour cuz I'm toward the end of my career and um so he asked me what I wanted you know, what I was still playing for. Like is it another Grand Slam or is it just to get back to number one and then just call it quits, end on a high note. And I was like I don't know. I I I thought he asked me a silly question cuz I was like, what do you mean? I just want to win. Like what do you mean what I'm doing this for? I I just want to win. If that's no matter where that is, a Grand Slam. And that's the attitude that I I think it's important for me to carry on as I continue is that of course Grand Slams are important. Like that is where I want to be. That is where I want to perform at my best. But people that buy a ticket in the middle of nowhere in a country um at a smaller tournament or at an exhibition want to see my name with the way that I play and the way that I compete, no matter if it's a Grand Slam or a smaller tournament or an exhibition that doesn't mean anything at the end of the day. So and and maybe it's also cuz I just don't know how to play any differently or like that's just this is me and this is what you're going to get. Yeah, I love that. And that's really the way that I as I wrote the book, that's really the frame of mind that I wanted to have and and I think that's important, especially when when you're writing a memoir. So, talking about your frame of mind, which I found really really interesting and and you've talked about it saying I have something else. It isn't just the work ethic. In fact, I'm going to paraphrase this is going to be really close. Everyone that plays tennis has work ethic, so that isn't what separated me from everybody else. What separated me from everybody else was that other thing. What is that other thing? Mhm. I always think there are um there are things that just can't be measured. Like you know, I don't know if they're in thin air or they're on another planet or what, but like they're and a lot of sports are measured by numbers, so you have statistics and you have all the point percentages and like I'll talk to my coach and he'll show me actual patterns of a player or um where they serve, so I'm aware of it in a match and all that is important, but when you're deep in a in a match or you're deep in a third set, like so much is you rely so much or I do on my mind and what I believe is right in that moment and my instinct and whether it's the repetition that I formed with all the years that I've played or it's the discipline that I've that I've formed um or it's just the experience that will kick in. Um No, numbers are important and you must rely on them, but there are things that like you don't I mean, Andre Agassi had this quote, you don't have to be better than everyone else in the draw when you go out on the court. Like you have to be better than someone that's across the net. And whether that is at a very high level, whether that's at a low level, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. You can't can't be great every single day. Like there's only a handful of times where I've gone on the court and felt like I did everything well. You know, it's impossible. Yeah, that's that whole concept of Any Given Sunday, right? Like no matter what the odds, if you can at that moment dig in and out-perform. And that to me really does come down to mindset. And you you've talked about building your mindset. Reading the book though, there are some examples where I was like, "Whoa." This is like a little kid showing a level of grit and tenacity that I've never seen. Like I didn't have at that age. I was ashamed of myself. I'll be really honest with you. Talk to us about when you ripped off your fingernail and how you reacted. And how old you were. I think I was around five, five and a half. I know. Bleeding everywhere, by the way. Five and a half, rips her fingernail off. my father and I, we were we were headed to our our my morning practice and we were living in Sochi, Russia. And we're going to the public bus transportation and it's like a 20-minute walk from the apartment building to the bus and I don't know. And there's I mean the roads are not great there. They're better now, but still not great. And I don't know, I slipped, I fell and I got I got back up again and then I just see like blood everywhere and I look at my nail and my fingernail's like not there and I was like, "Hmm, well this is a problem, but like we have practice." And my dad's like, "Oh no, we have to go back." And you know, he was like, "Your mom's going to be so mad at me if I take you to practice with with blood everywhere." And I was like, "No, well we have practice." Like we have to go and do it. Like I'm not I just walked down that hill. I'm not going back up the hill just for nothing. So I'm not sure like no one yeah, no one really told me, you know, that I have to commit myself to the sport or I have to go and practice. But I really I did enjoy it and I did like it and at five years old, like there's not there's not much that you know of a player or who they can become, but I think you do have a mindset and no one really told me that, you know, I had to think that way. It's interesting. So, a lot of times when people play at a really high level, they actually have a they almost believe that they just are a certain way. And one thing that I saw in some of the talks you've given and even just now you've said things like develop um, instead of, you know, I just am. And one of the things you said in the book, which is really fascinating, was the repetition created discipline. Mhm. What did you mean by that? How have you leveraged that in your life? And like, how does that serve you when you're down and you you just have to keep playing your all in every set? I do think that with and then it's not just in sport, but with with other things, I do believe that the more you repeat certain things, whether it is writing, working on your you know, whether it's cursive letters or whatever it is. Like, when you work on something and you keep doing it over and over, it it's inevitable that it will get better. And by that, you're creating this feeling of repetition, which leads to discipline. Like, you know you can do it over and over again and that's one of my first one of my first coaches, Robert Lansdorp, who I speak about in the book. Like, that was his philosophy is you I would take a lesson from him and his philosophy was just hitting and grinding and it wasn't about patterns or anything, which, you know, I could get from somebody else. But what he gave me is that feeling that I could hit the ball from any part of the court and feel like I could do it with closed eyes and make it and know exactly where it's going. And um, for me, it started a young age. Like, my mom would would like make me memorize this Russian literature that I did not appreciate at 5 years old. It was very difficult and I didn't know what it meant. Um, but I would do it and I would memorize it and then I would feel that I accomplished something. I don't know why, I don't know, but the repetition led me to this discipline, and and I think that helps with mindset. What are So, hearing you talk about that, like it is in inescapable to hear your story, whether you're telling it or you're just looking from the outside, it's really inescapable to not talk about your parents. Mhm. Your dad is like such a cool figure in your memoir. And I think the scene that like really, where I wanted to like stand up and clap, is when he talks the guy into the visas. Like what So, forget that one easy question to ask is why was he so hell-bent to get you into tennis? Why did he believe so early that you could be great? I mean, that like even if he saw talent, it's a still a huge stretch that you'll become the best in the world, right? So, even forgetting that that plays out for a second, how does he like actually get it? We're we're in the collapse of the Soviet Union, he walks in to get a visa, which they don't give out, and he he convince I mean, and you literally give the dialogue, he convinces the guy to give him the visa. What is it about your dad? That tenacity, being convincing, like what has he created in himself that's allowed him to go as far as he's gone? I must have been four or five years old, and he was reading an article about Anna Kournikova, who was uh back then, um you know, a very popular figure in Russia, and one of the first few that really brought tennis on a map then, cuz it wasn't I mean, tennis was not popular at all, and one of the reasons why we left to the United States. But he saw in a newspaper, and it was a short paragraph that said that Anna Kournikova won some tournament somewhere in Florida. And he looked at that, and he's like, "Well, my daughter can win this tournament." And and part of it is like his competitiveness is like he you know had already started playing tennis and he's like my daughter can be better. And then I think it was also going to Moscow for a clinic that Martina Navratilova held and she was a legend and is a legend and you know getting her to single me out out of so many kids that were there and saying to my father that your your girl has talent and you should do something about it. I think was very eye-opening for him and then going back to Sochi realizing that there was no potential of growth there for my tennis career and then you know reading about Florida all the academies that were there all the players that were developing their games from out other countries and that was a good sign. He believed in signs and he still does. You know it's like the Russian superstitious mentality. Do you think your dad's a dreamer? Um he doesn't strike me as a dreamer. That's not how I see myself. It's interesting he doesn't strike me as a dreamer. Obviously I don't know him but reading about it he doesn't strike me as a dreamer but what what is so your story is so weird. I think a dream the reason I say is not cuz I a dreamer doesn't resonate to be a realist. Like I think a dreamer sometimes goes you know in this make-believe goes around this make-believe world. My dad was very much like a realist. He's very smart and like understanding the reality of things. But he also took a lot of chance and he gave himself to give that chance cuz if you really thought about it I mean you'd think that he's crazy and he was crazy. So think of himself as stupid and so he really didn't want to think about it too much. He's like this is what what I believe in and I'm going to go for it. What you said in the book is it's gut over the head right? So like you said if you'd stopped and thought about it he would have realized okay this doesn't make any sense so I'm just going to trust my gut but what's so interesting and this is why your story is so crazy, and it reads like a Hollywood screenplay, the the visa officer that he meets has a daughter who plays tennis. Right. And so he says like, "Look, I think my daughter is great, but I don't think that she's a prodigy. Are you How are you sure you're not just looking at your daughter with the eyes of a father?" Yeah. So, how how do you think your dad had the what I'll call guts to to keep pushing like at every turn to just keep go It's so entrepreneurial is the word that I would use. Yeah. I guess in this day and age you can say Um I would say that he also struggled with working different jobs and trying to find a better way and a better um opportunity for his family. And there's no doubt that he saw an opportunity in this as well. Um I but on the other side like he knew he had I mean he had to go into that visa office and convince this individual. So if he had a chance, like he had to be strong and he had to like stand up for himself in that moment. So you've obviously become very famous for um treating tennis like it's your job, that the locker room is your office, you're there to get work done. Yeah. Um how have you cultivated that mindset? You had a coach, if I'm not mistaken, who said, "There's your game and there's your game." Right. And that you got very good very young at both. What did he mean? What are the two games? Well, I think when I when I first arrived in the States, I was I was very isolated from like the rest of the kids and because when I was always younger than them, I was I would always play up in the divisions. When I was boarding in the school, I was boarding with girls that were 3 4 years older than I was. We just didn't have much in common. I mean, I never felt like it. Um and so I was never really I was never ever part of this rat pack. And so I never developed these deep friendships at a young age. Um and so I didn't rely on them. Like I didn't rely myself to you know put glue and and and sparkles and all those things after I practice. Like for me I I had my homework and I'd go to bed and that was the way and I was okay with it. Like yeah it was it was definitely a lonely world but it was I don't know. I I think it create it helped my mind um focus on what was really important. And I didn't rely on other people to make me feel better about um a board that I was doing or something. And so in that that really carried through. Like I always I do I do see my my office um as the locker room, as the tennis court, as the hallway. Like when I enter there, I mean I'm I'm in it. And and I don't know any other way and it's worked for me. And so like for my perspective, I it's not something that I want to change because it's worked. Like I know that I have to be like when I when I go back home it's easy going. I have friends, I have family, I have so many other you know great things that I'm a part of. Um total goofball, you know can't take myself seriously but when I get in that car to go to the courts and I get in the match like my coach knows it's Maria. You know that's that's the way it is. All right. There's another quote on this topic in your book which I loved. Before I even go out on the court, some of the other players are intimidated. I can feel it. They know I'm strong. How much do you use that to your advantage that they know where your head's at? They know that I will not I will not just give them the match. Like you can beat me but I will not give it to you. Like I I I will work for it. And and that started at a young age, like you know, I wasn't we talked about numbers, like I've never been the fastest, the strongest. I mean, I spent years watching, you know, the French Open analysts before I won the French Open, the French Open commentators after you had a champion there speak about all the advantages someone that has that hits high balls and moves well and slides on the clay and has all these attributes that I just didn't have. Like that was not my game. And those words were like it was like a hamster wheel. It was like just going like rewind, rewind in my mind. And as I was working in the gym or on the court or on the clay courts leading up to the clay season, I think of that. And I wanted to find a way to, you know, to show that my game was capable of improving in order to be a champion at at that tournament. So, I mean, I think there are definitely things that you use as motivation. And and they always change along your career. You know, what what I played for and the things that motivated me when I was younger might not be the things that motivate me today. Do you have a chip on your shoulder at all now coming into the comeback? I don't. And I mean, some of the the things that I've been through have been really challenging and tough and they've um I've certainly had to open up much more. And by choice, like it's really allowed me and helped me through the process of like facing these like tough moments through vulnerability and um and like understanding that that's okay, you know, cuz that's also like a moment where I have to realize like it's it's a it's an it's a good feeling to feel that, you know, to overcoming that, of sharing that with other people and sharing um So, but now I I don't know. I play it because I still really believe that I have a lot more to give. And while I was away from it, I feel like the game itself, I mean as I look back over the years, it's provided me a lot. It's given me a lot. And I still feel like there's more to give to the sport. You seem like you're playing with hunger. I mean you seem like you're showing up to win. So you said that the things change over time, but like what is like is there a red hot something that Like it's a very It's an internal feeling of I've gone through the shits. Like I've been through everything and for myself, like I really want to do this. I want to put in the work. I want to make my body strong. I want to make my mind strong. Um I've had an incredible team that has stuck with me for so many years and I want to do it together. Yeah. And what is the the one skill talent, I'm not sure what word to use that if you obviously forget the just the ability to play tennis, what is that one talent skill that you have that you think um is most valuable to you? I don't think everyone has like the patience to go through moments of like adversity on the court. Cuz it's you know, you're in front of thousands of people and you make mistakes and you know, like when I used to practice when I was younger and I my mom would come to practice which was very rare, but if I would hit in the net, she she like come off the court and she'd be like, "I don't understand how anyone can hit in the net. The net is a few feet high. You have the whole sky and like you hit in the net. Like you have so much room." I was like, "Oh my god, there's a reason why my mom doesn't come to practice." And so if you think about it, like for someone that practices so much and yet goes into competition and makes mistakes or things don't go well, like you see it on their face. Like you see this this anger. They're unhappy. They're frustrated, they're looking at their box. I mean, there's so much emotion going on. Um it's like reading everything right like right here, you know? They don't even need to explain it, you just know. And so, I I feed off of that. Like without even seeing it, like I feel it with the way that they carry themselves. And I've seen it as I've watched tennis on TV in the last couple of years as I was away, like I I noticed it so much. And it started from a young age. I I mention in the book, like when you see the winner and the finalists in a photograph, like you know exactly who's a winner and who's who's the finalist. Like a finalist has this like face like they're about to cry. And the winner has this huge huge smile. And from then on, I was like, I never want anyone to know if I'm the finalist. Because let's say that I don't know, I feel like I'm giving them so much satisfaction. something you change on the inside or the outside? Like it would be relatively easy to fake the external. Like I just lost, but hey. Yeah, no. Or or you like is so going back to that unstoppable. In fact, when I was trying to end the the intro for you, the word that came screaming to mind was indomitable. Mhm. Like just no one can like get inside your mind. Nobody can break your will. They may beat you at tennis. Fair enough. But they're never going to break your will. And and I do have my moments of frustration and I look at my coach when you know, things are not going well, when you know, we have a plan and it's not working and you just want to blame someone. I've had I've had my fair share of moments, but I think there's something about like I have a routine in the in the midst of in in between the points where I go back, I look at my strings. And just because when I was younger, I'd you know, I'd I'd be ahead and I'd start looking around and like, oh wow, there's so many people watching me. How cool is this? And The thing you know, you lose the next game, you lose the next set, and the match is over, and you come you're coming off the court like, "Wait, what happened? I was so happy." So, you know, I I know that I I can be out there for as long as it is. And like if I can just dedicate myself to that to that time, I can let myself out of that momentum when I leave. But like once I get on the court, like that's it. You said in the book that your magic is focus. Mhm. How would you train like if your daughter wanted to play tennis? I hope not. Really? Well, then before we answer that question, let's figure that out. Why do you say that? I don't think I can do that again. Because you don't want to go through it or because it's like Selfishly, um no, I think that I don't it's a lot. It's a lot. I mean, you there's so many unknowns, and there's also like the reality of it. Like I face there's sometimes moments where I come off the court, and have a tough loss, and I sit there in the locker room, and I think, "Why? Like why am I putting myself through this? Through this emotional I went through the physical like training for it. I give everything I can, and then I'm just sitting here like with no rewards." Um but then the next day I I wake up, and I'm I want to get back on the court to improve. But not everyone has this mentality, and I think like the real answer is that it's tough to to train that mentality. Like I do believe that you a lot of it you have to be born with, and not, you know, just because I'm a tennis player, and I've done well in my career, it doesn't mean that my future child will. Um but in terms of experience and helping them, I would I would love to, but to go through it again, that would be tough. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. Do you think about kids and what you'd want to teach them? I think about kids. I don't think about what I would want to teach them. I I think one of the great things is that um when your family passes down so much information to you, I I think it would be such a gift to be able to pass it down to, you know, that that wealth of knowledge or at least what they contributed to you in your life and be able to to share with your children. And like, you know, once they get older, they you know, they branch out and they have a life of their own, but while they're young and growing up, I think that's a that's that's a gift that I will definitely want to. Cuz my my parents I mean sacrificed so much in that we've developed a very this close bond and understanding and um you know, closeness that's very unique. And and I think it's also something that I appreciated as I got older because I I see a lot of kids that once they get to a certain age, they kind of want to you know, spread their wings and be like, okay, now it's my time to be on their own. And um I've never really felt like the need to do that. I I enjoy being around um my parents. I enjoy being around people that are older than me as well that have you know, maybe more mature, more experienced. Um yeah. So let's live in a fantasy world for a second where your physicality never deteriorates. How long would you play tennis? I don't know. I I don't really have a goal. As long as I I have this desire to keep getting better. Yeah. Like that's important. I think that's Like if I don't feel that I can be a better player tomorrow, then if I don't think that I can have something to improve like in my in my game or that's I know that's impossible. Like there's always something you can do better. Mhm. You happen to have said a quote right along those lines which I'd love I love when people give me quotes. I'm so obsessed with them. Um and you said, "If I wake up in the morning and don't want to be challenged and don't want to be better at something, it would feel like a wasted day." Right. So is that what led you to Harvard? Um well, let's not get crazy. It was only like a few weeks. It's still I find it an interesting story. So, you've got the downtime. You don't just sit back and eat Häagen-Dazs and you know, chill out in the Bahamas. I think you said you did that for like a couple months. little bit. I did I did for a little bit and then I was like, okay. No, I wanted to branch out. I wanted to learn. I knew that during summer there were these courses um that Harvard had going on. So, I I signed up for two back-to-back. Um, so Harvard Business School they teach upon case studies. So, and I signed up like 3 days before the first class. So, they emailed me these case studies and there's about average 20 for 10 days. I was like, "Whoa, like I have to read these before I get to Harvard and before the class begins." Um, so it was intense cuz I spent 3 weeks. I spent 10 days on campus. And then um staying there and everything. And then we did the second part of it in London. And what's your vision for business post tennis? Are you going to bring the same level of competitiveness? Are you really trying to build something big? Like, what's that vision? Yeah, I I really am. Um, when I had shoulder surgery in 2008, won my third Grand Slam, um was playing really great tennis and started feeling something in my shoulder. Was misdiagnosed a few times, ended up having surgery and I think it was like really eye-opening for me cuz it was the first time in my career where I felt like, "Wow, I wouldn't be doing this forever." Like, when you're young, you just kind of follow through with things. You're playing every day. And then from one day to the next it was like, "Wow, I might not have this back." And so, I started um I started a candy business called Sugar Pova and we started with gummies and the way it started was we we I actually Well, I love sweets. So, I I grew up like with my grandmother just eating all types of sweets and um kind of a bad habit, but what can you do? We all have them. And and then it's sort of um I started working with someone that was knowledgeable in the field, Jeff Rubin, who really just like helped me with understand like different products, trends, what works in certain places and doesn't. And then I started doing research on packaging for the gummies, realized that I don't know, gummies was like a 99 cent product that you buy in a store as you're walking out of the store, you're eating, you're throwing away. There's no meaning to it. And I wanted to create like a premium product that looked great, that tasted great, and that's what we did. And so now is it global domination? I mean, you got involved in the UFC. It's like Yeah, a little bit. So I I own Sugarpova fully. We're in about over 20 different countries right now. We're online. We're Yeah, we're we're we're expanding. We're in chocolate as well. We're doing truffles soon. We've got like specific goals? Like we want to be in this many countries, this much distribution, do this much revenue? The thing with with candy is that it's a it's really a numbers game because there's you know, it's it's not a very high price point, so like $2.99, $3.99. So So it's really about quantity. So distribution is really important and that like that's the big lesson that I'm learning is like the keys to distribution, manufacturers, getting the product. We're also incorporating, working on incorporating natural gummies. You know, as you see the shift in health and and everything. So yeah, our chocolates all natural, non-GMO. Our truffles are are going to be amazing. That's going to be a great addition to the line. So it's it's a fun business. It's great taste testing. Yeah, but just evolving it and seeing where where it goes. Awesome. All right, before I ask my last question, where can these guys find you? Social media, Maria Sharapova Instagram. Every social media platform I have is quite different. Instagram's a little bit more think creative. I love photographs, so you know, I I always use like the 30 filters that they provide, like as one does, right? Um Twitter, very fan engaging. Um so I I retweet a lot of my speak to my fans a little bit more, more news-worthy. And uh Facebook is a little bit more corporate, so different things. But all are @MariaSharapova. All right. Yeah. And what is the impact that you want to have on the world? Mhm. I think impact to me is a very um is something that comes from within. Um I always want to I feel like I want to start and end the day being the best version of myself that I can be. Um think we're always impacted by external things, people, life, situations, um finances, job, all those things. And you know, it's important to always focus on you so you can be the best version to other people in your life. And um if I can do that, I know that I'll I'll impact others. Awesome. I love it. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming in and talking to us. That was fantastic. All right, guys. You have something incredible coming your way if you dive into her mindset. And what she has had to do to become as successful as she's become is absolutely insanity. Her story is is unbelievable. It's a story of not only work ethic, it is a story of building a mindset that truly is unstoppable. I think that may be the perfect title for her book. The things that she's gone through, whether it's injury, whether it's her most recent setback, always on the other side of that, you watch her rebuild herself into somebody that is to be feared because it is somebody that is willing to put in the work to do whatever it takes to come out the other side better at whatever she's doing. It is going to be utterly fascinating to watch her translate what she has done so well on the tennis court to the world of business because if she brings that same attitude of I will outwork everyone, I will build my body, I will build my mind, I will research, I will learn, I will do the things that other people aren't willing to do, and I'm going to beat you in the boardroom before you even walk in the room, which is exactly how she plays tennis. So, it is going to be really fascinating. It was super inspiring for me to get a glimpse into that mindset, which is exactly the kind of thing that I want in my own life because at the bottom, at the end of the day, I want to beat everybody, and I love anybody that's got that attitude. All right, guys, dive in. Let her inspire you. She's going to blow you away. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe, and until next time, my friends, be legendary. Take care. Thank you guys so much for watching, and if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe, and for exclusive content, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. All of that stuff helps us get even more amazing guests on the show, and helps us continue to build this community, which at the end of the day is all we care about. So, thank you guys so much for being a part of the Impact Theory community.