The School of Greatness - 395 Maria Sharapova on Being a Champion On and Off the Court

Episode Date: October 19, 2016

"We're not given something in life that we can't handle." - Maria Sharapova If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/395

This is episode number 395 with the incredible Maria Sharapova. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome back to a special edition of the School of Greatness podcast.

I am so pumped for our guest today in the interview. I've been wanting to have Maria Sharapova on for many, many months since we first met earlier this year, but didn't get a chance to have her on until now. And we talk about why in this interview, but for those who don't know who Maria Sharapova is, she is a professional tennis player, not just any pro, but one of the top in the world she's an olympic medalist and an entrepreneur has many businesses she became the number one woman tennis player in the world at only 18 and sadly she had to overcome several severe shoulder injuries and setbacks yet every time she clawed her way back rebuilding her game and her strength now off the court, Maria is an incredibly popular personal brand

and has mass appeal that has led to major commercial endorsements with companies like Nike and Tiffany & Co. and many other top luxury brands. I've gotten to know her personally over the last year, and it's been so fun and inspiring to kind of get a behind-the-scenes look and hear about the stories that most people don't hear about. And I said, Maria, we got to bring you on to let you share because usually the interviews

you do are only five to ten minutes and you're not able to share really the way you think, the way you prepare, the way you battle so hard on and off the court and how you make it look so easy and how you have it all. And some of the things we cover and talk about today are the biggest lessons she's learned in the past eight months while being suspended from playing tennis. Also, the importance of continually growing even when you're at the top and even when you're not guaranteed a future. What Maria says is her superpower,

the best way to choose how to spend your time and resources when you have so much going on, and also why Maria doesn't believe balance exists and how to balance life without it. We also bring in a surprise guest during the middle of the interview. Spoiler alert, it's her coach. And I asked him a few questions about what makes Maria

the best, what makes her so talented, and what makes her different than everyone else on and off the court. I think you're going to be really excited and interested to hear what he has to say from working with Maria so closely on a daily basis. This and so much more in this incredible interview. Make sure to share it with your friends and watch the full video interview at lewishouse.com slash 395. Again, share it out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,

and tag at Maria Sharapova at Lewis House and let me know what you think. lewishouse.com slash 395. And without further ado, let me introduce to you the one, the only Maria Sharapova. Welcome everyone back to the School of Greatness podcast. Very excited about our guest. We have an incredibly talented individual, Maria Sharapova in the house.

Thank you so much for being here. Of course. High five it up. Yes, made it. I'm super pumped, super pumped. We got connected through your coach, Sven, who's in the house as well, like eight or nine months ago. Yes.

Because he was listening to the podcast. Is that how it started? You were listening? Yeah. He was listening. Sven was listening. And he was like, you need to get into this greatness stuff, this personal development No, I think I might want to take the credit for that.

Oh, really? What happened? I think I somehow, I heard about it through social media. Oh, you heard about it first? I think I heard about it through social media through some post of someone else.

I think you actually mentioned Simone. Maybe. You saw like her with a photo of a book or something. And then I started listening to your podcast.

Before him? And then I got Sven involved. Yes, I told him to listen. Oh. Because he's been a huge Tony Robbins fan and listened to his podcast. And I had never listened to podcasts before. so you were kind of with him since then.

Yeah, now I just love listening to podcasts. For some reason, I had the story mixed up. I thought he was the one who found it. You see, we just started the interview. We already got something wrong. We screwed up. We've got to start again. Okay.

But that's exciting to know. I'm glad that you discovered it and started listening. Yes. Appreciate it. And you've listened to a bunch of episodes, too. I've listened that you discovered it and started listening. Yes. Appreciate it. And you've listened to a bunch of episodes too. I've listened to a lot. Yes. Awesome.

I listened to one to Glennon's. Yeah, Glennon Doyle Mountain. Yeah, yesterday. That's awesome. I read her book and thought I'd listen to the interview. Yes. Very cool. Very cool.

And then we met. You asked Van. You were like, hey, can you figure out a way to reach out to this guy, right? No, I think it was interesting. Was your agent or? I think that's how it went. Yeah. Yeah, next thing I knew, I was like, yeah, we're going to meet up with Lewis. I was like, oh, great.

I think I loved your perspective. I loved the way that you interviewed people. It was very casual. It wasn't, you know, sometimes you hear interviews and it's, there's some sort of mission behind that interview. That's like too, I don't know, it's defensive. And I felt like your interviews are very open and challenge people, but it was a conversation. And I think that's when people really speak about how they feel and their emotions. And I think that's what people want to hear. I mean,

people know a lot from externally through what, you know, actors or musicians, um, or people do, um, through photos or videos, but when they have a one-on-one conversation, it's such a different feeling. Have you ever done like an hour-long conversation like this? Because TV is usually like five minutes, right? That's right. Five minutes maybe. I actually think that Charlie Rose last week was one of my longer ones.

Was it like 25, 30 minutes? It was 36, and they cut it to 34. So actually those... What did they cut? Let's get to that. I know. I thought they had everything, but they did.

Um, usually they, they film for 45 minutes to an hour and then cut it to like 20. The best stuff. So yeah, that's good. Well, I'm glad you came.

I'm glad you guys made it. So thank you guys. And it's been fun to connect with you over the year. And we've had a lot of fun times. We have. Yeah. Uh, I'm sure many more adventures to come.

And you, uh, you just played a match recently. An exhibition. Which is the first match in a while that you played. Yeah, it was seven months since I've played in front of a crowd. I got an invitation from Billie Jean and Elton John a few weeks ago to be part of an event that they've hosted for the last 24 years. Elton John has had a charity for AIDS for so many years. And obviously, usually I'm in Asia playing at this time of year. So you've never done this event? Never played that event. And it was in Vegas. Hadn't been in Vegas in a while. Yeah, I was

nervous. It was my first time coming back to just a crowd environment and being around just a lot of people that I've inspired over the years that I've played alongside in ways, Andy Roddick, Marty Fish, people I've spoken to, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, obviously Billie Jean King, and I'd never met Elton John before. Really? Yeah, it was the first time. Were you nervous?

No, I don't. It's funny. I respect these people so much. I don't get intimidated by almost, I don't want to use the word star power, doing at his age and just be so young inside was really cool. And just to have a small conversation, just for him to even ask you a question, you're like, really? You're interested in me? Yeah, you're actually asking me a question. So that was nice.

And then playing that, having fun on court. You watched a little bit of it, right? It aired. It was awesome. It was fun. I had a good time, and I felt really, you really – it's always – it's been a tough seven months and obviously coming back from that and just feeling like you get love and support and seeing fans and getting flowers after it and taking selfies and it just makes you feel

welcome. Social media, everyone's commenting about how you're back. Yeah. It was really special and then just having like a really casual dinner afterward with all of them and just everyone goofing around. This is actually probably the most relaxed I've seen you. Maybe because you kind of got like the match in the way and now you're just like. Well, it's interesting because last week when I was in New York, so I found out that my suspension had been shortened to 15 months.

It's been like nine days now. And when I found out, it was embargoed for a few days. So I wasn't allowed to speak about it, but just obviously through my close friends and family. And so that, just getting that decision that I was going to be able to play again next year. Just already looking forward to that so much. Knowing how excited I was to share that news with my fans, I just almost couldn't keep it to myself. And then I went to New York, and I knew that I'd do a little bit of press

because I hadn't been able to speak about anything for the past seven months. That's why we couldn't do the podcast until now. No. Well, one of the reasons. I hadn't done anything, any sort of media. Um, so it was just nice to, it was really nice to just feel free and open to talk about a story, um, that happened to me seven months ago and, and, and get it out. And, and really,

you know, I, I did, I think four TV interviews and, um, but after, after I did the Charlie Rose is my first interview and I, I specifically wanted to go on his show cause I, I think, four TV interviews. But after I did the Charlie Rose is my first interview. And I specifically wanted to go on his show because I grew up watching him with my mother and go back home from a long trip. And she'd usually DVR his shows. And I loved his format, loved the questions that he asked people. He was inquisitive, but he was tough. He asked tough questions. And I knew that this – I want tough questions. I want people to ask me the tough questions. So I answered them.

I answered them today. I'll answer them tomorrow. And I knew that it was, it was a good format for me. Um, so that's what I wanted to start with. But after that interview, um, we came back, one of my good friends from London was there and my coach then, and we were, um, we're going to go to the Russian restaurant, um, in New York. And I was like, we made a reservation. And I said, I just can't. I'm so mentally tired. I really can't get myself out to go anywhere. So I just put on some sweats.

We went down to the hotel lobby bar and just ordered food. And Sven looks at me and he's like, I haven't seen you like that in so long. Actually, the last time I saw you, like, just so, like, you let everything go and let all your emotion goes when you won your last Grand Slam at the French Open. When was that? And I think in 14, I believe. Wow. Because no matter if you're going through a tough or really happy moment, you're giving so much of yourself without actually realizing it. Like your mind and your body, you're just always on, always on, always thinking.

Your mind is always turned on. And I think after I did that interview and the news went out, I was just so relieved and so happy. And, um, you know, it's a long process and just like when you win a grand slam, not that I'm comparing the two at all, but when, when you win a grand slam, it's everyone's like, Oh, well let's go celebrate. No, we're going to go out and part. And the feeling that I have is just, I'm so I'm internally so happy, but I'm so drained, exhaustedhausted. Just exhausted. The mental focus for weeks. Because you just realize that it's done. There's no other match. And for me, it was that moment last week where it was like, there was not another email from my lawyer.

There was not another this. There was not another conversation. I knew it was finished. And for me, it was almost like a celebration that I, that I got through it in that, in that light and how I came through it. Right. So, well, I, you know, I met you in the beginning when it all happened and I've known you this entire time and it's been incredible to see your poise, your grace, your, thank you, your ability to not let it consume and control you and to be able to have fun. And you've done so many other things in the last eight months or whatever it's been with

your businesses, with going back to schooling and getting mentorships and really applying yourself to grow. Yes. Trying different workout techniques, traveling, like having a life because since 14, you've been 14 when you went to pro. Is that right? I was something like that. Yeah.

Somewhere around. Yeah. It's crazy. I started when I was four years old. Yeah, professionally since 14 or 15. So, yes. Crazy. Pretty much all my life.

So, it's kind of like the first time you got to kind of do different things and be like a normal girl. Yeah. The only other time that I can think of is when I had shoulder surgery. I was 21 and I was out for about nine months or so. Right, right. But you weren't able to be active the way you have now. No, because I was constantly – I was always in Arizona rehabbing. But yeah, but in a way, that time away from the court really helped me in this situation.

Yeah. Because I think when you're 21 and when you go through a tough injury, you're questioning your future so much, especially you feel like you've just, I just won my third grand slam and I was sort of in the middle of everything. And I didn't know if I could ever play tennis again. And that's scary. It is scary. It's really scary, but it's interesting how you grow through while you don't know you're growing. You know, it was like nine months. Sometimes you're, you're doing all these things without, obviously, life has no guarantees. There are only two guarantees in life, right? Do you know what those are?

The taxes? That's right. High five. You're going to die one day and you're going to pay taxes. Exactly. And other than that, there are no, well, I'm sure you still have to pay something. They get you anyway. Exactly. So during a time when you face difficulty, and whether for me it was an injury or whether for some people it's something else,

you form some sort of strength inside of you without really knowing by doing something that will help you in the future. So I kept, you know, I was rehabbing a shoulder that I didn't know if I was, if it was ever going to come back to normal, if I was ever going to, I was trying to play left-handed all the time, not knowing if I'd ever play. So in my mind, like, why would I, I'm right-handed, right? So I would train lefty and do these exercises and think, and sometimes you come home and you're like, why am I doing this? Like, am I ever, I have no guarantee that I'm ever going to be back on the court. But then you get to a moment, you pass through that, you get back, I got back. And then you think back to that moment and you realize there's a reason why you did that.

You build this strength inside of you to, to get through it. There's probably so many lessons you learned through the struggle and the challenges, right? So much. What's the biggest lesson over the last eight months? Oh my. This is different than a rehab process. It is a different. You learn a lot about patience and you do working on other i don't even know where to start what i learned top two or three lessons in the last eight nine months you learned well i learned because this is probably the most adverse exactly especially

for an athlete it's one of those situations that's probably one of the the toughest i mean injuries and something that i've experienced in the last seven months is probably the toughest. So you can say I've been through everything. I don't think we're ever given anything in life that we just cannot handle at all. That's just, it's not, we always eventually end up handling it, whether we do it in a good way, whether we do it in a bad way, but we get through it. Absolutely. And that was hard too. So I'm always someone that looks towards the future. Like I always try to think of the bigger picture when it comes to my life and my career. I don't think short term you know i think of how will today impact tomorrow and impact the next month and the next year and that was something that i i could not think about because

i couldn't think about the future was scary you didn't know no i didn't know? No, I didn't know. And, um, and I spend my whole life knowing preparing for the next match, the next, the next tournament. I mean, I, my manager would have a schedule and everything's written down in a calendar and this and that. Yeah. Oh, the whole year, year and a half. I know what, I know what outfits I'm wearing in 2018. And yeah, I know what candy's coming out into that. It just you i always knew so but in many ways in a time where i had almost almost zero certainty i felt like i had a schedule like i felt like i could plan things with friends i felt like i could take a trip um i didn't have the pressure of a tournament coming up so i didn't feel like i i could go

there with a friend because i'd have to sacrifice two three days of training um that's been my life since i was four years old so that so i learned you get so consumed um as an athlete you get very consumed in in schedule and your in your training and your life and there's so many great things in life that you can do but the one of the best things i learned is that you you actually have to take you have to take action and you have to do it it's not going to come to you just by sitting in bed and so i think in that time what i what i'm celebrating many people have asked like or said especially in the press why is she celebrating a 15-month ban? That's far from what I'm celebrating.

I'm certainly not celebrating that I've been banned for 15 months. What I'm celebrating is that I've come through this time a better person than I was seven months ago, a stronger person, a more aware person, a more educated person. I've been through this process, And I feel that I could have taken an easy way out, which was just sit at home and hide from everything and just not be present. And I didn't. And from the first day on, that's the choice I made. I was going to go and do something about it. I was going to go and I was going to be honest to the world. I was going to go and I was going to take care of the things I wanted to take care of. I wanted to study.

I wanted to meet people. I wanted to go on trips with my friends. So I took action. So I'm celebrating the fact that I actually took it in my hands and made something out of that time and came through it in a good way. Whereas it could have been very tough. No. And I think you did it. And I always talked to you about how graceful you were.

And just the way, even just the posts you put out there was always like joyful experiences, things you're doing online. And people were like, why are you posting things where you're so happy when you're going through this challenge? Because I was. It's funny. Because I do all of my social media and sometimes you get when, when you post something right away, it's like, oh no, that's not, that's not her posting. There's no way it's a fake. That's a, that's a fake smile. It's not. And I was like, no, actually, because I think as you know me, people know exactly how I'm feeling. Right. If I'm happy, you know I'm happy. If I'm – I mean I wear my emotions on my face. Yes, you do. You know when I'm mad and when I'm angry, you know it. And so I think that's quite – yeah, and that's how I share my feelings with my fans.

Right, right. I think that's normal. No, you did an amazing job. So congrats on everything that's happened. And come back. I'm excited. I'm going to be there for your first match already. Thanks. I, you did an amazing job. So congrats on everything that's happened and come back. I'm excited. I'm going to be there for your first match already. Thanks.

I've got to plan it out. I've got to make sure I get there for the first official match. April. I'm going to block off the month. You talked about normalcy. Elton John, you talked about normalcy. Yeah. And how he was like a normal person asking questions.

Right. And you're like, oh, interesting. Right. How are you a normal person? You know, you were a pro at 14. You, I think you're the highest paid female athlete of all time. You've done like the biggest sponsorship deals. You've won every Grand Slam.

You've, you know, been number one in the world. Right. What's normal about you? I think what's normal is that I, I mean, I want to believe that I have my feet on the ground. And I think that's, that's because of the way that I was raised and the two people I had by my side, and that's my mom and dad. Yeah. And. Who are amazing. had very different, taught me very different things from a young age.

And I moved, I was born in Russia and I moved to America when I was seven years old and didn't see my mom for the first two years after moving to America because she couldn't get a visa. So we faced a lot of difficulties, a lot of adversity as a family. And we've all, and I don't have any siblings. So we're all very much together. And yeah, and especially during the tough times. I mean, they've been incredible. They've been so just there and just their presence and their knowledge. And my mom is like a best friend to me.

But the way I think that I was guided towards that, I was always under their wings, especially under my mother's wings, um, in a very human and normal way. Like my dad, even though my dad was a coach for many years of my career, he was still, um, the things that he taught me on, on a tennis court were very much life lessons. And the things that my mom taught me off the court, she didn't know anything about tennis, um, were very much things that were life things as well. Very cultural, very, um, um, I wouldn't say optimistic, but realistic as well. Like my parents were realists. Um, and I think that's so hard when you're in this world and in the, in the celebrity world where you're invited to parties and you're invited, you know, to this and that. It's so great as podcast exactly you know you can i know that's right you do absolutely um it's very easy to um to start saying yes to everything to start believing in your head that you are greater yeah that you're greater than everyone else or everything else

and that's that's not true um and so I think that just growing up under their wings has just helped me be human and real. And I, I face challenges. You asked me how I'm the same as everyone else. I face the same challenges that everyone else faces. I just face them in a different way, maybe more in the public eye than other people. But overall, I think everyone shares the same difficulties. What would you say is the biggest internal difficulty you face? Biggest internal difficulty. Oh, goodness. Wow.

Stubbornness. I'm a very stubborn person, and sometimes I have to let go of that, and sometimes I have to let things play out. I know you to let things play. I know you're laughing at me. Why do you think you're so stubborn? no for answers. You don't, um, you know, rejection is not in a vocabulary. It's really not. But sometimes you just, you need to just let things go and you need to let things happen. And I, I fight that. I definitely have internal fights with stubbornness. I don't know. It's just the way, you know, sometimes when you want something, you're just stubborn not you're so stubborn you just want it who's more stubborn your mom or your dad oh i i beat them both okay i don't know i don't think i got them through that i'd probably say my mom is a little bit more chill so maybe my dad yeah

what was the biggest lesson each one of them taught you um Um, well, I, my mother had me when she was very young and, um, I spent, and one of the things that she, I think she was a very protective parent and like, she didn't want me to go to, um, preschool or kindergarten. She was 20 years old and she was still in university at the time. So I spent my younger years, yes, my childhood in libraries with her. And sometimes she would take me to lectures. Wow. And so I spent culturally, I think she just, she taught me a lot. I mean, I listened to Pushkin and so many great Russian authors, you know, when I was four or five years old.

you know, when I was four or five years old. Um, she taught me that, you know, evenings I would be writing and repeating the, the written, um, cursive words and, um, and letters and making sure that they were perfect. And, um, I didn't have any, never had a babysitter. Um, so she was a very, you know, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents as well. Um, we're very, it was a very you know i spent a lot of time with my grandparents as well um we're very it was a it was a cocoon in a way um my father was very um very disciplined and he he was a smart guy and during the early years of of my career everyone thought that he was crazy and he's he's crazy in some ways because he's he's very tough he's a tough guy he has a tough look he's yeah he's a funny character he's such a character and he's so soft inside um but he's he he's very um he's a smart guy in a way that he he didn't know tennis very well and he

but he learned from from everyone else and he he took that knowledge and he brought it to me. Um, and he knew that he wasn't the smartest guy. Like he knew that he didn't know how to teach his daughter to be quicker or to have hit a better forehand or, um, or to think better tactically. Like he, he knew that he didn't know those things. So he went to the right people and, um, and search the right people and brought them to me and also took their knowledge and used it in the future. And I think as a father, that was very unselfish of him because I think one of the mistakes that a parent can make is that they become a know-it-all and they kind of influence their opinion rather than their knowledge. Finding the best information right um what did he teach you mentally if he didn't have all the best skills it's funny there

was it wasn't as if i ever a lot of people asked me where um because one of my greatest strengths is that i i come on the court and i feel that i have a mental edge against my opponents. You do? I do. Why do you think that? I just do. And what does the mental edge mean? That you're mentally tougher, smarter, more determined? I don't want to use the word smarter. I think there are a lot of, in order to be a professional athlete and to be at the top of a game, you have to be pretty smart. You have to be talented.

You have to be a hard worker. is yeah everyone is all those things there's no one that doesn't work harder they want to be there yeah what's the edge i just really want it i i really i think i i want to win i want to win and and i hate to lose and i i i don't like giving up. But so do a lot of the top 10 people are probably all. Well, I think there's, I'm not sure. You just think you want it more. I think there's a difference between showing up and playing, you know, to, because we have, you have a lot of different tournaments. You have Grand Slams, which is obviously the biggest tournament.

And then you have tournaments that are somewhere in Europe or in the middle of Asia that are smaller tournaments. But you still, you can't just show up. You have to show up and compete. I don't believe, you know, a lot of people say that just by showing up, that's something. I'm not quite sure that's, that mantra has never worked for me. I'd rather not show up. It would almost be a waste of time in many ways.

Yeah, absolutely. Especially in my profession. Just by showing up doesn't get me anything. So how do I get there? It wasn't as if, you know, my father and my mom sat me down and said, you know, you have to work on your mental strength or you have to be tougher on the cord. I think it's just something just by becoming someone in the public eye from a very young age. Um, you, you gain these horse blinders, you know, horse blinds like that. Yeah. I know all of these things you're asking me. So, um, when I was about 16, 16 or 17 years old, one of my coaches at the time, I was just starting to win a lot of matches.

And I was at Wimbledon. As a pro. Yeah, as a pro already. And I was starting to get a lot of attention, a lot of media requests and interviews and a lot of people just coming up to you and saying hello, which as a 16 or 17 year old is a lot. And I was getting further in the tournament. He says, this is the time to put your horse blinders on. And I look at him.

Who said this? A coach at the time that I had. And I looked at him and I was like, I've had those on for a while. Wow. It's just, I think it's. So you weren't able to, you weren't distracted. No, I think it's a self, I created like a self-protection for myself. Because that's how my parents always guided me through life.

And that's how – because when you're out on the court, when you're at tournaments, it's just you. There's – no one's protecting you out there. You know, it's you on your own. You can't be vulnerable the whole time. No, I mean you can be. I mean there are many times where you feel vulnerable, but you have to get through it. You have to get through it. You have to get through it. So I think just – I mean the profession itself taught me a lot about toughness.

Yeah, at an early age too. And obviously adversity and not – I didn't have all the things that maybe other young girls and boys grew up with having or the luxuries of having. Like a normal life? Yeah, having a car or having – were you in school then too or no i was homeschooled yeah so through high school i did a did it um online so they would send me books i had a tutor that i'd connect with on the phone or email um they would send me books and my mom would um break them up for me and i take them in folders like and she cut them up in six pieces so i didn't have to travel with all the thick books. Oh, I hate those books.

I hate them. You know, it's funny. When I received them, I was so happy. Really? Yeah. I think it's because I just grew up with the culture of learning. Like I love learning. I know.

It was in the library and there was something very – I loved it. I love that when you have an assignment and you have to get it done. I love that feeling. So when I received those books, it was like I have this assignment and I have schoolwork and homework and I'm going to get it done. Wow. And now you're studying more. I was studying. You went to Harvard.

Yeah. You did like a two-week business. I did. I did two different programs at Harvard Business School. They were global strategic management and a leadership course. How was that? It was great. school. Um, they were, um, global strategic management and a leadership course. Um, how was that? It was great. I spent first part of it on campus and at Harvard, which was pretty surreal. And, and, um, I think for me it was being surrounded. It was about 50 people in the first class. You didn't go to college, right? No, didn't go to college. Um, but I remember when

I enrolled and I sent the application and i got my confirmation on email like yeah i want i i printed it out and i just walked straight up to my mom because yeah because like that's something that she's so proud of like of course she's proud of what i've achieved on the court and everything that i've been able to do in my life. But for her, education just so, it means so much. So she was so happy. She sent it to my grandmother. It just became this family conversation. But I think for me, the experience of being surrounded by,

there's about 50 people in a classroom where I'm not the subject. Do you know what I mean? That I'm not the subject. Do you know what I mean? That I'm not the one. Usually I'm at the front getting asked questions by Bedia. And the Harvard Business School school room, I mean, it's an auditorium. It's this beautiful, I mean, everything is top-notch. And it's a theater room where the professor is standing. As I'm sitting there, I was just thinking to myself, how nice is it just to be a participant and not to be –

The pressure on you. Not even the pressure, but just to be someone that's getting information rather than just talking. Because, I mean, as a tennis player, we have to do a press conference after every single match, before every single tournament. I do interviews for sponsors. So there's always – I mean, you're constantly talking about yourself and your life. And it's sometimes awful. So it was just nice to not be, to have a conversation about business and about companies and doing case studies with 50 people that are from different parts of the world sharing each other's knowledge and the biggest thing for me was to be okay with asking a question and not

having an answer because when you're in that environment you want to act like you're a know-it-all and i was i was the youngest one in the in the group i mean you you had CEOs of airlines there. And, um, whereas I was, instead of actually contributing to, um, to a particular subject, I most of the time wanted to ask a question because I want to gain knowledge. Um, cause I, when I was young, I was, I was always very shy and I never, I don't know if I particularly enjoyed asking questions. I think I, yeah, I was very reserved and, um, very quiet. And, um, and as I'm older, um, that's something that I've learned a lot is you actually don't learn until you, you ask questions. You're curious.

Yeah. What do you think I started this podcast? Right. So I can ask all the smartest people. You're a professor on the school of greatness teaching. That's cool. So what's the big thing you learned then? Because didn't you do a case study with your academy?

So we were separated. So it was 50 participants or so. And then in the evenings, they separated us into smaller groups. And they said at the end of the course, within your group, you have to choose one of you and one of you will have to present on your company. And based on what you've

learned during these 10 days and how you're going to apply that the challenges that you have as a company so for some reason as we're sitting there at 6 p.m in Boston in a in a small in a small room they just pointed to me every everyone in in that room and said we're going to do it on you because our companies are not so interesting so they're like we're going to do it on you because our companies are not so interesting. So they're like, we're going to do a case study on, on sugar pova. Um, and we did it and it was, I don't know. I felt like besides obviously presenting to 50 people at the end of the 10 days I presented, yeah, I presented, um, kind of what the plan, what we face, the challenges that we have and how I will try to apply or attempt to apply what i learned in the past 10 days and what i've learned based on my business

but i was just of course i was nervous because i there are harvard professors next to me there was also the 50 participants but actually one of them was um was from china and he while i was presenting he went on a on a Chinese version of eBay and he looked at my product and he started reading the reviews and he's like so after after I did the presentation the participants could ask me questions or give feedback and he's as I'm doing the presentation he's looking at the reviews and of the people and then after I was done he's like so everyone that's bought your product has these great reviews. Why aren't you, why aren't you distributing more in China? So everyone just, it was amazing. And then everyone

kind of had their two cents and asked me a question about distribution and so on. And it was just, it felt like this family that really cared about each other's issues and what they faced in their businesses. And that was just a different feeling from people that I've never met in my life. Because you know me, I'm surrounded all the time by people I know. So just to come out of the same team all the time, probably 340 days a year. So to be around and to interact with them, it was was, it was great to come out of my shell. That's cool. I get to do more of this in the future, more classes.

Well, now that I'm coming back, I hope that I won't have time. Yeah. I'm back to my day job. No night classes online. Oh, no time, which is a great thing. Your spare time though, you are working on different businesses. You have like, I don't know, how many different businesses do you have now? So I have Sugarpova, which is a lot and takes a lot up over time. But also I invest in a sunscreen. Which is an incredible candy chocolate company.

Candy chocolate. We just launched chocolate a couple of months ago. It's unbelievable. I know. Thanks for the product placement here. You're welcome. So nice of you. Yes, you're welcome.

I also own a company called super group, which is a sunscreen brand. Um, became an investor a few years ago and I'm just, I think over, especially when I was injured and I had my shoulder surgery, I realized that even though tennis was part of my, is, might be a part of my life for many years to come, but at one point it's going to end. So what are you going to do? What are do what are you gonna do and i just i'm not good at sitting still i'm just not i'm not good at it at all yeah i mean even after the vegas trip i came home and my coach is like you need to take a couple days off because it's been a whirlwind you were in new york and doing the press and just this i do i was like I need to go do high yoga. And he made me cancel the class.

I was so disappointed. So I always look for projects that, one, I'm passionate about. Yeah. One that I feel have room for growth and potential for growth. Recently, I invested in UFC fighting, which was a very different. Amazing. Yeah, a different, very different because I'm not so involved in it.

Um, I wouldn't say I'm passionate or a huge fan of it, but I realize its potential. Um, especially globally. I know how big it is over here. Um, I followed it a little bit. Um, I know all the, the names and, and so on, but I feel that has a lot of potential to grow. Um, so it was a good, yeah. That's right. Yeah. and so on. But I feel that has a lot of potential to grow. And IMG bought it, right? Yeah.

And you're part of IMG. That's right. Yeah. So I had the chance to invest. So I always look for things that when I'm done with tennis that I can really learn about and grow. But it's very helpful when you're passionate about it. Yeah.

How do you navigate? Because I'm sure so many people want so much from you all the time. I could, I could assume maybe I'm wrong, but how do you navigate at least from 16? Like you, get on my podcast. Always. How do you know, how do you navigate it though from just like, and maybe cause you have a great team around you that you're kind of protected, but do you feel like people always taking or wanting to grab things from you? And is that why you're so stubborn maybe? Yeah, well I, I do. I think a lot of it comes with having a good team and a lot of people know my interests. But to be honest, I love doing different things

and I love to be a part of things. And sometimes you do have to slow me down because I put too much on my plate. I was building a house for three years and I got it decorated and I practice and then I'm at an antique shop 30 minutes later looking for furniture. And then, you know, I don't like those legs. We got to customize the legs. We're going to change the material.

And then I have a Nike design meeting. And what are the girls, what is, because I wear a collection on court and then some girls that play on the tour wear some of my pieces as well. So not only thinking about what I'm wearing, I'm thinking about what the team girls are wearing as well so and i'm thinking a year year and a half in advance so i go from practice to working at my home to a design meeting to so there is there is a lot but i really i love it yeah i don't there's rarely things i don't i mean boredom is sometimes good like even in the last couple days where i just had nothing nothing i i finally finished the book um i watched a few shows yeah that i was reading that because you're writing about too right i'm writing a book as

well or should we not say that no that's fine reading that. Because you're writing a book too, right? I'm writing a book as well. Why should we not say that? No, that's fine. No, everyone knows. I'm writing a book. I haven't been able to write in the previous months. I think I almost didn't want that memory on paper. It's going to be there though. It will absolutely be there. People want to read about it. Yes, I'm going to be working on it next week

in New York. That's cool. Yeah, I love the things that I'm a part of. And I think that's what, um, that's why one of the reasons I've been able to be successful and it takes my mind off the physical grind of my, of my real job. Um, it is so physical and so mental, um, that it's just, it's nice to go into different areas. It helps you grow. And there's also so much you can do after I leave that court. I don't know if I got the answer yet, but I'm curious. Why do you want to win so bad?

Why do you want it so bad? Like, you've won so many things. You've been number one. You've done every Grand Slam you've won, right? Right. What's that called? Win every Grand Slam? I don't even know. No. You've won every Grand Slam you've won, right? Right. What's that called? Win every Grand Slam? I don't even know.

No. You've won everything, right? You've won every match that you could win, right? Every tournament you've won pretty much. Somewhere there, yeah. I've won all the Grand Slams. How are you so driven and why to win and strive to be the best still? Why?

Because I love the sport. I love the sport. I love the sport. I love the feeling. I think also selfishly as a woman, it's a really good feeling to feel good at what you do, to feel strong and powerful and just good at it and know that by working on, that you can be better. That's just, there's nothing else where I feel that.

You know, I love doing other things, but when I'm on the court and I, even when I'm rusty or even when I don't get to a ball, which is a lot of times, it's like, oh, that chocolate I ate last night. Thanks, Chikapuma. Exactly um you know i eat a lot so so do i i eat a lot so yeah i just i love the feeling of getting better um i love that challenge and there's nothing winning i mean winning is a in tennis is a spur of the moment. It's not, it's like that final point and that emotion that you don't get with anything else. It's not like you're not, I guess your success is in your own hands. It's not in the hands of anyone else yeah you know like you have a team that that you build and that helps you get to to get you to walk to center court and then you walk out there and but then it's you so and if you lose you know or you win it's on you yeah and that's i love that i love that pressure you can't get anywhere else no not i haven't found it yet. Yeah. So. I hear you.

Do you have any regrets for your career of like starting too soon or not going to school or relationships or anything like that? Is there any regrets along the way? I don't want to use the word regrets. It's a pretty strong word. The one thing I do regret is not learning more languages when I was young. How many do you know now? Two, Russian and English. But I wish that I would have learned more languages.

You pick them up so well when you're young. And I think especially in today's growing society and world, it would be really great to know more languages. That's one thing. As far as other things in my career, I don't know. Or relationships. I think when you talk about career and relationships and regret, you talk about balance a lot, like that kind of strive for balance. How do you do that?

Because you can't. I don't. Because there's no balance. Right. you do that? Because you can't. I don't. Because I don't, there's no balance. Right. I don't. It's full on for your sport. Well, I don't think there's, I don't think balance exists. I don't think there's ever 50-50.

Right. I think if you're 50-50, then you're just 50% at one thing and 50% at another thing. And is that good enough? I don't think so. It's not in my opinion. Right. So how do you manage it? It can be good enough, which is, I know a lot of people that do it, and that's their good enough.

That's their great. Yeah, it's what they want. It's what they want, and that's what, and it just has never worked for me. I never feel, I don't feel fulfilled. I don't feel that I'm getting the most out of myself when I'm just 50-50. How many days are you on the road on a normal year when you're healthy and a lot, like 250, 250 on the road? Probably. So how do you have a, uh, you know, or how have you had a relationship when you're, when you're competing and so focused on being the best at one thing? Yeah, it's, it's hard. It's hard to, It's hard to kind of, you know, you're sacrificing your career

when you're trying to make a relationship and you're trying to make a life for yourself off the court, which obviously I would love very much because I'm almost 30 years old and I do see myself being married one day and having children, obviously being so close to my parents. Um, but how did I, I mean, I've, I've managed it somehow, not well enough, obviously. Um, what do you think it's going to take from you to be able to have, have it all in the future? I don't know. I don't know if I always want it all. I don't know if I, I don't know if I always want it all.

I don't know if all is – that's pretty strong. It's like with Rhett. All is very strong. Just take it one year at a time. Yeah. It's not something that I sit here and say, oh, I'm going to have it all. I'm going to have a healthy and strong relationship while winning Grand Slams. And, yeah, that's my goal. I'd love to have that.

That's obviously what everyone would love to have in any, any career that they have. Right. Yeah. I'm curious about what you think about when you said, you know, you're with the team until you walk on in the court and they escort you on the court.

So what does, what does you think about either in the locker room beforehand? You guys have locker rooms, right? We do have locker rooms. In the locker room beforehand or when you're walking on court, do you have a mental practice or a visualization technique or something you do, or do you just go out there and perform? Pretty much. I just, I don't, I didn't grow up. Yeah. That's one of the big differences that I see. Um, and I've lived in the United States since I was seven years old, but I think that's one of the big differences that I see. And I've lived in the United States since I was seven years old,

but I think that's one of the biggest differences that I see culturally is before I'm at, it's not that I have a ritual or I'm reading an inspirational book on how to become a better person or a better fighter or a better athlete. It was funny when I came to United States, that was the biggest surprise was that you see so many, um, books about like chicken soup for the soul or chicken soup for, or it was about, um, or, you know, from a woman's perspective, like take care of your body. And I'd never like that was not positive messages in Russia. Well,

I'm not sure. I just wasn't really exposed to it. So that was not positive messages in russia well i i'm not sure i just wasn't really exposed to it so that was so it's always a lot of things that you read for me culturally it was like poetry and reading like very you know deep literature that would just kind of inspire your mind um whereas in the united states a lot of a lot of books that are written are you know to motivate yourself and are more like a self-help book, which in certain times is very helpful. And I've read many of them and have been inspired by many of them. And I've read yours as well. Thank you.

But I, that, so that practice for me of, okay, I need to meditate for, you know, 10 minutes before a match because that's how that's, no, it's just like I have a routine of, you know, I know when I like to warm up before my match. Put your shoes on at a certain time and you're like dressed. No, like I put my left shoe on before my right. I've done that since I was young. Like that's just almost like a routine to me, you know? Right, right, right. But you know when you like to warm up. Yeah, I know when I like to warm up.

I know when I like to eat. I know what I eat. I know – and that's it. I know what I eat. I know. And that's it. That's all I need. I usually have a book with me that I read and that doesn't really matter what it is. To kind of just chill your mind out or to kind of. Just because I don't want to be doing it.

Like I don't want to. I usually don't watch any TV or. Because in tennis you're usually following another match. So you're always waiting around and looking at the score. So instead of that I just want to be more in a different mindset of reading a book. And you can get more focused when you're not thinking about the match beforehand by kind of being in a different world by reading and then just turn it on. I think that's the best. That's the goal. The goal is to think for me, personally, the goal is to, to think of the match or to think of the situation when you have to and not not when

i'm in the locker room eating my chicken with no sauce and cold rice and carrots and broccoli like you want to be yeah you're just focused on the food and then when the time comes that you know 20 30 minutes before the match where you finally huddle with your team and talk about the match, absolutely. You think about strategy. But everything before, it just becomes too much. Yeah. I want to do something I've never done. I'm going to turn the camera towards Sven.

So you're going to turn it towards Sven. I'm going to give you the headset for a moment. He was my driver today. His driver today. So Sven is Maria's coach. And how long has he been your coach? Three years. Three years.

Yes. You can turn it to him. I'm going to give it to him in a second. Yeah. Three years. So I want to ask you the question of why did you choose to work with Maria exclusively one-on-one for the last three years? And what's the thing that's impressed you the most about her

over every other athlete you've worked with? And what does she do better than everyone else? This is Sven. He needs his – he was wearing a T-shirt the other day that said, I don't do interviews, which was pretty funny. Oh, now he's in the spotlight. He's not going to lunch afterward. Because I normally don't speak.

I only speak to her. Yeah, that's right. So if she gives me the green light. I give her, of course. He's his own boss. Why did I choose working with Maria? It actually was a very easy choice to do so. I came out of a – I worked 15 years with players one-on-one, many different players, men and women. And then I worked eight years as a consultant for a brand, which I'm not going to name at the moment,

but which involved scouting, development, interim coaching. So a lot of variety. so a lot of variety and there came a moment where i knew that she would become available and i had a good relationship with her somebody else was coaching her but i also knew she was going through a tough time being in the tennis industry and being so you know emerged in the desk for the last 25 years um i also know her coming on the scene and i've always been very impressed by her demeanor and i wanted to work with her because i knew i was going to learn things that i hadn't learned before um i think very selfishly actually not only that i can add value to her but she has to add a player has to add value to me in order for me to give my best she has to give her best

and i knew that going into that um she would open new doors it would give me definitely new experiences. The last experience I didn't anticipate. So I was definitely not ready for that. And so, but I knew, I knew that I, I would get inspired. And in order for you to travel the world um about 40 weeks out of the year that i do uh and actually turn out that the first year was like 46 weeks we were together uh you better be around people that inspire you because if they don't then you you really don't last so you know now three years on i can't wait to get back on the court. I still every day, it's like a first day. And to have that and to get that inspiration and the feeling of we've not reached a ceiling. So that was the reason actually, it just gave me a lot of

perspective and a very bright horizon. So that inspired me. The biggest thing I learned is her ability to adapt, her ability to shift from being on the court and then going absolutely, you know, at one stage also having some losses. And to be able to walk into a press room and able to answer questions so articulate. And so without any hesitation of words. I think her ability to shift is phenomenal. I think her ability to shift is phenomenal in competition, but also on court from sponsor to the media. That I've learned from her that is phenomenal.

Well, I think you touched that very, you know, she said she's very stubborn. And well, it's a gift. It is a gift. You know, we had a laugh about it the other day. Actually, also her father said something that was quite interesting. And it was about consistency makes great champions. She's consistently stubborn. And that drives me because I have to be constantly, if I say something to her, I better be damn sure about something. Because if not, I have no, no chance against her.

Do your fact checks first. If her mind is set on A and I'm coming with B, there is absolutely no chance. And that's the thing. So there's stubbornness. And in my experience of working with professional tennis players, individual sport, the greatest that I've worked with is maria being the greatest stubborn player individual and doesn't matter if it's a woman or a man or her ability that that sets her apart i am most proud of her how she um and and that's just because i'm with her for those three years, only three years. But the past seven months, how she stayed in the moment, worked on herself, how she absorbed and was like a sponge to grow.

It's inspired me. and was like a sponge to grow. It's inspired me. It got the team through it because of her strength that allowed us to also give more support. And yeah, I'm very proud of that. That's a big step for me to experience. Thank you. Very nice.

That was like an exclusive with Sven Grunoff. Exclusive with a legendary coach. I like it. We'll have to do more. We had a good practice. You missed our practice this morning. I'm not invited. You're all...

Am I always invited? How many times have we invited you to practice? I'm always gone or something. I'm going to show up one of these days. I'm going to text Sven and just show up. Yeah, you should. Surprise you. You should.

With my racket and my 10 times of experience on the court. Well, when we played beach tennis, I remember, I think you won. I was not bad. You weren't bad. I mean, you know, there's room for growth. Lots of room. I played tennis maybe like 10 times in college and I could never figure out how to serve. But I did beat you in bowling.

One game. I won another game though. You did win the One game. I won another game, though. You did win the other game. So we had a rubber match. That's fine. But I do want to say that I beat you in bowling. I let you win. It's okay.

I never won in bowling in my life before. You were amazing. You were great. That was special. You were great. I just wanted to make sure that all the listeners know. Yes. Well, I don't know.

One of the greatest female athletes of all time can beat me once barely by bowling. It's all good. That is because I'm terrible at everything else that I do in sports. Except for tennis? Yes. Really? Yeah. Are you good at ping pong?

No. I am really good at ping pong. I'm going to say it. Yeah. I'm not even playing it. We will play. Are you good at tennis? Table tennis? We should play. Are you good at tennis? Table tennis?

We should play. Table tennis. Do you have a – you don't have a table, do you? No. You got to get one. I just have a bowling alley. I know. You're insane.

Okay. I want to ask a few more questions before we go get some sugar fish. What's the thing you're most proud of that maybe most people don't know about you or that's not in the public eye? I'm most proud of the consistency with the people that I have around me. I've had same faces and same minds with me through so many years and that's it's special because i see so many people come and go out of people's lives um and just proud of having that that support and that that team that really um that you grow with together. You grow and you learn

and sometimes you don't even need to say things about it but just getting through situations gets you... I'm certainly proud of... I only have a handful of friends but I've known them for so long. Very close friends. You've got a ton of acquaintances.

Yeah, I have a lot of acquaintances but I have a really strong group of friends that are so just amazing yeah and I've good people good people yeah you have and they're very different and come from very different businesses and have different jobs live in different parts of the world but are very special people yeah that's cool I like that. What is it about athletes after they retire? There are some who are successful in the next thing, and there are others who just live in the past, and they're not able to break through mentally. They don't have the same mental toughness.

What do you think that is about athletes? Have you seen some of your friends retire from tennis and kind of not do as well? And have you seen others do extremely well, whether in business or something else? And what do you think that is? I think everyone has a choice. You know, everyone has a choice and, and, and it's, it's up to them. You know, it's up to them to do something with their life. And some people choose, um, look, being an athlete, it takes a lot out of you. It takes, I mean, it's very easy to burn out and it's very easy to get tired it's from simply traveling and you know just when i was in vegas a couple days ago and i wake up and i you know you're kind of you know i've been home for a while but also traveling on like trips that

you know i'm usually in a hotel where i want to stay or but i was in a hotel room and you know spend like 16 hours in the room and just, I was a little sick, but I was like reading and then I ordered room service and it gets so, it's lonely. It's very lonely. And, and years of that and the same place year after year, you know exactly which tournaments you go to. But I was saying to my team after the match, I said, yeah, this morning I kind of felt really crappy because i was like you know i'm coming back but this feeling that i had in the hotel room in the morning it was awful you know because i've loved waking up to this beautiful view every morning exactly yeah and then i was just i don't know i was in the middle of buildings

and i ordered this coffee that was just awful. Oh, my gosh. And I thought to myself, oh. And then I went six hours later. I was on the court. And I came back from that and I said, this is exactly why I'm doing that. Yeah, yeah. This is what makes it. You know, this is what's, this is why.

Of course. But the point is that you go through those moments and some people just, that's enough. And it's totally understandable. I just personally, I love challenging myself to different things. And I love traveling. So that's not, that's never been a problem for me. I love the fact that you can get on a plane and be anywhere in the world. I know when I'm on a long trip and I'm walking in the airport and I see all these destinations, I'm so happy because I know

that I can be in a matter of what, like 10 hours on the other side of the world with anyone that I want to be with. So that always gives me a sense of almost perspective that, yeah, I know I'm far. I know that I'm, you know, all my friends have this, a wedding that they're going to, or a birthday party or holiday that I'm missing, but I know that I can be there with them. Um, maybe not in this moment, but when I finished the tournament, I know I'm just a flight away. Um, and that hasn't changed for me. Um, but work-wise, I, I think people just, you choose what you want to do. And I've – I think you have to like – like in the past seven months, like I could have chosen not to do anything. And I could have just – And there are other athletes who have –

I could have rented a barn in the middle of nowhere and I don't know. There are other athletes and who have – I'm thinking of a woman in the UFC who kind of go off the grid when something bad happens and they don't post anything on social media for months. They don't do any press. They're like depressed when some adversity they face and you chose to be the opposite. So I think it's, it's true. You have a choice on how you respond to every situation and every transition in your life. I think everyone, I think of course everyone has a choice, but everyone is affected by something in a different way. And I think the way that I took things in my own hands, it made me, I don't know, it just, from the first day, I felt really good about the way that I handled the situation. I was proud of it. And I think that helped me build towards, you know, training. I've been training differently, but challenging myself in different ways. Um, you know, making sure that my mind, as I said, I couldn't, it was very

painful to look longterm. So I just, I really put a lot of effort into my body and just trying to work on staying fit, which is when you're a professional athlete and you're don't have your profession. Um, it's very difficult because I love to eat and I love a lot of sweets and I love being social. You have a sugar company. Yeah, I have a candy company. And I love going out with my friends and having Moroccan tea with biscuits and, you know, it adds up.

I love having sangria. I hear you. You know? I hear you. It's not great when you don't have a profession. I hear you. You know, it's not, it's not great when you don't have a profession. So I really had to put my mind and my body and train. And so, and I chose that I, people can guide you, but you have to do it. You're disciplined. You have, you have to, and maybe there'll be times in my life when I don't. Yeah in this situation, I did, and I'm really glad I did.

Yeah. Well, I think you've got a powerful vision for how you want to be, the things you want to create, the things you want to achieve in your profession. Yeah, I do. I think vision is really important. Yeah. I think vision is a strong word. Absolutely. Yeah.

So you like vision, then? I do. It's not like the other two words he's talking about. No. Vision is a strong word in a good way. Vision is, yeah. What would you say your vision is? My vision is to keep getting better, to keep improving as an athlete, as a person, as a

daughter, as anyone. I think it's just to keep getting better. And do you have any fears? I don't think so. I've had, you know, I've gone through a lot of adversity in life. And I think if there were things to fear, it would probably be then. But not before then. Well, it would have been, like I'm talking about even when i moved to the united states i

mean we didn't have a lot of money as a family and um i think my father came with 700 um savings from grandparents um never i mean i was seven years old with and we the only thing we came with was a tennis dream which is a seven-year-old it's a pretty optimistic. So there's a lot, there's a lot of things that could have happened that obviously wouldn't led me. I realized that I'm amazingly fortunate to be where I am today and that people that will take the same route will maybe not end up in the same position. And I know that I'm so grateful for it.

Yeah. Um, yeah. Is there any question that you wish people would ask you? I don't think about it because people ask a lot of questions. So I, once they're done asking, I'm just thankful that there are no more questions. Okay. Well, we'll get to the last couple of that. No, that wasn't a message or anything. It was just. What are you most grateful for then in your life recently?

What are you most grateful for then in your life recently? Health. Health. I'm so thankful for being healthy and having a healthy family around me. My dad struggled with the health of his mom in the last year, and that was really difficult to go through as a family, and she's doing much better. Just health. better. Um, just health. You realize when, when something hits like that in life, that it's health is, is just key to the way that you feel to your, to like, to energy, right? Like even when, even when I'm a little sick, I get so down because I'm just, it's not me. I don't feel like my normal crazy self. Just, yeah, I'm usually, uh, I'm usually quite energetic and i'm passionate and

and so when something is limiting me or i know i'm injured and i can't go train it's it's really hard so health is very grateful for that all right well i think i i think you know what this last couple questions are i don't know them by heart but i listen to them you've heard them so trust me i don't know what my answers will be. Okay. We'll give you a moment to swing and think about it. So this is called the three truths question. And if it's the last day for you many years from now, what would you say if there was no record of anything you've ever created is gone?

No books, no videos of you playing, no interviews. So there's no messages of you. All right. And you have to write down three things, three lessons, truths that you would pass on to your friends, your family, and the world. What would those be? Messages to them, but not about me. Three truths that you would pass on from all the lessons you've learned in your life. Yeah, three truths about what you would give to people to, to live by.

Right. Um, I think be real realness and reality is something I've, I feel like I've always had to come back to in my life. I think that's very important. Um, no matter what, what you're going through, just be real to who you are. Be real to what you give. Don't do something or don't accept something that's not you. Honesty. I think honesty is huge. It's a huge part of life.

And it kind of goes with being real. Being first honest to yourself. Yes. of goes with being real yeah um being first honest to yourself yes um which is the most important thing because you can guide yourself in so many wrong directions when you're not honest um and honest to to the world and to to people that are obviously very close to you because that's i think that's how friendships and relationships really build and become strong um and the third i don't know um oh goodness um be real be honest learn you know learn don't be afraid to learn and grow

i think sometimes people are almost a little afraid of that, right? Like it's almost too powerful in many ways. Like when I was in the classroom and I, like the first day I was so, like there was a conversation which I didn't understand. It was a topic about finance and it was just numbers and I just couldn't. And finally after like four hours, I finally raised my hand and I asked the question. And I felt like, I I felt like I actually felt like I contributed because it started this whole other conversation. And I realized that other people around me weren't quite aware of what we were talking about. So, um, so I think that's that, yeah. Learn, learn by asking questions. Yeah. Those are great. Those are great. Good answers.

What, um, how can we support you you got maria you're supporting you're always supporting me well how can we as a community support you where where do we where do you like to hang out online the most i know on instagram a lot i know yeah i i'm i mean i have a facebook i have a twitter um they're all different instagram instagram is more of my creative platform i would would say. Great on Instagram. Yeah. Thanks. So we follow you everywhere. Twitter is more like informative news related.

Facebook, I'd say is a little bit more corporate. Instagram's you behind the scenes. Personal. I think so. Yeah. I love training. Nothing like putting 30 different filters on a picture.

Exactly. Yeah. Take 20 minutes of your day. Make your life look so much better than it is. Absolutely. So we'll have everyone follow you on social media. Oh, thank you. Can we get some podcasts?

I can't wait for my fans to listen to all the other podcasts. I'm excited. Yeah. I'm excited for them too as well. I'm excited for them to hear this one. Yeah, no. This is the most important one for you. Come on.

I don't know about that. How can we get some of the candy and the chocolate? Can you get it online? Yeah. Sugarpova is on sugarpova.com. Sugarpova. It don't know about that. How can we get some of the candy? Sugarpova. Can you get it online? Yeah. Sugarpova is on sugarpova.com. Sugarpova. It's right there. Yes.

The chocolate bars are amazing. The candy is amazing. Thank you. Grab some of this. Check it out. Some in time for Halloween. Yeah. You got some Halloween stuff too?

We do. We have some spooky sours, which are little spiders. I saw the photo shoot of that. Yeah. I saw you post that. That's cool. All right. All right.

Anything else we can... No. It's all on mariahsharapova.com. All this stuff. All of this is on mariahsharapova.com with that. Yeah. I saw you post that. That's cool. All right. All right. Anything else we can. No. It's all on mariahsharapova.com. All this stuff. All of this is on mariahsharapova.com. All this. Okay. Awesome. We will go there and connect there.

Yes. Thank you. When you get your book coming out, we are going to push it extremely hard. Oh, thanks. Everyone will buy it. Oh, cool. Yeah. I don't know when it's coming out yet.

Yeah. Like five years. Yeah. Well, with my pace and all the life events that happen to me. I mean. Yeah. Yeah. You never know. I need a second book. Yes. yeah well with with my pace and and all the life events that happen to me i mean yeah you never know i need a second book yes i hear you uh well before i ask the final question maria i want to acknowledge you for a moment thank you for your incredible friendship thanks i'm i'm really proud to be your friend and to know you because of i don't think many people i've met are able to go

through life so gracefully with the adversity you have. With the platform you have, with the attention you're getting, with the press, the pressure that could potentially be built upon you. It's been so beautiful to see how graceful you are. Thank you. And how strong and amazing and inspiring you've been through the adversity. This is the only time I've known you is when adversity struck. Yeah, you actually wrote me a birthday card. You wrote me a really nice birthday card.

You said, I've pretty much only known you through this time. And I can only imagine what you are like when you're going to win. Exactly. In your happy days. Exactly. You've been amazing in the worst of times. Thank you. And I acknowledge you for. In your happy days. Exactly. You've been amazing in the worst of times. Thank you. And I acknowledge you for who you are in the world.

For the way you inspire so many people. Whenever I post a photo with you guys, when I'm with you guys, and people are so inspired. Thank you. They're like, Maria is my favorite tennis player. She inspires me so much. It's funny. I don't think i ever realized that until i've gone through this yeah last seven so many people supported you yeah i just i not

that i took it for granted but i just i don't i'd never like believed how impactful um the things that i've done in my career how how they've impacted people yeah you just i don't know i i almost i i don't think i ever wanted to feel that way or have that responsibility. And, you know, almost the pressure of, wow, I am actually inspiring so many people. But just the messages that I've received over the past months has made me realize how many amazing fans I have. Well, you deserve it. Thank you. You're a great symbol of inspiration. Well, you deserve it. Thank you.

You're a great symbol of inspiration, so I acknowledge you for that. Wait, is there another question? Yes, the final question is what's your definition of greatness? That's right, I should probably know this after listening to your podcast. Yes, come on. Oh, my definition of greatness. Well, I think definition of greatness is, I don't know, it's who you are inside and it's not, it's something internal. I don't think it's something words ever, I think it's a feeling, right? I think everyone has in a different moment in their life, always different feelings and I think greatness is how you know it's almost what you do with those feelings and what you what you turn them to be um I just think it's a very personal feeling

right that it's in your mind and in your body and it's not something that's around you or um yeah it's a little bit more personal. Okay. Did that answer any? Perfect for me. It's your answer. It's your answer. It is my answer. So it's perfect. Maria, thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad we made it happen.

Yes, absolutely. Appreciate it. Can't wait for everyone to hear it. It's going to be great. And thank you, Sven. Come on. I know. Cameo.

I think that was his first questions answered in about three years. Thank you. Appreciate it. This is great. Thank you, guys. I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I enjoyed connecting with Maria and sharing all of her insights and wisdom with you.

It's been an interview I've been wanting to do for a long time now, so I'm super pumped we're able to make it happen. And it's so exciting for me to see all the things that Maria is creating, how she's overcome adversity, and what she continues to do on a daily basis to grow personally. Again, if you enjoyed this interview, make sure to share it with your friends, lewishouse.com slash 395. Post it on Twitter.

Post it on Facebook, Instagram. Tag at Maria Sharapova and let her know what you liked about this the most. Let me know as well at Lewis Howes. And if this is your first time here, make sure to subscribe to the podcast over on iTunes. We do this every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as it's our goal to bring you the most inspiring human beings on the planet to show you how to unlock your own inner greatness. So again, if it's your first time here, subscribe and let me know what you think over on social media. I appreciate you guys so very much.

You're the reason why I continue to do this every single day to seek out the information, the wisdom, the humans who can teach us all how to become better. So thank you guys for spreading the message, for listening daily, and for using the information in your own life to achieve your dreams. I thrive off of hearing your results. So keep it up, keep pushing, and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music