Inside Tennis Star Coco Gauff's Portfolio

Forbes

Coco Gauff joins Forbes senior writer Jabari Young to discuss how she’s expanding her business empire away from tennis. Gauff, 20, recently signed an extension with shipping giant UPS for a campaign entitled, “Coco vs. The Doubters,” which spotlights Generation Z entrepreneurs who overcome the difficult odds of operating a small business.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jabariyoung/2024/07/09/tennis-champion-coco-gauff-has-this-advice-to-entrepreneurs-be-delusional/#:~:text=Coco%20Gauff%20joined%20Forbes%20senior,extension%20with%20shipping%20giant%20UPS.&text=W%20hen%20it%20comes%20to,great%2C%E2%80%9D%20Gauff%20tells%20Forbes.  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  0:00 Introduction 1:29 Coco Gauff Shares The Mental Endurance Needed To Be A Tennis Player 5:35 Coco Gauff On Her Carol's Daughter Partnership And New Brand Deals 8:13 Coco Recalls Her Relationship With New Balance From A Young Age And How Its Grown Over The Years 12:33 Coco Gauff On Playing At Wimbledon: A Career Defining Moment 15:41 Coco's Childhood Growing Up In Atlanta And Rebuilding Brownwood Park With Friend, Storm Reid 20:13 Coco Gauff On Living In An Athlete Household 27:19 The Difference Between A Good Tennis Player vs. A Great One  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00She's one of the top-ranked tennis players in the world,

00:02about to represent the United States at the Paris Olympics,

00:05loves anime, and like the rest of the world,

00:07has a passion for eating Chick-fil-A, too.

00:10Diving into the business of superstar Coco Gauff right now.

00:17So, Coco, thank you so much for joining us.

00:19You're in London right now preparing for Wimbledon.

00:21Good luck.

00:22But you're also coming off of your French Open women's doubles title.

00:26First of all, congrats on that, right?

00:28And let me ask you, before we jump into the business,

00:31what does that add to your game?

00:32Like, what does a double championship,

00:34especially at a prestigious event like the French Open,

00:36what does that add to your game?

00:38Yeah, I think for me, it adds a lot of confidence.

00:40And one thing that doubles has helped me a lot with is returns

00:44and involving and playing those unique shots that,

00:47especially on grass, that I probably will need to use.

00:51But yeah, it's always been a goal of mine to win one of those.

00:53And I'm really happy that I was able to do it.

00:57I almost gave up on the dream just because I knew I didn't want to play doubles

01:00maybe a lot more longer.

01:02I'll still incorporate it sometimes, but not as much.

01:06I was like, I wanted to focus on singles.

01:07So I was like, let me just try, shoot my shot.

01:10This is one of these last few times and see what happens.

01:13And yeah, that kind of came to that.

01:16And it was really cool to do it in Paris.

01:18It's so funny.

01:18I was going to ask you, were people talking you out of it?

01:20Because, you know, the Olympics are coming up.

01:22And the last time you qualified in Tokyo, you caught COVID.

01:25And they're like, hey, we don't want you to get injured.

01:27Just stay back a little bit.

01:29No, actually, everyone around me was on board with it.

01:32Because physically, I know I could handle it.

01:35I think it was more just on the mental side, being there a lot of times.

01:39Mentally, being on the site all the time can be tiring.

01:44They were really encouraging because they knew it was something I wanted to do.

01:47And I was like, you know, I mean, I'm young now.

01:51But I know eventually, I'm not going to be able to be playing doubles and singles.

01:54And all of that.

01:55So I was like, I want to take advantage of it, you know, while I'm healthy and feeling great.

02:00Yeah, well, you look great.

02:01And again, congrats on that win.

02:03Good luck in Wimbledon.

02:03Good luck in the Olympics.

02:05Talk about that in a minute.

02:07But let's jump into the news, right?

02:08You're partnering with UPS again for an extension of the Be Unstoppable campaign.

02:13Highlighting and spotlighting entrepreneurs, small businesses.

02:17And this year, you're adding some Gen Z small business and entrepreneurs.

02:21Cocoa versus the Doubters, right?

02:23And it's anime involved.

02:24Take us inside of this partnership.

02:26Why the extension with UPS?

02:28Yeah, so the extension with me kind of started in the whole campaign with the Doubters.

02:33It obviously started with my speech at US Open where I mentioned, you know, allowing Doubters to fuel me to do better.

02:40And I kind of realized that a lot of things that are told to small business owners are also things that are told to athletes and me specifically.

02:49Where it's like, I've heard a lot that I'm too young or that I should just focus on tennis or, you know, that, you know, you shouldn't do multiple things at once.

02:59And you should just stay in your lane.

03:02And a lot of times small business owners, the three that are starring in the commercial with me, their names are Ben, Kirsten and Colin.

03:09And I got to speak with them.

03:10And, you know, a lot of things that they hear are kind of similar to what I hear is like, you're too young to start your business.

03:15You should just focus on school.

03:16Your goals are too big.

03:19So I realized that we had a lot in common, even though our roles are like so different.

03:23And so the anime part of it came in because I love anime and I love watching it and I kind of use it to help my mentality on court.

03:32And so the creative side of UPS was like, how can we like combine all these things that you like and also combine, you know, what we do with what you do?

03:40And that's how the Doubters commercial came to be.

03:43And I think it's something probably one of the coolest things I've done, commercials that I've done just because it it's always been a dream of mine to like see myself in that kind of art style.

03:53It's pretty cool that I get to do it alongside some incredible people as well.

03:57When did you first develop that love for anime?

03:59I have a 10 year old daughter.

04:00She loves it.

04:00And before I leave the house this morning, I knew I was talking to you.

04:02I said, well, what do you like about anime?

04:04She said, I don't know, dad.

04:05I just like the way that they draw and the cartoon version of it.

04:09I'm like, okay, well, I can't wait to see what Coco's response is about what turns you on to anime.

04:13Yes, I got into it during COVID just because there was nothing else to do.

04:18And I probably went through all the regular TV shows to watch.

04:22My best friend was like, you should try like watching like anime.

04:24So the first one I watched was Hunter Hunter.

04:26And I just like how things and because I was already a Marvel comic fan.

04:31So I just like how like fictional stuff can relate to, you know, the real world and you can learn like real lessons about it.

04:38Because a lot of times our intimacy is like life.

04:42And a lot of times, you know, if you really dig to like the core of these stories, it goes into like real-life problems, real-life issues that we have.

04:50And because it does that, you can always find something to relate to in that.

04:54Yeah.

04:54Well, if you ever wanted to Meg Thee Stallion, bring that up because she loves anime.

04:58I remember talking about her business.

04:59She's like a big anime person.

05:01Yes, she's huge.

05:03She is, right?

05:04So y'all have that in common already, right?

05:05So, you know, definitely dig into that.

05:07But listen, let's dig into your empire here, right?

05:10You're ranked third on Forbes highest paid female athletes, right?

05:14They estimate the 22 million made, 15 million off the court and partnerships.

05:18You have New Balance, obviously UPS, right?

05:21Bose, Naked Smoothies, right?

05:23They're owned by PAI Partners, Paris-based private equity firm.

05:26I know Paris is your favorite city.

05:27So, you know, seem like a natural alignment there.

05:30But what else is into your portfolio?

05:31What other deals you have?

05:32What other investments?

05:33What are you interested in?

05:35Yeah, so one of the ones that I kind of announced this year was Carol's

05:39Daughter, which is like one of my, you know, the first time I'm entering

05:43like the beauty space.

05:44So that's really cool.

05:46And for me with UPS was really cool.

05:50It's got a lot of the company is based in Atlanta and that's kind of where

05:54I started tennis.

05:55It's where I first picked up a racket was in Atlanta and I like to partner

05:59with things that feel like feel like a core to me and our extension of

06:04myself and you know with UPS it felt like an ascension of myself and I

06:09always want to when I do things I want to be able to uplift people whether

06:13it's uplifting them financially or uplifting them with a positive message

06:17uplifting them in just some way.

06:19However, I can do that and so with UPS it was great that I was able to

06:23uplift like small business owners with allowing them to like showcase their

06:28product me get to learn about it and also get to have some cool companies to

06:32be able to purchase from in the future and share with my friends and family.

06:35So everything I do I try to make sure that it's something that I can use it

06:40to uplift other people and if it doesn't feel right, I don't really like to

06:44do it because you know, I'm one of those people I'm not a don't like to be

06:50like media train.

06:51I don't you know, I'm not somebody who likes to look at all of these things

06:54Because I want whatever I say come out naturally and so when I partner with

06:58brands, I want to make sure that it's natural something that I already use

07:02I've used UPS, I've used Carol's Daughter, I've used New Balance all that

07:06before I started with them.

07:09So a lot of times it's just being able to like take advantage of things

07:14that are already doing in my daily life.

07:15Yeah, so growing up you wore New Balance and that's what our partnership

07:18comes because you know Koka listen, I thought you were going to go to Nike

07:21route.

07:21All right, I'm thinking that people probably a lot of people did because

07:24of your trajectory, but here you go.

07:25What stood out about New Balance?

07:26What was the thing that they said that clicked?

07:28Yeah, so first like with New Balance, I've only like, you know, worn them

07:32like very little off court because they didn't really, I was like you

07:37said, I was with Nike at the time.

07:38So I didn't really, you know, this is before I was Nike where I like my

07:42first saw them with my dad using them and at the time I will say with New

07:46Balance, they weren't really into tennis and you know, Nike still has a

07:50reputation but even then had the reputation of you know, if you're a

07:53Nike athlete, you're like, you know, the it person or the it girl, you

07:56know, and so I will say like when I first started with them, I was only

08:0014.

08:01So at this time I was just that was one of the only times where I'm like,

08:05okay on one of the only brands I will say when I first started with them.

08:08I was just kind of leaning to whatever my parents were going with because

08:12I was I was like 14.

08:13I didn't know anything and I remember my dad was like brought the idea of

08:17New Balance up and I was like New Balance and at that time, I think they

08:20only had Milos Ronic as a Canadian tennis player, which he was like top

08:2310 at the time or top 15 at the time.

08:25So he was doing pretty well.

08:27And then when I first tried them in the shoes, I was like, well, they're super

08:30comfortable and then what you know, what kind of got me to them is just the

08:35idea that they were really going to support my interest on and off the

08:38court and and support me as an individual athlete and a partner whether

08:43opposed to being just like somebody to slap, you know, whatever on I would

08:48I've always been a part of that process and I think with every brand it's

08:53been important for me to be a part of that process when it comes to creative

08:56campaigns and and making things that I like like with UPS.

09:01I don't think they would ever thought they would have done an anime inspired

09:04campaign but because they partnered with me.

09:06It's cool that I can see myself and actually really enjoyed it.

09:10And so I try to make sure that things I do I enjoy also and it doesn't so it

09:15doesn't feel like business all the time.

09:17Yeah, are you going to maybe show up at somebody's house and deliver a package

09:21personally?

09:21Like wait, was that Coco golf that just dropped off the package for you?

09:24Yes, we haven't like thought about that.

09:28But hey, maybe we'll use your that'll be dope right and it'd be in Atlanta,

09:31right?

09:32Just have somebody you just pop up and like, wait a minute.

09:35Is that who I think it was right?

09:37And then you just have to do it say I get that all the time.

09:39No, no, that's not my her right and then in the car you do a viral woman.

09:43It actually was me.

09:44It was I'm telling you to be great.

09:46Hey, you're on to something.

09:47Well, listen, when you flash back to that US Open win, right?

09:52I mean, obviously that brings with it a lot of attention and congrats to that

09:55moment, too.

09:56I watched that with my daughter and I know my daughter is very interested in

09:59tennis because of Venus and Serena but watching you do it because you're so

10:02young.

10:02She gravitated.

10:03I usually tell them I'm interviewing athletes all the time.

10:05She has no idea who they were when I told her you she said the tennis player

10:08and I mean just was excited about it.

10:10But that US Open when again, that was big for you, right first Grand Slam and

10:13here you are enduring all of the sponsorship interest all this business.

10:17I mean your agent was quoted in New York Times said there's been at least a

10:20hundred brands that reached out and I was back in October in 2023.

10:23What's been the biggest surprise the biggest positive surprise positive

10:27about winning the US Open?

10:30Honestly, I think how many people are touched by what I do.

10:36I don't know.

10:37I feel like people always ask me all the time.

10:39How does it feel to be, you know, a role model or put on a pedestal by

10:43or sometimes we've been say like famous and like I literally I don't consider

10:47myself like any of that.

10:48I've just lived my life authentically like myself and the people that I try to

10:52impress are my brothers and you know, so I try to be the best role model for

10:56them and I guess in turn that kind of matches with other people watching and

11:00so everything that I said in that especially in that speech was off the

11:04top of my head.

11:06I had nothing planned.

11:07Only thing I wanted to make sure was that I thanked my parents and like thank

11:10God and thank the people that I need to thank and then that's kind of where

11:13the doubters came out and that point I was just so much like adrenaline that

11:18I just kind of like just spilling out but I think what through through all of

11:21this with us open it's just been the amount of people that have come up to

11:24me who necessarily didn't know who I was before we didn't really watch tennis

11:28just said how that inspired them to you know, continue on and whatever, you

11:32know passion they have in their life and you know, everything that comes after

11:35that has always been a plus with all the brands and you know, all of that is

11:39great.

11:39It's all been a plus but you know, it's again just making sure that I pick

11:43and choose because I want to make sure that tennis is my priority and making

11:47sure that yes, I want to capitalize off of it.

11:50But at the day, this is my passion is tennis and I don't you know, whatever

11:54interferes with that probably has to go and with playing tennis and keeping

11:58that as my priority in turn kind of helps me, you know, go with my larger

12:03goal, which is like being able to like change, you know, someone's life or

12:06change the world just using tennis as a platform to kind of do all of that.

12:11Absolutely.

12:11I mean listening and you always want to keep your portfolio just manageable

12:14right and you know, especially as you're coming up as you can because with

12:17these brands comes a lot of you know, responsibility right showing up in

12:21media and I definitely get it but with positives there are negatives, right?

12:26If you had to say hey, this is the one negative that surprised me about

12:30winning the US Open.

12:31What would that be?

12:33I think that it again it is I will say the way my career started with

12:39Wilma then 2019 being such a big thing and then US Open I will say that

12:43it's been a gradual increase to like the attention that I've gotten is maybe

12:48not so much more like for example, somebody like Emma who won like out of

12:51nowhere and like all of a sudden you just have so much attention on you.

12:54So it's something that I've learned but I will say like it is hard at times

12:58I guess dealing with it all because you know, I don't ever try to appear

13:03perfect but at times, you know, there's eyes on you and you me naturally.

13:07I want to like please everyone and I think I had to really come to terms

13:11myself realizing that it's impossible to please, you know, millions or

13:14thousands of people wherever how many people are watching there's always

13:17going to be somebody that finds something to nitpick and there's no

13:20perfect person.

13:22So even if the things that they nitpick are, you know, things that are valid

13:25and true a lot of it is not I think just realizing, you know, there's a set

13:31people around me or maybe a set audience around that.

13:34I want to target that.

13:35I want to you know, be a good role model for and the rest of it is just, you

13:39know, whatever you say whatever I think for me is just when you realize I

13:43mean, you know, your true core self you you don't want people to shake that

13:47and I think it took a lot of building and a lot of self-reflection to realize

13:53like the core of who I am is not tennis and realize I'm much more than an

13:57athlete and just trying to make sure that I don't let what people say about

14:02me sway my opinion on myself and obviously I always strive to be, you

14:06know, a better person, but you don't want to let the negativity, you know,

14:10consume you because you can't you can't please everybody.

14:14That's just impossible.

14:15Yeah, most definitely tell him to chill out and go watch some anime, you

14:18know, I mean like yeah, relax when you have to you know, as wrap up your

14:22business want to flashback right fast to you growing up in Atlanta, but if

14:26you had to describe in two words the way you and you know, once your business

14:29Empire to be, you know, once tennis is wrapping and it's a long time from

14:32now so hard to envision and you might change but if you had to say hey, I

14:35wanted to be like that.

14:36I mean Serena Williams over 300 million made in her career.

14:40You look at icons the Jordans Tiger Woods of the world billionaires.

14:43What would you want your Empire to be in two words?

14:47I think in two words, honestly in one word.

14:50I would just put it as timeless timeless.

14:53Yeah, I timeless because I feel like a lot of my career is associated with

14:59my youth and obviously I'm not going to be young forever and you know, I've

15:04a lot of the sat lines are the youngest to do this the youngest to do that

15:07since this and obviously that's the older I get the less of that will

15:10happen.

15:11So I think I just want to make sure that you know, just not with only with

15:14the things I do on court, but off court just appear, you know, timeless and

15:19generations from now can be like hey that even if you know, it's not a

15:23product that people are using they can be like hey like that's that was a

15:26cool moment or that was a timeless moment.

15:29One of those moments.

15:30I think of is when Roger Federer one that wore the cardigan sweater at

15:33Wimbledon.

15:34I think that's just one of those things that are just timeless and it's

15:36always going to be iconic no matter who's looking at it and what age they

15:40are.

15:41Yeah, most definitely.

15:42Well, listen, you grew up in Atlanta, right?

15:43We were just there for the forest BLK summit.

15:45I love Atlanta.

15:46I love the city, but what was it like for you growing up in Atlanta?

15:50Yeah for me is so when I started it was when I was young it was you know, it

15:54was great and I love growing up especially just being around so many black

15:58people in general which when I moved to Florida was like honestly a big

16:02culture shock because I grew up in that and just seeing so many people that

16:06look like me and then I moved to Delray Beach, Florida where it's very it's

16:09not as diverse and so that was like a culture shock and I think at the time

16:14I kind of took it for granted because like in Atlanta you just see successful

16:19people that look like us and all types of areas whereas in other parts of

16:23the United States.

16:24It's not really as common.

16:26And so I think that's where I love about the city the most is I just could

16:32see myself and everybody in the creative side of the city.

16:34I could see myself and you know, the up the girl designing clothes down the

16:40street or like the guy, you know barbershop or working at a hotel receptionist

16:45or like being, you know CEO of a company.

16:48I think that was just something that I really think I took for granted when

16:51I lived there than when I moved to Florida for tennis, which is something

16:55I didn't, you know, see us often and I think that's why representation is

16:58important.

16:59I think that's why I when I played tennis and sport, which is predominantly

17:02why I try to make sure that I lead my example so that you know, a girl can

17:07see herself or a boy can see her themselves and me and dominating or doing

17:12well in a field that you know, they probably isn't as many of us are people

17:16that look like you doing it because if I didn't see the Williams sisters doing

17:21that I would 100% none of could ever ever in any world considered playing

17:25tennis.

17:26Yeah, I want somebody to say that about about me.

17:29Absolutely your parents.

17:31I mentioned your mom, you know, she won one of the interviews last year after

17:33you want to open.

17:34She says self-discipline was the one trait that kind of helped you get to

17:37where you are, right?

17:38Where do you get that from?

17:40I feel like it's just something I was born with honestly.

17:44I've always even in school like even I was in public school.

17:49I would like I love perfect attendance like even days where my mom was like

17:53you can stay home if you're not feeling well or whatever and I was like, no

17:57like I want to go to school like I want to have perfect tennis.

18:00I want to get all A's I want to do this and I don't know because it wasn't

18:04necessarily that my parents are pushing me.

18:06I think it was just honestly something that I just realized I love winning.

18:10I love being at the top one of my pride and joys when I was younger was being

18:13the first to go to school.

18:14I love being you know at the top.

18:16I love winning.

18:17I love being at first and I you and you realize I realized very quickly at a

18:21young age is that if you want to do all the great things like it takes work and

18:24things don't come easy, but things can seem easy if you put the work in and

18:29that's something that I think I just learned at a very young age and just

18:33stay with me my whole life.

18:35So I don't I don't know where it honestly came from and my parents kind

18:39of just put in the structure of like making sure you can you can work and if

18:43you're working stupid then you can work hard but working, you know in dumb

18:46ways and it's kind of pointless, but they kind of made sure I was working

18:49hard and making sure that my time was put into like good quality practices or

18:54good quality.

18:55Whatever I was doing making sure I wasn't wasting time.

18:57Yeah.

18:58Now listen, I wonder right how what is the competitiveness look like in the

19:01golf household, right?

19:02I mean, I'm a competitive person too.

19:04I love playing.

19:04I'll throw the remote control when I lose that mad and I hate losing but in

19:08your household your parents are former athletes, right?

19:10You're a little younger brothers and here you are a tennis champion.

19:13Like what's that competitiveness like?

19:15Yeah, it's super competitive in our household.

19:18It's like I have a brother that's 16 and a brother that's 11 and like it is so

19:24competitive and sometimes I don't let the either one of them win in anything

19:2816 year old is like he's immature and so I can't keep up with him too much

19:33longer when it comes to that.

19:35He's definitely going to surpass me if he hasn't already on like a rate of

19:39speed and all of that but the youngest the younger one I'm still my parents

19:43like why don't you just go easy or whatever?

19:45I'm like now like, you know, you have he has to learn like life and come easy.

19:49Nobody's going to take it slow on him because he's younger and absolutely I

19:53tell my mom I was like these women don't take it easy on me when I was younger

19:57so he can learn to surpass us because I'm like also I told her I'm like he's

20:02going to be faster than me.

20:03Anyways, probably at like 15.

20:04So I'm going to take advantage of me winning right now.

20:08Yeah, that maybe I can have the mental edge but it is super competitive and

20:11but I love it.

20:12It's great being in a household.

20:13Yeah, and they play tennis with you.

20:16No, the one Cody who's 16.

20:18He plays baseball and then camera.

20:20He does play tennis.

20:21He plays tennis and football and he's doing a little bit of track too.

20:25But and a tennis now, I don't I won't play full-on but I'll you know, I'll

20:30play good enough where he can get a nice beat down.

20:34Listen, I agree with you a hundred percent.

20:38Don't take it easy on these kids.

20:39They got a big thing.

20:40Life is going to hit him but we're here.

20:42You are right.

20:42That's a perfect Segway because we fast forward a little bit as you know

20:45in your career 14 you upset or 15 you upset Venus Williams, right?

20:49And I'm that put a ultimate jetpack in your confidence department doing

20:52that.

20:54Yeah, a hundred percent.

20:55I think always as a kid or my dreams were always I'm I can confidently

20:59say like then I was like a lot a bit delusional and my goals and like

21:04everything which I it's good.

21:05I think delusional is great.

21:06I think all the greatest athletes and the greatest artists have to have

21:09a little bit of like craziness or delusion in them because if you

21:12want to do something that's never been done before you you have to

21:14think, you know, somebody has to tell you.

21:16Hey, that's kind of that's kind of crazy.

21:18But when I play Venus, I will say when I played her before the match,

21:22I was just like, let me just see how many games I could get and then

21:25Mary Jo Fernandez.

21:26She was like, she pulled me aside and I didn't even tell her that that

21:30was like my my thought process, but she was like, no, you have to go

21:33into that match believing that you can win and that mindset kind of

21:36like honestly changed my life.

21:38And so I was just like, you know, I'm going to be her and you know,

21:42you could say if you say it enough times to believe it and so like I

21:44believed it before I was walking on court and then when I got on court,

21:48you know, one game turned to another and it actually happened.

21:51So I think, you know, having a little bit of, you know, craziness in

21:56your goals is actually kind of healthy.

21:57Obviously, you can't you have to have like mini goals along the way to

22:01make sure you're on the right path.

22:02But I guess your long-term you have to have that because if you limit

22:05yourself, then you'll always be stuck to what your mind bounded you

22:09to and I think the mind is a strong thing and you'll be surprised at

22:13things you can accomplish when you actually believe that you can do it.

22:17Most definitely.

22:17Well, listen Venus and Serena.

22:18They always are tied to you because the they came in a sport before you

22:21and I'm assuming it's a natural connection that you looked up to them.

22:25But are there any other athletes outside of, you know, even tennis

22:27that you kind of look up to for inspiration or even to steal a move

22:31from a confidence department?

22:32Like who else did you look up other athletes to look up to?

22:35Yeah, one athlete that I really like.

22:37It's just inspired me a lot.

22:39It says to Carrie Richardson and I just love, you know, she went through

22:42like a tough moment that was so public for everybody to see and I just

22:46love, you know, how confident she was in her talent and how confident

22:50she was in her game.

22:51I guess I don't know if they call it like that in track, but how

22:54confident she was in it and I think that just makes her even greater

22:58and I think if her mind probably wasn't as strong, maybe she wouldn't

23:01be as fast and also really look up to Simone Biles and the way that

23:05she's been able to openly talk about mental health and sports and,

23:08you know, and seeing somebody as dominating their level, seeing that

23:11they, you know, because sometimes those athletes make it seem so easy,

23:15which even though I am one and I know it's not, but sometimes, you know,

23:18you just look at other people and you're like, it just seems so easy

23:20to them, but it's good to see them be vulnerable and I can learn from

23:24it a lot.

23:25And then obviously the biggest probably one that I really look up to

23:28a lot is LeBron James and the way that he had all the expectations

23:32put on him at such a young age and he's basically surpassed everything

23:36that people wanted him to be.

23:38And I think that is a cool story that I feel like I can relate to in

23:41a way of, I don't, I don't, didn't have as much expectations as he

23:45had when he came out of high school, but in a smaller scale, I feel

23:48like I can relate to it.

23:50Most definitely.

23:50Well, listen Coco, thank you for the time.

23:52Got a couple questions.

23:53Get you out of here because you're busy.

23:54You got to prepare for Wimbledon.

23:55The Olympics are coming up, right?

23:57And I really want to start there.

23:58What does that mean for you?

23:59Because Paris, again, that's your favorite city.

24:01This is your first Olympics.

24:02What does it mean to you going in and trying to get some gold?

24:05Yeah, it means a lot to me.

24:07Tokyo 2021.

24:08I got COVID days before I was supposed to leave and now 2024 was

24:13something I was like, okay, that was on my, my goal ticker.

24:16And yeah, I'm just super excited.

24:18I want to go.

24:18Obviously, I want to do well.

24:20My favorite thing to do in the Olympics is look at the medal count

24:22and see you as dominate.

24:24So it'd be my goal to like try to add to that count in whatever

24:28format I can.

24:29And yeah, I'm super excited.

24:31And hopefully, you know, I'm like not going to win that.

24:34Nothing happens to me last minute.

24:35I have a couple more weeks to survive.

24:37Absolutely not going to.

24:38I'm not going to work right here myself for you.

24:40We don't want to see anything happen to you.

24:42Listen, I've never been to Paris before, right?

24:44But if I ever go one day, any restaurant that you recommend while

24:46I'm over there that I got to hit?

24:49Yeah, there's actually, it's not even a French restaurant.

24:51It's an Argentinian restaurant.

24:52It's called Loco and it's like one of the best steaks I've ever had

24:55in my life and they have like great empanadas.

24:58So, and my dad loves it.

24:59He likes bone and marrow.

25:02Yeah, I don't know.

25:02I'm trying to get into that thing, but he loves it.

25:05If you like to like meat, that's like a good place to go to.

25:08Most definitely.

25:09Two more questions to get you out of here.

25:10And the first is, I think I know how you made your first million

25:13dollars, right?

25:13Doing something called playing tennis and that, but how did you

25:16spend it?

25:16And is anything you would do different?

25:19Yeah, honestly, between like, I guess until like recently, I never

25:23really like had like a huge purchase, you know, other than like

25:28just donations.

25:29I really didn't really spend anything.

25:31And then, but recently we just moved into a house that, you know,

25:37well, really, I let my dad take over the construction, but like

25:40I kind of collaborate with my dad and putting the money and just

25:43building a family home.

25:45So it's like really cool, but I'm going to be moving out soon.

25:48So I have, I'm in the process of getting a place in Delray Beach,

25:53my own place, which I'm super excited about.

25:56But yeah, other than those, that thing, which that was just this

25:59year.

26:00But yeah, other than that, I was like, I'm not, I was very, I was

26:03a very frugal person because I also, I guess I didn't, I always

26:07grew up with the importance of money.

26:09And so I like just didn't like to spend it.

26:11And then my dad is actually the one that encourages me to like

26:15spend it a little bit more.

26:17So I'm like, okay, I lately I've been going shopping more and just

26:21buying things, but I'm also like, I don't like to spend the money.

26:25Yeah.

26:26I can agree with that.

26:27And I'd be like, is this really like worth it?

26:29Like, yeah, am I going to use it for if I'm not going to use it

26:32to at least like maybe like $3 a wear or $4 or $5 a wear, then

26:37it's like, all right, you can, let me think about it.

26:39Unless it's something I really, really want.

26:41Yeah.

26:41You sound like you would love a flea market, a good flea market.

26:44Oh, I do.

26:44I love thrifting.

26:46I love, I love going to like secondhand vintage shops.

26:49I actually just bought like a bag secondhand yesterday.

26:53So I love doing like, I love me a good deal.

26:56That's right.

26:57Yeah.

26:57Everybody loves a good sale.

26:58Everybody loves a good sale.

27:00I'll get you out of here on this Coco and thank you so much for

27:02the time.

27:03I would love to always have you back to talk business.

27:05But you know, Jim Collins wrote a good business book.

27:08It's called Good to Great.

27:09If you haven't read it, definitely you should.

27:11But I'll ask you, what's the difference between a good tennis

27:14player and a great one?

27:14You won a US Open now, so we can say you're great.

27:17But what's the difference between good and great?

27:20Honestly, it's, it's very, I think the difference between a

27:24good and a great tennis player.

27:26It's honestly how you're able to hit, get into that second gear

27:31because really you have to be able to raise your game when

27:35you need it the most.

27:36And if you're able to hit that second gear, I think is what

27:40changes the good from great and you can almost feel it.

27:43You have to have that feeling when you can feel when your

27:45opponent is about to collapse and when you need to hit that

27:48second gear.

27:49So I think that's what makes the good from great and also the

27:51mentality and being able to almost hide your emotions because

27:55tennis is such a mental sport.

27:57Oftentimes, you're looking at your opponent and you can see

27:59when they're about to crack.

28:00So you have to make sure that they're not doing that to you

28:02vice versa.

28:03Yeah, absolutely.

28:04Coco Gauff wants to build a timeless business empire and I

28:07think that should include a partnership with Chick-fil-A,

28:09right?

28:09Because you know, everybody loves from Chick-fil-A.

28:11I know you love from Chick-fil-A.

28:12I'm surprised that hasn't been a partnership already, right?

28:15Between Chick-fil-A.

28:16I do love Chick-fil-A.

28:17Absolutely.

28:17And you know, there's only one Chick-fil-A open on Sundays in

28:20the country, right?

28:21Oh, really?

28:21That's right.

28:23In Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

28:25Absolutely.

28:25They got to open on Sunday, right?

28:27Because of the Falcons game.

28:28That's the only one.

28:29Absolutely.

28:30So if you ever want one on a Sunday in Atlanta, now, you know

28:32where to go.

28:33That's good to know.

28:34Absolutely.

28:35Coco, thank you so much again.

28:36Good luck at the Olympics.

28:37Good luck in Wimbledon and we're cheering for you.

28:47Thank you.

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