From Grand Slams to Giving Back: Gigi Fernandez on Leadership, Legacy, and Building Tennis for Hope
Welcome to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great conversations and share powerful tools to help you become a stronger rackets leader. Your hosts are Kim Bastable, a former all American tennis player and now the director of professional rackets management at the University of Florida. And Simon Gale, the USTA senior director of racket sports development. Today on Racquet Fuel, from the pro tour to the hall of fame to, well, many things. Gigi Fernandez is a leader and developer.
Introduction:She has innovative ideas, great people skills, and ideas that are growing the game. You might think a podcast with Gigi would be about doubles where she's won 17 Grand Slams. But today, Kim and Simon talked to Gigi about her leadership skill. Here are Kim and Simon.
Kim Bastable:Welcome to Racquet Fuel. Today, Simon, we have super fun guest. We have Gigi Fernandez, hall of fame tennis player. But the cool thing is we're gonna be talking to her about her leadership. It's really and it isn't about forehands and backhands.
Kim Bastable:She has a great after tennis career story. So I'm sure you love to speak the leadership aspects with with Gigi.
Simon Gale:Yeah. I'm looking forward to hearing about the tennis landscape and and the journey of of teaching and running camps and and now leadership and and her foundation. It's exciting. So looking forward to talking with you, Gigi. Welcome.
Gigi Fernandez:Thank you for having me. Super happy to be here today.
Kim Bastable:We are are really, really pleased. I I have to tell the story that Gigi's first Grand Slam was over my college doubles partner, Jill Hetherington. I am just so honored that Jill and I are in, you know, the same conversation with Gigi, although Jill doesn't think of me anymore regarding her doubles. That was long before.
Gigi Fernandez:But anyway still remember seeing this. I still remember my college doubles partner.
Kim Bastable:Exactly. Clearly. Remember each other, but, yeah, few few forehands and backhands since then. But Yeah. But let's just start, Gigi.
Kim Bastable:I think this tennis for hope that you have begun is a very inspirational part of your post playing career. How'd you decide to create it? What's your leadership role in it? Please share.
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. So, basically, when I left the US Open last year, I decided that I wasn't giving back enough to tennis. I am the vice chairman of the board of hall of fame, so my gift back to tennis was sort of restricted to what I was doing for the hall of fame and offering camps and offering my knowledge to recreational players. But I just didn't feel like that was enough. So I decided I was gonna start a foundation.
Gigi Fernandez:I was gonna call it Tennis for Hope. And then two weeks later, my house got flooded during the Florida hurricanes. So that was, like, the perfect segue into this is what Tennis for Hope is gonna do. We're gonna help people in the tennis community affected their natural disasters. Because when I was going through this most traumatic moment of my life, I realized how lucky I was.
Gigi Fernandez:I mean, took me a couple weeks to get to that, but I really was so lucky that I could start rebuilding right away and had the wherewithal and the and the financial means to to do it right away, not have to waste for the insurance checks to arrive. And and I had a network of people that were willing to help me. So I posted the next morning, posted something on Instagram, and I literally had 30 people in my house that day. Some people I didn't even know. They'll show up at the house and because the first thing that happens in your house is have to get everything out of the house.
Gigi Fernandez:So the more hands you have, the better. So that was sort of the beginning of it. And then three of three months later, I'm back in my house, and the LA fires hit. And that was, of course, in January, and that's kinda when we sprung to action because you can't just say you wanna do something. You actually gotta do it.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? And so I, at this point, did not have five zero one c three status yet. We had started to form a board. So I basically recruited my from my context of people, my network of people that I've met through the years, tennis lovers, tennis aficionados who have come to my camps. And, you know, I've made a lot of friends in the last fifteen years from people that have attended my camps and clinics.
Gigi Fernandez:So I thought, okay. What do I need? I need no lawyer. So first person, I was a lawyer. I need somebody who's very smart, that has vision, that knows what to do, and I found that in John Ericsson, who's a former CFO of Fortune five hundred company, super tennis fan.
Gigi Fernandez:He's he was one of my best clients. Now he's one of my best friends. And then it just started from there. I I reached out to Pam Shriver, Lindsay Davenport, who also was affected by the same hurricanes here in Florida. I actually lived in Sarasota at the time.
Gigi Fernandez:And then Pam, after being affected by the LA fires, also is on the board. Then we have a a financial person on the board and and then a couple of other players, Getha Grunaldi, Marianne Wardell. So that's been super rewarding. And and my leadership role in in the organization is I'm president and and the sort of driving force behind it. So I've been in charge of everything.
Gigi Fernandez:Everything is too much. It's a lot, but it's all good. So all the fundraising efforts, started with, of course, LA LA fires. So we put out you know, I have a extensive list of people who've come to my camps and clinics, and I just send out an email saying we're doing this. And we raised $50,000.
Gigi Fernandez:Did that in partnership with the WTA Foundation because we did not have five zero one c three status yet, so they were a fiscal sponsor. So, you know, using my network of your networks are so important, people that you've developed relationships with along the way. So I called Anne Austin at the WTA Foundation, and she they jumped on it right away and helped us raise $50,000, which we have already donated to the LA Fire Relief. Then from that, what we do is when there is a natural disaster, we reach out to the to the USDA section. So USDA SoCal for early fires.
Gigi Fernandez:We reached out to UCA Texas after the river floods, Guadalupe River floods. We reached out to UCA North Carolina a year later, still need, and then reached out to UCA Florida. The UCA Florida relationship is very interesting and rewarding. Just we just donated $50,000 to the foundation, And we've concede this event called Rally for Florida, which is a statewide fundraiser that's taking place in 2026 throughout the state in different clubs where clubs will have one or two days of an event that we will manage and organize in partnership with Racquet Wars. And all the proceeds from those events will go towards hurricane relief for now and for future years.
Gigi Fernandez:And we have almost 400,000 of grant applications unmet just in in the state of Florida, so we're raising money for that. And there will be more hurricanes. We got lucky this year, but there'll be others. So so, yeah, that's sort of the story behind Tennis for Hope.
Simon Gale:Well, I love the motivation. Gigi, I live in Central Florida, so we didn't get hit as hard as you did over there on the on the West Coast, but can understand where you're coming from, and and I think the mission's outstanding. So one of the things that you you just mentioned, which I think is critical for for all of us, is that power of networking. And, obviously, you've got a built in network through your playing career, but clearly through leadership and running your business, you've been able to develop this amazing network. So I think there's a message for all of us because our audience is leaders for the most part.
Simon Gale:Yeah. So I think that resonates. But I wanna back up to your Chelsea Piers days a little bit.
Gigi Fernandez:Well, let me say something out to that effect before we go into Chelsea Piers because I wish that I have known earlier the power of network. Like, I didn't understand it when I was playing. Right? So I would go to meetings with CMOs and CFOs and CEOs and, you know, not get their business card. Like, not think that I needed to know.
Gigi Fernandez:You know, the people who were handing me checks at the end of tournaments were, like, high, high executives. And now I wish I had formed relationships with all those people. So I guess, you know, the message here is, like, you know, start collecting cars and start making connections with anybody because you'd never know how you might need it in the future.
Simon Gale:Yeah. Well said. Well said. Yeah. So, well, I was in Connecticut around the time you were at Chelsea Pier, but we never crossed paths.
Simon Gale:I know you had a significant role there, and they were fairly new at that time, if I believe. And I think you were the director of tennis or director of Racquet Sports at that point, which is a big role, especially trying to get a a club up and running and get it started. Explain how you ended up in that role and maybe a couple of things that you learned about yourself as a leader in that role.
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. Wow. That was something. Because I I I think I got that role because I was Gigi Fernandez, future Hall of Famer at that point, or maybe I was already Hall of Famer. That's why I got that role.
Gigi Fernandez:I really had no training for that role. I had never run an organization. I've I've never I've only ever worked for myself up to that point. I did have my MBA, so I was helpful, but I never managed pros. It was a it was a steep learning curve.
Gigi Fernandez:The person who gave me that job, Molly Marcoux, eternally grateful to her. She later became the AD associate the athletic director at Princeton and then later became the, commissioner of the LPGA. So she was somebody who understood the power of celebrity, I guess, because she really felt like I had the ability to bring people into the facility. Like, people would come to the facility because I was Chief Fernandez, the hall of famer. And they did.
Gigi Fernandez:They came in droves. I mean, we had my goodness. We had five or 600 kids there every week. And, you know, our numbers were through the roof. I mean, we were making $2,800,000 a year year one on seven courts, which is
Simon Gale:crazy. Impressive.
Gigi Fernandez:It's very yeah. So as far as, you know, management, what I learned there is you have to have really good people working for you. And I had a great junior director in Jason Thomas. I had a great adult director in Wendy Gardner, and I had a great mentor in Faisal Vassali who really taught me how to teach three five and three o and four o ladies. Like, I had no idea.
Gigi Fernandez:The first time I got on the court with three five ladies, I was like, what am I doing with this? Can't teach him what I know because they have no no there's no chance they're doing what I can do. So he was really the guy who taught who really taught me how to teach to that level. So so the I think the lesson there is make sure you get good people around you to always always hire people smarter than you, so you can learn from them.
Simon Gale:Yeah. And we we've often talked on on the podcast about great players of any level, whatever great means, right, to to then be able to evolve into a leadership role, and maybe the best player doesn't always make a great coach. So the importance of learning your craft and mastering your craft and, as you say, surrounding yourself with people who help you get better. So get some really good nuggets out of that comment. I I
Gigi Fernandez:appreciate that. Think you have to be smart too. Like, I mean, there's a lot of good players who were great but had no idea how they played. It you know, so there's analytical players, and there's players who just play, and they're not overly thinking. Like, I was always very analytical.
Gigi Fernandez:I always like, my one of my first instructors, he was the women's head coach at Harvard, and his name was Don Usher. And he was very technical, I guess you could say. I mean, he we would watch video. And this is video back in the day where you would record yourself playing, and then you would go back to your room or your hotel and put the video on the TV and watch it and then see, you gotta do this and that, and then go back the next day and work on those things. But he would analyze the stroke.
Gigi Fernandez:Like, I have never seen anybody analyze a stroke. Right? So so I had that, and I wanted to know I wanted to know if my wrist needed to be at two degrees or four degrees at at impact on a volley or if I you know, etcetera. Like, it was very detailed. So having those type of mentors, that really taught me how the game works and really explained the geometry of the court and the dynamic of a point.
Gigi Fernandez:And not everybody's like that. Some people just wanna hit the ball and don't wanna think about all these things.
Simon Gale:Yeah. But you're showing that you are open to learning too. As a as a leader, you are open, which which is critical if you wanna be a successful So leader Yeah. Well said. Yeah.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. I think that, honestly, you say the MBA taught you something that might have contributed to the role, but I argue that master's degrees largely say you can persevere and you are willing to learn and, you know, you you care about learning. And that even if it's not the subject matter that you would apply directly, although an MBA would have been in your case, it's just that continual learning that shows that you have something that, you know, Molly would have seen in you. I guess I wanna go back to when did you figure that out? You came from Puerto Rico.
Kim Bastable:You had amazing career, 17 Grand Slam, doubles titles, two gold medals, you know, incredible accolades for Puerto Rico, female athlete of the century named in 1999. I mean, as I said, you beat my college doubles partner early on in your career and went on for way more. So I don't know. This is such a great playing career, but I think all along or at some point, you figured out that there was more to you. There was leadership.
Kim Bastable:There was learning that you had this sharp mind. Tell us about when you identified those traits.
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. So, you know, it's funny. It it was really early on because I remember being on tour. Like, my mind never stopped. Like, even when I was playing on tour, I was always thinking of things.
Gigi Fernandez:You know, what could I be doing? In fact, my declared major in college was computer science, and I taught myself how to program in basic. So I would I, you know, was traveling with computer. I was the first player to travel with computer. This is nineteen eighty four, eighty five.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? So we at this point, still didn't have AOL, but I had a little program that I could put in my my my results for the for the tournament and would tell me if my ranking was gonna go up or down. Super basic. But then when AOL came out, I was like the resident techie on tour. Like, if anybody needed help with logging in or didn't have the phone number for AOL or the computer wasn't something there's some problem with the computer, then they would come to me.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? So but I think early on, I figured out that my brain worked differently. Right? And that I I was it wasn't always just about tennis for me. There was always something else, and there's still something else.
Gigi Fernandez:And I think that's just my personality. Like, I'm always looking for the next thing and how can I get better and how can I contribute more? And, you know, early early twenties when I still on tour that I realized that my brain worked differently than most people.
Kim Bastable:I love that. Super super interesting. And yeah. So there's some specifics that you probably I'm doubting you used your computer education, your computer science education as much. Maybe you did at Chelsea Pier.
Kim Bastable:But what were some of the specific leadership challenge? You mentioned hiring. How did you interview? What was the procedure? And then you probably had some conflicts in the challenge of growth.
Kim Bastable:You had 600 kids showing up. That's a lot of parents. There were some problems. So can you name a few challenges and maybe what you know, even though you didn't have experience to bring to this job, you had skills you brought to
Gigi Fernandez:this job. So I think one of the biggest challenges I had was getting everybody on board with the same teaching method. You know, one one thing that I don't like at clubs or in in general when people teach is there's so many different ways to teach, whether it be a stroke or, you know, so many different ways to go through lessons. But, you know, when it came to doubles, I felt so entitled, I guess is the word, to be the authority on on how we should teach doubles. And and it was like my way or the highway, and and that philosophy doesn't work.
Gigi Fernandez:Like, it can't be your way or the highway. So I think what I I learned
Kim Bastable:about when you're a Grand Slam champion.
Gigi Fernandez:It can't be your Grand Slam champion. No. Because you have to get buy in from everybody. So instead of saying, this is how we're gonna do it, what we would do is we would go on the court, and we'd say, okay. Here's the scenario.
Gigi Fernandez:Let's look at these four players that are three fives, and let's just you tell me what you see, and I'll tell you what I see. And then let's do it your way, and let's do it by let's have them do it your way. Let's have them do it my way. And then and you'll see that they they then they can see that my way was better for the for the players. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:Whether we're talking about how to cover the court, whether we should move this way or that way, instead of me telling them this is what they should do, it's like, let's go out with the four players, and you can see why this is better. So so that that was sort of kind of butting heads because I I wish I could have just said, this is it. Believe me, and you have to trust me because I know better because I won 17 Grand Slams, but it doesn't work that way. Right? Because, you know, their argument was like, yeah.
Gigi Fernandez:That works on tour. And I was like, okay. That's fine. But I'm I have dumbed this down to the to the level or have brought it down to the level. So a lot of, you know, what I later later called the GG method, which is my doubles program that I've been offering for the last ten years, a lot of that was through these conversations.
Gigi Fernandez:I got what what came out of these conversations was what I now call the easy method. And it was collaborative. I mean, I didn't always win. I have to say there there I didn't always win because a lot of times, what I was I was teaching to the pro level. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:And they would be like, no. But your three fatalities can't do that. I'm like, okay. I got you. You're right.
Gigi Fernandez:I will give them this one. So it was very collaborative.
Simon Gale:Well, clearly, just listening to you, you have the ability to reflect and look back at how you led and and and your career, which I think is a quality of a good leader, is always to look back and and reflect and look at how we apply that moving forward. So I know I'm not the same leader as I was thirty years ago. Hopefully, I've evolved in a in a positive way. But how has Gigi changed through the years? When you go back and started this journey of leadership, how's that evolved to today?
Gigi Fernandez:That's a good question. You know, I think I think my kids have taught me more about myself than any job. They I mean, this isn't maybe it doesn't relate so much to leadership, but this whole concept of entitlement is is I mean, I guess it does relate to like, I I mentioned earlier, like, I was entitled. Like, I thought they should follow me what I was saying just because of who I was. That's entitlement.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? And I kid my kids have told me that entitlement is just not a good quality. And so I've worked worked to let let that go. They also has taught me to stay in my lane. Like, I have this bad habit of going out of my lane, like meddling into what's not my own business.
Gigi Fernandez:So I've kinda tried to stop doing that.
Simon Gale:I love that you went down the the the kids The kid route. Pathway because I think I became a better leader and coach Yeah. As soon as I had kids. And Yes. I would think patience is probably a word most of us would attach to Yes.
Simon Gale:To being a parent, which helps us as a leader too. So Yeah. Yeah. That was the the the gist of the question.
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. I mean, absolutely patience. I mean, I think also what I've learned from Tennis for Hope is this whole concept of surrounding yourself with people that are way smarter than you and giving them credit. I mean, like, there's so many bad things about being a professional athlete and of my stature. Like, it just messes you up.
Gigi Fernandez:It it your ego if you don't check your ego, it just gets out of control. Right? So you think you're always right, and you think you know everything. And so I think being in this organization where it's, again, it's collaborative. It's like, I I can't make decisions on my own.
Gigi Fernandez:I have to run them through the board. And having a board that's smarter than me, that has more knowledge about business and has more experience with creating a foundation has been important. So I think, again, understanding the importance of hiring people that are smarter than you is, I think, how it evolves.
Kim Bastable:I would say I argue that whether you're a Grand Slam champion of your stature or not, the game of tennis, being an individual sport, doubles slightly different, but still is something that creates us to be very self sufficient. Yep. And then we get into leadership where, as you say, we're supposed to be depending on the team. Right. How hard was that transition?
Kim Bastable:It sounds like you embraced that transition because maybe you understood there were some qualities that you didn't bring to the table, but I argue there's many good players. Like, maybe you played in college or, you know, you played five, six, eight, ten years of tennis. You become very self sufficient and and and even maybe somewhat entitled and egotistical even after a short, maybe not your long career. I don't know. Do you reflect it?
Kim Bastable:Am I making any sense to you that you're not gonna be with that idea?
Gigi Fernandez:Absolutely. Yeah. Because like you said, you you're your own person. Like, you're the boss of everybody. Like, you have four people or five people down.
Gigi Fernandez:There's 10 or 12 now on the teams. When I was playing, it was three or four. You I had my agent, my coach, my hitting partner, and sometimes my physical therapist. And they do what you say when you say, and there's no debating it. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:So that so you live like that for fifteen years of your life very successfully, and you're like, okay. Well, this is how life is. But then you get into the real world, and it's like, oh, wait. This is not how life works. You can't be as much of an asshole to everybody around you and expect them to like you.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? So, I mean, I practically spent the last twenty five years of my life or thirty undoing all the damage that I did when I was on the tennis when I was a fresh out tennis player. Right? Trying to sort of reel back from all those things that I did as a player that I'm not proud of, but that I did that, you know, won me 17 Grand Slams. So it's it's a dilemma that I constantly face.
Kim Bastable:I tell you, I cannot I cannot I I I just praise you for being so honest and and acknowledging that because Yeah. That's not easy to do. And I I just think we all have a bit I just saw a book at the bookstore that I bought last night called ego is the enemy. I haven't read it yet, but I'm gonna read it. And I think the title's brilliant.
Kim Bastable:And I just think we all struggle with this, and leaders particularly, and we talk about this in our UF course at the very beginning is what's your motivation for getting into leadership? Is it that you wanna just bark at people and tell them what to do and make a big paycheck, or is there a holistic, like, team approach? And I sense that you have really maybe you kind of immediately realized you needed it, or it sounds like it was an evolution as well.
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. I think it was more of an evolution. You know, I've served on boards. Like, I was on the USDA board as a presidential and the executive board of the hall of fame. And then you get in a room where there are really smart people around you, like, people who are running large organizations.
Gigi Fernandez:And then you pretty soon realize that hitting a tennis ball cross court on the line is not that big of a deal. It's it's not that difficult. Right? A different skill set. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:So you you learn how to listen to people that are smarter than you.
Kim Bastable:Right. But what you showed was the discipline, the hard work, the willingness to
Gigi Fernandez:Right.
Kim Bastable:You know, humble yourself in a Yeah. Challenging situation, overcome. Those are what I say are all the traits that are so great about sport. We get lost just searching for trophies. Yeah.
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. And, you know, one of the greatest things to me that sports teaches you is the ability to learn how to lose. You know, most people in life, when do you deal with losing? I mean, it's it's not something you deal with for unless you get fired from a job, right, or didn't get a promotion. So maybe three or four times in your life, you had you have a setback.
Gigi Fernandez:We have a setback every week. Every week, you had
Simon Gale:Some of us more than others, Gigi. You you won more than I did. So No.
Gigi Fernandez:But I still lost every week.
Simon Gale:Lot as a genius.
Gigi Fernandez:You know, that was of one the hardest transitions when I went from college to the pros because I didn't lose very much as a junior or in college. And then you turn for a new lose every week. You lose twice. So really early on learning that losing are learning opportunities. And you you take a loss and you dissect it.
Gigi Fernandez:And that's what you do when you have a setback is you dissect it. What did I not do right? What could I have done differently? Do I need it to be fitter? Do I need it to be smarter?
Gigi Fernandez:Do I need it to go to sleep earlier? Do I need to be better, you know, fit? Do I need to lose 10 pounds? What it is. You know, in the business world, be different things.
Gigi Fernandez:Like, why didn't I get that promotion? Did I not was I not the person working the longest or the hardest, or did I what did I do wrong? Right? And and fix it so that next time you're up for it, you get the promotion, or next time you have a match, you don't lose for the same reasons. And over time, if you stop losing for the same reason over and over again, then you'll start winning because you've eliminated all the reasons why you lose.
Gigi Fernandez:Right?
Simon Gale:Well, I keep hearing the word adapt here, and we talk about adapting as leaders all the time. It's one of the the number one words that seems to come up. So playing skills and adapting during your matches transfers into leadership too. So there's so much But
Gigi Fernandez:Yeah. Absolutely.
Simon Gale:I wanna ask you about your thoughts on the tennis industry as a whole. You know, you've dealt with recreational players, coaches, owners, managers, CEOs, and so on, as you said. What do you think the challenges are ahead for the tennis industry when you look at complementary racket sports that have come in and the evolution of clubs and coaches changing their skill sets? What are some of the challenges for the tennis industry in your mind moving forward?
Gigi Fernandez:Oh, there's so many options now for racket sports. Right? I mean, between pickleball and platform tennis and padel, which I just played for the first time last last week. And it's not only that, but there's all the other sports. Like, you know, when I was growing up, it was tennis for girls, particularly, which is tennis and golf.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? Now there's soccer and basketball and volleyball and hockey even has a women's league. So I think I really feel like tennis needs to observe other sports. My daughter's a soccer player, so I've spent the last fifteen or ten years of my life following girls soccer and youth soccer. And they do a lot of things wrong, but they do a lot of things right.
Gigi Fernandez:And what they do right is that it's the team aspect of it. Right? And I lost both my kids to team sports. Like, neither of them wanted to play tennis because it's they wanted to be with their friends. So I think if we could figure out a way to maybe give more importance to team tennis, team events, not so much to the individual part of it, maybe, but I don't know because then it's not what happens when you go on tour.
Gigi Fernandez:Right? So I don't know. It's that's a tough question from the from the from the playing perspective. From the business perspective, I think tennis mean, in a way, I see the organizations that lead tennis have pivoted. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:So the USPTA is now their RSPA, Racquet Sports. PTR now has PPR. Right? So so I think we have embraced a pickleball and these other sports. Not all clubs have and not all players have, but I think we have to embrace these other sports.
Gigi Fernandez:And, you know, they are racket sports. But in the end, tennis is twins out in the end because we've been around for a hundred years. Right? So it'll take not in our lifetime where any of these sports are gonna take over, but I think we're doing okay. What do you think?
Simon Gale:I think it's an interesting moment in time. These these other sports have come in, and, you know, I look at a director's role, and you're now waking up thinking about two or three racket sports at your facility. So are we all waking up pushing tennis every day, or are we pushing multiple racket sports? And we've got to make sure we stay focused on growing tennis and pushing tennis because tennis is established. It's it's been around, so we've got that down, but we've gotta learn these other new sports and promote them and learn how to market them to our members.
Simon Gale:So does it take a little bit away from the business side of growing tennis? You know, it's an interesting moment in time. And in ten years, who knows where where the landscape kinda what that looks like, but it's an interesting moment for those moving into leadership roles in the Racquet's the Racquet's world. It used to just be tennis. And so I I like it because it gives some diversity for a leader, and it gives them a chance to perhaps generate some more revenue, and we can attract people as a result, but I don't want it to detract from the delivery of tennis because we're focused on other things.
Gigi Fernandez:I agree, and I hear you.
Kim Bastable:So let me ask you that. The team idea is intriguing. You were a doubles kinda specialist in in your day. I know you played great singles as well, but the team aspect of doubles was important to you. But what about that?
Kim Bastable:You're an entrepreneur. What about creating some type of a team tournament that, you know, really expands upon the idea that we should create team atmospheres. And as you said, you you may not make them world class, but let's be real. How many people are gonna step up and be world class? That's a small number anyway.
Kim Bastable:What we want is people that play the game forever and and love it for the health benefits.
Gigi Fernandez:Well, I mean, I don't think we have to reinvent the wheel. You you have it in college tennis. Right? But use that as a model. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:I mean, if that's what's happening in college tennis and it's very successful now and college tennis is now a path to the pros, and it happens as a team. So this concept of having turn junior tournaments that are team tournaments, but and elevate team tennis. Because I think junior team tennis has some in some places, has a bad reputation. Right? Like, it's not for the top players.
Gigi Fernandez:So maybe elevating that so there's more importance in the junior team aspect of it and not so much on the be.
Kim Bastable:I would love to I love the idea there. I need somebody who wants to put. I mean, and the USTA is doing that to some extent, but maybe some more energy behind that idea.
Gigi Fernandez:You know? And, I mean, and and just the numbers. Like, you know, I when I go to these soccer tournaments for with my daughter, like, okay. There's 25 fields, and there's 20 kids per field, per team. That's 40 kids times 25 fields times one hour.
Gigi Fernandez:So that's nine to 10:15. And then it happens again at 10:15. It happens again at eleven. I mean, we're talking tens of thousands of kids at one event in one weekend in one town, and this happening all over the country. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:So it's hard to compete with those numbers when all these little girls are playing soccer that are the good athletes. They're all the great athletes. Right? And they didn't play tennis because they picked up a soccer ball instead, and we lost hundreds of thousands of little girls that could have been tennis players.
Simon Gale:You know, I went through that with my daughter. Same thing. I went through that journey, she's 25 now. But I think when she was six or seven is when I changed my philosophy as a as a director was I think we've become a lesson sport, and we've got a lot of coaches who need to make a living, so I need my forty hours a week, and I need lessons, and I need repeat lessons. So we've become a business of tennis at times versus we're in it for just growing the sport, and youth sports, like soccer, you don't need lessons to start.
Simon Gale:You you have a parent coaching, and they watch YouTube videos to see how to run a a girl's practice session, and then they go out and get these kids playing. So some of that, I think, affects us because we are in the business of tennis versus I don't think youth sports, until they get on a travel team, are in business. There's there's some thoughts around that, but I think it it does it take away from us getting kids to play the sport? But we're a harder sport to learn too. You know, you have to have some skills to be able to even rally the ball back and forth, so
Gigi Fernandez:it's Right.
Simon Gale:It's a tough it's it's an inch. We could talk about this for a while.
Gigi Fernandez:And then you can give them a pickle paddle with a wiffle ball, and they can all play. Right? So maybe that's the path to tennis is play pickleball first, and then now you have the racket skills. And then, you know, at eight or nine, you start playing tennis when you already have the hand eye coordination successfully. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:Because definitely easier to play pickleball in tennis.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. You bring up a lot of good subjects. What do you think I mean, that's the next five or ten years is kind of the it kinda we're all wondering what it's gonna look like. And I'm curious to know with Tennis for Hope or with GG Method or with your camps, where do you see yourself in five to ten years? What what's what's the next thing?
Gigi Fernandez:Well, I was gonna be retired, but now I'm not gonna be retired because now I turn this on for hope. Because it does for hope. Yeah. So I think, you know, so I have a the do you need understand this as a experiential travel company? Like, I do experiential travel.
Gigi Fernandez:I bring people to Grand Slams and Wimbledon. We're going to the Italian Open this year, and then we're we have a camp in The Virgin Islands. We'll probably have a tennis safari in in the next year or two again. So I combine my two passions, tennis and travel, and that's what I do. So my trips are super fun because we're traveling and fun people.
Gigi Fernandez:So I envisioned continuing to do that, maybe less teaching on the court, though I still have been doing a camp at Indian Wells. I do four camps at Indian Wells every year for the last, I don't know, ten years, and it's very they sell out every year. They sell out by August for the next year. Already have a 25% wait list for 2027. So I'll prank I mean, as long as people wanna keep learning from me and I'm healthy, I'll I'll keep teaching.
Gigi Fernandez:And then, of course, there's always gonna be natural disasters. You know, there's always gonna be a need to raise more money for Tense for Hope. You know, the foundation is member based. So people members that join the organization commit to a three year donation. Whoever had this idea was not me.
Gigi Fernandez:It was Marianne Wardell, former tennis pro, modeled after the Rancho Santa Fe Women's Fund. So that that was really a blessing because we know, sure we have $250,000 already coming next year. We don't have to raise again. And as we continue to grow, you know, our goal is to to raise a million dollars a year ongoing. Right?
Gigi Fernandez:So then then you can start making a real impact when you start raising those kind of dollars. So, yeah, just keep working on that, and my kids are gonna go to college in two years. So I anticipate having more free time to do things. I say no to a lot of things right now just because my kids are priority, and I wanna be here with them until they go to college. But once they leave, then I'll have more time to do things that I've been saying no to.
Simon Gale:Gigi, did they ever leave? Don't they always come back after college? And
Gigi Fernandez:They do come back. They I hope they come back, but, I mean, at
Kim Bastable:least they're gone for three
Gigi Fernandez:months at a time. Right?
Simon Gale:Right. Right.
Gigi Fernandez:And then, of course, I'm gonna hopefully travel or, you know, visit them other where schools are at.
Simon Gale:Yeah. Excellent. Yep. Well, you've shared a lot today, and I like to always reflect on on what I've heard a little bit. And one of the things that kept resonating throughout was every time you talked about your foundation, there's an extra bit of passion in your voice.
Simon Gale:So clearly, it's something that you're fully invested in. So that's one of my takeaways is is if you can find a passion project, it's more than a project to you, but if you can find something that you need to give yourself to it, the importance of getting your team aligned my way or the highway doesn't work. Yeah. And I think great leaders are always looking for the next thing, and you talked about, you know, even as a player, you're always looking at what's next and finding ways to get better. So the transfer of that into your your professional life was clear as well.
Simon Gale:So I really appreciate you sharing and giving us the time and and your insights today.
Gigi Fernandez:Thank you. You. I thank you for the time, and I always encourage everybody to give back. You know, I think everybody listening to this is probably in a pretty good position relative to the rest of the world. So if you can do one thing for someone else this week, you'll you'll feel really good about yourself.
Gigi Fernandez:And I think that's what I'm discovering with Tennis for Hope. Like, after I went to the summit this past weekend and donated $50,000 to the USDA Florida Foundation, I just went to sleep that night, like, with the feeling that I've rarely had. I just my heart was full. I felt accomplished, and I just felt so great about it. So the more I can do that, then the better.
Simon Gale:So Yeah. Well said.
Kim Bastable:That's, you know, winning a few Grand Slams, holding those trophies above your head, and you're basically saying that giving $50,000 might have been more.
Gigi Fernandez:It was so meaningful be because once it's just so selfish and, you know, when you do stuff for you as opposed when you do it for others. And and and and definitely takes evolving to that. Right? I don't think I had this philosophy in my twenties and my thirties, but eventually I mean, in my sixties now. So everybody hopefully gets to the point in life where they're it's time for that phase, you know, where you have where you think about your legacy and what you wanna be remembered as and what you can do to make the world a better place one person at a time.
Gigi Fernandez:And not not one person can make the world better, but every little bit adds up to living the play the world better than you found it.
Kim Bastable:Love it. That's good. And, yeah, we can all learn that at 30 as well as 60. I think some of us, it does take a while to evolve, but I guess the message I would say is anyone listening here who's in their twenties and thirties, no need to wait until you're older, but give back as quickly as you can. And and I love what you said about tennis teaches us how to lose and how to deal with those difficult times because sometimes we do skate through.
Kim Bastable:I know my daughter mentioned to me that I never modeled failure very well. And I thought, well, as an adult, I was trying to avoid that, and, you know, you just try to do your best. But when your kids are watching, they need to see you stumble. Yeah. And, that that was my lesson that I kinda woke me up to.
Kim Bastable:Don't be a hard charging perfectionist all the time. Yeah. And, we can all learn from sharing even our adversity. So appreciate your honesty, and what what you shared today was was very, very fulfilling. So thank you for your time.
Kim Bastable:Appreciate it. One of my students at UF connected us, Patricia Barney. I wanna give a shout out to her. But we enjoyed our time, Gigi. It's really nice to meet you, and good luck to Tennis for Hope and all that you're doing.
Kim Bastable:Thank you.
Simon Gale:Yeah. Thanks, Gigi. Appreciate it.
Kim Bastable:That's all for you today on Racquet Fuel, and we will speak to you next time. Have a great day.
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