Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Jones.
Alexis, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I suppose my story began at the age of four when I first picked up a tennis racquet. My father was the one who discovered I had a talent for it and he was also one of my first coaches. I advanced at a very young age and after a couple of years of practice, I started competing around the age of six.
My junior career took off from there and I started gaining experience, moving up (and down) the ranks, and became a student of the game. As with anything we do in life, there were many ebbs and flows, though I was always able to persevere and reach the top 10 of every age group before moving on to the next. Thanks to my father’s knack for always pushing me to be greater, by the time I was 12 years old, I was successfully competing at the “18 & under level”.
Over the next few years, I continued to complete at the junior level but as I entered my early teens, I was looking to challenge myself with something more. One of the amazing things about my sport is we have one of the lowest age requirements for a professional competition, a minuscule 14 years old. I laugh when I think back on it because this was the age that my life changed, the age that I began competing professionally but also traveling internationally.
Even more, than the tennis, what I love most about my sport is the travel! With the exception of getting homesick every once in a while, I never get tired of new places or beautiful hotel rooms and could happily “live out of a suitcase” for the rest of my life! Even now at 23, the experiences I’ve received from that moment forward have been priceless. I’ve played in over ten countries, explored four continents, and met some amazing people. I’ve learned different playing styles, training techniques, and experienced every climate and surface there is. My sport has allowed me the privilege of seeing the world on a bigger scale but also to gain the experience, insight, and knowledge to not only advance myself but also help others feel more comfortable and confident in areas that I lacked along my journey.
That brings me to where I am now. I’m currently a young active pro, training and competing on the several “circuits/tours” available to us as tennis professionals and further developing as a player and person every step of the way. In addition, I’m also fulfilling another love of mine, private tennis coaching and mentorship to young competitive players.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There has definitely been a multitude of “bumpy roads” along my journey. I’ve dealt with playing and committing most of my time to only one sport since the age of four, not to mention my hiatuses every few years when my hiatuses every few years when I wanted to quit, which was huge setbacks. I’ve dealt with being homeschooled for 90% of my education and always feeling slightly foreign or that I was missing out on a “normal life”. I’ve dealt with the intense pleasure and pain that comes with competition. The boosting and then tearing down of my self-esteem along with the pressure of months of work and sacrifice coming down to the win or loss of one match. I’ve dealt with yearly, monthly, and seemingly weekly injures and nagging pains. That’s on top of general health problems and various family issues, but through these things, I’ve learned (and am still learning) to be patient with myself, the people around me, and life itself. As much as we want to, we can never force the process. Things will always happen at their own time, at their own pace.
Tennis Academy of Dallas – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is named “Tennis Academy of Dallas,” which I thought was a very traditional name for a very untraditional coach like myself. I also love the term “academy” because it presumes that all who partake are entering a tutelage or learning a discipline, making everyone, regardless of gender, race, or, age, etc. A true student of the game.
I say I’m untraditional, but really I feel it’s how things should be done. I have a philosophy that any athlete, player, or even person has to be developed from the inside out, not the other way around and because I work with and mentor so many young competitive players, I put great focus on developing mental stamina, self-esteem, and independence of thought. It’s important to me that my students understand that I am there for guidance and not judgement. I don’t strive to have my opinion as the “be all end all” on they’re performance or whether or not they’ve successfully learned a skill. I teach them to be disciplined, focused, and to become experts in their own rights. I give them the tools to solve their own problems and answer their own questions, so in a match they never feel lost. That’s probably what I’m most proud of, getting players comfortable with being self-reliant instead involved in a co-dependant coaching relationship.
I believe so much that developing a player’s mentality is 90% of the battle, as it was something that I was so lacking growing up. Getting a player to play great is one of the easiest things in the world… getting a player to believe he/she plays great is a tooth & nail fight but once the belief is there all else falls into place.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
My definition of success has changed greatly over the years and being young. I’m sure it will change again. With that being said, I feel like the most obvious ones are winning huge WTA tournaments and Grand Slams/Majors, which are of course, every female tennis player’s goal.
Personally, I feel like as an athlete and developing young adult, it’s important to compete with yourself first before you compete with anyone else, so whether it be mentally, physically, or emotionally I challenge myself to be better today than I was yesterday in whatever way I can. I also find that being discipline and having rituals is a great way to find daily success. So meditation, workouts, and reading empowering, educational, and historical books are always apart of my daily success rituals especially on those days when I don’t feel like getting out of bed.
As for my business, I already consider it successful. I believe if even one person sees value (specifically monetary value) in the products or services you offer and even more so on a consistent basis, you should absolutely consider yourself successful because most people/businesses never get to that point. That being said, having more and more clients, classes, and generally more people that I can touch and lives I can impact is the icing on the cake for me.
Pricing:
- $60/hr for private coaching
- $80/hr for semi-private coaching
- $100+/hr for group coaching
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tennisacademyofdallas.com
- Phone: 7739605282
- Email: ajones@tennisacademyofdallas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamalexisjones/
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