So we need a solution that's sustainable, and I love the idea of solar power. It didn't have to rain or be a storm, the power would just fail. Even when I was little girl we lost power for no reason. Like I said, even before Maria, the electricity grid in Puerto Rico has always been very spotty. Why did you think it was important to join the VIKTRE Challenge?įernandez: I think that powering Puerto Rico is a must because it’s one of the biggest problems that we've faced. Rowley: You were already doing great work individually fundraising for Puerto Rico. So I picked establishments that could benefit rather than just giving the generators to one family. If you run a fish shop and you don't have electricity your fish are going to die. We did that to get business establishments up and running again.Įven before Hurricane Maria hit, we would lose power constantly. I raised $20,000 dollars, and I sent $10,000 of that to an effort called Operation Airlift, which flew 10 generators to a town called Arecibo, where my dad was born. What are your initiatives there?įernandez: Yes. Now you’re aiding Puerto Rico in a few different ways. Rowley: You grew up in Puerto Rico, and you were the first Puerto Rican to win a gold medal. Like for example, if I go into a tournament and I didn't prepare properly, and I lost a match because I was tired, I know that when I’m going to the next tournament I’m going to go in prepared. So I kind of pride myself in not making the same mistakes twice in my life in general, not just in business. You're really forced to figure out what you did wrong and how to fix it. But in reality, you learn so much more from your losses. When you win most people think that’s the greatest thing. Rowley: What are some of the biggest lessons your tennis career has taught you?įernandez: Tennis taught me to learn from my mistakes. But I know it’s the right way because it's the way that won me 17 Grand Slams. I have a completely different way of teaching doubles than the rest of the world it seems. I’m not afraid to go against the grain or be controversial. I didn't just stand back there and wait for my opponent to miss. I came in and I kind of pushed the envelope. So I've been working really hard to face that, and understand that I don't know everything-that I have a lot to learn still.Īt the same time, I think the risk-taking of sport really helps me in my career. I always go into things with 100 percent conviction that they’re going to work, and sometimes that's not good because I don’t understand my limitations. So when I’ve started businesses in the past, I've never thought they weren’t going to be successful, even though there were times they weren’t. Rowley: How has tennis impacted the way you do business?įernandez: When you're an athlete you have this mentality that you can do anything. So I've always been very entrepreneurial. Then I started a weight loss center in Puerto Rico. I raised $3 million in venture capital money for the internet company. After that, I started redirecting my passion for business back to tennis because it's what I know. So I figured that I needed to learn business and got the MBA. I got caught in the bubble, and when it burst I lost a couple of million dollars. One of them was an internet company back in the 1990s when the internet first started booming. But before that, I started a couple of companies that were not very successful. Gigi Fernandez: After tennis, the first thing I did was finish my education, which I had neglected because I turned pro after my first year of college. How was it for you? Do you like being an entrepreneur? Melissa Jun Rowley: For a number of athletes moving from sports to another career is a difficult transition. I spoke with Fernandez to learn about how tennis has helped shape her entrepreneurial mindset and what her hopes are for the VIKTRE Challenge - Power for Puerto Rico, a crowdfunding campaign she’s leading with other pro athletes to support solar power solutions amid the island’s aging infrastructure.
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