In ELLE\u2019s series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we sat down with Sloane Stephens, former US Open champion and wearer of several other titles: philanthropist (Sloane Stephens Foundation, Project B), beauty founder (Doc & Glo), and, most recently, on-air commentator for TNT\u2019s French Open coverage. Watching the inner workings of her family\u2019s funeral home business growing up\u2014she once dreamed of becoming an embalmer\u2014ultimately led her to launch a self-care-rooted beauty brand named after her grandparents, Doc & Glo, who instilled in her a strong practice of maintenance and preservation. That same philosophy carries over into her In Motion journal, which was inspired by a time when she felt accomplished on paper but disconnected from her own motivations. Today, it anchors the ethos behind all of her passions: Keep going\u2014even if it\u2019s just for yourself. \u201cI think in tennis, there are so many ups and downs and so many emotional roller coasters that you\u2019re on literally every single week, that being able to have something small just to fight for, and to go after and compete for, is always really important,\u201d she says. What does that look like in practice? Sunscreen, prayer, bone broth, and family time. Ahead, Stephens shares how she keeps herself (and others) motivated, her guiding philosophy, and what success looks like both on and off the court.<\/em><\/p>\n I became a professional tennis player when I was 16. Kind of boring? Yeah, but I knew pretty early on what I was going to be doing. [However], I wanted to be an embalmer really badly. My family owned funeral homes growing up, so it was our family business. I just always thought it was so interesting and so cool, and I loved that. So I wanted to become an embalmer, and I helped there every summer.<\/p>\n Nothing really. I loved the family business [because] people get [embalmers] so wrong. The people you have to watch out for are the ones who are alive, not the ones who are dead.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not if, it\u2019s when.\u201d A lot of the time, we\u2019re always working, working, working for something to happen, hoping and praying that it\u2019ll happen. But the point of that [phrase] is if you put in the work, if you make sure you stay dedicated to whatever it is that you\u2019re doing\u2014your craft, your passion, your whatever it is\u2014it\u2019s not a matter of if<\/em> it\u2019s going to happen, rather it\u2019s when<\/em> it\u2019s going to happen. That\u2019s definitely a mindset shift, knowing that things will turn around, things will change. If they\u2019re not good now, they will be good eventually. You will end up where you want to be. Sometimes, we give up a little bit too early, thinking, \u201cIt\u2019s never going to happen.\u201d But some people\u2019s journeys take two days, some people\u2019s take 20 years.<\/p>\n \u201cControl the controllables.\u201d You can control your energy, your effort, how you\u2019re showing up every day for the things and people that matter to you, and your attitude. All of the things that are in your control, control them. Put your foot on the gas, focus on those things. I think the focus is always so broad when you\u2019re trying to prove yourself in this world of social media and Instagram; it\u2019s like you\u2019re comparing yourself and you\u2019re trying to be cooler, and better, and wiser.<\/p>\n My grandma was super into beauty and was such a glam lady, and I got a lot of my tips and tricks from her. I\u2019ve always loved not only beauty, but also self-care in general. Going to the spa, getting my nails done, doing little things that make me feel really good. Beauty and self-care, to me, all fall into one lane. It\u2019s me being aware enough to see, \u201cWhy am I letting myself go? What is going on here? What do I need?\u201d Whenever I\u2019m so busy that I can\u2019t even think about myself, that\u2019s when I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s time to do the Beauty Olympics because we\u2019re going to get our nails done, we\u2019re getting our eyebrows done. We\u2019re going to get our hair pressed out.\u201d Putting that emphasis on yourself, that\u2019s what beauty has been to me in my life. Because I can\u2019t wear a full face of makeup to go play tennis on the court.<\/p>\n Whenever I do anything, I always have to have a reason that can get me up in the morning, something to push me forward. And naming my brand Tennis Court or Yellow Tennis Ball, I would have been like, \u201cNo, this isn\u2019t going to work.\u201d So when we were going through names, my grandparents had passed at the time, and I was going through this self-exploration of, \u201cWho am I? What am I doing with my life?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s important to me? Who\u2019s important to me?\u201d And my grandparents are always at the top of that list. I said, \u201cOh, we should just call it Doc & Glo,\u201d because my grandparents had eight kids and nobody called them grandma and grandpa; everyone called them Doc and Glo.<\/p>\n Grandma [Glo] and Grandpa [Doc] are what wellness is to me. They had such a big family, so they made sure you not only took care of yourself but also took care of others.<\/p>\n And that was the full circle. This is why I want to name it after them, because not only do we have the brand, but we have the Doc & Glo Scholarship. And at the Sloane Stephens Foundation, we have all of these constant reminders of why we show up every day, why we want to be helpful, and why we want to be impactful in our community. That runs through every single one of my brands, especially for Doc & Glo\u2014making people feel good and supporting them on their journey is a big part of that, whether you\u2019re young or old. That\u2019s what my grandparents did for me, so I think carrying that legacy and letting someone else feel it too is really important to me.<\/p>\n This was my COVID baby. It was born from everyone being funky, and me battling my own little health conditions and not being able to find the products I wanted. I couldn\u2019t find spa-like products that I wanted because we were in our hotel rooms. For tennis players, we were locked in our hotel rooms for two years, and you\u2019re only out of your hotel two or three hours a day. It was tough. I was like, \u201cWhen I\u2019m traveling the world, what do I want? What do I want to consistently feel like?\u201d I wanted something with a smell that reminds someone of a spa, but also a homey vibe. Creating a product that worked really well for sensitive people was important. We launched with two products\u2014the deodorant and the mist\u2014and everyone was like, \u201cYou\u2019re crazy for launching a fragrance-free deodorant.\u201d But I\u2019m like, \u201cDo you know how many people have skin conditions who are allergic to fragrance, who have underarm conditions?\u201d This is clean beauty. This isn\u2019t toxic. This isn\u2019t aluminum. We\u2019re learning so much more about ourselves now that can be put into products and into a formulation that actually makes sense for your body.<\/p>\n I\u2019m always ashy, literally. I wanted something between a body butter and not a hotel watered-down lotion that goes off in two seconds. So everything really was from my personal experience and what I\u2019ve experienced on the road, traveling, and not being able to get products that really fit my life.<\/p>\n My alarm wakes me up every morning, and instead of rolling over and getting on my phone, I say, \u201cThank God I woke up today, so many people didn\u2019t get to.\u201d When I started doing that, I felt a lot clearer because I wasn\u2019t waking up, getting on my phone, and looking at shit; I was actually in tune with [myself] like, \u201cOkay, thank God I woke up, I\u2019m here. I got a lot to do today. You\u2019re going to have a kick ass day, let\u2019s do it.\u201d Sorry, you\u2019re not supposed to be cussing in your prayers, too. But [I\u2019m] just encouraging myself to keep going even when things are really hard. I think sometimes we forget to just even be thankful that we opened our eyes.<\/p>\n When I get up in the morning, I do my little one-minute prayer. If I\u2019m home, I always put on a robe\u2014I\u2019m obsessed with robes\u2014and my slippers. I have a dog, so we always go out first thing in the morning. Once I come back in, I shower, brush my teeth, and get ready for the day. I\u2019m obsessed with sunscreen, so I always have to put sunscreen on before I do anything in life. Then, I always have bone broth or chicken broth in the morning before I go to practice. Because I make my breakfast the night before\u2014fruits, my granola, etc.\u2014I can just walk out of the house.<\/p>\n It looks a little different for game days because I don\u2019t normally have a robe and slippers, which is so disappointing. But I normally wake up, shower quickly, and try to get out of bed. Even if I don\u2019t have a match or anything, just getting up early and doing something helps me get my day going, whether it\u2019s just walking with my coaches to get coffee; I don\u2019t even drink coffee, but just walking to get the day started. This ritual is something we always do as a team, just to have a little powwow in the mornings.<\/p>\nMy first job<\/h2>\n
My worst job<\/h2>\n
The best career advice I\u2019ve ever received<\/h2>\n
Best advice I\u2019ve ever given<\/h2>\n
What beauty truly looks like to me<\/h2>\n
On building a family legacy of self-care through Doc & Glo<\/h2>\n
Why I launched Doc & Glo<\/h2>\n
My grounding philosophy<\/h2>\n
My morning non-negotiables<\/h2>\n
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