Former tennis star Maria Sharapova recently talked about her past business projects with fellow legend Andy Roddick, revealing their unsuccessful partnership.
Even though Sharapova did really well in tennis, her attempt to do business with Roddick about ten years ago didn’t work out.
She started Sugarpova, a brand that makes organic fancy candies, to get into the business world. Later on, she invested in other brands like Supergoop and Tonal.
Sharapova wanted to make products for athletes because she knew a lot about that area. While she did well with health and wellness stuff, her technology investment didn’t go as planned.
She talked about her business ventures and the problems she faced on a podcast with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. She talked about a project with Roddick that didn’t work out, even though she believed in it.
Sharapova said, “I’m not blaming Andy,” admitting that Roddick was part of starting the project. They tried to make an app, but it didn’t work, even though Sharapova really believed in it.
Even though things didn’t go well, Sharapova stayed strong, even though she lost a lot of money. Looking back, she saw the technology investment as a learning experience.
On the other hand, Sharapova found success with Sugarpova, her candy brand. She said she started it because she wanted to be more than just a tennis player.
In an interview with Forbes, she talked about how excited she was to try new things outside of tennis, which led to Sugarpova. Even though she didn’t have a clear plan at first, she enjoyed the journey and found it fulfilling.