We recently connected with Maria Hernandez and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I think the biggest risk that I have taken in my life was shifting from corporate to being a business owner. The thought of creating something new for your own financial benefit can be a bit scary in many aspects and bring lots of question; from figuring out and creating the business you want, to how successful you want it to to be, and how will you do it to make it so it does not fail.

Opening up A1 Tennis was a big risk financially and life changing because I went from having a steady paycheck weekly to now depending on as many lessons I gave during the time and gathering clientele to grow the business. Even thought it was a risk starting a business during a pandemic, I am lucky to say that COVID was the right time to start because tennis is an outdoor sport and there was no close contact with people when it came to teaching. The process of growing the business did not come easy but it was easier due to parameters of distance all of us were strictly given to follow during that time.

I had been teaching part time already so thankfully getting my name out was not as hard as I thought, however the question back then was how do I expand A1 Tennis to make it as an actual tennis academy business and not just someone who simply teaches lessons to people. In regards with this, I can honestly say that social media was the answer to that question and the platform that has helped me grow my business tremendously. I started with 25 students teaching in one court at a park and by pushing the brand through all the big platforms like facebook and instagram we are now at 253 students in the program enjoying the sport as much as I do.

One of the things that has have most outreach is being a woman . I would say that 60% of my clientele are women and I think is because women identify with women. Don’t get me wrong I love teaching men, in fact the other percent are men and I would say I get along well with them as well. However, there is that chemistry in somethings that women have with women and men with men.

To conclude this, I decided to take this risk because I wanted financial and personal freedom. I am simply not a person who likes to depend on people to make decisions but to make decisions on my own about my life and finances.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Ale Hernandez, teaching tennis began to be my passion when I would come down during summertime to help my dad in his academy. I fell in love with teaching and learning the process of creating an outstanding tennis player. On the other hand, I have always been very social and enjoyed meeting new people, this is why I like to make my classes fun for all; I let my students demonstrate their true personalities in the court, which allows me to get to know my students. A1 Tennis started when I realized that there weren’t as many female coaches as there are male. So, I wanted to create the opportunity for people to see that a female coach is just as efficient as a male coach and give people the option to learn and achieve results from something different than the ordinary. I no longer wanted to share this passion and knowledge of tennis with few, but all types of individuals who wanted to learn or continue to grow in the sport.

I would like to say that there are not many problems that I come across. The biggest one is the weather, it has not been easy due to not having an indoor facility to provide the classes. However, I am proud to say that I have been able to manage it in a great aspect for my clients and rescheduling their lessons for another day has been simple.

In regards with the services A1 Tennis offers these are private lessons, group lessons, leagues and cardio tennis.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I think the best way to build an audience in social media is by creating good and interactive content. Also, being active and interacting with others who share the same passion is very important. I would say consistency, being original and clever is the key to have a successful platform.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I would say social media, having a good website and interacting with media groups that have nothing to do with your business. Honestly you will be surprised what people are interested in if you put yourself out there and show what your business is about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.a1tennis.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a1tennistx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/a1tennistx

Image Credits
Ale hernandez and Ramon