We recently connected with Juan Garcia and have shared our conversation below.

Juan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I really take the time to get to know my clients. I take their goals seriously and do my best to help them reach their true potential.

Juan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a professional tennis teacher and coach directing a tennis club in Encinitas California. I got into the industry as a former competitive junior and collegiate tennis player. After college, I took time off from competitive tennis yet still managed to hit with friends and play as little or as much as our out of shape bodies could handle. Since I was 13 or so, I always took the time to teach my mom, a friend or whoever was interested in learning tennis. I really missed being involved in the competitive side of tennis and thought teaching tennis part time would be a good idea. Not long after, I got really motivated to take it to the next level and make a career out of it. I got certified in 2008 and started taking educational courses to get better at teaching which also helped my game. Hands on I improved my game and my students as well. Here I am full time enjoying my career teaching and playing the sport I love.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth has been by far the best source of new clients for me. In a place where teaching tennis full time means teaching between 25 and up to 50 hours a week, you can get busy quickly. The bigger challenge is retaining your clients. My approach was to get them to buy into the process of developing their game. I have taught thousands of lessons and consider myself lucky to help so many players navigate their way into improving in the game they love.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The job that I currently have is a good story of perseverance and taking an opportunity that required a lot of work to accomplish. I was 14 months into my former position as head professional at a local club when I heard about the opening. It was a promotion and a career milestone of sorts. I spoke to my boss who was mentoring me to eventually take that career path. I wasn’t sure if I should take it and possibly change clubs in such a short time. He encouraged me, offered his advice & assistance and wished me luck! 5 months later after a long and very thorough interview process I was offered the job. There were many qualified candidates who may have been in a better position to take that job. I showed them how I was the best fit for their needs. Almost four years later, I try to grow and be a better, more qualified professional for this job.

Contact Info:

• Website: juangarciatennis.com
• Instagram: juangarciatennis
• Linkedin: Juan-garcia-tennis
• Yelp: Juan Garcia Tennis