E352 - Valuable lessons from Athlete to Entrepreneur and a journey of growth and discipline | with Louis Skupien

The One Big Tip Podcast with Jeff Mendelson

Louie Skupien is a professional tennis player turned entrepreneur, podcaster, and social media influencer. He has won several international tennis championships, including the Four Nations Championships and the International Tennis Federation. Louie's passion for personal development and success has led him to create his own businesses and invent a product to solve a problem. He hosts the Talk4 Podcast and continues to work on new projects and businesses. Louie's experience in tennis has taught him valuable life skills such as professionalism, teamwork, and patience, which have become the foundation of his entrepreneurial journey.

Tennis teaches a variety of life skills and valuable lessons. It requires an individual to become an excellent athlete while also laying the groundwork for becoming an entrepreneur. Tennis is known for being brutally honest, as any weakness an individual has will be exposed, making it a challenging sport to master. It requires an individual to be proficient in many areas, including mentality, physicality, and discipline. Everyone has unique talents, strengths, and weaknesses, and building a team to fill in those gaps is crucial. Planning, scheduling, consistency, and being on top of everything are all significant factors that play a huge part in being successful.

Louis went all-in on tennis after receiving sponsorship at an early stage. However, some people close to him did not understand the decision and would make fun of it. Despite this, Louis had an entrepreneurial spirit and started buying and reselling sneakers and making his own online guide. He stumbled upon a product in the Airsoft sport and began selling it on eBay, but got banned due to a rule about selling replica firearms. He then shifted to Instagram and created his own website to sell the product, and eventually created his own unique product that helped everything else he was trying to sell explode.

Professional athletes possess practical life skills that can be applied to all other areas. Due to the limited time span of their careers, they learn to channel their drive and ambition toward other pursuits that generate income and make a positive impact. When Louis transitioned from a professional athlete to an entrepreneur, he faced self-doubt and uncertainty about his capabilities and qualifications. These thoughts caused him to hesitate before moving forward with his products. He explains how motivation and inspiration are fickle, and everyone has bad days.

The world can throw curveballs at any moment, and relying on external factors for motivation can lead to disappointment. The key to staying on track is discipline and developing daily habits that stay consistent. For example, going to the gym every day, even if it's just for a stretching session or light cardio, can create a habit-based formula that keeps the body in shape and improve overall well-being. Creating a manageable routine and sticking to it without negotiation or debate is essential. Scheduling these habits into a calendar can help build a consistent routine that leads to success.

In this episode:

[1:40] Louis Skupien is a former professional tennis player who started playing at the age of 4.

• Represent England and won numerous championships.
• Learning important life skills from tennis, including professionalism, management, teamwork, accepting losses, and patience, laying the foundation to be an entrepreneur.

[4:50] The transition from being a professional athlete to an entrepreneur can be challenging.

• Louis got sponsored early on in tennis and had to go all in on the project.
• Started his own business without studying business in university, and faced challenges throughout the process.

[6:50] Louis had an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age, with buying and reselling products.

• Creating online guides and utilizing social media, particularly Instagram, to sell products.
• He stumbled upon a product in the sport of Airsoft and saw potential in it.
• Eventually found success with this unique product, utilizing social media to drive sales.

[9:00] The importance of mastering platforms and owning your email list.

• Identify and improve on weaknesses, as they can be exploited by competitors.
• The value of planning, scheduling, and consistency.

[13:00] Motivation and inspiration can be unpredictable and unreliable.

• To create discipline, focus on creating habits that you do consistently without fail.
• Consistency in habits is more important than occasional bursts of motivation and can help eliminate weaknesses and improve results over time.

[16:00] Habit-based formulas help to achieve goals and remove the debate from the equation.

• Decide on what you want to achieve and commit to doing it every single day without fail.
• Start small and gradually increase the amount of time or effort you put into it.
• Choose something manageable and consistent that you can maintain long-term.