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Meet Ian O’Jon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian O’Jon.

Ian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story began at the age of 12 years old when I first stepped out of public school to be homeschooled in order to pursue a career in professional tennis. At 13, I moved to San Antonio to live with a private coach. There, I trained and traveled around the country, becoming the second highest-ranked player in Texas in 14s and 16s. At the age of 18, I moved back home (Houston) to finish school and decide if college was the next step for me or not. I decided to continue on the direct path to playing professional tennis with one great issue; I didn’t have the money needed to travel full time. I knew that college for me at the time would take me off the direct path to my goal, so I pursued in faith that I would find a way to make it happen. My journey from that point on (five years ago) has been one of juggling training, traveling, teaching and pursuing any manner of business venture that could put me in a position to make this dream a reality.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Every dream with worth having comes with difficulties. The bumps on the road included: not being well connected when I moved back to Houston, struggling to find committed players to train with, various situations with coaches in Houston that did not work out, having to teach many long hours in addition to training and taking classes, and overall managing confidence and gratitude amidst having less opportunity to play than needed.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a professional tennis player! More accurately, I aspire to be fully professional and making full-time income on the ATP tour. I have a very powerful game and am primarily known for my serve and raw power off of my ground strokes. What sets me apart from others is that I know exactly what I want and am not talked out of it by fear. I’m fully confident that I will realize my dream – and no matter what I’m grateful to God for this opportunity! Professional tennis is largely about momentum. You must play a full tour schedule in order to have enough experiences and opportunities to really breakthrough and have true success. As of now, my game is no doubt world-class. I’ve played players as high as 170 ATP and been toe to toe with them and taken sets off of player’s top 300 ATP. The next step for me is to truly be on the tour year round.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My dream is to be world #1 on the ATP tour. It has been my dream since I was 11 years old, and nothing has changed. My plans as of right now are to stay in town for six months and play the local UTR circuit to get wins, confidence, and build my portfolio. This is to put me in a position to more confidently approach potential investors and sponsors to ask for sponsorship for my two years plan. Modeling with Neil Hamil Modeling Agency has also been an opportunity for me to learn to begin marketing myself as for this end as well.

In the meantime, I plan to coach on the side as well as build up a local maid business that I own in order to create a potential cash flow asset that will help support me as I travel on the road with or without sponsorship. My plan as of right now is to do this for six months in order to have enough funds to travel and sustain travel for six months. When I get the sponsorship that I desire ($60,000 a year), my plan is to travel full time for two years on the tour. In that time, I am very confident I can break into the top 150 ATP in the world (playing the grand slams) and make a significant impact in the game on and off the court.

Pricing:

  • Ideal Sponsorship to play full-time on the Tour – $60,000 /year for two years
  • Profit per tournament at my level – $150-$2,000
  • Average Cost per tournament – $1,500 / Ideally want to play 20-30 per year
  • Cost for maid service – $160 for one time cleaning / $130 for recurring bi-weekly / $100 for weekly. These are average costs, quotes will need to be given. We have special deals for the holdiays!

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Katelyn Holm

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