Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Morgan.
Emily, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hello, my name is Emily Morgan, and I am the Founder/CEO of 821 Tennis, a tennis, fitness, and lifestyle brand headquartered here in Miami.
821 Tennis began as an idea conceptualized in early 2021, after moving to Miami in 2020. My full-time career and passion at the time (and still is) was real estate development but I had also been a tennis player my entire life. I began playing at 2 years old in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to the US around 7 years old, I never stopped playing until graduating college in 2018. I played collegiate tennis at a school in Virginia but burnt out a bit after graduating. I knew I enjoyed the sport and took about a 6–8-month break from playing, but very quickly realized how much I missed being on the court and picked up a racket less than a year later.
After graduation, I lived in the DC/Northern VA area and found it to be a bit challenging to find players to hit around with, at first, at the level I wanted, to get a good work out in. I grew up in Northern Virginia, so I was lucky enough to know a few great players and coaches in the area. I connected with my junior development coach, Chris Tran, to join his junior performance clinics to get my weekly fix. Because he coached players at a high-level, it was great practice for me, no matter what age or demographic it was. I loved the intensity of a high-paced tennis clinic, and it was not very common for adults in my area. I would drive about 30-45 min away from where I lived to connect with my uncle and his friends as well, to hit for hours on a Saturday night, because his group brought so much energy and intensity that it was worth compromising my Saturday nights for. The workout was worth it and I did not mind the drive. After finding a routine with my coach and uncle’s crew, I never really thought about how inaccessible the sport was for adults until I moved to Miami.
I moved to Miami in 2020 to help the company I was working for establish a new division in Miami. I worked with a National Homebuilder, as a project manager, and absolutely loved construction and real estate development. I felt very lucky to have graduated and pursued a career I loved. I graduated with a dual degree in political science and communications and had originally wanted to become a human rights lawyer. In my senior year, I was accepted to the Peace Corps to serve in Morocco in a youth development program for 2 years but had a tough decision to make. The year prior, to my junior year, I interned for the homebuilder that I had fallen in love with and found myself torn between two completely different career paths and industries.
The truth was, I wanted a career that would take me back to Jamaica eventually, and that would contribute in some way to growing and developing the region. I knew human rights law was a path I could see myself aligning with that vision, but also saw a similar opportunity in development & construction. So, I thought to myself, learning to build homes and communities would be an amazing skill set to have and I chose to work with the homebuilder. After committing to my new career path and taking a leap in path, it was for sure the right decision. I fell in love with the industry. I began to dream even more about eventually owning my own company overseas and focused on learning as much as I could.
When moving to Miami in 2020, the opportunity to build closer to the Caribbean was a dream, but also one of the most challenging experiences I had ever gone through. Building homes in Northern Virginia is a completely different experience than building here in so many ways. I learned a lot and grew quite a bit. We were amid the pandemic, in a new region, with many different ways of doing business, and as young as I was, I had to grow up pretty quickly on how to navigate it all. After moving I had fallen off my tennis routine and realized I wanted to get back into it to find a bit more balance in navigating my career and after about a year of living here decided to get back on the court. I needed an outlet but realized very quickly that finding a community or hitting partner that would be a great fit for me was a bit of a challenge.
I found that very odd considering Miami has a tennis court every few miles. I realized this was a problem that was actually in most cities, a consistent tennis brand that was focused on adults that was not a country club or facility that required a long-term program commitment or quality workout that you could pop in and out weekly and know you would get a great workout each time. There was a lot of inconsistency in the market, not just regionally but everywhere. Everyone ran things a bit differently but that is not necessarily the case for juniors. In the junior market, clinics are pretty consistent in the level and depth of investment a coach gives on the court. With the adult market, not so much.
So, I asked myself if it would be worth creating my programming. I laugh today because I said no for months. I refused to even entertain the idea, but the idea would not leave my brain. Eventually, I gave in around June 2021 and launched 821 Tennis on August 21, 2021. At the time, what I had written down was quite elaborate. It was a large vision to create a scalable tennis company that could operate in multiple cities all over the world. I studied the data and stats on the sport and realized we had not evolved as an industry.
The industry has about a billion fans globally, and maybe about 30% are under 18 (the junior development market). With that realization I realized from a business perspective, potentially 70% of the industry was not being served well and lacked consistency. There is large focus on our juniors which I think is extremely important, but adult programming and engagement was potentially 70% of the market. So that became the focus. Ho do I build an adult focused tennis brand, that made tennis more accessible, and inclusive, but also fun to be a part of that it would be a brand I would want to be involved with at any level.
821 is my birthday and also the date I decided to officially incorporate the company. I wanted a name that would be appealing to adults, that had a modern identity, but also in numerology for me means following your life’s purpose in new business endeavors. It was ironic because it was the name I wanted for the development and construction company that I had dreamt of building was 821, but I decided it also had a cool ring to it for this tennis concept.
The first year of business was a complete experiment and a bit overwhelming. I had started my Master of Real Estate Development Urbanism at the University of Miami literally that same month, while still working full-time, so I had a very limited capacity to execute this new endeavor. I began working with a few clients to test out a few classes and for the most part, I enjoyed it. I ended the year with about 22 clients from October to December 2021 in total. In 2022, we began to focus on group classes and grew to about 68 people in total. We held a small event at the Miami Open, which was an amazing experience for our first year in business. We had a great first year but really only held classes for about 6-7 months total. I wanted to focus on finishing my master’s, so I decided to stop in May of 2022 to focus on school. I would test out 1 or 2 clinic concepts that summer, but that was all I could manage.
Around November 2022, I realized I needed a game plan because we were planning to host another event at the Miami Open in 2023 and I needed a plan. So, I decided to launch a campaign called “The Road to Miami Open: Cardio Tennis Series,” which was one class a week for 3 months to grow a bit of momentum before returning to Hard Rock in the next few months. Things got hot quickly after launching. The new year had hit, and we went from 68 members to 150 from 1 class a week by March 2023. It was an insane and amazing proof of concept in comparison to the year prior in only 3 months with not much marketing.
All of a sudden, I saw my original intention show proof of demand. There was a need for more adult programming and I had to keep going. We realized that Cardio tennis was an approachable way for players to begin playing without being intimidated on court and the consistency began to develop a large community around the classes. By June of 2023, we had served about 250 new people. My goal for 2023 was to get to 200 for the year and we hit that target mid-year. We opened up one new class, our fundamentals class, when realizing the workout from Cardio Tennis, was a great way to begin with us, but there was a need for true player skills development. By August, we were able to expand to 2 new classes, an intermediate and advanced class, now totaling 4 classes a week. Now we have programming throughout the week at predominately one location and the community has grown to over 500+ members. I was blown away.
After seeing how amazing the community was, we decided we wanted more experiences like the Miami Open throughout the year, so we decided to expand on weekly events as well in the area. We began weekly meet ups around food, tennis, fitness and wellness collaborations, and even traveled to Spain this past November to have a fall camp/retreat with one of our newest partners, the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy. We have a lot of amazing collaborations coming up in 2024, of course including Miami Open 2024 again, and are excited to continue growing and curating for the community. We are not exclusive to only 821 members. All of our events are accessible to both members and the public.
Now the part I forgot to mention was I had a big decision to make after Miami Open 2023 that was not easy. 821 Tennis grew extremely fast after truly committing to weekly programming for a very short period of time, and in order to support the growth I did not want to risk stopping like I did the year prior. After graduating in December 2022, I was in a different headspace in 2023 and my career was also in a transition state. I had begun connecting with new mentors here in Miami and the Caribbean, new career opportunities had opened up and I was unsure what route I wanted to take. I had a few job offers to consider (some requiring me to potentially move) along with a promotion I was extremely grateful for yet did not take any opportunity that would compromise this company that I was building part-time. I saw a real potential to grow something great and did not want to risk my focus by having to move or start at a new company. I stalled for as long as I could, but after graduation, the answer seemed pretty clear to me, especially seeing the growth and demand. I wanted to see how far I could take 821 Tennis. So, I went all in.
I had started 821 Tennis with the intention to solve a problem I faced as an experienced player and could only imagine how challenging and intimidating it would be for inexperienced players or adults looking for an inclusive low barrier to entry. The lack of accessibility was a real opportunity for us to activate programming in the community. In real estate development, my focus is urban design and placemaking. How to create and develop a community that fosters connectivity and community engagement. I have always loved service and to me, that is one of my favorite pillars of my career development. How do we build a better world?
And I saw an opportunity to build that with 821 Tennis as well. The community and the type of people we had coming to our classes were amazing and I knew we were building something that would translate to help players off-court as well. Tennis is a sport that has taught me so much about life from a spiritual perspective. It’s a game that requires you to connect mind + body. It requires an understanding of the physical fundamentals, but it is like a game of chess. It requires strategy, patience, and resilience, and is a sport where the number 1 player in the world can potentially lose to number 100 just based on mindset. I realized the sport had many life analogies integrated into what we were teaching, and that we could also help to integrate mindset and wellness into the brand. This came from one of my clients who told me in our first year that she and her husband gained a better understanding of navigating life than therapy because the analogies to life were so identical and could be experienced on court.
An example of this would be while playing tennis, you play your best when you are relaxed and enjoying each and every rally. You play your best when you’re focused on what you can control, like your preparation for each shot and mindset no matter the outcome. You can’t attach to the outcome. If everyone knew they would hit a winner on every point, no one would play. So, think about that in terms of your own life. It’s the process, the journey, and playing the game that makes it fun, not only shaking hands at the end of the match. The excitement comes from being on the court, point by point. When you focus only on what you can control, your preparation, focus, and attitude, the joy comes from the process not the outcome. You have to surrender the outcome.
When I realized my love for mindset, growth, and self-development could be integrated into what we were building, I knew we had something that could help an insane amount of people. It’s especially needed for adults responsible for coaching, parenting, and setting an example for the next generation. These are similar lessons we all learn as juniors in any sport. But once we are adults, there are not as many recreational programs to remind us of these same lessons and coachable skills, that are even more crucial to be reminded of and integrated into our lives as adults. We are building 821 as an adult tennis development company and using tennis as the conduit. A conduit for building community, becoming better and healthier people and players, but also becoming greater versions of ourselves by going through the different lessons that sports teach us, especially from a lifelong sport like tennis.
Tennis is a very individualistic sport so a community around tennis on a large scale is not very common. I am so thankful the popularity is growing. The industry is massive and it’s only going uphill from here as we are beginning to evolve globally. New adult clubs are popping up around the US because we need them. Our mission is to create a high-quality, accessible and inclusive tennis company that contributes to modernizing and evolving the sport, concerning tradition. We want to build a company that is not archaic or representative of only the old-school way of playing. We want to inject energy into the sport. That had a lot to do with why Cardio Tennis was our first class. It is a class that includes a lot of music and energy. It’s an experience! I get bored easily, so I refused to build the same type of tennis company that I had maybe experienced in juniors, prior to my amazing junior coach Chris, that was honestly not engaging. Chris is an outlier; we want more outliers to become the norm!
The real gift from the growth have had from 2023 was honestly not even the fact that we grew as fast as we did, but the community that stuck around to continuously support us. It was amazing to me. We had attracted some of the nicest, most supportive, and engaging people. I am so grateful for that on this journey because it lights me up to do way more to connect and support their growth both on and off court. That has become one of the most important components of the company. Our people. We have only become a conduit in bringing the community together. My first goal was really only focused on accessibility, but that has evolved quiet a bit. The brand has become a tennis and lifestyle brand centered around tennis, community, mind, and body.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For sure. In the early stages, balancing my full-time in development and my master’s was a lot to manage. Eventually, it helped me to learn how to expand my capacity and prioritize but now I am grateful to be fully committed to growing the company full time. Another pretty large challenge we had was sourcing locations. There are many courts here in Miami but a location that would allow permitting was extremely challenging and took quite a long time to figure out.
One of the current new skill sets I would say would not necessarily be challenge but more of a growth opportunity is learning how to build something new from the grown up. Building homes and working in development and construction, I focused more on the execution side with an existing blueprint or master plan. Building 821 Tennis requires me to be more of an architect to develop the blueprint. I am learning a lot about community, relationships, marketing, events, and branding. There are so many new skills sets I have already begun developing so it is pretty cool to be in this space to understand business in a different industry.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
821 Tennis is a tennis, fitness, and lifestyle brand on a mission to evolve the sport through mind, body, and community. What sets us apart from other brands I believe is wanting to evolve what “recreational” sports means or is defined as.
Just because we are no longer competitive collegiate or high school athletes, does not mean we don’t value our investment of time, resources, and energy. There should still be a true quality in investment from coaches and business owners to help grow and develop their people and consumers. It’s very similar to the concept in the term “affordable housing.” Because something is a bit more affordable and accessible, it should not mean quality should be compromised. You can still build an amazing home on a more affordable budget. So, in resonance to “recreational,” we should still invest into our growth and development as people, athletes and coaches even if not competing to go to the Olympics or on the pro tour.
What I am most proud of is honestly trusting the intuition that told me to go for this idea. I did not think I would be as involved in tennis today as I was in juniors. It took a lot of trust to keep going and leave a career I love to trust that I was headed in the right direction and eventually, it would all connect. I was extremely grateful for all my mentors in the development space who encouraged and believed in me when I told them what was going on. They said to me, “Well if you were able to get this far less than 10 hours a week with that much growth, we want to see what you can do in 40+ hours.” I am extremely lucky to have an amazing support system through all this.
From a brand perspective, I am extremely proud of who our players are growing and developing to be as people. They have begun bonding in a way that was familiar to being on your travel sports team growing up or summer camp best friends. They are so kind, open-minded and welcoming to new players in the community and that culture is amazing to be a part of. I had a brand partner call me this past year after an event that I was not able to attend with my team to tell me how blown away she was by the kindness of our community. It was an amazing compliment to who we are attracting into 821. This community was a complete accident. Like-minded people began seeing each other every week and now many of the players have become such good friends off-court and that’s how the community kept growing. That honestly keeps me going. Because on the days I am unsure if a new idea or concept would make sense to launch or try out, I am reminded that we are responsible for creating the space. A space that is safe, welcoming, encouraging, and extremely fun. Our people co-create the experience with us.
What I want our readers to know about our brand is that we are focused on developing this company for them to become better people. We are here to play tennis, yes, but this sport is so much more than a court and a ball. It is an amazing opportunity to continue growing as a person. We are an eclectic group, and we love it. So many different types of people, skill sets, ages, and backgrounds. Rich in culture, personality and energy. So much energy! In Jamaica we say, “Out of Many, One People” and here at 821 Tennis we say, “Out of Many, One Community.”
What makes you happy?
What brings me joy are my relationships with my family, friends, and community.
I had a friend mention to me once that relationships are the most important form of currency, and I couldn’t agree more. I am extremely lucky to have amazing friends and family all over the world that I can truly rely on and that I love. My community at 821 Tennis is such a bonus and I have made so many new friends through our brand that will be lifelong friends. I also have family members, friends, and mentors that also are a part of 821. So, I know I am truly blessed with the love and support I have personally and professionally.
Another thing that brings me joy is truly Jamaica. I love that country so much and obviously living there and my culture contribute greatly to who I am today.
Pricing:
- $25-$35 per class
- $15-45 per events
- $45+ for larger events, trips, and collaborations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.821tennis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/821tennis
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/821tennis/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/821-tennis/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/821Tennis_
Image Credits
Malik Johnson @mxjphoto2, Fitness + Financial Gains @fitnessfinancialgains, and Vallonier Studios @vallonierstudios
