Pro Tennis Player Sloane Stephens Reveals Sweet Inspiration Behind Doc & Glo Brand Name

The body care brand is named after two very important figures in her life.

Sloane Stephens / Leon Bennett/Getty Images

In August of this year, professional tennis player Sloane Stephens embarked on a new venture: a body care brand called Doc & Glo.

In many ways, it was years in the making. As a professional athlete, recovery is a very important part of the 31-year-old’s daily routine. Between red light therapy, dry brushing, cold plunges, saunas and cryotherapy, according to People, Stephens’s routine has always been intensive.

But, even considering all of the different facets of her recovery process, the athlete still felt like pieces were missing. So she created Doc & Glo in order to eliminate those gaps. While the idea itself had been bubbling up for a long time, the process of ideating, creating and perfecting the actual products took about four years. “Making custom formulations, everything from scratch, was a process,” she told People. “I didn’t want to rush anything. It was very much my passion project: beauty has always been something I’ve been really passionate about.”

Thus far, Stephens has dropped two products: the No. 3161 Game-Changing Deodorant and the 24/7 Hustle Deodorizing Body Mist. They are composed of simple, safe ingredients—an important tenet of the brand, according to Stephens, who is “very thoughtful” when it comes to the products that she uses and recommends.

But when it comes to her new brand, the products themselves aren’t the only piece born out of the tennis player’s thoughtfulness. Even the name of the company has a story behind it.

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“I named the brand Doc & Glo after my grandparents, Doc—his name is Noel—and then my grandma’s name is Glo—well, her name is Gloria, but we called her Glo,” Stephens explained in a recent video shared to Instagram. When she sat down to name the brand, she knew she wanted it to have a personal tint. “I always try to integrate parts of my life in everything that I do.”

With that in mind, she arrived at her grandparents, two people who she loves and has a strong connection to. After playing around with different iterations—including “Document Your Glow,” an early idea for the name—Stephens decided to keep it simple. Thus, Doc & Glo was born.

So far, the experience has taught her that “entrepreneurship is not for the weak,” she told People. But Stephens is embracing the difficulties, and—as always—pouring her all into this latest venture.