The Glo-Getting Success of Sports Icons Sloane Stephens & Sybil Smith
The Dynamic Mother-Daughter Duo Balancing Family, Business, & Impact
January 14th, 2025 • 8 min read
Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens and her mother, Dr. Sybil Smith, are rewriting the playbook on how passion, discipline, and a touch of scrappiness can turn a vision into a celebrated brand. Their clean bodycare line, Doc & Glo, has not only caught the eye of Vogue, People, and Glossy, but it also stands as a testament to their shared commitment to wellness and giving back.
From Locker Rooms to Legacy
Doc & Glo was born from an unexpected source: the sweaty reality of tennis in a pandemic.
“Tennis is one of the few sports that continued [during COVID], so we were in locker rooms all the time and couldn’t shower,” Sloane recalls. “Everyone was really smelly! You never really smell anyone until nobody’s showering, I guess!” Determined to solve this problem, Sloane envisioned a high-performing bodycare line for athletes and everyday users alike.
Dr. Sybil Smith shared the personal significance behind the name Doc & Glo, which was Sloane's idea to honor her grandparents. "Sloane wanted to honor my parents in a way that was unique," Sybil explains. "My father is a physician…my mom was into politics and community and very active with all eight of us, so the lessons Sloane learned from my parents were powerful.” Naming the brand after them felt like the perfect way for Sloane and Sybil to celebrate their families legacy.
Back to the Beginning with Branding
Building Doc & Glo wasn’t always smooth sailing. One of their biggest challenges came during branding.
“Doc and Glo is what it is now because of one of the biggest struggles of our lives.” Sloane shared.
Initially, they had developed completely different branding, but it wasn’t until they were working on the website that someone flagged a near identical brand. “We had to go back and completely regroup on what the brand would look like and how it would live. We had to put together a whole new brand at the last minute and it was heartbreaking.”
Reflecting on the experience, she added, “It was a huge lesson because if we weren’t being scrappy and trying to figure out and get quotes from people, we may have never known. We would have launched a product that was identical to someone else’s brand, we would have gotten killed and no one would ever buy the product.”
The experience reinforced the importance of adaptability and refining your branding: “People see [your brand] for three seconds and they click away,” Sloane reminded us, “but if what they see is beautiful and amazing and it connects with them, that's when you find your customer.”
Balancing Family, Friends & Business
Running a family business adds its own complexities, but Sloane and Sybil have found a rhythm.
Reflecting on their evolving dynamic, Sybil shared, “When she was younger, probably between 12 and 17, she called me a ‘helicopter mom’ and well, I was! I was driven and really focused and I knew that if she was going to participate in sports, maybe to go to college as an athlete… get a scholarship - that she'd have to be disciplined.”
Now, the roles have shifted, and Sybil finds herself under Sloane’s guidance, “I feel like the last 5 years of developing this business it's been pretty much the same way except she's guiding and I'm following, and that's been really incredible.”
On working with people you have close relationships with, Sloane emphasized. “Business is business, and friendship is friendship…set those boundaries from the beginning. [Then] it's a lot easier to manage.” Highlighting that it’s about being upfront and making it clear when it’s work time and when it’s personal time, to avoid creating personal conflict and confusion.
Discipline Meets Passion
Discipline and passion drive everything Sloane and Sybil do, from the court to the boardroom.
“Every single moment matters, every dime matters, like keeping track of all of that - that matters. And it's discipline to wake up and do that,” Adding “But it's also the passion for what you're doing that actually makes you continue to go.”
Sybil agreed that strong discipline and perseverance are essential. “If you aren't disciplined and prepared to go to the ends of the Earth to accomplish your goal, it's just a dream.”
Bleeding Money But Building Dreams
Sloane shared an unfiltered look at the challenges of scaling in beauty. “It’s evolved a lot over the last, I’d say, year. In beauty care, the end-all, be-all, is Sephora, right? Everyone wants to get into Sephora, but that costs so much money. I think that actually scaling your business is being somewhere that you can actually make money and be profitable.”
But bleeding cash didn’t mean bleeding opportunities. “I was actually fortunate because my clothing manufacturer is Free People Movement, and so we were able to get into freepeoplemovement.com, on the website, what’s also owned by Urban, so that’s Anthropology and Urban Outfitters. So, that was a good connection that we already had.”
However, their dream retailer is Target because ‘it’s mass brand’, followed my ambitions to be in Sephora and Ulta. And she’s not just dreaming about store shelves; she’s imagining Doc and Glo products in high-end gyms and boutique spaces. “Finding the balance and finding where we’re selling will determine what retail partners we can take on in the future.”
Giving Back: The Heart of Doc & Glo
At the core of everything they do is a commitment to community. The Sloane Stephens Foundation, which Sloane founded at just 20 years old, has impacted over 15,000 underserved youth annually. With Doc & Glo, this mission continues through a $25,000 scholarship honoring her grandparents.
“Entrepreneurship is not for the weak…there have been a lot of ups and downs” Sloane stated. [But] if you love what you do, it doesn't really matter.”
Sloane and Sybil have turned challenges into triumphs, blending passion, resilience, and bold ambition to build a brand that shines. Launched only last year, Doc & Glo is gearing up for an exciting 2025 - expanding into new retail spaces, connecting with a growing community, and continuing to redefine beauty with heart and purpose. Watch this space!
Need to up your self-care game? Head to Doc & Glo now and explore there exciting new range!
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