WNBA athlete Azurá Stevens shares how the mindset of professional basketball translates directly to business—from daily discipline to building authentic brand partnerships and staying resilient through setbacks.
Azurá Stevens is a power forward for the WNBA, but her understanding of business runs deep. Watching her dad start a food truck business, she learned that preparation, persistence, and authenticity matter as much in business as they do on the court.
In this episode, Azurá gets real about the parallels between professional sports and entrepreneurship—the intensity of high-pressure moments, the discipline of showing up daily without seeing immediate results, and why authenticity is the only strategy that works for building lasting partnerships.
What you'll learn:
Azurá:
"There's a lot of parallels between on the court and business—discipline, putting in daily habits and not always seeing the results immediately, but eventually those coming to fruition."
"Just stick with it. Even seeing my dad start the food truck, there were so many unknowns, but things tend to work out the way that they need to."
"I always take a step back and ask: what am I learning right now? What is this situation trying to teach me?"
Links & Resources:
Timestamps:
01:00 - Career Priorities and Quality of Life
01:44 - Basketball Journey and Future Aspirations
02:44 - International vs. Homeland Basketball Experience
04:19 - College Basketball Experiences
07:50 - Pro Athlete Mindset and Challenges
08:50 - Hopes for the Future of Women's Basketball
11:29 - Supporting Small Businesses
12:26 - Intensity in Business and Sports
13:22 - Building a Personal Brand
15:39 - Community Involvement and Awards
16:53 - Advice for Business Owners
0:00:00.2 Azurá Stevens: I remember when I got the call from Geno, and it was just like, "Okay, I don't think I'm gonna consider going anywhere else." // There's a lot of parallels between, I think, on the court, in business discipline putting in daily habits and not always seeing the results immediately, but eventually those coming to fruition. Even seeing my dad start the food truck, there were so many unknowns. There were so many different things that he wasn't sure of. But just sticking with it, seeing him just continue to go and things tend to work out the way that they need to.
0:00:28.9 Everett Sands: That's Azurá Stevens, pro athlete and investor. She's winning on and off the court. Join me and join us as we talk about resilience, things that all small business owners should know. I'm Everett Sands, your host and the CEO of Lendistry. This is Small Business Unscripted. Let's get into it. Azurá, thank you so much for coming.
0:01:00.3 Azurá Stevens: Thank you for having me.
0:01:02.0 Everett Sands: So I ask everybody that comes to the show this one question. As you're thinking about right now, what's important to you? Career, compensation, or quality of life? What order would you put that in?
0:01:13.1 Azurá Stevens: I would say quality of life first for me. Just, I've had a lot of opportunities in my career thus far, and I think just my mental health, my personal relationships, my physical health, when all those things are clicking, everything else seems to fall in line. So for me, quality of life is definitely number one. And then compensation is definitely second. It's a long career, but not that long. So just trying to capitalize on that as much as I can while I'm young, have this body that I have, and then career wise that falls in line after that.
0:01:45.1 Everett Sands: Yeah, that's good. When you think about career what would you like to do after the WNBA?
0:01:51.2 Azurá Stevens: I definitely want to stay involved in the sport to some extent. Basketball has been my life since I was a little girl. So I've just been through so many different experiences, met so many people. I know the game the back of my hand, so I definitely want to stay involved, but maybe somewhere on the business side, on the other side of it. And so I don't know exactly what, but definitely in that capacity and then get into the business world a little bit. I have a little experience with that, so tap into that side a little bit more.
0:02:18.1 Everett Sands: All right, so let's first teach our audience a little bit about you. Prior to the Sparks, you were at the Chicago sky, spent some time with the Wings who drafted you, right?
0:02:38.1 Azurá Stevens: Yes, in 2018.
0:02:40.4 Everett Sands: And then you've also played overseas.
0:02:41.9 Azurá Stevens: Yeah.
0:02:42.4 Everett Sands: You play for Unrivaled and then US National team.
0:02:46.6 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, the three on three team. I played with them. I played with them a few times. Yeah.
0:02:51.4 Everett Sands: Okay. Nice. And then Pan American games.
0:02:54.1 Azurá Stevens: Yeah.
0:02:55.1 Everett Sands: All right, so that's a lot there. So let's first talk about international versus homeland. What's the difference in the game?
0:03:02.4 Azurá Stevens: I think like, international is a little more old school. Yeah, it's definitely more physical depending on where you play. In China, it's really, really physical. That's probably the most physical league I've played in.
0:03:14.8 Everett Sands: Interesting.
0:03:14.8 Azurá Stevens: Yeah. So it's funny, when I hear people complaining about the refs, I'm like, "Well, in China you never do that because you just know you're not getting the foul call." And then Turkey was a different style of play too. It just depends on where you're at, the group of players that you're playing with. But European, it's fun. It's high pace, it's fast paced as well. So that prepared me for Len's system. Yeah, it just depends where you're playing.
0:03:42.0 Everett Sands: Cool. When I think about going overseas, I spent two and a half months overseas, like in Japan. This is more about studying and things like that. I'm sure as a player you have a translator.
0:03:50.9 Azurá Stevens: Yeah.
0:03:53.3 Everett Sands: But do you go off on your own? Do you try to explore?
0:03:55.0 Azurá Stevens: It depends where you're at. So in China, I had a translator that was with me literally everywhere. I couldn't do anything without her. So me and her spent a lot of time together. And then I had a translator on the court because again, with the language barrier I wouldn't be able to understand anything. But when I was in Turkey, I didn't have a translator outside of basketball. So me and a couple of the other Americans, we were able to just explore everything on our own. And we used Google Translate a lot when we were like, shopping and stuff like that. Yeah, it depends on where your playing at, how they mix all that up.
0:04:30.4 Everett Sands: That's cool. So you spent some time at Duke?
0:04:34.4 Azurá Stevens: Yes.
0:04:35.6 Everett Sands: Spent some time at UConn. I think they're like arch rivals. I don't know how you did that. So what was your experience like?
0:04:41.9 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, Duke was awesome. It was cream of the crop, educational school. So just to be able to learn there and build my network there was really cool. Basketball wise, it was great. Also, they have a great pedigree there. So the program was a little shaky when I got there. We did some things, and it was nice to be close to home. That was really important to me coming out of high school. But then after my second year I just wanted something different. I wanted to change. I felt like I wanted to take on a different challenge. So I went to the...
0:05:12.4 Everett Sands: So you went to the toughest one. Thank God.
0:05:15.3 Azurá Stevens: Yeah. I remember when I got the call from Geno, and it was just like, "Okay, I don't think I'm going to consider going anywhere else." But, no, UConn was amazing. Just the preparation that I learned from being there, it really helped me for this level, and I learned so much being there. It was extremely hard, but it really set me up just for being prepared for this next level, and I was really, really grateful to be able to experience that.
0:05:43.0 Everett Sands: Yeah, when you reflect back, Geno is obviously in the history books and considered one of the greatest coaches of all time. How do you reflect back on some of the things he taught you today?
0:05:54.7 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, I think just the preparation was the biggest thing. When I was going through it, there was a lot of times where I didn't understand why we were doing this, or why it had to be this difficult. And then it's like, when I got to the pros or even when I was playing there, when we got in the games and it was so much easier than the practice, it all made sense. So that was just one of the biggest lessons I took from that, that you have to really prepare for things and prepare at a certain level, and it'll really set you up for success on the other end. And so he just is a master at what he does. So for him to be able to sustain that for as many years as he has, it's really awesome. But I distinctly remember that my rookie year getting to the league and being like, "Okay I'm really prepared for this." And it was a certain level of ease that I had. Yeah, just really grateful to be able to have experience that.
0:06:45.7 Everett Sands: What's it like when you talk to some of the legends or you mentioned that the team members in Chicago were more veterans versus today. How do you feel? Like the game has changed and then we'll get into the WNBA specifically.
0:07:00.4 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, just how process driven that they are. Obviously they wanted to win, but it was just about breaking it down to every single day coming in and trying to be the best at that day. And I really learned that from the veterans that I played with in Chicago because I think nowadays it can be really easy to get overwhelmed with trying to get the next biggest thing, and how quickly can I get it? But things take time to develop and to grow. So I just learned that from them just approaching every day with a certain mentality, and it helped us to be successful. But I think that's something that some of the younger kids can learn today, is that things don't always come quickly. It takes time to win. It takes time to build certain things, and it's the daily habits that make that up.
0:07:48.2 Everett Sands: It's so interesting. We'll talk about this a little bit more later. But so much connectivity to business. Taking your time, taking the patience, having the discipline in the routines and even in the mindset.
0:08:00.4 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, 100%.
0:08:00.6 Everett Sands: I can't even imagine the mindset. So what's it like being a pro athlete? If I say, run through that wall, would you run through the wall? How do you think about that mindset you have to have out there?
0:08:10.5 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, it's a mix. It's a balance. It's a balance between being super intense, but also being intentional with yourself, your body, because this is our money maker. So I think when you're a pro, you have to find that balance for you, and you have to find what works for you. Your whole setup is not going to be the same as somebody else's, but as long as you find what works for you, it can help you to sustain and build that longevity. But you got to have an intense mindset for sure, because it's cutthroat. This is the top level. So everybody wants to be here, everybody wants to be successful. And every year there's a new crop of people coming up that are trying to get your spot. So you definitely have to be intense, but I think you just have to be confident in yourself, and what got you here too, you know it wasn't a mistake you becoming a pro, me becoming a pro. So I always remind myself of that remember remembering what makes me unique and trying to add, but sticking true to who I am and myself.
0:09:02.8 Everett Sands: When you look back you think, I don't know, let's say it's 10 years down the road and I realize you'll still be in a sport or in some way. What are you hoping? What do you hope that you've trailblazed or the ladies who have trailblazed right now?
0:09:16.8 Azurá Stevens: I hope for the treatment to be what it needs to be for us as women, even for all the people that played, the women that played before us, I know that they look at some of the stuff we have now and they're like, "Dang, it's nice that they have that, but I wish we would have had those charter fights." So I hope that just the treatment continues to get to the level that it's supposed to. And specifically the pay. Like, I think the pay is the biggest thing that...
0:09:42.6 Everett Sands: Absolutely.
0:09:42.6 Azurá Stevens: I hope that the league figures out in years to come. Young girls that are growing up, they can see that they can be a part of a league that really values them as players and as women.
0:09:52.4 Everett Sands: Now a quick word from our boss, Lendistry’s customer.
0:10:01.8 Jennifer Yee: My name is Jennifer Yee. I own Baker's Bench, and we are based in Los Angeles. Before I found Lendistry and I was applying for SBA loans or I was just trying to get access to capital, I was really frustrated. At that point, I had 12 years of banking experience. Like, I knew I knew how to do it. And I just was really missing one last really large piece, which is capital. Without Lendistry, I wouldn't have been able to open the brick and mortar that we have. I wouldn't have been able to create 10 jobs. And I wouldn't be where I am today. Even after the loan was finalized almost two years ago, I still am in contact with Lendistry. They reach out to me and help me for whatever spot, watch things that I need. It feels very reassuring and thinking that such a large company has vouched for me and believes in my success. And it also feels very validating, like I'm a real business. I think it's great. I totally recommend Lendistry.
0:11:16.6 Everett Sands: So we've talked a lot about basketball. We talked about the WNBA. You're the brand ambassador for Lendistry, thank you very much for that.
0:11:23.1 Azurá Stevens: Thank you.
0:11:25.2 Everett Sands: When you think about education and empowerment, how do you think about that in terms of business education, especially either women, underserved communities, just how do you think about business?
0:11:37.4 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, I think it's important. It makes up our society. So I love what this brand stands for. Just really tapping into the small businesses, because that's what makes up the communities, and it makes our community shine. So it's important for young kids to be able to see that they can grow up and own their own businesses and see these types of examples and know that if there's a will, there's a way. So it's really important just what we're trying to do here now.
0:12:04.1 Everett Sands: It's my understanding that you understand small business because you come from one. So tell us a little bit about that.
0:12:09.7 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, my dad, he owns a food truck. It's called Same O Dame O's Shrimp, Fish & Grits. So he started it around 2019, right before COVID. And just to be able to see where it's at today is really special, obviously, because it's my dad, but I've seen him from when I was a little kid just cooking and doing all that. So to see it turn into a business, it's really awesome to see everything come to fruition.
0:12:34.8 Everett Sands: Okay. What's the name one more time?
0:12:36.1 Azurá Stevens: Same O Dame O's Shrimp, Fish & Grits.
0:12:39.5 Everett Sands: Same O Dame O's. That's cool. So when I think about intensity as a business owner. I think about there are days where you want to make payroll. There are days when you think about the bills, different things like that. Do you connect that to the intensity on the court?
0:12:51.5 Azurá Stevens: Oh, for sure, for sure. I've actually helped on the truck a little bit. So it's funny, when I was helping, when it first started I prepared, like us going out to a festival to my game day. So I get ready, get routine, all of that. But no, it's definitely intense. There's a lot of heated moments. There's a lot of high pressure situations. And you got to find a way to keep your cool and be able to make the best decision even with all that pressure. So I definitely relate a lot of business situations to on the court. Just the mindset, there's a lot of parallels between, I think on the court and business, discipline, putting in daily habits and not always seeing the results immediately. But eventually those coming to fruition. So there's a lot of parallels between the two.
0:13:35.0 Everett Sands: Yeah, that's great, that's great. So when you think about your own brand and you think, because I'm sure some of our audience is probably like, what's a brand ambassador? What is that to you? And then tell me how you choose which way you go.
0:13:48.1 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, for me, a brand is just what represents you, the things that are important to you. And then a brand ambassador is just you representing different companies that in line with what you are already doing. And so that's how I build my brand is just products and companies that are already in line with my natural life and just keeping it authentic. That's always been something I try to lead with when it comes to different brands that I want to work with. And so Lendistry, obviously is really personal to me and just my family. And then also Mela Vitamins as well. Just something that I was already using and seeing like, "Hey, can we collab together and try to make this thing work." So I just try to lead with authenticity when it comes to different brands.
0:14:30.8 Everett Sands: Yeah. I find that a lot of people either hear about NIL or they hear about deals, so to speak. But few people get to hear from the pro side. Like why you all choose and different things like that. And I also think that as you know today, there's so many marketing and gimmicky approaches. But I think it's cool to hear your authentic voice, like this is why you're thinking about it or why you make a decision to do it.
0:14:56.4 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, for sure.
0:14:58.2 Everett Sands: Yeah. So any other, like what I'll call hobbies/interests, as you continue to think about your growth, your brand or anything like that, what else moves you?
0:15:08.9 Azurá Stevens: Mental health is a big one too, so just trying to find companies that are big on that. Yeah, I think that's important and it's a taboo topic sometimes, but we all deal with it to some extent. So that's something that I'm pretty passionate about. I love working with kids as well. So anything with that. Yeah, my brand's always growing. I'm always trying to find different things to get into.
0:15:33.8 Everett Sands: Yeah, look, if we're going to talk, you're going to talk about intensity. I think mental health goes with it. Because it has to be balanced.
0:15:42.5 Azurá Stevens: Yeah. Hundred percent.
0:15:44.2 Everett Sands: [0:15:45.5] All the time. You got to know how to come down. And when you spike, don't spike too much, so to speak.
0:15:50.2 Azurá Stevens: Try to find that middle ground as much as possible.
0:15:52.4 Everett Sands: Exactly. So you actually won the WNBA Cares Community Award. Tell us a little bit about that.
0:15:57.0 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, last year, it just happened organically. I was out the first half of the season with an injury, so I really had time to just get into the community and serve as much as I could. Do a lot of different events. I went to some elementary schools, read some of them. We did a cooking class with an elementary school once. Just a lot of different events in the community. And then they called me after the season and said I got the awards. So it was pretty special just to be able to be recognized for something that I enjoy doing, and it's nice to be able to give back. I always tell the different places that I went, like I learned so much from them, just being able to see them and just their perseverance through a lot of different things.
0:16:36.1 Everett Sands: Yeah, that's cool. As you think about, again other community and different things do you think that's part of your future?
0:16:44.0 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, for sure. I think so. It's always been something that I've done from a young age. And so I think it's definitely something that I want to continue to do even when I don't have this platform. Just finding ways to give back and serve others. It's really an enriching experience when you're able to do that. So in some way, shape or form, I think I'll be working in the community even when I'm done playing. Yeah.
0:17:06.0 Everett Sands: Gotcha. So if you were a business owner and you were thinking, okay, I want to get involved in either what I would say, sports, some type of marketing related to sports. What would be the things as a business owner you would be looking at?
0:17:18.5 Azurá Stevens: Yeah, I think just if my vision aligned with whoever we were looking at, I think that's really important in the relationship. Getting to know someone, meeting them, and seeing how we align as a partnership and what that would look like. So I think starting with that, because if you don't align it just wouldn't feel authentic. And I'm really big on that. So that's definitely one of the main things I would look into.
0:17:42.9 Everett Sands: Gotcha. That makes sense. When you think about, again as a business owner. And you're thinking about trying to make a decision. Why would you choose the WNBA?
0:17:54.0 Azurá Stevens: Oh, that's a great question. Just because of where it's headed. It's been around. It's been in the mix here and there, but over the past couple of years, it's just taking off, and now's the time. If I was a business owner, I would really try to invest because once it takes off, you might not have the opportunity.
0:18:15.4 Everett Sands: Totally right. It might price you out.
0:18:18.6 Azurá Stevens: Yeah. So I think now is really a time to capitalize on it, because it's still taking off. But I think once it takes off for good, those opportunities and chances might not be there.
0:18:28.3 Everett Sands: Sticking with that business owner and giving them advice. You've been building resilience your whole career, in sports. What would you say to that business owner as they think about trying to build that resilient mindset?
0:18:41.6 Azurá Stevens: Just always taking a step back and asking what am I learning right now? What is this situation trying to teach me? Because there's so many lessons that you learn through different... Through your career, through your path, and some of those lessons tend to show up again later. And so trying to take a step back when things are challenging, when they're hard, and think, what am I needing to learn from this? And often it's skills that you can use later down in the line. So that's definitely something I've stuck with and trying to build resilience through injury through different failures like what can I learn from this? So that next time the situation comes around, I'm better prepared. And then you go from there.
0:19:20.8 Everett Sands: Yeah. I think that's really, really important because you said this earlier and call it the practices with UConn, like you're going through something you don't really know why, or you don't know the end result, but if you can just stick through it, which I think has definitely happened to me in my career. There have been times where I'm like, "Why am I trying so hard to get this SBA license? " And the next thing you know, we needed it. Why am I talking to this capital provider? And they actually become a pretty good partner down the road as we give it that time, someone starting their own business, any other advice you would give them outside of the resilience.
0:19:57.8 Azurá Stevens: Just stick with it. I think starting off, even seeing my dad start the food truck, there were so many unknowns. There were so many different things that he wasn't sure of. But just sticking with it, seeing him just continue to go and things tend to work out the way that they need to. And also building a community, that really helps, I think just networking with other people who have been through it, getting advice from them, because you can work smarter that way and not always harder. But there's a lot of people out here who have knowledge and experience. And so just being able to network, that's always helped me. When I go to new teams, new cities, who can I find that's been here, who that knows what to do, and learning little tidbits through and then just staying true to yourself, remembering that even if you take advice from someone else, there's a reason why you're in this position. So staying true and authentic to you and who you are.
0:20:47.0 Everett Sands: Yeah, I think that's cool. That's cool. Thank you for your time.
0:20:50.8 Azurá Stevens: Thank you.
0:20:51.2 Everett Sands: Azurá. It's great talking to you.
0:20:51.9 Azurá Stevens: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
0:20:53.1 Everett Sands: Thank you for joining us on Small Business Unscripted. Want more? Join us on smallbusinessunscripted.com for helpful resources, additional episodes and lots more.