Former WTA pro Danielle Mills Walden opens up about double knee surgery, missing holidays, and building a second life through mindset work
Danielle Mills Walden spent nearly a decade as a professional tennis player, competing on the WTA Tour at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. She trained from age 11 at IMG Academy under Nick Bollettieri, the same coach who worked with Venus and Serena Williams, Monica Seles and Andre Agassi. She gave up holidays, a traditional childhood and eventually her knees to get there.
Now she is a bestselling author, LinkedIn strategist and founder of Headstrong LLC, a coaching company built on the same discipline that once drove her across 42 countries a year. Her new book, Scratching the Surface, is out now.
How did you get into professional tennis?
My parents were the ones that got me into the sport. They started me at 3 years old, so as long as I’ve been walking, I was playing tennis. It’s everything that I know. I’m so thankful they got me into it at a young age.
After nearly a decade as a professional, you transitioned out of playing. What led to that decision?
A couple of different things happened. I suffered double knee surgery. My knees were struggling, and after recovering from that, I kept playing, but it changed the way I was playing. Tennis is singles or doubles, singles being one against one, and doubles being two against two. After my knee surgeries, I learned that I couldn’t move as well on the court, so I started doing more doubles.
I was doing that for a couple of years, but once I was in my mid-20s, I started realizing that maybe I need to think about what’s next. I had to make the hard decision to retire, and I wanted to retire not at the bottom, but in a good spot on my own terms.
Your book is Scratching the Surface. What is it about, and why should people pick it up?
The book is all about reaching your potential. It’s for the late bloomer. It’s for the person who feels like they were counted out, or didn’t get that opportunity they felt they deserved. It gives you the tools and the mindset tricks to create any opportunity you want in your life. Ultimately, it’s a book to inspire and motivate you to do anything you put your mind to.
You wrote about the identity crisis many athletes face when the applause stops. What did that look like for you?
It was tough, because since I was 3 years old, I’ve been a tennis player, and my entire life was surrounded by tennis. It was tough to see myself in a different way, because so much of my identity was tied to being an athlete.
But I learned that so many of the skills I built through training, being disciplined, organized, early and prepared, have led me into being a businesswoman, a keynote speaker, working with people all around the world. I had to change the way I viewed myself, and that allowed other people to view me as, yes, a tennis player, but also someone who does so many other things.
What are some of the things elite environments don’t discuss openly?
It’s a lot of sacrifices and discipline. In high school, I went to a sports school where I was playing tennis for 6 hours a day and going to school for one and a half or two hours. My whole day was focused on being an elite athlete, sacrificing a normal child’s life, not getting to do the things kids normally do.
Another example, for about 10 years, from around age 13 to 21, I missed Thanksgiving and Christmas because I was always at a tournament. Some of the biggest tournaments take place during major holidays. While people are with their families eating, I am waking up at 6 in the morning to practice, then heading to a tournament in Mexico during Thanksgiving. People just think, when you’re an elite athlete, you work hard and everybody’s tough. They don’t see all the things you’re giving up to focus on that one thing.
For example, the Australian Open falls in the first or second week of January, and most players have to fly there on Christmas or the day after, flying 18 hours to get to Australia while most people are in family mode during the holidays.
You founded Headstrong LLC. What is it, and what do you hope to achieve with it?
When I created Headstrong, it was a mindset mentoring company where I would work with people, help them get unblocked if they’re stuck in any area of their life where they don’t feel like they’re reaching their potential. I would dissect what they’re doing, fix their mindset and get them thinking differently.
It started shifting because I started having success on LinkedIn and people started asking me for tips. I realized I had something there, so I became a LinkedIn branding coach. I help people brand themselves on LinkedIn so they can get the job or career they love. I use the same principles from mindset coaching in that work, because if you’re going to put yourself out there on LinkedIn, it’s going to be tough if you don’t feel confident about yourself and your abilities.
I love being hired by a company to speak to their team. I help organizations make their employees look strong so that when they’re recruiting, it looks organized and on point. I can also help them sell through LinkedIn. It’s rewarding when I can work with someone and help them get that career they didn’t know they could get, or that internal promotion. A lot of it has to do with how they position and brand themselves, and not just do the bare minimum.
What’s next after this book release?
More stages. I have big goals in 2026. I want to be on Essence Fest speaking, and I want to do South by Southwest next year. My plan is to amp up my speaking engagements and hopefully be coming to a conference near you to talk about leadership, adversity and mindset.
What advice would you give to a young athlete just starting out?
Stay in the present moment. Not focused on what happened two weeks ago, or the loss that occurred, or so focused on the future. Stay present in the practice you’re in, because if you’re present where you are, you’ll enjoy what you’re doing. We so often live in the past or the future and not in what we’re doing.
My biggest regret is not being in the moment during my career. I traveled to over 42 countries and was on the road 36 weeks a year, and it was a blur. I wasn’t present because I was doing what I needed to do, but not enjoying the moment. Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Where can people find you and Headstrong?
The best way is to search Danielle Mills Walden on Google and everything comes up. On LinkedIn, you can search by name, reach out, send me a message. I respond to everybody. headstrongmind.com is my website, where you can see all of my services and get information for the book. Scratching the Surface is on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever you get books.
