Ben Shelton’s Brand Play: Inside His Thorne Partnership

American tennis star Ben Shelton knows his way around a professional photo shoot. It’s also not uncommon he’s the center of attention. It all combined recently as Shelton served as the face of a new campaign launching for Thorne.

“Certainly, it is something that is really cool for me and I’m just really excited about,” Shelton tells me. “This is a company that is making a big push into the sports marketing world, and I thought they did an amazing job. The work I did with them lines up with the biggest and best companies in the world in terms of photo shoots. You can tell when you get on set with a company if they are for real, if they are serious or is this child’s play? It was a very serious operation they had and that makes it more fun.”

Shelton, 22, who turned professional in 2022 after a successful run at the University of Florida, has put his finance and business education at the Gainesville school to good use, parsing out the best business relationships as he grows his portfolio.

Thorne was the latest in a line of brands that made sense for him. “It is a company that is a natural, it fits like a glove,” the World No. 14 says. “They are products I already use in a space that I love and am interested in. For me, I couldn’t be happier, to be honest, it is one of those brand partnerships that works really well.”

MORE: Ben Shelton, The Brand: His Story To Tell

Shelton says he’s not an athlete who takes every deal that comes his way or works with someone “because they throw a big number in my face.” He’s more selective. Shelton wants companies he works with to align with his beliefs—or at least has product he likes—and doesn’t wany anything to come across corny or forced. “I am building a group of brands I truly believe in,” he says.

Shelton’s interaction with Thorne, a health and wellness company focused on nutritional supplements for athletes, started organically when he turned professional because of the brand’s reputation for being clean. “They were the one thing I knew I could take, and I wouldn’t get popped for being contaminated with some stupid substance,” he says, after doing research and talking with other professional athletes. “I always felt safe.”

That relationship turned into a business partnership.

He’s used the brand’s amino complex, the creatine and the magnesium bisglycinate. He’s also started diving into the everyday electrolytes, enjoying the product because it has enhanced his performance without causing issues (when asked what flavors he’d add to the current lineup of watermelon, blood orange and mango limeade he says it is “early days” yet).

“Some things can be over the top or get you too jittery,” he says. “I feel the products are clean and they have the right combination of products to help with sleep, muscle relaxation, prep for the gym and everyday hydration. It is a good, cohesive unit of supplements that help me the through my training days and match days.”

Working with Thorne isn’t just for show, then. Shelton calls it a “true partnership,” and that’s part of what he’s learned in his early business journey. “I have learned that money isn’t everything,” he says. “I feel that I have done a good job of being able to read when you’re working with a company if they care about you, have a relationship that can really grow into something, if they want you to learn about the company and the business world or if it is just a transactional take a picture of your face. The relationship side of things is really important and is a piece not as many people think about.”

Showing you care about the people you work and that you are interested is an important piece of the business world, Shelton says.

Having an interest and background in business and finance has led Shelton to be active when it comes to the business side of his tennis. He wants to interact and learn from different people, whether discussing how he’s investing his money with his financial advisor, understanding how his taxes are working by talking to his CPA or discussing business deals with his agent. “There are a lot of learning moments for me,” he says.” I am more hands-on and not just, ‘okay take care of it.’ I feel I have learned a lot over the last two to three years and it is a product of having good people in my corner who will take the time to explain things.”

While Shelton has plenty of goals for his tennis, he’s thinking more and more about business. He says that when it comes to equity deals, you usually put that in the back end of your career when you’re already more secure, and while you may have a target of how many deals to have at any one time, you have to be willing to adapt in the moment when a great opportunity comes up or if you start feeling too burned out. “There are long term goals, for sure,” he says. “Certainly, these are things I think about and am interested in. I have a place I want to get to.”

For now, that place is as the face of Thorne.