Sanya Richards-Ross Reveals Her Time as an Olympian Taught Her Not to Settle for 'Microwaveable Success'

Sanya Richards-Ross knows a thing or two about being exceptional! The Real Housewives of Atlanta star manages motherhood, being a world-renowned track star and owning several companies — and now she's using her platform to celebrate the importance of Black-owned and founded businesses.

"[Being in Atlanta] is the most inspiring thing in the world. You don't realize how impactful it is when you see people who look like you doing great things," Richards-Ross exclusively tells OK! while talking about teaming up with Wells Fargo and The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs.

The southern city was famously coined "Wakanda" by Atlanta native T.I. due to its thriving African-American economy, and Richards-Ross is constantly motivated by the metropolitan area.

"The one thing I love about this community, since I've been here for the last two years, is that people want to share their resources," the reality star shares.

Before fans saw the TV personality holding the quintessential Bravo peach, Richards-Ross was best known for dominating the Olympic games, as she's a four-time gold medalist. Aside from her experience on the track, the elite runner's husband, Aaron Ross, is an award-winning NFL cornerback and two-time Super Bowl champion.

"I always say sports is our greatest life teacher because through sports you learn so many things," the Mommination founder shares while reflecting on her and her spouse's careers. "I think the one thing we are so grateful that we learned, especially me as an Olympic athlete, is delayed gratification."

The couple met as college students at the University of Texas and have seen each other flourish in today's competitive industry.

"You know, I think a lot of people, especially right now in our society, everybody wants this microwaveable success that happens overnight," she adds. "I learned through sports that you got to put in the work!"

"It's about continuing to develop and use those lessons that we learned in sports to build great businesses and sports prepared us for that," she continues.

With Sanya and Aaron spending decades of their lives rooting for one another, they often collaborate professionally, as the duo recently released their loungewear collection, Coordinates.

"My husband and I launched a company called Coordinates," she shares. "It's a family-matching pajama line where you can grab your pajamas for the holidays."

"This project feels so authentic and so perfect at this time because all the things I love include family, entrepreneurship, and coordinating fashion," the brunette beauty adds.

With Sanya's history of representing the U.S. at the Olympics, she's been vocal about the challenges she faced as a sportswoman, and she's excited to see the next generation of women in sports such as Angel Reese, A'Ja Wilson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

"I live for it. I love it because, to be honest, we work so hard," Sanya exclaims. "We work equally as hard, sometimes harder than our male counterparts to be excellent in sport."

"For women now to not only be receiving the love and support they deserve for putting so much work into their sport but also to be being compensated fairly and all those things, it just means the world to me because I know what it takes to be the best in the world at your sport and it does take all of you," she notes.

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Wells Fargo and The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs are hosting a pop-up holiday market featuring products from local Black founders, and during the marketplace, The Bank of Doing and RICE, with the help of Sanya, will surprise five entrepreneurs with grants and resources to help them achieve their goals.

"What I love so much about Wells Fargo is they are the bank of doing," she admits. "For The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs to be able to come here and to see the impact that Wells Fargo has had in our community, helping small businesses to thrive, was just unbelievable and just so necessary."

"We all know that small businesses are the backbone of our community," Sanya continues. "And when you have access to resources and opportunities like this, it just injects life into your company."