Stephanie Rice shares tearful career update after being rejected from over 130 jobs

Stephanie Rice, 38, has shared a tearful update days after launching a new business, and revealing she was rejected from more than 130 jobs.

The Australian Olympic swimmer, who changed her surname to Lassey after marrying pastor Mark Lassey in 2025, revealed to Instagram on Thursday that her circumstances have changed massively in the last week.

“I spent eight months applying for jobs with no progress,” she wrote over a clip of her smiling through tears.

“Yet ONE week dedicated to the business idea God gave me, and we’ve experienced more open doors and provision than the last four months combined.

“God really can turn things around JUST. LIKE. THAT.”

Alongside the video, Stephanie penned a long caption admitting that she was “shocked how quickly things have shifted this past week”.

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She thanked her God and Jesus, adding “we [presumably her and Mark] really needed this!!“.

On Wednesday, Stephanie announced she was launching a prayer board business after praying to her God for a business idea.

The Olympian said she had started about eight businesses through the years but none had been successful.

“All of them have fizzled out or gone nowhere, and I know it’s because I was trying to do it in my own strength,” she said.

“Naturally, when I became a Christian, I was just so excited to pray for God to bless me with a business idea, something that I didn’t come up with.

“And six months ago, when I was on a prayer walk, it felt as though out of heaven this idea just dropped and fell into my heart, and the more I thought about it, the more excited I got.”

Stephanie explained the business will combine her love of stationery, crafts, and her Christian faith into a one-stop shop where shoppers can buy pack with everything they need to put a prayer board together.

“After 130 job applications and literally no open doors in the corporate world, I have decided to commit my whole heart, at least for the rest of this year, on bringing this idea and product to life,” she said.

“And I can’t tell you how much lighter I feel already just stepping into this commitment. I don’t know what God has in store, but I just feel so excited.”

Stephanie publicly announced her conversion to Christianity early on in her romance with Mark and has vocally embraced her new life as a pastor’s wife.

She regularly posts Christian content on her social media accounts, including videos chronicling her “day in the life as a pastor’s wife”.

Earlier this week she announced she was stepping back from looking for a corporate job after being rejected from more than 130 roles.

I’m just taking it as a sign that [God] doesn’t want me pursuing a full-time job right now,” she said in yet another Instagram video.

She also explained that she had landed a director position 18 months ago and was promoted to CEO within a matter of months, but resigned before she started.

“During the negotiation process I just felt the lord saying to me that my time with them was finished and that he had something else for me,” she said.

“In obedience, I resigned and totally thought that I would land an amazing new role within such a short time.”

Now she intends to focus on her prayer board business.

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