23 time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams says that five years ago, she never thought she would still be playing tennis and has no idea where she will be five or ten years later. In an interview to HuffPost, Williams says, “Five years ago I would’ve told you there’s no way in the world I’ll be playing tennis, not on this planet.
And I still am, so I try to stay away from that question (where would you be five years later). I have no idea. I literally have no idea. It could be anything.” Williams says she continues to be inspired by her sister Venus Williams, her mom Oracene and all other working women.
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“I’m inspired every day by my sister [Venus Williams]. I just think she is someone that has gone through so much in our life and continues and never gives up and believes and fights and is amazing. And so, that’s incredible.
I’m inspired by my mom. Every day I learned something from her and now that I’m a mom, I really rely on her a lot more. And I’m kind of afraid because I’m like, “Oh my God, I think I rely on her more than I ever have,” and it’s almost too much.
And I’m like, “Mom, can you do this or do that, the baby’s here, you go there”. I think she likes it. Oh, she likes it. And it’s inspiring though because I look back and the thought of her having five kids and she was a champion from the beginning.
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So it is really about drawing inspiration from, I like to say, the woman next door. They don’t have to have $20 million, they can just be great, and they could just literally live next door to you. And I think that is really some people that are overlooked.
When asked about what she would want her daughter not to go through in the future, Serena says she hopes her daughter would not face gender inequality. “I’m thinking inequality, gender. Because she is going to be a Black woman, even though she is of mixed race, it’s going to be harder for her.
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But those are things that I hope won’t be as hard. I mean, it wasn’t as hard for me as it was for my mom, and hopefully then maybe for my daughter, it will be a little less or a lot less. There’ll be some challenges, but I just want to prepare her for that, and not necessarily not want her to go through it, but I want her to go through it in the right way.
Because sometimes you go through things and it makes you a better person, it makes you a smarter individual, and you kind of need it. And even though it sucks, you just got to do it. So hopefully, it won’t be too much, but it’s all a learning experience to create the person that you are.”
Serena Williams Joins Forces With The Mom Project To Help Mothers Access Better Career Opportunities
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At a point where her tennis career seems closer to its ultimate culmination, decorated champion and the long-time face of American tennis, Serena Williams continues to expand her portfolio of off-the-court initiatives that she is throwing her support behind. Last week Williams announced that she is becoming a strategic adviser for Chicago-based startup, The Mom Project, which is a platform that aims to eliminate the bias that currently exists around hiring mothers by connecting mothers with quality career opportunities.
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Since giving birth to her daughter, Olympia, in 2017, Williams has been a vocal advocate for issues facing women, specifically mothers. She is also putting her money where her mouth is as The Mom Project is just the latest in a string of such ventures Williams has lent her name, time, or money to as last year she officially announced the launch of her venture fund, Serena Ventures, which she had been operating in stealth mode for a number of years prior to the announcement, primarily making investments in companies founded by women and people of color. Among her more notable investments (in addition to The Mom Project) include, home fitness company, Tonal, women’s premium razor brand, Billie, and pre/post-natal care platform, Mahmee.
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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of The Mom Project’s biggest investors is Initialized Capital, the venture fund of her husband, startup veteran, and Reddit Co-Founder, Alexis Ohanian. The two have become a startup investing “power couple” of sorts as the two have made a number of side by side investments across their expansive and ever-growing portfolios.
Though the terms of her arrangement with The Mom Project weren’t disclosed, it’s likely that Williams will be receiving a non-trivial amount of equity in the company, a practice that is becoming increasingly prevalent among prominent figures in sports and entertainment. From the perspective of The Mom Project, the deal is an absolute “no-brainer” because not only is Serena one of the most dominant and popular female athletes of all-time but her off-the-court advocacy for mothers has helped her reach an audience that is much broader than sports.
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Having already raised over $10 Million, The Mom Project currently has over 200,000 moms using their platform and have served as the bridge to over $50 Million in economic opportunities for their users. However, with their new champion for opportunities for moms on board, it’s safe to assume those numbers are about to spike in a big way.
