At SERENA WILLIAMS’ age…
37, born on September 26, 1981, you might not expect her to be slowing down, but she’s just getting started, but she is! Sure, she’s an internationally recognized superstar athlete, mom and fashion icon wh0 has been in the spotlight for over two decades. But ya’ll ain’t seen nothing yet! Serena launched Serena Ventures, an investment entity in April. She uses her own money to fund women and POC owned business. On her investment website, she makes it clear that she’s just getting started, too!
“In 2014, I launched Serena Ventures with the mission of giving opportunities to founders across an array of industries. Serena Ventures invests in companies that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity and opportunity.
Serena Ventures focuses on early stage companies, and giving them the opportunity to be heard. As we grow, we hope to mentor young founders and take burgeoning entrepreneurs to the next level. Serena Ventures extends relationships, encourages collaboration among portfolio companies, and expands partnership opportunities across my vast network. Similar to many of the companies we have invested in, we are just getting started and are hoping to make a difference.”
“It goes without saying that Serena Williams is a winner, but in case you weren’t sure, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has been named one of Forbes’ “Richest Self-Made Women” thanks to her estimated fortune of $225 million!”FYI: Serena is the first athlete ever to make Forbes’ annual list of the World’s Richest Self-Made Women! (BET.com)
Serena is being featured on the cover of the upcoming issue of ESSENCE. In the press release I received (below), she share’s some thoughts on fashion, body positive and speaking up. My favorite part is what she’s doing to get rid of the word, “plus”. I think her efforts to increase body positivity are especially impactful because she is so athletic and iconically fashion savvy. But guess what, she dresses according to her mood and thinks every woman is GREAT. That’s why she has a size in her clothing line called S Great! Here at 24/7 Modern Mom, we celebrate Serena!
We love that at Serena Williams’ age, she’s just getting started on these new and exciting endeavors while uplifting others along the way!
Here’s what she shared with ESSENCE!
“We are beyond ecstatic to have Serena Williams—one of the most photographed women on the planet— to be the muse for our September Global Fashion issue,“ said ESSENCE Chief Content & Creative Officer MoAna Luu. “This issue promises to be one of ESSENCE’s biggest with a fresh new redesign. We also brought the best Black creatives in the world—including visual artist Láolú, who gave us Serena’s stunning face painting for the cover—to present all of the stunning visuals that you see.”
The multi-hyphenate wife/mom/entrepreneur also opens up to ESSENCE Entertainment Director Cori Murray about everything from her upcoming S By Serena New York Fashion Week moment, what she looks for in fashion, the importance of speaking up and freedom. (See quotes below):
ON WHAT SHE LOOKS FOR IN FASHION:
“Wow. I love fashion, obviously. It has to connect to me, first of all. I like things that are unusual, but also a little classic. It depends: It could be a crazy pop of color, and it’ll totally get me excited. Or it could be something fresh I haven’t seen before. Honestly, I can go in any direction. Just depends on how I feel…”
ON HER “S BY SERENA” NYFW MOMENT:
“Everything that’s on the runway will be ready for sale for 24 hours on September 10th. As far as the clothing, we really wanted to have fun and be confident. It’s kind of like all the aspects of my life. But not just my life, most women’s lives. We have a job, or we have somewhere to go for an event, or we have something more serious that we wanted to dress down for, or we might want to go out with our friends and relax, or we may just be walking around the house as a mom. So when we were designing the collection, we wanted to speak to every aspect of that woman…”
ON BODY POSITIVITY IN FASHION:
“We want to be inclusive. We have an extended size, and we call it great because I don’t like the word “plus.” So we call it S Great because every woman is
great. Hopefully, the word “great” will catch on and people will get rid of the word “plus.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SPEAKING UP AND FREEDOM:
“Freedom means standing up and not being afraid to say, ‘I’m here’ or ‘Hear my voice’ or ‘This isn’t what I agreed to’ or ‘This isn’t fair and that isn’t right.’ I’ve done it my whole career. It’s knowing where I’ve come from, knowing my history, in particular, the sport that I’m in. When I first started, there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me. So it was really important to always help other people feel as if this is something they could also be a part of…”
August 6, 2019 (NEW YORK, NY)—ESSENCE, the number one media, technology and commerce company serving Black women, unveils its upcoming September Global Fashion Issue cover featuring tennis great, entrepreneur and style icon Serena Williams in a way that fans have never seen her before! Williams is resplendent from beginning to end in the story, The Future of Serena Williams—from rocking face paint by artist Laolu on the cover to dazzling fans in designers such as Carolina Herrera, Giuseppe Zanotti, Talbot Runhof, Issey Miyake and more in a gorgeous photo spread shot by photographer Kwaku Alston and styled by ESSENCE Fashion Director Marielle Bobo.
The groundbreaking September issue of ESSENCE hits newsstands on August 16th. For more on this story, visit ESSENCE.com.
