Living The Red Life - Serena Williams’ Winning Formula: From World Champion to Elite Business Leader

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

Serena Williams is an iconic tennis player recognized as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In this captivating episode we delve into Serena's inspiring journey from a world-renowned athlete to a successful entrepreneur. Amidst sharing tennis tips and recounting legendary on-court moments, Serena opens up about the immense power of belief instilled by her parents and the critical role of self-confidence in her life. Transitioning from sports to the boardroom, Serena discusses the evolution of her leadership style and the strategic vision behind Serena Ventures, her investment firm championing underrepresented entrepreneurs.Serena emphasizes the importance of leadership and building the right team as she recounts her days of leading on the tennis court and in her business ventures. Drawing parallels between athleticism and entrepreneurship, Serena shares insightful advice for early-stage entrepreneurs, underscoring the value of intuition, perseverance, and continuous learning. With candid reflections on sibling rivalry, teamwork, and her passion for being a mom, Serena paints a vivid picture of resilience and success, offering listeners invaluable lessons on achieving their dreams.Key Takeaways:The power of self-belief is crucial for success, as highlighted by Serena's upbringing under the guidance of her parents.Transitioning from sports to business requires evolving leadership skills and building strong teams.Entrepreneurs can learn from athletes by understanding the importance of support systems and strategic teams.Trusting your gut in hiring and firing decisions is fundamental for sustaining growth and fostering a productive business environment.Continuous effort, without expecting immediate results, is essential for achieving long-term goals.Notable Quotes:"Belief is important and I think believing in yourself is important… at the end of the day, in particular as an athlete in a solo sport, you really need that self-belief.""Leadership is so important. Leaders lead.""You have to believe. You have to keep testing. You have to keep hiring. That's why I say hire slow but fire fast.""Words are words, but words are followed by actions.""Athletes make great business people…they make you act harder, they make you work harder, they make you dream more."Connect with Serena Williams:WebsiteInstagramXConnect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebook

You may know who I'm sat with today. I just actually finished giving her a few tennis tips on the court behind us, and now we're going to chat a little about business and her career. Glad to be here. She's so strong. And she hits the ball so well with a brown star. And her hands are just unreal. The greatest of all time, Serena Williams.

Serena Williams is a relentless, record-breaking, and iconic champion whose career reshape the standards of greatness in global sports. Today, she brings that same vision to business through Serena Venture. building companies and investing in founders who are shaping the future. The power of belief, we talked about it. Yeah. You said it's very important. Yeah, listen, belief is important and I think believe in yourself is important. It's great for other people to believe in you and pat you on the back.

But at the end of the day, in particular as an athlete, in particular as an athlete in a solo sport, you really need that self-belief. But where do you get it from? How have you had to evolve as a leader as you've gone into the entrepreneur side? I was able to evolve as a leader in tennis. It is a start. Yeah, yeah. You know, and as I started to build other companies, I understood leadership.

Leadership is so important. Leaders lead. If someone's listening now as a, you know, female male as a founder, do you have some tips on, like, getting, you know, you work with a lot of early stage, right? I think it's important to, you know, have. It spans the world like a super high old internet. Elvis. Reddy. Hi.

Today, Apple is going to read. reinvent the ball. It's not over until I win. The Living Your Legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy. That's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that he's sensational. Open.

Chicago with the league. You say Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream. Hello and welcome back. You may know who I'm sat with today. I just actually finished giving her a few tennis tips on the court behind us. And now we're going to chat a little about business and her career. I'm sat with Serena Williams. Someone that I've always admired. I came from a sporting background and one of the greatest athletes of all time. So welcome. Glad to be here. You know, greatest athlete of all time. I think is a statement I've always said about you as one of the greatest athletes of all time. Whoa. Okay. I don't think I'm the first to say that, but you really are, you know, and you, you know, you're and your sister, but you guys had the most amazing career. You inspired, you know, millions of people, right? And you've just got such an epic story behind it all too.

And, you know, I've watched the movie many times because I grew up with a family of pro athletes. And I think I became successful because of my parents just taught me I could do whatever I wanted to do and believed in myself. And I see so much of that in you and your dad. too, right? So I'd love to start there, like the power of belief. We talked about it. Yeah. You said it's very important. Can you? Yeah. Listen, belief is important. And I think believe in yourself is important. It's great for other people to believe in you and pat you on the back. But at the end of the day, in particular as an athlete, in particular as an athlete in a

solo sport, you really need that self-belief. But where do you get it from? I say I got it from my dad. He and my mom, obviously. My parents really instilled your good. you're going to be great, you're great, even down to having signs around and just positive affirmations telling us all the time how good we are. Yeah, and there's one, you know, I don't know exactly how true to the core it is, but there's a moment in the movie, right, where, you know, right near the end, Will Smith, right, plays it, comes over and says, you're going to be the greatest of all time. Do you remember times where, like, that's a bold statement to say to anyone as a kid, right? Do you remember the being told that?

So we produced the movie, so we, everything, we wanted it to be very true. My sister actually said that. We thought it would be a better moment. I got my dad say that in the movie, obviously, Hollywood. But that's one of the few things that we changed. But that moment actually did happen, which is why the line even existed. I was feeling rather down at the time because I felt like everyone was talking about Venus. And I'm like, hey, I play too.

You know, I'm actually really good. And I think my sister saw that I was going through it at that moment. And she said these words that I will never forget, which is why I wanted it in the movie, which is why I wanted it in the script. I think she saw something in me that no one saw, not even my parents. And it was amazing that she saw it. Talking about her briefly, like you two are such a powerful tag team too, right? Like how fun?

I just got to ask, like, how fun was it to be playing together, winning the doubles? You know, I think out of my career, when I look back at some of the memories, my fondest memories are definitely on the doubles court. And it was mostly laughter. And I think it was fun because it was just a time where we ended up not even spending a ton of time together because we were both playing so much and always playing each other. And you know what?

It was really the best times is winning gold medals with her or winning grand slams with her. It was great. It was fun. And what about the flip of that, playing against each other? Yeah. How was that? Yeah, you know, I'm very candid about how I feel about that.

It was something I never really enjoyed playing against my sister. But it was also something that I knew was going to happen again. When I was younger, we always knew that we would play each other in the finals of Grand Slams. You know, we just never knew how hard it was going to be, mentally, physically, emotionally. But we always knew that at the end of the day, day, tennis would only last so long and we would be sisters forever. And so we wanted to make sure that we always had that bond. But, you know, it wasn't very easy playing her. Sure. And talking about tennis only lasting so long, you know, now you're obviously focused at being a great mom and

family, you know, part of the family and the venture side, right? Serena Ventures and the investments and you have a podcast now and, you know, a new show on Amazon. Can you talk a little about, you know, how you're doing all those things and what inspires you to do all of those things? Yeah, so for me, when it comes to investing, ventures is super important, and that's what I do every day is ventures and Serena Ventures, is a company that I built, and we invest in, we invest in women, we invest in underrepresented founders and ideas and products that are helping underrepresented people through technology, through fintech, AI, B2B, SaaS stuff.

And that's something that I've always enjoyed. And, but my biggest joy is definitely being a mom. I love being a mom. It's something that I truly love. And I try to think that is my number one job right now. And, you know, I just always want to just continue to build my team out to do their best job so I can be the best mom that I can be. Well, I was going to ask you, you said that earlier. That's the leadership side, right?

You know, I have about 140 employees and staff and it becomes a whole different ballgame from when you start with 5, 10, 20, right? So how have you had to evolve as a leader? as you've gone into the entrepreneur side. Yeah, no. I feel like I was able to evolve as a leader in tennis. And when tennis first started, I wasn't a leader. My dad was on the team, then I had a coach. But then it became a team sport.

It wasn't, even though it's a solo sport and it's one person out there, it became a completely team sport, whereas you needed a team. And nowadays, I understand tennis players have at least 10 people on their team now. When I retired, it was like, at least four, it was like five to six people. And now it's doubled. And leading that team really helped me as an entrepreneur and understanding like who to hire, how to hire, how to be and how to be at net. Of course, it's not 140 people, obviously, but it is a start.

Yeah, yeah. You know, and as I started to build other companies, I understood leadership. Leadership is so important. Leaders lead. And I think it's so key for entrepreneurs because I actually, when I speak on stage, because I came from a family of athletes, I show a graph of a pro athlete and the eight or nine or ten people around them. And then most entrepreneurs, it's just them. And they try and build this company and it's just them. And it's like, no, you know, a pro athlete has the physio, the nutritionist, the masseuse, the mindset.

You as an entrepreneur, you need the tech people, the designers, the marketers, the finance, the HR, right? So if someone's listening now as a, you know, female male as a founder, do you have some tips on like getting, you know, you work with a lot of early stage, right? So any tips on getting, that's the hardest part, right? Trust your gut. Yeah. You know, hire slow, fire fast. You know, don't have regrets.

It sucks. Firing sucks. Hiring sucks. Hiring and firing sucks. But you know what? That's one thing I've learned is like fire fast. If it's not working, it's not going to work next year or next month. it's never going to work. Well, when you said also, I laughed earlier because I teach my team all

the time. You use this kiss in the frog analogy with business ideas. I use it with team members all the time. I'm like, a lot of entrepreneurs hire one person, doesn't work. And then they say, well, I'm not going to have that role anymore. Yeah. I'm like, well, you wouldn't say that about dating. You went on one day and then say I'm going to be single forever. Yeah, well, yeah. But you have to believe, right? And keep testing people. Keep hiring. Yeah, you have to keep testing. You have to keep high. That's why I say hire slow, but fire fast. You know, you take that dating for a long time. But if it's not working out, also don't feel guilty about it, you know, because it's nothing personal. It could be someone that you really respect. And I always say have that respect for people. Like I always try to uplift people and I always try to be positive and I always try to help people. But that doesn't mean I don't like you. It just means it's not working out for this. It's absolutely nothing personal. Yeah. And that's how you just have to think about it. Yeah, I think that's great. It's like even with dating, you're not a fit for me.

It doesn't mean you're not fit for someone else. Yeah, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. It's just like, and I, for me, I'm always wishing people well, but like, it just means it didn't work out for us. And that's okay. Yeah, love that. So next question I have is the mindset. I talked to you a bit earlier about, like, I see so many similarities because I came from a family of pro athletes. And now I, last 10 years, all my friends are millionaires, ultra-millionaires, and billionaires. And there's so much overlap, right? And then even filming these segments, like different pro athletes, different billionaires, lots of crossover. Entrepreneur and athletes have so much in common, right? I feel like, I feel like it's the same thing.

You've had these conversations, you know, so you know by listening to this, like, wow. And with you having your background, with your family, too, you can probably see all the similarities. And it's interesting. I always feel like athletes to make great business people. And you can see nowadays that they really are and they really do, yes.

And one I think difference with you though is like just and I'll come back to it because we started there, I guess, as we finished today, that power of belief, right? Like the big difference I've seen chatting with you is your dad just did such a great. And you guys too

because you had to also consume it and believe it yourself. But you guys did a better job than anyone I've ever met up actually believing the dream would come true because a lot of people like they kind of set the goal I want to be an Olympic gold medalist or whatever right but they don't really mean it no until they say it their words words are words

but words are followed by actions and so I think that we had those words but when those words are engraved in in you every day then they start they make you have these actions even more and so they make you act harder they make you work harder to make you dream more about eat sleep breathe like that's a thing it's the conviction like there's some you guys had like there's a scene in the movie where, you know, they got, Venus, are you going to beat whoever's on the other side of the other side of the net? Absolutely, right? That was, that was really. You guys were exactly like that growing up. I wasn't. She was, she believed more than me. But as I got older and I was younger, too. So as I got older and as I got more experience, I was like, okay, I can do this too. But it took

me a little to get there to have that self-belief. I think that just comes with a territory when you're growing up behind someone named Venus Williams. But I think it's important to, I think is important to, you know, have a lot of positive affirmations. And if no one's given it to, you don't have to have it. And you can give them to yourself. Yeah. And I mean, that's what made you guys so great. Like, you could, you always would have probably been great tennis players, but just take it to the next level. That made you, well, like the most famous tennis players in history, basically is that difference there, I think, you know? Yeah, I think my dad was really smart about it because I think if we were basketball players, maybe he wouldn't have done that. Yeah.

because it was okay you can be a basketball player it's probably we were taking a route that wasn't normal so i think he knew that he needed to give us more affirmation than normal because we were going to face things that no one literally at the time or you still have ever faced yeah so i think it was you know a lot of his genius behind that love it good so last last closing comment any tips for entrepreneurs or people trying to achieve a massive goal in life whether it's business sport work hard it's cliche it's not going to happen overnight and for every story that it does happen overnight there's billions that it doesn't so you have to work hard

you have to work hard you can't expect someone to give you handouts or you can't expect it to just come and fail a lot I hear that so much but I don't even like the word fail because it just seems to me that seems just try a lot I like to say try a lot because it might not work out but just keep trying don't stop trying Yeah, just lessons. They're lessons along the way.

Exactly, exactly. Good. And any big takeaways people will get from watching the full. You know what? We just recorded the full part. Hopefully, just a little inspiration on, I don't know. Being the best version. Being the best version of yourself, a little inspiration on inside success.

Yes. And what does it take to be a successful inside? Good. Love it. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Guys, I hope you enjoyed that. You know, this is really, like I said, one of the people I love.

look up to the most i know so many of you do too and such an amazing story so thanks again thank you so much see you guys take care