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Serena Williams on Balancing Business, Life & New Partnership with Michelob Ultra | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Jan 26, 2021
Serena Williams recently partnered with Michelob Ultra for a Super Bowl ad that looks at the lives of elite athletes outside of sport. Serena talked with the Sway In The Morning team about working with Spike Lee and balancing business and personal life.
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Serena Williams on Balancing Business, Life & New Partnership with Michelob Ultra | SWAY’S UNIVERSE https://youtu.be/dEES02Da4X0
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0:00
First of all, first and foremost, it's
0:01
amazing to see you considering all that
0:04
we've gone through in this world and for
0:06
all of us to be here today is quite a
0:08
blessing. So, it's good to see you,
0:09
Serena.
0:10
Um
0:11
and congratulations on everything. I
0:13
want to get into the Michelob Ultra uh
0:15
ad, but first I want to ask you how
0:18
you've been coping.
0:20
How you've been coping with everything?
0:22
I've been coping. It's been fine. Um
0:24
it's just different and so it's just
0:26
really trying to figure out what that
0:27
new normal is.
0:29
Um
0:30
but definitely different.
0:32
Okay. Uh HB, I'mma let you jump in.
0:35
I know I wanted to jump in real quick
0:36
cuz you mentioned quarantine swaying.
0:38
Serena, what's up? How you doing, sis?
0:40
Um do you cook? Hey, do you cook? And if
0:43
you do, what has been like your go-to
0:45
quarantine meal? Is it something fun? Is
0:47
it something you ain't supposed to be
0:48
eating? What's your What's your story?
0:51
I don't cook. I don't clean.
0:56
But I forget the
0:57
I forget the next part of that line.
0:59
Right.
1:00
Uh
1:01
I do clean. Um
1:03
and I do cook. Um I've gotten really
1:07
good at making cinnamon rolls, which is
1:09
Ooh.
1:11
not the best thing. I've gotten good at
1:13
cooking like baking,
1:15
um baking cakes and stuff. That's been
1:17
really fun. Um
1:19
I can cook already though, so
1:21
Okay.
1:23
Well, it's been fun.
1:24
Yeah. The rainbow cake looked fire. I
1:26
peeped that.
1:28
Thanks. Yeah, that was really fun. It
1:30
was uh
1:32
I had to make a lot of different cakes
1:33
and then I just had to put the food
1:36
coloring in it. So, it is
1:37
basic basic sponge.
1:40
Well, the other thing that I peeped
1:41
though, too, is there still is a balance
1:45
between your baking your cakes,
1:48
but then your cakes. Serena in spandex
1:51
will forever be one of my favorite sites
1:53
on Instagram. Yeah, I said it, Serena.
1:55
Yes, I did. Okay?
2:00
What I'm curious to know, because you
2:03
are an elite athlete, obviously, you've
2:08
gotten to know your body when it comes
2:10
to the muscle, to the strength of it,
2:13
right?
2:14
At the same time, did you learn your
2:17
body with its sexiness, or did that
2:19
develop later?
2:21
It definitely developed later cuz you
2:24
know, I was I was young and I wasn't
2:26
thinking about being Well, when I was
2:29
young, I wasn't thinking about being
2:30
sexy. I know everyone is now at like 12.
2:33
Um but I wasn't.
2:36
Better for worse, yes.
2:38
I was thinking about winning,
2:41
but now it's definitely different, so
2:44
thank God it I I wasn't thinking about
2:47
that earlier.
2:48
But yeah, so
2:51
that's just a big muscle back there.
2:52
That's all
2:57
You love
2:58
to see you embrace it.
3:00
Yes. What you say, Serena? Hold up for
3:01
what? Hold up for what?
3:03
Hold up. No, hey, I'm just you know, I'm
3:05
celebrating that muscle, too. Why not?
3:07
Um
3:10
Uh you you said something really
3:11
interesting and made me think about this
3:13
Michelob Ultra ad. By the way, it's very
3:15
impressive and I'm glad they put you in
3:17
the finale of it. You know, I thought I
3:19
saw those guys, I was like, "Well, where
3:21
is Serena?" You know, but it it it it
3:23
does pose, you know, a great question
3:26
about winning and and then putting a
3:29
highlight on the sacrifice and the joy
3:31
of that.
3:33
Uh what what is the messaging in it?
3:36
What what what How did you interpret it
3:37
when they first approached you with it?
3:40
Um well,
3:41
we all kind of are often told that
3:44
success requires commitment and you
3:47
know, hard work and grit and
3:49
determination and dedication and all
3:52
that stuff, right? So, that's all very
3:54
true, but one thing I liked about
3:55
Michelob Ultra has
3:57
um they had an opportunity to focus on
3:59
the side of success that's really rarely
4:01
talked about, and that's the joy and
4:03
happiness that
4:05
um it plays into the
4:07
journey of success. So, I felt like um
4:10
okay, this is a great story. How do we
4:12
build on it? We kind of sat in a room
4:13
together to come up with it, but how do
4:15
we build on it and how do we uh make
4:17
that more exciting? And what are some
4:19
things that I truly do that makes uh
4:22
success had that that makes my
4:23
happiness. So, for me that's karaoke um
4:26
or trying to do one way or the other,
4:29
but yeah.
4:31
That's dope.
4:31
Okay.
4:32
That is dope.
4:33
Let's just pass it this way.
4:35
Go ahead, HB. Go ahead.
4:37
No, it's so dope that Serena is saying
4:39
that because what I was thinking about
4:40
when I saw the commercial, I was like
4:42
Serena may have been the first famous
4:44
person that that we that I saw that
4:47
actually dealt with a hostile work
4:49
environment. Like just solo. Like she
4:52
would go out on that tennis court and
4:54
you would kind of hear the like the hate
4:57
and the boo like way before social
4:58
media, she was dealing with a black
5:01
female in a hostile work environment.
5:03
And I always thought it was like amazing
5:05
to me how you were able to like block it
5:08
all out and just focus in on it. Is
5:11
there like a secret karaoke song or
5:13
something that you had playing in your
5:14
head to block all of that out? What was
5:17
What was What you listening to mentally?
5:22
Um
5:24
you know,
5:25
you know, it's just something I had to
5:27
grow used to,
5:29
which is not shouldn't be normal, right?
5:31
But it was fact had to be normal for me
5:35
was to realize that people weren't going
5:37
to root for me in the beginning because
5:39
I was different and I looked different,
5:41
and I remember um
5:43
even when my sister was playing, I could
5:45
tell when she would win points and when
5:46
she would lose cuz the crowd would be
5:48
really loud if she lost a point. And
5:50
then there would be almost silence if
5:52
she if she um won the game or the point.
5:57
So, that's how I would kind of follow
5:59
her matches because sometimes I would be
6:02
getting ready
6:03
for mine before. Um I mean obviously
6:06
that's before
6:07
like other technologies.
6:09
But that was also the same obviously
6:12
applied to me.
6:14
Mhm.
6:14
Um and I had to make people realize
6:18
that, you know, it's okay to be black
6:20
and to play tennis and it's okay to be
6:21
good at it and to be better. And um and
6:24
that was that's kind of something I had
6:26
to lean into myself and not and realize
6:30
that it wasn't
6:31
um it wasn't me. It wasn't anything to
6:34
do with me. It was just that I had to
6:38
force people to see me because of my
6:40
game and let my game do the speaking and
6:43
um and I had to be comfortable with
6:45
that. And thankfully my parents were so
6:48
pro and so
6:50
awesome and so um pro black is what I
6:54
mean and they really taught us from a
6:56
young age that
6:58
we're going to face different things
7:00
that other people aren't going to face
7:01
and we were okay with that cuz we knew
7:03
that. We were prepared for that. So, we
7:05
were prepared for anything that came our
7:07
way and we continue to be prepared for
7:09
that and um that's just the way
7:12
the society is currently and what what
7:14
was and you know, it's is it getting
7:16
better? A little bit, but um you know,
7:20
yeah.
7:21
Thank you for that.
7:25
Absolutely. Tracy, you want to jump in?
7:28
Yeah, cuz um we've had this question
7:30
just this conversation around redefining
7:33
success made me think about your cover.
7:35
I want to say it was Fast Company or
7:37
Inc. where you were um deemed like the
7:40
the productive person ever. And I
7:42
wondered how your idea of productivity,
7:45
if that's changed over the years, cuz
7:48
obviously your priorities change. You're
7:50
a mother now, you're a wife, you have
7:52
all these different businesses.
7:54
What's productivity like for you now
7:56
versus before?
7:58
Um I don't know. I'm super productive. I
8:01
mean, I'm running two different
8:02
companies and I'm a professional athlete
8:05
um at an elite level. So,
8:08
um
8:08
yeah, I think and I have a daughter
8:11
and um
8:13
and I cook and I clean.
8:18
So, yeah, that's pretty productive. I
8:20
don't really understand how I do it. Um
8:23
especially when I'm you know, I am
8:25
actually CEO of these companies and I
8:27
sit on different boards and so, but I
8:29
really
8:31
have a tight schedule and I always work
8:34
certain hours and I spend other hours
8:36
with my daughter and um it is very
8:38
productive, but it's it's very intense,
8:40
but for me I I try to find that balance.
8:43
Um
8:44
but it it's been working out for me.
8:46
Yeah.
8:47
I I
8:47
I I wouldn't mind Serena if you were my
8:50
boss and I worked at one of your
8:52
companies, I think. You know what I
8:53
mean? Can you imagine saying, "Yeah, I
8:55
work for Serena Williams."
8:57
Uh I'm curious too. What what what do
8:59
you How What is the culture like in your
9:01
work environment? Is it you know, is it
9:03
open to everyone? Everyone has a mic,
9:05
everybody has a voice, you know, do you
9:07
guys spend time outside of work? What is
9:10
the culture you try to create for your
9:11
work environment?
9:12
Well, we don't spend any time outside of
9:14
work anymore because of everything in
9:16
the world, but everyone has a mic and
9:18
that's super important. Um it's super
9:20
important for everyone to say that they
9:22
can email me directly or to call me if
9:25
there's a problem internally
9:27
um and to talk about issues that they're
9:29
feeling and for me to motivate the team.
9:32
So, that is really important for me um
9:34
because it's so it's
9:36
it or the way to make a company
9:37
successful your the people that are with
9:40
you in the company need to be happy and
9:41
they need to feel like they're a huge
9:43
part of it and they are part of the
9:44
success success success.
9:47
And they absolutely are a part of the
9:49
success and they should feel that way
9:51
and that's how I want to make everyone
9:53
feel. So um with fashion that's what we
9:55
do and then Serena Ventures as well.
9:58
It's a little bit of a smaller team but
10:02
There's Olympia having a blast right
10:05
now.
10:07
That's great.
10:11
But yeah
10:13
it's
10:14
it's a bit of a smaller team at Serena
10:15
Ventures but it's super we talk everyday
10:18
actually because
10:20
super intense work um but we're a family
10:23
and that's what it is and we have to
10:25
without we have to see it that way but
10:27
at the same time I do and I am a
10:31
overseeing a lot of people
10:33
um
10:34
Yeah so it's it's definitely a lot but
10:37
it's definitely worth it because I've
10:39
learned so much in leadership skills and
10:41
I've learned different things in
10:42
leadership classes and I was
10:45
I one of my majors was business in
10:48
college and so some of that stuff really
10:49
was able to help me
10:51
lead these teams that I'm leading.
10:53
Is it possible to do all and still be
10:55
number one in the world? What like what
10:57
are your tennis goals now moving
10:58
forward?
10:59
I want to
11:00
win some titles some Grand Slams so
11:03
that's what I play for
11:05
and can you do it all? I don't know you
11:08
can never do it all but you have to
11:09
decide what your priority is and make
11:13
that your priority.
11:15
So yeah I have great teams
11:18
but it's important now for me it's
11:20
important to have a really really good
11:22
team so you can
11:24
get your priorities.
11:26
Which is for me instead.
11:28
Okay. Hey Speed, you got one more?
11:31
I just want to say salute to you Serena
11:33
as always. Thank you. Thank you for your
11:35
words. Thank you for being transparent
11:37
about it all and just always love and
11:39
respect for you. We are always rooting
11:41
for you sis. So, thank you.
11:43
Thank you so much.
11:45
Tracy?
11:46
Yes, and thank you for just showing that
11:48
you're a human outside of being an
11:50
athlete, outside of being a business
11:52
woman. Just it's important to see all
11:54
the dimensions of a woman and you do
11:57
that so effortlessly. So, I'm glad we
11:59
have this opportunity to chop it up.
12:02
Thank you. This was fun. Thank you so
12:03
much.
12:04
Absolutely. And then then real quick,
12:06
what was it like working with Spike Lee
12:07
on this?
12:09
Um it was great. I was literally
12:11
nervous. I was like, oh man,
12:13
am I doing the right thing?
12:20
Well done.
12:23
Or or what? It was It was amazing. I was
12:26
like
12:27
I was a little bit nervous and I'm like,
12:29
oh my god. Oh my god, this is Spike Lee.
12:30
I'm literally on set with Spike Lee.
12:32
This is crazy. He just won an Oscar
12:34
within the last what, couple years? So,
12:37
oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Is this
12:39
my Oscar role? Like
12:42
Is this it? Is this it? So,
12:44
um it's Spike Lee and it's like, that's
12:47
red. That's what I kept saying.
12:50
That's red.
12:52
Next.
12:53
Exactly. So, I was like, oh my god. It
12:55
was amazing. It was amazing.
12:57
Well, congratulations Serena. You know
12:59
we love you. You know, we all in your
13:01
corner and we watch and marvel and
13:03
admire all that you do. Keep going sis.
13:06
Okay?
13:07
Thank you so much Sway. Thanks everyone.
13:09
It's always fun.
13:10
Welcome.
13:12
To the to the greatest of all time,
13:14
Serena Williams. Come on.
13:17
I had to say that.
13:19
Take care Serena. Thanks for giving us
13:20
the time. Okay? It's good to see you.
13:23
You too.
13:25
Hey.
13:39
Hey.
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