Serena Williams has long been a role model both on and off the tennis court. One of the ways she's solidified her legacy (aside from, you know, holding 39 Grand Slam titles, being a freakin' four-time Olympic gold medalist, and the list goes on) is championing other women to succeed. On the business side, the entrepreneur launched Serena Ventures to fund several women-owned companies. Now, she's looking at giving back in sports by partnering with Secret to find ways to push gender equality. She announced her support this week for Secret to conduct a study to explore the gender bias in athletics, from high school to professional-level leagues.
"This is something I've personally, constantly been through because I'm a woman of color in sports. I'm facing a lot in terms of inequality," Serena tells Women's Health. "We're still trying to get equal prize money in the grand tournaments. Maybe something we'll learn about in this study is how to have the biggest voices in the room. It's a long fight, we just gotta keep working on it."
The tennis champ also opened up to WH about the lessons of confidence she hopes to impart to young women. "You have to believe in yourself. Sometimes I'm too humble—but you have to step up and say I am who I am and I'm good at what you do. It doesn't matter who you are. I think that self-belief is big," she says. She adds that from a young age, her parents taught her to speak really positively to herself at all times: "You're your best cheerleader. I can't stress that enough."
As for how she stays above distraction and constant critiques? "All my distraction is my daughter. Any noise, I don't have time for it because of her and I have to focus on her," Serena, mom to two-year-old Olympia says. "It has really blocked out a lot of negativity."
Back to the study—Serena says she hopes it will help illuminate which sports are suffering the most and what funds could help counteract that. Secret already got a head start last year when the company contributed more than $1 million to causes like the United States Women's National Team Players' Association and Girls Leading Girls, and a donation of 9,000+ tickets to the National Women's Soccer League games to boost game attendance. The deodorant brand is also pledging to donate an additional $1 million to more gender equality campaigns in 2020.
We couldn't let Serena, a self-professed beauty product junkie, walk away from our chat without talking more about what's in her beauty bag aside from Secret's clinical strength deodorant ("I am a sweater and go through tops like crazy!" she claims). The tennis champ is currently obsessed with coconut oil, which she uses all over her hair and body, a waterproof eyeliner that withstands sweating on the court from Milani ("That's my go-to. I still have some on from the other day—that’s how long it lasts!"), and any and all face masks ("I try all kinds of them, the ones that just sit on your face," she says. She's previously mentioned stocking up on ones from Amazon).
Shop Serena Williams's Beauty Bag
Milani Stay Put Matte 17HR Wear Liquid Eyeliner
Secret Clinical Strength Anti-Perspirant Deodorant
Kristina Rodulfo is the Beauty Director of Women's Health—she oversees beauty coverage across print and digital and is an expert in product testing, identifying trends, and exploring the intersections of beauty, wellness, and culture. Prior to Women's Health, the Filipino-American, NYC native and NYU alumna was at ELLE.com for four years. As Senior Beauty Editor, she reported and co-produced the Webby Award-nominated documentary Beat: How Drag Queens Shaped the Beauty Industry and hosted the millions-viewed video series "Beauty Haul." She can never decide whether or not to get bangs, feels naked without winged eyeliner, and will never shut up about running the NYC Marathon.
