Trending:
- Serena Williams told PEOPLE at the WYN Beauty x Shopify pop-up event on April 11 why success is “very expensive”
- The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion shared the sacrifices she’s made such as spending time away from her family
- “You have to decide if it’s worth it for you,” says the tennis legend
If you want to be the boss, you have to pay the cost.
Serena Williams, 43, revealed in an exclusive chat with PEOPLE why success is “very expensive” during a special appearance at the WYN Beauty x Shopify pop-up event in Los Angeles on Friday, April 11.
“Yeah, it definitely costs a lot,” explains the tennis legend and WYN Beauty creator. “I’m here [in California] without my kids, and that’s a big cost for me because I spend a lot of time with my children, and they’re very attached to me, which a part of me loves. So, it’s always some cost.”
Williams added that the greatest costs of her athletic career and overarching success weren’t even financial. “My whole life I’ve had to kind of weigh, like, ‘If I wanna win a championship, well what is that going to cost me?’ ” Williams says. “It’s going to cost me time with my family, it’s going to cost me friends, it’s going to cost me relationships. And they’re very expensive. You have to decide if it’s worth it for you.”
Williams shares two daughters, Alexis Olympia, 7, and Adira River, 1, with her husband Alexis Ohanian, whom she married in November 2017.
The Compton-raised multi-hyphenate, who lives in Florida with her family, was at the event to celebrate the one-year anniversary of WYN Beauty, which she founded and launched in April 2024.
While Williams has excelled in nearly every arena she’s entered — both on and off the court — she reveals that she has no plans to take on another large business venture.
“I’m done!” Williams says with a chuckle. “I’m not launching anything else like this. I just am happy doing WYN Beauty. And I’m happy being a mom and I’m happy with my venture company, and that’s a lot. We’re good!”
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When asked how founding WYN Beauty has influenced the way she talks to her daughters about beauty, Williams emphasized inner beauty.
“It’s super important for me to share that beauty is definitely on the inside,” Williams tells PEOPLE. “And then anything externally is just an enhancement of who you are. So our beauty and what we do at WYN Beauty enhances your inside beauty.”
Her clean beauty brand features an array of products such as lipsticks and 36 shades of skin tint with SPF, which were on full display at the L.A. event.
The activation also featured interactive moments for fans and influencers including games, swatching stations and a tennis-themed photo booth.
As for Williams’ athletic success, she turned pro in 1995 and spent the next 27 years dominating the tennis world before retiring in 2022.
Williams earned 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most for any woman in the Open Era of the sport. She also clinched 14 Grand slam doubles titles alongside her pioneering sister Venus Williams, and notched 327 Grand Slam match wins, another Open Era record.
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