Alexis Ohanian Shared What He's Learned From Serena Williams & I'm Not Crying, You Are
There's no doubt about the fact that Serena Williams is a champion on and off the court. The athlete graces Vogue covers and stars in Beyoncé music videos with the same ease and grace that she's had while taking home gold medals on the tennis court over the past few decades. And now, she's crushing it in a whole new domain: family life. The tennis champion married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and the two even share a beautiful baby girl together. The best part? Ohanian worships the ground Williams walks on. Just check out Alexis Ohanian's quotes about Serena Williams in his recent interview with The New York Times for proof.
Throughout the interview, Ohanian went into detail about just what made him fall for Serena in the first place, how loving her has changed his life, and what he learned from her.
Ohanian says Williams put things into perspective for him.
Ohanian told The New York Times that when he met Williams, he felt pretty confident about his own work ethic. "I thought I was the hardest-working person on the planet. I thought we were the hardest-working industry," he told The New York Times. "That’s what we tell ourselves. It’s all malarkey."
How did he find out that his belief was "all malarkey," you ask? Well, he met a woman who just might be more hardworking than he was. "I’ve had this front-row seat over the last three years to greatness," he explained. "It’s a humbling experience seeing really what high-pressure situations actually look like professionally, seeing just what it takes to actually be that great. It is a work ethic on another level." A love built upon the fact that you're both extremely hardworking individuals who are the best in your respective fields? It's a 2018 fairy tale.
Williams turned Ohanian into a tennis fan.
Despite the fact that Ohanian is married to one of the greatest tennis players of all time, he wasn't a huge tennis fan until he met her.
"I used to change the channel when tennis was on," he admitted to The New York Times. "Then, I watched my first match when I met her, and quickly got an appreciation for the sport. It’s not just the physical requirements but the mental requirements. I could not imagine doing my job with millions of people watching."
Williams changed the way Ohanian looks at business.
Falling in love has the tendency to change people. But can it make one of the greatest business minds of our time even greater? Apparently, if you're in love with the right person, it can.
Gaining an understanding of and an appreciation for Serena's sport actually managed to change Ohanian's outlook on his own profession.
"One thing that I have always respected in sport is it is so pure in its success metrics," he explained. "In business, we can find creative ways to measure ourselves. 'Yes, well, one fund has been more successful than another because they’ve invested in six unicorns.'"
Garnering an inside look at sports from Williams, however, offered him a different point of view:
But in sport, there’s a winner and a loser, and you can’t delude yourself into thinking there’s some other way to compare or measure. You’re the best or you’re not. For her to be able to perform so consistently for so long is pretty amazing.
This isn't the first time Ohanian's gone out of his way to show the world how much he loves Williams.
Don't worry, guys. Ohanian isn't just all talk. When it comes to loving his lady, he's totally and completely prepared to show her just how much he really cares.
When Williams decided to end her time off at home with Ohanian and their baby, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., to train for the BNP Paribas Open, Ohanian decided to line the highway near Palm Springs, California (AKA where she would be driving to get to practice) with four adorable billboards. He posted pictures of the billboards on Instagram, along with this caption:
These just went up on alongside I-10 into Palm Springs. @olympiaohanian & I wanted to welcome her back to tennis. Designed them myself, with some help from Jr. #GMOAT
The first billboard says "GREATEST"; the second says, "MOMMA"; the third says, "OF ALL TIME"; and finally, the fourth says, "Serena Williams G.M.O.A.T -Alexis Jr + Sr," along with a picture of Serena holding her baby against her chest.
Yeah, it's safe to say Ohanian loves Williams a lot. Here's to hoping we all find someone who loves, supports, and respects us the way these two do each other.
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