Venus Williams holds many titles and accolades, including one of the greatest tennis players to grace the earth. Through such a storied career full of longevity and accomplishments, the athlete has continued to inspire the masses since her debut. With a legendary career such as hers, Williams has continued to share the knowledge she’s learned along the way, which she continues to do as part of her latest partnership with Downy. The pair recently teamed up to announce Williams’ support for its Rinse & Refresh laundry odor remover. The collaboration should come as no surprise since Williams is a longtime supporter of Downy.
“I actually use Downy, and I think there’s no better synergy when you have already used a product for years. It’s been so fun to tell the story of something that already exists and then tell the story of all this stuff behind the scenes that happens with my outfits because they go through a lot. I sweat for hours, and it just keeps happening every day. You’re training five or six days a week. And when you’re at tournaments, you have to take care of your outfit. So it has to look great; it has to look perfect. Managing sweat and fighting odors in just one wash is the perfect way for me to get to my best performance.”
Aside from ensuring her clothes are as fresh as can be, Williams has picked up other tips and tricks along the way to accommodate such a busy schedule. As someone who’s constantly traveling, Williams likes to plan her outfits ahead of time to help manage her time.
“I travel a lot, so just planning my outfit ahead of time is important. When you go on tour, you’re at the practice court. It’s not like at home where you’re just by yourself. There are people there, so you have to get your outfit ready. I like having my outfit planned for practice and then for the match. You often bring new outfits, so if you have not tried them on, you could be caught with something you may not like. So I try everything on before I get there, and I’m like, ‘Okay, I like this. I don’t like this,’ or ‘This didn’t make me feel amazing.’ Wardrobe planning gets way too complicated, but at the end of the day, I feel good about what I’m wearing.”
When she isn’t sharing tips on optimizing performance on the court, she’s helping others do the same off the court. Williams recently authored Strive: 8 Steps To Find Your Awesome, a book that provides readers with the resources to turn smart choices into healthy lifestyle changes. It was important for Williams to write such a book because it aligns with who she is at her core—someone who wants to help others.
“I wrote it because I simply want to help others. I want to share all the knowledge I have gained from being a professional athlete and help people live their best lives. And just as importantly, about having fun, because when disciplined and persevering, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself while you do this. My goal is to get people healthy and happy, find that inner strength to make healthy choices and take care of yourself. The book has eight tenets and focuses on being able to honor and practice them in small ways every day until it becomes a habit. It’s about practicing wellness in every aspect of your life, whether in your work or your relationships or how you eat or move.”
Williams’ book delves into health and wellness, and she feels that both areas are directly linked to one’s self-image.
“When people think of health and wellness, they’re thinking about how they think, eat, and move. But health and wellness starts with your relationship with yourself, so Strive talks about that. How are you maintaining your relationship with yourself and also being able to take a look at yourself because sometimes it’s hard to look at yourself when maybe you haven’t achieved what you wanted. It’s easier to glaze it over than look at it to get to that wellness point. It’s about taking a holistic view of wellness and not just pigeonholing it.”
The concept of honoring oneself isn’t something she just writes about; it’s something she lives by in her personal life.
“It’s easy to deal with being booked and busy if you’re, hopefully, doing things you love. Not all of us have that luxury, but if you can shift your life towards that, that helps. I have always been a proponent of finding balance in an unbalanced life. Life is busy, so I encourage people to do whatever they can to help them reach that next level while living an unbalanced life.”