Venus is one of the greatest tennis players of all time and one of the greatest Black athletes of a generation. As she continues to stretch out her tennis career on her terms, she has also branched out into different disciplines with her lifestyle brand, EleVen, and interior design firm, V Starr Interiors (alongside her part-ownership of the Miami Dolphins).
In an interview with The Cut, she discussed her latest SPF sunscreens and thoughts on the beauty industry. A couple of my favourite questions:
Do you think of beauty as self-care? Why or why not?
Do I think of beauty as self-care? Oh, heck yeah. You definitely have to take care of yourself, and beauty is a part of it. But whatever your interpretation of beauty is, that’s what should lead you and guide you; it isn’t the same for everyone. I think today, we’re led to believe it’s the same, and it can be very homogenous, you know, the same clothes, the same makeup, the same … injections [laughs]. But self-care is really about taking care of who you are, and projecting that image of you, instead of being led by what other people might think is beautiful.
What do you wish more people understood about what you do?
I think people get mostly what I do in tennis, but people know you for one thing, and they may not always expect something else. But I’m definitely more than a tennis player. I’m grateful for tennis, of course, it’s my first love, but there’s a lot more to me than that. I love art, I love design, I love wellness, I love self-care. So, in a sense, I wish more people understood it’s okay to remake yourself and become a renaissance woman, and that’s what I’m doing.