Alexis Ohanian: Serena Williams Will Be an ‘Awesome Mom,’ Ohanian Plans To Take Paternity Leave
Serena Williams’ fiancé Alexis Ohanian is vowing to take paternity leave as the parents-to-be prepare to welcome their first child in September. Ohanian, 34, discussed his newest venture — parenthood, during a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Ohanian told the hosts that he’s sure Williams will be a wonderful mother.
“She’s very good at a lot of things… And well on her way to being an awesome mom too.”
Back in April, Serena accidentally revealed she was pregnant on social media after posting a photo of herself during her 20th week of pregnancy. Serena and Ohanian have yet to reveal the sex of the baby to her fans and followers.
Williams recently told Vanity Fair that she will return to competitive tennis in January 2018. The tennis champ and Ohanian opened up about the pregnancy for Vanity Fair’s August issue.
The Reddit co-founder, who is more eager than ever to get everything in his life baby-ready, said he plans to take some time off after the birth of his first child.
“I’ll be taking off for six weeks myself and trying to do my best — the best job possible as a new dad, first time dad.”
Serena revealed that she broke the news to her husband-to-be after she took six pregnancy tests and handed them to Ohanian in a paper bag.
“If you would have told me last year in October or November that I would have a baby, not be pregnant but have a baby, I would have thought you were the biggest liar in the world.”
Serena is taking her pregnancy in stride but admitted, the months have gone by faster than she expected.
“This is kind of how I am right now. This is happening sooner than later, and it’s going by so fast.”
Serena and Alexis recently enjoyed a babymoon at the Château Eza in the French Riviera. After the romantic getaway, Serena has not slowed down during her pregnancy and has used her time away from the tennis court to cultivate other equally important aspects of her life.
In the beginning of 2017, Williams set a goal to take her entrepreneurship and her philanthropy to the next level by becoming a board member at a major company. Williams has since announced a new role on the board of SurveyMonkey. Serena said she hopes to break down racial barriers in Silicon Valley.
“Silicon Valley really, really, really is not open yet to having a lot of women, having anyone of color now… Those two areas alone are really things we have to break down, and the fastest growing part of the world is technology.”
In mid-May, Williams was on stage at ESPN’s Upfront presentation. In addition to this, at the #BlogHer17 conference in Florida, Williams was announced as the new ambassador for the Allstate Foundation, Purple Purse.
The mom-to-be spoke highly of joining the insurance company’s domestic violence initiative.
“I want to do things I feel like I can connect to… I don’t really know anyone personally that’s been involved in domestic violence, but I feel like it’s something we all face as a society.”
Serena Williams said she is active with the Yetunde Price Resource Center, that was created in honor of her sister. Williams added, “I felt like it all clicked together.” Williams’ sister Yetunde Price, aka Tunde, was killed in 2003 after she was shot while driving her car through Compton. The horrific scene took place one mile away from where Venus and Serena learned to play tennis.
[Featured Image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]
