- 5 days ago
Essence Festival 2024: Passion to Profit with Serena Williams of Wyn Beauty
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:12Starting when was something that I kind of always wanted to do. I had to kind of learn how to
00:17do my
00:17own makeup because I had to show up in all these different countries. Literally no one in the
00:22country was my complexion. I'm wearing my liquid eyeliner. I don't need it to move. I need it to
00:27just kind of stay for the whole three-hour match with me just pouring down sweat.
00:34If there's any way to put like a W on this.
01:06Guys get into this makeup look by Serena Williams. She really outdid herself this time. Like look at
01:16the brows, honey. You see the brows? Lawless. That match. None of that ashy stuff. The mascara?
01:25Try when I tell you I don't have no lashes. She got me looking big girl.
01:42This is the darkest shade of the Wig Beauty Foundation. Let's give her a blend to see what she's giving.
01:51You see this? You see this? This is her first complexion launch. And you know why it's so good?
01:58She's a black woman. That's what I'm talking about.
02:01I like them hard. I like them full. I like them strong. I'm talking about my brows. I promise.
02:10So when I do my brows, I like them full. I know you guys give me slack about it, but
02:16it's how I like my brows. You got to do what you like.
02:23This is the word of mouth Max Comfort Matte Lipstick.
02:29And it really has to do with the brush, you guys. I mean, this does no justice to it.
02:35And this is a game changer right here. Serena, you really, really did it with this because I love the
02:41product.
02:41Hey, Serena girl. We see you.
02:53All right, all right, all right. Beautycon Essence. Y'all look beautiful out here. Hello.
02:59Can I get some energy? Hello.
03:03Uh-huh, uh-huh. So I'm your host. I'm Kaylin Charbonnet, and we have a really big special panel for
03:10y'all next.
03:10This is the passion to profit. Do y'all know why we're here?
03:14None other than the only iconic tennis superstar is here, Serena Williams.
03:19Can I get a little noise? A little energy? Uh-huh.
03:24So iconic on and off the court, tennis superstar Serena Williams is here to share her journey from player to
03:32slayer, right?
03:33She has dropped this brand called Win Beauty. And don't we all want to win? We all winning. Y'all
03:38winning. Y'all looking good, right?
03:40So discover where her passion for beauty began, the steps she took to turn her dreams into a thriving business,
03:47and the significance of a moving, centered beauty brand in today's world.
03:52But first, allow me to introduce our moderator, Ms. Kari Champion.
03:55She is a distinguished broadcast journalist and television personality who has significantly impacted and advanced the sports media industry for
04:05broadcast.
04:05Everyone, let's go ahead and give a warm welcome to Kari Champion and Serena Williams.
04:20Y'all showed up. You guys showed up, and you look well. Everybody looks really good. My name is Kari
04:28Champion.
04:29I am the moderator for this lovely fireside chat with the best that there is, in my opinion.
04:36I have one small story, so you guys have to give her her proper love.
04:41Serena Williams, at the beginning of my sports career, was one of my favorite heroes.
04:46I worked at the Tennis Channel, and I covered her as she was the world number one.
04:51And how she went on with her career has been something that's truly extraordinary.
04:56And she's been generous and she's been kind to me, so this is an honor for me to sit here
05:00and talk to her about life after tennis, this lovely beauty line.
05:05You all know that she's, and I'm not even going to say one of the greatest tennis players, she's one
05:10of the greatest athletes of all time.
05:15One of the greatest athletes of all time. And if you talk to me, I'll tell you the number one.
05:23Because of what she's been able to do. 23 grand slams in the open era.
05:32World number one for over 300 weeks. Talk to me. We're not doing that anymore.
05:39And you guys, you know Wimbledon is going on right now. This is the first time since 1996 that a
05:46Williams sister was not at Wimbledon.
05:49I know it's sad, right? But she's here with us. Without further ado, let's welcome the queen, Serena Williams, to
05:58the stage! Look at this!
06:17Serena, did they show up? Oh my gosh! This is crazy! Hi everyone!
06:28Serena, look at all of these people. We get the skirt wrong direction.
06:32Got to get the skirt right. Got to get our skirt right. Before we start, I mentioned to everyone what
06:38this moment means for me, but for them as well.
06:40One of the greatest athletes of all time. You recently retired. How has retired life been?
06:49I evolved. I didn't necessarily retire. I feel like I'm a little too young to retire. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:54But I had an evolution into a different life. I'm a mom and I definitely want to spend a lot
06:59of time with my kids.
07:01And it's so fun. I just love being with them so much.
07:06Congratulations on number two, you guys. You just recently have one. Yes, yes.
07:10Thank you. Congratulations.
07:12Yeah, that means a lot to me. And also, we'll talk about some of the stuff that I'm doing. I'm
07:17doing a ton of stuff in the business world, and that kind of is one of the reasons why I'm
07:22here.
07:22Yes, this is why. We're here because, as you well know, Serena has been very vocal about starting businesses and
07:28helping young women start businesses, women in general, with Serena Ventures.
07:33Can you tell everyone about Serena Ventures?
07:35Yeah, well, I started Serena Ventures about five and a half years ago, and my goal was to invest in
07:42women.
07:43I was, at the time, this was a few, this was a while ago, at the time I learned, I
07:48was at this huge conference, and there was all these people speaking.
07:51And the CEO of JPMorgan Chase was on the stage, and he was interviewing the CEO of Clear. And they
07:59were talking about, and her name is Karen.
08:02And Karen had said that less than 2% of all VC money went to women. And I thought that
08:07she was mistaken, or I thought that she had misspoke.
08:10But it turns out she didn't, and that was at the time, that was about seven years ago, or maybe
08:14eight years ago.
08:15The number hasn't drastically changed, but it is moving up. But I wanted, I felt like the only reason, the
08:22only way to change that number is to be the person writing the checks.
08:26And so I think that, yeah, I think that we can make such a big difference for me, is like,
08:32if people writing the checks look different on their skin, and they, you know, are different, then they're obviously going
08:41to write to people that look like them.
08:43So I think it wasn't anything negative for me, it was just like, changing the narrative, changing who are actually
08:48distributing funds.
08:49And with our fund, we invest in everyone. I really, truly believe in diversity, of everyone having a seat at
08:55the table.
08:56But it's who you hire at the table. The people that you hire are, they look at, they look at
09:02companies different.
09:02Women tend to look at companies different. We tend to invest differently. And so, yeah, we have a few people
09:09on our team.
09:10And it's been really fun to invest in other women, to invest in men, to invest in people of color.
09:14It's been something that, you know, just embracing, to invest in everyone. We really don't care what we like. We
09:20invest in great companies.
09:22And so, it's been really fun.
09:24You have been very successful on and off the court, clearly. She's been successful on and off the court.
09:30And when you have a platform, it's really beautiful to create the change that you want to see. So we
09:36thank you for doing that. We really do.
09:38Thank you. Yeah.
09:39I have to get into what we are all here for, because we want to, all I do is win.
09:44I don't think we have the rights to that, do we?
09:46Yeah. I can't sing that, can I?
09:47Well, we are friends, so I don't think he would be that mad.
09:53Win Beauty, a new company, brand new, launched about three months ago. Talk to us about the company. Talk to
10:00us about the product and the inspiration.
10:02Yeah. Well, so, when I played tennis, it was, for me, as an athlete, and at the time, as a
10:08tennis player in particular, tennis is obviously a solo sport.
10:11And one of the things that I always tried to do was try to represent myself the best that I
10:16could while I was on the court.
10:18And that wasn't always very easy. So I would always, like, try to find the best eyeliners that would last
10:24through, you know, Wimbledon three sets, you know, and, like, just pouring sweat.
10:29And rain delays and all this crazy stuff. And I also tried to find the best mascaras. And so I
10:35would go down this path of just finding makeup that would really last for a very long time.
10:39And it was crazy. I used to make my own skin tint. I would grab, like, a foundation and I
10:45would put a sun cream on it to try to just, you know, because I could never find anything in
10:54my color or anything.
10:55You know, especially 20 years ago, you know.
10:57You wanted, like, a tinted moisturizer also, right? That's something that you were looking for? Or what were you trying
11:01to do?
11:01Yeah. Well, because they were out there, but I could never find anything that matched me and that looked good
11:04on me.
11:05And also we're talking about 10, 15, 20 years ago. So it was just a different time in the world.
11:11And this was always something that I was passionate about.
11:14Anyway, so fast forward a few years and when beauty came in fruition in my mind, because I was still
11:20playing tennis, but this was about five years ago before COVID even happened.
11:24And just trying to understand what I would like to bring to life and what I would like to see
11:28in terms of beauty and kind of my play on it.
11:31So obviously I was inspired by tennis balls because I kind of have this love affair with tennis.
11:36We love.
11:36And tennis will always mean so much to me. It's the reason why, frankly, I'm here, you know.
11:42And so I just love the sport and I always felt like what means the most to me and that
11:48kind of was a lot of the inspiration behind our chartreuse.
11:52I noticed that, and this is something, like I said, longtime fan, obviously covered you for so long.
11:58You have always been into beauty and fashion. This isn't a new venture for you. You have most recently, I
12:06saw you in Paris looking amazing walking the runway.
12:10Did y'all see that?
12:11On the Twitter and the socials.
12:13Oh, socials. We don't say Twitter no more.
12:15That was fun.
12:16You looked amazing. So where did that inspiration come from? When did you decide, I love beauty, I love fashion,
12:23this is something I want.
12:24As someone won, and I don't even want to say growing up in Compton, but just living all over the
12:29world.
12:29Well, you kind of had to be fabulous growing up in Compton, obviously.
12:32You had to be. Okay.
12:34You know.
12:36There are so many amazing things coming out of Compton.
12:38They not like us, but go on.
12:39Yeah, you know, can't everyone be like us.
12:45But, but it was, it was so cool, because my mom was always someone that I always looked up to,
12:50and she, she didn't have a lot of time for beauty, but she did, the little time that she did
12:56have, she always was, what's the word, presentable?
12:59She always looked really nice.
13:01Yes, yeah.
13:01And so, I don't know. I think that kind of made a lasting effect on me, and I always just
13:06been into it. Just talk about a junkie. I kind of just want to get out of here and just
13:09kind of visit this whole place.
13:12But yeah, so it's always something that I've been truly just so passionate about, and even, like I said, years
13:18and years ago, I didn't know it was called tinted moisturizer, but that's kind of what I was doing, and
13:22that was really fun.
13:24But yeah, it's just something that I've always been passionate about.
13:26Well, then you take these two passions, and, and I have to remind everybody, I would, I would remember, and
13:33you watched her play tennis.
13:34How do you, as an athlete, and I know women think about this all the time, specifically with your beauty
13:38line, you want to create something that lasts.
13:41We start, we at, I'm working from morning till night. I want to look good throughout the day.
13:45That's something I don't think a lot of brands take into consideration, and for you, that was top priority?
13:51Yeah, so I like the word active beauty because, first of all, there's so many people in the beauty business
13:57right now, and I was like, what, if this is what I want to do, what really speaks to me?
14:02What is authentic to me? What, what are things that I really would use? And I'm like, well, I'm a
14:07very active individual.
14:08I, I love kind of working out, but even, even throughout that, my life now is way more active than
14:13it has been because, um, I'm also a mom, and so I'm driving the kid to school, and I'm picking
14:19one up, and then the other one is a little baby, so I'm with her, and, you know, just showing
14:24up every day.
14:25I don't necessarily want to put on a, a full face of makeup, but I want to put something on
14:29that I can wear every day, and that can last. So for me, it's about lasting.
14:33And more than anything, I wanted a clean makeup. So everything in our line is completely clean, because that also
14:38means a lot to me.
14:39I'm very picky about what I put on my face. I think that we should all really look into long
14:45-term what are we actually putting on our face, because it can affect us long-term.
14:49So it's really important for me to have clean makeup. And then in addition to that, um, it needs to
14:54last long. I genuinely, in my day, don't have time.
14:57And between everything I'm doing, running a business, having kids, and I also cook, so I am the chef of
15:03the house. So, but I don't cook on Wednesdays, since we order pizza.
15:07Okay, okay. We got that. No Wednesday cooking.
15:09And I have takeout on, like, Thursdays.
15:11Okay, okay, so.
15:12So we cook two days a week?
15:14I mean, my husband does the weekends.
15:16Okay, okay.
15:18Okay.
15:21So we cook when we can.
15:23Yeah.
15:23Yeah.
15:23We cook when we can.
15:25Yeah. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Sometimes on Fridays. Not all the Fridays.
15:33Wait. Every lady in the audience is like, yes.
15:36You know.
15:36I understand. I understand. When I get there. It's interesting, because you talk about.
15:43I gotta get serious. I'm serious now.
15:45Okay. We're very, it's very important right now. First of all, this is Serena. When she said she's evolving.
15:50Serena Evolved is fun, Serena. Serena Evolved is, you were always fun, but I like to see you on the
15:56hot ones, eating wings.
15:57Yeah, that was fun.
15:58Like, all the things. This is a good season, no? Is this not a beautiful season?
16:00It is. It's the summer of Wynn, so it's the summer of fun. It's the summer of beauty. I just
16:05want to have a good time, and life is precious, and you know, I just enjoy it.
16:10I agree with you. Talk to us about, as you build Wynn, the foundation. I've met some of the people
16:14that work with you backstage. Very fortunate. Amazing group of women.
16:18What are the pillars or the ethos of this foundation? Even though you've talked to us about Serena Ventures, I'm
16:24pretty sure when you put this together, you had in mind something that represented you also on the inside, not
16:29just physically.
16:30So, there's so many answers to that question. Obviously, I wanted something that could represent me, the way I look,
16:37my skin color, and everyone out there as well, people that look like me, and also people that don't.
16:42So, I wanted to make sure it's kind of built like my VC company at Diversity. In addition to that,
16:48for me, it's super important to have women involved on the back end, because that makes sense as well.
16:57In terms, you look at the best companies, there's women, there's men, there's everyone involved on the back end as
17:02well.
17:02And really, people that are passionate about makeup, people that share my passion, people that understand my idea of active
17:09beauty, which is just something that's fresh in the market and that's totally different.
17:13But it's something that is really unique. So, yeah, for me, it was just finding those, the perfect match and
17:21the perfect mesh of people that could all come together and just work on that vision.
17:26When you say on the back end, are you talking about suppliers, people who come in?
17:30Yes, people mostly that works on the team as well, because when you're building a company, first of all, I
17:34have really big goals and my goals are always sky high.
17:39But I want that, I want the people part of the company to be a part of the big win.
17:44And so that, oh, no pun intended, but to be a part of that.
17:47And so for me, it's really important to make sure that we are making sure that everyone in the working
17:52and behind the scenes, women, people that are working in front as diverse women, men, like everyone that can be
17:58a part of it.
17:58There are a lot of people in the audience right now who have the same vision of creating or have
18:02a product that they've tried to create, not necessarily just this particularly, but in the beauty world.
18:07What advice are you giving them to get a good start, a good sound start as a businesswoman?
18:14Yes, I think, first of all, nothing can beat hard work. I mean, that kind of sounds cliche a little
18:21bit, but hard work is a number one thing.
18:24And having a plan, I think is another thing. My dad always says, if you fail to plan, you plan
18:29to fail. And this is really true.
18:31So, you know, definitely having a plan and having ideas and understanding that it doesn't happen in a snap of
18:37the fingers for every company that you see made it within a year.
18:41There's probably 20,000 companies that didn't make it at all. And then other ones even more that are just
18:47making it on a different level, like growing basically.
18:51And so those are literally one in a billion type companies. And it seems like you see a lot of
18:57that. And so it seems like, oh, I can just, you know, win quickly.
18:59And that's not necessarily what it is. You really have to kind of get in there and put a lot
19:03of hard work into it.
19:04Hard work is important. And I hope everyone in here really heard that message, because even at your level, you
19:09understand how difficult it is to make something come true.
19:12People think it is make it happen. Yeah, everything that I do now is, you know, for the brand and,
19:18you know, just talking about it, how much I love it, you know, because I truly, really am obsessed with
19:23it.
19:24It's not even healthy at this point. Let's take my, should I take, should we? Hands off. Yeah, I can't
19:29touch it. You know what the best part is, you're going to give a demonstration. Yes, yes.
19:34So you guys are going to, the people who are here, you all will have an opportunity. You all will
19:38have an opportunity to witness win, to witness Serena talk about the products that she loves the most, things that
19:45she thinks are amazing for us.
19:47And before we do that, I got a couple of more quick questions for Serena. If you guys want to
19:53tell me, does somebody in the audience want to scream out one appropriate question for me to ask her?
20:03I'm from Los Angeles, California, and I wanted to know the importance of how do you think your beauty line
20:25inspires young girls as you live in all these areas?
20:28These different worlds, in short. Yes, and he also said he was from Los Angeles. Shout out to L.A.
20:33We just, Los Angeles is very important. How many people from L.A. in the house?
20:37Did we get a right? Okay. Okay, me too, me too.
20:42That's a really good question. It feels like you came prepped for that one, so good job.
20:48You know, for me, it's just about being who you are and being very authentic, and I feel like it's
20:53important for young people, no matter who you are, to always just be you.
20:58And to not kind of feel like you have to fold to the forms of what people think you should
21:03be or fold to the forms of what people think beauty is.
21:07Beauty is however you make it, and I truly believe that not only that, not only beauty, but everything is
21:14how you make it, and if you look at it your way and your perspective, it doesn't matter what anyone
21:19says.
21:20You know, just always keep a positive attitude and just understand that that's, you know, just be okay to be
21:26you, and it is okay to be you.
21:28In a world today where they want you to be anything else, you have done nothing but represent yourself truly
21:34to who you are.
21:35And so that is the message which we appreciate and we receive from you. Thank you.
21:40Thank you for saying that. Thank you.
21:43Do we, can we talk about, or I don't know, can we talk about the They Not Like Us, or
21:50should we?
21:50The what? The They Not Like Us song, or?
21:53Oh, I love that song. That's like the hit of the summer.
21:57When they play that jam, I'm jamming. That jam is jamming.
22:02Do you remember the time you crip walk?
22:04Oh, yeah. Well, I do it all the time, but I do remember the one time.
22:09She's like, excuse me, I'm crip walking all the time. And does that song get a crip walk or two
22:15from you?
22:16Oh, absolutely, yeah. No, it is, it is definitely, you're definitely crip walking to that song.
22:21It's so cool what he did, though, bringing, you know, everyone to the stage.
22:23He was beautiful, how he united everyone.
22:25That was incredible. Honestly, from Compton, I couldn't believe it.
22:28Well, that was what I was getting at. It was incredible, yeah.
22:30I mean, he really, and you put Compton on the map, we got DeMar DeRozan, we have Kendrick, we have
22:35Kendrick Lamar doing it.
22:36The city has so much special meaning. Outside of just its history with rap culture, how do you feel about
22:42that city and what it means to you?
22:45I mean, growing up in Compton was a special time.
22:49I mean, we grew up around the time it was Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, if you guys remember.
22:53And then Snoop Dogg was in Linwood, which is literally the next street over from where we lived in Compton.
22:59So we were like right on the line. People across, people on the other side of the house were in
23:04Linwood and our side was Compton.
23:06So it was just like, it was such an amazing time to just, and I was really young, but I
23:11still remember like how cool it was.
23:14And just, you know, just being a part of that culture and then growing up in that era and training
23:18on those Compton courts and even training in Watts.
23:21And then you go and you talk to people like Dre and they're like, oh, we remember passing by and
23:26they're like, no way, you know, and it's just crazy, like how small that was.
23:31And all these amazing artists and athletes all coming out from this one tiny city that just means so much.
23:40So it was just really, just really cool memories and just really cool things to just look back on.
23:45I think that's special because you definitely along with others, but you and your sister definitely put Compton on the
23:50map. We appreciate that. Thank you for the question from Los Angeles.
23:53What we're going to do now is we're going to take a bit of a break because someone Sophia Dennis
23:59is coming out and we are going to do another display, if you will, of makeup then.
24:05Yes, you guys give it up for Serena. She's not going to go anywhere.
24:08Just go to the back. She's going to get some beauty products and we're going to do it right for
24:12y'all. Be right back in just a few minutes.
24:13All right.
Comments