Venus Williams is best known as a tennis player and Olympic gold medalist. Even if she is an entrepreneur, people may not be aware of it.Venus, it turns out, is a tennis and design fanatic. In 2002, Venus established her interior design firm, V Starr Interiors, while still participating at the highest levels of tennis and winning tournaments, Grand Slam championships, and gold medals. That same year, she was ranked first in the WTA rankings for women’s tennis.
EleVen by Venus, Venus’ sportswear line, was started ten years later. Since then, Venus has been deeply involved in practically every design decision, from garments to commercial interiors. Venus used “remote work” long before it became a need during the epidemic in order to stay connected to both firms’ initiatives while she was on the road for tennis. Having both businesses flourish is a testament to Venus (who is known for juggling multiple full-time jobs!), as well as the leaders and designers she works with. Her companies’ success is also dependent on the deliberate creation of cultures devoid of compromise.
Sustainability is one of the values that Venus and her leadership teams want each member of her team to live by. Businesses confront a hurdle, however: How can teams work together in a fast-paced, demanding workplace while adopting the best materials for the environment?
“Every minute, there is a new product or approach to save energy, recycle, or be greener and more renewable,” remarked V Starr Principal Sonya Haffey in a 2018 interview.
They believe the finest designs are not only created when leaders and team members value each other’s contributions but also when the design process integrates environmentally friendly processes and materials. How can we improve our workplace culture in order to make this happen?
There is a long history of not putting corporate leaders in charge of the health of their workplaces. As a result of their extensive training, many executives are unable to see the bigger picture. Refining a company’s culture isn’t something that is commonly taught in business schools or passed down from one generation to the next.
That is why, in the year 2019, Venus made a request for assistance. “I took a significant step with V Starr,” she writes in her foreword to Good Comes First. The reason I hired Chris was to help me develop a healthy and meaningful corporate culture where good always comes first—where respect is just as important as results. Creating a company where everyone knows why they’re there and what they’re working toward was something I aspired to achieve. To begin the process of formally establishing our company’s servant purpose and generating ideas for its core values, Chris worked with our senior leaders right away. My team, which included some of the brightest minds I’ve ever seen, was entirely on board with the process. Because of this, they were certain that the workplace will be improved.”
