- Welcome back y'all I'm here with Adam Lambert,
give I up!
(audience cheering and applauding)
Out next guest is a tennis icon.
She has won 73 titles, four Olympic gold medals
and seven grand slams in her career
that has spanned two decades.
Joining us all the way from Australia,
where she's about to play in the Australian open.
Please, everybody welcome Venus Williams.
(upbeat music)
(audience cheering and applauding)
Oh my gosh hello and say hi to Adam as well.
- Hey Adam, how are you?
I'm huge fans of both of you.
And I got to listen to the conversation
you guys had, love the shoes.
(both laughing)
I'm glad we are like the Talking Heads,
we should start a group.
(both laughing)
- Well, there was the Talking Heads.
So Venus, the Australian open is your first tournament
after a pretty big break right?
- Yeah. My last time it was a French open,
which happened in October.
Normally it happens in May,
so all of us are pretty subject to what's going on in COVID
but super grateful to be here.
Currently just, you know, enjoying the sun.
It's summertime down here.
So I'm getting all the summertime fruits,
cherries, all the things we don't get right now.
- Oh, that's awesome.
I love Australia, but Venus
I have to say Serena was just here
and is also playing in the tournament.
So what's it like playing with your sister?
- Yeah, we have been playing doubles together
honestly since we were eight years old.
So a lot of people know us for maybe
playing against each other
but we have done so much together on the court.
It's the best feeling.
I'm still the big sister and a lot of people ask me
what are your favorite moments in the court?
And I'm always like, oh my gosh, when I play with my sister.
- Yeah. Oh, that's gotta be such a cool thing too, to have
especially in this time where you're not allowed
you kind of have to create your own pod
like to still be able to kind of play.
I mean, your sister you all (indistinct)
to be able to even play against each other.
And I think you're both so gifted.
Like God, like planted a lifelong partner
for you to just challenge yourself with
tennis wise, it's amazing, it's so cool.
Well, Venus, when you look back on your tennis career
what are you most proud of?
'Cause you have an illustrious career
not just in tennis in a lot of fields
but with tennis specifically, what are you most proud of?
- I think I'm most proud of a few things.
And in life you have to enjoy it.
If you aren't enjoying it
no matter what you do, it's not worth it.
So I've had a lot of wins.
I've had a lot of losses
but being able to enjoy my time and look back on fond memory
and all those times the good ones and the tougher ones.
And of course fighting for equal
prize money for women on tour,
because you know, a little known fact
or maybe well-known fact that it wasn't always equal
for women up until 2007, that wasn't very long ago.
So of course there's a lot of battles
to fight in this world,
and I'm looking forward to continuing to fighting.
Fighting for equality I'm very passionate about,
equality for all people of course,
and of children also.
Super, super passionate about kids
and giving them an equal opportunity for good life.
- Absolutely, opportunity is the key.
And I think that's the most important thing
especially with kids to set them up for success.
So I found this out, I didn't know this
but will Smith is actually playing your dad
in an upcoming movie right?
- Yeah. So there's this film coming out
this year now it's called
or I imagine it will be this year "King Richard".
And it's very exciting.
It's really about my dad
and how he literally changed the game and how this started.
He's a revolutionary kind of person and I love him to death.
And my mom of course, is also featured in the movie,
and there's my mom, she's the coolest lady on the planet.
And she's so fun.
But the two young ladies that played both Serena and I
they acted just like Serena and I did,
holding hands, hugging each other,
like how we were as kids.
We still like, you know
hug each other and you know, it's the same thing.
So it was really interesting to see that kind
of dynamic on the set.
And we had a lot of fun with them
because we would say, you know, just be careful because
in the year 2000 and we pretend they were actually us
you're gonna meet this guy.
Don't date him.
(both laughing)
- Just say no.
- We had a lot of fun, those girls are sharper
than we ever were at that age though,
so we don't think we have to worry about them.
- Oh my God, that's so funny.
You're gonna meet this guy and just run.
Well, Venus did your parents also inspire the business woman
in you 'cause you also have that empire going on?
- Yeah, absolutely.
My parents are everything for me, everything.
And I think that's everyone's parents
and you learn the good and the bad,
and the ugly from them, right?
And thankfully, my parents was, you know 95% good.
(both laughing)
And they gave us this entrepreneurial spirit.
My dad was born in 1942 in Louisiana.
So pretty hostile conditions for an African-American man
if you could imagine growing up in Jim Crow.
So he wanted us to have these opportunities
that he didn't have,
and so he encouraged entrepreneurship.
So I started my own active wear company called EleVen.
And it's all about the pursuit of your best self
and going past that 10 and being 11,
and helping people to be well and to be their best.
And that is what has given me my best life,
is being well and being my best.
It builds confidence to be active and to be well.
- Speaking of that, you have something
and I just love the name.
So I have to bring it up.
It's Happy Viking.
So what is Happy Viking?
- Okay. So last month we launched Happy Viking
and it's a plant-based protein company
and the name Happy Viking is about fueling
your inner fighter and your inner vikings.
We all know kind of the reputation of vikings,
while just feeling happy and satisfied
with what you put in your body.
And it was so exciting
because it's sold out in less than 24 hours so.
- Wow.
- We're back in stock now
and you can find it at happyviking.com and elevenbyvenus.com
and Amazon, of course.
And so it's available in vanilla and chocolate.
So depending on what kind of person you are
- I like both.
- (indistinct) and it's got yellow pea
and brown rice proteins
and also macronutrients.
And it has Omega three, sunflower oil, fiber
all nine amino acids,
and all these different things.
So it's really a different kind of protein
because it helps your body and your mind
in the macronutrients.
So I'm very proud of it.
I'm so excited to help people to be healthy
and well on all kinds of platforms.
And that's my mission.
- Venus is happy.
Viking products are available online right now.