Sallie's Opinion

5 Ways I Loved Serena’s “Retirement” Announcement

Did you think we were done talking about Serena?

The rest of the internet and I are still thinking about her piece last week in Vogue magazine, when she announced that she’d be retiring from (or evolving past, as she puts it) tennis to focus on her family and business. Even though her decision to step away is bittersweet — as one article I read put it, “if she can’t have it all, who can?” — there were so many things to love about how and what she wrote about it.

I went on NPR with Michel Martin over the weekend to talk about why it was so moving.

But if reading is more your thing, here are the five reasons why I loved her essay:

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When do you envision retirement happening for you?

Serena made us curious: Is it once you reach a certain age, or when you’ve hit a certain level of success? We asked over on the ’gram. Here’s what you said:

AGE

22%


SUCCESS	22%

WHICHEVER COMES FIRST

47%


OTHER	9%

“Doing something fulfilling without worrying about day-to-day earnings.”

– Elle Raiser @heather_in_heels’ definition of a “modern” retirement

Psst: Does your dream retirement fall outside the “work all the way until 65 and then stop completely” model? Here’s what you should know right now.

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📣 Calling all women over 50

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Tabs, tabs, tabs, tabs tabs tabs, everybody

•	Alison Rapaport Stillman, Serena Williams’ co-investor, spoke with Fortune last week about what’s next for their VC firm.
•	The 19th recently spotlighted women working to make the clean energy transition more equitable, and they’re like, so cool.
•	File under: Why didn’t we have this sooner? LinkedIn just rolled out a new feature to help recruiters make sure their applicant pools aren’t skewed male.
•	“But part of the problem, too, is that many men don’t mind going into the office as much. These fathers may not love the office, but they don’t view flexibility as an absolute necessity to making their family’s lives continue to run smoothly.” — Anne Helen Petersen for Bloomberg on how the shift to remote work is becoming a trap for many women.
•	According to Women in Animation, only 10% of directors and producers in the animation industry are women. One of them is Peggy Holmes, who directed Apple Original Films’ debut feature, Luck. Here’s how she landed the role.

Quick! Before that fall to-do list hits.

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🎾 Opinionated: Can We Talk About Serena?

5 Ways I Loved Serena’s “Retirement” Announcement

When do you envision retirement happening for you?

“Doing something fulfilling without worrying about day-to-day earnings.”

August is National Black Business Month!

ICYMI: Where should you put your savings?

📣 Calling all women over 50

A Q&A on First-Gen Wealth

Tabs, tabs, tabs, tabs tabs tabs, everybody

Quick! Before that fall to-do list hits.

This week’s newsletter was brought to you while planning to watch 20/20 for the first time in our lives. Forward it to your friends who wouldn’t miss Brandy and Whoopi for the world.

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