Michelle Obama laid out Serena Williams‘ career numbers this week, and they’re worth reading slowly. 23 Grand Slam singles titles. Four Olympic gold medals. 319 weeks ranked No. 1 in the world. By any measure, that’s one of the greatest athletic careers in history.
But on a new episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast, Obama pointed to something she called the most impressive of all.
On her Instagram account, Obama wrote that Williams “winning her eighth Australian Open while pregnant with her first daughter might be the most impressive of all.” That’s a strong claim, coming from someone who doesn’t make them lightly. But the facts back it up.
Williams won her eighth Australian Open title in January 2017. She found out shortly after that she’d been pregnant during the tournament. She later said almost no one around her knew at the time. Her daughter, Olympia, was born that September. So she won a Grand Slam in the first weeks of her pregnancy. The public wouldn’t find out for months. Few achievements in any sport come close to that.
The episode was recorded live at the NBA All-Star Mother’s Brunch in Los Angeles. Obama and Williams dug into the power of motherhood and what that journey has meant to each of them. The full episode is on YouTube and on all major podcast platforms now.
Obama and Williams have been friends for years. They’ve both spoken publicly about the challenge of building a demanding career alongside raising children. That challenge doesn’t belong only to famous people. Most working parents know some version of it. Theirs might look different from a parent working two jobs to make rent, but the emotional math is the same. The tension between career and parenthood has no clean answer. Obama and Williams don’t pretend otherwise, and that honesty is what makes this conversation worth hearing.
The Michelle Obama Podcast launched in 2020. The show blends personal experience with bigger human questions and keeps the tone honest throughout. This episode fits squarely in that tradition.
The NBA All-Star Mother’s Brunch was a fitting setting. It’s a gathering built around the idea that mothers deserve recognition, not just in private, but out loud. Obama and Williams have both done extraordinary things in their careers. Both women raised their children through those same career peaks. That gives their exchange a grounded quality that’s hard to manufacture.
Williams officially stepped away from professional tennis in 2022. She called it an “evolution” rather than a retirement. She has since focused on her family and on Serena Ventures, her venture capital firm. The firm focuses on investing in underrepresented founders. Obama has kept her podcast going as a platform for honest, direct conversations.
The episode is out now on YouTube and everywhere podcasts are available.
