Serena Williams knows what it means to be told you are going to be great before you believe it yourself.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion and investor, brought that lesson to over 31,000 people gathered Aug. 7-9 at the Georgia World Congress Center for Invest Fest, an Atlanta conference focused on investing, entrepreneurship and wealth building.
Williams was among a lineup of well-known speakers that included Steve Harvey, Nick Cannon, Ian Dunlap, 19Keys, Thasunda Brown Duckett, and Vic Mensa.
But Williams’ conversation with Invest Fest co-founder Rashad Bilal went beyond her record-setting tennis career. She discussed the mindset that helped her reach the highest levels of her sport and how those lessons shaped her approach to business and investing.
“When someone tells you every day that you’re going to be great, at some point you start to believe it,” Williams said.
Williams said her father, Richard Williams, repeatedly told her and her sister, Venus Williams, that they would be No. 1. He also instructed them to look in the mirror and tell themselves they were the best.
“I think there really is something to positive affirmations..and telling yourself every day that you’re great, you’re going to be the best,” she said.
The message was particularly notable coming from someone who acknowledged she did not always see herself as the athlete her father envisioned.
Williams recalled being young and not yet physically developed, saying she was not always convinced she could become the player her father believed she could be. But those repeated messages stayed with her.
“I think those words kept coming back as, you’re going to be number one,” Williams said. “I believe it.”
That belief, she said, translated into action.
“The only way to do that is to go out there and be fearless and play fearless and do everything you know as hard as you can for as long as you can,” Williams said.
Williams has carried that mindset into venture capital. She said she had been an angel investor for years before moving into venture capital and was drawn to investing in early-stage companies because she enjoyed watching businesses grow.
Her experience also convinced her that greater diversity is needed among people deciding which businesses receive funding.
“We need more women writing checks,” Williams said.
Williams said her investment approach starts with determining whether there is a need for a company and then examining the numbers rather than relying solely on an emotional connection to a founder or idea.
She also spoke openly about investments that did not happen and what those experiences taught her.
“Losing is a way to learn how to win the next time, and it’s not necessarily a failure,” Williams said. “It’s bettering yourself.”
That emphasis on learning and persistence also resonated with attendees.
Charles Watson Jr., an Invest Fest attendee, said his investment journey was shaped in part by EYL University, an educational program associated with Earn Your Leisure that teaches participants about stocks, long-term investing and options.
Watson said an investment or trade he made while participating in the program reached a 1,000% gain, earning him a green jacket given to participants whose stock or trade reaches that milestone.
“I’m not that special. I just did the things that [EYL University] taught me, and then [put it] together with what I already knew, and it came out like this,” Watson said.
He said the program also helped him develop discipline around investing.
Investor Ian Dunlap encouraged attendees to think beyond quick returns and focus on building long-term wealth. During his session, he asked the crowd to repeat an affirmation about playing “long term games for long-term gains.”
Dunlap also urged attendees to develop the discipline required to succeed in investing.
“A lot of you have not made the money that you want to from the market because you’re not obsessed with the market,” Dunlap said before leading attendees in the affirmation, “I have to be obsessed in order to be great.”
For Atlanta, the event brought together a national audience around financial education, entrepreneurship and wealth building. Bilal noted that attendees traveled from across the country, contributing to hotel and rental car activity in the city.
For Williams, the message was one she has carried from a childhood tennis court to the investment world: Believe in the vision, learn from losses and keep working toward the person you want to become.
