Congratulations, Serena Williams! You've Achieved Retirement!

By Karen and Erica

We learned today, in Vogue, that Serena Williams is retiring from tennis. And she’s not totally happy about that. As she says:

I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me.

We agree there’s nothing likable about the word retirement, and she’s quite right—it is not modern.

Serena Williams is a defining tennis superstar, she is only 41, she is an iconic Black woman, and she is just gorgeous. But she is just like us in her hesitation about the word for, or the concept of, retirement. Like her, we hated it. Nothing about it sounds attractive or appealing. Like her, we loved our careers, and we really did not love the thought of being defined as retired, which seems to imply you are no longer part of society, but must be isolated from everyone else. So we empathize with her.

We have written about our dislike of the word retirement many times, including here, soon after we started Lustre, and here, not so long ago. And its not just the word—the whole concept of retirement is anything but modern. But the good news is—retirement, once you redefine it, is just fine, if done right.

The key to post-career life is to have a full one, doing whatever you want to do, including work, which is why we fight for opportunities for retired career women. And it is apparent that Ms. Williams has, presciently, already figured that out, as she has started her own venture capital firm. So, even though, like many of us, she has not even wanted to talk about impending retirement, she has actually foreseen that there is life after a first career, and has prepared for it.

As we have also said, retirement from a well-loved career is a process, and some parts of that process are painful. There is no way around that, and there is no way to do it privately—not for people like us, certainly, but definitely not for Serena Williams. All eyes are on her, as they have been forever. But facing up to retirement, and owning the next phase, is the only way to reach the other side. She’s on it. And , we are certain she will continue to be a model for the rest of us in this role, too.

We look forward to watching how Serena Williams does retirement.

Congratulations, Ms. Williams.