While some of us are counting down the days until holiday break, there is a large group of Gen-Z, millennials, and business professionals in Detroit, participating in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit.
From Harlem’s Fashion Row Founder, Brandice Daniel to rapper 21 Savage to Detroit Blows CEO, Nia Batts, the number of Black professionals at the Under 30 Summit is representative of who is leading the business market.
Yesterday afternoon, Forbes opened the biggest theatre room at Masonic Temple (previously where the concert was Monday night) for a very special guest, Serena Williams. While her chat was originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Williams was stuck in London and made it to the venue around 5:45 p.m. “I really wanted to be here. I didn’t want to miss this,” the Grand Slam champ expressed.
When it comes to tennis, that is Williams’s first love, but her new business venture has lead her to invest in over 30 companies, sit on the board of Poshmark and Survey Monkey, and create an affordable fashion line. “I’ve always liked fashion, I grew up sewing,” said Williams as she discussed her brand, S by Serena.
Influenced by her mother who sewed Serena and her sister Venus’s tennis costumes for early tournaments to going to fashion school, the tennis star has always had an eye for style. “I always joked that somewhere in between winning Wimbledon’s and U.S. Opens, I was in school doing fashion projects,” Williams laughed.
Fresh off her NYFW debut in early September, Williams also discussed how debuting at fashion week was a dream come true.
“It was really cool because we just launched in May and they call us a year later inviting us to fashion week,” she said. “When you go to fashion school, you dream of doing a fashion show in New York.”
