Alexis Ohanian says he and Serena Williams have one rule for letting their daughters chart their own paths.
“The one rule in the house is we don’t care what you want to do when you grow up, as long as you do your best at it and you’re doing something useful,” Ohanian told E! News on Saturday at Athlos LDN26, the inaugural London edition of the women’s professional track-and-field series he founded.
Ohanian said he was on “dad duty” supervising their eldest daughter, Olympia, who was “working the event.”
“We’ve got her interviewing a few of the ladies who are on their way in,” the Reddit cofounder and venture capitalist said.
On the other hand, he said Williams “drew the short straw” and was watching over their youngest daughter, Adira.
Ohanian said the couple also tries to keep their daughters grounded as they grow up around elite athletes and attend high-profile events.
“We both go out of our way to normalize a lot of this stuff,” Ohanian said.
That same idea shapes how Ohanian thinks about women’s sports and the example he wants to set for his daughters. While he sees women athletes as inspirational role models, he said that shouldn’t be the reason they are celebrated.
“In a way, sort of ironically, if the only thing that I focus on and talk about is the sort of normalcy of celebrating greatness, and they just happen to be women, I feel like it actually helps us get a little closer to the end goal that we all want,” he said.
Ohanian has previously spoken about giving his daughters room to explore their interests.
In a July 2023 interview with People, he said he and Williams enjoyed watching Olympia try different hobbies.
“Like any parent, we just want her to have fun, and we’re fortunate enough to be able to expose her to anything she could be interested in. It’s already been an interesting journey, seeing the stuff she’s into. We don’t want to limit that,” he said.
Williams has also spoken about how she has no interest in grooming her daughter to be a tennis star.
“I would hate her to have to deal with comparisons or expectations. It’s so much work, and I’ve given up so much. I don’t regret it, but it’s like ‘Sliding Doors’: Go through a different door and lead a different life. I’d like her to have a normal life. I didn’t have that,” Williams told Vogue in February 2018.
Other celebrities have also shared the values and expectations they hope to instill in their children.
Guy Fieri has said his children must earn two college degrees before they receive an inheritance. Matthew McConaughey’s mother, Kay, has said her sons had to follow her rules while they lived under her roof, which helped them become “loving and productive” men.
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