Serena Williams has been a constant pillar of inspiration for athletes, women, and people in general. She is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of all time! In addition to winning 73 titles throughout her career, she has single-handedly inspired an entire generation of people to take up the sport of tennis. But don’t be fooled; Serena’s legacy extends beyond the game of tennis! She has been at the forefront of sportswear and the sneaker industry. Early in her career, she became a Nike athlete, signing a multi-million dollar deal at the age of 21, and has since released countless collaborations with the sportswear brand.
Almost 20 years later, the sportswear company celebrates Serena’s legacy with a namesake building at their headquarters in Oregon, an honor only shared by 10 other athletes in history. The Serena Williams Building (SW) will be a home for product creation and design; for the first time in Nike HQ history, design, insights, and product-merchandising teams will be housed under the same roof.
The SW building is also the largest building on Nike’s campus; the structure is one million square feet! To put it into perspective, that’s the size of 140 full-size tennis courts.
Now, if you’ve been following the details, you’re starting to realize Serena, Nike, and this building are making a lot of history! All the people, especially the women who have an opportunity to work in the SW Building, will be surrounded by her legacy and a constant reminder to be tenacious, innovative, and hard-working.
With the reveal of the building, Serena hopes, “people who work here are just inspired to dream bigger and to jump higher and do more.” Take a virtual tour of Serena’s building and prepare to be inspired!
Yall know we love highlighting boss women making moves in the sneaker industry, not only because it’s beautiful to watch them get the opportunities and recognition they deserve, but also because we believe in the importance of representation. Sometimes just seeing that someone who looks like you is accomplishing big things gives you the inspiration to hope and dream big.
- Brittany Brown