Serena Williams says Prince Harry ‘always solves all the problems in my life’

Just call Prince Harry the king of problem solving.
On Thursday, the Duke of Sussex took part in a panel for BetterUp, a company that provides coaching and mental health services to employees, alongside CEO Alexi Robichaux and tennis great Serena Williams. The royal, who is the company’s director of impact, spoke with Williams about coping with burnout, setting boundaries and dealing with loss and setbacks in life. Towards the end of the panel, Williams even revealed that Harry was one of her go-to people for resolving her life issues.
“It’s hard. I’m a terrible loser,” Williams said.
“When it comes to losing, I even hate that word,” she noted. “Because for me, if I have a loss, I learn so much.” She explained that “some of my best growth has come from loss.”
“Even when I’m investing in a business, I really want to know your losses,” the 23-time Grand Slam winner said. “If you have started a business before, how did you do it? … Where did you somehow fail? Because if everything was so good and so clean and so easy, it doesn’t even build character, you know? »
Harry chimed in and talked about the idea that people can continue to grow and learn from setbacks.
“If you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s and even 50s, and you think everything’s settled, then bad things are going to happen,” Harry said.
“There is a lesson here. There is a lesson that I am schooled by the universe. There is something to learn in that,” the royal said. “So that the next time it happens, I become more resilient or better able to see a way around it, so that I can achieve the ultimate goal. And if you have that perspective, then every bad thing that happens – again once, what you perceive to be bad – may actually be good.
“We don’t want to take over – we always have these crazy talks,” Williams joked, as she and Harry continued to talk to each other, which Robichaux didn’t seem to mind at all.
Towards the end of the conversation, Williams said the Duke helped her find a mental coach who she continues to work with. And beyond that, she says, Harry “always solves” his “life problems”.
“I know I’m kidding a lot, but Harry is actually one of my coaches,” Williams said with a laugh. “Whenever I see him, he always solves all the problems in my life, so I’m giving this to your coach BetterUp, it kind of helped me ― so thank you!”
Williams is longtime friends with Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, and attended the royal couple’s wedding in 2018 with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Meghan and Ohanian appeared on a panel together for a TIME 100 Talk in October 2020.
Prince Harry joined BetterUp as Director of Impact in March 2021. Robichaux described the Duke of Sussex as an ideal fit for the company because of “its model of inspiration and impact through action “.
Harry said in a statement at the time that he was “excited” to join the company and shared his own mental health philosophy.
“I strongly believe that focusing on and prioritizing our mental fitness unlocks potential and opportunities that we didn’t know we had within us,” he said.
“Being in tune with your spirit and having a support structure around you is key to finding your own version of peak performance,” the Duke added. “What I’ve learned in my own life is the power to turn pain into purpose.”
Thursday’s virtual appearance is Harry’s first since he and the Duchess of Sussex issued a statement over the weekend about Spotify allowing misinformation about COVID-19 on its platform.
Dia Dipasupil via Getty Images
The couple signed an exclusive, multi-year podcasting partnership with Spotify in December 2020, nearly a year after the two retired as working members of the British Royal Family.
“Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the global misinformation crisis in real time,” a spokesperson for Archewell, Harry and Meghan’s foundation and production company, said in a shared statement on Sunday. with HuffPost. “Hundreds of millions of people are impacted every day by the severe harm caused by rampant misinformation and disinformation.”
“Last April, our co-founders began raising concerns with our partners at Spotify about the all-too-real consequences of misinformation about COVID-19 on its platform,” the statement read. “We have continued to raise our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes are made to its platform to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to face this moment and pledge to continue our work together as it does.
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