VIDEO: Tennis champ Serena Williams encourages women to seize opportunity

Article By Tabitha Henry // Women’s Empowerment // EEW Magazine

“If I waited to be invited in, I would have never stood out,” says Serena Williams, encouraging women to be proactive and assertive in a newly unveiled ad.

The 37-year-old tennis legend has teamed with Bumble for the brand’s “The Ball Is In Her Court” campaign, a 30-second commercial.

The full ad will air during the first quarter of Super Bowl LIII Sunday.

The idea behind the motivational message is to challenge what the app’s promoters call “outdated gender norms” that tell women they should be passive and shy about asserting themselves.

No more, says Bumble, which is an online community designed to build new romantic relationships, friendships, as well as professional networks. Its promotion of strong female images represents the brand’s efforts to reflect and celebrate the shifting paradigms of 21st century women.

“It’s important to seize opportunity,” Williams told PEOPLE, reinforcing her message of empowerment. “It’s really all about making the first move—not just in love, but in life as well. And you can’t make the first move unless you seize it. You decide you’re going to take it. For me it’s really important to do that.”

Even in the biblical book of Ruth chapter three, the young widow, Ruth, and her mother-in-law, Naomi, came up with a plan to make sure Ruth was visible to a wealthy suitor named Boaz, who wound up marrying her.

The staunchest traditionalists cannot deny that Ruth was proactive in the scenario. Arguably, she made the first move.

In William’s Bumble commercial, though there are no biblical themes present, she does zone in on the necessity of women creating inroads for themselves, taking risks, and self-advocating to change the course of their destinies favorably.

“Don’t wait to be given power,” she says in a voiceover as the commercial shows her gearing up to serve on a tennis court. “Because here’s what they won’t tell you: we already have it.”

Williams, a 23-time major champion, is the global advisor for the social app.

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