Serena Williams covers InStyle’s first ever ‘Badass Women’ issue

InStyle magazine has just released its first ever ‘Badass Women’ issue and who better to grace the cover than all time tennis badass, Serena Williams?

In the cover story, Williams shares intimate anecdotes about her introduction to motherhood, specifically including a story about how she  took a pregnancy test and then forgot about it for hours. We also learn what she wore to the Royal wedding, what it’s like pumping breast milk in the locker room before tennis matches and who is at the top of her own badass women list (for the record, that would be Beyoncé, Rihanna and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton).

Here are a few snippets of what she had to say:

On meeting hubby Alexis Ohanian: “I had this sense, like, ‘I’m going to marry this guy, but I’m not ready yet, but I know I’m going to marry this guy.’ I didn’t know his world at all, but I’ve always been tech-savvy. I had a few investments before I met him, and I wanted to know more. So we started talking, just as friends. Just casually chatting. I was getting hot when he was talking about it all [laughs]… I don’t know – I love his world.”

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On having a second child: “If I weren’t working, I’d already be pregnant…I don’t know if I want to play if I have another baby…”

On playing tennis after childbirth: “…I’m in the locker room pumping before a match because my boobs are so big. When I pump, they go down a size or two and I go out and play.”

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Who runs the world?

InStyle’s editor, Laura Brown recently explained why she and her team decided to create this special edition of the magazine.

“When President Trump announced a ban on transgender individuals in the military Iast summer, I was furious,” she told TIME magazine. “I immediately asked my team at InStyle to research and profile a transgender woman serving in the U.S. military for our next issue. They landed on U.S. Army company commander Jennifer Peace, who joined the military when she was 19, is a married mother of three and has participated in every war of her generation. “The idea that I could lose a job I’m passionate about because of something that has no impact on my ability to serve is really difficult to think about,” she said. “Nothing else makes sense to me. I can’t imagine not putting on a uniform.”

“As I read about Peace’s journey, and saw pictures of her – on duty, and with her wife and children – I thought, damn, what a badass. It was then that my team and I decided to launch Badass Women, a series celebrating fearless women who have consistently fought for equality. History is filled with women who have changed the world with a singular or daring act, but it’s those who keep going — with or without attention — whom I really admire and who are truly changing the game.”

For more on Serena and her fellow badass honorees, check out the latest issue of InStyle.