Venus Williams knows firsthand the importance of believing in oneself — it’s a quality that has helped her become one of the best tennis players in the world. Now, she’s helping young girls feel the same way about themselves.
The champion tennis star recently partnered with Dove to promote its #KeepHerConfident Beauty Bar, a limited-edition product being sold as part of a broader, ongoing campaign to help young girls in sports feel comfortable and confident. It’s the latest effort from the Dove Self Esteem Project, an initiative launched in 2004 to address confidence gaps for girls and women through an array of positive messages and programs.
To kick off this new campaign, Dove held an event in New York City this week – to coincide with the U.S. Open – that featured an in-depth “Queens of Confidence Chat” between Williams and Virginia Thornton, co-founder of Black Girls Tennis Club. In a room filled with tennis decor and excited young girls, the women took turns telling their young audience about their athletic journeys, while explaining why it’s important to prioritize and value self-assurance.
“The opportunity to play sports helped me to focus on me,” Williams, 44, said. “It helped me to focus on the things that I wanted — the things that I could achieve.”
During the discussion, Williams and Thornton also shared what they do to work toward being the best versions of themselves. For Thornton, she emphasized the importance of being “comfortable in your own skin,” especially as a woman of color. “You just have to continuously remind yourself: ‘I might be the only one that looks like me here, but I tried out,’” Thornton said. “I made it.”
Staying involved is part of the battle. Research conducted by Dove indicates that 45% of girls drop out of sports by the time they reach age 14 — double the rate of boys. And it “wasn’t because they stopped loving the game. It was because they stopped loving their bodies,” Kathryn Fernandez, senior brand director at Dove, said at the event while introducing the guests of honor.
And they lose out in the long run, she added, because girls who participate in physical activities are more likely to feel confident in their bodies, and often go on to “do really awesome things in their life.”
These trends are what led the organization to launch its Dove Self Esteem Project 20 years ago, which has reached over 95 million girls to date. The project also reaches girls and women athletes by partnering with Nike for its Body Confidence Sport Program, a separate offering that provides tools for promoting body confidence to coaches, teachers, parents and mentors.
Dove is working to reach 1 million girls through that program, Fernandez said, and has teamed up with organizations like Bras For Girls, a nonprofit that provides sports bras and information to girls worldwide, to that aim. “We want everyone to feel confident on the field, on their team, and just in general,” Maddy Lee, Bras For Girls’ operation specialist, told The Story Exchange at the event.
And when doubt does creep in – after all, even the world’s top players suffer from bouts of low confidence – “it’s about how you deal with those moments when you don’t feel great,” Williams reminded the young Black and brown girls assembled at the #KeepHerConfident event – girls all aspiring to be just like her. “That’s what makes a real champion.”
