"This day has been years in the making" - Serena Williams launches new lifestyle brand 'Will Perform'

Serena Williams launched her first wellness brand, Will Perform, on Thursday.

Williams co-founded Will Perform with Hank Mercier and Erik Ryan. It is a collection of topical pain relief, daily muscle care lotions, and roll-ons meant to provide athletes and non-athletes with pain relief and daily muscle support.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion took to her Instagram page to mark the launch of the brand. She stated that recovery has been an important aspect of her life and career, especially as a mother.

“This day has been years in the making, and I am super excited to be launching my new brand WILL PERFORM!!! Recovery has been such an important part of my career and my life-especially as a mom-so I can’t wait for you all to experience the recovery collection that I curated. Head over to @wiillperform and willperform.com to learn more!” wrote Serena Williams.

Will Perform's initial product line includes five items that fall into four categories: WILL Relieve, WILL Cool, WILL Rest, and WILL Soothe. These products are intended for both daytime and nighttime use.

"You have to work harder especially if you're not born with a lot of money" - Serena Williams

Serena Williams pictured during the 2018 Wimbledon Championships

On The Business of Feelings podcast with Daniella Pierson, Serena Williams, who owns a clothing and jewelry line as well as the venture capital firm Serena Ventures, claimed that she inherited an entrepreneurial mindset from her father Richard Williams.

“I've always seen my dad be an entrepreneur, and so it was natural for me to want to do more. He always told me, 'Have a backup plan in case tennis didn't work out,'" Serena Williams said.

"I've always been someone that has been business-minded. I was just at Black Tech Week. I was speaking to them, saying, I think, in particular, Black people and African-Americans are always entrepreneurs because of what we had to live through," she continued.

"You have to work harder especially if you're not born with a lot of money. You have to think of ways just to make money in a fresh way because you're not given the same opportunities," she added.

The tennis great continued by saying that despite her success in the sport, she committed to developing contingency plans by studying fashion design at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and business management and pre-med at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

"I went to fashion school and then I actually did business school in UMass and there were a lot of things I did. Meanwhile, this is during and after winning Wimbledons and US Opens so it was kind of nuts. But I'm a planner and I like a backup plan," she said, laughing.