Father to Two Daughters, Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian Re-Defines ‘Masculinity’ in Exciting Business Endeavour

The bar for men needs to be higher. That’s what Alexis Ohanian thinks! Through his business endeavors, he has started important conversations about women’s sports. Be it investing in women’s soccer and making his daughter Olympia the youngest owner of two professional sports teams, or supporting his wife, Serena Williams‘ feminist ideologies, Ohanian has been at the forefront. And he won’t stop. His new venture ‘Business Dad’- a podcast- is yet another opportunity for him to share how men can be more involved.

While sharing information about ‘Business Dad with Alexis Ohanian’ with PEOPLE, he expressed how the idea for a podcast struck him. “It was just a couple of years after Olympia was born. I started having so many more conversations once I became a dad with other successful dads, across industries, who had so many things that they wanted to share about their own struggles. And there was something about these conversations that just struck me as so fantastic, because it was like I just joined this club that I didn’t know existed,” he narrated.

With the help of his podcast, he wants to normalize conversations about working fathers and their struggles. While conversations about working moms and single mothers are plenty, the same is not freely available for men. Alexis Ohanian wants people to hear the voices of successful fathers and convey the message that they “give a lot of damns about showing up for their families.”

“Ask any working mom and they’ve had to learn to deal with this balance and thrive within it for a very long time… I really feel like there’s an opportunity here to normalize a different kind of masculinity, frankly. It’s seven years now since I’ve become a dad and I truly didn’t think the timing could be better.”

Further, he went on to add, “The bar was so incredibly low for men, especially notable men. Even if you claimed your child, that was considered like you were doing something. In reality, I think we should be talking about the guys who are stepping up and doing the work for their legacy.” And that’s the whole idea behind his podcast. He wants men to hear more about things beyond earning bread and wealth. There are many successful men who are also talking about being a parent, and that is what the Reddit co-founder wants to highlight.

Let’s not forget how Alexis Ohanian has been doing the same since his older daughter Olympia was born. Remember how he started conversations regarding paternity leave? When Olympia was born in 2017, he took 16 weeks of paid paternity leave. That was the policy at Reddit.

Serena Williams had a difficult delivery. She had to undergo an emergency C-section and post that, she spent days fighting against pulmonary embolisms. While they were blessed to have a lot of help at home, Ohanian also realized how difficult it would be for a common man to deal with such life-changing complications. And since he became a father, he has had many such realizations. Now, he is a father of two daughters.

Thus, in his interview with PEOPLE, he further said, “I actually think so many of the best practices that I picked up since becoming a dad and that you’ll hear other dads have are applicable really at any stage of your life. There’s some big themes there. You require the same kind of discipline having a kid really forces upon you when you’re pursuing any exceptional work. Showing up in big ways for your family takes discipline and managing a schedule, and those are skills, muscles really, that you should be exercising all the time.” And recently, Alexis Ohanian demonstrated something similar.

Alexis Ohanian added corn to their family farm to fulfill Olympia’s wish

The 41-year-old dad is exceptionally close to his six-year-old daughter Olympia, and he frequently shares touching moments with her on social media. The father-daughter’s close bond is demonstrated by the activities they both like to do together, such as baking, cooking, making pancake art, playing golf, and collecting sports trading cards. Recently, he fulfilled his elder daughter’s wish, which turned into an accidental discovery for him.

Last month, the Reddit co-founder took to his social media to share a glimpse of a newly added plant to his farm. It was a corn plant that Olympia was fond of. Sharing a picture of it on his official Twitter handle, Ohanian wrote, “Olympia loves corn. So I added corn to the Ohanian family farm. Turns out a lot grows in Florida!” Yes, Florida grows the highest amount of sweet corn than any other state.

Additionally, he also posted it on his Instagram story and told his fans that a lot of corn plants were growing in his field. While there is a problem of squirrels invading the field, the Reddit co-founder mentioned that his dogs take care of it, showing how plantation and its care run deep in their family. But clearly, Ohanian loves to let his daughter explore her interests. This includes sports and other creative activities.

And he would love for his fellow fathers to indulge in comparable activities with their kids. So on similar lines, La Colombe Coffee Roasters CEO Todd Carmichael is one man Ohanian admires. Todd has traveled the world and built big businesses. But when he started his family, he knew he wanted to adopt children. For Alexis Ohanian, this hit close to home because he has two sisters who were adopted. But Todd didn’t just adopt his children. He stayed completely invested in their lives. This is exactly Ohanian’s vision for his fellow fathers.