Meghan, pal Serena Williams tackle ambition, being working moms in new podcast

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has opened up on a range of issues facing women in the workplace and as working mothers in a new podcast released on Spotify this week.

The “refreshing and dynamic” episode is part of a series titled “Archetypes”, which is hosted by the duchess as part of her deal with the audio streaming platform.

In 2020, Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, signed a multiyear production deal for TV programming with Netflix, followed by a multiyear agreement to produce and host podcasts for Spotify.

On Wednesday, the inaugural episode was released where the duchess talks about the “double standards women face when they are labelled 'ambitious' and the ripple effect this has on other aspects of their lives”, in “The Misconception of Ambition”.

The episode featured pal and tennis champion Serena Williams and Dr Laura Kray, a leading expert on gender in the workplace.

Williams and the duchess spoke on the labels attached to ambitious women and working moms, vis-à-vis their male counterparts.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner talked on the challenges of balancing her ambition with motherhood, relating an incident the year she had daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian when, just before a match, the infant had an accident.

“So that year I had Olympia, and I had a match the next day, and that night she fell out of her high chair and broke her wrist. And she was on my watch. And I was just basically devastated. Like, I literally couldn't think. I felt so guilty.

“We went to the hospital and she had a small tear, a break in her wrist, so she had to get a cast and we didn't get back ‘til like four in the morning. Meanwhile, of course, it is the one day I was playing early ... I was so mad at myself for even allowing that to happen. So I think I got like 30 minutes of sleep and then I had to go play this match. And I'm just thinking, how am I going to play?”

The duchess chimed in with her own experience, sharing a terrifying incident that happened on her family's popular SA tour.

“Archie was what, four-and-a-half months old. And the moment we landed, we had to drop him off at this housing unit that they had us staying in. He was going to get ready to go down for his nap.

“We immediately went to an official engagement in this township called Nyanga, and there was this moment where I'm standing on a tree stump and I'm giving this speech to women and girls, and we finish the engagement, we get in the car and they say there's been a fire at the residence,” she related.

Meghan hailed the role her former nanny played in “saving” the tot, explaining that because she opted to take the baby with her to get a snack before putting him down, Archie was spared when the fire broke out.

The duo also touched on Williams' retirement from professional tennis, with the mom of one opening up on the “hard” decision to hang up her racket and transition to other things.

Williams earlier this month revealed she was “evolving away from tennis” and planned to retire from the sport she dominated.

“I have never liked the word retirement,” Williams wrote in a Vogue article.

“Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution. I'm here to tell you that I'm evolving away from tennis, towards other things that are important to me,” she revealed.

Williams opened up more on the move, telling Meghan, “I've been doing this since ... I can remember. And I'm 40 years old now, so it's like my whole entire being and my whole entire life has been for one purpose. So to kind of not do that any more, it's exciting, right? I'm really looking forward to it”.

“I'm happy about it, but it's just also something that I've actually literally have never experienced in my life.”