COME TO WIN BY VENUS WILLIAMS Monday, September 13, 6-8pm HUEMAN BOOKSTORE

Monday, September 13, 6-8pm
Come to Win
Venus Williams, Hueman Bookstore
http://www.huemanbookstore.com/
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
(Between 124th and 125th Streets)
New York, NY 10027
Tel: 212-665-7400
Fax: 212-665-1071
The Williams sisters are two of a kind...forceful, resilient and winner who stayed at the top of their game for years. If they Come to Win, consider it done! In the tradition of Marlo Thomas's "The Right Words at the Right Time," the multiple grand slam tennis champion and entrepreneur, along with an esteemed group of business leaders and acclaimed artists, serves up a book of wisdom that shows how to turn a competitive spirit into successes off the field.
The US Open 2010 - Grand Slam Tennis - Official Site by IBM - News
Q&A with new author and two-time US Open champion Venus Williams
By Erin Bruehl
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion Venus Williams knows very well what valuable lessons sports can teach a person and how much her experiences on the tennis court and what she has learned from her coaches have influenced her in many ways, including launching her own design business, V-Starr Interiors, and her own clothing line, Eleven.



She wanted to share what she has learned from sports with others and, along with journalist Kelly E. Carter, has published a new book called, "Come to Win: Business Leaders, Artists, Doctors and Other Visionaries on How Sports Can Help You Top Your Profession," that is filled with stories from many highly successful people from various professions on how what they learned in sports also helped them in life and business.

The top list of people sharing their stories includes former President Bill Clinton; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Nike co-founder Philip Knight; designer Vera Wang; 12-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King; former NBA superstar Magic Johnson; renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews, as well as eBay's former CEO Meg Whitman.

The book has been a tremendous success, reaching No. 5 on The New York Times Hardcover Advice and How To bestseller list.


As Venus prepares for the 2010 US Open, where she hopes to win her third title in Flushing Meadows, she took some time to answer questions for USOpen.org.

USOpen.org: How proud are you of the book and that it reached No. 5 on The New York Times Bestseller List?
Venus Williams: I am very excited. I was just hoping to make - if I was lucky - the top 20 on the New York Times list. I would have been stoked with that. No. 5 was great. It was exciting that people enjoyed reading it, and hopefully they really learned a lot about how to be successful in life.

USOpen.org: The book contains many stories of how sports influenced other people's lives and professions. Is there a story that is your favorite?
Venus Williams: It is really hard to choose one because I really am so close to all of the stories, so I don't know if it is fair to pick one. I enjoy them all, and they all resonate with me.

USOpen.org: There are so many different kinds of people who tell their stories, from politicians to business leaders to doctors. Do you hope that it helps the general public connect to it that there are so many different types of people in it that are not professional athletes but instead people just like everyone else?
Venus Williams: It was not telling the story about every athlete who was successful in his or her sport. Instead, it is really about how sports can transcend into your life, and that is why there were so many politicians, business leaders, actors, artists and a handful of athletes, too. But (the point was) to show these people weren't going to the Olympics, NBA finals, etc., but they were going places and how they used what they learned in sports to get there.

USOpen.org: What do you hope is the message that your readers most get out of the book? Do you hope people realize that you don't need to be a Grand Slam champion or Olympic gold medalist but that anything you did in sports can impact you in your profession or anyway?
Venus Williams: Absolutely. That the feeling of pushing yourself farther than you ever thought you could and finding out about yourself and building character, pushing your body, your mind and growing your heart are all things you learn in sports that can really help.

USOpen.org: How different is this book from the photograph book, "Venus," of a few years ago?
Venus Williams: It is totally different. But they are both very worthy. In "Come to Win," I just wanted to share my experience and what I have learned in sport and seeing a lot of people had learned the same things and then really put them all together into something that is really monumental is really great.

USOpen.org: How long did the project take? How great was it when so many people said they would share their stories?
Venus Williams: It was exciting when people said, 'Yes, I will do it.' I said, 'Wow, thank you!' It was a huge win just when they said yes. That was great. It (the whole thing) took two years, so it took awhile to pull it all together.

USOpen.org: How much are you looking forward to getting back on the court for your first match here at the 2010 US Open after not having played a WTA Tour match since Wimbledon?
Venus Williams: I was getting excited as soon as I landed here in New York. I thought, 'Yeah, let's go." A few things need to happen in between, but it is right around the corner, and I am ready to go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_vcsI_QnYg

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