A dad who is an entrepreneur or an entrepreneur who is a dad- how do you describe Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian? The Reddit co-founder will tell you that he is both, but one needs to prioritize when to step into which shoe.

“I spent most of my life, most of my adult life really focusing on just the career part, the first part, and then four years ago [I] became a dad. Things shifted. And that is the lens through which I look at basically every decision,” Ohanian had said in a conversation with the ‘Imposters podcast from Morning Brew’ in 2022.

You can not dispute that the approach worked. He has turned Reddit into a success story. But that did not come at the expense of caring for an ailing Serena after childbirth or the pancake sessions with his daughters. Don’t forget that he has been a vocal advocate of paid paternity leave and took a 16-week off when his elder daughter Olympia was born. But how does he attains both? Let’s hear from the horse’s mouth what he shared in his latest social media video.

The Reddit co-founder shared a reel on his Instagram where he had great insight for his followers. “When I was younger, I used to work from home, it was tough to mentally get the separation felt like never ended. So I technically built an office for myself close to my home so that I can get enough space that I could leave and feel like I was going in to work but it’s literally next door. The crucial thing, is making sure you’ve got focused time,” Ohanian said.

I even have a red light out here. I’m in recording, maybe, doing an interview, that redlight is on, and folks know, like, don’t come in. My promise to my family is, when I’m on the clock between 8 and 6p.m, unless it’s an emergency, don’t expect to hear from me. Because I am all in on work. Board meetings, meetings with my team at Seven Seven Six I need that ability to lock in,” said Ohanian while giving a tour of his workspace. His statements echoed his dedication to work and how his family understands the priority and acts accordingly. However, he is not going to be a ‘dull boy’! So it’s not all work.

When he is not managing his career, he is a dedicated father. He also revealed that in this video. “When I am off the clock, is I’m all in best I can be. At the dinner table every night, asking the girls about their day. Thats how I try to separate it. When you’re in there you should be able to focus to work and able to do your best work. Choose your own adventure, Good Luck.” 

“For me, the most important thing I do is protect my focus. I want to be able to be all-in at work, so I can be all-in when I’m home – some things you didn’t know about the @776fund HQ,” he captioned his video. The compartmentalization is mind-blowing, indeed. So is this what we call work-life balance? Will you believe that Ohanian absolutely dismisses the existence of the term?

“Work-life balance is a farce. If you’re chasing that, you’re doing it wrong. You’ll never achieve anything close to that, nor should you. The key to managing work and life is knowing when you want to focus on which part — accepting that it’s a shifting equilibrium,” Ohanian had written in an X post last year.

“There are times you’ll need to spend most of your time on your career (first-time founders, you know what I mean). There are other times when you’ll need to spend more time on life –maybe your partner needs you, you just had a kid, or you’re just simply burnt out. The point is, work/life “balance” isn’t so clear-cut – it’s a spectrum that’s ever-flowing back and forth” Ohanian indeed handles that successfully.

When Olympia was, near-fatal complications forced Serena to undergo an emergency C-section. Serena spent days in recovery fighting for her life against pulmonary embolisms. After coming home with their baby girl, Serena had a hole in her abdomen that needed bandage changes daily. She was on medication. She couldn’t walk. For weeks Ohanian took time to look after Serena and Olympia. Though Ohanian did not have to worry about keeping his job, he still believed it was incredibly difficult. Interestingly, Ohanian had revealed it was Serena who kind of taught him to maintain the balance.

“She [Serena] was like, ’You work more than I do. And at first I was so flattered. I was like, ‘Wow, thank you so much,” Ohanian had said to CNBC Make It in 2021. But then the tennis GOAT turned real. It was a compliment.

Ohanian revealed that Serena explained that overworking is “not actually the way to sustained greatness, because, especially as an athlete, you have to be spending as much time recovering and regrouping as you do working, training and practicing,” he said. “Otherwise you can’t be at your best for a long time.” So Ohanian has devised out a way to ensure that,

He schedules 15-minute windows throughout his work day for “just me time.” “So maybe I get up and I go for walk or I use that time to check in on Olympia or to call my wife or to just browse the internet. We can’t do our best unless we have those resetting moments,” Ohanian had said on that occasion. According to him, Serena is “really good at is shutting it off and focusing on family time and personal time.” While all that is important, Ther is another side to it.

Alexis Ohanian wants to be not just a dad, but a role model

In an interview with Glamour Magazine in 2019, Ohanian had an interesting revelation. When he returned to work after Olympia’s birth, he started focusing on his work. “Since I came back from leave, I’m less “full-time dad” and more what I like to call “business dad.” When Serena has an intense day of training or a photo shoot, I’ll spend the day with Olympia. I’m fortunate to be my own boss, which comes with the freedoms of doing things like bringing my daughter into the office, or working remotely from virtually anywhere Serena competes,” he said. He had an important thought behind that.

It’s not only the caring part, as a parent, Ohanian also wants her daughters to see his dedication to work. “I really want Olympia to see me working, to see me building,” added Ohanian. “And I also think it’s part of my responsibility as a dad and a role model. I want her to see me put in work in something I really care about and being passionate about something and caring about something,” Ohanian had said about his philosophy.

Indeed, he wants to be a perfect business dad to his daughter. So, on one hand he revealed that when he is with his daughters, he doesn’t bother about any work. “I promise to the girls when I am on dad duty this (mobile phone) goes away. We do our best and then we know what really matters are those little girls back home.”  But in the past he has clapped back to the naysayers who has projected this as his lack of sincerity to his work. Well, his actions indeed speak louder than his words.