Sports Stars Making a Social Impact: Boxer Cary Williams is reminding girls and women that they should never allow anyone to place them in a gender box; You are Never Too Pretty to do Anything!

Throughout the years I have been able to work with thousands of youth in boxing. I soon realized that I was not only teaching them boxing but also life lessons. Everything from looking at someone in the eyes when you talk to them to how to build their credit. To have someone reach out to you 10 or 15 years later to thank you for putting them on the right path is priceless. After realizing that I could touch people in a positive way and have an impact, I decided to create the Too Pretty brand. The brand is a statement. A movement. It is a reminder to girls and women that they should never allow anyone to place them in a gender box. You are Never Too Pretty to do Anything!

I had the pleasure to interview Cary Williams. In the boxing world, Cary Williams boxed competitively in the amateurs and won the Pacific Northwest Women’s Tournament before hanging up her gloves. She is now a Level IV Olympic Level Boxing Coach with USA Boxing. Cary has trained many boxers, some of which have made it to Olympic Trial Qualifying Tournaments. Cary caught the attention of many when she trained and cornered a female boxer for 3 Olympic Qualifying tournaments. All done without the help of an assistant coach in the corner for each fight. She has also trained a few celebs such as Kelly Hu, Kevin Alejandro and Tilman Fertitta. Out of Cary’s experience in this male dominated sport comes Too Pretty. Created for girls and women who are tough enough to “play hard” while still embracing their femininity! History of Too Pretty? Cary was told on numerous occasions that she was “Too Pretty” to be a boxer. Really? Since when is it OK to base someone’s abilities on their appearance? Cary has worked with hundreds of young girls teaching them boxing, but the biggest lessons they have learned from Cary is that they can be strong, smart and successful without sacrificing their femininity. Her work with young women got her recognized by The California Legislature along with Brandi Chastain and several other women in sports, for her contribution and impact on girls’ sports. Now, the brand has caught the eyes of other young girls and women who are doing “non-traditional” activities. This goal is to empower young girls and women and to encourage them to believe that they can do anything they set their mind to; even stuff that boys do! Cary co-created and co-hosted “Boxing 101” Boxing Camp Workout and “Additional Fundamentals”, unique boxing instructional and workout DVDs. As a spokesperson for Everlast, Cary created a boxing class format for 24 Hour group fitness called Everlast ShadowBox and was a part of several print ad campaigns for Everlast. She also offers the Prime Time Boxing Certification Course for home study and for workshops in Santa Monica, CA. The PTB program trains participants in the real fundamentals of boxing and teaches them how to teach the sport to others up to the competitive level. Cary founded the “Knocking Out Obesity” tour which stopped at 10 of the “fattest” cities in the nation (according to Men’s Fitness). Cary conducted non-contact boxing workouts with students at 10 middle schools in the nation. In the beginning, she founded PRIME TIME BOXING, INC. and created Prime Time Boxing Club, a non-profit organization that offers scholarship programs to pay for the training, equipment and travel expense of disadvantaged children. Cary grew PRIME TIME BOXING, INC to 4 boxing clubs in California and even started franchising in 2008. Since then Cary has sold all of her clubs except one, which is called The Stables and is located in Santa Monica, CA where Cary resides.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you share with us the “backstory” that led you to this career path?

My story is a bit backwards. Usually an athlete becomes a coach and then opens a gym. Well, I opened my first boxing gym 20 years ago, became a boxing coach a year later and then a fighter 2 years later.

After graduating with an Environmental Science degree I figured out quickly that working for the government in a cubicle was not for me. I was an entrepreneur all my life starting at 8 years old selling mistletoe door-to-door during the holidays.

I wanted to do something that had not been done yet and that was to offer real boxing training in a class format to the fitness enthusiast.

I wrote a business plan, got an SBA loan, found a building and hired a trainer. The story within that is a long one.

What would you advise to a young person who wants to emulate your success?

Never listen to anyone who says you can’t do it. One thing I know for sure is that if I listened to all of the people who doubted me, I would have never opened my first gym.

Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?

I was raised by my father and he impacted my life in a profound way. He taught me to face my fears in ways that were more nontraditional. Once when I was about 10 I wanted my dad to walk to the corner store with me to get some candy because the neighborhood girls were picking on me. He told me that I could go alone and then gave me a big stick. He told me to use it if I had to. I proceeded to walk to the store and could hear the girls behind me. They followed me to the store and I stayed inside hoping that they would leave so I could walk back home. When I finally made the decision to leave the store knowing I might need to use that stick, I looked down the store aisle and saw my father. He had been following me from a distance to allow me to make those decisions on my own.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you are working on right now?

Throughout the years I have been able to work with thousands of youth in boxing. I soon realized that I was not only teaching them boxing but also life lessons. Everything from looking at someone in the eyes when you talk to them to how to build their credit. To have someone reach out to you 10 or 15 years later to thank you for putting them on the right path is priceless. After realizing that I could touch people in a positive way and have an impact, I decided to create the Too Pretty brand. The brand is a statement. A movement. It is a reminder to girls and women that they should never allow anyone to place them in a gender box. You are Never Too Pretty to do Anything!

What methods are you using to most effectively share your cause with the world?

We have created an Ambassador program to spread the message worldwide. Through our social media, mostly Instagram, we are posting ambassador searches. All of our ambassadors represent the message of the brand and share it in their community. We even have the ambassadors do Too Pretty clinics. The clinics are for the female community to come and learn a skill from each ambassador. For instance, if an ambassador is a skate boarder, there will be a 30 minute skate boarding clinic.

Can you share with us the story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?

After competing in such a male dominated sport, I realized that I had been perceived as an incapable boxer solely off of my appearance. I had to constantly prove that I in fact was a skilled boxer. Knowing that other girls and women were going through the same experiences in different sports and professions made me decide to create Too Pretty.

Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted by your cause?

There have been so many girls and women impacted by Too Pretty. One that sticks out is a girl who found us on Instagram. She messaged us and told us that she did not think she could be an ambassador because she did not have enough followers. She then proceeded to say that it was her fault for not posting great photos. We immediately responded to let her know that none of that matters and that she is living her life for her and no one else. She has since flourished as a young woman and her confidence is sky high!

What are your 3 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

I have thought a lot about this question and to be completely honest, I would not wish for any advice. Once reason is that I opened my first gym when I was 26 and at that age I felt like I knew it all, even though I clearly did not. Any of the advice I did get that may have been useful, went in one ear and out the other. Second reason is because I would have been overwhelmed knowing what to expect, i.e. all the hard work it takes. Lastly, I feel like we all need to experience our own path. It may take a little longer to get there that way, but it is your way and you have created great memories of your journey.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

The Never Too Pretty movement is something that is near and dear to me but I also wanted to spread my 20 years of knowledge in the boxing and business world to those starting out and who are out there helping others.

I created a workout program, with my partner Damien Patrick, called Boxing & Barbells.

This class format offers 4 signature classes that can be implemented into any gym. We created the program to give individuals a way to get an authentic boxing and weight lifting experience in a structured and formatted way.

We certify trainers to teach the class format and have trainers conducting the class as far away as Singapore!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you explain how that was relevant in your life?

Never give a shit about what people think of you. If I cared about what others thought of me I would definitely not be where I am today. Never allow someone else's perception of you to become a reality. If I believed that I was not experienced enough to own my own business or not strong enough to be a boxer, I would have failed. Don’t fail yourself!

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Politics, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

I really admire Sara Blakely. I was invited to a Female Entrepreneur conference in New York where she was speaking and she is not only brilliant, giving and sharp but she is funny! Loved listening to her story.

Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring