Cary Williams is a bad ass former boxer who is looking to change the stereotype that women are “Too Pretty” to be tough. The #NeverTooPretty Movement started last year when Williams decided to make an apparel line after hearing that she was too pretty to be a boxer. Now, an owner of boxing clubs in California she is helping other women find their inner fighter.
The brand just launched a Kickstarter campaign “where you can grab some awesome rewards! You can get The Beauty In Strength sleeveless top, a long sleeved flowy top with special design by Kendra Kendall, black and gold boxing gloves and hand wraps, simple white youth T-shirt with #nevertoopretty gold design, men’s long sleeved hoodie T-shirt, a photo shoot and training with Cary. All backers get an electronic copy of The Beauty In Strength, a book about 6 girls and women who have overcome odds and have excelled!”
I got a chance to ask her about boxing and her movement to empower women all over the world!
You are a former Olympic-style boxer and now own several boxing clubs in California. Where did your love of boxing develop? Do you have a favorite boxer?
First let me say that I have passed down 2 of my NorCal boxing clubs to two of my former boxers. I wanted to really focus more on the Too Pretty brand so now I just own and run The Stables in Santa Monica.
Boxing found me! I grew up scrappy out of necessity, but the actual sport of boxing didn’t find me until my 20s. After I graduated from college with my Environmental Science degree, LOL, I decided I didn’t want to work in a cubicle and wanted to be my own boss. I met a guy in high school that was a professional boxer and he use to tell me there were no boxing gyms around that catered to the average person. I created a business plan, got a small business loan and hired him as the head coach of the club (short version of the story).
After about a year we started to get really busy and he needed my help training folks. I started training people before I started fighting. I wanted to fight because I felt like a hypocrite telling someone what to do if I had not done it myself. I trained to become a boxer and competed. It has been one of the toughest things I have done in my life! The best experience ever!
I don’t really have a favorite, but I was always drawn to Joe Lewis who was a great fighter but also gave his purses (fight money) to the war efforts. Sadly once he retired, the IRS came after him for taxes not paid on those purses and threw him into bankruptcy.
You have trained celebrities in the past who live an incredibly fast paced life. Who are some? Who excelled the most at your training regimen?
Well there are a couple I can mention, such as Kelly Hu who was in X Men, Scorpion King and many other box office hits. I have also trained Kevin Alejandro sho stars in the new series Lucifer. Most of my clients have A type personalities, whether they are celebrities or not. The type of attitude you need to have to partake in the sport of boxing and really learn it is a “can do” attitude. The sport of boxing takes patience to learn and you must appreciate the sport to learn it properly. So for a movie star, this is right up their alley! They are perfectionists at their art of acting and they treat boxing no differently.
What are the benefits of incorporating boxing into your workout?
Boxing is cognitive. It will keep your mind sharp! Aside from that, it is truly an all over body workout, because you are generally jumping rope, shadow boxing, hitting punching bags, speed bags and doing conditioning exercises. If you have the technique down of properly throwing punches you really don’t need to do much ab work. My entire core can be sore from shadow boxing in between my weight training sets.
Your brand “Too Pretty” is an extension of your original brand “Never Too Pretty to Hit Like a Boy”. How did you come up with the brand idea?
The Too Pretty brand was created out of my experience in a male dominated sport: Boxing. As a fighter, I was told often that I was Too Pretty to be a boxer. Which really meant in their mind, that I was not capable. Those same people who then saw me fight would say, “You fight like a boy!” And in the world of boxing or any sport where you get punched in the face; that is a compliment. Fast forward 5 years and it dawned on me that I was not the only girl/woman experiencing these comments. There were business owners, surfers, managers, race car drivers, writers, bodybuilders and the list goes on! I launched the Too Pretty brand in late 2015 with a few lines of T-shirts and halter tops. They were a hit (no pun intended)! The social media platforms started to grow and the #tooprettymovement began.
How did you deal with people throughout your life who thought you could not succeed because you are a woman?
I never really let it get to me. I was fortunate enough to be raised by a father who treated me no different than he would a boy. That allowed me to not put barriers on myself and to never see myself as a person who could not do anything I set my mind to. Throughout the years it has been surprising to see how many people out there will make you feel like you can’t do something because you are a woman. It is subtle but so present! It simply keeps a fire under my ass! I say thank you to them! Deal with them? Most of the time I just don’t. They really aren’t worth my time.
What is your ultimate goal with Too Pretty?
The goal for the brand is two fold. First it is to really spread the #tooprettymovement
I want girls and women to feel empowered by Too Pretty and by all of the girls and women who have joined the movement! We must grow this message enough to reach far and wide!
Secondly, I want to give back financially. It is important to help girls and women with their endeavors no matter what it may be. The support is really needed and I want to be a place they can come to for that support.
