Heroes in Business - Heather Hardy a champion UBF WBC boxer is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

Heather Hardy a champion UBF WBC boxer is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio show amfm iHeart. They talk about the training both mental and physical it takes to reach the top of your game in the ring and in business. Hardy is known as "the Heat" and talks about the legacy she's building for women in all sports, not just boxing. 

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Now, back to our super host, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. Yes, another incredible morning of heroes. I mean, we had the founding member of Origami Owl, you know, those living lockets that are everywhere. We just had the owner of Hill Impact, Dan Hill, from hillimpact.com, defending reputations of high-profile clients and that. And our next hero, well, she doesn't have to be asked the question whether she would take fight or flight when facing a challenge. Talk about dedication.

Both an enormous amount of physical and mental training is what our next hero is all about. Number one undefeated U.S. ranked female boxer of her weight class. That's four knockouts. Heather Hardy, she can be reached at heather-hardy.com. Now, Heather, no one will ever say girls can't fight when they meet you. At what point in your life did you know you were going to make a career in the sport of boxing? Sure. I was way later in my life. I was 28, and I had just started in the amateurs, and I had done 18 months in amateur boxing and won every title you could win.

And so just before I turned 30, we decided I was going to turn pro and make my life out of it. But that's such an inspiration to others, because many would say, well, you know what? I'm too old. I haven't had all the training experience. I haven't started thinking of it from day of birth and yet being able to do it. I mean, that in itself is a knockout, right? Well, I think it is. And I think that being a little bit older made me realize exactly what it was going to take.

I didn't take my training or my work ethic for granted. I knew exactly what I had to do to be successful. So I was able to work twice as hard. In fact, too, you're the first woman signed to a long-term promotional contract, DiBella Entertainment, the biggest boxing promoter in New York. How has being signed changed what you do or has it changed? Of course it's changed. It changed a lot for me. It took me a lot to earn that contract. I had to sell a lot of tickets and do a lot of work. By getting that done,

kind of guaranteed me fights, which other female fighters didn't have previously. There was never a guarantee that you were going to get a fight for the year. It was always just wondering and waiting. And then I had a promoter who was willing to guarantee me a certain amount of fights, made me know that, okay, now I know I can at least keep the show going. All right. So now I need to ask you a secret, Heather, because I've seen your fights. I've watched many of your videos and I want to know exactly what's going through your mind as you're standing in the corner of the boxing ring, looking at your opponent, and you hear the bell ring when it's go time. I'm just thinking you ain't gonna beat me.

That's great. You ain't gonna beat me. Yeah. And I'll do anything I i gotta do to make sure i win i mean how much of it is mental versus physical would you say because it's it's clearly both it's definitely a hundred percent of both because if your mind's off your body won't act and there are times where i've heard older fighters fighters who are retired who say they know what they want to do but their body won't let them do it so i mean it takes takes 100% dedication to make sure my mind is right and to make sure I take care of my body so that I can properly perform. I mean, Heather, you literally can't have anything else on your mind but what's going on in the fight. Sure. I think that goes with anything you do, though, ever. Like if you're driving, you should only be thinking about driving.

If you're taking your kid to school, you should only be taking your kid to school. It just is a different kind of focus. You just have to be focused on the task at hand. And we're talking with Heather Hardy, number one undefeated women's boxing champ in her weight class. And, you know, shortly after women's boxing was declared the official Olympic sport, you've been featured in documentary, well, Hardy. You've also been in other films like the PBS indie film The Heat, which was also about you. Explain how you advocate for women's sports. I think that from the very beginning of my career, I said I would never turn down an interview.

I would never turn down a photo shoot. I would never turn down an interview. I would never turn down a photo shoot. I would never turn on a project. A lot of these documentaries came because of students who needed to do a thesis for their college paper or, you know, new photographers who were looking to build their profile. So I did so much work for free because I thought if I could just spread the word and let people know we're here, then I'm doing my part. Because so many people don't realize that there's a whole tremendous sea of talent in the female boxing pool because nobody knows we're here. So promoting myself through the media and my sport through the media has been at the very top of the list, right along with training and winning.

You're listening to Alliance's Heroes. Be a hero with me, the host, David Kogan. Go to where entrepreneurs align, alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. And we've got Heather Hardy from heather-hardy.com, where you can reach her number one undefeated boxing champ in her class. As a boxer, though, you're also a mother. What do you want your child or children or all children for that matter to learn from your experiences? There's a lot that I think my daughter can take away with my career. I mean, the first the first thing is that hard work and dedication will get you anywhere. That getting to the top,

you don't have to be rich, you don't have to be, you don't have to be rich. You don't have to be anything. All you have to do is really, really, really want something and figure out what you need to do to get there and then do it. It's that simple. You go through the really hard times, and eventually you'll be okay and just never give up, never give up on it. And, I mean, the second thing is that I'm in a sport that doesn't

really respect women. And when I kind of went into it, it was like, well, this is only your hobby. And I didn't, I didn't, I didn't take that for, didn't take that no for an answer. Like I refuse to be turned away. And that's, that's something I'd like my daughter to, to do the same, you know, always stay true to yourself, regardless of what other people say. Phenomenal advice. Phenomenal. And you've worked with Dan Hill, who we've had on the air from hillimpact.com. Explain how he's helped you and how you came to work with him. Sure. I met Dan. Like I said, I did a lot of free press and media, have a lot of, And like I said, I did a lot of free press and media, have a lot of a lot of stories that were written about me.

And Dan does a lot of work with sexual assault survivors and like a lot of like volunteer work. So he had read one of my articles in ESPN and reached out to me through Twitter that he wanted to help me out. He wanted to do something for me. And I thought, wow, that would be awesome because here I am, this little girl from a low-to-working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn who's on the rise. And I was kind of doing it all myself, just me and my coach. So I didn't have any professional help. So Dan kind of stepped in. And first we became just friends.

So Dan kind of stepped in and first we became just friends and then he started learning the business of boxing and has been such a tremendous help to me. He's been such a big help. One of the things that Dan does for me is he's helped me stay true to myself. And what he says about that is called branding. And I never knew anything about branding. And in the beginning of my career, when people were throwing these projects at me, you know, bikini photo shoots and, you know, do this with this. And, you know, Dan really helped me sort through and say, no, you know, be who you are and don't sell that for anyone because that's what's going to get you to the top. So he's really helped me select and choose projects that reflect who I am as a person. I love it.

And again, you can reach Heather Hardy at heather-hardy.com. You can also go to alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com, where we'll have the interview posted. Heather, we've got a little less than about a minute left here, and I'm getting all these texts and emails from everyone here, and a couple of them are asking me to ask you this question here. They see in your videos this gigantic tattoo. It kind of goes on your back, towards your stomach and all that, and they want me to ask you, what's the meaning of it?

Oh, well, it really has no meaning. It started out as a little shamrock. It's a tattoo that all the women in my family have. We went like one family day. And my aunts and cousins, we all got a little tattoo. And I just, I guess, have been constantly adding little pieces to it. My cousin Pinky is a tattoo artist, so for a while she was designing things for me before she had her kids. And now it just became like a little project. After I have a win, maybe I have some extra dollars.

I can go to a tattoo shop and have pieces added on. Well, let me tell you, Heather, that little shamrock grew into a forest for sure. Heather, you're a fighter in life and your career. You work hard to always be your best in the ring and support women, advocating for them inside and outside the ring and support women advocating for them inside and outside the ring you're our hero heather hardy at heather-hardy.com and when we return we're going to have the golden voice ted williams his videos have gone viral wait to hear his story