Transcript for Laila Ali | Reach! (Episode 607) Full show notes found here: https://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/laila-ali-reach-episode-607/ LAILA: Taking our history into account, taking just sensationalizing certain things into account, just rolling it all up into a ball, weve come a long way but theres a whole lot more work to do. JORDAN: Welcome to The Art of Charm. Im your host Jordan Harbinger. Today were talking with Laila Ali, world champion boxer, entrepreneur, and daughter of Muhammad Ali. Well talk about her journey from troubled childhood, to entrepreneur, to boxer and back again. Growing up around fame, learning to fend for herself, getting in the ring, and what that can teach us about ourselves and how we interact with the world at large. I really enjoyed this chat. I think youll enjoy listening to it as well. Enjoy this episode with Laila Ali and by the way if youre new to the show, wed love to send you some top episodes and the AoC Toolbox. We discuss things like the science of attraction, negotiation techniques, social engineering, reading body language, having charismatic nonverbal communication, networking and influence strategies, mentorship, persuasion tactics, and everything else that we teach here at The Art of Charm. So check that out at theartofcharm.com/toolbox​​ or in our iPhone app at theartofcharm.com/iphone​​ . Also at theartofcharm.com​ youll find the full show notes for this and all previous episodes of the show. All right, were glad to have you with us here today at AoC. Enjoy this episode with Laila Ali. Im a little bit self conscious about, Oh, how did I just look in that? LAILA: Right, right, right. JORDAN: And I can imagine also -- LAILA: Right. JORDAN: -- as a female -- LAILA: Right. JORDAN: -- it must be even worse because people are judgy with that. LAILA: Of course. JORDAN: Worst case someone says, Oh, Jordan, you need to hit the gym. As a woman like, if you just even make a funny face and they get the photo, youre like, Oh, crap, now thats on the Internet. LAILA: Lucky for me, Im used to fighting in a ring and they have all kinds of crazy looking photos. You know when youre like getting hit in the face. JORDAN: Yeah. LAILA: Yeah you like have a glove up against your face -- JORDAN: Yeah. LAILA: So I dont worry. I get in the ring with no makeup on, I used to so -- JORDAN: Good point. So obviously when you box, you dont have makeup on. LAILA: You know I used to wear mascara into the ring because thats one of the things I just dont leave the house without. I just feel sleepy. Like your eyes just dont really pop. So I would wear -- JORDAN: Getting punched -- LAILA: --waterproof mascara. JORDAN: Getting punched in the face doesnt keep you awake in the ring? LAILA: Oh, I didnt get punched in the face that much. JORDAN: Thats a good point.-- LAILA: I was doing the punching, yeah. JORDAN: Thats a good point. LAILA: But yeah. No Im just joking. You get punched every once in awhile. I did anyway but no. JORDAN: Youre the eighth of nine children. Thats a lot of kids. LAILA: Yeah that is a lot of kids. My father had two children with my mother, my sister and I -- My sister Hana and I so -- JORDAN: Your mom is really pretty. LAILA: She is actually, thank you. JORDAN: Yeah. Yeah. LAILA: Shes beautiful. She did some modeling. She wasnt a model but a lot of people thought that she was because she looked like she could be. But thank you. JORDAN: Yeah the photo I saw of her was that Diana Ross hair era. Where it was like its big on one side -- LAILA: Cool. JORDAN: -- and its great. Its a black and white photo that I saw. You probably know the one. LAILA: She wore her hair to the side a lot. JORDAN: Yeah. And I just thought, Wow thats really next level. And your dad of course was a well known boxer. You became a boxer but why did the other kids in your family not box? LAILA: Well youd have to ask them that question but from my perspective I think that, first of all, you have to have it in you to want to be a fighter. Its not something that you just go, Oh, I think Ill just try boxing, you know because youre going to get your ass beat -- JORDAN: Yeah. LAILA: -- if you get there and you dont have it in you. Then also just the pressure of being a child of the greatest fighter of all time, right? But I think that Ive always been a fighter. Outside of boxing -- JORDAN: Oh, okay. LAILA: Ive always been the one -- yeah. So it was no surprise to anyone in my family that I became a professional boxer because I used to get in trouble and get in fights in school. So Ive always been a fighter. I still am now, even though Im not fighting, but I just have it in me to just fight for what I want -- physically, verbally, you know, all that. JORDAN: Nice. When you started to box people went, Okay good, now its legal, or whatever. Right? Now all this punching is okay. LAILA: Well I actually -- when I saw womens boxing on television for the first time, thats when I wanted to do it myself. I didnt want to box professionally just because my dad was Muhammad Ali. I never thought about it. JORDAN: Interesting. LAILA: I didnt know that it was available for me to do. I just thought, Okay thats dad. Thats for him to do. Or men to do. When I saw womens boxing, I remember being amazed and surprised like, Women fight? JORDAN: Yeah. LAILA: I didnt even know this. How did I not know this? Right? It was Christy Martin, at the time was the biggest name before I came into boxing. And she was fighting on a Mike Tyson undercard. So a lot of people saw womens boxing for the first time because Don King was the promoter -- JORDAN: Sure. LAILA: -- he put her on. And thats it. When you get that opportunity, it was a brawl. I mean it was bloody, it was like crazy. And I was like, I want to do that. JORDAN: Why though? You know, why -- LAILA: Well its in my blood -- JORDAN: Yeah. LAILA: -- you have to remember. JORDAN: Thats for sure. LAILA: Its in my DNA. So -- because it is crazy. I mean to say you want to fight for a living. Because people are like, Why would you want to just get hit for a living? But there is a sweet science to it but at that moment it wasnt the sweet science I was attracted to -- JORDAN: Right. LAILA: -- it was just the fact that I could fight and not get in trouble? JORDAN: Right. LAILA: Like you know, thats just right up my alley. Because I felt like I would be good at it, you know, and I could do it. JORDAN: When I look at people getting punched by professional boxers especially, I think, Dang thats got to hurt. And I realize -- and Ive seen interviews with you and I saw part of your documentary where you I think flat out said, People who arent fighters dont get it. Because to them it looks like, Oh, man how -- LAILA: Mm-hmm. JORDAN: Ow! And youre thinking, Yeah get in there, get them! LAILA: Mm-hmm. JORDAN: Or something like that. I know theres a different level that youre thinking at. LAILA: Well the thing is, is that you are for one -- youre not feeling the punches like you would imagine because your adrenaline is going. JORDAN: Oh, thats good to know. LAILA: Its kind of like, you know someones just kind of tapping you. Tap, tap, tap. And every once in awhile, that bam! Its that hard one, Ooo okay I felt that. You know, so it -- and it also depends on the fighter. You would think anyone punching you would hurt, right? JORDAN: Yeah sure. LAILA: But as fighters, its like, Oh, that person can punch, that person cant. So even though theyre hitting you, you dont feel it. It doesnt hurt. Its just kind of like someone tapping you on the shoulder. And then the punchers you feel. You might be able to feel those shots or just get hit with a good shot. So, its just like with football. I watch football and Im like -- JORDAN: Yeah. LAILA: Why do guys jump in the air, landing the ground, on their shoulder -- How are they not hurt? I dont understand but as football players, they dont feel all of that. You know, and of course it is a wear and tear. There is a wear and tear on your body. Theyre getting shot up. You know theyre getting all this done after the game to go out there and do it again. But in the moment theyre not feeling it because their adrenaline is going so -- JORDAN: Right. Thats what your husband does, right? Hes a football player. Or was he -- LAILA: Hes retired. JORDAN: Yeah. Retired football player. LAILA: Mm-hmm. JORDAN: So does he still have a bunch of battle scars where youre like, Its raining today! My knee is hurting. LAILA: Right, he actually came out really well. He only had one major injury.