“I like the way I look and that’s all that matters in my world.”

Viveca Williams

Activities: Weightlifting, Pole Dancing, Track, and Crew

Q: When did you start lifting and why?

I started lifting at 15. I wanted to lift because no other girl on the track team was interested in learning how. I would lift twice a week with the wrestling team.

Q: How has it changed your life?

I think it was something I was good at, something I understood at an early age. It helped build my confidence in sports and in life. The path I chose in college was centered around weight training and so is my career. It basically shaped my life.

Q: You are pretty muscular, do you believe other women want to look like you?

I think it varies, some say they do, others say they don’t, but at the end of the day, whether someone wants to look like me or not, is not my concern. What someone’s opinion of me is, is not my business. I like the way I look and that is all that matters in my world.

Q: So you’re comfortable in your own skin?

I am, I think you have to be. If you are not comfortable with who you are, everything in life is just more difficult. I am muscular because I choose to be. I get stares, and comments. I’ve had people follow me through the train station videotaping me without my permission and continued even when I asked them to stop.  A woman on the train had full on conversations with her boyfriend as to whether or not he thought I was attractive, while I was standing no more than 3 feet away. I could go on and on about things people have said and done, and it used to bother me. I would keep a jacket on in the summer and make sure my clothes didn’t fit too tight, all to avoid the stares, the touching, and comments.  Then it hit me, people mock, slander, and laugh at what they don’t understand, fear, or don’t believe they themselves will ever be able to accomplish. Once I realized where it was coming from, my life changed because how I felt about myself changed.

Q: Do you believe that men are intimidated by you?

I think anyone that is intimidated by another human being lacks confidence. My mom used to tell me when I was a little girl, “people are people, no matter what they have, how they look, or what they do, they’re just people. They are no better or less than you. Everyone puts their pants on the same way, one leg at a time.”  I think men size me up and know I really don’t have time for bs.

Q: Why do you want to be a part of MCBMI

I believe encouraging women to get in shape is a powerful and much-needed message. Women are caregivers by nature and often take care of everyone but themselves. Stressing the importance of strength training and the benefits of it, can potentially change women’s health, not just in this country, but around the world. To see a decline in heart disease, cancers, obesity, osteoporosis and many other diseases, because women are making healthier choices, and to know that in some way I was a part of it would be a wonderful feeling. When I graduated from high school a classmate asked me what I was gonna do and I said, “change the world.” Isn’t that what it’s about?