We were lucky to catch up with Alexis Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alexis , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience to me (Kaylia Capri) is a sport. It comes when you’ve put your all into a goal, prayed, sacrificed and committed your time and energy to achieving it. To fall short, ending up with the short end of the stick. The moment you feel this great pressure in your chest when you have to face the realization that you’ve lost. The fear of trying again because, what if it happens again? Do I want to deal with the mental battles of starting over, just to lose. That’s where I discovered resilience is strength. It’s takes that overwhelming fear and converts it to confidence, courage, and hopefulness. Once you accept those feelings you can never fail. You just evolve into something more unstoppable. I got my resilience from being broken and repaired over and over again. Looking forward to the new me through every experience.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m just another human being. I’m living life taking it one step at a time, and learning as I go. I grew up in The Bahamas where living was simple. I went to a Christian school. Rarely got to go out being that my father wasn’t as social and didn’t see a reason to let us venture further than our street corner. I grew up with my 3 other siblings, me being the eldest child. I learned how to fish, build tree houses and of course start fires. I was always adventurous. Anytime I got a chance to spread my wings I sure did go all out lol. I remember not being afraid to take on junk yard strays, jump from the roof into bouncing castles, even to swim my fastest away from the pretend sharks I imagined (just for practice). I tended to always be the loudest and most outgoing person in a room. Always open to sharing and listening to opinions. Which landed me on the debate team and other scholars groups. Athletics though was my primary interest. It began with swimming, lead to ballet, then karate, gymnastics, and eventually Track and Field. T&F became my first passion. A sport where I felt like I can really compete and succeed. It was so many great moments, a lot of medals and new friends. I was convinced that’s what I’d be doing for the rest of my life. In fact I even have ‘Track is life’ tattoo in the form of a tree with track spike as its roots. T&F took me through college (Texas Southern University), but that’s when I had the scariest realization. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be as successful as I want so bad to be, here. After graduating with my masters it became clear, I never thought of my next move. My faith then was tested as I continued to study towards my masters degree.
Then everything I never even considered fell into my path. Professional wrestling with the largest, founding companies in the world WWE. I was faced with a new journey, one I was not prepared for mentally. Being there proved it as I had to take on the weight of not having anyone to reference because I was the first ever natural born Caribbean woman to ever walk through those doors. The blueprint was me, and I had to create the style for what’s to be know as Caribbean style wrestling. That took a toll on me and I was scared, cringing, and just not understanding what was expected. It took going through many loops to even get there in the first place. For me to still not receive the amount of time I was owed. Once again I was lost.
Until, I kept finding myself again. Dvon Dudley academy opened my eyes to the possibilities. All Caribbean Wrestling gave me the support and encouragement I needed. Reality Of Wrestling gave me the opportunity to fine tune my craft amongst the best. Now that’s Wrestling gave me a platform to display to a huge audience outside of the wrestling world.
Today I find myself walking into rooms where my name has entered before I have. My confidence in myself has increased. I look forward to the challenges that will come. More and more I’m embraced by my countrymen. As they are now discovering it more pathways than one. They have more to believe in, and be proud of.
This me is who I’ve always wanted to be, and I’m so excited to just have faith in the process and be ready for anything with my head held high. Can’t nothing break me, after all I’m always ‘unda da Capri☀️’.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Understanding is something we all should have. It will help you to perceive things and situations in many different ways. You’ll be more likely to problem solve more accurately and positively impact your environment.
Have faith especially in the things you can see but you feel. We all are capable of so much, but often times lose sight when it’s not a for sure answer. Real faith takes courage and the ability to truly believe in yourself.
Last give yourself grace! You’re going to mess up. We can’t be right all the time. It’s important to never beat yourself down. Look in that mirror, say sorry, and pat yourself on the back. You are doing great.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I want to collaborate with any and all brands, businesses, nonprofits, organizations that aim to make the world we live in better. The people who are standing up and holding themselves accountable. Let’s market truth, positivity and transparency. Let’s build, collaborate, create products/projects that literally make people more open to just being themselves. I love makeup, clothing, hair care, human health and performance, science, home improvement and so much more. I’m open to achieving the goals of my partners while sticking to my morals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Lexini242?utm_source=linktree_admin_share
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__lexini?igsh=amczNWFvZzZraTBs
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@kayliacaprisun?si=4qqzjqZV-gOaLuFf
Image Credits
All Caribbean Wrestling- UlesseyPhotos
Reality of Wrestling- bjm_photography445
TJPW- Briweezy
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
