Season 2 · Episode 12

Morelle McCane Olympian Boxer

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0:01Welcome, welcome, welcome to Alienize Photos Industry Talk with your host, photographer
0:10Jackson, Steve Jackson of Alienize Photos, Mia, bringing you Alienize Photos Industry
0:17Talk.
0:18And I have a tech entrepreneur, a wellness industry leader, I'm claiming it now,
0:30but most people may know her as an Olympian champion boxer, Ms.
0:39Maril McCain.
0:40Money Mo, how you doing?
0:43I'm gonna need you to bring out the applause machine.
0:48Hi, hi, I'm honored to be here.
0:52Thank you for inviting me.
0:54Yeah, you want to tell the people a little bit about yourself.
0:55I know I could say a little bit, but, you know, nobody can do it better than you.
1:00Yes, my name is Maril McCain.
1:03I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, born and raised.
1:07Yes, most people know me as the Olympic boxer, but I like to redefine myself now
1:13as Olympic boxer turned entrepreneur and currently a student.
1:19Oh, Jesus, this has been a long but beautiful journey.
1:26Like I said, I started in Cleveland, Ohio and took my talents to the world stage,
1:31started boxing when I was 17 years old, which is kind of late for most people.
1:38But you say late.
1:39When do most people get started?
1:41Listen, it wasn't until I had my first tournament in 2018.
1:472018, where I realized, oh, my God, these are babies out here boxing.
1:55And I didn't see it like when when the kids in my gym used to tell me like,
1:59oh, I started at eight, I started at nine.
2:02I'm like, never.
2:04Like, you're so little.
2:05Like, yeah.
2:07So when I actually got to see it in person, I was like, oh, snap.
2:11I really did start late because we have these babies out here
2:15going hard in the paint and they were fierce.
2:22And what I couldn't they was a sight to see.
2:26But, yeah, so late is most people start between the ages of eight and 12.
2:34Eight and 12. Eight and 12.
2:36Yeah. Wow. So.
2:40I was considered a late starter with the boxing game.
2:43And when you think about being a late starter in a boxing game,
2:47it's like people don't see you to take that Olympic road.
2:53And I'm just blessed and highly favorite.
2:56And I thank God I stumbled upon it by accident.
2:59It all started in the backyard of the backyard of one hundred
3:05and seventeen in St.
3:06Clare, my first coach, Coach T. Coach T.
3:09Yeah. Yeah.
3:11We started in the backyard
3:14and then I eventually transitioned to the Glenville Rec.
3:18And it just took off every since.
3:21And I thank God because it wasn't a journey that I seen myself doing,
3:25but I'm grateful that I.
3:28Got to be on this journey.
3:30I met some awesome people along the way.
3:33I've developed myself like I have evolved as a person.
3:39Boxing has not only been a sport to me, but it's been therapy.
3:43It's been a friend.
3:44It's been it's so many different components that.
3:48This sport had holds in my heart.
3:51And now that I'm on injury, I'm learning to.
3:55Well, what point injury?
3:56What do you mean on injury?
3:59So, yeah, I'm taking a little bit of time off
4:01because I have some shoulder issues that I have to attend to.
4:08I really haven't seen you knock somebody out the other day, though.
4:12Shh. OK.
4:14So, yeah, that's another thing about being an athlete.
4:20We always on goal.
4:21We always want to be the best, do the best,
4:25put on those long hours of work, work, work, work.
4:28But now I'm learning to prioritize the rest.
4:32I'm learning to get into really prioritizing
4:36the rest, really making a routine, putting rest in the routine
4:41because that's in the roots and put rest in the routine.
4:44You have to put rest in your schedule.
4:46Listen, I can't come because I have to relax today.
4:49OK, tell people that. Yes.
4:51I tell people that listening.
4:54I can't do it. I need to I need to sit down.
4:57I need to be at one with myself.
4:59I'm really into meditation.
5:01I'm really into self help and just
5:05being able to disconnect from the world, telling my people to listen.
5:10You know, you have your immediate circle where you're like,
5:12if they don't contact me back, I'm going to call the police.
5:15I have people in my circle like that.
5:18Like, this is not like her.
5:19So now I'm learning to be like, listen,
5:23FYI, I'm off social media for the day.
5:25I'm turning my phone off and I'm relaxing.
5:29Don't buy. I'll be available tomorrow.
5:31Or don't contact me between these hours.
5:33And if it's a real emergency, call the police.
5:39No, I really like that because I took a 10 day
5:41ended up being 11 day sabbatical off social media.
5:45And people like, oh, people was calling me
5:48because they knew I'm off social media.
5:50And like the only way to get in contact was to call me.
5:52So they I'm having like two hour conversations catching up with him.
5:56Like, wow, this is actually OK.
5:59So this is what it feels like not to be on social media.
6:02Everybody reaching out, checking in.
6:05Like, I can get a hold of you now.
6:07I love those social media breaks.
6:09As much as social media is an asset, it is also a liability.
6:14What's playing that?
6:16Because we we sometimes get so caught up in the scroll.
6:20We lose our sense of the outside world.
6:25Have you ever just been sitting there for
6:28and then you look up and you like, oh, my God,
6:30I started scrolling around four and now it's six o'clock.
6:33I put a five minute limit on my.
6:35I mean, I could myself a little more time sometimes,
6:38but I put a five minute five minute limit each day
6:43for social media or Instagram, particularly.
6:46That's my where I spend most of my time.
6:48Yeah, everything else.
6:49I kind of, you know, just take my shoes, get off back off.
6:52I love that.
6:53Just a reminder to like, listen, even scrolling too long, too long.
6:57I'm like, dang, you're right.
7:00Thank you for sending a reminder and thank you.
7:03Because at first, I didn't have that before I took the sabbatical.
7:06But I'm like, well, let me ease back in.
7:08Let me start with five minutes.
7:10All right. Let me add a little more time.
7:12Applied some messages, posts and get off because, yeah,
7:15you'll be scrolling for days like, oh, yeah.
7:17And sometimes you get lost in the sauce.
7:20And I'm like, one day I'm sitting here scrolling,
7:23I'm getting into somebody's family drama and I'm like, OK,
7:27now I have to go find out who the uncle is that she's talking about.
7:31And I'm like five pages deep and I'm like, this is not even my business.
7:36It's not even my business.
7:37But that's what the platform wants.
7:39Yeah. It's crazy.
7:41So being able to tell yourself it's OK to disassociate with that
7:45for a hot second and get back to the real world and get centered
7:50is OK with it. It's OK to do that.
7:53And I feel like just like any other addiction,
7:55social media has become one of those addictions for a lot of people.
8:00They can't function without opening that Instagram app.
8:04They can't function without making that tick tock.
8:07And I just find myself reminding myself, like, OK, listen,
8:12it's OK to scroll, indulge, but come back to center
8:17and disconnect from everything, be able to say
8:21and have control over everything in your life,
8:23because essentially people be like, this is not your world, but it is.
8:29This is my world, because once I'm gone, the world is gone.
8:33So this is my world and I could control that aspect of it.
8:39Oh, yeah. Put rest in the routine.
8:42Rest in the routine.
8:43I love that.
8:45And as you speak about addiction in the real world,
8:49what are you addicted to in the real world?
8:52Besides boxing and entrepreneurship,
8:56what are your hobbies?
8:57I'm addicted to quotes, y'all.
9:00Quote? What's your favorite quote? I love quotes.
9:02I love my favorite quote of all time is so cliche,
9:08but I don't care if it's my quote.
9:11And I got it written down on my mirror in my bathroom
9:15just to remind myself to just do it, just do it.
9:20Like, sometimes you don't need
9:22too many opinions about something.
9:26Sometimes you don't need to psych yourself out.
9:29And I think that's a lot of I can't speak from everybody's perspective,
9:34but a lot of my life was, should I, could I, would I?
9:39And now I'm in a phase of life where it's just like, just do it.
9:43If it works, it works.
9:44I'm going to pray about it and I'm just going to do it.
9:48And since I started this Just Do It campaign,
9:52God has just been putting the pieces together, honey.
9:58Like how I met you, God put the pieces together.
10:02Like, I've seen you in Crossin,
10:03but I've never had an in-depth conversation with you.
10:06And then I had a conversation with you and I'm like,
10:10the man behind the camera is intriguing.
10:13Like, listen.
10:15And then, like, just you knowing who I am, you like,
10:21oh, Mo, this is a dope event coming up.
10:23You should check it out.
10:23And that event led me to meet more people.
10:27Like the event that you sent that you sent me
10:31just the other day at the school.
10:33Yeah. I connected with a guy.
10:36And now I've I've learned
10:40like so many different avenues to use AI and tech.
10:43And internships that's coming up, the mortar program.
10:47I'm like, I've never heard of these things.
10:49And that's what life is about, to go back to that social media
10:55aspect of everything.
10:56We disconnect, though we think we're connecting socially.
11:00We're using social media.
11:03Really, really, we're driving ourselves away
11:07from that face-to-face connection.
11:11Yeah. So, yeah.
11:14Just being able to connect
11:16and drive back to what's really mattered
11:19at that human to human contact.
11:22I don't know. I'm always like connect the dots with everything.
11:25You have to, right.
11:27And as you spoke about the Glenville, like I've come from the
11:31Collingwood neighborhood.
11:33So right off the road, still St.
11:34Clare, so we still St. Clare. Yeah, for sure, family.
11:36You know, we met from a mutual friend.
11:38You know, shout out to Shanice.
11:39You know, Shanice and Stephanie.
11:43But that just goes to show we come a long way in your network.
11:48Yeah, it is.
11:49Like, yeah, I'm always tell you, I'm like, hey,
11:53this has been going on, or I could get you a ticket or whatever.
11:56I appreciate it.
11:58Be able to be in a room.
11:59Being in a room is so powerful.
12:01Like, we connected with so many people at the Futureland
12:05Summit, AI Forward Summit, and just all the other events
12:11that, you know, we got into and will do
12:16and continue to build, grow, expand.
12:19Like I said, your network is your network.
12:24So let's jump into the entrepreneurship.
12:27Like, when did you learn entrepreneurship?
12:31Or did boxing kind of take you down that road?
12:34Um, I've always been like a little entrepreneur
12:38from as far as I can remember.
12:41A little entrepreneur, a little entrepreneur, a little tiny little entrepreneur.
12:45I remember when Topps was open.
12:48Remember Topps? Yes.
12:51We're aging ourselves, but yes.
12:53I remember when Topps was open
12:55and I was staying out there and sale candy bars.
12:58Oh, you used to sell candy. I didn't ask that.
13:01Yes. I was I was one of those little tiny entrepreneurs.
13:05Can we wash your car?
13:06We're having a special today.
13:07Like, I've always had that entrepreneurial spirit.
13:11And that's why I didn't really work well on teams.
13:15I was I was a basketball player and I was like the Draymond Green of the team.
13:19Really? Yeah, I was so passionate.
13:22And now I was aggressive.
13:25I was I was aggressive.
13:26I was one of those aggressive players.
13:28And I just wanted everybody to work as hard as me to win.
13:34And yes, like.
13:36So when I got into boxing, it was an opportunity to be solo,
13:41just like the entrepreneur journey.
13:44You start solo, but you start building your team.
13:46You need a coach. You need a nutritionist.
13:48You need a physical therapist, whatever, et cetera, et cetera.
13:52All that. You need.
13:55Wow. You you need a team
13:58if you want to be a great boxer, if you go back to a great boxer.
14:02But you are Olympia and you are champion, right?
14:05Yes. So all that to be a champ.
14:08You need all that to be a champion boxer without it, right?
14:13Are you going to be a boxer or are you just going to be a training partner?
14:17Oh, yeah.
14:19So pick a choice.
14:21If you don't want to be a sparring partner,
14:24you have to deliberately pick your team.
14:27And just like the entrepreneur journey,
14:30you have to sit there and pick your team.
14:35So, yeah, picking your team is essential.
14:37And that's the phase I'm in as a new entrepreneur.
14:41A little bit about my new project, which is Moji's Wonderful World.
14:47It's a one stop shop platform for adolescents
14:51where they can learn physical health, nutrition, health
14:55and emotional health on one platform using gamification,
14:59which offers real live rewards after they complete the challenges.
15:05Um, wait, when you say gamification,
15:07yeah, gamification is meeting the children where they're at right now.
15:12So they're when you look at the statistics
15:15of what is engaging these children these days, they love games.
15:20They love things that they can play, like Roblox and Fortnite.
15:27So we're using our app
15:30to essentially create games that kids can play.
15:34We have workout sessions where they wear a heart monitor
15:38so we can track if they're really doing
15:42the exercises that we provide for them.
15:46Oh, so you came up with the workouts yourself or?
15:48Yeah, so me and accompanied by AI.
15:52OK, so we use a little bit of everything.
15:56We use experts, we use AI.
15:59And we use experience.
16:02But, yeah, so eventually I want my app to be on a very large scale
16:07and provide that emotional piece as well,
16:12where if your child is having a bad day,
16:15which you can report how you're feeling for the day.
16:18Well, yes.
16:19So if the child logs in and be like, today is not the day.
16:23And then the next day, today is not the day.
16:25Then the next day, today is not.
16:26So you're having three to four bad days in a row.
16:30How can this app help you?
16:33So what we're doing is we're connecting to real live social workers
16:38and counselors where they're looking at those children,
16:42log their feelings and eventually log journals where, OK,
16:47now we can contact the parent.
16:49Hey, just a heads up that we're not intervening as of yet.
16:55But if we don't have a response from the parent,
16:57that's when we do the second phase of, OK, let's make this phone call.
17:02Now we're making this phone call.
17:04Now we're connecting with we're doing partnership with schools.
17:07So now we're partnering with the school.
17:10Hey, little Jonathan has had seven bad days in a row.
17:14Is there anything we can do to help him?
17:17Can we have the counselor reach out to him?
17:19Like, we want this to stick.
17:21I personally had friends.
17:25Commit suicide, and we didn't know if it was tools available out here
17:30that maybe you don't want your friends knowing what you go through,
17:34but you log in on an app and somebody goes back and see that
17:39and you anonymously get that help you need without
17:45feeling like no one's there to help you.
17:48So that's when we come in, like I said, to intervene and help
17:51and essentially partner with schools, parents and be a full force at
17:57we can't keep preaching that the children are our future
18:00and not give them the tools to see a bright one.
18:04So that's where I come in as Smogy's Wonderful World, which is
18:11a compilation of my little brother's name and my sister's name.
18:16And they passed on, but I'm keeping their their names alive
18:21as well. And it's a cute little acronym as well.
18:27Mindfulness, opportunity, growth and empowerment.
18:31Mozi is the place where children learn mindfulness,
18:34experience new opportunities, grow emotionally and feel empowered
18:38to be their best selves.
18:41So, yeah, that's that's a little bit about my little entrepreneur journey.
18:46And we hope to see this on a global scale.
18:49We will see it.
18:50Yes, we we hope to see it on the global scale in 12 months.
18:54But we're realistically speaking, we we see a bright future
18:57with Moji's Wonderful World.
18:59We're going to take a global. Don't worry.
19:01We're going to take a global.
19:02You heard it. You heard it first.
19:06Somebody want to hear this.
19:07I'm like, look, I want to get behind what Miss Morel is doing.
19:12Yes, that is powerful.
19:14So we speak about emotional intelligence and as a boxer,
19:18sometimes you have to be fearless and like shed off emotions,
19:22at least what I think as a boxer.
19:25So how did that come about as a boxer
19:28and learning that emotional intelligence piece?
19:32So emotional intelligence is essential in boxing.
19:38You don't necessarily lose your emotions,
19:40but you learn how to govern them.
19:42I can't show you if an opponent come in and hit you hard, hard,
19:48and you've shown that you've been hit hard, then they're going to be like,
19:51Oh, yeah, I got you.
19:52No, you you you you block that expression out.
19:57I can't. Yeah, I can't block the emotion out because I felt the punch.
20:01Like, I'm I'm pissed that you just punched me like that.
20:03Was somebody that punched you so hard, like, really?
20:06I'm about to whoop yo. Exactly.
20:09Was it somebody that that you remember?
20:12I think it was more so sparring with the guys.
20:16Oh, that's different.
20:17That's cheating.
20:18No, no, it's not cheating.
20:20It's cheating.
20:21It's you better listen to your coach and keep your hands up.
20:24OK, so a lesson. Yes.
20:27So it's not cheating because essentially, if you sign up to be a boxer.
20:33And it's not a huge world for girls,
20:38especially in the inner city of Cleveland.
20:41Like, this is this is the most motion that I've seen
20:44with the little girls rolling out to become boxers.
20:47When I was growing up, I knew maybe two girls doing the same thing as me.
20:52Within the city.
20:53And it wasn't until I branched out and
20:58went to these national competitions that I was able to actually get a fight.
21:02So, yeah, when it when we go back to that emotional intelligence piece,
21:07uh, first of all, side note,
21:12they say the girls are emotional, but I've never seen so many boys cry.
21:17My life really in a gym, in the gym, in the fights.
21:22I just I've seen so much during this journey,
21:28but I can say one thing I've learned.
21:32The boys are more emotional when it comes to being boxers.
21:38Like girls, all right, we take it like it's cool, like whatever.
21:43But the boys.
21:44Oh, my goodness.
21:46You're not here in the end of it.
21:49Well, I would have never thought you're not here in the end of it.
21:53I've never seen so many tears in my life.
21:56Wow. Yeah. But.
22:00Learning to govern your emotions is important.
22:02And I've I've learned the biggest lessons in the ring.
22:05And I take them with me on a daily basis.
22:09What's the biggest lesson that you learn?
22:11My biggest lesson that I learned in the ring is that you can prepare all you want.
22:16You can prepare, but nothing is compared to actually doing.
22:22You know what I'm saying?
22:23It's all fun and games till you get punched in the face.
22:26Everybody has a plan to get punched in the face.
22:29But the thing is, you want to prepare for all of those things
22:34because you can sit there and study film when you're a fighter.
22:37Like, oh, yeah, look how he throwing this punch at him.
22:40Like, look how he throwing this punch or da da da.
22:43And then you go in there and they're not doing anything
22:46that you just studied on film because they studied you, too.
22:50Something different.
22:53So the biggest lesson I've learned was to just be open.
22:59To keep learning in anything in life,
23:02you have to be ready to keep learning and don't don't be closed minded.
23:10Just be ready and open and willing to be a student.
23:15And yeah, that's the the biggest lesson I've learned was.
23:20Never stop learning, never stop learning.
23:23And I want to say, like, we're we're actually here behind the scenes
23:27at the Futureland Conference, and we've met so many people.
23:30I mean, even people kind of stopping us
23:34and interacting and kind of switching the layout.
23:38So, yeah, this has been actually a journey.
23:40This may be like a shorter podcast.
23:43It's actually been like two hours, for real, just a process of getting there.
23:47We have to do starts and stops and rewinds and cuts.
23:49I love it. That's that's networking right there.
23:51You got people like, hey, hey, what's that?
23:54So that's that's that's love.
23:56I love it. I love it. Love and we're live.
23:58This is live. We're live from Futureland.
24:01But if you love this episode, you're going to have to check out
24:05the full episode when we get to sit down and and solitude
24:10and peace and really get high.
24:12I'm going to tell you all about my life.
24:14All my life, I had to fight all your life.
24:17You had to fight.
24:19So even with that, that's Kendrick Lamar.
24:22Did you have like an intro song going on?
24:24First of all, we're not going to give that line to Kendrick Lamar.
24:27We're going to take date that back to the color purple purple.
24:31Yeah, I'm saying like as far as the song,
24:34like what was your intro song?
24:37What did you come out to like in the hype before you knock somebody out?
24:42Whenever I fight internationally,
24:45I always like to go back to my roots, Cleveland.
24:50So I love that.
24:51I'm from the land.
24:53So I die.
24:54It sounds like that.
24:56OK, that's all that's like.
24:58Yes, like that.
24:59That song just gave me so high.
25:01And I have an opportunity to rep my.
25:04Who? I have an opportunity to put Cleveland on a map.
25:08I love it. I love to see it.
25:10And I if you know anything about Cleveland,
25:13you know, we are die hard Clevelanders, Cleveland fans.
25:17I mean, even from the sports going back to to boxing and football,
25:22like the Browns were known for losing season after season.
25:26We got our host.
25:27But we always come out there every Sunday, every Sunday with pride.
25:32Like this the one.
25:34This is the game that they're going to.
25:36It's the season. This is it.
25:39And then we turn it to this is the game.
25:41This is our season.
25:43I can see us going to the Super Bowl.
25:46And you know what?
25:47The Browns has taught me.
25:50So much so much faith, patience, love, compassion, all of that.
25:57Shout out to the Browns. I love y'all.
25:59So speaking about like championship, the Super Bowl,
26:01what is like that championship, the high status for boxing?
26:05That's the Olympics, that's world champions, that's the Continentals.
26:11Oh, my gosh.
26:13Those are like the three main.
26:16Highlights, but the highlight of your amateur career would be the Olympics.
26:19Not only making it to that stage, but meddling.
26:24And yes, I had an opportunity to go to the Olympics.
26:27I got an. Oh, my God.
26:29I was like to see like it's no experience
26:32I would trade in the world for.
26:35What was your favorite experience then?
26:37Oh, the village.
26:39Yes. All of the rumors about the Olympic village are true.
26:44They are all true.
26:45Whatever you heard on TV, true.
26:48They're true.
26:49I hate to say it, but you have people
26:52threatening us and yes, we were on cardboard beds.
26:56But it's not what everybody thinks.
27:00Whoever engineered that bed, you could do a somersault
27:03and the bed was not breaking down.
27:05OK. And it was straight cardboard for,
27:09you know, recycling purposes and all that good stuff.
27:13For good causes. Yeah.
27:14So my favorite part, like I said, was the Olympic village.
27:18See a world peace in the flesh.
27:21Like, that's the only way I could describe it.
27:25You have so many different nations, nationalities, languages.
27:31And all you do is everything is free in the village.
27:34You have vending machines everywhere.
27:36You have stores everywhere.
27:37Everything is entirely free food.
27:41You're walking past a country that I've never even heard of.
27:44I've never even heard of Tajikistan or.
27:47Exactly. You have when you.
27:52You realize. Where is that located?
27:54I don't know. Somewhere in Asia. I don't know.
27:57So you have all these different countries
28:01that you've never heard of you.
28:04And then some countries only had two representatives.
28:07Some countries only had one representative.
28:09And you realize how blessed you are to come from America,
28:14in a sense, because it was hot in that village.
28:17We were in the peak of Paris summer.
28:21And if you know anything about Europe, they do not believe in ice or air.
28:28So that's for us.
28:30We were spoiled.
28:31The United States made sure that they shipped us air conditioners.
28:37So must because all of these were complaining.
28:41So they shipped us portable air conditioners.
28:44And we were they were like, oh, you realize how much America
28:49is put on the pedestal.
28:51But going back to my original statement,
28:54seeing that world peace, being connected by one thing and one thing only,
28:59and that's representing your nation.
29:02But everybody is smiling and laughing and having a good time,
29:07because though we're in competition,
29:11everybody's like, you worked your ass off to get here.
29:14And I respect that aspect.
29:16And I respect that you're here.
29:18I'm looking at you from across the table as an Olympian,
29:21and you're looking at me from across the table as an Olympian.
29:23I'm standing next to LeBron James.
29:25I'm standing next to Simone Biles and this little old me from St.
29:29Clair. And I'm like, damn, we have on the same outfit.
29:33Repping the same thing.
29:35Repping the same thing.
29:37Though they're on higher pedestals, it's like, well, I'm here too.
29:42And then I look at myself in the mirror like, OK, look, look at you.
29:48Right, right, right, right. So, yeah.
29:52I love every moment of it. Wow.
29:54So even going back to the championship,
29:57did you just win medals or you won a champion?
30:00No, so I didn't medal in the Olympics.
30:06No, I did not.
30:08It was a lot of listen, we don't have to talk off.
30:10OK, we definitely will.
30:12But they're actually cleaning up the sport of boxing.
30:16We didn't have like a.
30:20We didn't have I don't want to put the.
30:24The incorrect name out.
30:27But we had to reevaluate everything.
30:31We didn't have a chair because they got rid of our organization
30:36that was head of boxing for corruption.
30:38So just even making it a boxing for corruption.
30:42Yes. So just even the boxing portion, making it to the Olympics
30:47was a blessing this time around, because they were scrambling to find
30:52who was non-biased to judge boxing
30:57in such a short notice.
31:00That means you have to train people on what they're looking for.
31:03You have to get judges.
31:04You have to make sure that these people have good intentions
31:07to give the rightful winner what's theirs.
31:12So, yeah, that's a that's another story for another day.
31:15OK, but but yeah,
31:19I didn't medal this time around.
31:22I'm going for twenty twenty eight when the Olympics are in our home
31:27to even be considering
31:30to to be able to represent the United States
31:34in the United States Olympics is is is just mind boggling.
31:38And I think that's why that's what made me want to do it once again,
31:43because it's like, OK, I'm still young.
31:45I still have fire in me. Yes.
31:47I still have the passion. Yes.
31:50Though, like I said, I'm working through injuries right now
31:53is the best time to heal myself physically, mentally
31:58and be ready to conquer that.
32:02And because twenty twenty eight may be the goal. OK.
32:07Just being one hundred percent healthy for that.
32:11And what is the chances of me being able to compete
32:15on the homeland for the biggest competition in the world?
32:19That's not rolling around for another ninety nine years.
32:22That's amazing.
32:23And then after you fight, I'm going to hit you with your own
32:26I haven't hit you with the Moji app.
32:28What is yours?
32:29How are you feeling to meet you with your own app?
32:33Yes, I love it.
32:35So talk about more of the championships, because, you know,
32:39speaking to you off camera,
32:41you told me about the championship belts and how it works and operates.
32:47You want to speak to the audience a little bit about that.
32:50Amateur is a little different.
32:51Well, we're talking about the pro aspect of having a WBC.
32:55A lot of people don't know that when you hold those titles,
32:59you hold the taxes on those belts.
33:01The taxes. Yeah.
33:03You those belts are tax.
33:05Don't believe me.
33:07Look it up, people. Wow.
33:09So yes, though.
33:12People always holler, I want to fight the champ.
33:15I want to fight the champ.
33:16It's my turn to be the champ.
33:18Well, can you afford to be the champ?
33:20I hate to say it, but when you have those type of.
33:24People that don't do the research on the sport
33:29and they're just talking. Yeah. Wow.
33:31You have to be able to back that title up.
33:33You have to pay to to fight for that title.
33:36You got to pay to be the boss.
33:37Yeah, you have to pay to be the boss.
33:40And that correlates back to being an entrepreneur.
33:44That's very true. Wow.
33:48So, yeah, I'm listening.
33:53I'm looking forward to the future of female boxing.
33:57There are so many great women doing great things.
34:00We have Clarissa Shields signing one of the biggest deals
34:04in the the sport of women's boxing.
34:08You have Jake Paul, a Cleveland native
34:11that's given these women a platform to showcase their talents.
34:17When women wasn't handlining,
34:19they didn't think women was could sell tickets
34:22and have that many fans to put asses in arenas.
34:28So when I see the innovation overall of not just women's boxing,
34:34but women's sports.
34:36Just like basketball.
34:37Yeah. The WNBA is coming to Cleveland.
34:40Coming back to Cleveland. Yes.
34:41What? 2028 is is going to be one hell of a year in a good way.
34:47We're claiming it now is going to be one hell of a year in a great way.
34:51And I'm excited to just keep seeing where female sports is going
34:59and being a part of it, in a sense.
35:02And I'm listening.
35:03Y'all set the standards, ladies, because when it's my time,
35:07I know God don't make no mistakes.
35:09When it's my time, I'm going to shine.
35:11So, yeah, for sure.
35:13So you're saying 2028, I don't have to fly to Paris to see you fight.
35:17No, we're in L.A. L.A. 2028.
35:20OK. You can drive there.
35:23It's no excuse.
35:24I'm catching a plane, but yeah, yeah, I'll be there.
35:28That could be a nice road trip. OK. Yeah.
35:33Yeah, for sure.
35:34So speaking about like road trip, like when you're traveling
35:37and like days before the fight, even minutes before the fight,
35:41how do you prep or like mentally prep yourself?
35:45So you can only do so much, honestly.
35:48There's so many people tell you so many different things,
35:52but you have to just have confidence.
35:54Confidence is key.
35:55Did you do everything you needed to do in order to be great in this moment?
36:00And you don't look at it as a whole.
36:03You look at it as.
36:05Minute by minute, round by round, moment by moment.
36:09I want to win the everything.
36:13But initially, if I win the first round,
36:16if I win the second round, if I win the third round,
36:18yeah, so you want to scale it on a smaller size because then
36:24you're not overthinking it.
36:26You're not overdoing it.
36:28And my whole thing is when I encourage the little ones to box
36:32or if I'm out there working their corners, I'd be like, listen,
36:37what are you going to do if she hits you?
36:39Hit her back. It's that simple.
36:42Wow. I'm listening.
36:45You know how to do this.
36:46So you coach a little bit.
36:47Yeah, I do. Just a little bit.
36:49I love to see the babies.
36:51Like, I love coming back to my city and showing them, like, listen,
36:57if you want it, you could go get it, because I'm literally
37:00every statistic in the book.
37:03Like, I wasn't supposed to be here.
37:05I was in foster care. Really?
37:08I was born into
37:12I'm number seven out of eight.
37:15And my mom was had an addiction.
37:19God brought her out of it much, much later in life.
37:22Thank God. Yeah.
37:23I didn't have a father there growing up.
37:26And all of those sounds so sad for you, but it's like, OK, well.
37:32Well, now what do we do?
37:34Do we sit here and cry about it or are we going to
37:38elevate and evolve and learn?
37:42Dad, that is a must.
37:44And as you said, not growing up with your father,
37:47I didn't grow up with my father.
37:48Even like it took me
37:51in my late 20s, randomly at a store, ran into my father.
37:56He's like, Steve, Steve, like, yeah.
38:01I'm looking like, how do I do I know you?
38:03Like, you know who I am? Like, no, like I'm your father.
38:07I'm like, whoa, where you been at?
38:10But like, you owe me.
38:12Matter of fact, you need to fill my tank up.
38:15Fill my tank.
38:16But yeah, we actually had a good conversation, though.
38:19You know, I didn't know how it was going to go.
38:21But it's actually, you know, good.
38:23And that's that's what life is about.
38:25If you were to hold that grudge against your father for not being there.
38:29I made a song, but I got it out.
38:31So after that, it's good.
38:32But you were open to being like, at least let me hear them,
38:35because a lot of people have that mentality.
38:37You was never there for me.
38:39But honestly, forgiveness is for yourself.
38:44Oh, I like that.
38:46Yeah, for sure. And I'm listening.
38:47I'm glad you got to meet your father.
38:49Yeah, it's been a while.
38:52They look a lot.
38:53Oh, it would come.
38:55Just like I was like.
38:57I mean, I didn't really think of nothing of it.
38:59No, if it happened, it happened and it happened to happen.
39:02You know, it was randomly, just randomly.
39:05Happened to happen.
39:06Yeah, I'm grateful and thankful.
39:09You know, I want to say it's the best relationship.
39:13Are we staying communications as we should?
39:17But, you know, it's still good, even after all these years.
39:21I actually know exactly that it's C in the witness.
39:25And for him to see me and witness, like, you know, I'm proud of you
39:28because he knows watch from a distance as a father, you know.
39:32But just being around and in my life,
39:36I just imagine what my life would be like.
39:39If I did, you know, have my father in the early years
39:44growing up and, you know, things and lessons you would have taught me
39:47because I made a song.
39:50It's called Hating My Heart, Hating My Heart by Alien Ops.
39:54They are in the sea as a feature collab.
39:59And it was last minute.
40:00I said, I hop on a track and just speaking on that situation
40:05and my experience is powerful.
40:08You know, you have to go listen to the song.
40:11Because I don't want to hit the lyrics.
40:13Yeah, one more time.
40:15Hating My Heart, Hating My Heart by Alien Ops, all media.
40:21Speaking about all media, check out Alien Eyes Photos.
40:27That's Alien Eyes with a Z, Photos with an S on all social media
40:32and alieneyesphotos.com.
40:34If you want to book me or for more information
40:38and as we wrap this up, because we got to go
40:41and Mo has to do, you see how I did that, have to do some some work
40:46and some homework and work on her business and recover.
40:50We had a long day.
40:54So how can people find you, read you, book you?
40:58You can find me on social media at million underscore dollar underscore Mo.
41:04Or you can go to my website, MeroeMcCain.org,
41:08where I do do free classes and I do.
41:12Yeah, I do do.
41:14I host free classes.
41:17So I do update the site to the location, the time.
41:22They're completely free.
41:24Come out. And that's my way of giving.
41:26One of my ways of giving back to the community.
41:29Yeah. So I do.
41:30Do I need my own gloves?
41:32I do bring some training gloves.
41:34But you do show up.
41:36Show up with your own gloves.
41:39Please. I got to buy some. OK.
41:40How do I fit? I get fitting for.
41:42I say they never fit for me.
41:45So it just depends when I'm training people,
41:47I tell them to get between go by the ounces of the gloves.
41:52So you want to get 14 to 16 when you're an adult.
41:55And then you want to get 12 to 14 when you're a child,
42:00depending on how big the child is.
42:01But 12, 14 or 16 ounces are standard for when I'm teaching.
42:06But yes, like I said, million underscore dollar underscore
42:10mo on social handles.
42:13And or you can go to my website at morelmccain.org.
42:18And it's been a pleasure talking with you.
42:21It's been a long time. It's been a long day.
42:24We've been at the Futureland Summit since the a.m.
42:27and now it's the p.m. guys.
42:29It's dark outside and everything.
42:31They wrap it up, they put their clothes up and I am hungry.
42:35Like I said, we got stuff to do.
42:37But yeah, this is as this has been Alienize Photos
42:40Industry Talk with your host, Steve Jackson, photographer
42:45Jackson of Alienize Photos Media.
42:48Bringing you Alienize Photos Industry Talk.
42:51And thank you again, Miss Marell.
42:53Thank you for having me.
42:55Let me hurry up before she knock me out.
42:57Yeah, I got to go.
42:59All right, so I'll take care of peace.