Precious Williams Interview
Precious grew up in the inner city of St. Louis, Missouri with parents who didn’t want her. Her father was a drug addict and her mother tried to kill her when she was still a kid. She was constantly being told by her mom that she was worthless. When she was 15 years old, Precious’ grandparents stepped in and spoke life into her. Her grandmother told Precious that she was a great speaker and a great communicator and they encouraged her to practice. At 16 years old, Precious wowed the Mayor of the city of St. Louis and the governor of Missouri with her public speaking prowess.
Precious put herself through college and went for a law degree to be more respectable and have credibility. More importantly, she went into law to be the voice for the voiceless and underserved. In 2007, she finished law at Rutgers School of Law in Newark, New Jersey, and passed the New York State Bar Exam on her first attempt. She moved to New York from New Jersey to practice her profession and run her own firm, until she realized law was not what she wanted to do for the next 40 years. She knew she was made for something bigger so she became an entrepreneur and pursued her speaking craft more seriously.
“Embrace your differences and let your perceived flaws be your secret weapon.”
So many people told Precious that breaking into big media was impossible. She was 327 lbs. and people said she was too fat, too black, and didn’t have an Ivy League degree. Precious gave herself the permission that no one else did — to go out there to try new things and fail. She started her first company, Curvy Girlz Lingerie with literally no money to her name. Precious spent her last dollars to go to a small business event in New York City. She boldly approached and impressed the producers at MSNBC with her on-the-spot pitch. They brought her onto the show, Your Business with JJ Ramberg, where she pitched for her life and was able to secure $500,000 investor funds for her company. That significant moment propelled her forward to the Shark Tanks, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Billboards in Times Square, movies, and documentaries, all from just believing herself when no one else did.
Shark Tank Experience
“Everything they said that’s wrong with you, use that brick to build your empire.”
After her first television success, Precious’ name kept coming up and she was invited for a private audition on Shark Tank. On Sept 15th, 2016, with her full-figure divas, she presented her pitch in front of the sharks and left them in awe. When the audition was over, Precious recalls herself bursting out in tears. “I wanted to prove that the black community has all these diamonds,” she recalls telling the producers. Precious’ company, Curvy Girls Lingerie, was selected for “Shark Tank” in 2016, Season 8.
According to Precious, pitching is a way of briefly introducing yourself, your business, your brand, your products and services, or setting yourself up as the only choice in interviews. “Think about a plate of all the food that you would like to eat at one time. Think of that plate as everything about you – your relationships, your career, your business, all of that. The first fork you take, that’s the pitch. It’s the taste to entice them to the next meeting, to the next phone call, to meeting with someone else, to get them to buy things, to get them to consider you, promote you, hire you, or put you on another level.”
Precious celebrates difference and wants to radiate difference in everything that she does. “When you are different, you have to get comfortable in and of yourself. When people talk about you, saying what you don’t deserve, you still show up fully as you are.” She shares that the reason why companies, corporations, and foundations come to her is that they need a different approach to their business strategy. As the “Killer Pitch Master”, she makes sure to give real action-based techniques from the trenches.
“Pitching truly helps leaders.” According to Precious, when you can captivate and engage your audience and make them think about something differently, that’s a part of what pitching is. It’s taking something complex and breaking it down into its essential parts and showing how others can do it too. Even if you, as the leader, are not the one speaking or doing the pitching, someone from your team has to establish that you are the best at what you do and that you are the number one choice. Leaders must be able to be articulate and succinct while engaging, attracting, and closing. Pitching is the skill set most people don’t have.
Precious is a keynote speaker and a corporate trainer. She conducts workshops, corporate training programs and digital and online training and offers 2-hour laser-focused coaching sessions. Her website is www.PerfectPitchesbyPrecious.com. She has written three #1 bestselling books.
Getting personal with Precious Williams
Li: What is your favorite word?
Precious: Bold.
Li: What is a sound that you love?
Precious: Do you ever get those candles that crackle? I love that sound.
Li: If you could be someone for a day, who would you want to be?
Precious: I would love to experience what Michael Jackson experienced at his peak. What was that really like versus what they write about.
Li: In one year today, what are you doing?
Precious: One year from today, I hope I am lying on a beach, looking out at the water, and celebrating the fact that I have a great support network, and celebrating being a 7-figure company.
