“I loved the idea of competing, so
I started to prep for the figure
category, which I loved,” she says.
“I found prepping for the figure
category fascinating. It’s amazing to
see how someone can transform so
dramatically- both physically and
mentally. I was totally drawn in by it.
If you dedicate yourself to the
process, you will accomplish it.”
Even though Carly really enjoyed
competing in the figure category,
she observed how the market was
changing. This spurred her to
change her goals.
“I thought that I should focus more
on the commercial look in order to
stay relevant in the fitness market,”
she says.
Carly had also identified that in
order for her career to grow, her
social media and industry profile
also needed to be larger.
“For me, my goal was to have a
front cover on Flex and write
articles for them,” she says. “Al-
though this sounds so cliché and
can come across as a bit dumb,
I knew exactly what I wanted.
No matter what it took, I was
determined to achieve this.”
Competing Had
Made Me Stronger
Thanks to her newly adopted drive
and determination, Carly landed
front covers on some well known
magazines, as well as contributing
articles to them.
“It was amazing when I think back,
as I had so many knock backs, but I
just never gave up,” she says. “I just
kept on emailing companies relent-
lessly until they said yes.
Today people ask me how I got so
far in this industry. I tell them that
these days, people wait around
thinking that opportunity will just
come to them. NO, it won’t. My
advice is to put the hard work in,
and eventually you’ll achieve your
goals.”
Evolving
“I always knew that I had to keep
evolving in order to stay current and
A
Changing Goals
present in the industry,” Carly says.
She then decided to compete
again as a bikini athlete as a means
of boosting her profile. This was
also to show her versatility and
demonstrate a different look. This is
something that very few athletes do,
and an approach we rarely see in
the industry.
This stage of Carly’s competitive
life really did grab people’s attention,
but once again it was time for a
change.
“When analysing my structure, I
then realised I was more suited
towards the new woman’s physique
category,” she recalls.
This would be a big challenge, but
she loved the notion of building yet
another style of physique.
Whole New Level
Physique training was a whole new
level and was proving very demand-
ing on her body.
“I’m not a gifted person when it
comes to building muscle. My body
was beat after a year of training in
order to reach my goal,” Carly says.
But the ever evolving athlete did
reach that goal. In fact, she won her
show and became an IFBB Profes-
sional League woman’s physique
competitor.
Although Carly had earned this
status, things still weren’t right in
her own mind.
“Honestly, I still felt as if I was
bottom of the bunch competing
against the best. It was like starting
all over again, but this time against
the elite from all over the country.
I wasn’t competing against the
burger physiques of the world,
I was against the prime fillets now,”
she jokes.
Carly competed in a further two
Pro shows- one each year to allow
adequate time for improvements
between shows, especially now
that she was up against the best.
“I knew that because I was a Pro, I
had to do everything perfectly. Even
my off-season meals were struc-
tured just the same as when I was in
full competition mode,” she says.
It Consumed Me
Looking back, and realising now
that she was focusing on the
wrong thing, Carly admits she
was completely confused.
MARCH 2018 | FLEX
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