While Laila has undoubtedly been the major draw in professional women’s athletics for years, she took on a new challenge, when she strut her stuff in front of nearly 40 million people every week on ABC’s hit show, Dancing With The Stars. A glamorous and elegant Laila surprised everyone and charged into the finals, as viewers were able to get a sense of her humor, her feminism, her genuineness, and her beauty.
Laila’s tremendous global popularity on the dance-floor and in the ring has led to numerous marketing opportunities. She was featured in Adidas’ “Impossible is Nothing” campaign alongside soccer phenom David Beckham, in Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion’s “Skin is Amazing” campaign with the likes of Hillary Duff, Minnie Driver and Dave Navarro, and is currently appearing in a national campaign for DOVE. She also partnered with Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula for their line of Mother/Baby products geared towards maintaining beautiful skin during pregnancy. Laila’s personal background as a licensed manicurist, and her past work with skin care companies, has led Laila to launch her own line of beauty and personal care products, “Laila by Laila Ali”. The multi-SKU product line will be in department stores and specialty retailers nationwide in June 2010.
Fitness is another important component of Laila’s life. Her attention to an overall healthy lifestyle has rendered her an expert in this field. Currently, Laila is featured in Subway’s national “eat fresh” campaign advising expectant and new mothers to maintain a healthy lifestyle, as well as Subway’s new campaign, “Famous Footlong Fans,” supporting Subway’s $5 Footlong promotion. Additionally, Laila is the second person to ever appear in the famous MILK Mustache campaign three times. Never one to stray from her passion, Laila has conveyed her commitment to health and wellness through multiple television platforms, as the host of “Student Body” on The N Network, a show that followed a group of teens as they attempted to change their own lives-from diet and exercise to volunteering and academics, as she co-hosted NBC’s “American Gladiators” with Hulk Hogan, and as she formerly served as a regular correspondent on CBS’ The Early Show as its resident Health, Fitness, and Lifestyle expert. Active in the community, Laila is currently lending her support to Kroger’s health and wellness initiative, a 2,400-store, nationwide endeavor encouraging Kroger customers to lead healthy, active lives.
Laila also authored a motivational book titled Reach! She wrote the book in an effort to help young women who may need to be inspired in life; using her own experiences and challenges as an example for her readers. Laila, a multi-talented entrepreneur, owned and operated a nail salon in California before entering the boxing profession. She had earned her degree in Business Management at Santa Monica College, but after watching women’s boxing on television for the first time, she instantly wanted to step in the ring. About a year later, she sold her business and started training to become a professional boxer.
Laila made her professional boxing debut on October 8, 1999, and in a sign of things to come, she knocked out her opponent, April Fowler, 31 seconds into the 1st round. Laila retired from boxing as the undefeated Super Middleweight Boxing Champion of the world with a 24-0 record, with 21 knock-outs. In her last fight, on February 3rd, 2007, Laila knocked out her opponent, Gwendolyn O’Neal, in just 56 seconds. The bout, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, was attended by Nelson Mandela, a long time family friend.
Laila currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, former NFL star, Curtis Conway, and their son, Curtis Jr.
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