Shares

Houston native Taylore Graham is not just your average 19-year-old, the recent high school graduate and former track star is quickly becoming a household name in the sport of powerlifting.

Bayou Beat News got a chance to speak with Graham, and found out what drives this young lady to greatness.

Like most 19-year-olds, Graham is energetic and full of life but it becomes evident early on in our interview that she is wise beyond her years.

So how did she get started?

Taking her time to respond and process the question, it is clear that she uses the same focus during competition, which we are certain accounts for her success.

“I’ve always been an athlete, so this came naturally to me,” said Graham. “I started out playing volleyball, basketball and track in high school and my coach saw something in me and encouraged me to try deadlifting, and I just fell in love with it.”

Did the sport come easy to you or did you have to go through extensive training to get where you are now?

“I have always been very strong. When I was in school they would joke and talk about my muscles. My teammates would say stuff like ‘bet no dude ever make you mad,’” she quipped.

We think it speaks a lot to your character that those comments didn’t bother you and you let it empower you to go harder.

“Yeah, thank you. I love my body,” Graham said. “I’m not going to say that it’s not a lot out there cause it is, and it’s extremely hard for girls my age, but I’m not going to let that stop me from the fact that I love my muscles and love being physically strong because it also helps me be mentally strong as well.”

That’s a very powerful way to look at it because we would imagine that in today’s society of social media, it would be hard to be so confident for someone so young. Were you inspired by anyone in particular?

“I love Allyson Felix and what she stands for, but I can’t necessarily say that I just looked up to one person in particular,” Graham answered.  “This is my passion, so I am happy doing it. I think that’s where my confidence comes from, you know, just the fact that I’m doing what I love.”

Now let’s get into these records, how many have you broken so far?

“I set my first record in deadlifting like three years ago during my junior year of high school, but I’ve broken that record since then. Right now, I hold two world records and I just set another national and state record in deadlifting a few weeks ago,” Graham said. “My dream was to go to the Olympics for track, who knows, maybe I still will. They have powerlifting in the Olympics. I can’t really say. I don’t ever want to limit myself. I always want to be pushing myself and trying new things.”

Well said, young lady! We think those are words that we can all live by.

It’s time to stop setting limits and find what inspires and motivates you. Fall in love with every part of yourself.