In the male-dominated sports industry, women are increasingly closing the gap and finding their place. Shari Carruthers, the COO of BTC Fight Promotions has been working tremendously hard to position herself in the sport of MMA.
As an owner and a fan of MMA, Shari has successfully brought a promotion to Ontario; one built on a love for the sport, a realization that there are many fighters in the province and around the country that need a stepping stone to success, and the fulfillment of building a successful business. She credits that success to a number of aspects, none more important than her background in business and finance, “I don’t know how someone without that kind of background would be able to run something like this. It’s a massive undertaking and I can now apply a formula to every aspect of it. I break down every aspect of the fight to make sure that it all makes sense for longevity.” The longevity Shari speaks of is of the utmost importance, especially if we as Canadians want to continue seeing homegrown competitors representing Canada on the world stage.
Fighters Looking for a Boost
Canadian fighters have been heavily underrepresented in mainstream MMA. While very few names have made it to the top, the most popular being Georges St-Pierre, the average Canadian fighter is far less likely to make it to the UFC as they heavily favour American and sometimes, Brazilian fighters.
Shari saw a gap in the market and decided that there was a promising opportunity for her to capitalize on. “It was originally started because [BTC] had the MMA gym and most of the coaches were amateur or pro fighters and they just could not get any fights in the province. There wasn’t a promotion in Ontario at the time. They never had the opportunity to fight at home. They were always going over to the states to fight and even then there was always the chance that they were being brought in to lose.”
With that in mind, Shari and her partner, Irene Starr, ran their first event in Toronto on May 27, 2017. “The goal since the beginning was to take it across the province and give as many athletes as possible a chance to fight at home.”
The promotion has been going strong for over two years and even though Shari had her doubts, her and Irene persisted and have been growing as a company, improving the quality of the shows one after the other, and most importantly they’ve been upholding their end of the deal with respect to providing the platform. “[We’re] proud to say in 7 completed shows, we’ve moved out 5 or 6 fighters to Invicta or the UFC. We’ve provided the platform they needed. At least two have reached out directly when they got the call to thank me. And without it they wouldn’t have had this opportunity. [I’m] proud to have given them the opportunity.”
A Love for Everything MMA
Sharing a laugh backstage.
To improve her understanding for all aspects of the business, Shari has been doing her own light training in boxing for a while now. It has served in providing her both a love for MMA and an appreciation for the difficult regimens that fighters must go through to reach the top of the game. “I have become a fan of the sport, and I have absolutely become a fan of the athlete. Their dedication, their drive, their lifestyle,” she says.
Understanding what an athlete must go through to make it to competition level, let alone actually compete is important for Shari because it allows her to empathize with their struggle and experience the exhilaration of a win alongside the men and women competing in BTC promotions.
No Discrimination Here
Most people would have thought that women, both as fighters and owners, would shy away from MMA or receive negative feedback about their involvement in such a male dominated industry. While fans may have had doubts when the first female fighters arrived on the scene, that attitude has completely shifted into an understanding that women are highly intense and fierce competitors, supplying fans with exactly what they want.
For Shari, she’s found that the vast majority of the people she’s done business with have been positive about a female owned promotion. “We are very fortunate in this male driven industry. 95% of the athletes have a lot of respect and are very humble, respectful men. The other 5% require me to speak louder to be heard. Where I normally wouldn’t put my foot down, it becomes necessary.”
In any industry there will always be people that are difficult to deal with and Shari credits Athletic Commissioners, Ray Dempster and Luke Kotyk with providing the insight necessary to deal with difficult people. “We’ve been very fortunate with the commissioner and the commission.”
Words of Wisdom for Entrepreneurial Women
As our country continues to inch toward absolute equality of opportunity, it is important for young women to step away from the status quo and challenge themselves to do extraordinary things. As a woman living this truth today, Shari offers some wisdom to young women who are hesitant to enter male dominated industries. “I know boundaries exist. It’s all in how you choose to handle it. We knew 100% going into this that it’s a male driven sport and industry. I think we’re confident, strong women, and I knew that we could handle ourselves. It’s just about being tough and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone. I would like to see more women do that. Whether it’s hop in the gym and train in this sport. Just because it’s mostly men doesn’t mean you can’t do that. We can make excuses and focus our effort on saying that it is male driven or we can just do it. I think we should spend more time saying ‘I want to do that, I fit there, this is what I’m gonna do.”