ABOUT TRA
The mission of The Ready Athlete is to prepare student and professional athletes for lives of purpose during and after athletics. Many have dedicated years to excelling in their sport but are unsure what career they will pursue afterwards or even who they are outside of their sport. Indeed, struggles with identity, worth, motivation, and purpose often accompany the difficult transition out of athletics. Even those who become professional athletes frequently struggle to realize a purpose deeper than their sport—both during their time as professional athletes and once that chapter comes to a close.
TRA Founder Demi Williams speaks to high school and collegiate student-athletes across sports. Demi helps athletes to prepare for and thrive in their next chapter through discussion of developing their broader identity, discovering their passions, and understanding their purpose. Likewise, Demi speaks to coaches and athletic department staff, including through school district in-service programming, training them to foster these same principles in their athletes.
TRA also offers career services that help athletes prepare for their lives after sports. By working with TRA, athletic departments enhance their ability to recruit top talent without expending the resources necessary to staff a full student-athlete development department. Universities that already have such a department can offer additional services with the help of TRA and increase the efficiency of existing employees by allowing them to focus on other needs. Successful former athletes allow a department to shine long after an athlete has left the institution. The same is true for professional teams and players’ organizations that work with TRA, affording their athletes the opportunity to prepare for their next steps.
Finally, Demi works with athletes in need of individual assistance not available through their academic institution or team, offering all career services, including one-on-one career coaching. Through TRA, Demi helps prepare athletes for lives of purpose and impact.
FOUNDER
Demi Williams—an attorney since 2012—has worked with athletes for nearly twenty years. While attending Pepperdine University, majoring in psychology and minoring in Spanish, Demi tutored student-athletes across sports and helped them begin to prepare for life after athletics. After graduating summa cum laude, she continued to focus on athletics, working for the TCU Athletics Department. Demi then co-founded the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law during law school.
Since graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 2012, Demi has worked as a litigator and prosecutor and has continued to engage student-athletes and professional athletes in various capacities, including through TRA. Her legal practice focuses on sports and media, where her work includes representing athletes in matters related to name, image, and likeness (NIL) and eligibility, among other things. Throughout her career, Demi has also been heavily involved in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring students and professionals.
Demi's first passion was Texas high school cheerleading. Despite a career-ending injury, her love of sports continued. Demi founded TRA, pursuing a long-standing passion to work with and help athletes.
Kim Oliphant
Assistant Athletic Director,
Forney ISD
Bring Demi Williams to your people, they will be impressed! In Forney ISD Athletics, we invited her to present at our annual LEAD student-athlete leadership summit. She tackled the universal and often overlooked transition out of sports, and critically, using that time and experience as an athlete to effect a strong transition to life beyond athletics. We were already waiting as she finished speaking to sign her up for next year’s summit. Her talk was both meaningful and memorable - exactly what our athletes needed to hear!
Madison Seaver
Assistant Director of Academic Services,
University of North Texas
Demi Williams hosted a Networking Workshop as part of our Life Skills Series and did an outstanding job! The goal of the Networking Workshop was to prepare our student-athletes for our career fair, and Demi did not disappoint with the workshop’s content ... Not only did our student-athletes have so many great takeaways from the workshop, but it was an absolute pleasure working with Demi to coordinate the event given that she is extremely responsive and detail-oriented ... I would highly recommend Demi Williams from The Ready Athlete for student-athletes to improve their overall readiness for life after athletics.
Eric White
Athletic Director,
Arlington ISD
Demi Williams spoke with all of our Junior High and High School Coaches this year at our back-to-school in-service. She [presents] a unique message that focuses on student-athlete development. In athletics, we focus on the current physical and mental development to grow them as athletes, students, and people of high character. Demi helps bring to light how to recognize in students what their interests and possibilities may be for their future after athletics. This was unique to learn and I feel greatly benefited our staff.