Survivor Rachel Charles featured in documentary series "The Lesson"

Rachel Charles, a once-teen mother who came from, shall we say, an “affordable” part of town in the council estates (in North America we call it “the hood”) of Chelmsley-Wood (Birmingham) Eng.

A few choices led to several twists and turns in a life that, on the surface, appeared to end up as a fairy tale in the sun and surf of majestic California on the United States’ west coast. Life for Charles has been nothing if not interesting on the journey into the male-dominated world of professional boxing and beyond.  

Charles was the long-time publicist for Los Angeles-based Sheer Sports Management after her start with (the late Dan Goosen’s) Goosen-Tutor Promotions, which came about through a chance introduction from (recent) Hall of Fame inductee James Toney.

She also did a stint with (New York-based) Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing.

Charles, who greets every day with one of the worlds truly great smiles and a contagious laugh, chooses positivity and happiness in a life that certainly has presented her with circumstances that might put a lesser person on the canvas.

However, the warmth of her darling Birmingham accent is a good front for what has been more than her share of life’s (at times, serious) troubles. A boot-tough survivor that has been knocked down, got up, struggled, and triumphed in a story that is indeed suited for the silver screen.

And, that is exactly where Charles, who recently welcomed her first grandson, finds herself after just wrapping up the third installment of the “The Lesson”, a series that creates intimate (video) storytelling portraits, documenting exceptional people who have achieved transformation, and triumph, after trauma.

Charles fits the bill.

Documenting her abuse, loss, depression, and trauma survival - the series peeks into the life of Charles growing up in a racially mixed family (her mother was white) her sense of abandonment, and her ultimate triumph in America after the failure of the marriage that brought her to California. 

Charles, the classic mix of tough and tender, allows the series to shed light on the understandable and obvious vulnerability that at times could have defeated her but ultimately fueled her. Charles shows incredible strength and openness in addressing what must be uncomfortable memories. However, the series does detail the successes she has enjoyed in what can only be described as an interesting path in a remarkable life. 

In a recent chat with MaxBoxing, Charles seemed excited and quietly proud of the mini docu-series, which shows both her strength and softness in a well-paced, easily digestible way that certainly leaves you wanting more. 

“The series, in the small segments, is going to be transferred into a longer series and then possibly a speaking tour”, she said. “I have a feeling the phone is going to start to ring, very soon."

The best pieces of the series reveal an, at times, a successful woman whose strength belies any idea that she could be taken on and defeated. At other times, Charles reveals someone who is still hurt and healing to this day. 

In the end, viewers are left with a message of hope and positivity from someone who is always on the go and changing, but, as she proudly says, “I am where I am supposed to be”. And, despite spending most of the last two decades working with, and for, boxing’s elite, she might just be the best of the fighting bunch. 

About surviving a life that might have KO’d others, in a tone that sounds more grateful than boastful, she states, “I am indeed the champion in all this."

Well said and well earned - a champion indeed. 

Moving.

Challenging 

and Inspiring. 

Worth the watch.