Episode #7
First Woman on the USA Overall Team (ft. Jalise Williams)
Professional competitive shooter Jalise Williams joins hosts Kaylee and John for a conversation about a career built on discipline, family, and a deep love of firearms history. A Team USA representative, Jalise is a 12-time world champion with 43 national titles and more than 200 major wins, and she became the first woman in the United States to qualify for the USA Overall Team (long called the Men's Team) at the Handgun World Shoot. She traces it all back to St. George, Utah, where she grew up hunting with her father from the time she was in diapers. After her mother took a local ladies' night clinic and suggested she learn handguns, Jalise and her sister fell in love with the sport and entered the competitive circuit. Twelve years later, she is at the top of it. She walks through what making the Overall Team actually takes: a two-year qualification across your best three of four national championships, with only the top four competitors selected. After one of the best matches of her life she slipped into the fourth spot, then went to the world championship and came home with two gold medals. Jalise shoots for Colt, where she has been on the team for seven years after a stint with Springfield Armory and a breakout single-stack season on two Colt Gold Cups. A history lover, she is proud to represent a brand so embedded in American history, and she now helps test Colt products before release. She also opens up her training: when she is home, three hours a day on the range, dry fire, a CO2 kit for simulated recoil, daily gym work, and a fundamentals block of about 100 rounds on one-inch dots at 5, 7, and 10 yards that she has run for a decade. The back half turns to community and history. Jalise encourages women entering the sport to use social media to connect with other women shooters and to lean on resources like online classes and groups such as A Girl & A Gun and The Well Armed Woman, with Steel Challenge as a beginner-friendly first discipline. She shares her family's hunting tradition, including a South Africa hunt tied to last year's world championship and a bucket list that runs from moose to dove hunting in Argentina. Her love of history shows in her favorites, from the Single Action Army to black powder guns, and in a top-five list that includes the 1911, the 2011, and the AR-15. On the Soapbox, she gets candid about the mental side of competition, the habit of getting in her own head, and why staying willing to fail and learn is the only way to keep climbing. Questions this episode answers How did Jalise Williams get into competitive shooting? She grew up hunting with her father in St. George, Utah from a very young age. After her mother got a concealed carry permit and took a local ladies' night clinic, she suggested Jalise learn handguns too, and Jalise and her sister fell in love with the sport and entered the competitive circuit twelve years ago. What does qualifying for the USA Overall (Men's) Team actually mean? Team USA selection runs off your best three of four national championships over two years, with only the top four competitors chosen. Jalise slipped into the fourth spot after one of the best matches of her life, then won two gold medals at the world championship, becoming the first US woman to make that team. Why does Jalise Williams shoot for Colt? She has been on the Colt team for seven years, after shooting Springfield Armory and then winning a national-title season with two Colt Gold Cups in single stack. A Shooting USA recommendation connected her to Colt, and she values the brand's place in American history. She now helps test Colt products before release. How does a professional competitive shooter train? When she is home, Jalise trains about three hours a day on the range, dry fires, and uses a CO2 kit for simulated recoil, plus daily gym work. She starts every session with fundamentals, roughly 100 rounds on one-inch dots at 5, 7, and 10 yards, a drill she has run for about ten years. What is the first step to getting into competitive shooting? She suggests watching videos, researching shooting organizations, and going to spectate a local match. Steel Challenge is her recommended starting discipline because it is beginner-friendly and builds fundamentals, and talking to local shooters can help you borrow gear and ease into your first match. What advice does Jalise Williams have for women entering the firearms industry? Use social media to connect with other women in competitive shooting, and lean on resources like online classes and women's organizations such as A Girl & A Gun and The Well Armed Woman. A little research helps you find the path and the discipline that fit you best. How big a role does the mental game play in competitive shooting? Jalise says the sport is largely mental, since anyone can have the skills but performing on demand under pressure is the hard part. She has struggled with getting in her own head and stresses staying willing to learn, grow, and fail, because that is how you reach the next level. What does Jalise Williams consider the top guns that built America? A history lover, she names the Single Action Army as a favorite, along with the 1911 she has shot for most of her career, the 2011 that built on it, and the AR-15. The hosts add classics like the M1 Garand and the Winchester 92. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome and Jalise's record 00:33 — From hunting in diapers to the competitive circuit 01:41 — Qualifying for the USA Overall Team 03:10 — Shooting for Colt 04:49 — Getting started: Steel Challenge and fundamentals 09:27 — Inside a competitive shooter's training week 12:15 — Advice for women entering the sport 15:32 — Hunting as a family tradition 18:08 — Honoring firearms history 25:33 — Top guns that built America 31:16 — The Soapbox: the mental game of competition 36:21 — Where to find Jalise About the guest Jalise Williams is a professional competitive shooter and Team USA representative, a 12-time world champion with 43 national titles and more than 200 major wins, and the first US woman to qualify for the USA Overall Team (formerly the Men's Team) at the Handgun World Shoot. She grew up hunting in St. George, Utah and has competed for about 12 years, shooting for Colt for the last seven. She also runs an educational shooting series on YouTube. Key quotes "I slipped into that fourth spot and claimed it as mine" — Jalise Williams "always being willing to learn and grow because there's somebody out there that knows something that you don't know" — Jalise Williams "You have to be able to be willing to fail a lot and want to learn from those" — Jalise Williams "I like to think of it as like the guns that built America" — Jalise Williams
