Dany Garcia Shares Advice She Gave Daughter Before Her Wrestling Debut (EXCLUSIVE)

If there is one woman who knows how to succeed in male-dominated spaces, it's Dany Garcia. The film producer and CEO is the architect behind Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's career and the guiding force behind his decision to acquire the XFL (now the UFL) in 2020.

At MAKERS 2024, a Yahoo media property and community brand focused on accelerating equity for women in the workplace, Dany — who led a conversation on male allyship — spoke exclusively with Distractify about her inspiring career, not seeking validation, and the advice she gave her daughter before her wrestling debut.

Before her conversation with TV personality Cari Champion at the 2024 MAKERS Conference, Dany spoke to Distractify about male allyship, and how women, including herself, have to call out their male colleagues to see situations differently, especially when it comes to how women are treated in the workplace.

"I have such a great many colleagues that I have counseled through and called out... what I've found is that the biggest challenge is for them to open their aperture and to see a situation differently," she told Distractify. "So I actually try not to get too philosophical away, or rather give them action items."

She continued, "I also share that with my eyes. I'm like, 'Look, when we go into this meeting room, you only have to do 10 percent of the work. I'm going to have to do 50 percent of the work to get across my idea that you could get across with 10 percent' and as soon as I share that with them, their eyes open."

For Dany, this also means walking into male-dominated spaces extremely prepared and not seeking validation.

"You're just walking into the room with other bodies, right? And if you're not seeking validation from men in have anything to hook into," she added. "You defuse the patriarchy like that, so those techniques help me tremendously."

Dany shares daughter Simone Garcia Johnson with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and in 2022, she made her NXT wrestling debut as Ava Raine.

So, what advice did Dany give her daughter who was entering professional wrestling, one of the most male-dominated spaces in entertainment?

"I've always told her the same thing, be who she is," Dany shared. "She's extremely unique individual. Her foray into wrestling has not been on the back of her father — even her name, she doesn't carry his name. She's done it in a very individualized way to her belief system, and that has given her incredible agency."