
Haley Reeves is a junior finance student in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business. Photo by Angela Foster.
For Haley Reeves, strength is multifaceted.
Reeves is a junior finance student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a jiu-jitsu fighter and a former competitive weightlifter. She is also the manager of a U.S. Olympic gold medalist and world champion weightlifter—her older sister, Olivia Reeves.
Prior to the Paris Olympics in August, Haley helped Olivia with her social media and coordinated media requests for her. Naturally, she assumed the role of manager.
Immediately after returning to Chattanooga with a gold medal around her neck, Olivia found herself navigating a whirlwind of media attention. From a campus parade and a visit with the Tennessee Titans to countless local media interviews, there was no doubt that Olivia’s big win captured attention.
From a managerial perspective, Haley spent days responding to emails—which was a stressful but pretty straightforward responsibility.
But what was it like as a protective younger sister who was (and still is) a full-time student?
“Between the two of us, when it comes to personality types, I’m more assertive,” said Haley, who grew up in Hixson, Tennessee. “I don’t want to say I’m intimidating, just matter of fact.”
She said she didn’t expect the intensity of the role to grow so quickly.
“Being younger than Olivia comes with a lot of interesting projections from other people, and not all of those were positive,” she said. “I was just not really respected in saying no to people.”
Just two days after returning from the Olympics, Olivia started a 19-credit-hour schedule to finish her last semester of undergraduate school at UTC. She was also processing the emotions that come with winning gold, so saying “no” was sometimes the only option, Haley said.
“I am very young and I think there’s a lot for me to learn,” she said. “Figuring out how to communicate with people in this kind of professional setting was a little challenging at times.”
Don’t get her wrong, though. Getting a front-row view of her sister’s success was a rewarding experience.
“It’s been so cool to have people come up to us and say they’ve read this and that and are so inspired by Olivia, her journey and all that she has contributed to the sport of weightlifting,” Haley said. “I really hope that younger women and girls are inspired, even if it’s not weightlifting.
“Strength is also something that can be feminine, and I don’t think it needs to be a gender limitation.”
This is a sentiment that Haley also has a personal connection to, as weightlifting has been a part of her life for almost a decade.
“I’ve been doing it alongside Olivia going on 10 years now,” she said. “I was 11 when I started. Olivia was 12. It’s been an interesting progression, especially these past couple years.”
Coached by Steve Fauer of Tennessee Speed and Strength—the same coach as Olivia—she has competed and placed in national competitions. Her best snatch lift is 98 kilograms (215.6 pounds) and her best clean and jerk is 113 kilograms (248.6 pounds).
At the beginning of their weightlifting careers, Haley said they were close in body weight and lifting weight.
“As we got older, she naturally progressed a lot faster than I did,” she said. “She is able to do things that go beyond working hard. She is very gifted in weightlifting.”
Of course, there was some competitiveness that comes with most sibling relationships.
“Steve fostered a bit of ‘Who can do more?’ It was very playful,” she said. “I think in the beginning there was a little bit of animosity from me, but that was just immaturity.”
Now, those feelings are long gone.
“I am so overwhelmingly happy with what she’s been able to do,” Haley said.
Haley has now ventured outside of weightlifting. She described having an epiphany at the 2024 USA Weightlifting National Championships last June after not performing as well as she wanted to.
“I can’t even remember what it all was, but it just wasn’t my thing anymore,” she said. “For so long, I wanted lifting to be it.”
She now has an affinity for a new sport—jiu-jitsu.
“I’ve been doing it for a few months now,” she said. “It’s really hard, but it’s so fun.
“I still lift, but it’s kind of an accent to jiu-jitsu. I’ve been loving it.”
Sports and athletics aren’t always about competition, she said. Five years ago, she experienced a back injury that forced her to take time off from lifting and still causes pain to this day. She uses athletic training to maintain strength and participate in activities she loves—such as long hikes.
“It’s transferred into staying healthy and maintaining what I’ve already built,” she said.
The most important thing to Haley is her academic and professional career. She transferred from UT Knoxville to UTC after her freshman year and later changed her major from business management to finance—a decision she made because of the “rigorous” nature of finance classes that she craved in her education.
“I think for me, I am willing to sacrifice being an athlete and competing for professional gains,” she said.
Her goal is to find a stable job after college and explore what the world has to offer.
“I would love to work in the corporate world in business, probably on a larger scale than what Chattanooga has to offer,” she said. “Steve is here and he obviously isn’t going to move with me. Neither is the Jiu-Jitsu Academy. So, there’s a sacrifice of leaving that behind to get a job.”
For now, she is living with her parents, Olivia and her younger sister, Caroline, as she continues working toward her goals. Despite the craziness following the Olympics, she said their lives have stayed relatively normal.
“I don’t have that view of (Olivia) that other people do. I freaking live with her,” she said with a laugh. “It’s funny to see when people come up and are like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Or people recording her but not actually coming up for a photo.”
She said that the skillset she acquired while serving as her sister’s manager has set her up for success.
“Negotiating and that kind of thing is a really helpful skill that I am really happy that I’ve learned so early on,” Haley said. “I think it will carry over well into all kinds of different roles that I will do in my professional career.”
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Campus parade celebrates UTC student and Olympic gold medalist Olivia Reeves