Atherton Senior Balances Workload with Professional Wrestling

Rising star Lillian B. maintains high grades while she impresses in the ring

By Dyuce Woodson

March 27, 2023—Atherton High School senior Lillian B. is a seemingly typical student. Aside from her blond and blue hair, she blends in with her fellow classmates. She has a 4.0 grade point average, helps out with the theater department, and even works in a daycare after school.

But for a long time, she had a secret only a few knew.

"I didn't really talk about it for the longest time, but slowly I was, like, coming to school and I was like, oh, I have bruises on my arm. Don't worry about that," Lillian said. "Teachers started asking questions, and I had to explain that I'm a professional wrestler." 

At night, the Atherton senior goes by Billie Starkz—an independent wrestler with matches all over the United States, Canada, and Japan. 

"I never had a love for something or a connection with something that I was like, oh, I love this," Lillian said. "I could do this for the rest of my life." 

Billie Starkz has been wrestling since she was 13 years old. 

"I just always had a love for it," Lillian said. "Ever since I was a little, little kid, like five years old, I was watching WWE, NXT, and then I started going to independent shows, and I fell in love with wrestling."

As a young child, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Lillian always replied "I want to be a professional wrestler," she said.

Now, she's living her dream. 

Billie Starkz has appeared in a number of promotions, including All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is the second-largest wrestling promotion in the U.S. behind World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). 

"I started doing (AEW) shows the week after my 18th birthday, actually," she said. 

While she's a burgeoning international wrestling star, she's still focused on finishing up and enjoying her senior year at Atherton High School. Balancing being a full-time student and a professional wrestler isn't easy. There are times when she's had to do homework in airports, but she credits the people in her life who understand she's chasing big goals. 

"Having an amazing support system between my family and friends and even my teachers at my school have been so amazing," she said. "I feel like I've had just a great time with everybody being very understanding of my crazy schedule and everything I have going on and supporting me with living my dream of pro wrestling while still finishing out school."

The secret is now out that the girl with blond and blue hair is a professional wrestler. As Billie Starkz continues her star rise in the wrestling industry, Lillian said her main focus is to live a happy life. 

"[I want to be able to say] I'm doing my life with wrestling," she said. "I can pay my bills with wrestling, I can live where I want, and I can just live on a farm. Maybe with some cows. That's my dream life in the next couple of years."