We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yessenia Montalvo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Yessenia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

The best decision was to become a business owner. In my line of business, there aren’t many women boxing coaches who teach Olympic Amateur Boxing in the state of NJ.

I used to be a police detective for the City of Newark and retired early due to on the job stress. Boxing is what got me out of my depression and on to helping others.

Yessenia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Boxing is more than just boxing. Especially for women, we need to learn how to defend ourselves. When I started boxing, there weren’t many coaches who wanted to train females or female boxers.

I experienced the benefits of boxing. I used it to help me with stress, to get in shape and to help me focus on me.

I help women in my business become more confident by teaching them Olympic Boxing.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Legacy Boxing Club is my profit business, however, in my community, I knew we needed a program for youth to help them become confident.

I established a non-profit organization Legacy Youth Empowerment Organization, fundraise to help kids get boxing equipment and give boxing scholarships for girls through the Pretty Strong Project.

We host amateur boxing shows to help with fundraising and to promote boxing as a tool to empower kids.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I retired from the police early. I have 4 children and I was still young. I wanted to continue to be active in my community and that’s when I decided to stick with boxing.

I’ve been a coach for over 15 years and have trained many boxers who competed in state and national championships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.legacyboxingnj.com
• Instagram: @legacyboxingnj
• Youtube: Legacy Boxing Club NJ

Image Credits

Yessenia Montalvo I have rights to the photos