Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cristina “Yali” Ayala. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Cristina “Yali”, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

Family businesses are known to thrive more than other types of companies like public ones because they generally have the goal of existing beyond one generation. I think they have enough time to sit at the dining table, “the board room,” to learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses to determine who needs to be in charge of specific tasks. You get to put your most potent players in their respective roles and educate those with less experience by having them take online courses or pursue formal education. On the financial side, family businesses tend to spend less and acquire fewer loans. If we do get a loan, we pay it off a lot quicker than other types of companies that may hold a balance.
It’s expected that one or more family members may not want to partake in the family business and would instead work for the private sector. That’s okay because you can hire someone who’s a better fit and is interested in your company. You should never force a family member to form part of the company if they don’t want to, and they would produce poor quality work due to their unhappiness.

Cristina “Yali”, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Cristina Ayala, but I go by Yali Cristina, and I own a virtual podcast production company called Yali Cristina Productions. I’m also the founder and co-owner of Savage Boxing Gym, located in Vista, CA.

At Yali Cristina Productions, my team and I launch and produce podcasts for intrepid leaders in North and South America. I educate my clients on how to use podcast equipment in their home environment, and my team and I take care of the production process. Production consists of branding, audio editing, publishing, marketing, and monetization.
My proudest achievement is helping one of my clients, a dentist in Chile, rank #34 on Apple podcasts in the business category.
What sets me apart is that I have a can-do attitude, and I’m a trailblazer. I always say that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and like Marie, Forleo says, “Anything is figure-outable!” I make my client’s goals mine too, and their success is my success! Podcasting is what I love to help others do the most.

Savage Boxing Gym
I married a man obsessed with boxing with 14 years of boxing experience. So after taking many private clients and outgrowing our garage gym, we established a competitive boxing team, registered our club in 2019, and opened Savage Boxing Gym in 2020, a month before the pandemic! At Savage Boxing Gym, we focus on training for competitive boxing. Our Savages have won state tournaments like the one hosted by Title Boxing SoCal State Championship.
At the gym, my primary role is business operations. I wear many hats like content creator, sales, marketing, and cleaning!
I have a military fitness instructor background, where I used to help service members at risk of losing their careers due to weight challenges. So I assist our members with nutrition and weight-loss goal setting. I teach women’s only boxing 101 and strength classes occasionally.
I love what I do because my days are always different!

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

My husband says I’m the founder since I’m the one who established the business and handled the business planning and operations, but if it weren’t for him, this gym wouldn’t exist because clients come in to be trained by him. He’s the one who makes it possible! Antony Cardenas, my husband, is my business partner at Savage Boxing Gym, and we met in Madrid, Spain, in 2016. I was there for an internship with the Real Madrid soccer team, and we didn’t have any plans to own a future business. I was a student who was going to be an event coordinator, and he was a bartender/server and an amateur boxer.
When we moved to San Diego County, we got full-time jobs. I was an event coordinator, and he got a job as a boxing coach. He started training people privately at our home, and clients began to demand that we get a gym because they didn’t fit his schedule after work. So we rushed to open a gym. I returned to school to earn another degree, this time in entrepreneurship, and that’s how I learned business development. I’d say that we’re a strong team because we are both energetic and go-getters.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The clients who urged us to open a gym were very generous, and they all donated funds for us to purchase equipment, demolish the inside structure of the business, and help with expenses. One client even contributed a new laptop for us to sell to help us. Everyone got creative and pitched in to help us throw trash away and paint our facility. It was a team effort! We love and value our Savages so much. It’s a lovely community. We also got a small business loan and a business credit card to help with other startup expenses.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.savageboxinggym.com www.yalicristinaproductions.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/savageboxinggym
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yalicristina/

Image Credits
Karelys Ruiz