We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Woody Sylvain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Woody, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
I got into boxing around 2015 when my wife wanted to try it. I eventually took to the sport and started training as well. Some time passed and I eventually started helping my coach train fighters. Fast forward to 2018, I was working full time, training, and helping my coach train his amateur fighters. My father in law was recently diagnosed with cancer and I began to help my wife take care of her father. This became very time consuming and started to take a toll on my work. In 2020 I branched off on my own an became a trainer while working.. Later in the year my mother in law was also diagnosed with 2 types of early stage cancer. I began taking more and more time off work to help take care of both ailing parents while still trying to train. It was then that I decided to leave my job and go full time as a boxing Coach and fitness trainer. I established Parabellum Boxing late 2020 and officially made Parabellum Boxing LLC in 2021. It was a risk but in my opinion a worth while risk to take for me and my family. I can make a living doing what I love, build a brand and business for myself as well as be there for my family.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I actually got into boxing because of my wife. She got into it and wanted to start attending the boxing gym across from where we were working out. From there I started training and fell in love with the sport. I then started training with retired boxer Ivan Robinson. I then started to help him with training his fighters. From there I branched out on my own and eventually established Parabellum Boxing.
I provide Boxing and Fitness training. Beyond that I want to provide a safe place for men women and children to learn the art of boxing as well as a place people can build new bonds and friendships through the team we build. I hope to provide confidence and resilience in and out of the ring for all of my clients.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
For me building my audience so far hasn’t been any special secret or anything. I just put out genuine content that reflects me, my team and what we are about. I recommend authenticity in your content. This way it doesn’t feel like a job and you don’t come across as just another influencer. Your crowd will find you with time.
I love to provide little gems people can take and apply to their own lives. I hope to give people a blueprint to being just a little better everyday.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Training was something I picked up while training fighters for my initial coach. I then branched off on my own and established Parabellum Boxing in 2021. I decided to take it full time once my in laws were diagnosed with cancer. Doing this full time has given me the room and flexibility to take care of my family while making a living doing something I love. I really have to thank all of my long time clients that have made this possible. They stuck with me through gym changes and hard times. I look at my long time clients as more then clients. They are a big part of this whole operation and hope I provide something back for them as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://parabellum-boxing-llc.square.site/
- Instagram: @parabellumboxing @coach_wood_pb