COVID Shut Down Her Gym. So, She Opened a New One.

When Lisa's boxing gym closed during COVID, she didn't stop training. She paid a coach to work with her in the playground across the street, on concrete, in masks—until more and more displaced members started showing up. A year later, she had no choice but to open a gym.In this episode, Alex visits St. John's Boxing in Portland, Oregon, where Lisa—a former roller derby athlete and community justice worker with no business background—built an inclusive, mixed-level boxing gym from scratch out of a closed dance studio, a rented hourly space, and eventually a neighborhood landmark that had been a men's clothing shop since 1940.What you'll hear in this episode:How a year of training on a concrete playground during COVID turned into an accidental gym — and why Lisa was the last person who expected to open oneWhy she built St. John's around the middle ground between fitness boxing and competitive boxing — and why that niche is almost completely underservedHer "social entrepreneur" philosophy: how boxing creates bridging capital by pairing strangers who'd never otherwise meetThe real cost of rising rents for small gym owners — and why being in a neighborhood for 30 years doesn't protect you from a building saleHow she inherited a community from a closed gym and has kept those coaches, members, and relationships alive four years laterWhat she's still figuring out with Gymdesk — and what she's found most useful for managing a growing, diverse membershipIf you've ever wondered whether you could build a gym around community first and competition second, Lisa's story proves it can happen.St. John's Boxing is based in Portland, Oregon, and has been operating for four years. Lisa trained at Sweet Science Boxing and coaches alongside a team of six independent contractor coaches.