Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Keenan.
Lauren, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth'” – Mike Tyson
This quote says it all, I have had my fair share of ups & downs in my life. From abusive relationships, getting kicked out of high school, being arrested several times, suicide attempt, gaining 50 lbs, losing loved ones to cancer, family struggling with heroin addiction, getting my heart shattered, not in a traditional break up way, but the kind you see in the movies, I come home after a 2 week trip in Vietnam and all of his stuff is gone and his key tucked in an envelope, then hospitalized borderline stroke status because I barely had enough blood in my system to keep my organs pumping.
Throughout all of this, I have had many ups as well, I was an all-star athlete, traveled nationally for field hockey in high school, was Prom Queen, danced Hip Hop in college, finished top of my internship, was excelling rapidly in my career, by the age of 23 I was managing the Enterprise at the Philadelphia airport, by 25 I was the first female in the market selling corporate fleet programs, well on my way to making $100k when I fell in love and gave it all up to move to Boston. No car, no job, no phone.
After getting denied the job I was banking on, I wrote arguably the best email countering their “pass” on me, saying in short that I was going to be there first thing Monday because this job was mine. I got the job and quickly climbed the ranks. Making well over $100k and constantly being in the top 15% of the company Nationally.
But I wasn’t happy, and then after not being happy, I was dumbed, and now left in a city without any family. To help cope with everything I made a list of 30 things to do before I was 30, and one of them was to be in a boxing match. Because of the rage I had, I thought that would be the best place to start. I found EverybodyFights, and they changed my life. They became my family, my friends, my therapist, my hope.
After competing in my first Amateur Fight through Haymakers for Hope, I decided life was way too short to just make money, and that feeling of pride, joy, accomplishment, FIGHT, compassion, where worth more than anything a big sale could give me. So I again, quit my job, to start all over. This time it was with EBF.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Telling your parents who have proudly talked up all your successes for years, went exactly how you would imagine. “Lauren, your kidding. You are out of your mind, what about retirement, benefits, having a family, how are you going to pay your bills?” … All very valid, all things I didn’t have the answers to but was okay with figuring it out.
The harder challenge came from what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a boxing coach after having just 1 fight, a fight that I had lost, and on top of that, I am a female in a male-dominated industry. This will be a challenge every day, I cannot defeat this challenge or overcome this one. Because there will always be someone who doesn’t know the endless hours of studying I do, watching fights, and not once, but multiple times, writing out every punch combination thrown, trying to throw them myself. Studying coaches, their styles, what works, what doesn’t work, when will something that didn’t work another time…
I am a true student of the sweet science of boxing. And I own the fact that my experience is minimal compared to other coaches in the industry or even in EBF, but where I lack experience, I make up in passion, humility, and desire to learn. George told me when I started that I would have to own this, own that I will always have the battle of proving myself, but not to others, to myself. Every day it is a challenge, but every day I get a little bit better. Imagine if I wasn’t lucky enough to have this challenge though? I like to think that because of this challenge, I have the advantage over everyone.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I work for EverybodyFights as a Trainer, Coach & Community Manager. I am also a Certified Health Coach. What do I do?…a little bit of everything ha. 🙂 But seriously, I teach a full schedule of 15+ classes that cover all areas EBF focuses in, which is something I am proud of. I teach FIGHT, BAGS, ROAD, TRAIN & FLOW, and on top of that, I have personal clients, I have fighters, I handle the corporate clients, charity events etc.
I think that’s what makes me who I am. I understand that being a great athlete, & human, you need to be open-minded, well rounded, and constantly improve on all areas of your life, and if you don’t look at the picture holistically, there will always be something lacking.
I like to think that my heart & “Willy Wonka” ways of staying youthful & creative that defines me and sets me apart from the rest. And I am damn proud of that.
What were you like growing up?
The Tom-Boy! The pain-in-the-ass kid who always needed to know why talk back, didn’t know how to take no, and if they got a no or you can’t, I thrived under the pressure to turn around and say “I told ya so!”. I guess not much has changed. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Email: lauren@everybodyfights.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurmkeenan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauren.keenan.7
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
