Mother & Daughter Share An Entrepreneurial Spirit | J.B. BOXING

By ISRAEL SANCHEZ | Photos by JENNIFER GOETZ

Following in her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, Jessica Barron recently opened her own business, J.B. Boxing—a boxing gym in Topeka.

She began boxing at the age of 13, a passion that she inherited from her father, also a boxer and coach. Her mom wasn’t too keen on the idea at first.

“Every time she left for practice I would tell her, ‘don’t let them hit your face,’” said Diana Ramirez, owner of Express Employment Professionals and mother.

Although Ramirez wasn’t too fond of the idea, she wasn’t going to stop her. She wanted Jessica to try it out for herself, even if she didn’t understand it.

Barron’s dad wanted to make sure that she was in it for the long haul. On her first day at the gym her dad gave her gloves and headgear, and told her to spar. She didn’t even know what that meant.

“Of course, when I got in there it was with guys who already had experience and who’ve already been training and were bigger than me. I got a bloody nose. I got knocked down. I was crying. But I got back up. I kept getting back up. And here I am now, stronger than ever,” said Barron.

“And her face is fine,” Ramirez said, laughing.

“No broken nose,” Barron added, prominently displaying her nose.

At 15 she won the National Women’s Golden Gloves Championship. At 16 she won a silver medal at the Junior Olympics. At 17 she was awarded the bronze at the Women’s National Championship.

Then she went to college and stopped amateur boxing but kept up with the Topeka Golden Gloves. It’s the association that her father belongs to, and she continued to work out in boxing gyms when possible.

“Tell him about all your degrees,” Ramirez chimes in, proudly.

Barron told me about her four degrees. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A master’s degree in clinical psychology. She also has a physical therapy assistant license and a degree in Spanish, which she earned while studying abroad in Spain.

“There was a pattern that I continued to see throughout my entire education, which is that the mind and the body are intertwined. If one isn’t right, then the other suffers,” said Barron. “To me, boxing has both of those parts, the physical and the mental.”

Now at 30, she’s bringing her mental health education and her passion for boxing to her gym. Currently, the gym is mainly being used by boxers who are training for tournaments or competitions. They come from all over the state of Kansas, something that both mother and daughter are very proud of. Eventually, Barron wants to open the gym for people who want to get a good workout, not just those seeking a boxing career.

“Safety is really important to me,” Barron said. “I want to make sure that things are done properly.”

“I’m really proud of her,” Ramirez said. “Now her dad and the Topeka Golden Gloves work out of her gym. She’s the boss lady. Like my staffing agency, J.B. Boxing is a woman minority owned business. She’s following in my footsteps in that way.”

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

Although they are in completely different industries, they both have faced very similar challenges.

Ramirez mentioned how at job sites or career fairs, or even in meetings that people, usually men, ask her, “Who do you work for?” when she hands them her business card. “You know, I’m not very timid or shy, so I let them know that I’m the owner. If it was a man buying one franchise or another, people would just offer congratulations.”

Barron faced some of those same doubts when it came to boxing.

“When I started boxing, girls were not allowed to box. I was the first female competitor here to put on gloves,” said Barron.Barron explained that there were no other girls in the sport, so she would have to spar with other boys her age or older. Partly because the coaches would try and scare off any girls who were interested in the sport. Barron was scared at first, too. She would make her twin brother go to the gym with her but he stopped going after a few months. He wasn’t into it.

“And so, then I just took a step forward and continued to go by myself and do my own thing. Obviously it kind of blossomed into something else,” said Barron.

“It’s unfortunate that we both experienced stereotyping although in different ways,” Ramirez said. “It’s reality.”

DRIVING FORCE: FAMILY

Both are undeterred in achieving their goals, despite the many obstacles and challenges they have faced. “Jessica planned everything out. She just didn’t decide one day to open this gym. This was something she had been working on,” said Ramirez. “Of all the things that we had to do to get to where we are, I hope a little of that knowledge of owning a business rubbed off.”

Barron then showed me the tattoo on her right ankle. It’s of a sea turtle. She always wanted a tattoo but couldn’t decide what to get. However, on a road trip with some friends (all clinical psychologists), they took turns analyzing each other and what really drove them. Family was Barron’s main driving force.

“So yeah, it’s a turtle. But if you look closely, the shell of the turtle is made of seashells. Whenever my mom travels, she likes to go to the beach. And whenever she goes there, she always collects seashells. So, the shell of the turtle is made of different seashells and there is a heart on the turtle’s head,” said Barron. “Sea turtles are very family-oriented. Like they are very, very family-oriented.”

“She’s going to make me cry,” Ramirez said. Barron’s eyes teared up as well.

Hard work and family is all forged together, just like those two hearts on Barron’s necklace.

Once the interview was over and we said our goodbyes, I looked back and saw them leaving the same way they had come in; two trailblazing entrepreneurs.

Ready Mother & Daughter Share An Entrepreneurial Spirit | Express Employment Professionals