As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).

After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.

Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Featured by the Toronto Public Library... Friday, December

Recently I was asked to be a feature in the "Toronto Public Library Stories" and the other day my story got shared on social media. So, without any further adieu, here is my story... 

Meet Amy

After graduating from York University, I headed to Korea to expand my Korean culture studies and really, expand myself. One year turned into two, two into three, and next thing I knew, it was year eleven. I worked as an ESL teacher in Cheonan, a small city south of Seoul during the day and boxed at night for exercise. The boxing club quickly became a second home and boxing, a huge passion. I didn’t really fit into Korea to start and boxing made me stick out even more, but soon I started a female-only fitness social club, Flipside Fitness. Then, in 2013, I opened my own boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now Hulk's Club), the largest club in Korea. 

It was wild, being a female in a foreign country, in a male-dominated society and sport. But I had reached my potential and I missed friends and family in Canada. Now I’m starting again in Toronto but face a whole new struggle -- starting a business in what has become a foreign land to me. And that's where Toronto library plays a vital lifeline role. When I’m not training, I’m either eating, sleeping or at the library. I’m always at Toronto Reference Library, researching business or using their computers to email my business partner and sponsors in Korea or responding to international boxing fan mail. 

My favourite is the third floor, as that's where all the business books with how to write the perfect business proposal and whatnot can be found. I know I could order books in, but I favour studying at the library. It’s a lonely life -- the life of a professional athlete -- and the library is a very comforting place. It’s no longer that cold, quiet place I used to be forced to go to, but instead has evolved into this happening place. Love, love, LOVE the fact I can enjoy a coffee on the first floor; it helps me get a jump start on my studying. Moreover, studying at the library gets me out of bed on those days when training the night before has left me with sore muscles.
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