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.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Moving Forward... Tuesday, December 19

My samples from one of my suppliers in Pakistan arrived today so I had to take the trek out to the postal customs office to fetch them.  On route there, my Uber driver gave me a bit of an insider's scoop when I asked him when we struck up a conversation about the Philippine's postal service.  This is the third time I've had to go to the postal customs office to pick up a package which means I've had to designate a few hours to do so, shill out cash for an Uber and then pay a service fee (tax) at the office.  Today's trip there and back plus the tax cost me about 600Php, that's $15Cdn.  The fact that I have to pay at the office for something that's been sent to me as a gift or whatnot is ridiculous.  Anyways, the Uber driver's insider scoop, though perhaps I shouldn't share, was to make sure whomever is sending it to me lists it as used and puts no dollar value to it.  That way the custom's office won't think I'm reselling it here in the Philippines which, at this point, I'm not doing anyways. 

Next time I'm going to try that, see if it works.  I don't mind paying a tax but the time it takes me to get out to the customs office when it should just be delivered to my condo do is flat out silly.  

The gloves aren't particularly what I anticipated.  They're the wrong ounce for one thing, they're 14oz when I requested a 10oz and 12oz, which means these can't give me a clear picture of what the final product will look like.  I did receive two different sample gloves, both 14oz but both very different in terms of the wrist wrap.  

The things I do like about the gloves though, the logo.  I love how the supplier played around with it and wrote it horizontally on the backhand of the glove.  That was totally his idea and I love, love, LOVE it.  The stitching is also really good.  They're super straight lines and very tight stitches.  I also love the cowhide.  It has that fresh smell of good quality and looks great.  I also really like this particular supplier; his name is Zain.  I've dealt with numerous suppliers from Pakistan and for the most part they've either been super pushy or very flirtatious.  This is business.  I'm not looking for someone to feed my ego or make me feel pretty.  I'm looking for someone who will make me a kicka$$ glove and not charge me an arm and a leg for it.  I feel like this is very much Zain though I should note that we have taken it to a somewhat personal level.  He's been very encouraging with me in regards to not only my business but also my boxing and a family situation of mine that he reached out to me about.  He was incredibly supportive and he opened up about a similar situation in his life and I really appreciated that unexpected support and encouragement.  I really want to stick with Zain, I think he's very honest and hard working, and he's very representative of what my company and I are about, empowerment.  

The next step needed here is to tweek those gloves but hand over the samples Zain sent me to Coach Bogs.  Like the other sample gloves I got a month or so ago from a different supplier in Pakistan, he and the guys at my boxing club will use them for sparring and for training.  I told them all that I want them to beat the hell out of those gloves, really work them in and then tell me what they think of the gloves.  I need to know if they can handle a good beating and still look good, feel good, and maintain quality.

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