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.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

One Merry Christmas... Wednesday, December 25

I didn't celebrate Christmas with my family today, I celebrated it with my "other" family -- my Filipino family.  Two years ago, back when I was living in Canada, I met a Filipino (Skittles) and his family was very quick to adopt me into their family.  They took me to Disneyland to celebrate the holiday that for years I had hated and so it only seemed fitting to celebrate it with them again today.  They've always been super supportive of me with what I'm doing and now more of them have "adopted" me into the family because now I know many of them in the Philippines. 

Skittles' immediate family lives here in Canada but there's about a zillion of them in the Philippines.

I know me spending my Christmas with them as oppose to my birth family is going to raise eyebrows and get me judged, get me talked about and put me in the bad books, but I'm honestly okay with that.  I've come to accept the fact that I may never fit the good books of my family and may never really do what they wish I'd do, but I also know this is my life and I need to do more for me and less for others.  If that makes me selfish, fine, throw that label on me.  I don't think it's selfish to regard your own happiness as a priority. 

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