How A Boxing Club’s Founders Fought Back Against Business Blows

Angela Jennings and Reggie Smith met on a dating app in 2013, and the match ended with a ring. But it wasn’t the sparkly kind—it was a boxing ring.

After that swipe right, the two finance professionals cultivated a platonic bond, forged by a shared sense of humor and back-and-forth banter that kept them talking. Eventually, their discussions led to business creation. Jennings and Smith launched BOOMBOX Boxing Club in Washington, D.C., in July 2019. The boxing gym blends boxing and great music with workouts that are designed for all fitness levels and backgrounds.

Since the grand opening, the business—and the friendship between the co-founders—have been battle-tested. The pandemic forced them to pivot from their original business plan, and the stress of entrepreneurship took its toll on their relationship; they’re even in couples’ therapy.

But with careful planning and support from the community they’ve built, their biggest hopes and dreams are coming true.

Jennings reminisced, “We never knew that, years later, we would be business partners.”

Said Smith, “It’s a crazy story.”

‘Baby On The Way’

Their first chat on the dating app was about boxing. Smith was preparing to attend a match in Las Vegas. “She said I flexed on her because I told her I was flying to Vegas for one day to sit ringside,” he said.

Jennings lives in Washington, D.C., but was regularly working in New York, where Smith was based. They met in person and spoke to each other every day. “We’d be talking all the time about how we’re in these high-powered careers and doing well, but what the hell do we want to be when we grow up,” Jennings said.

When they got together, their activities often centered on working out, and Smith’s visit to a Brooklyn kickboxing studio designed for fitness enthusiasts—not aspiring boxers—opened his eyes to a business opportunity. He started talking with the studio’s owners and realized the moneymaking potential.

“He was like, ‘I’m doing it,’ and I was like, ‘Well, I’m doing it too,” Jennings remembered. There were some quick second thoughts, but she was all in. “It was like the pregnancy test was positive,” she said. “There’s a baby on the way.”

The idea surfaced around late 2016 and took more than two years to develop as they researched gym design and management and mapped out a business plan. When they opened in Capitol Riverfront, a part of D.C., their vision to build a gym that mixes music, boxing and community had become reality.

The upscale space features a large mural of Muhammad Ali and photos of hip-hop legends. Soon, members were signing up for classes where students box to the beat of the music and discover the rhythmic nature of the sport, making it less intimidating and easier to earn. By February 2020, BOOMBOX Boxing was surpassing expectations; it was their best month ever.

Then came Covid, followed by a lot of determination to stay open. Here’s how the company survived:

Online And Outside

Virtual classes were in the gym’s future, but the founders were not ready to roll them out in March 2020. With the gym shuttered, they scrambled to post free workouts on Instagram. Then, they figured out how to monetize classes on Zoom. Eventually, they were able to offer outdoor classes and reopen the studio to people—a limited number at first.

“The whole year was just kind of a series of trying to figure out what people were comfortable with, what we could actively respond to and try to provide a quality product,” Jennings said. “It was tough.”

A Cushion And Support

Because Smith and Jennings made sure they had extra money in the bank when they opened, they had a cushion that helped keep the business running during the pandemic. The duo also looked for ways to generate revenue and reduce expenses. Smith renegotiated their lease with the landlords.

“They were very generous with us and really worked with us to try to find a situation that would allow us to survive and do this thing,” he said.

The gym’s instructors—who worked part-time leading classes—also did their part. Because the instructors had day jobs, they were able to defer payment from the gym. That was essential to keeping the gym afloat while it wasn’t charging members or charging them at a reduced rate.

“We were able to eventually go back and catch them up on hours worked that were not paid,” Jennings said. “But they never once asked for it. And they never stopped working.”

Smith and Jennings also placed a donate button on their website and, quickly, members, friends and others chipped in.

Relationship Work

By October 2020, however, the stress of entrepreneurship during a pandemic was weighing on them. The two friends who once couldn’t stop talking to each other now chatted only when a business issue cropped up. They’d lost the humanity in each other, Jennings said.

Even though they’re not in a romantic relationship, they turned to a marriage counselor who helped them learn how to better communicate with each other. More than a year into counseling, their partnership is healthier for it. “None of our situation is the norm,” Jennings said. “But couples counseling has turned us around completely.”

The two now have plans to grow BOOMBOX Boxing beyond D.C., and there’s still plenty of day-to-day struggle, Jennings said. But having had moments of success has helped them put it all into perspective.

“It’s more than just cash flow,” Smith said. “We’re building something from the ground up. There’s something powerful about that.”

To learn more about BOOMBOX Boxing Club, watch this brief documentary produced by Magenta Edge, a T-Mobile for Business initiative created to help small businesses get ahead.