Business owner Suzana Rodriguez Griffin breaks barriers in boxing world
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The moment Suzana Rodriguez Griffin began boxing in college, her life was never the same.
“I just wanted to kind of get an experience of what it was like, had a lot of no’s, don’t try it, it’s problems, etc.,” Rodriguez Griffin said. “Walked into the gym and I fell in love. I fell in love with the requirements that are necessary for the sport.”
But, those naysayers never stopped her from growing.
Rodriguez Griffin is a National Women’s Golden Gloves champion and she’s a three-time Indiana State Golden Gloves Champion, just to name a few.
She is also the owner and head trainer of the SRG Boxing gym in Indianapolis.
“She’s a wife, and a mom, and a business owner, and a fighter. I mean the ultimate crazy stresses, but crazy fun. It’s super admirable, and it’s kept me here for five years now,” Amy Reid, a member of the gym, said.
“Bag work, running combinations, speed bag, double end bag, ring work. We incorporate strength equipment into it and body weight drills and we always end with burnouts,” Rodriguez Griffin said
Griffin says there are some challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated sport.
“Understanding that not everybody is going to necessarily tailor down their power because you are a female. So, sometimes you’re going to get a little more roughed up if you will, but I think sometimes that also creates a little more intensity and a more drive,” Rodriguez Griffin said.
So, through her training, she focuses on teaching both children and adults valuable skills that will help them tackle obstacles and overcome adversity. The gym is a catalyst for growth within the Latinx community.
“Discipline, conditioning, self-confidence, and then respect. Respect for the person that’s opposite side of you who is also in the ring fighting for themselves, for their family, for their love of the sport, or for their life,” Rodriguez Griffin said.
Rodriguez Griffin is also a first-generation college graduate.
She says this opportunity was also made possible thanks to the sacrifices her grandparents made years ago.
Rodriguez Griffin said, “Working in the fields, in the migrant farms, traveling to and from different states to look for work where I don’t have to travel. I can stay in this business that I own and people come to me to help themselves grow within themselves.”
She says she hopes to expand her business within the next few years.