Not your typical Leadership Conversation.

1. You’ve successfully transitioned the intensity of the boxing ring into corporate boardrooms. What is the most common "blind spot" you see in leadership teams today that a boxing analogy helps them overcome?

In boxing we have a saying: “Styles make fights".

Coaches in boxing don’t try to change a fighter's natural style, strengths and tendencies to fit their way of coaching. They encourage the athlete's abilities to increase their confidence and leverage their potential to perform at their best.

When it comes to fight night: the stress is high and the tension is thick. This is when a great coach is going to model the mood that the fighter needs to be channeling when it matters the most.

In the corner, in between rounds is when the game plan is revisited, depending on what’s happening in real time. Quick decisions need to be made, Adaptations need to be considered. Safety and health of the fighter is always top of mind. This minute in between rounds, inside the ring can only be successful based on the trust that was built outside of the ring, over time. 

Based on this example above, leaders, like a coach in boxing, can have the most positive and powerful influence on others when they work on awareness of how they exist in time and space in relation to the people around them, and how their behavior and mood impacts others, especially during stressful times. Some people might call this empathy. 

2. As Canada’s first female professional boxing ring announcer, you are a true trailblazer. How has occupying this traditionally male-dominated space influenced the way you approach your current corporate training and public speaking engagements?

When I became Canada’s first , I was very aware of the importance of this moment for generations to come. I know very well how male dominated the sport was coming up as an athlete:  competing at a time when access to proper female change rooms at certain tournaments was limited. So many years later, I was literally stepping into a role typically held by a man who always wore a tuxedo with a big booming voice. This is what the audience was used to and expected. I had to quickly figure out who I was as a ring announcer and how I was going to show up in all of my feminine glory while still honoring the tradition of the role itself.

I felt extra pressure that I had to be great right out of the gate: to represent a whole gender that deserved opportunity to display their skillset, knowledge and passion for a sport that was not always inclusive. There was no playbook for this role. Even google didn't know how to be a female ring announcer! It truly became a process of carving my way around external expectations and the unknown while creating the experience that I needed it to be for myself, for the sport that I wanted to see and for all the little girls who needed to see it to be it.

Considering I was so insulated and immersed in my own world of sport, fitness, coaching and entrepreneurship for so many years, I assumed for the longest time that this lack of opportunity and visibility for women in powerful roles was unique to boxing. 

Once I stepped outside of the ring and into corporate boardrooms with my boxing analogies for a unique perspective on leadership: I quickly realized that the disparity in pay for women, opportunity and visibility was an issue across industries. Other women across sectors were asking the same questions and expressing similar concerns that we were in my sport.

Now, I can have very real and productive conversations with organizations looking to acknowledge the gap, while also recognizing male allies who go above and beyond to open doors, create connections and champion the women who deserve a seat at the table. I was fortunate to have incredible male mentors who recognized my qualifications and not only threw my hat in the ring, but made moves on my behalf, knowing that it was the right thing to do for the growth of the sport, as a whole. 

When addressing equity and fair opportunity, I believe a focus on education and understanding is the pathway to real change over time.

I don’t have all the answers but I do have empathy, lived experience and stories that can relate. 

Leadership & Journey

3. You’ve mentioned that for many years audiences weren't ready for the word "fighter." What kept you committed to your message during those years, and what advice do you have for leaders struggling to gain buy-in for a bold or unconventional vision?

I had no choice but to be committed to my message “ Find Your Fighter Within” because it was my birthright to motivate others and boxing training found me as a way to do just that.

I knew the first day I put those gloves on 28 years ago that something special and powerful was about to happen, not just in that moment but for forever. Boxing is one of the most raw and real experiences that any human can have. There is an organic element to combat training which is primal and requires incredible discipline, focus, determination, strength, fitness and grit. It’s these qualities that have become the selling feature of my message and speech. It is not the act of boxing itself that I am pitching but the characteristics of a fighter that we need to be embodying right now as we all navigate a world that is constantly changing, unpredictable and feels even dangerous sometimes.

4. In your experience, what does it truly mean to "find your fighter within" in a professional context, especially for those who might equate the term with aggression rather than resilience?

The more audiences I stand in front of and the deeper I get to the core of my message, the more I realize that I ultimately can’t address professional development without talking about personal responsibility for how you show up in the world. As fighters, we prepare for competition using ritual, repetition, study and practice.

We train hard so we can fight easy.

As I always like to say and strongly believe: it is fitness that wins fights - pure talent and brute strength will only get you so far vs an opponent who trained to go the distance. As a society and across industries, workers are dealing with burnout every day, in very detrimental ways to their own health and negatively impacting whole families, communities and our health system. 

Not only do we need to encourage building resiliency, by providing tools, tips and appropriate spaces where people can stretch themselves and learn about their own capacity, but I also think we need to reconsider this idea of aggression and what it can mean for a society where aggression exists ( and always has existed). If we don’t understand aggression, then how are we going to deal with it when we are staring it in the face? 

5. Looking back at your 28-year journey from a champion boxer to a 2023 Women’s Empowerment Award winner, what is the single most important lesson you would share with the next generation of women leaders?

Know it, don’t show it. Whatever you are working on, studying or stepping into - what you know is going to gain you the respect that you deserve over time, way more than what you show you think you know. Be patient and tinker away in the tool shed. Have conversations, network, learn from those who came before you and be coachable. 

To be a Champion in the boxing ring, the fighter understands and accepts that developing their skillset is a process that needs to be honored and adhered to. As much as the sport involves  showmanship, it is also considered a demonstration of skill, hard work and dedication.  Being a Champion is not only about winning a trophy, it is about who you become in the process and how you show up outside of the ring. 

Your career is the same - develop yourself over time and give yourself space to grow into who you need to be in order to lead with grace, grit and humility. 

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Hear me speak at the SPARK Women's Leadership Conference

in British Columbia October 7/8 2026 !!

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