The Vision Behind Our Program
Why boxing? What can we learn by stepping into the ring when it comes to defining what we really desire in our lives and careers?
How it started.
Fight Co.Lab started as a simple conversation between Shea O’Neil, a developmental leadership coach and facilitator working with executives and teams, and Erin Renzas, a tech executive turned entrepreneur and author.
What happens when you keep moving up the ladder — fighting to be at the table — only to realize you’ve lost the plot? What IS success and what do I even want — and why? Is it about the next promotion, title, challenge, or something else?
Even if you do know what you want, how do we end the burn-out? What if we could stop the fight and actually win?
Learning to fight your own fight.
At the time of this conversation, Erin was training for her first amateur boxing match. Boxing had become a salve and a medium for discovery during her own deep explorations of what was next for her — in her career and life.
As Shea and Erin worked through the dynamics of how to unlock what we want — and need — within the ropes of an increasingly complex business landscape, the principles Erin was learning in the ring became more than just metaphor.
Shea and Erin began connecting real, practical applications of boxing strategy and technique to the realities of work and life.
“I realized I was constantly fighting for the next rung in the ladder. I’d get there and there’d just be another fight — only this time, the stakes were higher and the fight was more exhausting.
The fighting never actually ended, and I stopped being clear on what I was fighting for. The fight became about fighting. By now, I knew how to fight but the win was increasingly elusive — what winning even looked like stopped being clear.”
Boxing has always been in crisis, a sport of crisis.
In boxing, you’ll learn that you can’t win a fight where you don’t define the fight’s terms.
We often fight matches in which the terms have been defined for us rather than by us. Over time, you find yourself against the ropes, your opponent is cutting off the ring, they are picking their shots, and you’re on defense.
When that happens, you have to get off the ropes, lower your chin, raise your guard, pivot out, get back to the center of the ring, reset, and take control.
It has to become your fight.
Boxing teaches us how to set up our punches so we can make moves that count, are aligned with what we want, and increase our chances of getting “points” for the knock out.
We learn how to pick our shots with smarts and wisdom. We reduce the exertion of shots that don’t land.
We learn how to read our opponent, their go-to moves, their defenses, and their limitations to inform our approach — when to yield and when to step into the brawl.
We learn how to take a hit. We learn that we can take a hit.
We learn when we should take a hit — and how to effectively counter our opponent’s punch at the most opportune moment to use their momentum to propel us forward.
In boxing, you have to know why you’re fighting in the first place. You have to define the terms of the fight so you can get the knockout and win. That’s what we explore at Fight Co.Lab.
Define. Construct. Embody.
Our boxing retreat is a safe space to investigate how to define the terms of the fight to unlock what you really want for your career, your life, and your family.
Boxing is intense. This retreat is intense. It will push you to expand how you use your body, mind, and instinct to construct your vision of what you want.
You’ll be with like-minded women looking to do the same. The retreat combines intensive boxing training, somatic wisdom, and collective insight to link intent, desire, and determination for the win.
This isn’t about fighting—it’s about facing the hits head-on, clarifying what really matters to you, pushing your limits, and coming out stronger, more focused, and confident to continually move in the direction of your vision.