WHO’S in YOUR CORNER? UNCORKED with MANDY BUJOLD

Are you ready to discover who’s truly in your corner?

In this episode of the UNCOMMODiFiED podcast, Tim Windsor goes one-on-one with Olympic boxer, community builder, and all-around badass Mandy Bujold. They unpack the beauty of boxing—not just the sport, but the metaphor it offers for life. This conversation jabs at the illusion of independence and lands solid punches on the myth of solo success. Mandy shares why the fiercest fights aren’t always in the ring and how true community shows up when the spotlight turns off and the arena goes silent. If you think life is an individual sport, this episode will swing hard enough to shake your beliefs.

Listen and you’ll hear about Mandy’s legal battle against the IOC to defend the rights of pregnant athletes, how she shifted from punching for gold to punching for good, and why she’s now helping Community and Business Leaders step into the ring—for charity. You’ll walk away challenged to ask: Who’s in your corner? And who are you in the corner for? Whether you're a leader, a parent, or just someone trying to fight the good fight, Mandy’s story will make you rethink what true strength—and community—really looks like.

Tim Windsor
the UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast – Host & Guide
tim@uncommodified.com
https://uncommodified.com/
  
PRODUCERS: Kris MacQueen & Alyne Gagne
MUSIC BY: https://themacqueens.ca/

Transcript

PLEASE NOTE: UNCOMMODiFiED Podcast episode transcriptions are raw text files and have not been proofed or edited. They are what they are … Happy Reading.

© UNCOMMODiFiED & TIM WINDSOR

[00:00:00] Are you ready to discover who's truly in your corner today? In the ring, every boxer faces punches alone, but behind every jab, every hook thrown stands an entire community that fuels strength, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of victory. Boxing isn't just about fists and footwork, it's about the unbreakable bonds that are forged in the gym.

They're forged in sweat, blood, and shared struggle. Just as a boxer relies on their corner for strategy, strength, and support our lives and our careers, demand a community in our corner. In this episode, we're gonna step into the ring with a champion who knows firsthand that no victory is ever achieved alone.

We'll explore why the most important fights are won, not by the power of punches, but by the power of connection, belonging, and the purposeful, powerful of [00:01:00] community. Because when a community supports a fighter or any dreamer, the impossible becomes inevitable. Hey, my friends. Welcome back to the UNCOMMODiFiED podcast.

I'm Tim Windsor, and today my guest on the show is Mandy Bujold. Mandy, welcome to the show. 

Thanks for having me. 

Awesome. Now, for those of you who don't already know who Mandy is, let me give you a quick introduction. So Mandy is an 11 time Canadian national boxing champion. Two time Olympian, three time continental champion. Two time Pan American games gold medalist.

That's a mouthful to say. Public speaker. Advocate for women in sport and industry and a kick ass and teach others to. Punch you in the face. Community builder, which we'll get into for a second. That's kind of interesting. But of course this is an unco conversation. It's like, uh, morning time on a Monday.

So probably not time for a scotch for me. Maybe not. You either. Mandy. So what are we drinking together here? I got a coffee. How about you? 

I've got a coffee too. 

Okay. And full disclosure to all my listeners, uh, my coffee's almost gone and so is Mandy's because I had trouble connecting to [00:02:00] my own system today. So here's the last swig of coffee in mine.

There you go. 

Mm. Uh, no ground, so I'm good to go. All right, so Mandy, let's kick this off with a question and, uh, to get this conversation started. So, I wanna know why, for you, why is the power and potential of community so vital to you in your history, your career, and in your current roles, and how do we create this kind of community that ultimately empowers people to do great things for themselves and others?

Um, honestly, I think it's a bit of a domino effect, right? Like, I think, you know, I grew up in a family that was very giving. My mom was always looking for, you know. Know, she would hear about someone needing help or someone needing support. She'd be the first one to step up to, to try to support. So I kind of saw that throughout my career.

And then in my own experiences too, when I started boxing, realizing that, you know, it's an underfunded sport, like most sports in Canada, um, you had to kind of go out to the community. You had to go out. To try to like find support. And it started off with like simple things like [00:03:00] doing a car wash or selling t-shirts or whatever it might be, to then doing kind of bigger fundraising events.

But it was always the people in the community, the small business owners, the people that were like, Hey, I believe in your dream. I believe in you, and I wanna support you. And that was something that I never took lightly. It was something that I was like, wow, like this person. It's getting behind me. They hear about my dream and they wanna make it happen.

And that always resonated with me. And that was always something that, you know, I always try to see how can I take that feeling and give it to other people. So I think the more that you're willing to, to help people and support people, again, if people have that feeling, they're gonna wanna do it for others as well.

So how do we just create that? and to me that's community. That's about as simple as it gets, is how do you help people and then turn around and flip it back. 

You know what? And I love it. And it is kind of interesting because I, you know, community is why we're connecting. So I have a good friend in this community, Jeff McIntyre, who's been on my show before. And Jeff and I have done some things together. Jeff, uh, obviously you're [00:04:00] in Jeff's journey, have crossed over the years, and now you have some connection with Jeff on a regular basis within the Grand Valley Construction Association.

And, and he is a community builder, networker extraordinaire. It's like his special superpower. And so when he connected us, I was really fascinated because again, for me, the interesting thing, and even I tucked into it in that intro, is that, you know, boxing is this individual sport that we all see. And when, when people get in the ring, and I, by the way, I love watching boxing.

I, I've been a UFC fan before UFC was UFC, so I, I love. I actually love the art and craft of combat sports, uh, and the strategy and all that. But again, a highly in the moment, what we see in all this glory is this individualized activity, and yet there is all of this stuff that's happening in between, which I think is really an interesting interplay when you think about it.

You're funded by community, yet you go in and you do a sport that is highly individualized. So I'm interested to know what has this journey taught you about yourself? [00:05:00] What has it taught you about some of the people that you've been in community with in relationship to building the dream that you have?

Um, I mean, I don't know, how long do we have to talk about all of the things that I've learned about myself? Um. I would say like, honestly when I first started boxing, it was really just, Hey, this kind of feels cool. Like it feels different. I love the environment. I loved all of those pieces. I loved learning how to throw punches.

it just kind of felt pretty badass to be honest. And then, um, from there it was just kind of, then it started to like grow into other things. And then it was like, okay, how do I get to that next level? How do I get to that next level? And that always became part of like, how do you build the team around you?

I think get that support system that's gonna kind of help you get to that. And that's the same as anything else in life, right? Whether you wanna move up in, in your job or whatever it might be. You need those people, you need those champions to like get behind you to support you along that journey. Um, so obviously I learned a lot that way as well in terms of like, [00:06:00] who are those people that.

Really, truly have your back when it matters most. And I think you would often see that when there's a loss, right? Like let's say you get in the ring, you, you big moment, and you lose, who are those people that when it gets quiet and the rest of everybody else who you know, maybe is watching for that small period of time kind of fade away?

Who are those people that are still there? Right? Those are the people in your corner. so to me it was always very important to kind of pay attention to who are those people, what are they saying in those moments? And then how are you kind of like. Getting yourself back into the game and back, kind of into the ring or whatever.

Right. So I think it's always, Yeah. Who do you surround yourself with? Who's there in those kind of like dark moments to help lift you up is always very important. And then how do you kind of take those moments and. Kind of become a better version of yourself, right? Like it was always to me, like a self-growth didn't matter who my opponent was in front of me.

It was always like, how far can I push myself? What can I do? Like I would try to learn techniques to learn different strategies, and I was like, can you [00:07:00] implement it under pressure in that situation? Right? and again, not knowing in boxing, you don't know what your opponent's gonna throw. How do you react to it?

You gotta be like split second reaction. So. That's the part that I loved about boxing was that how do you implement those things in those high pressure situations? Just every day get a little bit better and just analyze and come back and like, okay, try something different.

And to me, I just love that process.

Yeah. And you know, there's so many analogies we could probably draw from all sports. Boxing is, I think, is an interesting sport. I've never done it, although I will confess that my, my mother raised four boys on her own and we were a rather ragtag bunch. And this was back a long time ago.

Probably not the best parenting idea now, but my mother came up with this idea that since we like to fight. We should probably learn to fight and use boxing gloves. And so my mom bought boxing gloves and when we fought, if we fought, we, we had to put them on and we had to fight with the boxing gloves on.

Now I [00:08:00] was seven, nine, and 11 years younger than my brothers. 

And so I will tell you that by the time I was about nine years old, I had been knocked out unconscious several times in our backyard. Now, again, not a great parenting idea, but this is the way, you know, this is the way we did it in our family. Uh, so I, I learned a few things that day, and one was that running away was a great strategy for me at times.

So not, not a great boxing strategy for most boxers, but you know, that's my claim to fame with boxing. That's it. My brother's knocked me out several 

Right. I think it's interesting actually. that's how my interest in boxing started. My parents, I had two older brothers who were fighting all the time and my parents one day, literally, they went out and bought boxing gloves and a bag. Though they didn't go as far as 

like. 

They bought a bag and they're like, okay, why don't we just see if they'll like actually take the aggression out on that bag instead of each other?

But it didn't work. Like you said, I remember many times like where they would just like put the gloves on. Even like for me, they'd throw the gloves on me and it'd be like they'd find some other girl in the neighborhood and be like, trying to [00:09:00] get us to fight each other. 

Alright. not a great strategy. Again, if you're listening in, we're not endorsing 

Chi children boxing, but you know, this is the sort of the weird journey we have. You know what I loved earlier, many what you said. You know, real true community maybe finds us or we know we have it. Actually, when we lose, when we fail, not when we're just winning, it does really cleanse the group of people around us, right?

when the limelight off of us, when we're not. In the winner circle when we haven't raised our hands in the ring, who is there still touring us on? That's a really interesting idea. And again, if you're listening in, I would just challenge you. Number one. Who is that for you? Who's always in your corner, whether you're winning or losing, and who are you in their corner?

For when they're not just winning in, in your life, whether it's family, friends, in your community. I think that's a really wonderful litmus test of what true community really looks like. 'cause man, it's easy to be in community or want to be around people when they're winning, when they're the star.

[00:10:00] There's a lot of things that go on there. So that's a really great observation about what it means to be true community, even when we don't leave the ring, being the winner.

Yeah.

absolutely. No, it is. It's one of those things that has always kind of like stood out for me, right? Like, how do you find the right people? sometimes just getting a different perspective too, right? Like it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have the right things to say, but it's like just knowing that that person's there and it's like reaching out to say, Hey, if you ever wanna chat, you wanna go for a coffee, you wanna go for a walk, whatever it might be, right?

Like We all need those people.

We Sure. We sure do. And you, I mean, in your, battles and your fights have gone well beyond the ring in your life. Obviously you've had some battles with, I believe, with, uh, sports associations in relationship to, to women and to sport and to motherhood and a lot of different things.

So you're, you're a scrappy, you're a scrapper by nature. Mandy, I believe.

I didn't know I had it in me. That's the funny part. People are always kind of asking like, how do you, have that like desire to just fight? And [00:11:00] it's not, it's not something that you just like, you know, as you grow up you think, oh, I'm just that person. You just, I think you kind of realize it when you need to, right?

Like you don't really need realize you have that fight in you until it's like, all right, it's. Fight or flight, what are you, what are you gonna pick? And for me it's, you know, again, that case against the IOC was something that started off with just. It just didn't feel right. I just like, remember hearing this, you know, I'm doing all this work preparing for an Olympics, and then all of a sudden it's like this nine month period, okay, actually no, you can't qualify.

And the only reason I couldn't qualify is 'cause I was off for my pregnancy and postpartum period. And I was like, I. That doesn't feel right. I've been ranked in the top five my entire life. Now you're telling me like I didn't box, I was acting like I didn't box a day in my life. So it kind of sometimes starts off as just like a, hmm, gotta trust your gut.

And it's like I started having conversations and just asking questions and be like, okay, so how do we just like bring this forward to make sure that they actually considered it even like just. Have you thought about what [00:12:00] this rule or what this means? Um, and then obviously it kind of like spiraled into a pretty big international case who was not expecting it to be.

Um, it was really just me trying to voice my, my opinions and my thoughts. And then, Yeah. here we are. 

Well, and it's, you know, again, it's an interesting thing because I recorded a podcast, um, maybe a month or a month and a half ago with somebody in the title of that was something like, problems worth fixing, you know, and this maybe is more about problems worth fighting for. And, and maybe again, it's just what, what seems awkward?

What doesn't seem right? What in our society, what in our workplaces, what in our families just. Doesn't seem right and is worth contending for 

it, it's worth the pushback. It's worth potentially even getting a little bit into a little bit of a fight about it in relationship to what's important. And I mean, this tips into the idea of justice and I, I mean, I love that.

That part of your story. And as I've done, you know, I did some preparation for [00:13:00] our conversation and you know, I have to admit, I, I, you know, I've followed your career on the side for a long time. And then of course, when I knew I was gonna a chance to talk to you, I did a bit more research and just, you know, it's very interesting for me and now where you're at, because now you're.

Post a, a season of your life or part of your career, you're in this other now piece. So I'm interested to know, as an athlete who's performed at these extremely high international levels and now you come back and you sort of settle in what life is gonna look like for you in the next part of your journey, what's that been like for you?

and how does it bring you to the place that you are now in relationship to your career and community?

Um, I would say it's honestly, at the very beginning, it's very scary. Like your entire identity is wrapped up in the sport or in, in kind of those pieces of what you're doing. And this goal and this constant four year cycle of this is where you wanna be. And then when you kind of know it's coming to an [00:14:00] end, you're. I guess throughout my career also, I would say that like I always felt like I was preparing for what was next. And not a lot of athletes do that. Um, which I can only imagine it gets even scarier if you don't do that. But I would take up any opportunity it was, whether it was a networking opportunity, whether it was an opportunity, what course, or an opportunity to kind of learn something, to think about my life beyond the sport.

So I guess again, I get to that point where I'm like, Okay.

I am done. I know I'm gonna have another child. Um, I. But what's next? And I feel like everyone around me kept just being like, you've got so many opportunities. You've got so many things you could be doing. And I honestly felt like that throughout my career.

'cause I'm a busy person and I always felt like, oh, I wish I had time to do that. I wish I had time to do that. But when you were like sitting there quietly and it's all done and you have all this time in your hands, you're like, what were those things that I wanted to do? Like they kind of just fade away.

so I definitely had a moment like that and I remember, you know, going for a walk with my sports psychologist and we were just kind of like talking through it and she's like, [00:15:00] enjoy this quiet right now. 'cause trust me, once the ball starts rolling, you're gonna wish you had that quiet moment. And then the, at the time I'm just kind of like, Yeah.

sure.

 You know, you're not really like absorbing it, but now I understand what she meant. Right. Because it's like, you know, I started having conversations with Jeff, like you said. , we started talking about, okay, I saw him, he tried out for my Champions for Charity event. and I knew he was connected in the community.

We had seen each other in many community events. I didn't know what he did. I just knew he knew people. So I asked him, I'm like, we need to go for a coffee. And he was like, why? What's up? And I was like, I don't know. I need a job. I need to think about like what I'm gonna do next. , 'cause I didn't have like a very specific.

Kind of plan. I knew some of the pieces that I wanted. I wanted to obviously have the community involved. You know, I love doing like public speaking and that kind of thing. Like there was pieces, project management that I knew that I would like, but I didn't know exactly what that role would be. And then right away he was just kinda like, you're hired.

And I'm like, Okay.

but where do you work? I don't even know. What do you mean? Like where am I hired? [00:16:00] Um, anyway, it was like literally that symbol and then we started kind of walking through like what that could look like. And then I started to be like, okay, this is actually really interesting. and I think one of the things for me that was interesting is that my family comes from a construction background.

My dad worked construction. My brothers were encouraged to go into construction. My uncles were in construction. It was never once presented to me as something I should consider. Whether on the tools or not. and now that I've kind of come into this world and I'm seeing like a whole different angle of it and it's like, I think back to some of those things, like my dad would come home after a day and he'd talk about something that happened on site, and now all of these things are kind of coming back, so I understand.

I. The culture. I understand kind of like what's happening out there. So it's, it's been really, really interesting and it's kind of felt like this perfect fit, like something that I couldn't have come up with myself, right? Like just the natural fit between, you know, boxing, being in a male dominated industry to, to now construction, which, you know, women make up, you know, five to 6% of the industry.

so how are we moving that forward? How are we changing that? How are we having some of those [00:17:00] conversations? Um. Anyway, so I just, I love all of the pieces that are kind of coming together, but it was never something that was planned. It was like having conversation with someone like Jeff at the right time.

and then trying to develop it and then use those skills that I learned throughout my career. I think that was always the biggest thing is I felt like I learned so much. There was so many things and I was just gonna like leave it. I guess I didn't really understand initially how I was going to apply those lessons in the ring into.

My work life and now I'm able to do that just on a, on a daily basis. 

Which is an awesome journey. And you know what it is that untraditional sort of, uh, career path or a path that is an, is sort of this thread in your journey, which is quite fascinating and it's, unfortunate when you think about whether it's construction. I mean, years ago actually, my original, uh, business was a construction business.

My brother and I had a small construction business together, and so I have a little bit of understanding of the construction industry, but again. Very, a atypical to see, uh, uh, females in the bus [00:18:00] back, back then for sure. But even now, it's a, it's a sad reality when you think about it, because, I mean, there's lots of different jobs and, and we have this idea maybe again about, you know, we perceive certain.

Things regarding gender and what jobs fit and what jobs don't, or physical strength or not. And clearly, you know, I have to admit it. I mean, you would kick my ass if we had, if we got gotten a ring. So I wouldn't, I, I wouldn't be able to say, well, because I'm a man, I should dominate that 'cause that ain't gonna happen.

So again, it's, it's non-traditional path and I love it because I do think that in this industry, particularly with construction. We have to, in lots of industries, we've gotta awaken ourselves up. I do a lot of consulting in the plumbing, sort of the plumbing water well space and have for many years in my business.

And you know, I will say I, I coached North American sales teams and one team that I've been working with for years, they just got their first female territory sales manager. And I'm thinking to myself, man, oh man, what is wrong with us? Like what? What is wrong with our [00:19:00] psyche still that we have this idea, well, that's a male industry, and well, that's a female industry.

I mean, those are not helpful stereotypes.

No. No. And I think more and more people are kind of challenging that. And I think as teams are starting to bring women on and they're realizing, oh wow, this helps with like so many other pieces, right? Like it's not just, it's not just about having a female on your team, right? It's like what can they bring different perspectives?

Um, and just also just the camaraderie within the team, kind of the dynamic changes a little bit, right? So how do you kind of move that towards a positive and a more welcoming environment for everybody? 

Yeah. No, and I, I love that. And again, if you're listening in, uh, you know, if you're in this local community, you ought to be checking out what, uh, grand Valley Construction Association's doing on these fronts. If you're, not in this community, if you're in the US or in another one of the 20 or 23 countries that you're gonna listen in, you know, you ought to be asking yourself what?

What does it look like to be someone who, uh, figures out how to do this better in each of these communities? 'cause it's important, [00:20:00] because again, we have to relearn things and we have to understand what it is to move forward as a culture and society. And I'm really glad that you're involved in that.

Now, Mandy, I wanna take the conversation a totally different direction for a second. So, so, you, apparently, this is what I understand. Okay. And Jeff's a good example, so you. Teach people to punch each other in the face for charity. 

Come on. Now, the now, I mean, I've had a, you know, I've gone in a dunk tank.

Okay. You know, I've been in a dunk tank for charity. That's not bad because the ball doesn't hit me in the face. Okay? That's not so bad. But you apparently, somehow you convinced people like Jeff and like others in our community to learn how to punch each other in the face for charity. I help me understand how this happens and why would somebody wanna do that?

You'd be surprised.

honestly. Um, you know, our, like the event just finished a week ago. We've already got about 25 people signed up for next year. Um, people are just like lining up to do this. Um, [00:21:00] part of it is one, it's stepping outside your comfort zone. Exactly. Like you say, every single person, and I tell this all the time, it's like if you're not afraid to get punched in the face, you're not normal.

Like, I had 190 fights and I was afraid every single time I got in there. Right. It was like, there's always that mm, unsure what could happen. It's a sport, but at the end of the day, it's really about like learning the techniques and it's trying to kind of change that stereotype that people think about.

Boxing is just two people getting in there and, you know, trying to hurt each other. It's really strategic and it's really about, like the first thing they learn is how to defend themselves. how to take the power outta those punches that are coming at them. Like with the footwork, like if you don't have good footwork, you're never gonna punch anybody.

so I love taking people. Outside of their comfort zone. So business professionals, we get them to go through a 15 week training process. They learn as much as we can in that 15 weeks. Throughout that process, they're raising funds for charity and, um, in the end of it, they actually get to get into the ring in a real sanction boxing match. [00:22:00] It's not choreographed at all. It's a real boxing match. And then kind of do something that 99.9% of people would never do. So for some people, honestly, it's a bucket list item. Our charity, , is McMaster Children's Hospital. They do incredible work in the community. A lot of people step in there because they have a personal why.

Um, they've been impacted by this. hospital, they've had to use it with their children or someone that they know. and there's some pretty amazing stories that come out, from some of the people that come and actually step into the ring. So it's always nice to hear that, that connection piece, and they're fighting for something bigger than themselves and it's, I.

It's pretty amazing. It's inspiring and it's inspired the community because people are excited about it. We raised $700,000 last, week at this event, and, um, it just shows that people are excited. They wanna either step into the ring or be there to, to witness it. And, uh, Yeah.

it's been really fun to kind of watch the, the journey grow. 

That's amazing. So when you started this journey, did you ever think, you know what, I'm gonna convince a bunch of people. Teach 'em a box, get in their ring, we're gonna, they're gonna raise money [00:23:00] and wow, we're gonna raise almost three quarters of a million dollars in one night. Is it, did it ever dawn on you or are you this kind of person who like sets these massive goals and like, well, I'm still not there yet.

I've got a bigger goal, 

Tim. 

my goal's a million, so Yeah,

I, I am that person. yeah. Um, but in my mind it was like we gotta start, at first I had to sell the idea just like, like you're saying, I had to go to specific people in the community and be like, you should do this, and here's why. And now I don't have to do that anymore.

People are coming to us and coming and just asking questions and are super interested in it. Um. My goal was to to be a million dollar a year in year five. So we're at 700 in year three, so I think we're on track for it. Um, and Yeah.

partly because I've been in evolved in events like this in Toronto.

so I know the type of numbers that can come from these types of events. And I'll also say that people. Love this event because it's so different. Usually you go to an event, you sit down for dinner or you hear a speaker, you know, it's a typical [00:24:00] event. Whereas this, it's like, imagine like you're watching your boss step in there and, and fight It out.

Like it's, it's so different. Um, and then it's, again, it's black tie, it's Vegas style. It's like, it's giving people an experience and I love creating experiences. 

is amazing. You know, I imagine, you know, I know some people who would pay a lot of money to punch their boss in the face serious. 

This, this, you know what I think I, you know, I, I think I could get on board with this fundraising thing that think about that. you can punch your boss in the face and you, you raise money to do it.

Many, many people's dream, this is like their dream 

to punch their boss right in the 

face. 

making dreams come true. 

Oh yeah. Making, making Dreams come true since, since 2000 and and 20. I 

love it. Mandy, what a great conversation. And I wanna, I mean, you're just such an inspiring person. Obviously just love what you do and, and I go back to where we started where it's just this strange thing where you're in this sport, which we all see as highly individualistic.

At the end of the day, you know, most of [00:25:00] us don't know. The names of the coaches and trainers of some of the most famous, , people within the sport. We know their names, we understand them. We, you know, whether it's UFC or whether it's other, disciplines of, uh, combat sport boxing. you know, we don't know the names of the coaches, unfortunately.

Maybe some people do if they really follow, but we tend not to know them. We know the name of the person who gets in the ring that individualized sort of, part of the sport, but what you're reminding us all today is there is a community, a massive community behind people just like there is in our lives.

And again, celebrating the people who've invested in us and how we build this community. To me, that's a really awesome part of this. Conversation because I think sometimes in life we probably all get locked into thinking it's an individual sport we're playing. You know, I remember one time I had a conversation with a business leader that I had met and started doing consulting for their company, actually US company.

And it was interesting 'cause I learned about this person later on. They'd been the president for a long, [00:26:00] long time. And they, they as a company, they had gotten a lot of patents. So they had many, many patents. And I was in my initial conversation when I started consulting with this company and I asked this question, which I realized after was the wrong question to ask.

I was in this group meeting with the, this president had been president for 50 years and I said, Hey, help me understand, you know, when you get a patent, tell me how the team works together to do that. And his answer was very interesting. He said, well, let me just correct something. And I said, what's that?

And he goes, getting a patent is not a team sport. And as soon as he said that, I thought, oh, I think I know the number one problem in this business that needs to be fixed. So again, he had this idea that success in this business was all about him as an individual, which I think at the end of the day just is impossible.

It's groups of people who come together, whether it's in a business or uh, like association like you or in a community. And we live in a highly individualized society. We've, we've venerate, individualism. But yet an independence. And maybe this conversation ought to remind all of us that it is actually [00:27:00] intradependence this connectivity that we need with each other in our world and our community that we need to be more focused on.

And so I'm interested as you sort of look into the future, and you look at, I know you have, you have a young daughter, I think, do you have two children? You 

have one, two. 

Two. Two girls. So, so what is, what is teach? What is the kind of community you wanna see your girls grow up in? What, what, what do you want for them and what should we want for ourselves in this journey?

Yeah.

I think like, again, it's funny when I, um, first, you know, got pregnant and I just assumed I was having a boy. And, um, it was kind of interesting actually. It was a. I don't know why this moment really stands out for me, but there's so many boys in my family and my husband as well has so many boys in his family.

It was just like, we're having a boy. That's just what's gonna happen. The moment I like had my ultrasound and found out I was having a girl like this weird feeling came over me, like it just hit me like it was really hard to understand, like, I'm having a girl. What? And all of a sudden it just felt [00:28:00] like this immense pressure of like, wow, like those little eyes are gonna be watching me, right?

Like when it's a boy, it's like they're watching. You just kind of assume they're gonna watch your husband. and I think that that was something that kind of stuck with me. It's like, what do I want to not just say, it's like how are you actually modeling that behavior? that it was always very important.

And it's funny 'cause even before I had kids, that was always something that I was very. Cautious about throughout my career when people would ask me to do certain things or whatever, it always had to be like, does that really, is that the reflection I want people to have of me? I always had to like my brand and everything was very, very important and I didn't do certain things because of it.

Even if it was a financial or whatever, like it was very, very important. So I think the more that we kind of recognize what is that person that we want our children to grow up to be like. I try to try to model that. and the more that you do that, again, it's gonna trickle down.

Kind of starting, you know, where we started off, it's like, how did I become that person that wanted to [00:29:00] build community and, and give back to communities? Because I saw that and I felt that from other people. So if I can teach my kids to be that person as well, then hopefully again, the people that they surround themselves with will feel that and will also kind of be those people. 

Yeah, no, absolutely true. So if people wanted to, uh, get connected with you somehow, and maybe they're in the local community and they want to get punched in the face for money, uh, how, how would they, how would they find you and, and the cops? And everything that you're about.

Yeah. Um, I mean, social media is probably the easiest way to find anyone. It's usually just my name, Andy eo. Um, if they're interested in the boxing piece of it, champs for charity is the website. People can, whether they wanna actually step into the ring, you can, you can do that as a champion or you can, um, volunteer at the event.

There's lots of different ways, there's a lot of people getting involved in, in kind of creative ways. as well. So those are probably the best, best methods. 

Okay. Awesome. So last question for you. My, this podcast is [00:30:00] called UNCOMMODiFiED. For me, it's all about standing out and standing up in unique ways for the benefit of others, bringing the, the uniqueness of who we are or who you are to that moment. So here's a question. When you walk in a room with people and you're bringing the Mandy, you know, you're bringing the thing that you know, that Mandy has as a unique contribution to the people around, around her at that moment, what's Mandy doing that, you know, is like, this is my unique contribution that I can bring to any room?

Ooh. I think I'm always just trying to make connections, right? I'm always trying to connect different people that I think should work together, just like Jeff. I think that's why we connect so well. Um, so Yeah.

I think it's all about like hearing things and making different connections so that people can kind of come together.

I. 

That's a great, that's great. And again, so maybe you've got that unique superpower like Mandy too, of creating connections for the benefit of others, creating community, and also understanding that we have individualized responsibilities within community at the end of the [00:31:00] day. You know, inboxing, your coach and trainer don't get in the ring with you.

You have an individualized responsibility, and yet it is aided and empowered by a community of people who come alongside you and you come alongside them in these journeys. Manny, what a great conversation. Thank you so much for having it. And again, if you've listened today. Listeners, you listened in for a reason, then do me a favor, DM me or send me an email at tim@uncommodified.com and let Mandy and I know what you're doing with this conversation and how you're using it for the positive benefit of yourself and others.

Thank you for your time today. Thanks Mandy. Cheers. 

Thank you.