Boxing Meets Boardroom: A New Retreat for Women Executives

For Erin Renzas, the path to professional clarity began not in a boardroom, but in a boxing ring. After nearly two decades climbing the corporate ladder, she hit a breaking point, despite outward markers of success like a high-paying tech career. Her solution was to channel the chaos of the ring into a new form of leadership training.

Now, Renzas has co-launched a women-only executive retreat called Fight Co.Lab. The program uses the physical and mental demands of boxing to help senior leaders navigate pressure, build community, and reclaim their intensity in a supportive environment.

After years of dutifully climbing the career ladder, including a role as marketing lead during Square's IPO, Renzas found herself unfulfilled. She turned inward, believing the key to happiness was changing her body. Through diet and exercise, she lost more than 100 pounds, striving to become what she called "the perfect version of what society tells us to be."

Instead of finding peace, her mental health deteriorated. While working as an operating partner at investment group Prosus in Amsterdam, she experienced severe dissociative episodes. "I would go into big, huge meetings and then I would go to the gym, and then I would come home and tell my mom I didn't exist — for basically two years," she said.

Her gym had a boxing ring in the back, and on a whim, she decided to try it. Unlike other sports, boxing demanded a presence she couldn't escape. "You have to be so grounded in your body," Renzas explained. It was the only time she felt whole.

Boxing became a transformative force for Renzas, who is now an amateur boxer with four wins. She began integrating the sport's vocabulary into her work with Shea O'Neil, her executive coach. Together, they explored how fight strategy could apply to career navigation and defining success.

The idea resonated deeply with other leaders in their networks, leading to the creation of Fight Co.Lab. This hybrid boxing intensive and personal development workshop is designed for women at professional inflection points—whether starting new companies, restructuring teams, or seeking an antidote to isolation.

The retreat's design is intentional. The physical exhaustion from boxing helps lower emotional barriers. As O'Neil noted, "People's defenses dropped." This creates a space for vulnerability that is often missing in traditional networking programs.

The inaugural three-day retreat took place in November at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, the longest-operating boxing gym in the country. Eleven women participated, most of whom had never worn boxing gloves before. Coaches like Malic Groenberg flew in from Amsterdam to lead sessions, calling out combinations like "Left hook, left liver."

The environment was intentionally unconventional. The gym's bright red walls and portraits of past heavyweights provided a stark contrast to typical executive retreats. Renzas believes boxing is about "operating in the chaos," teaching participants to find clarity and see their shots amidst the noise.

For participants, the experience was intense and transformative. Emily Barron, cofounder of Zaria, noted, "You're so physically tired, and you just want to lay down. But then you're like: Go deep — emotionally and mentally and intellectually."

The retreat addresses a specific challenge highlighted by recent reports: burnout among senior-level women is at a five-year high. Many participants, like Christina Lang of Mozilla, joined to find community and escape the gendered pressure to be a "smaller version of yourself."

For Emily Barron, boxing offered a reprieve from the expectation to suppress her intensity. "As women, we're so told that if we have that instinct to want to fight, that's wrong," she said. The ring became a place where that drive was an advantage, not a flaw.

The impact extends beyond the retreat. The first cohort, now calling themselves "The Coven," continues to support each other via a WhatsApp group, holding themselves accountable to the goals they set. Barron has even started taking boxing lessons back home in California, continuing to harness the strength she discovered.

Following the success of the Brooklyn retreat, a second session is planned for early March in Los Angeles. The program continues to refine its approach to combining physical training with executive development.

By using the principles of boxing, Fight Co.Lab provides a unique framework for women leaders to navigate complex challenges. It demonstrates that sometimes, the path to professional resilience is found through unexpected physical and emotional trials.