KEEP FIGHTING: Coach Tammy

INTERVIEW XPONENTIAL CURVE PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHINE SCAPELLATI

COACH TAMMY “TMZ” BROWN-  Breaking Stigmas through the Fighting Spirit

“Boxing is a Kind of Magic, It gives discipline to the wild, Strength to the weak, Confidence to the shy” – Wladimir Klitschko, Heavyweight Champion 

Coach… someone who trains, teaches, and supports a person or team in a particular sport; allowing people to discover any potential that may lay dormant. A Boxing Coach in particular, is someone who has been specifically trained to dominate any perceived opposition primarily using their physical capabilities while incorporating their mental. Having been the student, Coaches offer not only the wisdom of their own training and development but insights on how their students can navigate the onslaught of inevitable challenges life throws our way. While we are more familiar with the kinds of Coaches who work with the able bodied, Staten Island, NY native, Tammy ‘Coach TMZ’ Brown has decided to use her expertise to empower the economically disenfranchised as well as the neuro diverse and disabled communities. Being of Cuban and Sri Lankan descent, Coach TMZ started her not-for-profit organization, ‘Keep Fighting,’ to offer support and financial assistance to those within her community who are ready to triumph over their adversities through mental focus towards physical gain. With special attention on youth training and those living with Cerebral Palsy , Down syndrome and Autism, she is setting and smashing PRs (personal records) in and out the ring. Coach TMZ’s impact is increasingly felt within not only in her immediate community but is steadily gaining recognition in the Boxing world as well.

Since our interview early last month I’ve reflected on the idea of what it means to ‘Keep Fighting.’ Everyone has a different approach on how they choose to push through life’s challenges. After Coach TMZ lost her best friend of 13 years, Ariel Gerena, to suicide she decided the only way out of the mental and emotional strain of such a loss was to dive back into her training. As an Amateur Fighter in Muy Thai, Coach TMZ chose to fight through the grief and anger by getting back in the ring only this time as a coach for pee-wees. Just getting in the ring 2 hours a week was enough to push Coach TMZ towards healing. Tammy used her Strength Training to combat what she referred to as “mental warfare.” While determined to overcome this dark time in her life her time as an instructor in a male dominated industry was overshadowed when she was replaced with a male Coach in a program she initiated. That’s when Tammy decided it was time to step it up a notch and create her own lane.

COACH TMZ For everyone who don’t fight that think it’s physical….but really when fighting your mind is as important as your body. It's mental strength things like that - so I couldn't fight anymore- my best friend had committed suicide - ended a 13 year relationship and I didn't know what I was gonna do anymore but fighting was one of those things where I felt the safest, the happiest. I felt strong and so I ended up getting into teaching pee-wees in Ronkonkoma, LI. It was very like a light work. It was only about 2 hours a week or something like that, and they ended up hiring a male to replace me making him head coach for the program that I ran. I didn't wanna work for them anymore - I was like damn this is crazy, I ended up resigning from my position there and I took a year off. Some people were like “What are you going to do next?” I had no idea but I knew I had boxing training and I knew that was what made me happy, so I started getting into more of that kind of stuff. Obviously, I was already into the fitness influencer kind of thing… influencing mental health and fitness how important your mental health is and even with physical health your mental health can get better type of thing and I continued advocating for that. I started to think like how could I do something that's gonna get back to it so I started training young J.O’s and taking them to amateur boxing so they could compete themselves. I coach for their corner and all their fighting and stuff like that and about two years ago I started a nonprofit called ‘Keep Fighting’ so keep fighting is in honor of my best friend who committed suicide. I didn't wanna do you know like a suicide awareness non-profit because I just felt like I needed to be part of the step before that - I needed to be the part that before you felt that alone you could get better by just doing these kind of things - so I started to keep fighting in memory for her. I hosted a gala and I sponsored two people for the year and that was cool and all but then it got even bigger and it kept growing and the more my kids fought and the more the boxing community started to see me the more I started to get more and more into other things and as I started getting into that I started getting into modeling I started getting into just anything that's gonna tell you who I am and put my message out there and my name and yeah and then last year I ended up sponsoring 10 kids you know… so this year I plan to sponsor 10 more. Also sending 5 kids and 3 adults to Detroit for the national qualifiers tor boxing amateurs. 

VALIDATED So ‘Keep Fighting’ offers sponsorships to people from all walks of life?

COACH TMZ Yeah. so what I do is I sponsor anybody – it doesn’t have to be a kid, it doesn't have to be for boxing. I pay for you to go to a gym for a year and at the six month mark we sit down and we ask how is this helping you with your mental health? How's your physical health improving? Things like that. At the same time I offer therapy sessions where I team up with different types of therapists. I am basically the middleman to pair you with somebody and if your insurance doesn't take care of it I pay for you to go twice a month for a year as well.

It's always crazy how tragedy tends to change the trajectory of our life visions and goals. Sometimes we can’t even see the self-imposed limits we’ve place on ourselves until something happens that shakes our world. At that point we can either allow our pain to be the cause of someone’s demise or the reason they rise.

VALIDATED I think it’s amazing how you were able to kind of transmute that into something that benefits not only just yourself but the lives of the people around you. That's major.

COACH TMZ Exactly… and that’s  basically what I decided to do. I wanted to be the change in my own way… I wanted to do it my way and I didn’t want anyone to tell me how to do it and yeah… somehow it worked.

“It may sound strange but many champions are made by setback, they are champions because they’ve been hurt. Their experience moved them and they pulled out this Fighting Spirit, making them what they are. Sometimes in life GOD gives us a difficult order to bring out the Fighting Spirit. The essential thing in life is not in the conquering, but in the fight.” – Bob Richards, Olympian

Growing up in a neighborhood where a lot of people didn't make it out, Coach TMZ states “everybody was a fighter.” Much like her peers, Tammy found herself in a lot of fights growing up. Getting kicked out of school and having to endure the challenges of being a teen while losing her Mom at a young age, she still managed to put herself through college while working a retail job, which she hated, but of course it was these experiences that aided in developing her stamina both in and out the ring. Now thanks to her not-for-profit ‘Keep Fighting,’ Coach TMZ is able to sponsor 2 youths in the amateurs for ‘Ringmasters’ by providing gym memberships and gear for her students.  

COACH TMZ It's cool because the kids are fighting in the amateurs right now. I sponsor about two kids that are fighting in the ‘Ringmasters’ which is the replacement for ‘Golden Gloves’ so it's crazy right because I give these kids new gear and I give them something that they don't have to worry about. With the membership to the gym the parent doesn't have to make sure that they can afford it and now these kids are not only doing well in their boxing but they're doing well in school… they're always texting me and calling me and telling me “because of what you're doing for me I'm able to worry less about this and more about my fighting and where I'm going with it.” Then I have adults that I sponsor too where they're not in a fight scene - I sponsor this guy who recently had heart surgery. I noticed he was struggling with the payment at the gym and I went to him and I told him,  “Listen, I can see that you wanna be here and my nonprofit does these things…” I told him and he started crying. He told me, “No one's ever done something like this for me.”  To me it was like, “But you wanna be here and this is where it's gonna be the safest and most comfortable for you…” and he cried so hard. Everybody the next day at the gym was like he kept telling everybody, “I can't even believe it.”

VALIDATED That’s amazing because most adults don't get that kind of support. It's mostly focused towards youth and young adults so this is just truly great for anyone to look into.

COACH TMZ Yes so, a lot of my successes comes from working with people with all abilities. I've had a really high success rate with people who have Cerebral Palsy which is basically a disconnect between the muscle and the mind and one of the things you need when working out is the muscle mind connection… So teaching them to walk while thinking is hard enough and now I'm pushing them through workouts teaching them how to Box. It's crazy because they don't even believe me at first, they’re like, “Oh yeah this is never gonna work for me,” and as they continue to go they continue to grow. I had a guy who just graduated with his masters out of Adelphi - and then I have a girl right now who's about to graduate with her Master’s in Social Work. It's such a dope thing to see somebody struggle with something physically, show up every day and still work so hard and make it to the next point…  it's hard but it also inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing because it is changing people's lives.

VALIDATED Absolutely… So when they come in what is their demeanor?

COACH TMZ It's very like - lacking self-confidence. Lacking the ability to think that they can do anything they put their mind to. It's also the stigma of people treating them like they're gonna break… like they're not human and it’s so frustrating to me because they live that life with the mentality like, ‘I have a problem,’ and not like it's a superpower you know… To me it's a superpower. They’re super smart… They’re so smart and in tune with how they wanna do it – and when they learn how to box they feel included - they feel like they're part of something and that makes me stay inspired.

VALIDATED Did you have to take any special training for that or is it just applied knowledge?

COACH TMZ So right now I am a USA Boxing Certified Coach. I am a Special Strong Personal Trainer, which is special needs level one, level two and group classes and then I also have so which is like you know your normal personal training certificate as well.

As of right now, Boxing is not a part of the Special Olympics, however Coach TMZ is working on something called ‘The Fight Experience.’ Overall, her mission is to continue breaking the stigma not only within her clients but also within the community’s perception of what limits a person with disability. For Coach TMZ it’s all about boosting the confidence of her students, building their strengths through healthy coping mechanisms through mental and physical endurance.

COACH TMZ I’ve seen some of these people go from lacking confidence with their head down, not talking to people to being able to have full conversations, go on podcasts, advocate for the fact that they are people and they want to be loved and normal… It’s just really cool to see the transition. Some of them I've had for 2-3 years now where you see from the day they walked in and can barely move their limbs - to now being able to stand up out of a wheelchair... to being able to walk on a treadmill. Those things are so big and impactful. I’m teaching them how to deal with something so uncomfortable that when the time comes in life where it's beating them up, they're able to stand up and be like you know what I can do this and that’s the most important part.

VALIDATED It’s really beautiful what you're doing... I'm sure you are getting a lot of support from the community.

COACH TMZ Oh yeah, so much man, I'm so grateful for the fact that like - in the beginning I was so afraid… like right here I am, I'm a female in a predominantly male sport - I'm telling people what I wanna do and I don't care what I have to do to get there and a lot of people were like, “Are you sure…  are you gonna be able to survive off the money you make?” and to me it was kind of scary but here I am like, I'm gonna believe in myself and have the confidence in myself, so when I preach to other people I can lead from example. As things started to get bigger and bigger I started branching out and my community started to get bigger and bigger. I started doing all these other things and honestly it's so crazy. People always say things like, “Do you realize how much you've done?” and honestly I don't because I put my head down and just move forward. I'm like I don't see it and yeah sometimes I sit down and I'm in awe like, “Oh my God, you did this this year, you did that this year,” like, “Who did you think you were?” and other times I'm like, “Man, can I be doing more?”

Coach TMZ has been able to accomplish so much through ‘Keep Fighting’ with strength and compassion at the forefront of it all. She keeps her energy and vibes high blocking out any distractions that could take away from not only the personal milestones she’s set for her organization but that of the community she serves. Like most people who live a life of service, it’s the slow and steady progress in the unseen where the magic happens. Every facet of what she has built is tied into ‘Keep Fighting’ including her clothing brand of the same name where 100% of the proceeds are poured right back into building the organization, so she can continue to offer mental health services, gym memberships, boxing gear and any emotional, physical or mental support needed within the community. With Graduation season upon us, Coach TMZ has a Prom Dress Drive in place to help young girls not miss out on one of the most memorable nights of their youth.

COACH TMZ So everything that I do with ‘Keep Fighting’ goes right back into the organization. I don't get a pay on it or anything like that. I don't get grant funding or anything yet - and all that stuff just goes back into what I'm doing for the community and all the things that I can be doing. You know, like right now in the middle of your prom dress drive and so I teamed up with this LLC out in Staten Island and it's called ‘Lina’s Links’ - and she and I have been friends forever and we're doing a prom dress drive. So we're collecting dresses… Bridesmaids dresses, cocktail dresses, prom dresses… we're getting them cleaned, we're putting them on our online library and we're allowing people to just go on there and say, “Hey I like this dress that's in my size…” and we're gonna ship it to you. You’re gonna be able to have it altered or whatever. We're trying to team up with hairdressers, makeup artists and nail techs and really try and give girls the whole experience who can't afford it because you know you how it is… the prom dresses and all these other things are the most expensive… If they can’t afford it they aren’t gonna say that. They’re just gonna say they don’t want to go and lose that memory. Every girl thinks about that for their whole school career.

VALIDATED I mean this is all really necessary work you’re doing for sure but getting back to your training do you have a sponsored gym and if so where?

COACH TMZ So I have two locations. One of the gyms I work out of is called ‘New York Fitness and Boxing’ - that's where I have one of my special needs programs, all my personal training and my amateur kids fight team is all there. They don't really sponsor me. I'm just like an independent contractor but then I worked for another gym, it's called ‘Fusion’ out in Port Jefferson, LI. That gym that sponsors a lot of this stuff that I do through ‘Keep Fighting’, one of the owners is on my Board and a lot of the stuff that I do is based out of that gym and there is a special needs program there as well.

VALIDATED Do you have any ambition to franchise?

COACH TMZ So right now I'm in the midst of doing some consultant work, basically starting these special needs programs in gyms because they’re government funded. And if you can get the government funding to keep your gym open so that you could have people that come in for free because they just need a place to be it becomes a game changer. So right now I'm in the midst of like getting another program up and running at Natives Boxing Gym in Copiague, NY and once that's over I'm gonna leave it. So I see myself continuing to do things like that… show people another way to generate revenue and a different outlook on the people in their community.

VALIDATED Are you finding there are more trainers that are interested in doing what you do… like are you inspiring trainers as well?

COACH TMZ Yeesss... And how dope is that, right? I’m inspiring people to get into this field but I'm also teaching them how to do this. I'm teaching how to communicate too because you know you're not just dealing with people who can tell you what's wrong. I have non-verbal clients who have to communicate through cues to understand how they feel – like “Can you do this? Shake your head yes or no.” My youngest nonverbal was four, I don't have them anymore but they were four and right now my youngest nonverbal is about 25.

VALIDATED Has there been any improvement in their speech or is it purely physical?

COACH TMZ It's purely physical… It’s really hard to impact their speech but the physical impact and the confidence impact makes them be able to even attempt at having a full conversation.

The services Coach Tammy ‘TMZ’ Brown and the Keep Fighting organization encompasses body autonomy, mental resilience, self belief and healthy ways to adapt to lifes stress or something to benefit anybody. From those who would never think it possible, whatever the obstacle Coach TMZ is getting the word out, joking on how there’s a lot of “hand shaking and kissing babies,”  but really it’s the daily grind and love for what she does that grabs the attention of the people. Talking to everyone who will hear her story while also using her power as an influencer and fitness model, she is steadily increasing the visibility of her not-for-profit. But don’t get it twisted her standout style mix of vibrantly colored hair and fitness model appeal isn’t about chasing clout. As a devoted advocate and model there’s true depth to her brand and the cause, with Coach TMZ’s influence within the boxing community grabbing the attention of some “big wigs” including the Commissioner of Sports for New York State. The high energy and devotion, Coach Tammy “TMZ” Brown emits a true passion stemming from her ability to take the tragedy of personal loss into building some serious community gains. She’s out here implementing her coaching style, integrating both a learned and applied practice with adaptive training for the youth, those in financial need as well as the neuro diverse.

To learn more about Coach TMZ, her Keep Fighting Organization, including Clothing brand and Prom Dress Drive or how you can help support the cause, follow her Instagram @CoachTMZ or her Website CoachTMZ.com

If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255), or dial 911 in case of emergency.