Meet Leslie Gardineer of De Boa Jiu Jitsu Academy in Surprise

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Gardineer.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We started out in 2004 in our garage with about ten students. We officially opened our academy about six months later May 2005 and within two weeks of opening, we had close to 100 new students.

Most of our growth is through word of mouth, we have amazing students who love Jiu Jitsu and spread the word! At De Boa our goal is to help people fall in love with the art, we feel that if you love Jiu Jitsu and your teammates you will naturally want to train more often and you will inevitably get better at it. For 3 of our 5 years being open, we have ranked #1 Kids Academy in AZ. We provide a safe training environment with several coaches on the mats at all times, sub floor, padded training area and top notch instruction. We currently have 5 Black Belts, each having 10+ years of training and teaching experience.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We when 1st decided to open an academy, we sold our house to help with costs. The academy took six months longer than we anticipated to finally open. On opening day, we had $200 left in our bank account. It was a terrifying time but, we quickly filled the place up and have been able to see steady growth ever since.

Please tell us about De Boa Jiu Jitsu Academy.
Aside from being known for “Jiu Jitsu” we provide an environment that helps students escape their daily stress. De Boa means “relax, chill, good” in Portuguese. Our academy has a beach/spa like setting. Soft cool colors, palm trees and usually some cool reggae music playing. Jiu Jitsu means “gentle art” and no, it doesn’t always look that way but, it is an art and does help with relaxation and stress relief. I am most proud of the type of atmosphere that has been created at De Boa. I feel like our students are great human beings and spread that vibe to all that join. They are helpful and accepting of all walks of life, they do life together not just Jiu Jitsu. One of my favorite things to see is our students doing things together outside of the academy with friends they met there. It makes me feel really good to have provided the setting where these friendships have grown.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t know that I would change a thing. I feel like we have learned so much throughout the last five years by starting small and slowly growing into our dream academy. Mistakes and tough times only help you get stronger.

Pricing:

• Adult Pricing $149 per month for unlimited training
• Kids 7 and up $128 per month 5 days a week
• Kids 4-6 $99 per month 2 days a week

Contact Info:

• Address: 14763 W Cactus Rd. Suite #104
  Surprise AZ 85379
• Website: Www.DeBoaBJJ.com
• Phone: 623-377-3609
• Email: justagirlbjj@yahoo.com
• Instagram: Deboabjj
• Facebook: Deboabjj
• Yelp: Deboabjj

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.