After graduating Suffolk Law School in 1991, Dena served a year as a clerk for the R.I. Superior Court. Looking for a workout to release stress, Dena stumbled across an old-time boxing gym in Providence. While she didn’t love the male-dominated atmosphere, she fell in love with the workout. Dena realized more women should experience boxing but in their own, female-friendly environment. She wrote down her ideas for a women’s boxing gym:

• A space that is comfortable and appealing to women.
• Where the minute she walks into a Striking Beauties’ gym she is instantly at ease and at home.
• Where there’s camaraderie between the members, not pettiness or competition.
• Where the classes are easily-understandable and tailor-made by women for women.
• Where the workouts are authentic, created by a professional female boxer.

Over the years, Dena realized that there were many other women who loved boxing and took it seriously. These women experienced the empowerment and exhilaration that Dena had, but could not find a boxing gym of their own. These women wanted to know where they could get an authentic fighter’s workout, and not merely cardio-box or aerobic-style classes, and not be the only girl in the gym.