In the wake of incredible loss, Tida Garcia CEO of Knockout Fitness, found a way to turn personal tragedy into hope. This is her story.
You may know me as Tida Garcia, mother, a leader in in healthcare, CEO of Knockout Fitness Surprise, President, Governing School Board Member for Tolleson Elementary School District and President, Tolleson Community Coalition non-profit, but what you don’t know is that the journey to get me there has had some heartbreaks, challenges and adverse situations.
Life always has its ups and downs, but through my journey I have been blessed with people in my life that have mentored and motivated me to always move forward. The past 2 years have been filled with heartbreak and at one point I thought I would not make it through it. My fiancé Moises Balladares passed away on 7/25/17, Moises was an Army Special Forces Veteran serving our country over 10 years. Moises was a hero, my hero, but being a Veteran has damaging affects on a person’s mind and body. Moises suffered with PTSD and tried to be balanced as much as possible, but unfortunately the system does not give the support needed to our Veterans and Moises was one of the individual’s that suffered. He had the most beautiful soul, brilliant blue eyes, and taught me how to laugh and live in the moment. Tragically I lost him on 7/25/17 by “suicide by cop”, the system failed him by not helping him besides giving prescription drugs and in the end I will always feel I failed him, I was not able to love him enough for him to realize that his purpose was bigger than his past pain and demons he lived with from the war.
Since losing Moises our life has completely changed, first not having his beautiful soul to wake up to everyday and to learn to live life without him. I had fallen into a deep depression thinking this truly was it for me I had lost my will to keep going and I had never felt that before. The reason for me to wake up every morning was for my children because they only had me so I knew I could not just give up. I would work and that was about it, I work from home so it was even easier just to never leave my house, except for the parenting obligations after 6 months of not wanting to go on, I finally decided to find some way to begin my healing process. That is when I started as a member at Knockout Fitness, hitting the bag started to let out emotions that I had pushed down so deeply and never wanted to let them go. I cried, wanted to scream, even cursed out people in my head (of course). Each time I was taking a class and hitting the bag, it was my outlet, 60 minutes a day to just give me the energy to make it through the next day. After 9 months an opportunity to purchase a Knockout Fitness franchise came up and because I believed in the gym so much and how it healed me, I decided to go for it. In the hopes that the gym/bag could heal others through their journeys in life.
It has been a learning experience and has kept me busy, working full time for my “real paying” job than going to the gym every afternoon until close to make sure it is running and helping others is my daily routine. As I know that my healing process from losing Moises is still a daily process of learning to live without him, I know that my life purpose is to ensure that his memory goes on, and that I’m able to help other hurting souls and hopefully impact at least one person’s life to see that their purpose is so much bigger than they could ever imagine.
Who has Influenced your life the most?
There have been several important people in my life that influenced me, but the one individual that influenced me when I was young, and I feel if it wasn’t for him my path would have had ended so differently. It was my brother Mikhel, and I had a dysfunctional childhood. At age 13 I was out on the streets and the odds were against me, but I remember when I had a choice to take one path or a more destructive one, I would think of my brother Mikhel and knew I could not let him down. Mikhel was my light, he passed away when he was 6 years old, but even beyond his passing his short life influenced me to become the woman I am today.
What are your proudest achievements?
My children, since I held my first son in my arms, I knew that my life had changed forever and that whatever came in front of me I had to survive and try to give my children a life where they felt loved and knew that the world was at their hands, that they are able to make their dreams come through with hard work and dedication. I was blessed with 6 children, I’ll never understand how God trusted me to have 6, but I hope that each of my children will be proud to call me their mother.
Who Inspires you?
I can’t say just one person, it has been people throughout my life that have demonstrated love, compassion and greatness by serving and impacting change. People that have believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself are people that when I think of inspire me to do more and never give up. Two amazing women in my life are Dr. Lupita Hightower and Kimulet Winzer they both are outstanding mentors.
What advice would you give someone pursuing a career in what you do?
I feel in any career you must have integrity, work hard, always willing to learn and demonstrate excellence in all that you do. You might not have all the degrees or experience, but if you are willing to learn and motivated to grow and of course be dependable you can be successful. If you are a woman it can be more challenging at times, to go up against the “big boy” club but I would tell any young lady/woman be determined, embrace your culture, embrace who you are and be proud of YOU. Love yourself and have confidence in yourself and you will be successful in any career that you chose.
What makes an inspiring woman?
In my eyes and inspiring woman is a woman that is selfless, compassionate, driven and have a passion to live and fight for what is right. A woman that helps other woman, by supporting them, mentoring them and being that helping hand. An inspiring woman serves others with love and demonstrates strength, but also is vulnerable enough to show when they are weak for need support also. Showing others that they are real people with real problems, but the resilience to keep going.
Tell us five things no one knows about you?
- My favorite football team is Seahawks
- I love pan dulce well let’s be honest any delicious sweet bread
- I might be obsessed with shoes
- The ocean is my peace, it brings harmony back into my life, I could just sit on the beach in front of the ocean and watch and listen to the waves for hours.
- Soy Peruana (well half, my father came here from Peru in 1975, and my mother is Danish (great grandparent migrated from Denmark)/French).
Until next time,
Sandra
Sandra Munoz is the creator of Latinaology.com, an inspired Lifestyle and Automotive blog with Latina flair, and the first and only Hispanic automotive journalist in Arizona. As the founder of Latinaology, she has the opportunity to collaborate with the most incredible automotive, travel, food, health, beauty, and entertainment brands.
