In 2010, the Director of Group Fitness at Montana State University, Kelly Crosby, received approval to add the first paid program at MSU’s Recreation Center. She accepted proposals from numerous candidates, allowing each an equal opportunity to pitch the next best thing in the fitness world.
“One of the candidates was a young man wearing a three-piece business suit,” Kelly said. “That was Garret. He couldn’t have been much older than 23 or 24. I could tell he was nervous, but he won me over once he started to talk about Pink Gloves Boxing. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. The program was exactly what we needed.”
To that point, PGB was only in five locations. Kelly’s decision to start the first university program turned out to be one of the biggest moments in PGB’s development. The first semester classes capped out immediately. Members learned how to box, improved their physical fitness, and, most importantly, they built a community.
“We used the strength of a community to build stronger individuals, just like the PGB Manual says. And we stressed the vision of revealing the champion from within each other. It’s those last two words––EACH OTHER––that are the most important,” Kelly said.
At the same time Kelly was experiencing the empowering qualities of the PGB program, the company’s leadership team was experiencing the empowering qualities of Kelly Crosby.
“She had more years of experience teaching fitness than Nick and I had breathing oxygen,” Garret said. “And her military background added structure where we needed it most. I don’t want to think about where we’d be without Kelly.”
The infamous “off-grid meeting” took place at Kelly’s family cabin in the remote forests outside of Bozeman, MT. Without cellphones, internet, or any other distractions, the three of them (Garret, Nick, and Kelly) restructured the PGB training platform on a flip chart, using every blank page, including the cardboard backer, to fit all the details of the new brand. Since that meeting, the manual has seen over a dozen additional revisions. “We encourage our members to grow and improve,” Kelly said. “So why shouldn’t they expect the same from us?”
Three years after starting PGB at her university recreation center, Kelly resigned from her role as Director of Group Fitness at MSU to become Head Coach at Pink Gloves Boxing.
Over the next decade, Kelly traveled the U.S. from coast to coast teaching PGB Training Camps, promoting the program, speaking at conventions, and she even traveled to Bahrain to train clubs from Saudi Arabia. She created the Coach’s Training Track, achieved accreditation for PGB’s courses through ACE and AFAA, and has been a part of every major decision since the day an overdressed Garret first walked into her office.
While Kelly is no longer leading the coaches and trainers of PGB, she still lives the vision and practices the core habits in every aspect of her life. With a nurturing gaze, she follows the progress and growth of Pink Gloves Boxing through the visionary eyes of Angie Gowan, the new Head Coach. Kelly will never be far from the PGB family, stating, “It has become an extension of my own.”
Kelly’s passion for PGB is as strong as the day she first put on the gloves. If you ever run into her, try to challenge her with your PGB coin. She says, “I never leave home without it.”
-Garret
