A loan helped a small-town martial arts gym provide a larger updated space for their students.


Jauna's story

Growing up in a single parent household with my three younger sisters, money was always tight. We had enough for the necessities most of the time, but rarely anything extra for sports, activities or luxuries. Out of boredom, we often got into trouble as kids without positive outlets to fill our time.
From an early age, I wanted to find a way to help struggling families avoid the challenges my family faced. However, I didn't know exactly how until I met my husband and he began his jiu-jitsu journey. A few years later, we hit a major financial hardship when my husband was laid off from his job just days after we had our first baby together. Money was extraordinarily tight - we could barely afford the essentials, let alone allow my husband to continue his jiu-jitsu training.

When my husband told his instructor we'd have to put jiu-jitsu on hold until we were financially stable again, the instructor insisted our whole family train for free until we were back on our feet. This act of kindness provided our family with a positive physical, mental and emotional outlet during an incredibly stressful time. We were able to directly experience how much of an impact access to an affordable activity could make for a struggling family.
My husband's instructor's generosity planted the seed for my current goal. We knew that if we were ever in a position to pay forward that kindness, we would jump at the opportunity to provide an affordable positive outlet for other families going through tough financial circumstances. That is why we knew we wanted to open a jiu-jitsu gym once we moved to our quaint little town of Orting, WA.

We loved our town for so many reasons, but we saw kids getting into trouble, mostly out of boredom and because there was nothing in town for them to do, just like me and my sisters when we were young. Unfortunately most small towns don't have many positive outlets for people. We love our town so much and wanted to provide a gym that was accessible to everyone, no matter what their income level is.

We have been extremely fortunate in that we found the perfect space for our gym in the old town pharmacy. The family that ran the pharmacy had a rich history of helping the community and we hope to honor their space by doing the same thing through jiu-jitsu. We now have the opportunity to expand our space and provide a larger, more updated space for our students to train in! In the future, we would love to make our gym a non-profit training center and focus solely on helping students (children and adults alike) develop their physical abilities along with their mental and emotional strength and overall well-being.


This loan is special because:

It supports a small business owner with 0%-interest, zero-fee capital.



Loan details


About Journeyman Grappling

Industry: Services
Years in operation: 3 years - 5 years
Website: journeymangrappling.com

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Loan details