Meet your Business: Rock Steady owner aims to help Parkinson’s sufferers

Sarah Stockwell is a Litchfield Park mom, makeup artist and owner of Rock Steady Boxing, a specialty gym for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Her gym has been in operation for five years and she currently hosts sessions via livestream because of COVID-19. Stockwell was born in New Iberia, Louisiana, but lived in Oregon, Colorado and Wisconsin before settling in Arizona 16 years ago.

Tell us a little bit about your business, Rock Steady Boxing. We are a nonprofit, working to give people with Parkinson’s disease hope by improving their quality of life through a non-contact boxing-based fitness curriculum.

Why did you start Rock Steady Boxing? My mother was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease, and after watching her struggle, I knew I had to help. We saw a news segment on TV about Rock Steady, and immediately went for training. We opened the doors to Rock Steady Boxing Phoenix six months later, and have helped more than 100 fighters over the past 5 years.

Why is your gym important to the community? Rock Steady is important because it brings people together who feel like they have lost everything since their diagnoses. We give them a place to feel included, strong, safe, healthy and hopeful!

The science behind boxing for Parkinson’s is also interesting. The forced intensity can lessen or stop the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms, and strength training, balance work, hand-eye coordination and other elements included in our workouts help fighters in other areas as well, improving their overall quality of life.

What brings you joy? Giving people hope and something for which to look forward.

What separates Rock Steady from the competition? Our hearts. Our “why.” We have built a beautiful community of friends through Rock Steady. We understand what the fighters are going through and genuinely want to help find ways to make it better. We know as a family affected by Parkinson’s the true struggles that our community members face.

When COVID hit, we switched to Zoom classes to keep everyone moving. We set up outdoor get-togethers once a month to keep the social aspect going, while keeping our fighters safe. We didn’t allow COVID to completely take what we know our community needs.

What civic groups does Rock Steady support? We work with the Parkinson’s Movement Disorder Alliance, Tremble Clefs singing group, Baehr Foundation & Challenge, Arizona Assistance in Healthcare, Maverick Foundation, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Sun Valley Lodge (where our new gym will be located), and Millennium and Western Sky athletics. Co-owner Brad Stockwell is a Vietnam veteran and also volunteers at the Arizona Military Museum.

Why did you choose to open your business in Litchfield Park? We chose this area for the business to be easily accessible by the ever-growing elderly population in Surprise/Sun City and throughout the West Valley. Being a resident of Litchfield Park, I am also able to train clients in their homes without traveling far.

Tell us more about your family. I am a single mom with an amazing 10-year-old. Sadie is a sixth-grader at Western Sky Middle School, and is the current Miss Elementary Arizona Sixth Grade. We live in the Village with our bearded dragon, a Nigerian Uromastyx, a leopard gecko, two betta fish and western hog nose snake named JohnnyBoi.

Who is your biggest influence? My biggest influence is definitely my daughter! People who meet Sadie say, “She’s going to rule the world one day!” or “I want to be like her when I grow up!” I concur with both. She’s my biggest cheerleader, my biggest critic and my inspiration in everything I do.

What is your best piece of advice? I would advise that you find a need and find your passion, then find a way to mesh them together! Prepare to struggle a little at first, but do things for the right reasons, and you will eventually succeed.

Tell us something interesting about yourself, or your professional life. In addition to being a co-owner and head coach at Rock Steady Boxing, I work as a traveling makeup artist, nanny, pageant director, coach, and personal trainer.