“Embrace the struggles that come with it all. You can find more motivation in struggle than you can in success. Oftentimes struggle leads to success. Dreams really do become a reality with hard work and dedication!"

Amplify: Tell us a little about yourself?
Marandola: I am half West Indian, of St. Croix descent, from my mother’s side and mix of Italian and Irish from my biological father. I was born and raised on the Cape and I am 44 years old. I started training for my career as a Mixed Martial Artist in 2002.

Amplify: When was your business established?
Marandola: Marandola Martial Arts was established in May 2021.

Amplify: What does your business offer?
Marandola: Our dojo offers a safe space for people to learn a variety of Martial Art styles while building confidence to navigate life. We offer techniques for self-protection and self-defense. Our programs are for ages five and up. The memberships we offer are Youth Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts which include strength and conditioning. We also train amateur Muay Thai and MMA fighters and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) competitors. And we plan to offer seminars soon.

Amplify: What inspired you to get into this business?
Marandola: As a kid I grew up off Old Barnstable in Falmouth and I was bullied a lot for being the only Black family in the neighborhood. My mom was the first Black woman to work the floor at the Hearth & Kettle in 1983-1984. Dealing with discrimination was a part of everyday life for me and growing older I needed an outlet. Thats when I began my Martial Arts journey in late 2002. One of my closest friends introduced me to MMA at a local gym. We started training together for about eight months before we joined the Eclectic Karate team. I fought my first professional MMA fight in the beginning of 2004. I had five pro fights while training at Eclectic Karate. On my first day of training, I met a man named Paul Curtin, the founder of Eclectic Karate, who I owe a tremendous amount of credit to for who I am today and where I have taken my career and business. Paul and I trained day-in and day-out for every single one of my fights (among other coaches and training partners) and I aspired to be as humble and humbling as he was. After Paul passed away in 2013, I knew I could never fight again without him in my corner, so I fixated on becoming the best coach I could to make him proud. I started my coaching career at Rocky’s Gym in 2014.

Amplify: What steps did you take to get your business started?
Marandola: After coaching in a four hundred square foot matted area for years, we outgrew the space and wanted to offer our clients more. My fiancé, Alexandra Jackson and I decided we wanted to branch off outside of a gym and open our own dojo. At the end of March 2021, we had found a space in town that was perfect and had it up and running in six weeks. We opened our first training facility in May 2021. My fiancé and I are brand new entrepreneur’s but with my twenty years’ experience in Martial Arts and her background in Legal Admin and Finance we knew we could make it happen.

Amplify: What struggles did you face when starting your business?
Marandola: Owning a business comes with a lot of responsibility. Responsibility to your clients, to yourself, to the government and is a huge risk in some areas. We have had to make mistakes to learn the process of running a business. We were fortunate enough to hire a company to help us make everything legal and legitimate but the struggle of trying to figure out how to balance both of our forty-hour work weeks and trying to get the business open in six weeks, while still running classes at the local gym was hard. It is still a slow grind. It’s tough having to both work full time jobs while also trying to grow the business and give our time and attention to our students at the dojo. We are open at the dojo approximately twenty hours a week during the evenings and offer some private sessions on weekends.

Amplify: What mistakes did you learn from when starting your business?
Marandola: The largest mistake we have learned from since starting our business is that we have completely undervalued the services we offer. We did not do a lot of market research on other dojos so we weren't even sure what our price competitors looked like. We just did what we thought people would pay or could afford based on our own financial situation. We wanted to make sure all kids had access to our services. When we were inside the local gym, we didn't really have any expenses but being in our own place now we have seen how many moving parts there are to a growing business and all the costs that are associated with that.

Amplify: Where do you see your business in five years?
Marandola: In five years, we hope to have two dojos established. Training fighters and giving people the confidence to feel safe in any situation. We hope to be offering more classes during the morning and day hours. The goal is for the both of us to be able to leave our full-time jobs so we can take our business to the next level. Over the next five years we want to get more involved with the community as well. Sponsoring more youth sport travel teams and supporting and collaborating with other local businesses on community programs and outreach.

Amplify: What are some words of inspiration you would give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
Marandola: Change your mindset. Accept that you won’t know everything, that you will make mistakes, and that it will not happen overnight. Embrace the struggles that come with it all. You can find more motivation in struggle than you can in success. Oftentimes struggle leads to success. Dreams really do become a reality with hard work and dedication!

Monthly membership packages range from $85.00 to $270.00 depending on which package you choose. You can also get a punch card for 10 classes of your choice (MMA & BJJ). Punch card expires in 90 days. To drop in to any scheduled class is just $22.00. Private sessions are $75.00

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Contact Info of Business: Cody Marandola, Alex Jackson
Location: 178 Teaticket Highway, East Falmouth MA 02536
Phone #: 508-356-7045
Facebook: @marandolamartialarts
IG: @marandolamartialarts
Website: www.marandolamartialartsllc.com
Email: marandolamartialarts@gmail.com