New businesses seek to make a difference in Milan
MILAN, N.M. —
The Village of Milan welcomed three new businesses to the community over the weekend. The Hair Studio, All About You Home Health Care, and Team Tapia Boxing Academy kicked off their joint business venture with a grand opening on Saturday, May 14. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the warm day was filled with fun activities, food, and, of course, boxing.
The grand opening took place at 614 W Highway 66, Milan, NM, and featured over 15 vendors. The event also included some prominent figures in the martial arts and boxing world, including MMA International World Champion Dylan Vargas and NM State Wealter Title Josh “Pitbull” Torres.
Vargas has 104 World Titles in MMA, and runs the Dylan Vargas Mixed Martial Arts Academy based in Gallup, NM, but the academy is also established in Grants, NM, out of JHM Gym on Lobo Canyon Road. Vargas trained with JHM business owner Joe Mandagaran for about 15 years before becoming a teacher himself, bringing the extracurricular activity of MMA to Gallup and Grants areas. Vargas’s students completed a sparring demonstration for the crowd in attendance at the grand opening.
When asked how it felt to see the boxing and MMA business grow within Cibola County, Vargas said, “Oh it’s a turning point. It’s long needed for the community itself.” Sharing how MMA and boxing has shaped and impacted his life, Vargas added, “The discipline factor, of course, which is really needed among the youth nowadays… That was my basis, in taekwondo, that’s where I started and then I started expanding to different styles of martial arts until I met Johnny [Tapia]. He took me in to work with my hands, because it was all just karate, and then I worked the boxing, and they really go hand-in-hand with helping each other. You know, with the footwork, the way your head movement needs to go, the hand placement, striking, different things like that. They all have a moral background of how to shape somebody’s character… It’s really good for anybody, not just the youth.”
As for Torres, he holds the NM State Wealter Title and the WBC Latino Title in boxing. Torres, like Vargas, also trained with the late Five-Time World Champion Boxer from Albuquerque, NM, Johnny “Mi Vida Loca” Tapia, before his passing in 2012. The three business owners also have connections with Tapia, which is how the boxing portion of the business ties in. All About You Home Health Care owner Eva Chavez is the sister of the late Johnny Tapia’s wife, Teresa Tapia, who also owns a branch of All About You Home Health Care in Albuquerque, NM. According to Chavez, her sister has spent 13 years in the home healthcare business and has been a support for her in teaching her the insand-outs of home healthcare.
All About You Home Health Care offers Medicaid-based services to disabled individuals, elderly, or medically fragile adults, including meal preparation, mobility assistance, hygiene, grooming, bathing, medication assistance, individualized bowel and bladder services, companionship, errands, and non-medical support. All About You will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chavez said it felt great to finally be at the grand opening of their business, and when asked about the day’s festivities, Chavez said with a smile, “When we have something, we go big. That’s just the way we are.”
As for The Hair Studio, owner Celina Chavez has been around the salon scene since she was younger. She never envisioned herself owning her own salon, but one day she realized it was an option and she ran with it. It took a bit of work to obtain the building and get everything prepared, but with her years of experience, Celina was ready to begin this business venture in Milan. Celina does both men and women’s cuts, and color for women, but she specializes in blonde. The hair stylist joked that she does everything for hair except perms. She also does eyebrow waxing. Business days and hours for The Hair Studio are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
Each of the three business owners are related, so Celina spoke on how the importance of family tied everything together in this venture and the opening day’s events: “We’ve always been really close. That was something that we wanted to do was to have something that we could all be together and also excel in business together.”
Finally, the head of Team Tapia Boxing Academy in Milan is Chris Chavez. The Chavez family was originally rooted in Albuquerque, NM, but moved to Las Vegas, NV for a few years, and recently now found their way back to New Mexico in the Village of Milan. “We want to make things happen here,” said Chris. Team Tapia started up a boxing gym in Albuquerque 22 years ago, then opened one in Las Vegas, NV, is opening this one in Milan, NM, and then is opening up a second one in Albuquerque. Chris spoke on the mission of Team Tapia and how it connects back to Johnny Tapia, his personal struggles, and his vision for the academy: “Johnny’s always wanted to do it for the kids, so we want the kids in there. If they’re in the gym, they’re not gonna be on the street. So that’s what we’re doing, we’re doing it for the kids. We want to help the kids, especially here. There’s a lot of drugs and we wanna get them away from that. If they’re in here and I can get them tired in the gym, they won’t go to the streets to the drugs.”
The services available through Team Tapia Boxing Academy are one-on-one training, youth classes, travels around the country for fighting experience, attending world championship tournaments, etc. According to Chris, kids can’t compete until the age of eight, but they can start training as early as six years old. However, like Vargas also pointed out, it’s not just for the youth, and Team Tapia has had fighters as old as 45 years old, said Chris. Those interested in getting involved can either call or drop by the business.
While The Hair Studio and All About You are open, Team Tapia won’t be open quite yet because they are awaiting the shipment of a new fighting ring, which will be on backorder until June 30. Once the ring is ready, Chris said the academy will likely be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., depending on the different classes they have scheduled. Team Tapia already has local partnerships in the works, such as working with GCCS Superintendent Max Perez to set up an after-school program for local students. “We’ll do it,” Chris said of the partnerships and providing for local youth. “I’m not saying we’re gonna try, we’re gonna do it. That’s all there is to it, we’re gonna do it.”
Chris also added for community members to keep an eye out for flyers and announcements because Team Tapia often facilitates boxing events. They recently did one at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, and they’re about to do another one on June 17 in Albuquerque. It’s going to be a Ten-Year Memorial event honoring Johnny Tapia at the Paradise Golf Course office, headlining fighter Josh “Pitbull” Torres and others.
Torres and another fighter that will be making an appearance at the June 17 event, Maximus “Gladiator” Moya, concluded the May 14 grand opening by putting their gloves and headgear on to go a few rounds in thering. Afterward, both boxers offered their best advice for local youth who might be interested in getting involved with boxing too.
“Just keep on pushing through and you can reach your dreams,” said Moya. Torres added, “I would say, the main rule is just to be consistent. Throughout my career, I’ve had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. I’ve had a rocky career; I’ve had highs and I’ve had lows. But throughout the entire time I’ve been a professional, I’ve been consistent with my work ethic. And I think that’s what’s brought me this far.”
Torres also spoke on what it means to see Team Tapia bring boxing to a small place like the Village of Milan, “I think it’s great because obviously we don’t get to come out here a lot and I’m sure that they don’t see a lot of big events like this… So it’s an honor to be a part of it and it’s exciting to see Team Tapia back in boxing. They were out for a little while, but to see them back in the game, it’s very exciting because Johnny Tapia was my trainer. He trained me for a couple years…. And throughout my career, I’ve always said that my goal was never to be a champion, never to be successful, but to inspire the youth.”
Eva, Celina, Chris, and Vargas all echoed the same sentiment of having their biggest priority be to inspire youth, give them something to do, build character, and have a positive, meaningful impact on the Village of Milan and Cibola County communities.