Meet Colleen Dye and Rafael Conti of West Coast Jiu-Jitsu in Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Colleen Dye and Rafael Conti.

West Coast Jiu-Jitsu was founded in January 2019 by a BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) practitioner and a passionate Jiu-Jitsu mom. Both share a desire to spread their love of the art with children and strive to make a positive impact in the community. Colleen developed a great passion for wrestling in high school and became a manager to be closely integrated with the team. When Colleen learned that BJJ shares many similarities with wrestling, and both boys and girls are welcome to participate, she enrolled her kids in a class. Colleen and her kids were taken with Jiu-Jitsu right away. Colleen’s children have been rolling for more than two years and bothof them compete in tournaments. It may have taken over 25 years and a bit of societal evolution, but Colleen is now a BJJ practitioner herself. Her drive to share this sport with others was the catalyst that led her to join forces with Rafael and to start a BJJ Academy. Colleen believes that Jiu-Jitsu can have a profound impact on the lives of everyone, especially children, who will reap the benefits from skills learned on the mat for a lifetime. Rafael was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After moving to Curitiba, Brazil when he was seven, he was introduced to Judo by a classmate, which marked the beginning of his martial arts career. When Rafael was 19, he moved to southern California in pursuit of new opportunities and was reintroduced to BJJ by a Brazilian childhood friend. In his early years, Rafael trained twice daily, seeking every possible opportunity to learn and improve on the mat. Rafael has spent over a decade advancing his skills in the art through studying, practicing, and competing. After becoming a Black Belt, he decided to pursue a dream of starting a BJJ Academy of his own. While Rafael’s accolades include being a national champion and a silver medalist in the world championships, his true gift lies in his ability to connect with people. His warm and caring personality wins over every person that meets him. For Rafael, Jiu-Jitsu is a lifestyle; it is an art that has directed the course of his adult years. His ultimate goal is to share the lifelong benefits of BJJ with the students at West Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy and beyond.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It is hardly realistic to say that starting any business is a smooth road; however, from the day that we opened for business the road has been predominantly smooth. The bulk of the challenges happened before opening day. Since opening in April of 2019, we have fought hard to find members for our gym. That is by far the greatest challenge we face on a daily basis. That being said, we have been fortunate to have a steady number of gym members so we have not faced financial stresses like one might imagine.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about West Coast Jiu-Jitsu – what should we know?
We are a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym. Our entire focus is Jiu-Jitsu. We started out as a kid’s-only gym, but over time we transitioned to weaving adults into our program as well. We are most proud of the relationships that we have built with our gym members. Some gyms are very political and competitive. Our gym is a family-friendly environment where everyone feels welcome and relaxed. Our most faithful members have been with us from the beginning and always support us by bringing in new members, spreading the word about our events and programs on social media, etc. I believe that our coaching style is unique in that our coaches are very talented in working with kids. Many Jiu-Jitsu experts are great at working with adults, but this does not always translate to working with kids. Our coaches are patient and have fun with the kids. Make no mistake, while we may not have a competitive vibe between our students, a large number of our students compete in Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and do incredibly well. We attribute this to their hard work, talent, and a desire to return to the mat week after week.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Jiu-Jitsu is a hard sport. It is not easy coming to class knowing you will get smashed. But the environment we create within the walls of our gym is motivating and uplifting. When we are training, our outside stresses vanish during the time that we are together. This leads to loyalty from our students both young and old, and as a result, we always maintain a strong number of members in our gym.

Contact Info:

• Address: 27071 Cabot Road, Suite 115
  Laguna Hills, CA 92653
• Website: www.westcoastjj.com
• Phone: 619-647-9734
• Email: westcoastjjacademy@gmail.com
• Instagram: @westcoastjj
• Facebook: West Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy
• Yelp: West Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy

Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.