Daily Inspiration: Meet Jessica Deffenbaugh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Deffenbaugh.

Hi Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
13 years ago I started out as a fitness coach and corrective exercise specialist after having lost a ton of weight and after my own personal trainer helped me get healthy and get off of all my meds for my autoimmune diseases. I spent most of my childhood unhealthy and wanted to make a change. Three years in to opening that business I began martial arts. I have been training for over a decade now in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, judo, wrestling, and Muay Thai. I moved up to Big Bear in 2020 and opened my high altitude martial arts gym. Due to a nasty divorce at the time I had to close in 2023 and move back to Pasadena. I had reopened a gym there but unfortunately fell very sick and had to close that one as well. After recovering from the illness, I was able to move back up into Big Bear in September 2025 and now I am back to operating out of a nice large space in Big Bear Lake California running a martial arts Academy and physical rehabilitation company.

Alright, 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?
Absolutely not as stated in my prior interview it was a very hard time for me, especially in late 2023. I had divorced my husband in 2022 due to domestic violence and sadly, he ended up ultimately with the house and the gym under fraudulent pretenses. I had to rebuild myself completely on my own up until I met my wonderful fiancé Alex 💙 he has helped me immensely to get back on my feet after having everything taken from me.

Being a female martial arts Academy owner has challenges of its own. There are a lot of naysayers and a lot of people who don’t think women have any business running a martial arts gym since its against the status quo however I am determined to provide high-quality martial arts instruction to my students and guests.

Luckily, I’ve reached a maturity where I don’t allow the naysayers to get to me, and I just rely on my faith in God and my determination and grit to get through what I need to do in order to run a successful business

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
It’s not just a martial arts Academy I run it’s a community. I have worked very hard to custom tailor my environment to be friendly to everybody. We have law-enforcement officers, veterans, prior convicts, every day people, engineers, and parents all on the mat learning this wonderful art together. Everyone has the same goal to better themselves and become a lighthouse in their community by healing themselves in order to give other people around them permission to do the same we offer Brazilian jiu-jitsu and are IBJJF registered, Judo and we are USJA registered, Muay Thai and wrestling. I have been blessed with a wonderful team of instructors under me that helped me run this wonderful academy. I also offer a corrective exercise programs and low light laser therapy as well as Neuro kinetic feedback therapy and fascia stretching therapy. It’s basically a one stop shot up at 6752 feet altitude, which has proven to improve cardiovascular health.

What I am most proud of is how happy my students are on my mats. They could be having a very hard day, but by the time we are done with class, everyone is smiling. Everyone is laughing. That makes me happy because I know we are all struggling sometimes in one way or another and I’m very blessed to be able to provide a safe space for people to come learn martial arts and feel at home and feel a part of a community.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory was always sailing to Catalina Island with my grandpa Jack on his 27 foot-long boat…. once he moved to Costa Rica we would go visit him regularly and go on all kinds of adventures. So basically adventure time with grandpa Jack.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Thelighthouseacademyca.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicadoesjiujitsu
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.bobcat
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thelighthousechannelca
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/nxQe4djaGk

Image Credits
Shay Garcia