Author, Manager & Inspiration for the Film Against the Ropes

Program: Give Life Your Best Shot: Jackie Kallen's Knock Out Strategies for Success

What would it be like to have Meg Ryan portray you in a movie based on your life? How did a suburban wife and mother break through to become one of the most successful players ever in a male-dominated industry? What does it take to bounce back from heart problems, both life-threatening and the proverbial "broken heart?" Jackie Kallen, the first and most successful female boxing manager and inspiration for the Meg Ryan film Against the Ropes is the one woman who has experienced and survived it all. At the podium, she reveals her secrets to overcoming adversity in all forms, including sexism, discrimination and life-threatening illness, with a certified fight plan for dealing with all of life's hard knocks.

Jackie Kallen had a colorful career before she ever met a boxer. An entertainment journalist who interviewed everyone from the Rolling Stones to Elvis and Sinatra, she had a life-changing moment when she interviewed six-time world champ Thomas Hearns. After falling in love with the sport of boxing, Jackie Kallen rose from being Hearns' and his crew's publicist to managing four champions and was ultimately nominated twice as Manager of the Year. She has also served as commissioner of the Female Boxers Association and has a wall full of awards and honors. Her life story inspired the Paramount film Against the Ropes starring Meg Ryan, and she was Associate Producer of the film and made a cameo appearance. She is also the author of the inspiring book Hit Me With Your Best Shot: A Fight Plan for Dealing With All of Life's Hard Knocks. Most recently, Jackie Kallen was the “Den Mother” on the first season of The Contender on NBC with Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard. Her rise to the top has not been obstacle-free… along the way, Jackie Kallen has survived a brush with breast cancer, a heart stent implant, and the break up of her thirty year marriage.

Today, along with managing several promising male and female fighters, Jackie Kallen has been named Youth Sports Coordinator for the LA County Sheriff Department. She targets inner city areas, such as South Central Los Angeles, where local kids are “at-risk” and sets up boxing gyms as a healthy alternative to gang life and other dangers. She is also very involved with local charities, particularly women's shelters. Jackie Kallen lives in Los Angeles.