Zantha Sanderlin
Zantha Sanderlin is a brown belt at Peak Performance Mixed Martial Arts under Paul Halme in Keller, TX. She, like almost all female BJJ practitioners wears many hats. She is a physical therapist working for Keller ISD, owner of a Rodan + Fields skincare business, a mother to a high school son, band mom and jiu jitsu addict.
She became intrigued by this sport sitting on the sidelines watching her son on his BJJ journey. Dade had been training for two years when she finally decided to join him on the mats. So, in July of 2012 at 36 years old she started on her own path and hasn’t looked back.
“I distinctly remember my first Girls in Gis event. I was invited by Kristine Felts, and I remember being amazed that there were this many women getting to train together all at once. Even in our biggest classes, there usual was only 2-5 girls at a time. I was so impressed with organization and comradery of all these ladies. I started helping out however I could at the local events. When the opportunity to become an ambassador came up, I jumped at the chance to be officially part of this fantastic organization!”
Robin Seyler
Robin Seyler is a Purple Belt located in San Antonio and trains at RPBJJ Boerne Location. She served in the Army for 5 years. Now she is a mother to four children and recently became a grandmother. She started Jiu Jitsu after her two youngest sons gave it a try in 2013. After the first couple classes it became her passion. Sad news when her school changed its program. This made it where the schedule didn’t fit, and she wasn’t able to train anymore. Thankfully Robin saw a Girls in Gis flyer for an event in the San Antonio Area and went with some other friends. There she met one of our ambassadors and they directed her to a school that would work with her schedule. Now almost 10 years later and she is still doing Jiu Jitsu. If it wasn’t for Girls in Gis, she always states she might not be doing it to this day. Robin loves being a part of what Girls in Gis stands for; the comradery, the scholarship program and generally seeing her jiu-jitsu sisters established and new, to be better than they were yesterday.
Sue Cavazos
Sue Cavazos a purple belt under Patrick Almeida.
She has been training for about 6 years now. She started BJJ in 2017 at 25 years old walking around at 210lbs. It took a whole lot of “I can’t” and “no way” till she finally just got on the mats.9
Her gym like a lot of other gyms, she was one of maybe two other girls. She saw a Girls In Gis flyer on Facebook. She went and it was nothing like she thought it would be. The empowering feeling she was left with after that one event was overwhelming( in a good way ) talking about building up the woman’s community not just for us but for future generations in this sport and getting to meet a bunch of new woman doing the same thing she is doing is priceless. All things she knew she wanted to be a part of. After this event she came to any Texas event she could afford to attend. After about four or five events she hosted her 1st event at her academy in 2021 and started training to become a Girls in Gis ambassador
Jill Sandoval
Jill fell in love with martial arts after joining the judo club in college. After a 10 year hiatus from judo, Jill was tired of being out of shape and signed up her and her husband at a local BJJ academy. The mental aspect of the Jiu Jitsu game appealed to her inner nerd. Having been to only girl in her judo club and the only consistently training girl through purple belt at her BJJ academy, Jill was excited to discover Girls in Gis.
“I believe that my involvement with Girls in Gis ignited my passion for Jiu Jitsu. It is empowering to belong to a fabulous community of strong women all across the country. Girls in Gis has allowed me to meet tons of new people, make lifelong friends, learn great techniques and travel all over the place doing what I love to do…Jiu Jitsu!”
Jill is a black belt under Orlando Waugh. She and her husband earned their black belts the same day after 10 years on the mats. Off the mats, she has been a special education teacher since 2002
Lauren Oestreich
Lauren is a purple belt at Fitness Fight Factory under Evan Cutts in Haslet, TX. In Iowa, she started taekwondo and kickboxing in 2018. It wasn’t until she moved to Texas in 2020 that she stepped onto the mats for her first BJJ class.
She saw a Facebook post for a local Girls in Gis event and knew she had to attend. It was the first time she had ever met female purple, brown, and black belts! She was used to being the only female in class some nights, and it was inspiring to see a room full of women all training together.
“I love that Girls in Gis has something to offer everyone – whether it’s encouraging someone to attend their first jiu jitsu class or giving you the chance to train at a new gym and meet new people! Plus, a seminar by female black belts is unlike anything else. Reality is as females, our bodies are different and we may need to implement moves differently to find success, and their valuable insight on those details can be a total game changer.”
Off the mats, Lauren is an engineer at Bell Flight in Fort Worth. She’s married and trains with her husband – they have a little girl who also loves being on the mats.