Christy Paulk gets a kick being a teacher, student

Christy Paulk is both a teacher and a student in addition to working as an Operations administrative assistant at Mississippi Power’s Plant Daniel.

For 10 years, she has been the assistant coach at the East Central Boxing Club in Jackson County’s Big Point community, originally teaching the girl’s boxing team and now teaching women’s kickboxing classes.

“I got started in kickboxing as a form of self-defense,” said Paulk. “Boxing is great, but if I were to be attacked, most likely my attacker would be a man, so I wanted to learn kickboxing.”

She became interested in the sport in 1999 when her high school classmate and future husband, Denny, started the East Central Boxing Club for youths ages 8-18.

In the early years, their dates were spent travelling to boxing competitions, so it was only natural that Paulk became more active in it.

As a member of Plant Daniel’s wellness team, she recently offered to teach a month-long class after work to the female employees.

They met twice a week during July in the general assembly room for an hour of grueling kicks and punches that would make anyone break a sweat.

“The class at the plant included everything the class at the boxing club includes, except for the heavy bag workout, and we don’t use a speed bag at all,” she said. “I know, I know, Rocky was awesome, but it’s really hard to teach kids to use a speed bag, so we don’t have them at the club.”

Paulk considers the after-work class a blessing that provided an opportunity to get to better know her fellow female employees. Twelve ladies participated and they lost a combined total of 24.5 inches.

“When I started with the company in December of 2014, I came from a small business and the plant seemed huge,” she said. “The administrative team here is amazing. They are welcoming and very supportive of one another.”

Meanwhile, Paulk is focused on completing her bachelor’s degree in human resource management, motivating others with her can-do attitude.

“Mississippi Power is a great company and a great place to work. I encourage all employees to take advantage of every opportunity offered. When I started, I had two associate degrees but wanted to complete my bachelor’s. The company is reimbursing me for tuition and I should complete my degree requirement in November,” said Paulk.

When she isn’t working, studying or teaching kickboxing, she and Denny are busy with their three children – 11-year-old Soleil, 10-year-old Tucker and 3-year-old Tycen.