In the dictionary of grit, right beside relentless, you will find 23-year-old Daniela Hechavarria.
"This is light," Hechavarria said with a laugh as she did hip thrusters with 80-pound weights in the gym.
Hechavarria's passion for athletics started in school while growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's where she first learned how to hold her ground and how to take someone else's.
"While the coaches were explaining everything at the end of the little camp, they were like, 'OK, I need a female and a male to come in and wrestle,'" said Hechavarria. "I was like, 'No, not me!' And one of my friends pushed me onto the mat."
Hechavarria lost, badly. While some people would tap out, that's not in Hechavarria's nature.
"I go back to the coach and I'm like, 'Hey, coach, excuse me. I'm going to be here for a month, and I'm going to beat that girl, and then I'm going to leave because I don't like this sport,'" said Hechavarria. "The coach laughed at me like, 'OK, yeah, see you tomorrow at practice.'"
Just one month of practice later, Hechavarria competed in a national Puerto Rican competition, taking home first place.
"It was like, 'Yes! I got it. I'm out.' And then, like, 'Wait, what do I mean I'm out? I just won this I can't be out!'" said Hechavarria.
In 2017, when Hurricane Maria struck, Hechavarria and her mom were forced to move to the United States. It also forced Hechavarria to wrestle on an all-boys team.
"They were like, 'Oh my God, there's a girl in here?'" Hechavarria said. "'She's going to get hurt. Somebody go get her, she's going to get hurt.' And I'm like, boom, boom, boom. I start throwing everybody, and the coach is like 'Oh my God, what is this?'"
Hechavarria would continue to compete internationally until wrestling started to take its toll.
"In the U.S., I was one weight class, and in Puerto Rico, I was a different weight," said Hechavarria. "So I would lose 20 pounds and gain 20 pounds and lose and gain. You get weaker because you're not eating, and I fell very badly on my head, and then I got a massive concussion."
Hechavarria walked away from wrestling, but not from the gym. She founded the
Spartan's Fitness Center
in Naples, where she trains mostly women, as she has been inspired by the strongest one she knows.
"My mom was a professional doctor in Cuba, and she came to this country with nothing," said Hechavarria. "We came with a suitcase, and she couldn't do her profession anymore. I saw her mental health just deteriorating. I was like, one day I want to own a gym. And I want to be able to give all the kids what they gave me, they gave me my mom back."
Despite any setback that seems too big an opponent to fight, Hechavarria teaches not to give up until that final whistle.
"If it's in your heart, you should go for it," said Hechavarria.