At the young age of 3, Jessica began learning and eventually performing the folkloric dances of her Colombian heritage in the family-oriented group ‘Los Embajadores Folkloricos Latino Americanos’ directed by her father. At the age of 6, her mother enrolled her in Flamenco classes at ‘Flamenco Ole!’ under the direction of Julia Lopez where she also became a performer. With the ability to freely express herself in front of audiences at such a young age, Jessica eventually broke out of her extremely shy demeanor.

Watching her older brother take classes in Kenpo Karate, Jessica became inspired and quickly expressed to her mother her desire to “do karate just like her big brother”. Her mother registered her for her first class at the age of 7 and she was immediately hooked. Jessica continued to train and was coached by both her father and older brother. In 1996 at the age of 16, Jessica earned her 1st degree black belt in Kenpo. Four years later, Jessica and her brother began studying Tae Kwon Do at DeStolfo’s Premier Martial Arts in Conshohocken, PA. In November of 2014, Jessica earned her 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do with honors promoting her to the rank of ‘Master’. Throughout all of her years in the art, she competed throughout the East Coast as well as Canada winning numerous trophies and medals in weapons, forms and fighting divisions both solo and on a team before she retired as an adult.