The question that I get asked most often is, “How did you get involved in this business?”
Well, I had actually been interested in being able to protect myself physically over 28 years ago when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. I had never really been afraid of being attacked before but being pregnant made me feel so vulnerable because I had this other human being inside of me to protect. Al
so, being pregnant, I felt less capable physically. Admit it, you can be in great physical shape but with those extra pounds from the baby you are not going to be able to run or move as fast as before. Also, taking a punch or kick to a stomach, which is going to hurt but could be tolerable and able to survive under “normal” physical conditions, becomes a matter of life or death for your unborn child. During this time I had an opportunity to take a self defense class taught by a lady with a black belt in martial arts…but the class did not teach us martial arts (something I really didn’t have the time, patience or desire to learn) but simple yet effective methods of protecting oneself. Not only did I memorize the techniques that she taught but I started researching and analyzing all areas of self protection….techniques, mind set, physiology, psychology and even things like why martial arts moves that work so well in a class do not really work in a real life situation. Over the years I always felt that I would be able to protect myself should a situation arise. Then a little over 8 years ago, I took a job as an apartment property manager in a low income inner city area. As part of the job, I was given a house to live in on the property. All of a sudden I found myself living in an area known for drug dealing and high crime. The majority of my tenants had criminal records and several were dealing and/or using drugs. Also, over half of them were always behind in their rents. Let me say that they were not real receptive to me insisting that they follow the rules of their leases including but not limited to paying their rent on time and much less impressed with me when I started evicting them. Needless to say, they reacted with various ways of trying to intimate and threaten me. I knew that if I let them, I might as well just quit…but it was a low time in my life and I needed the job and I needed the residence. So I developed the mindset that I possessed the knowledge and expertise it took to protect myself and my daughter and I refused to be intimidated. I realized that I may not be able to change the area itself but I made it my personal goal to rid the property of the dead beats and criminals and turn it into an apartment complex where people who worked hard could have a safe, clean, well maintained place to live that they could afford. In order to do so, my first focus had to be on the safety of me and my daughter, so I started actively putting into practice…mostly mentally…what I had learned over the years. I mention that it was mostly mentally because the first part of self protection is to understand that your mind is your greatest weapon. I came to realize that even though I knew a lot of moves and techniques, they may not be as effective against some of my tenants who were twice my size and sometime high on drugs. So I researched different kinds of weapons and was amazed at some of the awesome, easy to use, legal and effective weapons that were on the market. I also realized though that if a person just purchased a weapon without the knowledge of how to use it, the weapon could be used against them. I figured that other people, especially women, could benefit from my knowledge and also be interested in the products. So I turned it into a business and started holding workshops where I teach aspects of self protection and sell the devices. As our world seems to get a bit crazier each day, I am finding that more and more women are interested in learning how they can protect not only themselves, but their families and also their possessions. Today I have reached my goal as a property manager and not only have tenants that make honest livings, enjoy living there and pay their rent timely but have a waiting list of prospective tenants due to the reputation of our apartment complex. However, during these 8 years I have had:
A tenant with a lengthy criminal drug record who stood 6’6” tall and well over 200 lbs bend down (I’m short) and put his face so close to mine, I thought he was going to bite me. Four females (1 was a tenant and the other 3 were her friends) gang up me threatening me and one of them very anxious to take that first punch. A male tenant previously convicted for attempted murder (he had actually shot a man in the man’s own front door with the man’s child right there) screaming and threatening and waving papers right in my face. My office set on fire…seriously!!! A tenant run of his apartment as he was being attacked by his roommate with a knife and I had to talk the one with knife into putting it down
Been physically attacked by a stranger in the parking lot at night
And numerous other incidents. It’s been a great experience but I can say that because of my training and knowledge I survived each incident without any serious injury to myself. Self protection and survival have become my passions and I love the opportunity to provide the knowledge and tools to others.
