I had an absolute blast with the Greek Life students at the University of Riverside!  I was really humbled to be a part of the Fraternity & Sorority Involvement Center’s unity week: their goal was to promote community and in fact this is the first time they have had a program like Students Fight Back for their organization.  What an honor! The pillar of focus for Tuesday was Friendship, and nothing says “BFF” like learning how to stand up for others as an active bystander and rocking your bod into ready position if a creeper makes a move!

I got a warm welcome right away—and I definitely have to give a special shout out to Carly (one of our incredible sponsors) and the Blue Team (I wore that shirt just for you gals)!

We dug into all the great tidbits of how to trust your intuition, being aware of folks who try to manipulate us and recognizing that ANYONE can be a creeper so it’s important to be aware.

The enthusiastic crowd of men and women were super engaged and willing to learn!  When it came time to get up and practice the badass ballet, I could see the confidence building in their eyes and it totally showed as they rehearsed the moves.  It gave me goosebumps!  Our volunteer “creeper” couldn’t have done a better job and we all had a laugh as we discussed groin strikes at length!

After the show I met many folks who said they were super empowered by the program, which is the best kind of feedback anyone can give us.  And I loved posing with ya’ll for photos afterwards…you are all so unique and inspiring!

Thank you so much UC Riverside for inviting me for your awesome event!  I won’t forget your hospitality, passion and energy.  I hope you move forward peacefully, in the spirit of friendship, and remember always that YOU ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR!

Cheers!
GFB Nicole

Girls Fight Back visited Pacific Hills High School yesterday and they raised the roof with their badass-ness! I love speaking to high school girls because they have such energy and passion about everything…especially in learning how to live fearlessly and recognize creepers! Mr. & Mrs. Wagner, the administrators who invited us, couldn’t have been more welcoming, supportive and thrilled to empower their girls…especially the Seniors heading off to college.

(the picture above links to a video of Nik and her creepy weirdo in action)

Together we laughed, we realized that our fav pair of heels can be an awesome improvised weapon and we learned that if someone grabs your leg in a fight…just kick ‘em with your other leg! These girls were super engaged and asked awesome questions which I love! And let’s not forget our awesome male volunteer who was a dynamite “creeper” for us and a perfect example of how men and women working together can create change.

Thank you so much Pacific Hills for letting me part of your community for the afternoon! You all seriously rock!

Cheers!
GFB Nicole

Want to know what I found out first hand after meeting a sassy group of high school seniors on Monday… Bay Area girls are BADASS! These ladies were so enthusiastic about learning the badass ballet that I had to keep reminding them that this is a no-contact course! Guess that means some local self defense classes are going to have a ton of new sign ups soon..which is awesome! Some of these gals are heading for international trips this summer so we talked about safety & travel tips as well as the standard awesome collection of empowering skills. These ladies are not only ready for college but for the world beyond! And of course a big shout out to the super mom, Claire Mallet, for putting this whole event together. It’s not every day that a group of high school girls get a personalized Girls Fight Back presentation before graduating! Keep on kicking ass and educating yourselves ladies, and thanks for letting me into your “girl group”!

-GFB Nicole

Traveling around the country I see a lot of diverse cultures. You can imagine speaking in the Minnesota “dontchaknow” is a bit different from speaking in “welcometoMiami.”

So when I recently spoke at Roanoke, a quite prestigious college on the Forbes and Princeton Review’s Who’s Who lists, I may have had some preconceived notions. Well first, we had blast. (Duh). The small but mighty crowd was rocking and rolling …a few of them got so cracked up they were even laughing out loud (or pretended to. I’ll take it.). And, of course, the southern hospitality rang true in this tight-knit school, many thanks to Community Programing. But one of my favorite things about speaking at Roanoke I didn’t expect: the age diversity was awesomesauce! I’m talking on both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. I was ecstatic to see this on such a historic campus! Mid-presentation, I had two women who were not students on campus, just senior community members, asking great questions and getting up practicing full-out knee-to-the-groin. Say what? And then…And then!! I had a local Girl Scout member approach me afterwards about bringing GFB to her school as part of a project to receive one of her patches. That’s right. Senior citizens, mid-aged parents, college kids and Girl Scouts all in one room learning the badass ballet. Ummm… Is this real life? This is a GFB dream-come-true, if you ask me. Stretching across generations to share the passion of living an empowered and fearless life at every age.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Roanoke College for taking the stand against violence. For leading the way in offering programs for a diverse community, regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, religion and so on. And for being living proof that you can be your own best protector and live an empowered life no matter how old or young you are. Ah. I’m filled with gratitude to see the spirit of GFB living across lifetimes.

Many thanks Roanoke for allowing me to be a part of your beautiful community for a night.. I look forward to seeing you again next year!

Love and Light,
GFB Bree

Calling all badasses! You must see this new promo video, which features clips from our Girls Fight Back, Students Fight Back and Fight Back on Spring Break programs, as well as a glimpse into the training sessions of the GFB Academy 2015! Watch now to see what we can do for your organization, your campus and your wonderful self! You are worth fighting for! Promo Video 2015