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Meet the CEO of Girls Fight Back, Nicole Snell. Nicole is an international speaker, trainer, and self-defense expert specializing in violence prevention and empowerment. G ET YOUR FREE sassy SEL F-DEFENSE GUI DE! Mail Meet Nicole PHOTO BY Amanda Rosenblatt Meet Nicole CEO & INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER Nicole Snell is an award-winning international speaker, TEDx Speaker, trainer, facilitator, and personal safety expert specializing in sexual assault prevention education, gender-based violence prevention, empowerment-based self-defense, and boundary setting. She received a full scholarship to attend Cal State University, Long Beach, as a President's Scholar and graduated with honors including Summa Cum Laude and Distinguished Student of Liberal Arts with a BA in Speech Communication. Nicole spent the next 12 years working as a Line Producer in the entertainment industry and produced over 75 shows worldwide. In 2014, she changed careers to women's empowerment, sexual assault prevention, and advocacy. She began working with the Department of Navy Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (DON SAPRO), facilitating Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) workshops at military installations worldwide including the Pentagon, NATO, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. She has trained service members at over 100 military installations to date. In 2020, Nicole purchased Girls Fight Back, now a Black woman-owned business, after 6 years of being a GFB Speaker because of her passion for empowering women, advocating for women’s rights, and her desire to make the world a safer place for people of all gender identities. Nicole is a dynamic speaker who is renowned for her ability to connect with and engage audiences of all sizes and across demographics. Her programs are evidence-based, trauma-informed, interactive, and inclusive. In addition to her role as CEO/Owner of Girls Fight Back, she is the founder of Outdoor Defense and a lead instructor for IMPACT Personal Safety & IMPACT Global. Nicole is also an NACP Credentialed Victim Advocate, a Credentialed ESD Professional, a subject matter expert and a survivor advocate. Her self-defense training includes IMPACT LA, Defense Against the Armed Assailant training, and FAST defense. She has traveled the world speaking, delivering keynotes, and facilitating workshops at over 450 military installations, colleges, high schools, Fortune 500 Companies, corporations, outdoor women’s retreats, hiking organizations, private groups, and more. In 2017 she volunteered in Fiji to teach self-defense to the women and girls in local villages. In 2022 she taught self-defense to groups in Rwanda, Thailand, and Mexico. Nicole has been featured in Women’s Health Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Runner's World, Outside Magazine, and Spectrum 1 News. She has also been a guest on over 40 podcasts, including the Nike Trained Podcast, Wild Ideas Worth Living, and Fox True Crime. Nicole won a People’s Voice Webby Award in May 2020 for her feature in the self-defense instructional video by Tastemade Travel in collaboration with IMPACT Personal Safety. She was also featured in a short film by HOKA called Time to Be Limitless which highlighted her love of solo hiking and empowering others with outdoor safety skills. MORE MEDIA In her spare time, Nicole is incredibly active and is a passionate outdoors adventurer. She is a HOKA Global Advocate and a writer for Treeline Review. She loves to hike (she summited Mt. Whitney in June 2022!), camp, backpack, ride horses, play sports, hit the gym, and travel the world, often solo. She's visited 34 countries to date. She is also an active volunteer in her community and an advocate for diversity and representation in the outdoors and beyond. Nicole is committed to ending violence in all of its forms and believes everyone has the right to walk through the world feeling safe, powerful, and confident. For more information, visit Nicole at her website: VISIT NICOLE BOOK NOW! "Her enthusiasm and her warmth are contagious; students invariably come out of her classes feeling stronger, happier, and more confident than when they came in. Nicole makes self-defense training fun as well as informative." —STUDENT, UCLA “Great tools to help feel capable and empowered when handling uncomfortable and difficult situ ations. Nicole is a great speaker!” -ATTENDEE , NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION Self-Defense Expert In addition to running Girls Fight Back, I'm a lead instructor for IMPACT Personal Safety & IMPACT Global. We teach full force self-defense skills around the world using adrenalized, realistic, scenario based training. LEARN MORE PHOTO BY Deborah Hart Founder Outdoor Defense As an experienced solo hiker, backpacker, camper and traveler, I created Outdoor Defense to empower people to enjoy solo outdoors activities & beyond with practical self-defense skills! LEARN MORE WATCH ON YT PHOTO BY Jovelle Tamayo CEO Girls Fight Back Girls Fight Back is the world-renowned personal safety and empowerment self-defense program for women, girls, and people of all gender identities since 2o01! LEARN MORE PHOTO BY MC2 Ramon Go International Speaker I have trained, facilitated, delivered keynotes and led seminars at over 90 US military installations in 11 countries for SAPR Victim Advocates, leadership and service members. I have completed over 450 speaking engagements and worked with clients in dozens of industries! BOOK ME! "Nicole's course provided me with the tactics, tools and confidence to feel empowered to fight back against people who would threaten my safety. I can't tell you how grateful I am for these skills and thinking. This course has really helped me to transition my thinking from a place of fear to one where I am worth fighting for and always have options! " - ANONYMOUS STUDENT, YES I'M HIKI NG SOLO PROGRAM

You are not alone and we have gathered a comprehensive list of resources to support survivors. G ET YOUR FREE sassy SEL F-DEFENSE GUI DE! Mail Resources SUPPORT A SURVIVOR RECOMMENDED READING You are not alone and help is available if you need it. CA & Los Angeles Area: Here is a comprehensive list of resources compiled by Peace Over Violence: The Survivor Referral Sheet Abuse in your family or with a partner? Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline : 1-800-799-SAFE National Domestic Violence Hotline (Spanish) 1-800-942-6908 Contact Hush No More for FREE counseling: 1-888-285-2161 Contact The National Center for Violence Against Women in the Black Community : 1-844-77-UJIMA (85462) Contact Operation For Hope : 1-888-HOPE-008 In a violent relationship? Call the National Dating Abuse Hotline : 1-866-331-9474 Are you experiencing coercive control? End Coercive Control USA - Learn more and get help Combating Coercive Control: The Quicksand Model® - online course Founder & CEO: Kate Amber MSc Someone stalking you? Call the Safe Horizon : 1-866-689-HELP Contact Stand Up Resources Were you sexually assaulted? Call the RAINN Hotline : 1-800-656-HOPE Call the National Organization for Victim Assistance : Hotline 1-800-TRY- NOVA(6682) Are you a survivor of incest? Contact Incest Aware Are you being forced to do anything you do not want to do? Have you been threatened if you try to leave? Have you witnessed young gi rls being prostituted? National Human Trafficking Hotline : 1-888-373-7888 End Slavery Now Traffick911 LGBTQIA Victim Information: Contact: NCEDSV Are you considering suicide? Call the Suicide Hotline 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)/1-800-273-TALK (8255) Call the Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-827-7571 Interested in FREE legal help? Contact A Case For Women Looking for a therapist? Gina Polesetsky, M.A., LMFT #133468 Specialties: BIPOC Individuals, Anxiety, Trauma, Incest, Relationships/Intimacy, High conflict divorce, separation, and co-parenting, Blended families and stepfamilies, Narcissistic abuse recovery SelfWorks , (914) 341-2628, Group Private Therapy based in NY with virtual sessions available. Other Resources: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE Crime Victims Helpline: 1-866-689-HELP Asking for help is one of the most courageous things someone can do. Support a SURVIVOR Support a Survivo Support a Survivor It can be hard to know what to do to help a friend or family member who discloses to you that they have experienced a sexual assault or a violent crime. Anyone who has survived a violent situation knows that coming forward and sharing can often be the most difficult part of the experience. We understand that this can be a complicated situation for you as a supportive friend and you may not know how to respond. In light of that, we have put together these tips on how to support a survivor. DOWNLOAD THESE TIPS Believe them! The single most important factor in a person’s recovery from sexual assault is whether or not they are believed. And they should be. Very few rapes or assaults are falsely reported. In fact, according to the FBI, only 2 – 8% of assault reports are false reports. Assure them that they did whatever they needed to survive. Survivors often suffer from feelings of guilt and shame. Reassure them by telling them they did nothing wrong. Don’t blame them and don’t agree if they blame themselves. Remember that no matter what, no one deserves to be assaulted and that the only person to blame for a crime is the criminal. Communication is key – ask the survivor what they want or need. This also helps them regain their power by empowering them to make choices for themselves. Allow the survivor to make choices for themselves, no matter how small. The predator/criminal took away their power to choose, so it is very healing for them to be able to make choices. Be patient. Make sure the person you are supporting is not in imminent danger. If they are, offer to assist them by accompanying them to get medical attention or law enforcement involvement if they feel safe and comfortable doing so. Make sure the survivor is attending to their own physical needs (eating, sleeping, etc.) and if they are not, offer to assist. Encourage the person to broaden their support network with either counseling, peer support groups or online support. Ask and follow their lead when it comes to physical reassurance. Ask before you hug them, hold their hand, etc. Let the survivor be in charge of the conversation and always respect their boundaries. Don’t ask for details about the assault. Remember you're there to listen and support. We're friends, not investigators. By allowing them to talk, you let them reclaim their voice. Respect the survivor’s privacy. Don’t discuss what you are told with others. The assault is not about you or your ego. Do not seek revenge against the assailant. Break the cycle of violence. Make sure you are finding support for yourself. If you find yourself unable to support this individual, be honest about it. I am sorry this happened. It’s not your fault. I believe you. I’m here to listen. Thank you for trusting me. What do you need from me/us? I am here for you and I support you. Are you open to receiving medical attention or professional counseling? Would you like for me to go with you? Helpful Phrases Recommended Reading Recommended Reading The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker If you are interested in gaining an awareness of the world around you and learning how to spot signs of danger before it’s too late, this book is an absolute must read. It is the primer by which we created the Girls Fight Back program and should absolutely be required reading for EVERYONE before they graduate from high school. I shared this book with my son when he was fourteen and I am confident that having this knowledge will help him to be safer in the world. Please buy a copy for yourself and your loved ones. GET IT HERE I’m a paragraph. Double click me or click Edit Text. It's easy to make it your own. Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane) by Gavin de Becker This follow up book to The Gift of Fear takes the basic lessons from that book and applies them to parenting and keeping our children safe. This is a must read for anyone with kids. Topics in this book include: what to teach our children about talking to strangers, how to interview a prospective babysitter day care provider or school, how to spot sexual predators, what to teach your child about what to do if they are lost, and what to teach your teenagers to help them stay safe. GET IT HERE Beauty Bites Beast by Ellen Snortland This book explains why learning self-defense is such an important skill for women and is a great intro to feminism for young women as well! In addition to presenting strong arguments for why all women should learn self-defense, Ellen peppers this book with real life stories of survivors. Powerful and an engaging read. GET IT HERE I’m a paragraph. Double click me or click Edit Text. It's easy to make it your own. The Safety Godmothers: The ABCs of Awareness, Boundaries and Confidence for Teens by Ellen Snortland & Lisa Gaeta One of the basics that all children learn when they go to school is the ABC’s. What they don’t usually learn, but all really need, is the ABC’s of safety. Ellen Snortland and Lisa Gaeta have stepped in to fill the void with their essential new book. Through the riveting true stories of 26 interviewees, they spell out the basics of what we all need to know to be safe and live with confidence. GET IT HERE Stop Signs: Recognizing, Avoiding and Escaping Abusive Relationships by Lynn Fairweather Most abusers display warning signs that intelligent women miss—mostly because the majority of women have not been trained to recognize them. In this groundbreaking book, Lynn Fairweather—an expert in the field of intimate partner violence response and prevention—provides women with the information they need to recognize dangerous men before they become victims of abuse. GET IT HERE I’m a paragraph. Double click me or click Edit Text. It's easy to make it your own. My Story by Elizabeth Smart Most people are familiar with the story of Elizabeth Smart, kidnapped from her home at 14 in the summer of 2002 and enduring 9 months of brutal captivity and abuse before being reunited with her family. What you may not know is that she is now a nationally recognized advocate for children’s rights and the President of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. GET IT HERE The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley Amanda Ripley’s book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—And Why, focuses on how humans react in disasters or stressful situations and how those reactions can save us or doom us. This intellectual approach to examining human response is both intriguing and enlightening into how you view the normal and the extreme risks that we are all exposed to in our day to day lives. Ripley teaches readers about The Survival Arc which includes the stages of 1) Shock, 2) Deliberation, and 3) The Decisive Moment. GET IT HERE I’m a paragraph. Double click me or click Edit Text. It's easy to make it your own. Everyday Survival by Laurence Gonzales At Girls Fight Back, we focus on using your intuition as one of the greatest tools of personal safety. Gonzales examines how the mind works in patterns to make us more safe at times and at other times to put us in more danger. Awareness is always the key, illustrated by the story he tells of a firefighter who sets his watch alarm to go off every hour during a fire. This is a great read to start you down the path of awareness. GET IT HERE Now I Speak by Anna Nasset On November 4th, 2011, in Port Townsend, Washington, Anna Nasset was creating a window display after hours at the art gallery she proudly called her own. When a man appeared before her with a painting under his arm, Anna experienced the briefest moment of hesitation before opening her door—and her world—to a man who would stop at nothing in his attempts to tear her life apart from that moment forward. That is, until Anna decided to stand up and fight back. GET IT HERE The Macho Paradox by Dr. Jackson Katz Bestselling author Jackson Katz is a pioneering educator and activist on the topic of men's violence against women. In this revised edition of his heralded book, Katz outlines the ways in which cultural ideas about "manhood" contribute to men's sexually harassing and abusive behaviors and that men have a positive role to play in challenging and changing the sexist cultural norms that too often lead to gender violence. GET IT HERE Dear Brain You Have My Attention by Shirkydra Roberts In Dear Brain, You Have My Attention, author Shirkydra Robers takes you along side her present experience as she journeys through her Cognitive Process Therapy sessions in hopes of finding a whole version of herself. She spent years healing from childhood trauma but eventually reached a season that was unfamiliar, uncertain and that required her extra attention. This book is for children, adults, teens, all genders, and all VICTORS who have battled being loved or have wanted to love beyond the mental block, built from any form of trauma. GET IT HERE The Anxiety Hack by Faye R. Williams We all experience stress and anxiety. I’m a retired police officer of 32years. During my career, I have had almost a dozen of my former co-workers who have taken their own lives, and sometimes even their family members’ lives. I believe that several of them had some anxiety issues which went unaddressed. First responders have a high rate of suicide and that is concerning to me. My book is for everyone, but I really hope many first responders will read it. GET IT HERE

Testimonials PHOTO BY Stephen Martin VeryWellFit voted Girls Fight Back 2021-2023 Best Online Self-Defense Class for Groups & Organizations! Kimberly Schrader Title IX Coordinator Knox College “You were graceful and patient, as always - and still brought your enthusiastic and authentic self. Thank you, once again, for an exciting, expert, sensitive, and informed evening of information sharing and skill-building. All of them had great things to say and learned much. One person stayed behind to chat and not only shared a good deal about their experience(s), but also told me they left being very glad they’d come. Thanks again for your critical and life-changing work.” Lori Newell, MS, HS-BCP, CA Workplace Violence Prevention & Response Coordinator, National Oceanic and Atm ospheric Administration (NOAA) "Nicole's presentation was remarkable! Her presentation ranked in the category of highest registrants coming in 2nd to our all time high. We have received nothing but positive comments and the employees found the information to be of great value. Our VAL's are looking forward to her training session next week. Nicole is a joy to work with and we look forward to many more future collaborations." Bishal Adhikari Student Activities Council Director of Lecture Programming Northwest Missouri State University “Students Fight Back was successful, our students got to learn Badass Basics, and that was very important. I personally liked it when she explained setting up healthy boundaries, when to say no. The audience interaction was great. I will definitely recommend this presentation to my colleagues. The Q&A time was enough and there was great student engagement during Q&A sessions. Lasty, I want to thank Nicole for being kind and humble and teaching something that was necessary for our students.” Brigette Kidd "You are doing your passion, and it shows. Thank you so much for the professional self-defense class, as you handled my 'sticker' comments exceptionally. I appreciate having worked with you and participating in your first public class. I have gained tools I can use as I navigate the streets of LA daily and in my international travels. ” NRPA Attendee "Nicole was engaging and made me feel empowered to set boundaries for myself both emotionally and physically." Jennifer Reardon Western Region Coordinator Cornell University Extension “Nicole is a force to be reckoned with! The workshop was terrific! Fabulous! Nicole is an engaging, energetic presenter who provides information any human can use to protect themselves. It was clearly presented with an organized flow and included common language and skills everyone can use. I would recommend this seminar to absolutely everyone.” "Nicole’s self-defense workshop opened my eyes to the power I have within my own body to fight and protect myself and that is a priceless gift. Thank you so much, Nicole." - KAITLIN RODRIGUZ, HOKA Michelle Paul Associate Director of Student Affairs Davenport University “Nicole's presentation was great. She asked good questions beforehand to understand our population and structure in order to teach relatable material to our student body. She's a great speaker - very enthusiastic, knowledgeable, charismatic, and active. I love the active participation she brings! No matter the type of student, they always participate." John Pilmaier NOVA Conference “I was at the NOVA Conference and wanted you to know I was blown away by your presentation. Thank you! I am also a survivor of childhood sexual assault by a member of the Catholic clergy. I have been having issues with some family members such as "but they've changed" "but there is a baptism" "but that was a long time ago and they don't do that anymore"...you know where I am going. Thank you for reminding me that I can say "No" and not second guess myself or feel that I have to make any excuses.” Jill Henry Flintridge Prep Girls Cross Country Coach “We had an amazing self-defense session at practice on Friday to teach our girls cross-country team some basic safety tactics. The 75-minute session was really well-paced and very digestible, and the trainer, Nicole is amazing: super high energy, easy to work with, very professional. I want her on anyone's radar in case there's an opportunity to bring her into physical education, to work with athletic teams, or to offer something for the general student body. The girls raved about the session, and I hope we can do this again in the future!” Nikia Acy Marketing Director Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals “It was AMAZING having you host this event. Everyone loved you, your energy, and the skills/tips you provided. I just want to thank you 100 more times!!” Brenda Bravo Latinas In Power Westchester Community College “We loved it! Nicole was great she was really helpful and the students enjoyed the event as did I. Thank you for working with us! I hope we can have more events together in the future.” Sarah Cannery Rise.Run.Retreat Women’s Retreat “Nicole was fantastic and the presentation went really well. It was great to have such an interactive virtual experience. I’ll be in touch in the coming weeks about a potential partnership for another one of our fall Virtual Retreats–it was great to have Nicole as a guest speaker and we’d love to have her back.” This session made self-defense seem less intimidating and more accessible and easier to use. - ATTENDEE, HOKA Annie Powell Spokane Falls Community College “This should be taught everywhere!” Des Sedaghat District B Representative Los Feliz Neighborhood Council “All in all it was PERFECT! Nicole is so wonderful and everyone else I heard from loved everything about the webinar as well.” Student She Jumps “Truly appreciated that Nicole grounded us in knowing that we are worth fighting for, our lives our worth fighting for, our bodies are our best tool, to trust our intuition, and whatever we do to stay alive is the right thing. She fit a lot of food for thought for keeping ourselves safe into 1.5 hours.” Anastasia Allison Founder, Kula Cloth “ I have to say that Nicole's class was AMAZING. I had the opportunity to moderate it yesterday and it was engaging, empowering, and impactful. I could sense a noticeable difference in the participants over the course of the hour. Nicole is SUCH A TRUE GIFT to this world - so thank you for giving us the opportunity to share her message with our community. I have never seen so many positive comments at the end of a presentation before - it was really incredible. So, again, thank you!” Student Kula Cloth “Your energy and confidence is infectious. I feel like you gave a piece of it to each of us, lit our candles with your flame, and that we're all walking away more empowered. As someone who usually avoids eye contact and says nothing to people I don't want to interact with, I learned some invaluable things. Recommending to all my friends!” Jennifer Labate Director of Title IX & Disability Services Post University “I just wanted to tell you how much our faculty, staff and students enjoyed your presentation last night. We greatly appreciated your insight, enthusiasm and humor. It was a pleasure working with you. Thank you so much!” This training was one of the best I've ever taken. Nicole Snell is an expert in the material and conveys it so well. She is outstanding! I learned so much and hope I can remember all of it. She gives practical tools that can and should be practiced. I often travel with others and can, I think, become complacent. She conveyed how awareness and gut instincts are so important. Thank you. - ATT ENDEE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) Ashley Hoffman Student Programming Board Chair University of Minnesota–Crookston “She was fantastic at engaging students and keeping their attention. Good energy and mixture of activity and lecture. People who we never see at our events came up to us and thanked us for bringing her to campus.” Becky Wieder Mother of Lisa Wieder “I’d like to thank Bree Swartz for participating in Safe Break on March 9, 2016 at the University of Oklahoma. Safe Break was established in 2004 by two sorority sisters to honor the memory of our daughter, Lisa Wieder, who died during Spring Break that year. My husband and I tell Lisa’s story each year at OU during Safe Break, and Bree’s presentation was a wonderful addition to the overall program. Bree did an awesome job. Girls Fight Back is an awesome program and a wonderful way to honor the life of Shannon McNamara. We are thankful to the OU family for honoring our Lisa each year, and we hope we can honor Shannon as well by getting the word out about Girls Fight Back. Thank you again!” Student Affairs Professional “Nicole was WONDERFUL. We have a small campus and sometimes our audiences can be small. In the past, this has almost bothered presenters in some way (much more intimate than they are used to, I suppose). Nicole was not bothered at all. She embraced all of the students and made great use of the intimate setting. She is such a dynamic and engaging speaker, and the students really enjoyed her. I cannot praise her enough.” Indiana Tech “Students Fight Back was the perfect combination of informative presentation coupled with audience interaction. Nicole did a great job of keeping our students engaged the entire evening! The progression of the presentation from hands-off skills (intuition, awareness, boundary-setting) to basic self-defense moves was terrific. The level of student engagement at the end of the night made it obvious that Nicole’s presentation was very empowering and left the students wanting to learn more. Because of this, we look forward to having Students Fight Back programming on our campus again in the future! “ Sarah Hilston HACC – York “I’ve worked in Student Activities for some time now, and Girls Fight Back completely blew me away with their presentation. They were prepared, prompt, engaging, and professional. I haven’t been this impressed with an event in quite some time. Bree was engaging, dynamic, and poised. She connected with our group of students, and kept the presentation fun and interactive.” Blair Dunlevy Denison University “Girls Fight Back was easily the best program I have seen come to Denison since I have been here. It was educational and entertaining. The women who went could not stop talking about it the next day. I will take what I learned from Erin and use it for the rest of my life.” This empowering session provided insights AND actionable solutions to remain safe, as well as fight for your boundaries and safety, as needed. Highly recommend! - WOMEN LEADERS OF LANTHEUS BOOK NOW!

We have a variety of programs available to meet the needs of any community! G ET YOUR FREE sassy SEL F-DEFENSE GUI DE! Mail Our Programs Available In Person, Virtually, or Hybrid COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL CORPORATE MILITARY OUTDOOR And more... TECH NEEDS FAQs GIRLS FIGHT BACK The world-renowned personal safety and empowerment self-defense program for women and girls worldwide since 2001! LEARN MORE STUDENTS FIGHT BACK Students of all gender identities can benefit from learning the basics of personal safety and self-defense! Title IX Compliant! LEARN MORE YES I'M HIKING SOLO Learn simple & practical self-defense skills to feel safe wherever the outdoors or your travels take you. LEARN MORE S.A.V.E. Safety, Assertiveness, Violence Prevention, and Empowerment (S.A.V.E.) is for corporate, military, or non-student groups. LEARN MORE FIGHT BACK ON SPRING BREAK Fight Back on Spring Break is a specialized version of Students Fight Back with travel safety strategies and party-safe tips! LEARN MORE Feel confident setting boundaries and claiming your personal power. Learn how to handle awkward encounters in an empowered way! LEARN MORE The Badass Basics Workshop Learn and practice a variety of verbal and physical self-defense techniques in a small group setting with focus mitts. LEARN MORE FULL LIST OF PROGRAMS "I love that her skills are so simple, effective, and practical, and can be applied even if you don’t have a self-defense background." —MEG JERRARD, CO-FOUNDER, SOLO FEMALE TRAVELER'S CLUB Girls Fight Back College, K-12, Private groups, Advocates, Conferences, & More The Girls Fight Back seminar is designed to be a safe space for women, femme, and girls including cis, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals, to learn about verbal and physical self-defense strategies. This program is great for colleges, sororities, high schools and other all women+ groups who want to learn skills to be their own best protector. We combine core values, a fun and empowering attitude, and the best safety and self-defense methods available. You are worth fighting for! The program is 90 minutes + Q&A and includes these key components: Using your intuition Foundations of safety Recognizing tools of manipulation How to be an active bystander and a supportive ally The definition of consent How to support a survivor How to set boundaries that work for you Verbal de-escalation skills The basics of physical self-defense in our Badass Basics Plus a review of improvised weapons, ground fighting, and how to sign up for a full-contact adrenaline based self-defense course near you! BOOK NOW DOWNLOAD BROCHURE GFB Students Fight Back College, K-12, Private groups, Advocates, Conferences Students Fight Back is a NASPA Award-Winning, gender inclusive and Title IX compliant prevention, empowerment, and safety seminar. I believe that people of all genders can benefit from learning personal safety and self-defense skills. And when we all come together to be active bystanders, we can create safer communities. The program is 90 minutes + Q&A and includes these key components: Using your intuition Safety strategies – awareness, eye contact, verbal boundaries Recognizing tools of manipulation How to be an active bystander and a supportive ally The definition of consent How to support a survivor How to set boundaries that work for you Verbal de-escalation skills The basics of physical self-defense in our Badass Basics Plus a review of improvised weapons, ground fighting, and how to sign up for a full-contact adrenaline based self-defense course near you! BOOK NOW DOWNLOAD BROCHURE SFB Fight Back on Spring Break College, K-12, Private groups, Advocates, Conferences Fight Back on Spring Break is a specialized version of Students Fight Back that is also gender inclusive! This program includes all the topics from Students Fight Back and adds in practical and non-restrictive travel & party safe strategies that students can use during all of their Spring Break adventures. Plus, they'll learn skills for how look out for each other more actively and manage their everyday encounters during Spring Break or any time they want to be social, have a good time, or travel away from home. This program is also 75 mins + Q&A. BOOK NOW FBSB S.A.V.E. Corporate, Military, Realtors, Private groups, Advocates, Conferences Safety, Assertiveness, Violence Prevention, Empowerment (S.A.V.E.) is a gender inclusive program designed for companies, businesses, or any non-student group that wants to empower their community and employees with personal safety tools, discussions on how to avoid unwanted social interactions with colleagues and co-workers, de-escalation strategies, and how to use verbal strategies to avoid confrontations. We will address the importance of intuition and awareness when managing our safety, and how to be an active bystander for others. The program can include discussion and practice with physical self-defense techniques. This program is 60min + Q&A and can be customized to fit a variety of corporate needs. BOOK NOW DOWNLOAD BROCHURE SAVE Yes I'm Hiking Solo: Self-Defense for the Outdoors Outdoor Groups, Brands, College, High School, Corporate, Military, Etc. Ever been worried about your personal safety when hiking or traveling solo? Do you want to feel confident and independent venturing out on your own? Have you been wanting to learn some badass, simple, and effective self-defense moves for your hiking, backpacking, and camping trips? Then join Nicole, an experienced solo hiker, camper & traveler as she teaches practical and realistic self-defense strategies to empower you to feel more confident about exploring the outdoors or wherever your adventure takes you. Safety is often the #1 barrier that keeps people from experiencing the outdoors or going on a trip. Nicole specializes in alleviating that fear and replacing it with education to open up people's access to exploring the outdoors, and the world, on their terms. The program is 60-75 minutes + Q&A . Now available as an online/on-demand course! BOOK NOW DOWNLOAD BROCHURE YIHS Boundaries for Personal Empowerment College, Military, Corporate, Advocates, Conferences, High School This interactive and gender inclusive program is designed for any group that wants to feel confident setting boundaries in professional and personal settings. Want to know how to handle awkward encounters with people you know in an empowered way? Then this session is for you! We 'll discuss the importance of speaking up for your needs, trusting your intuition, and using clear, assertive communication. It will provide tools to help you recognize manipulative behavior as well as feel better equipped to be an active bystander. The goal is to enable you to confidently enforce your boundaries in direct and respectful ways. The tools learned can be used every day and the practice of them can ultimately lead to forming stronger relationships in our work, school, romantic and interpersonal interactions, along with helping us navigate our day to day social exchanges. This program is 60-90min + Q&A and can be customized to fit a variety of corporate needs. BOOK NOW DOWNLOAD BROCHURE BFPE Badass The Badass Basics Workshop College, K-12, Corporate, Outdoor Groups, Private Groups, Public Classes This hands-on, empowerment-based self-defense workshop is designed to be a positive and supportive space for women and people of all gender identities and expressions to learn practical safety skills. These skills can increase your confidence and help you gain independence for walking through the world and doing the activities you love. This small group workshop addresses the basics of personal safety along with non-physical and physical self-defense skills. Participants will have the opportunity to practice the skills through body movement, interactive activities, and striking focus mitts using the techniques taught. The program is 2hrs. 15 Students Max BOOK NOW Not sure which program is for you? Let's discuss your needs! MORE PROGRAMS More Programs Available Below: CONTACT ME! Frequently Asked Questions How do I book you for an event? It’s so easy! Contact us here and we’ll get back to you ASAP. (During the work week, our turnaround time is about 24 hours.) Let us know your potential dates and the program you're considering and we can discuss pricing and work on making it happen. Although most of our presentations are booked by organizations/companies/schools/military groups, we can work with individuals, families, groups of friends, etc. There is no audience too small or too large for me to empower! I'd love to speak and/or train at your event! How do I sign up for a GFB class/workshop/event? We get this question a lot. 99% of our keynotes & trainings are booked by private groups and are for that specific college, campus, corporate workshop, military installation, organization, company, private group, etc. so they aren’t open to public registration. If you would like to organize your own private GFB program for you group, you can reach out to us about that here . Nicole also offers One-On-One virtual sessions for those who want a private, individual session. Learn more here . Or, if that isn’t feasible, we highly recommend that you download our Sassy Self-Defense Guide . This Guide contains some of our favorite safety and self-defense strategies and a list of full contact self-defense classes that are open to the public, endorsed by GFB, and you can sign up for in your area. We also recommend checking out some of the books on our Recommended Reading List . Start by picking up a copy of The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker (most of what we teach is based on the spot-on safety information in this book). We also work with groups that arrange virtual sessions that ARE open to the public. Stay tuned to the GFB Instagram and Facebook pages and my newsletter where we announce those classes and how you can sign up to take one! Nicole is now offering a few public classes in LA throughout the year. Sign up for our email newsletter to be the first to know when a class is open for registration. You can also check Nicole's Link Tree for the most current offerings. Are your programs gender inclusive? Can men come too? What if I identify as trans, non-binary, non-conforming, or gender fluid? I can and do teach people of all gender identities! Everyone is welcome! When clients are interested in having individuals of all gender identities join, we typically present the program as Students Fight Back (for colleges or student groups) or SAVE (for non-student organizations). Any of our programs can be customized to be gender inclusive or to address specific concerns related to how someone identifies including race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, etc. No matter how you or your group identifies, I would be delighted to teach you how to be your own best protector and include relevant stats for your community. Most of what I teach is applicable to people of any gender and I address specific contexts when needed. I believe that we all can benefit from learning the basics of how to defend ourselves along with how we can be better allies to each other. What type of self-defense do you teach? This is often the first question I am asked when I say that I teach self-defense! I get it, though. Most people hear the term self-defense and they immediately think of punching, kicking, martial arts...the physical strategies. There is a common misconception that "self-defense" only means physical skills to stop an attack in progress. Although I do have martial arts experience, what I teach is not a martial art or sport combat. I teach for the real world using trauma-informed, evidence-based, and victim-centered training methods to address gender-based violence and personal safety. This is known as empowerment based self-defense. I teach simple, practical and empowerment based strategies for risk recognition, awareness, boundary setting, verbal de-escalation and physical defense. Self-defense is more than physical! My teachings are based on the methods of IMPACT Personal Safety, FAST Defense, and have been informed by violence prevention experts like Gavin de Becker and peer reviewed studies on the topic (including psychology and neurobiology) spanning decades. I'm a subject matter expert and I have years of training in full force self-defense using realistic scenarios that are adrenaline based with equal focus on verbal and physical components. It's important to note that there are no guarantees. We can each only do the best we can to manage our safety and live our lives as confidently and freely as possible. Self-defense isn't about what you should do, it's about what you can do! I teach verbal and physical skills in an upbeat, positive and fun environment that can be executed by anyone of any gender, body size, height, athletic ability, etc. I will show you how to use your own body to help you get to safety as quickly as possible. There are no fancy moves or complicated steps to memorize in any of my programs. And it doesn't take years of training to be effective at protecting yourself. This means that after one of my 60-75min sessions you'll have a variety of practical skills you can start using immediately in your own life to set boundaries, recognize danger, and verbally or physically protect yourself. What topics are addressed in the GFB presentation? GFB, and all of our gender inclusive program offerings are empowerment-based violence prevention programs designed to help all of us work together to increase our own personal safety and be a part of creating a safer campus, culture, and world. "Self-defense" is about more than physical skills, which is why this type of education is a form of primary violence prevention as it addresses the root causes of violence and helps to prevent it before it happens. We include the facts about violence and how it affects us and then teach our audience a range of skills for addressing situations that can range from uncomfortable to potentially dangerous including how to trust their intuition, applying situational awareness every day, verbal de-escalation tools that can you get out of a bad situation before it gets physical, how to use “NO” confidently in setting and enforcing boundaries that work for you, how to be a better ally and an active bystander to create safer communities, how to support a survivor, the definition of consent and enthusiastic consent, and an intro to physical self-defense, or what we like to call the #BadassBasics. If you have specific topics you'd like addressed, let us know and we can customize a program for you! Where are you located? GFB is based on the West Coast, and we travel to any location in the world where a client needs Nicole to be for an in person event! We also offer virtual trainings in case an in-person event isn't possible for your group. What kinds of groups do you speak to? Really, we’ve done it all. Corporate events, high schools, middle schools, colleges & universities, the US Military, construction groups, modeling agencies, BIPOC community groups, elderly community homes, US Government organizations, Jewish youth camps, athletes, karate schools, Fortune 500 companies, outdoor groups/retreats, conventions, sales teams, running groups, tech industry personnel, healthcare industry workers, neighborhood groups, professional sports, au pair associations, private groups/families – pretty much any gender inclusive group aged 12+ will enjoy these programs. Also, for younger audiences, we will adjust our content to match your group. See “Can you tone it down?” further down the FAQ list. ☺ Our group is religious/conservative. Can you tone it down? We totally respect that, and yes, we can reel in the sassy. Our presentations can be as edgy or as tame as you are comfortable with. Just mention this during the booking process, and Nicole will also discuss this with you prior to the event. How many people can you speak to at once? Our average crowd is several hundred. Our largest crowd was 3,000 and our smallest group was 3. No crowd is too big or too small – we make it work and our motto is that whoever is there is supposed to be there! That said, most GFB programs are designed for larger groups – it’s not a hands-on class or a small workshop, but a high-energy, interactive, live show. However, we do have a 2hr hands-on workshop available for small audiences (max 15) if you’re interested. It’s called, The Badass Basics Workshop! Will we get to beat up someone during the show? Nope. Our program is “no contact” – meaning, you try the moves out in the air against an “imaginary creeper.” No hitting your neighbor! This is NOT a full contact self-defense class, but an introductory presentation on personal safety skills including trusting intuition, preventing violence and the basics of self-protection. We will make our Sassy-Self Defense Guide available to the organizer of each show. This awesome tool has a list of full contact self-defense classes all over the country that we recommend all participants take after our show. If your group is interested in a combo class, we also partner with IMPACT Personal Safety to provide both a Students Fight Back presentation for a large group and then follow it up with a 3hr full contact IMPACT Intro Workshop for up to 20 students. Contact us for more info! What logistics are required to bring GFB to my campus or group? Nicole brings most of the needed props for the show, but event organizers will need to provide a few things (see Tech & Other Needs to Setup a Show below). Oh yeah, we’ll also need 1-2 volunteers to be our creeper. Their body will be used as a demo for the areas we strike and how contact is made, but they will not be hit or injured in any way. Our volunteer will also get to demo some fun verbal de-escalation strategies. We will also be asking for you to provide a certified victim advocate from your organization (if available) or a partnering local organization. Nicole is an NACP Credentialed Victim Advocate as well, so we will have a perfect team in place to support any survivors or friends of survivors in our audience. Our program will also include a full list of free resources for anyone in the audience who needs them. Does GFB present at other venues besides colleges? We sure do! We have given presentations at middle schools, high schools, colleges, corporations, Girl Scouts, Fortune 500 companies, community groups, non-profits, senior citizen’s centers, the US Military, sales teams, BIPOC organizations, professional sports, realtors, women’s outdoor retreats, running groups, outdoor groups, healthcare industry, travel industry, city governments…you get the idea! We can and do work with diverse groups around the world and can customize the content for your audience. We are thrilled to speak to any group interested in being empowered to create safer communities, campuses, organizations, and lives. We believe in helping you live your lives without limits! How much does it cost to book a GFB seminar? It depends – so just contact us if you want pricing info. We strategically produce national tours based on geographic location to keep costs as low as possible for everyone. One great way to get the cost down is to join forces with other folks in your geographic area and form a “block” of dates in a row. Or, you can book a program during our off-season. If Nicole will be nearby (whether she lives there or is passing through), we offer discounts. Do you have preferred dates to book a show? We will come to you whenever it works best for your venue and audience, but if you are looking for a great time, check out our calendar of awareness months for a few suggestions. January – Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month & National Stalking Awareness Month February – Relationship Wellness Month March – National Women’s History Month & Spring Break April – Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month/Alcohol Awareness Month May – Women’s Health Care Month, Mental Health Awareness Month June – Student Safety Month August 26 – Women’s Equality Day August/September – Orientation/ Welcome Week September – National Campus Safety Awareness Month, Realtor Safety Awareness Month October – Domestic Violence Awareness Month & National Crime Prevention Month November 25 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Where can I find a self-defense class in my area? Congrats on wanting to learn more about protecting yourself. Sign up to receive our Sassy Self-Defense Guide! The guide includes practical safety strategies, motivation, and how to find an awesome full-force self-defense class near you. You’ll also receive occasional updates from GFB with news, virtual classes, media appearances, discounts, freebies and more. Isn't teaching self-defense victim blaming? Absolutely NOT. Let me be clear. Victim blaming is WRONG. Rape, interpersonal violence, and sexual assault are NEVER the fault of the victim/survivor. And, if you’ve ever lived through violence I hope you know that it was not your fault and you didn't do anything wrong. Whatever you did to survive your situation was the right thing to do. The belief that self-defense is victim blaming is often based on a "misunderstanding about what self-defense actually is or ideological conflict with its concepts."* There is also a misconception that self-defense only refers to physical skills in the moment of a confrontation. However, self-defense is about more than physical skills At Girls Fight Back we believe in knowledge and empowerment. We believe in giving our audience members the tools to fight back if they choose to do so if they are ever faced with a serious violent confrontation or even an uncomfortable encounter. Knowing how to recognize manipulative behavior, trust your intuition, set boundaries, and address someone who is being coercive can help us have healthier relationships and avoid situations that are uncomfortable or dangerous. What we do not want to do is avoid preparing for the possibility of violence by pretending it doesn’t exist. In an ideal world, no one would need these skills; and until we live in that world, it is a gift to be as knowledgeable as possible on being your own best protector while simultaneously working to create a world free from violence. Here at Girls Fight Back, we do BOTH. Self-defense is about giving you options in how to respond to a situation. It's about developing confidence in our own ability to use the weapons on our body to protect ourselves in a myriad of encounters. Research shows that women using physical and verbal resistance are more likely to avoid completed rape and are no more or less likely to be physically injured. In fact, learning self-defense has been shown to reduce the risk of experiencing violence by up to 50%. (Studies for men, trans and non-binary individuals has been minimal.) I view (and teach) empowerment-based self-defense as a way to give us all choices and options so that we can live our lives fully and freely and not have to limit our lives to feel safe. It is about gaining confidence and my perspective is that learning self-defense can open up access to the world in a way you may not have had before due to fear and societal myths. As a survivor myself, I know what self-defense has meant to me and my healing process and I have had many survivors share similar experiences with me about how it helped them as well. To fight back or not is a very personal choice and if you are reading this now, you are a survivor. There are 3 main responses that our body has to danger/trauma/adrenaline: fight, flight and freeze. All three of these are normal reactions and none of them should be used to blame a survivor for how they responded to their unique situation. I believe everyone can benefit from knowing how to fight, but self-defense isn’t about what you SHOULD do it’s about what you CAN do . It’s up to the individual whether or not to use your moves but knowing HOW to fight at least gives you the choice – which is empowering. It's important to remember that “fighting back” isn’t just about using physical force. Fighting back is also a mindset in which we choose to actively protect ourselves by honoring our intuition, setting personal boundaries that work for us, and knowing how to use a verbal attack to try to ward off a physical confrontation. I believe that the best fight is the one never fought and physical self-defense is often a last resort option to protecting ourselves. No one can ever tell someone what the right choice is for them in any given situation; and that is why I want each of my audience members to be empowered to be their own best protector in all aspects of their lives. The skills I teach can also be used daily in situations such as catcalling, bullying, negotiating with salespeople, setting boundaries in relationships, dealing with social situations when out on the town or on the trail, and much more. You are worth fighting for! I invite you to read this excerpt from a journal article that addresses this question specifically: “Scholarly studies, reports, and best-practices on the prevention of sexual violence often omit a key component of the scholarly literature: that verbal and/or physical resistance (i.e., self-defense strategies) enable most women to stop most assailants in most sexual assault situations, and that training in self-defense prevents assault in a way that is empowering rather than restrictive or victim-blaming. Despite the numerous empirical studies that support the efficacy of women’s verbal and physical resistance against sexual assault, much of the literature on sexual assault prevention fails to include the scholarship on self-defense. In this article, we posit that the empirical work on self-defense is sometimes ignored naively, because of a misunderstanding of what self-defense is, and sometimes ignored willfully, due to an ideological conflict with it. Excluding work on self-defense in the sexual assault prevention literature omits relevant scholarship in a way that prioritizes ideology over evidence, ironically fueling benevolent sexism, and limits the effectiveness of policies and practices around sexual assault prevention that are translated from the literature. We underscore the importance of integrating the evidence for self-defense more prominently in the sexual assault prevention literature so that organizations, policy makers, activists, clinicians, students, and the public consider and implement self-defense is a viable strategy for women in preventing or thwarting sexual violence.” *Self-Defense as an Effective and Neglected Form of Sexual Assault Prevention: A Commentary and Overdue Correction to the Literature Cermele, J., McCaughey, M. Self-Defense as an Effective and Neglected Form of Sexual Assault Prevention: A Commentary and Overdue Correction to the Literature. Sex Roles (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01284-3 Tech Needs For An Event VENUE NEEDS A large classroom, ballroom, or auditorium are ideal venue locations. For Yes I’m Hiking Solo bookings, we can (and have!) presented this in outdoor spaces at the client’s request, which fits in well with the presentation theme! STAGE REQUIREMENTS LCD Projector connected to the sound system, screen, a small table on stage for props, 2 chairs, and 1-2 volunteers identified in advance. VICTIM ADVOCATES Purchaser will be asked to provide at least one trained and certified victim advocate to be present at the presentation and available afterwards as a resource to students and faculty that would like to discuss the program content or their own experiences. SOUND REQUIREMENTS Wireless lavaliere microphone, handheld mic for volunteers, and ability to play music from the speaker’s laptop. LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS Basic stage lighting. GREEN ROOM REQUIREMENTS 1 bottle of water or access to a water refilling station. "This short, easy class is easily the most powerful, impactful and absolutely practical and actionable thing I’ve done for myself since getting sober. Seriously. Maybe even more so because I felt confident and powerful immediately, as soon as I walked out into the street after class. And it was also very personally cathartic for unrelated, yet somehow related reasons. It’s hard to fully express how confident I feel knowing I have these new easy skills that will go with me wherever I go because my body is my weapon and goes with me wherever I go. Thank you for such an awesome experience." —JANE, STUDENT, BADASS BASICS WORKSHOP