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When I meet fellow social entrepreneurs, they often ask me how they can turn their passion into a business or organization.  And my response:  If what you do, or what you know, can change this world…then you owe it to all of us to figure it out!  A great example of doing this successfully is my friend, Michele Merhib.  This woman took relaxation and pain managment and turned it into an international franchise!  Michele is the founder of Elements Therapeutic Massage, was featured yesterday on FoxBusiness.com. (Click here to read the article.) Michele started Elements after leaving the bank industry, going through a divorce, raising two little kids on her own and knowing she needed to try something new.  What she learned in massage school overflowed into her life overall with a certain calm and confidence. Michele is a great example for female entrepreneurs everywhere, especially those interested in healing and making the world a better place for others.  Kudos to Nancy Colasurdo, on yet another awesome and inspiring story of women in business.

I’d like to introduce you all to my new friend and soul sister, Lee Sinclair.  Lee started Africa’s first women’s self-defense program in the slums of Kenya back in 2001.  Lee is a writer and activist living in San Francisco, and was first brought to Kenya while coordinating a child care and sponsorship program for AIDS orphans. It was her experiences with these vulnerable children and their stories of rape, incest and sexual abuse that led Lee to realize that her own Self-Defense training could be lifesaving when applied to children living in the area.  Lee began teaching SD to small groups of local children but it quickly became clear that the problem deserved a larger effort. In February 2007, with the help of two US based Self Defense Instructors, Susannah MacKaye and Wendi Deetz, the first I’m Worth Defending team was formed in Korogocho slum Kenya. On February 26th 2007, after a month of specialized training, classes began. Since then, thousands of women and children have learned self-defense…and self-worth in the process.  Lee and I are planning some exciting international projects, so stay tuned.

Watch video about I’m Worth Defending.

A few weeks ago I flew to New York to speak at the annual National Women’s Martial Arts Federation conference.  As always, it was incredible to meet so many of the pioneers and new faces alike in the movement to end violence against women.  For the second year in a row, I was asked to present to fellow instructors on how to reach more women with safety and self-defense while runing a successful business or organization. While many of these women have great intentions, sometimes the business know-how doesn’t match up…and thus, the mission never gets accomplished.  Three hours flew by while talking about marketing, social networking, search engine optimization, PR, event planning, goal setting and all the other creative ways you can catapult a positive message to the masses.  See me speaking to these amazing instructors above left.

You may have noticed a new category I recently added to my blog called Social Entrepreneurship, which is exactly what most of these WSD instructors are.  According to Wikipedia, here is the definition:  Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact she has on society.  I’m planning to do a lot more writing and research on this topic, since there is so much good to be done in this world…

Loaded Bow is a new blog focused on women’s entrepreneurship.  I was recently interviewed by them, and today the Q&A is published.  Topics range from why I started Girls Fight Back, why I love my last name so much and why I always got fired from jobs.  Women’s empowerment is so much more than self-defense.  It’s living safe, strong, happy, joyful and empowered existences!  For many women, they can find this kind of fulfillment through their work, whether it’s working for yourself or someone else.  It’s a great passion of mine to help women be successful in whatever they do, and Loaded Bow is a great resource! Click here to read it.

Girls Fight Back has been receiving many requests lately, from young women wanting to start GFB clubs at their high schools and colleges.  My staff is absolutely loving this idea, and we were hoping for your feedback.  First off, if you’re a student, would you be interested in starting a club dedicated to making women’s safety and self-defense available to females on campus?  Would you be interested in holding annual events, fundraisers, speakers and other activities to promote women’s empowerment?  Do you know how to set up a student organization at your school?  Do you have ideas about what these clubs could be, and what great purpose they would serve?  Do you like the name “Club GFB?”  Please comment!

Today my tech guru husband, Pete Lacis, is featured on FoxBusiness.com. In it, he’s interviewed by a life coach Nancy Colasurdo, who is a web client of Pete’s. It talks about how building a website and getting it found on google are becoming increasingly important on the net today.

Read the article here: http://www.foxbusiness.com

Had it not been for Pete and his insistence on me taking Girls Fight Back to the web, I am quite certain we could not have come so far, so quickly. By utilizing the internet to teach and inspire, you simultaneously reach women all over the world. Yesterday we received an email from a woman in India who wanted to attend a Girls Fight Back seminar in Mumbai. We’re not there yet, but we’re workin’ on it!

So hooray for the Internet!