We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Bond. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.
Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
The biggest risk I’ve taken with building my team was to break away from what was known and simple. I was part of a larger team in a male dominated sport and the women who did join could get lost in the shuffle. I guess it started with just running a weekly practice for fun and to build a community between us. Later on down the road there was a massive split of leadership on our co-ed team. I put together a meeting and I was trying to say we can stay with our main team but the femme branch. One of the women said, “we could just be our own team,” and the Knightingales were born. Moving out of the comfort of being a part of a large team where if something bad happened or there was issues to running a team was scary and I was anxious to do it. Looking back I can’t believe how grateful I am to those who encouraged me and voted me in, and have continued voting for me to lead. As far as how its turned out, my team has now medaled in several competitions, we have traveled all over together, and our community has only grown stronger. My life is enriched.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Emily Bond, and I am Captain of the Knightingales Armored Combat / Buhurt team in Utah. As far as getting into the discipline of this sport I wasn’t searching for it at all. I first saw Buhurt at a small renaissance faire in 2020. At the same faire in 2022 my ex had decided it was something he wanted to do and I went along to support him. Over the next year and half I began training, losing weight, and building the femme community around me. Now that I am running my own team I have an army of artists and creatives and when we aren’t throwing down with one another at practice we are designing merchandise to showcase our knights and fund our team armor and training equipment. It’s all a group effort and I am so indebted to everyone rallying behind our banner every day.
As far as what we provide? Knights. Women in full steel with real (blunted) axes, swords, and maces wailing on one another and throwing each other to the ground in real combat. Not scripted, no holds bar fighting it out. We provide experiences.
What I am most proud of is being of service to my team and having built a community where the women know they are heard. It is something special to invite people in and help them learn and grow not just in our sport but also seeing them become more confident in themselves.
If I had one thing I would want to let people know about my team it would be that Knightingales are tenacious, driven, and don’t go down easy.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Listen to your team. Ask questions and take the answers seriously. If there is a reason you do things a certain way be ready and able to explain your thinking, don’t defend your thinking. If you don’t know something just say so and hunt down an answer. Always set expectations in group meetings and be the last one to speak, if people hear the bosses opinion first they tend to just agree without being heard. Come at every situation with a growth mindset. Stand up for your people. Own your mistakes, apologize for your impact, make strides to do better when you fail. Lead by example.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
As far as books I really learned a lot from “You Are The Team” by Michael G Rogers. Outside of this I am always trying to find new sources to learn from whether it be other individuals, new experiences, interviews and biographies of already successful individuals. I have taken several courses on management and communication as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fknightingales-ut.square.site%2Fshop%2Fknightingales-merch%2F7BNYAPJ52MMFJA4MONAYIGX4%3Futm_source%3Dig%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_content%3Dlink_in_bio%26fbclid%3DPAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnhcEYkKnH60sjpi8fBLZ_ul13cD74TCdkz2nySHfSbeafO3ShBwqL1G3Wb0Q_aem_GIZjK1waZZvZ7uswHcACkw%26utm_id%3D97760_v0_s00_e0_tv3&e=AUDYVf7yjxJQ4JbySgtKZGmiLaYOTjKR-8IwdBO6OCk5TFY8GYbtFnx2VsKVHIU0zJgfwKhFlRLd_QH0P1ET_fu1gFBB76sKhjdYdm4NWFGJhr5EVMhjDMvsLPBu1L99bao_183sIRrqkcdmYglTLJI
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knightingales.ut/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knightingales.ut
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@knightingales.ut
Image Credits
@nesswen
@chrlee.png
@nightshadeblooms
Eive C.