Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kevin Coles. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kevin, thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

We get crazy stories almost every day from our following and women all over the world. They range from some of the most horrific stories you can imagine to the most amazing inspiring stories that could completely be a movie. A story we got recently was a young woman who moved away from college, and it was her first time being alone. One day she was getting some groceries and started noticing a strange man near her. She started noticing that his basket was empty, and he wasn’t really looking at the items he was in front of. She changed the isle she was in and behold he was right around the corner. She was being followed and instantly felt uncomfortable. She has followed us on social media for some time and have seen us talk about situational awareness and scenarios specifically like this. She quickly went to the checkout lane and asked for the manager and told them the situation. When speaking with the manager the man was 3 lanes away only purchasing one item. Security from the store confronted the man and the local police was called. They also escorted her to her vehicle and waited till she left, and the man was questioned by police. When she got home, she researched the area and found out that more cases of strange men confronting women in her area and a few women who are missing. She avoided the situation by recognizing something was off and wrong, she most certainly could have been kidnapped. We find so much joy that we have reached the number of women that we have and hearing stories of women using what we teach and educate is what keeps us going. Were sadden that this situation happened to her and many other women, but with our educations and trainings we can help prevent women from being abducted, abused, or trafficked.

Kevin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Raising Tactical Daughters is a Non-Profit organization that trains and educates women in situational awareness, conflict de-escalation, and self-defense. An estimated 1.9 million women are assaulted per year in the US alone. 19.3 million women are stalked every year and estimated 300,000 are trafficked in the US. But if you investigate what we as a country are doing to prevent these assaults, you don’t find much. Our mission is to prepare women and girls for the threats they might encounter in life while reinforcing the idea that they are never alone. We provide guidance and tools to prepare women to face any and all threats with confidence and fearlessness. We do by offering training in situational awareness, conflict de-escalation and self-defense. We educate as young as 6 years old and even grandma. We educate and assist with domestic violence and Sex trafficking survivors from housing, necessities, legal fees, therapy options and even relocation if needed. Our women are being assaulted, raped, and trafficked every single day and its completely unacceptable that there is no program to teach our girls and women how to be aware and defend themselves. We are working on our curriculum to take to schools and colleges all over the country and you can be a part of it by donating on our site today!

How did you build your audience on social media?

When RTD first started we had a small following. And like everyone else we were worried that if our posts didn’t get a lot of likes or shares, or if we didn’t have many followers that we were doing poorly or that people didn’t like our company. Because then you start thinking this company has a ton of followers or likes and then you start comparing yourself to them. You must have the right mindset and take yourself out of the equation entirely. Post valuable content and post often, even if it takes time no matter how long it will eventually start clicking as long as you stay persistent. You never know when that day will come, and most importantly don’t try to go viral. In our experience trying to go viral did absolutely nothing for us and then we’d be down because it didn’t work. Instead, keep focusing on the “customer” and provide the benefit, and if you keep going and keep posting good content, you will eventually get to where you want to be. It took 3 years for RTD to go “viral” and it was a great experience, and we did it all on our own.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson we had to unlearn was getting too excited causing us to rush into things. It wasn’t an impulse type of situation, but something would come along in our business, and we would just get so stoked. We’d dive deep into it and before we knew it, we were trying to do so many things at one time causing confusion and impacts to our overall goals. When new ideas or proposals came, we learned to be more cautious and evaluate the situation fully allowing us to make smarter choices. In business there is a lot of cool and exciting things you can do and or add, but just because it is exciting or cool doesn’t mean it’s right for your company. Take the time to evaluate the options and really see if its beneficial to your company and make the decision based on those factors.

Contact Info:

• Website: RaisingTacticalDaughters.com
• Instagram: @RaisingTacticalDaughters
• Facebook: @RaisingTacticalDaughters
• Twitter: @RaisingTactical