We were lucky to catch up with Kristen Wilson Day recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kristen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

Women in the shooting industry are a small demographic…. at SHOT Show (largest industry show in Vegas every year) you walk around and mostly see men. At shooting competitions, largest demographic is men. Most shooting related manuf target men, because they are the majority. Most firearms instructors are men. You walk into a range, most are men. I teach women to shoot and encourage women to get into competition and help break through the barrier of the male dominated 2A industry.

Women are different from men… physically and mentally.. which means we do things differently. We WANT to learn “all the things” about firearms BEFORE picking up a gun… not everyone understands that. Women do things based on emotion, guys don’t get that. Not saying that a man can’t be a great instructor to women, as there are many, but it’s about learning from someone who right off the bat you are more likely to be comfortable with…. that you can relate to/with.

My business, WTFKristen.com = Women Training Firearms w Kristen – so my focus in predominantly women, educating women about firearms, safety, dry fire training, and EMPOWERING them to be knowledgable (so they don’t “feel stupid” when going to the range/competition (and being surrounded by men)) and confident in their skills and able to be better advocates for their OWN safety and that of their families/children.

Not sure how much you want me to elaborate on this. I can talk for days. lol

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I wanted to be a cop when I graduated high school, did all the things to prepare (Associates Degree with a law enforcement certificate, physical fitness, martial arts and took a firearms safety course from the San Diego Police Dept with my first firearm, 1911 from my step dad)…. I found that I was a “natural” at shooting, and like most folks do, when you find that you are good at something, you continue to do it. So, I’d go to the range on and off, more often than most average folks with my step dad and then on my own… moved from Cali to Va Beach and lived down the street from a range, continued to shoot at the range, got my Conceal Carry permit, taught my kids how to shoot and about safety and firearms in the house, etc. (notice I didn’t get into law enforcement lol). Then moved to Texas, joined a ladies shooting social group (that was literally 2 miles from my house) where I was able to help other ladies to learn to shoot safely, etc. There I heard about competition and gave it a go and found I was good at that too, and it was FUN! Because I would talk about it, post about it, other ladies would ask for my help – to buy a gun, to learn to shoot, what kind of ammo to get and etc… because as noted before, women want to know all the things, they don’t usually ask men questions (fear of feeling stupid) and from there I started my firearms training business. My business is WTFKristen which is also known as Women Training Firearms w Kristen. It worked because my personality fits the WTF part… AND it is memorable LOL

While in the competition, ran into a fellow competitor friend (lady) who was sponsored by Laser Ammo… who introduced me to their dry fire training tools. I had known about dry fire training before and used a tool here and there, but really didn’t dive too deep into it much, until Laser Ammo. As I became sponsored by them and got quite a few of their products – lasers, electronic targets and their Smokeless Range (think home shooting simulator arena in a bedroom). A year or two later, I started doing some work with them due to my other business (the main one, A Visual Business where I did website development, maintenance, ads on Google, SEO, email marketing and social media)… and it just happened, now I spend 70% of my day business working with Laser Ammo.

Blend the firearms training focusing on women, with a superb dry fire training product and company and now I have additional value add to help empower women to now be able to dry fire train – giving already very busy moms/women with the ability to practice in the comfort of their home, and not have to worry about leaving the kiddos, or “feeling stupid” at the range… they can do “all the things” (but live fire) at home… and get comfy with their firearm or improve their fundamentals. Further, as part of my training session, I am using dry fire (as we are not in a gun range) to teach women about all the things (all the things – 4 safety rules and other safety tips, parts of a handgun, parts of the bullet, travel of the bullet in the firearm, stance, grip, eye dominance, finger placement, sight acquisition/alignment, did I mention safety lol, racking the slide (usually this is the hardest thing for ladies to physically do, but EASY once they have the right fundamentals down, what is dry fire, why, how to do it and then I also talk about situational awareness as the goal isn’t TO shoot, but to be prepared and aware so you shouldn’t need to, but it’s there if you do, When teaching women all the things, to include dry fire training, and seeing all the steps of safety in practicing inside, they start to imagine where they can do it in their house, safely… and more confidently. Whereas if I told a lady who had only been to the range to shoot for her to practice dry firing at home, she would get all wide eyed and wouldn’t, because she didn’t have the confidence to start that process on her own, but starting with learning it that way, they see it as less intimidating. And works out perfectly because I don’t own a range so helps me save time and money at a range, using their space.. I can use any space to do this first lesson… and then the 2nd one is at the range, reinforcing this skills/knowledge they just learned. After 2 lessons, most ladies are WAY more confident and comfortable and able to go to the range by themselves to practice.. and many have.

So, I think most of that answers those questions… I think the set apart part is that I am a woman in a man’s industry, I have been “that girl” who has been mansplained to, who has had men come up to me to “help” me (unsolicited help, mind you), I had some of the same struggles they had when I first started out… and didn’t have someone like me to help me, so it took a little longer for me to figure some things out.. so I am able to help these ladies start off on the right foot.

I love that I can empower women, and THAT makes me feel good when they “get it” and that they come back and tell me they bought their own firearm, they did competition and happy about it, they feel more confident, or they remember the things I taught them, or when they see something and know what to do because of the training… all of that.. so happy to hear.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Oh yea… as a military kid, then spouse, we moved from Cali to Virginia Beach and from there to Texas. I had a Corp America job in Virginia Beach in SEO/marketing… so when we moved to Texas… I lived 30 miles from Houston, 4th largest city in the US.. there just HAS to been stuff up there, right? Well, yes, it did.. but at just over 40, they wanted the fresh out of college kids for marketing jobs. Umm, okay, here I am with a 5 year old degree BA in Internet Marketing (couldn’t have been 20 years old as the internet wasn’t a thing so this degree was just as fresh as these kids had) and I had a family, had many jobs, had experience, wisdom, worked with teams, managed teams… I had all these things, they didn’t have.. but age… which you know they didn’t say that but that’s what it was… because going into the interviews, they were younger, the teams were younger. Anyways, to the point, so as an independent go getter, I started my own business – A Visual Business… started networking and seeing that the website development, SEO and PPC wasn’t as needed in many groups, but social media was, and I did do some of that in Corp America and I was smart and could make it work, so I pivoted and offered that… and fast forward to now, 12 ish years later, a very lucrative business and actually 2 of them.. as I started WTF Kristen based on seeing a need from women and started that too.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

NETWORKING! (being SOCIAL). As a solopreneur, you brand yourself, what you do, how you do it speaks volumes. networking is building relationships, not passing out biz cards. When I first started my business, I joined various networking groups, even put myself on a board or two, to help me get to know more people, faster. Even if there was someone offering what I offered, I worked to find something that set me apart and even got to know my competitors better.. because 1 – there is plenty of business to go around and 2 – what they specialize in might not be mine or vice versa 3 – we could collab and offer assistance to each other or refer business… and that is exactly what would happen. I called various marketing/website companies in the area to see if they were hiring, but if not if they needed contractors and that worked out in one instance too. Then, just kept meeting more and more people, buidling relationship after relationship… even ladies groups to make more friends and they got to eventually know what I do and offered… and over time… referrals just keep coming in from relationships I have built over the 12 ish years. I haven’t HAD to pay for much marketing, haven’t bought ads in newspapers or magazines, etc.. because I kept building relationships. I referred business to other small biz owners and they referred to me. I always sent thank you cards to referral partners to personally thank them for the referral even if the business didn’t close. If I got a crap lead, I still thanked them. If someone referred the wrong type of client, I thanked them and then made sure they knew what a good referral would be and that I did or didn’t offer that type of service at all or any more, etc. Business is about relationships… period. Sure, we ALL want to make money, but if you don’t have clients /customers that know, like and trust you enough to give you money, then you don’t have a business but maybe an expensive hobby gone nowhere. I’m an extrovert so it’s easy for me. So one free tip, if you are an introvert, find you a good extrovert and tag along, they will be happy to help you meet new people too… or at least I was/did.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://womentrainingfirearmskristen.com/ and https://www.laserammo.com/ and http://www.avisualbusiness.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k10wilsonavb/ https://www.instagram.com/laserammo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wtfkristen private, to ladies only and https://www.facebook.com/laser.ammo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenwilsonday/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KristenWilson1024 and https://www.youtube.com/@laserammousa/videos

Image Credits

I took most of these or purchased the images that were taken of me, so no credits needed.