December Alpha Maiden of the Month – Emily Valentine
My name is Emily Valentine, creator of lifestyle blog Style Me Tactical and co-host of Not Your Average Gun Girls podcast. One of the aspects for creating Style Me Tactical was to document my journey into gun ownership. At the time, I didn't find any resources online that I could relate to as a woman wanting to maintain my style while also being interested in my personal protection. So I decided that I would create something myself as I knew that this would give me an opportunity to help other women, evolve, and grow with this journey I was on. My mission with Style Me Tactical is to empower, encourage, and inspire women to live a lifestyle of self-reliance. With that I also believe that as women we don't have to sacrifice our style in order to be self-reliant. While my journey into personal protection led me to own and carry a firearm, I feel passionate about women taking responsibility for their own safety and for them to find tools that work for their lifestyle. I hope that with Style Me Tactical they are able to get the information and inspiration they need to start a conversation about personal protection with themselves. As Style Me Tactical has grown, I also love sharing [...]
November Alpha Maiden of the Month – Debi Earle
I’m a wife, a mother of a very large blended family, an executive, and a lover of humanity. My previous marriage was filled with domestic violence and ugliness. He had a firearm, but I hid it from him. When I left that marriage with my children, it quickly became very obvious that I needed to learn how to be able to protect myself and my children. After an attack on our home, and having to go through the process of getting a protective order, I started to train with firearms. After my first training, I fell in love and started to pursue regular training. A couple of years into my training, I felt inspired to start my organization, Warrior Angels. I saw a lot of good people being destroyed and taken advantage of by evil people. It made me angry, and I wanted to do something to help. I started my organization to serve people. Whether it be by helping to connect them to the right people, by sharing the knowledge I was learning, or by our free programs we put together. I’ve always believed that the ability to defend yourself shouldn’t be based on your bank account, and that we needed a way to provide everyone with some kind of base [...]
11 Ways to Boost Your Confidence
Your confidence isn’t built by being told you’re perfect and should never change. Confidence is built by falling down and getting back up again. Confidence is built by doing something that creates a sense of fulfillment. It’s built by helping and serving others in our community and becoming a leader. If we build our confidence by how we look and how much praise we get from others, when someone inevitably says something hurtful, or when someone doesn’t go our way, our confidence will drop and our identity may even shatter along with it. If our foundation is built off superficial things, then it can all come falling down by superficial things too. Build your confidence by developing: Your character Your integrity Your resilience Your grit Your perseverance Your kindness Your confidence will naturally build by: Helping others Serving your community Building something important (a business, legacy, support group) Watering your own grass and not fixating on others’ grass Focusing on self improvementIn what ways have you built your confidence? Message me and let me know!
Are we products of our environment or is it just an excuse?
I recently created a poll. How much does our environment play into our success? Whether it’s business, fitness or nutrition related. 80% said our environment matters & 20% said people just use it as an excuse to not stay motivated. A friend of mine gave a couple of great examples: 1. That’s why we’re always encouraging our kids to hang out with good friends, because we know they’re influenced by who they surround themselves with. 2. If we have one clean towel & several dirty towels, and we rub the clean towel against all the dirty ones, the clean towel doesn’t stay clean, it gets dirty. It’s true. Those we surround ourself with greatly impact our interests, mood, motivation, mindset, everything. If we’re constantly surrounded by positive, driven people, it’s only going to accelerate our success. Just like the saying, you're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. There's a lot of merit to that. If your environment is not supportive or even toxic, it’s going to hinder your success. Yes, it is still possible to become successful in a non-supportive environment, but it will be much harder to overcome. We put a lot of value in our relationships & jobs because [...]
3 Ways to Relieve Stress FAST
Back before the internet, you got your mail in actual envelopes and you got some calls on a landline. Today is a different story. We’re all running around overstimulated and overwhelmed. You check your email all day long, only to have a full inbox when going to bed, your boss texts you at 8pm on a Sunday night about a project deadline, your DM’s are always full on your social media platforms, you have a family, try to stay in shape and attempt to have a social life too. There is a never ending to do list, and constantly something taking your attention. Damn, I noticed my heart rate elevated just from writing that paragraph. It’s insane, right? Don’t get me wrong, the internet and social media is wonderful, it’s a powerful tool to connect with others from all around the world and make a greater impact because our circle of influence reaches much further. But it’s not surprising that we have higher numbers of anxiety, depression, constant overwhelm and day-to-day stress. The overstimulation isn’t going away. Unless you quit all social media and live off the grid. Since it’s not going away, we need to learn to manage the stress so we aren’t constantly running around like a chicken [...]
October Alpha Maiden of the Month – Sepi Melamed
My name is Sepi Melamed. I’m a wife and mother of two amazing, strong minded teenagers. I’m a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Kaizen Karate, 3rd Degree Black Belt in Krav Maga, awarded to me by John Whitman, founder of the Krav Maga Alliance and Co-writer of the book “Complete Krav Maga”. I’m one of the select few who has been awarded “Train the Trainer” status by the John Whitman and the Krav Maga Alliance. Recently I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and have become obsessed! I have achieved the rank of Blue Belt and recently won Gold in IBJJF World Masters Championship back in Aug. A very proud moment for me. Yay! I started my Martial Arts journey about 17 years ago. One of the most obvious reasons for training was to take control of my own safety against a possible violent encounter. As I like to say, Martial Arts gives me a fighting chance! However, it’s the benefits of training is what has me hooked for life. Training in Karate, Krav Maga and BJJ has given me confidence! I’ve become a a go getter and someone who refuses to give up. Martial Arts has transformed my body and mindset. Through Martial Arts, I have developed life-long friendships, some of whom [...]