Well it’s July, and I couldn’t be happier about it. If you’ve been following my posts in June, you know it’s always a rough month for me. Every June I’m coming down after a crazy spring semester of speaking, plus it’s emotionally heavy being the death anniversary of Shannon, and also her birthday. But you gotta love the universe, because it gives you what you need to hear. Today I met a woman named Mia, who is a gorgeous, successful entrepreneur here in Denver. We were talking about my difficulties in June and she told me that June 21st was the summer solstice, and is apparently the longest day of the year and widely celebrated around the globe. It’s also Shannon’s birthday. I researched it on the internet, and many religions celebrate June 21st as the “wedding of Heaven and Earth” resulting in the present day belief of a “lucky” wedding in June. I find this so interesting, because Girls Fight Back has always been a merging of heaven and earth, and I’ve often referred to Shannon as my boss, crackin’ the whip from above…

I think it’s okay for us to sometimes just walk away for a bit, fall apart for awhile if need be, and come back stronger and smarter and more determined than ever to live an incredible life. That’s where I’m at today, and I have arrived here largely through gratitude. I’ve been thinking about the incredible people, opportunities and experiences I’ve been given in my life. My family, for starters…really, I couldn’t be more blessed on that front. To have people who have believed in me and propped me up, especially my husband Peter Lacis @peterlacis. In general, I marvel at the incredible men that have graced my 32 years on this earth. Health is our greatest gift as humans, and it’s something that my family and I have enjoyed. (I send strong vibes to many friends of mine who are dealing with health challenges right now, or who have lost a loved one.) And children! How grateful I am for my 10-month-old son Miles. He’s given me the gift of seeing the world through an entirely new set of eyes. Miles laughs insanely at my pug’s face sometimes. And then you look at the pug and realize, “My God, you’re right! She’s the funniest looking creature in the world!” And I laugh with him.

I am also so grateful for my team @girlsfightback. The past 12 months of growth and expansion have been the most terrifying and most inspiring times…sometimes I feel both in the same day. Recently I looked around and realized Girls Fight Back has become what it was intended…to be much bigger than Shannon and WAY bigger than me. We are celebrating this fact by launching a new website soon. And guess what? If you’ve never seen the Girls Fight Back program, soon you can watch it. For free. Online. All 100 minutes of it. Then hopefully you’ll send the link to all your friends. Some of my business comrades think I’m nuts to “give it away” but isn’t that why we are here?  To help each other?  Why withhold that? (I’m grateful to my friend David Meerman Scott @dmscott for inspiring this.) I hope watching the program online energizes someone to be strong when they feel weak, to stand up when they just want to shrink, or to change the world when it would be so much easier just to stick with the status quo.

My friends, life is good. We are here for a reason. You are loved.

Thank you for your support and may every day be your solstice.

Every year, Sharon Rickerson (dear friend of the McNamara family) writes a beautiful piece on Shannon’s birthday. See below – it’s lovely, as always. Thanks for all you do Sharon, to make this day a little less bitter and more sweet.

Shannon Elizabeth McNamara
June 21, 1979 – Forever

Her name has an Irish wholesome, athletic sound. And she was like her name. Grand like the river that flows through the Emerald Isle. Natural, inspiring and beautiful! Shannon means Wise One, and she truly was. The Bible says wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. That was Shannon. She was a quiet leader, highly esteemed among her peers. Her life lived well enthused others and it still does today. It was her mother’s prayer when she left our world that she would never be forgotten. And that prayer was answered even before she was born. When Shannon was knit together in her mother’s womb God made an absolutely unforgettable person. Her loving heart, her beautiful face and the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed remain etched in our memories.

It was her exuberant love of life as well as her fight to live that inspired friend and sorority sister, Erin Weed in a mission to educate and empower women of all ages in personal safety and self-defense. We take great take comfort in knowing that Shannon’s untimely death was not in vain. Shannon’s fight was carried on by Erin who became the founder/CEO of Girls Fight Back (GFB). GFB seminars are attended by over 100,000 women annually in schools, colleges, corporations and women’s groups around the world. Shannon would be so humbled and grateful to Erin for pursuing such a noble cause in her honor. God alone knows all the ensuing good as He continues to bless Girls Fight Back, memorial scholarships and events established in her memory.

Shannon is as deeply loved and always remembered by her parents, her brother, her family and countless friends. And we cherish the memory of her heart felt love for us! Happy Birthday Shan!

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing. -Proverbs 10:7

After a nutty week of travel to Florida, Illinois and Indiana, yesterday I took a crack ‘o dawn flight back to Denver to attend some important conferences.  Yesterday was the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (@YNPN) conference, which brought together social entrepreneurs from across the USA to talk about strategy, progress and change. There were some awesome workshops, and I was especially moved by the lunchtime keynote given by Robert Eggers, founder of DC Central Kitchen. He was so smart, so excited, so fond of young people. He believes we can – no we MUST – lead the charge for social enterprise in the U.S. and abroad. Robert’s awesome non-profit combines several major areas of social innovation into one kick-ass organization including helping the homeless, food recycling, job training and empowering young people. (Read more about DC Central Kitchen here.) After he was done speaking, I kinda wanted to kidnap him for the weekend and ask him ten million questions, because his fresh take on banding together and working efficiently spoke volumes to me. (Don’t worry – he’s not in my trunk.)

Last night I could barely sleep with all these new and innovative ideas swirling about. Today at 7am I awoke bright-eyed (or more like puffy-eyed) and ready to volunteer at the Women’s Funding Network conference. Women from all over the WORLD came to this weekend gathering to discuss necessary measures to get money into projects and non-profits that will advance women’s safety, economic stability and overall gender equality. Being in a room with so many people from around the globe is intoxicating in it’s ability to make you think bigger and wider…

For me, the highlight of today was listening to one of my personal heroines speak, named Zainab Salbi (@zainabsalbi). She is the Founder/CEO of Women for Women International which is a non-profit that helps women who have been affected by war, in rebuilding their lives. They have programs active in Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan just to name a few.  Zainab was incredibly inspiring, and spoke of the need to affect a woman’s economic status, the imperative of working with MEN to help women and collaborating with others to make change. Afterward I bought one of her books, and met Zainab during the book signing. She was kind enough to answer some of my questions about teaching self-defense to women in war-torn regions of the world. I asked her if she believed it was something we should investigate as Girls Fight Back begins talking to major funders about expanding outside the USA. Smiling energetically, she responded, “Why not?!”

Do you have a big idea that could change the world? What’s holding you back? I say do it.

After all…why not?

Most people don’t ask me this question outright, but I know they are thinking it: Does self-defense really work?

That’s like asking the Sham-Wow guy if his towel really holds 12 times its weight in liquid, right? Hey, I welcome the believers and doubters alike, and I have more to offer you than my belief in the effectiveness of self-protection measures. But first, let’s figure out why it’s so hard to believe a woman can fight back and win.

I believe that doubt over the effectiveness of self-defense comes from a few places. First, many women feel insecure about their ability to fight back, simply because they have never received any training.  This is why we need to make self-defense training more available to all women, and introduce it earlier in life. Second, bad advice like “fighting back will only make him mad” seems to permeate trickle-down wisdom through generations. This advice is not only inaccurate, but also dangerous.

The NIJ (National Institute of Justice) commissioned a study in 2005 called The Impact of Victim Self Protection on Rape Completion and Injury, authored by Gary Kleck and Jongyeon Tark. Click here to read the entire 77 page study, or just read the highlights below.

• Potential victims who resisted their attackers, either physically and verbally, decreased the odds of being raped.
• Fighting back does not mean a woman is more likely to be injured.
• Self-defense significantly reduces the chances of being raped.
• Certain self-defense techniques reduce the risk of rape more than 80 percent compared to doing nothing.
• According to victims, the most effective ways to fight back include: attacking or struggling against their attacker, running away, and verbally warning the attacker.
• If your idea of self-defense is stalling, cooperating or screaming from pain or fear – these approaches actually increase your risk of injury. So if you’re going to protect yourself, it’s gotta be forceful and strong!

Kinda makes you re-think just how dangerous you can be with even simple self-protection measures! If you’ve been putting off learning self-defense, don’t delay any longer. Click here to read about some of my favorite self-defense programs who offer classes in cities across the USA.

I’ve been tracking the story of Phoebe Prince in the news, and am beyond saddened of her suicide.  She was the focal point of brutal bullying and manipulation, and took her own life in response.  Likely believing there was no other way out, her death was also her solution.

We owe our children better strategies to help them cope.

Don’t believe for a moment that Phoebe was the only girl in this country being ostracized and socially tortured. Countless young people endure this every day.  The difference is, most kids don’t kill themselves. Which brings me to the question…

Why do people have to die before we respond to situations like these?

I’m encouraged by the 41 states that passed legislation addressing the problem of bullying in America.  According to Stop Bullying Now, as of 2009 the 9 states listed below have not.  Shame on them:

Alabama
District of Columbia
Hawaii
Massachusetts
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
North Dakota
South Dakota
Wisconsin

Whether you’re an adult, a parent, a child or a teen – there are effective strategies to tackle this issue. If you’re a concerned adult, get educated. E-mail your state representative.   Click here to learn more ideas of what adults can do.

If you are being bullied, please don’t take the same path as Phoebe.  You are not alone. And there are people who will help you. Click here to learn what kids can do.

Wow, I have so much to update you all on from my crazy travels and inspiring speaking engagements throughout March. I’m actually making a pretty little slideshow with all my photos from the cool things I saw and the amazing people I met this month. Stay tuned!

If you’d like to see me LIVE from Cambridge TODAY on HubSpot TV, please click the link below at 4pm EST.  I’ll be talking about Girls Fight Back, and how we have leveraged social media and our website/blog to reach people with our message that women are worth fighting for!

http://hubspot.tv

If you’re on Twitter, feel free to interact with us live by using the hashtag #hubspotTV. And in case you aren’t following me and GFB already on Twitter, my handle is @erinweed and GFB’s is @girlsfightback. Let’s get this safety and self-defense crusade more widely supported by embracing the digital teddy bear, shall we?

Yesterday I spoke in beautiful Madison, WI to a room full of students and campus police. It was a lunchtime event, and let me tell you – nothing goes better with a sandwich than a good ol’ can o’ whoop-ass. And whoop we did.  My scary bad guy, Evan, was a gentle soul who didn’t quite know the “right way” to mock attack me on stage. Fear not, Evan…I actually find it quite refreshing when men aren’t skilled at the predatory take-down. Big thanks to Cherry and the entire PAC for organizing and publicizing the event for so many weeks!