My guest today is Erin Weed. After a tragic death of a friend, Erin founded Girls Fight Back! A women’s self-defense and personal safety organization. Erin traveled the U.S. speaking on college campuses and keeping the memory of her murdered friend alive through awareness. Erin wouldn’t consider herself an entrepreneur, but an activist that built a business out of her passion project.

During today’s episode, Erin tells me about the growth of Girls Fight Back and how she was able to take the business internationally. She also shares why she made the decision to sell the company and move on to the next stage of her life. Businesses can easily become the cornerstone of someone’s identity or purpose. Erin’s story is a great example of out-growing a business and knowing when to let it go.

What you will learn about:

Why Erin founded Girls Fight Back.

How partnerships with martial art and self-defense programs helped get Erin her audience.

The personal effect her friend’s death had on Erin.

How Girls Fight Back became international.

How Erin structured one of her seminars and presentations.

What exactly did Erin sell to her buyer?

The danger of letting your business become your identity.

The process Erin went through to sell her business.

The personal changes she went under during this process.

Mistakes that Erin made early on in the business.

Erin’s new business Evoso and her DIG process.

Erin’s advice to our listeners.

What are you passionate about in your life? What social issues ring near and dear to your heart? What if a past tragedy is the exact impetus you need to get your enterprise up and running? Today’s guest shows us exactly how you can be both a social justice warrior and still run a cash-positive business. Erin Weed talks about making a legacy out of her friend’s tragic murder by building a business devoted to helping women live a life without fear where they can defend themselves if necessary and have the tools they need to succeed.

What has your business done for others today?

Enterprise by Surprise

So many entrepreneurs don’t choose this path. Most fall into entrepreneurship by accident. If there’s an exposed market niche or an under-serviced segment, you can bet an entrepreneur will find a way to fulfill that need. One trend we don’t see enough of is businesses that are created to help a social issue or injustice get resolved. Today’s guest did exactly that: created a business to resolve a social injustice (women who live life in fear that they will be attacked and therefore pass on major life opportunities that their male peers do not have to due to considerations of personal safety).

In Erin’s own words, “Girls Fight Back gives women’s safety and self defense seminars at high schools and colleges across the world. We also have a product line that all supports that messaging.” So not only did she establish a business that would help thousands of women across the globe, but she also managed to make it a profitable business that could be sold to another like-minded ‘activist entrepreneur’.

The lesson here is that you never know who has been affected by a tragedy like yours and who could benefit from your healing process. While Erin has extrapolated this experience and grew beyond her initial need to be