About This Episode
In today’s episode of Tactical Business, host Wade Skalsky sits down with Sharon Marie Preston from Ladies of Lead. Sharon shares how she transitioned from training horses to empowering women through firearms education. Initially creating a Facebook group over 13 years ago, her classes quickly grew, and she soon opened a women-focused gun store. Sharon emphasizes the importance of mindset and skill in self-defense, creating a safe environment where women can share their experiences, learn to protect themselves, and gain confidence. Her mission is to provide tools and training that help women feel empowered and secure in any situation.
Insights In This Episode
- Sharon identified an underserved market—women interested in learning self-defense and firearms use. This niche has driven her business growth and allowed her to differentiate from male-dominated firearm training services.
- Understanding her customers’ personal challenges, Sharon adapted her product offerings, including affordable pricing and providing guns for use in classes, which catered to women coming from difficult financial situations.
- While gun sales were an added component, Sharon’s primary revenue comes from her training services. This diversification helped sustain her business when gun sales in Oregon dropped.
- Offering students the opportunity to try different firearms before purchase allows them to make informed buying decisions, reducing returns and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Today’s Guest
Sharon Preston : Ladies of Lead
Ladies of Lead is a women-focused firearms training and retail business founded by Sharon, a former equestrian center owner turned firearms instructor. Specializing in empowering women through self-defense, Ladies of Lead offers comprehensive handgun training, proficiency courses, and personalized guidance in firearm selection. With a welcoming, boutique-style gun store, Sharon provides a safe space for women to learn, share their experiences, and develop essential self-defense skills.
Featured on the Show
About Tactical Business
Tactical Business is the weekly business show for the firearms industry. The podcast features in-depth interviews with the entrepreneurs, professionals and technologists who are enabling the next generation of firearms businesses to innovate and grow.
Episode Transcript
Wade: Welcome to the Tactical Business Show. I’m your host, Virginia Beach based firearms entrepreneur and copywriter Wade Skalsky. Each episode will be exploring what it takes to thrive as a business owner in the firearms industry. We’ll speak with successful firearms industry entrepreneurs about their experiences building their companies, leaders and legislators who are shaping the industry, and tech executives whose innovations will reshape the future of the firearms industry. Let’s get after it. Welcome to the Tactical Business Podcast. I am your host, Wade Skalsky, and today I have the honor of speaking with Sharon Preston. Sharon, how are you doing today?
Sharon: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me.
Wade: Great. Yeah, it’s a special day. It’s actually my birthday today. So.
Sharon: Happy birthday!
Wade: Thank you. Yes. Being able to do this podcast with you is a great present. I’m excited to talk to you. Address of your website. Ladiesoflead.Com but before we get to that, why don’t you go through a little background about how you got into the firearms industry? What brought you to the business that you have now? And we’ll go from there. Excellent.
Sharon: Well, I started out with an equestrian center where I trained horses professionally for 20 years, and I had a bomb proof academy, so I was training horses to be shot off of. And my son, who’s in law enforcement, I’m a little older. So he was like, mom, you need to do something different with your life. So on Facebook, I started a group of, hey, any ladies want to learn how to shoot handguns? And this was 13 years ago, a little over 13 years, and it just blew up, So I contacted two male instructors, and in the interim, I traveled around the country and got all of my education and all my certificates and learned a lot about the industry. Same thing I did when I had the equestrian center. I traveled the country to learn from the best clinicians because our students deserve that. That your instructors are always learning. So it blew up on social media. I started having classes and all of them were full, but I kept being told to get the males out of the classroom because the dynamics completely change. So at a point where I felt comfortable enough to teach them myself, I went ahead and let the guys go. And then it just became women only and oh my gosh, the dynamics completely changed in class. And I noticed that when the men were teaching, the women weren’t as inclined to go ahead and handle the guns and take them apart and put them back together.
Sharon: They were a little bit submissive. And then when it was just women only. Oh my God, the adult humor. Number one. And then, yeah, they were grabbing those semi-automatics and field stripping them. And instead of just the revolver, the revolver outside looking in is pretty safe. And it really just changed. And then the stories started happening in class of the brutality and the violence that women have gone through and how vulnerable they feel. And that’s how it started, was with classes. So then I just started selling some swag. I was downtown Redmond at a really great location and then it started some some non ATF things like stun guns and tasers and collapsible batons and knife pens and knife combs and different things. And then I moved out of that spot and moved to a shopping center three and a half years ago, where I got my FFL. Then I started selling guns. But my gun store, it’s really bougie. It’s it’s. I have a velvet sofas and plush carpet where the women can come in and talk and share their stories with me. And then of course, we have the business part of the store. I also have a laser shot system, which is a virtual SIM simulation virtual range. Do a ton of training on that, which augments our live fire training. So my retail is mainly to add value for my students.
Sharon: Gun sales in Oregon right now are are down. They’re really low. There’s a lot of gun stores closing in Washington and Oregon. I think the last yesterday I put in to Oregon State Police for the background, and there was only like 1500 guns in the queue for the entire state. So gun sales are really low. And thank goodness that I don’t depend on that for income. My income is mainly for training and teaching, which I do almost daily. I give huge classes on the weekends and then I’m always taking people out to the gun range. I was president of the largest gun range in Oregon, Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association. But prior to being president of that gun range, I was the women’s discipline director for six years. I’m range development and operations certified. I’m, of course, NRA certified. That’s in Oregon. That’s what you have to be to teach instructor candidates. So I’m a training counselor. Pistol, rifle, shotgun, personal protection in the home, personal protection outside the home and the chief range safety officer. So I’ve done the work and I continue to learn. I’m always taking classes from other instructors because we never stop learning. There’s always a different technique or something a little fun that you can a different way to teach something. So it’s been a great journey. I think what my whole pivotal moment was when I had my equestrian center, I raised Arabians and Saddlebreds, and so one of my good friends had she had a really nice Arab stallion here locally, and she was being threatened by.
Sharon: She had taken in a young woman and her little boy from church, and the estranged boyfriend was threatening her, and she felt really uncomfortable. So she signed up for a class. Two weeks prior to the class, the guy murdered her and in her home, and so that switched me. So now I have a moral desperation to reach as many women as I can before the danger happens. So when a woman calls me during the interview process to sign up for a class, I always ask the questions do you feel safe? And if they don’t, then I get them in right away. So the stories that I have heard of violence against women and how they survive just reminds me of how resilient women really are. But they need these tools to up the ante or to even things out, and to be able to leave their homes again and feel confident outside the home. So that’s what I’m about. And I’ve been extremely successful with teaching while adding the element of having an FFL to. And I don’t charge a lot over my wholesale price, because a lot of these women are just getting out of really bad situations and they can’t afford a lot either. So I don’t make a lot of money on the retail side on purpose.
Wade: So there’s a lot to unpack there. Let’s talk on a macro level from the business side of things is why do you think that gun sales are down in Oregon? Do you think it’s something that is is industry wide, or do you think it’s something that’s specific to where you are, or what are some of the reasons you think.
Sharon: It’s industry wide, but it is state specific. So we had a measure 114 come on the ballot a couple of years ago, which is still being fought in the court, which would mandate that you have a permit to purchase. Okay. And a magazine ban. So it was fought on a state level and then on the federal level. So they went after the magazine ban on the federal level because that had already been adjudicated at the Supreme Court level, but.
Wade: Then by a magazine ban. Do you mean that only? Yeah, it’s only down to ten rounds. Okay. So like California basically.
Sharon: Right, which has already been shot down. So the permit to purchase you would have to take a proficiency class. You would have to go to a gun range. You would have to shoot a string of fire. We don’t know at what distance what target. Nothing. Show proficiency in loading, unloading locking and unlocking your gun to be able to get this proficiency certificate. Now, this is outside of your concealed handgun license. So when this was voted on, it only passed by 0.7% because a lot of concealed handgun license owners in Oregon thought that it covered the TP, the permit to purchase, but it didn’t. It was the way it was worded. You know how they word those in the ballot measure box books. And so it just barely passed. So I got Ahold of a national advocate for the Ada American Disabilities Act, and he sent me all of these laws that this measure. 114 went against. You cannot create a permit that delays or denies immediate access to the process. So let’s say that it’s the middle of winter. There’s no indoor ranges here where I am at all.
Sharon: They’re all outdoor ranges and they can’t afford to be Ada compliant every day. So so you have to have your shotgun, your rifle and your pistol bass because the lead has to be documented latitude, longitude for reclamation at some point. So that would mean that every bay would have to have asphalt all the way up to the firing line to be Ada compliant. So I gave that to the president of the Oregon State Sheriffs Association. I gave it to the brother in law of the judge during the state case. And that’s still in the playbook to to be brought back, brought out. But let’s say that you’re an elderly lady. You live out in the middle of Oregon. It’s the middle of winter. Your husband passed away a year prior, and you’re in fear of either large animals or people, and you want to get a gun. Well, you got to find an instructor. What are you supposed to show up to the gun range with? You don’t even own a gun. Right. It’s the middle of winter, and she’s in a wheelchair.
Wade: And is on an extended hunting rifles as well. Or just handguns or any kind of firearm. Anything.
Sharon: To buy a firearm, you would have to get a permit to purchase. So I created a proficiency certificate and I sent the syllabus to the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association. They approved it. So I’ve been teaching that. So with my certificate of compliance for the CHL and then the proficiency certificate, my students will be first in line to get that permit to purchase. However, the FBI has stated that they will not do the background checks for it, which is part of the mandate because they’re already doing background checks for transfers, right. New or used guns. And so it’s redundant. They would have to hire double the staff to handle that. So there’s no one that’s going to do the background checks for the TP. And there’s no no taking into account what are these women supposed to show up with when they don’t even own a gun? Now, I’ve been able I provide guns and ammo for my classes. They get to try out 8 to 10 different handguns, see what they like and what they certainly don’t like, and then help them purchase that gun and then train them with that gun. But a lot of instructors can’t afford to do that. They don’t have the ability to to let them try a plethora of guns. So it’s very limited this. And so when measure 114 back to the business end, when that all happened, I had a line out the door. I was selling 20 guns a day, as many as we could possibly process a day. And I think when that happened, everybody bought so much that now it’s just ammo.
Wade: And so the demand was front loaded there before the measure came into effect. Yes. Basically. Yes. Right. So so you’ve got a kind of an unfriendly regulation environment. Obviously, you’ve got a situation to where you have this group of people who they have a very specific need for guns. I do believe there’s a difference in between men and women with regard to ability to defend themselves. I’m six four, £215. Right. So it’s and it’s also just to be able to defend myself even without a firearm. Like it’s a different scenario of.
Sharon: Course is a lot different for you versus a female. Right.
Wade: Exactly. And so how do you in terms of the classes you have, your general firearms stuff? I think that you would probably get in any class, but what are some of the specific challenges that you address in the class that women need to be concerned about, or is it something for concealed carry or, you know, thinking different ways about to not have the gun taken from you? But what are some of the specific things that you teach the women in your class and that that’s a great question.
Sharon: I tell them that there’s a skill set and a mindset. Skill set is a very finite amount of knowledge that they have to have realistic expectations as to the amount of money they’re going to have to throw at that quality handguns, quality, ammo quality gear, quality Instruction. Get a membership at a gun range, etc. but it’s the mindset for women that we spend so much time on because there’s so many layers to that onion. There’s we’re nurture nature until we’re not. And once we cross that line, somebody’s going to be in trouble and it’s not going to be us. But getting women to cross that line and talking about that person that they see in themselves that would give themselves permission to survive. That’s what we hit home on the most, is trying to drill down into that person. And I tell women that if you don’t dive down into the deepest, darkest parts of your soul to figure out what you would be willing to become and willing to do that when or if that happens, that will shatter you. And that’s PTSD. So we talk a lot about the the mindset. And I deal with women that have had all kinds of you name it, and to try and help them through that mindset and even get them to the range like the poor woman that was duct taped to a chair and done unspeakable to her body with a pistol, and trying to get her to go out to the range and load one shoot, one cry.
Sharon: All the women were like, you got this, sis, you can do it, you can do it. And she got through all of my guns five rounds each. And she was so proud of herself. But. So that’s what I’m dealing with is, is the mindset for women. And I have that simulation virtual range, which is amazing. I have just under a thousand scenarios on there. And so I had a defense attorney that had three little girls. She was standing there and on the scenario, a guy hops out of his car and she pulls her gun up and she goes, oh, I guess I just, I guess I just let him shoot me. I said, that’s okay, have a seat. Somebody else will raise your little girls and tell them why you thought his life was more important than their life. And she goes, oh, whoa, wait a minute. So then she gets back up and engages because she forgot what she was fighting for. So no, but you have to think those things through before they happen. And that’s what I do a lot in class, is to try to remind women of that person in them, and I ask that person to step forward and take the class, and you just see a whole shift in their body language, because a lot of women depend on their spouse to protect them.
Sharon: But what if they’re taken out? Wouldn’t it be nice ladies for your husbands or spouses or whatever, to be able to relax a little bit and knowing that you’ve got their back? How great would that feel? So I try to bring them down a path, but it’s a process and it’s something I’ve become really good at over the years and pride myself even when I have the equestrian center. Most of my students were women, and so teaching them to think through fear. When you’re on a £1,200 animals back, you can’t just stop the world and figure it out and then move forward. So thinking through fear. But I think the number one thing that women get out of my classes is how to create boundaries. If we don’t have boundaries and we don’t have consequences for somebody hitting up to those boundaries, then the risk is worth it. Think about that. And fear is always based in the lack of knowledge. No matter if you’re afraid of the boogeyman under your bed was this little kid, or it’s always based in the lack of knowledge.
Sharon: So. So knowledge is power. Knowledge gives you options and understanding that the brutality of violence is real. Evil is real. Evil doesn’t ask you who you voted for before it crosses your threshold. Evil is real. It’s not academic for a lot of women because they’ve experienced it, so it’s the only one that wins in a violent act is the one doing the violence. And so I try to get women on that brain wave. Now do they stay there? No. I also teach women that I’m very feminine. Just because I carry a gun every day. I don’t have to be anything different than who I am. But by God, I could step into my masculine in a heartbeat because I have boundaries and so. But I can then I can go back. So having that flexibility of being able to step into your masculine, to defend yourself or to stand up for yourself or to have boundaries is mandatory. And I teach them, if they’re grocery shopping, to stay in the moment, get in their car, lock their door, leave, or don’t sit in your car. Don’t be on your phone. All of the things. Basic safety. But some women, that’s the first time they’ve ever heard that. And it’s shocking to me.
Wade: This episode is brought to you by TacticalPay.com. Every few years, it seems large banks and national credit card processors suddenly decide that they no longer want to process payments for firearms and firearms related businesses, and so they drop these businesses with almost no notice, freezing tens of thousands of dollars in payments for months on end. If you want to ensure your partner with a payments provider that is dedicated to supporting the firearms industry, or you just want to find out if you could be paying less for your ACH, debit and credit card processing, visit TacticalPay.com. Again, that’s TacticalPay.com. There’s a lot of interesting psychology there, because male aggression is something that we learn from a very young age, right. So we’re always in some kind of physical conflict from the time we’re 5 or 6 years. I have a son. He’s six years old. We have to deal with his male aggression and physical conflict with him from the time that he’s little. I also have a daughter, and they don’t. They’re more of a social aggression. Right? So to have to take a woman from a very a much lower baseline for aggression than a man, because men, most men that walk into a gun store or walk into a gun range, they’re going to have some baseline of aggression or some experience with it, right for themselves personally having to deal with it personally. So that is an interesting psychological problem to have to contend with.
Sharon: So does your baseline of normalcy is different than my baseline of normalcy.
Wade: Right.
Sharon: And my baseline of normalcy is different than most women’s baseline of normalcy because of my profession and what I’ve chosen to do. So we’re all different. So to be able to hit on all cylinders, I use kinetic audit and visual training aids to be able to because everybody learns a little bit differently. So studying how people learn, I think instructors need to do. But it’s the stories I’ve heard. I had a woman who was a trauma nurse in Israel for terrorist attack victims for 20 years, in class two weeks ago, and to hear the stories and just knowing how resilient women really are. But she wants a gun. She’s back here in the States now and to defend herself. So when I take my laser shot system to sportsman shows and things like that, and I have a bunch of guys come up and shoot, their skill set doesn’t match reality. They think they’re good, but they’re really not. So I drill that down in these women that they need to be really good with that firearm or don’t carry it. I always say, listen, I’m not teaching you how to knit. I’m teaching you how to carry something that is extremely dangerous. Another thing, I get a lot of anti-gunners in my class too. And I say, what’s funny? I went to a party a few years ago and everybody was drinking cocktails.
Sharon: It was out of home, and all night long, this big knife sat in the kitchen where people were cutting their limes and stuff for their drinks. Nobody said a word, and I thought to myself, if I put my gun there, everybody would freak out. So we see that knife a lot. We know what a paper cut feels like. We know what it might feel like to slice our finger with the knife. So because we use that tool all the time, we’re familiar with it. Then I say, what about we’re going 65 miles an hour down a two lane highway, and only two little yellow lines are dividing us. We will trust that driver coming at us to not cross those yellow lines to hit us. We do it every day and anti-gunners I tell them, some of those people in those cars you’re trusting have firearms on them or in their car. But if you saw that same person that you trusted here in public with a gun, you’d lose your mind. So it’s what we see and what we use every day a lot we get used to. So guns are the exact same. The more we see them, the more we use them, the more knowledge we have. The fear dissipates and then the more options we give ourselves.
Wade: Well, and I really like your approach with regards to the setting of the boundaries, because the best case scenario or the best case scenario is you have a woman come in, she learns how to manage the firearm, she learns how to set boundaries for herself and her being able to do that. So she never gets to that violence, right? So that she’s able to avoid the violence or to able to deal with it if it does happen. So it’s a preventative. We want to be proactive, not reactive. And I think having a safe place for women to go to, to learn, I’m very much in favor of that, and especially especially because you have an entire brick and mortar location. Great store. Great location. Yeah, because my gun range. There is a ladies course and there’s a ladies club, and. But it’s still a male dominated space, right? So. So it’s when you go in there, you. If so, for someone to become comfortable, they have to overcome all of that even to get to the class. That’s for the ladies. So that is I think that’s a very valuable service that you’re providing because some women just won’t do that. And, and.
Sharon: I’ve, I’ve tried mixed classes before and the women just clam up. We, we don’t hear the stories they don’t share, because maybe the violence that was perpetrated on them was from a male. And then I always feel bad having men in class because I love men. Don’t get me wrong, I’m I we need good men, I love men, and I just use the example as men, as the violent assailant, because it’s just the easiest. But women can be just as treacherous. I think women are the most vengeful, vindictive, conniving predator on the face of the planet because we’ve had to learn how to be that from a very young age. I don’t have your six foot something stature, and I’ve got to be able to read a room and judge a book by its cover. I always tell women, we’re told, don’t judge a book by its cover. Well, one of my students was walking in downtown bend on a Friday night at 1030, and these males had their car parked right on one of the main streets, and they were cussing and being wild. And every fiber in her body said, don’t judge a book by its cover. I just need to walk right through them. Whereas she should have gone across the street. Well, she walked right into him and one of the guys grabbed her and threw her in that car and took her out and brutalized her in that car for 18 hours. So we need to trust our gut. If this if the hair is rise on the back of your neck, pay attention to that. Never discount your gut and read a book by its cover. Now, your internal dialogue doesn’t need to become your external dialogue. You don’t need to be saying what you’re thinking, but at least act on it.
Wade: Yeah, and you’ll never regret being safe, right? So if there’s an extra minor inconvenience, if you wait that extra 10s in the car before you get out and look around and see what’s happening, and you’re in the store and you look for 10s before you leave, it doesn’t cost you anything, and.
Sharon: Having boundaries won’t make you always the best like person. When you have a boundary and you won’t put up with something. Women get called all kinds of names for not putting up with things. And too bad, too bad.
Wade: I think everybody has to deal. I don’t think that’s an exclusively woman female problem. I think it’s just in different arenas that they have to deal with that.
Sharon: Good point. Yeah.
Wade: And what I mean by that is that the fundamentals of firearms are the same in terms of for safety. And everyone wants to desire to be safe. Everyone wants to desire to go home at night to their families. And there is a lot of overlap between men and women with regards to firearms. But there are unique challenges for women. One thing I’m interested to ask you about is I’m a big believer in that there is no one perfect firearm for everyone. Everyone has to find a firearm that’s the fit for them, right? Do you see across the board women gravitating towards, you know, specific set of firearms or is it just like basically more varied? Does that make sense? Is there like a female gun? Right?
Sharon: Yeah. A lot of women will come and they have an opportunity to bring their own gun, too. And they’ll bring a revolver 38 and they can’t press the trigger consecutively to the rear without misaligning their sights, because the trigger press is too heavy that all the recoil goes right in their hand until they start trying Semi-automatics and learn about your grip and your stance, your elbows, shoulders, everything to manage recoil from a semi-automatic. They always choose the semi-automatic. Now what holds women back as far as make and model and not caliber so much, they’re either choosing some of the elderly women that are really arthritic will start out with a 22, like a Ruger SR 22 or something, and then graduate into a 380 or a nine mil, but it’s the trigger reset. So if they’ve got small little hands and they’ve got a double stack, even a single stack, and they’re holding that gun properly with that second. Where are we? That second thumb? Well, on the side of the gun they can’t reach. Where am I? They can’t reach the reset on the trigger to reset that forward. So they’re slapping the trigger, or they’re pulling their gun or pushing their gun because they can’t reach the reset. So a determination that most women make when they get to try out all these different guns is, can they manage that reset and can they manage the recoil.
Sharon: Then we go into full sized compact and subcompact, but they understand that the recoil spring gets shorter. As that barrel gets shorter, your recoil goes up. Now some makes and models are as exponentially the recoil goes up as others. I enjoy the Glock recoil spring in a compact, but even in your subcompact you got no pinky on the gun. So it’s grip, a proper grip, and then managing the recoil but resetting that trigger forward. So it is and what they want to do with it. Is it for home defense then certainly choose a full size. But if they want to, if at some point they’re ready to carry that on their body, then they’re going to want maybe something that’s a little bit more low profile, like a Smith and Wesson MP Shield Plus or a Glock 43 X, and I sell a ton of SIG Sauer P365 X macros and polos and optics on it because it holds 17 rounds, but the grip is so small they can reach that reset all day long. And with the comp and the ported properly slide which is in front of the barrel, it really does help with muzzle muzzle flip during recoil. So it’s all over the board, but I do see that they end up choosing once they know how they function. A semi-automatic over a revolver.
Wade: Yeah, well, and it makes perfect sense because me, for example, I just go between the Glock 17 and the Glock 19, right. So that’s it because I have big hands and so I can’t if I get one of those smaller guns like super small concealed carry. My whole hand is over the gun, you know what I mean? So it’s. And the nice thing about the Glocks is that they have the basically the same grip between the 17 and the 19. That’s my gun. That’s what I like to conceal carry or to have for home defense.
Sharon: And so those are both double stacks. So that why that back strap is pretty wide. So what I have to do to drop my magazine is I manipulate it to the side to be able to drop the magazine. And but I’ve trained with it for so many years that even when I have a single stack, I still do it. So what we train, we do, and so we there’s different little things. And then how to rack a slide. We hold it with our strong hand and push with the other. So there’s just different techniques that we teach women. Even racking the slide or dropping your magazine. You might have to manipulate the gun just a little bit. We’ve got smaller hands. If we are choosing a double stack magazine with that backstrap is a little wide. It takes the length of our reset index finger away from us with the proper grip.
Wade: Yeah, but I’m encouraged by this conversation, and I just think it’s awesome because you really are. You have from 0 to 100, right? So you can take the whole journey from, hey, you just want to come and talk about it. Come to my brick and mortar. Let’s just chat to I’m going to help you get this ridiculous license that you have to have and this permit to carry in Oregon. Then I’m going to help you find the right gun by helping you shoot a lot of different guns. And then we’re going to get you trained up on them, right. And work on the psychology. So really, it’s like you’re a one stop shop in that niche. And and then you have a supportive environment as well for the women all support each other. So that’s really great. And I think that’s what it’s called.
Sharon: But yeah thank you. Yeah it’s Ladies of Lead group therapy haha.
Wade: Yeah. Well and I think it’s a model I think it’s a model that can be can spread across in different geographic areas. Right. So I think of a gun store or a range was to look at what you do. I think I think that a lot of guns, gun ranges will have the ladies class. But you go a lot deeper because you it’s the whole sort of the whole thing. So and I travel too.
Sharon: It’s hard to get into some of these, especially indoor gun ranges across the country, because they’ve already got their program set up. And I’ve traveled to other states to try to bring this message and maybe even teach their instructors or take do 2 or 3 classes a year. And it’s just it’s hard to break into that. But I feel like, again, that moral desperation, I feel like I have value to share and empower women. If they would just give me a chance to get in there and then have their instructors watch me and hopefully learn something, and I’d be happy to help them get set up and maybe add to their curriculum a little bit.
Wade: Yeah, I really see that there’s a lot of value in terms of what you do. And it is, I think, too, is that you have a unique insight because of all the time that you’ve spent. You’ve been doing it for a decade. So there’s really no almost no situation. You haven’t seen.
Sharon: Exactly.
Wade: What do you see for yourself in the next? You talked a little bit about traveling, but what do you see over the next 2 to 5 years? Do you have like just doing more of the same. Or do you have any other plans in terms of expansion? Where are you at right now?
Sharon: The economy turns around and we get a better administration and the economy turns around. Then I would like to open up more locations, to be honest with you, probably not in Oregon, but I’d go east and open up a few more. I, you know, I’ve looked into franchising, but I just lose too much of the control with that, and I still might be able to do it. But, you know, being an NRA training counselor, I can certify my own instructors and give them my curriculum and have them follow that. But I would like to grow because so many more women out there need to hear this information. And my goal is to reach women before the violence, not after I’ve trained so many women after the fact that I hope that women can learn from the stories they’re hearing so that they can not ever let that happen to them. And that’s, I think, where my passion is to reach as many women as possible. So if anybody on here can help me do that, give me a call.
Wade: Well, I’ve really enjoyed talking to you today, and I said I’d love to have you on the show again and maybe six months or so to see how things are going and the growth. How do people find you? Obviously your website is LadiesofLead.com. Where are you on socials?
Sharon: I’m on TikTok at Ladies of Lead, Instagram and Facebook at Ladies of Lead. Are you on Twitter? I don’t do Twitter that much, but I do have a YouTube channel. Ladies group therapy YouTube channel.
Wade: This is my weekly where I encourage all people in the firearms business to get on Twitter because it’s, I think one of the few places where you can actually like on Twitter is pretty, pretty robust, and you don’t get demonetized immediately for having firearms content. So I think it’s definitely something to consider. But yeah.
Sharon: I and I haven’t I’m looking at it right here on my computer. And I have truth Social of course. But yeah, you know what I probably and I have LinkedIn so I should be more active on Twitter. But thank you for that.
Wade: And and all of your socials are on ladiesofLead.com. And if they want to reach you personally, is there an email they can send you an email at if they want any information.
Sharon: LadiesofleadUSA@gmail.com.
Wade: LadiesofleadUSA@gmail.com.
Wade: It has been fantastic to chat with you and like I said is is I’ve learned a lot and it’s going to help me chat with my wife even about some of these topics and see what she has to say about it. I have a.
Sharon: Great online class too at ladies. Com I sell that all across the country and I think anybody could take the online class and it’s extremely thorough.
Wade: Perfect. Great. Well, yeah, I’ll definitely make sure there’s a link to the website on this below after this interview and stay on after we after I stop the recording, I do want to chat with you about something. So. But once again, yeah. Sharon, thank you for coming on and I can’t wait to have you on the show again.
Sharon: Thanks for having me. I look forward to it.
Wade: You’ve been listening to the Tactical Business Show by TacticalPay.com. Join us again next episode as we explore what it takes to be a business success in the firearms industry.