“I want girls to grow up to be women who can speak their mind, stand their ground, sing their song.”
– Susan Harrow, Media Coach & Marketing Strategist, Author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul
Susan has a successful career spanning 28 years. She runs a media coaching and marketing agency, authored a bestseller, and contributes regularly to prestigious publications. Despite all these achievements, however, she regularly encounters men—of different ethnicity, race, and position—trying to belittle, harass, or take advantage of women. Susan has made it her mission to enable young women be strong enough to handle life’s difficult situations, voice their opinions freely, and stand up for themselves and other women.
Arming Women Against Sexual Harassment
Susan has suffered several unfortunate cases of sexual harassment. From a homeless guy trying to grope her, to a company head touching her inappropriately, to a complete stranger blatantly trying to molest her, she has seen men as ugly and repulsive as they come.
Realizing how woefully equipped girls and women are when encountering such situations, Susan created True Shield: Verbal Self-Defense for Girls, a self-defense training program that teaches young women 12-24 how to protect themselves in life’s most difficult and dangerous situations. The program teaches young women to navigate challenging realities such as cyber bullying, groping, and gossiping with the power of self-defense. The result is higher self-esteem and a more empowered lady confident enough to stand up against the daily assaults on her sexuality and gender.
In light of the #MeToo movement, Susan also created Prevent Sexual Assault Vault, a free video series of self-defense tips for women that offers real-life strategies to fend off unwarranted contact. “The more we all do this the more we add to the groundswell of the life-changing magic of speaking up for girls and women everywhere,” Susan says.
Standing up to Intimidating Men
Recounting her several unsavory experiences, Susan talks about an incident at the National Publicity Summit in New York. She went there to pitch her course. After the pitch, she was conversing with a hefty man in a high position at a national TV network. She briefly told him about her work and that she is also a black belt in Aikido. To this, he leaned forward and said, “Ooooh that’s so hot. You’re even sexier than you were before. I LOVE strong women.”
Susan’s experience made her realize that success is not a factor in protecting women. “I discovered that most women are taught to be pathologically nice. They don’t know how to say no—or get what they want. It doesn’t matter whether they were a CEO or super skilled at what they did, this cultural training runs deep,” she says.
Defying and Changing the Odds
Susan’s life journey is not just about how she overcame life’s difficult situations and became a successful professional. Her efforts involve protecting women’s rights, including preventing sexual harassment, by equipping them with appropriate skills and training.
