Category Archives: Uncategorized

Self-Defense at Talbot Senior Summit

This summer I had the opportunity to share the story behind Rising Strength at the Talbot Senior Summit held at the Talbot Community Center. The Talbot Senior Summit is a day-long program for seniors, caregivers, professionals and children of seniors where they can learn about wellness, safety, technology and staying active. I feel very grateful to live in a community that provides these types of services to the seniors in the community and it was an honor to participate.

I asked Matt and Kathy Herron from Mid-Shore Martial Arts to teach the self-defense portion of the class. I was recommended to link up with Matt by a friend of mine whose children attend Mid-Shore Martial Arts. When I met Matt I was so impressed with his enthusiasm and passion for empowering people through martial arts and knew he would be a great fit for the Rising Strength seminars. Matt and Kathy have a talent for teaching martial arts and work with both children and adults. During the class, Matt and Kathy showed the participants how to properly hit, kick and get out of holds. We reviewed real life situations and how to stay safe. Matt and Kathy could not have done a better job and I look forward to organizing more classes with them.

While sharing my story I mentioned how often I am contacted during or after the events that I organize by people who have survived an attempted or completed assault. To me this has validates the high statistic of 1 in 6 men and women have survived an attempted or completed rape. I never would have believed that statistic until I became a part of it. Soon after I said that a women attending the course raised her hand and asked to share her story. While living in Baltimore she was attacked and forced into her car by an unassuming man in a suit. This woman’s attacker forced her to drive but while she was in the car she remembered how her father in-law, who was in the military, told her that the longer she was with a person trying to hurt her the more likely she would not survive. This brave woman pulled her emergency brake and jumped out of the car and ran to the car behind her. The attacker took off on foot and was not caught.

I am so grateful that this woman survived her attack and was able to share her experience with us at the seminar. Every time I have the opportunity to share my story and organize a self-defense class I feel that I am healing and getting stronger. I hope that the woman who shared her story was able to leave the class feeling the same way. Thank you to the Talbot Senior Summit for asking me to be a part of this years event!

St. Michaels Oral Cancer Foundation Walk

Gloria is an oral cancer survivor and founder of Bravely Beautiful. Gloria will be sharing her story at the St. Michaels Oral Cancer Walk on November 18th and just celebrated her 5 year in remission anniversary! Thank you, Gloria, for sharing your story of resilience, determination and bravery!

“Take what life gives you and rock with it.”

– Gloria , oral cancer survivor

The Oral Cancer Foundation will be having a walk on the St. Michaels Nature Trail on November 18th, 2017. Registration will open at 8am and we will have free oral cancer screenings leading up to the walk. The two-mile walk will start at 9am and conclude with breakfast. Additionally, Gloria, an oral cancer survivor, will be sharing her amazing story of resilience.

In April 2012, at 26 years old, she was diagnosed with Stage II Squamous Cell Carcinoma on the left side of her tongue. She underwent treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, consisting of two surgeries and seven weeks of IMRT radiation therapy across three months.

In 2013, less than one year after her battle with oral cancer began, Gloria founded Bravely Beautiful, Inc. a Washington, D.C. based not-for-profit which aims to help young adults diagnosed with tongue cancer become fearless. The mantra of Bravely Beautiful is “take what life gives you and rock with it”.

In 2014, Bravely Beautiful submitted its business plan to LiveSTRONG’s Big C competition, a one-of-a-kind competition that generated innovations aimed at improving the daily quality of life for the 32.5 million people around the world living with cancer. With more than 750 entries from around the world, Bravely Beautiful qualified as a semi-finalist and was honored as a “promising project.” Additionally, Gloria is a proud supporter of the Oral Cancer Foundation and contributes much of her survivorship to the OCF and other groups who have connected her to fellow warriors.

Gloria is a marketing professional with more than ten years of professional experience working in advertising agencies and professional services. In her free time, Gloria loves being around her family and friends and staying active through indoor cycling classes and stand-up paddle boarding.

We are so honored to have Gloria attend our event and share her story. Please click the link for more event information.

St. Michaels Oral Cancer Walk

Free Self-Defense Class April 8th

“But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.”
-Mitch Albom

Free Self-Defense Class
April 8th
St. Michaels YMCA
10am-noon

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month and my sweet dad has asked to sponsor the self-defense class on April 8th in honor of my mom, Carol Layer, who lost a 9 year battle with oral cancer. I have no doubt that the fight I saw in my mom over the 9 years she fought cancer directly impacted the fight I had in me the night of the attack.

I saw my mom go through insurmountable obstacles due to oral cancer, but she continued to carry on and fight for more time with her family. I was so fortunate to have a mom like mine for 24 years and her influence continues to play a large role in my life today.

LeCarlo Beaty from Divas in Defense will be coming back to St. Michaels to teach life saving skills on April 8th. Thank you Tracy Cohee for again donating the space at the St. Michaels YMCA!

The class is free and all ages are welcome. We will be selling Rising Strength tanks at the class for $25 with 100% of the proceeds going to The Oral Cancer Foundation. My awesome and talented friend Beth Murray designed the logo. Thank you, B!!

Free Self Defense Class

Self Defense Class
St. Michaels YMCA
March 11th
10am-noon

LeCarlo Beaty from Divas in Defense will will be teaching a course on self-defense and situational awareness. These classes are about prevention, safety and building confidence. I started taking self-defense classes after surviving an attempted rape and murder in my home during a home invasion. Self defense gave me an outlet to channel my frustration and fears after the attack and lead to growth and healing. I hope to give as many women as possible the positive experience I had from self-defense classes.

We are able to provide this class for free due to the generosity of Benson and Mangold who is sponsoring this class and Tracey Cohee who donated the space at the YMCA.

Free Self-Defense Class in St. Michaels

self-defense-2

On December 10th, I will be hosting a free self-defense class at the St. Michaels YMCA from 10am-noon. LeCarlo Beaty will be teaching a course designed for women to learn how to prepare to physically defend themselves from being assaulted. LeCarlo is a personal trainer and has been practing MMA, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai Kickboxing for over 10 years. LeCarlo teaches self-defense classes to individuals privately and through the Divas in Defense programs.

In 2013, I was targeted by a paroled rapist who followed me back to my home while I was running. I was attacked in my home several hours later. I will be sharing the full story of my attack at the class and the role that self-defense played in helping me heal. This class is critical for women who run or take walks by themselves and high school students that will soon be heading out to college. If you are interested in attending the class please feel free to contact me directly at risingstrengthllc@gmail.com or through Facebook.

Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday

The Oral Cancer Foundation has encouraged members to take part of Giving Tuesday, on December 2nd. Giving Tuesday, is a campaign to add a new date to the national calendar with the hope of one powerful national day of giving, raising funds and awareness for important causes everywhere. I hope that many will participate and support the cause that they are passionate about.

My Giving Tuesday will go towards Carol’s Fight, the fundraising and awareness effort that my friends and family have helped me with in honor of my mom. Thank you to everyone who has worn Carol’s Fight shirts and supported this cause that means so much to me.

Fear to Focus

“Survivors are making use of their fear, not being ruled by it. Their fear often feels like and turns into anger, and that motivates them and makes them sharper”

– Laurence Gonzales

Emory and Henry

Above, is one of my favorite quotes from the book Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. I identified with the feelings of turning the fear of the attack into focus. Starting Rising Strength is my way to direct that focus and anger into something good. Ultimately, I feel extraordinarily lucky to not only have survived the attack, but to also be in a position to help other women. The combination of immense gratitude and anger over the violence that occurs against women is what fuels me to try to reach as many women as possible with the message of Rising Strength. Health, awareness, gratitude and resilience is the cornerstone of what Rising Strength is about. I am so fortunate to have amazing people in my life who have helped turn Rising Strength into a community of women who support, uplift and motivate each other. I am very excited to see what this upcoming year will hold for us as we plan more talks, races and self-defense workshops.

Emory and Henry 2

Last month, I had the wonderful opportunity to share the message of Rising Strength with the female athletes of Emory and Henry College. The student athletes that I met with are incredible girls who listened intently and asked me insightful questions throughout the talk. It was an honor to spend time with these young women. Thank you, Taylor Jefferson for organizing this talk and for caring so deeply about the safety of the athletes at Emory and Henry.

Emory and Henry 3

“Rise Above and Grow Stronger”

Always fun with Jess and Beth
A few weeks after the attack I had the opportunity to run a trail race in North Carolina. While the race was memorable for many reasons, the best part by far was meeting Beth Murray and Jessica Brown. The friendships I have with Jess and Beth have enriched my life so much and I am eternally grateful to have met them. In addition to the friendship between the three of us, we have each introduced each other to other friends, creating an amazing network of women who continuously support each other. Many of these women were on the Blue Ridge Relay team and those who couldn’t run in the race were cheering us on the entire time. I am blessed to have this network and I am grateful for each of these amazing women.

I mentioned in a previous post how Jess and I spoke after the race where we met and connected on a deep level over our shared experiences. I was still very much in shock about the attack when I met Jess. It’s hard to articulate just how much talking to Jess that day helped me to begin to heal and to eventually see the importance of starting Rising Strength.

Jessica B

Above, is my favorite picture of Jess and encapsulates the joy that she brings to everyone she meets. It is an honor to have Jess for a friend and I am so glad she is on the Rising Strength team. These are her words…

So it has been a few weeks since our Rising Strength team of 11 amazing people ran 208 miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some people called us crazy and some thought it was an amazing feat that we accomplished especially after hearing our reason for running. Our 11 member team came from all over and most of us had not met before the day of the race. Our connecting link was Rachel.

After Rachel’s attack last year she made it her mission to spread awareness on violence against women and she is starting by rallying friends and family to join her cause. A big part of her mission is teaching young women the importance of being healthy and active. So we decided to get a group together and run a crazy race just to help spread the word. When I first heard the idea I was completely on board! I am always up for a challenge and of course helping out a good cause.

I didn’t realize how much I would benefit personally from it and how much it would mean to me. I met Rachel a few weeks after her attack and we immediately bonded because we both were now a statistic. I am so proud of Rachel for not only dealing with her experience but sharing it with others. So many people put their experiences in a little box and refuse to talk about them – I was one of those people for so long and had tried to block so much from my mind. But things always have a way of sneaking back up. I love the name that Rachel is calling her movement – “Rising Strength.” We can’t hide from our experiences; we can’t ignore the statistics. We can share our stories; we can rise above and become stronger!

Jessica

One Year After the Attack

one year

It’s hard to believe that it has been one year since the attack. Many of my close friends who I spoke with in the early morning hours the night of the attack recalled with me recently, the feelings of terror, shock and relief that we all felt.

It would have been easy to cope with the attack by considering myself lucky and trying to put it behind me. However, two other women weren’t as lucky as I was, and were raped by my attacker when he grabbed them as they walked on the sidewalk in Johnson City, TN. I can’t shake the memory of the look on my dad’s face as we listened to the investigator explain how the violence and confidence that my attacker showed that night indicated that I narrowly escaped rape and murder. I watched my dad listen to what is every father’s worst fear for their daughter. I am completely aware of how fortunate I am and this awareness is what has led to Rising Strength.

At the time of my attack I was coaching an under 14 girls soccer team. After the attack I had a hard time being around the girls and not imagining them in my situation one day. Knowing that these ambitious young girls will, much like me, play soccer in college, pursue graduate degrees and live alone one day haunted me. The thought of any of my players enduring what I had been through and not being as lucky as I was to get away from my attacker, was crushing. This thought was driven home even more so when several months after the attack I was speaking to a class about my experience at East Tennessee State University. A nurse from the local hospital, who did the rape kits on the two women my attacker raped, explained to me and the girls in the classroom that my attacker was HIV positive. I sat at the panel stunned and tried my best to not break down in front of the young women I had just spoken to. Again, my young players came to mind and it was heartbreaking. I knew in that moment that Rising Strength had a greater purpose.

In the short nine months that Rising Strength has existed there has been self-defense classes started, talks with teams and classrooms, fundraising events and a Rising Strength team that took on the Blue Ridge Relay all for the purpose of keeping women safe and bringing awareness to the violence that occurs against women. Thank you to all of the people who have and continue to support the goals of Rising Strength. Words cannot express how grateful I am to so many individuals who have helped me throughout this year. So much more needs to be done on many levels to end gender violence. As Rising Strength continues to grow and add members to what has turned into an amazing team effort, I am excited to see what this next year brings. I never would have believed a year ago all the amazing things that would come from something so terrible. Thank you to everyone who has made it the most rewarding and remarkable year of my life.

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