KAREN BUTLER’S ROADSHOW TAKES THE SHOOTING SPORTS TO WOMEN

KAREN BUTLER’S ROADSHOW Shoot Like A Girl team members and pro staffers (left to right) Ashleigh Mallard, Karen Butler, Christa Forrester, Melanie Bolke, Diana Fincher, Dr. Lisa OrickTAKES THE Martinez and Connie Harrison stand next to the organization's mobile range, a custombuilt semi-trailer. (PHOTO EDITING BY ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY) SHOOTING SPORTS TO WOMEN Pro staffer Rebecca King explains sight alignment to a guest at the “Gun Bar.”

How Shoot Like A Girl's mobile range, 'Gun Bar' and instructors empower 2,500 women across the country annually – for free.

STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS COURTESY OF SLG2 INC.

Twenty-some years ago, Karen Butler discovered she loved the shooting sports and the outdoor lifestyle that hunters know so well. She was going through some tough times in her personal life then. Sharing custody of her children as the result of a divorce left her in low spirits during the two weeks each month they were with their father. Her professional success as a civil servant for the Department of the Army didn’t make up for that big chunk of her identity and self-esteem that was wrapped around being a mother and wife.

When concerned friends finally convinced her to join them backpacking Pikes Peak and to try some recreational shooting with bows and guns, the experience proved lifechanging in a profoundly positive way for her. For 13 years she’s made it her business, literally, to share that experience with other women.

Shoot Like A Girl is a company imagined, created and owned by Butler with the goal of empowering women with confidence through the shooting sports. Traveling from state to state with a mobile range, custom-built inside a semi-trailer, some of the finest women instructors in the country provide individual attention to each

The trailer features a military-grade firearms simulator from Inveris Training Solutions. As Melanie Bolke works with a pistol shooter, Suzi Greenlee tutors a rifle shooter.

"Our instructors are, in my mind, the best out there!" says Karen Butler (front row, right) about her team that includes (front row, left to right) Christa Forrester, Pilar Cobb, Melanie Bolke, Stacie Bohanan, (back row, left to right) Dr. Lisa Orick-Martinez, Janice Ford and visitor, introducing them to shooting firearms, bows, or both.

Starting with safety and concluding with some hands-on target practice, their two 10-minuteeach introductory training programs are short but their message is potent. Thanks to the support of many shooting industry corporate partners, the Shoot Like A Girl program is delivered absolutely free to around 2,500 women, and girls over 16, annually.

The popularity of the unique woman-to-woman approach that characterizes Shoot Like A Girl suggests Butler knows how to connect with a lot of American women. While her goal of empowering women with confidence is a tricky metric to quantify, the Shoot Like A Girl experience is clearly giving the majority of participants enough confidence to buy a gun or bow of their own and participate in shooting sports. The revelation here is that many more women would likely be

involved in the shooting sports if not for the social obstacles to their comfortable participation.

In addition, Butler’s assertion that possession of the knowledge and skill sets that go along with the shooting sports help women with self-confidence in a way that other activities don’t, is supported by the large number of women who stated that defense was the main purpose of their firearm purchase.

As a man, I think it’s easy to underestimate how empowering the Shoot Like A Girl experience can be for women. Consider that many, if not most, men don’t realize that the significance of self-defense for women is broader than it is for men. The average guy develops a manly confidence from the knowledge that he can defend himself, unarmed, within reasonable limitations based on his physical size and strength alone.

This is not the case for the average woman. She might rate her odds fair against an opponent of her own

Standing with Karen Butler is Christa Forrester, Shoot Like A Girl’s chief of staff and one of its instructors.

Christa Forrester works with a guest shooting a pistol.

A guest checks out a handgun during a stop in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shoot Like A Girl’s mobile range makes numerous appearances throughout the country each year. gender, but knows the odds are against her if she’s fighting a man who likely outclasses her in strength and size. I speculate that if you understand, like all women do, that more than half the population, the male part, could subject you to a beatdown at will, your self-confidence would be diminished on a primal level that you might not even be aware of.

Imagine how a woman might feel when she realizes she can now defend herself effectively against attackers that could have easily overpowered her before. That’s got to be pretty empowering. Of course, lacking a degree in psychology, I could be way off target too. Fortunately, Karen Butler was gracious enough to take a little time off from her life on the road to talk with me by phone and share her experience as a corrective to my knuckle-dragging Neanderthal perspectives.

American Shooting Journal Initially, I was

a little surprised when I learned that a woman as accomplished as you are was so empowered by just learning to shoot. Why do you think that was and why was shooting bows and guns so special? Is it because it is traditionally a masculine activity? Karen Butler Despite all of my accomplishments, I still like to feel good about myself. I think we all do. That first time shooting was thrilling. I had a target, I aimed at it, and I hit it. What’s not to feel good about? Then when I shot the bow, I thought I was too weak to pull it back, but when I did, I felt strong. It had nothing to do with it being a traditionally male-dominated sport (although that is why Shoot Like A Girl was and is so needed); it had to do with my inner self-confidence being validated with every hit on the target.

I’ve participated in many other sports; they all take skill, time and practice to be better. I love to compete, especially against myself because I think no matter how good we think we are, we can always be better. Where shooting sports are concerned, I can’t think of any other sport I’ve ever played that gives me the same self-gratification and

confidence that shooting sports does … Maybe that is partly because it is unexpected for women, but I really think it is because it is 100-percent your own effort.

With heart disease killing so many women each year, it is good to have a stress break. Everyone should follow BRASS (breathe, relax, aim, stop, squeeze). When you shoot, you are hyper-focused on the process; you don’t have time to think about the troubles of the day … After all, the process has the word “relax” in it!

ASJ Could you describe the Shoot Like A Girl experience? What does a visitor learn and how do you teach it to them? KB When our guests arrive, they sign up and then are introduced to shooting a pistol, rifle and bow. For both the pistol and rifle, we use an Inveris Training Solutions Military Grade Firearms simulator that has recoil, sound and impact without a projectile. The guest is walked through proper safety, stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger press, and then, guided by our instructors, shoots between five and 10 rounds each. Then on the archery side, the guest is walked through a very safe process for stance, arrow release, and really how to pull the bow back, and is able to shoot as many arrows from different bows as she wants to in our allotted time. We call it an introduction because we do make sure they have instruction to correctly and accurately shoot, but it is not enough for them to walk away and be proficient. We encourage the ladies to get more training locally.

After their experience inside our mobile range, they head outside to our “Gun Bar.” This is a gun counter with about 28 contemporary firearms on display for women, or men, to interact with. They can try out the feel of the grip, cycle the action, squeeze the trigger, and get an idea of the various types of firearms commercially available. We have mostly handguns, but several rifles and shotguns too.

We also have product displays from our corporate partners to share with guests and do mini-

Dr. Lisa Orick-Martinez and a guest inspect what’s on hand at the Gun Bar.

Debi Martin (right) and another happy new archer!

A retired civil servant of the Department of the Army, Karen Butler aims to build Shoot Like A Girl into a “sustainable business” that “will hopefully go on forever.” (ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY)

demonstrations on topics like the proper use of pepper spray, gun cleaning, Thermacell mosquito repellent, air and BB guns for training, what to pack in your range bag, and a growing list of other subjects. These demonstrations are actually a positive result of Covid protocols. When we found our guests separated by 6 feet and waiting their turn to go inside, we started demonstrating the products so they could learn while they waited. It’s a great benefit to our guests, but also to our corporate partners who see us as a mobile marketing company taking their products directly to the growing, and incredibly important, female demographic. country again during the Covid-19 outbreak was an impressive feat. What was your takeaway from 2020 on the road? KB The key takeaways I have are that families, not just women, are making the decision to buy a firearm. Covid restrictions have been vastly disparate in different parts of the country, and people of all different backgrounds are polite and kind. The Second Amendment is only political to politicians.

ASJ What are your plans for future web-based SLG events? KB We continue to increase our online presence. Keep an eye out on shootlikeagirl.com and subscribe to get our e-mail announcements. You can also keep up with us on Instagram @SLGINC2. We don’t want to give away our plans to your readers just yet, but we will continue developing what we deliver to our followers. It’s what they expect from us. To become a trusted source of information for new shooters is an awesome responsibility and we’re very proud to have that trust.

ASJ Tell us about the team of people you’ve put together to staff SLG events. KB I can’t ever say enough about the team of women that work for Shoot Like A Girl. These ladies come from every part of the country with diverse backgrounds and experiences and are as uniquely different as they are similar to each other. They all have a passion for sharing their knowledge

with others. The instructors are why we have been so overwhelmingly successful. They deliver the experience to our guests that creates that feeling of empowerment. Our instructors are, in my mind, the best out there!

ASJ How are you using surveys to capture the impact of SLG programs and how accurate has your data proven over time? KB Due to my Army background, I am data-driven. If you couldn’t measure what you did, you didn’t do anything … So, since I started the company in 2008, we have surveyed every participant and asked a series of questions. The data is statistically sound, and consistently shows that 76 percent of the women who participate with us commit to buying a gun, and around 36 percent commit to buying a bow. We know they are following through on these commitments because we survey them by e-mail twice. The first time is done by e-mail three to six weeks after their visit with us. Then a follow-up survey is done at the end of the year. What we found is that SLG participants were quite true to their word, and probably even more so than we are capturing, since in the year’s end survey a person who visited us in October didn’t have as much time to follow through with their commitments as a visitor who saw us in April.

Karen Butler instructs a guest shooting a bow. Her organization’s trailer is handicap accessible. Author’s note: The data captured in the SLG surveys (contained in their annual reports available on their website) is a lot more than just who did and didn’t buy a new gun. A whopping 89 percent of retailers who SLG worked with reported increased traffic and 100 percent reported increased sales in their stores during the programs. Around half of them saw sales increase by more than 10 percent across their product line as a whole. That shows you how important women are to the shooting sports industry.

From a safety standpoint, SLG participants are acting to educate themselves, which makes things better for everybody, shooter and nonshooter alike. The survey found that 19 percent attended a training/safety course after their SLG experience and another 30 percent planned to. Impressively, 34 percent of participants had already done so before they attended the SLG program.

The surveys also suggest how important women are becoming to the shooting sports cause as a whole and the preservation of the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The numbers for 2021 showed 67 percent of participants recruited others to try shooting sports, 73 percent were spending more time shooting and outdoors, 37 percent joined women’s shooting groups or clubs, and 55 percent joined the National Rifle Association.

ASJ You have only one man on your staff. How does he feel about being the token guy? KB Well, that’s an interesting question; I think you would have to ask him. Although my goal is to empower women, I value the men in my life, and credit them with much of my personal success. We are so very fortunate to have men supporting Shoot Like A Girl. Although we only have one man on our website, we really do have so many men who support us. My

husband, Todd, is the real reason why I started this journey in the first place. He is the one that encouraged me to follow my dream of building this company. My dad built our first website and designed our logos. Then there are so many CEOs and marketing VPs and managers who are men, who took a chance on a new concept in the beginning that enabled us to grow. And now, even though there are more women in those roles, we still have an incredible amount of men who value and support what we do.

ASJ Your events are so heavily attended; how do you handle all the people? KB People sign up in person on the day of the program. It’s first come, first served. We use a smartphone app like you see in restaurants that pages them when it is their turn. In the meantime,

The ladies in this happy family enjoyed their first time shooting!

A proud man watches and films a loved one shoot. they can shop, look at the exhibits, watch demonstrations, or whatever they please. We don’t let people sign up early because it skews our wait times.

SLG is a positive experience so I have a “No Drama-No Bashing” policy on the trailer. We’ve only turned away people who wouldn’t wear masks or were intoxicated (firearms and alcohol/drugs don’t mix). On the mask debate, what I think personally doesn’t matter. I have to make decisions for the company that keep us rolling down the road, and that means complying with CDC guidelines for close-contact businesses.

ASJ You bring the roadshow to women nationwide for free because of the support of your corporate sponsors. Will you be able to sustain that model? KB Yes! We don’t charge our guests for anything; we don’t sell memberships or charge fees for our services, and we never will. It is hard to get people to try something new if you’re like, “Hey, give me $5.” I’m so thankful for our sponsors, who get a great return on their marketing investment by supporting Shoot Like A Girl.

KB The first year of the business I didn’t sell any sponsorships; the company was funded on T-shirt sales, and let’s just say I was lucky I had a day job with the Army at the time, too. I understood the business decisions they were making. They were reluctant because Shoot Like A Girl was a very out-of-the-box concept, and they didn’t want to support us financially until we were proven. I was very fortunate at the time to get a great deal of the products we needed to operate donated. After the first year, and presenting the proof of concept, sponsors were able to invest in Shoot Like A Girl with confidence. We’ve had several partners since the business started and I’m very thankful for them. An example is Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They have been a great supporter of Shoot Like A Girl. Every single partner is important. Our top five partners are Bass Pro Shops/ Cabela’s, GSM Outdoors, Bushnell, Beretta and Glock.

ASJ Do sponsors come looking for Shoot Like A Girl now? KB We do get some partners who seek us out, but we also still solicit new and specific partners. I’ve had to turn away a few prospective partners before, and that’s not easy to do when you need the capital, but the partner needs to be a good fit for our program and complement our mission.

ASJ How do you come up with your destination schedule for the SLG bus tour? KB The tour stops are determined by trying to go where we haven’t gone before, staying south in the winter and north in the summer, and have a logistical flow that doesn’t have us driving a lot of miles back and forth. Most of our stops are at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s and we work with them on our schedule, too. I am so grateful for that partnership because not only do we get to bring women as consumers to their stores, we also participate in several of their conservation events. This year we got to do a special event with wounded veterans, Bass Pro Shops Fishing Dreams. That will be a highlight of the year for sure.

ASJ Will you ever go to any of the big cities in New Jersey, New York, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc.? KB I joke about California, but it would be too hard to take the truck there … I would have to add a decal that said, “It would be harmful for you to take a bite out of this truck.” [Laughs.] We have AR platform rifles on our gun bar, and if they are restricted in a state, we can’t travel there, but you will note we try to get as close as we can, and normally have their citizens show up by the hundreds because they are so thirsty for information.

This year’s mobile range stops include Waco, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas, in April, followed by Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Hammond, Indiana, in May.

from the photos, and middle class or higher. Any plans to reach a more diverse audience? KB Reaching a diverse audience is a challenge for our industry as a whole. It seems to me that over the past few years we’ve had more diversity of people showing up to shoot with us. The diversity we are seeing goes beyond the typical definitions of age, race and creed, but more to stereotypes. We’ve had every type of woman visit us: rural/country girls, city/urban girls, preppies, hippies and everything in between. Also, even though our program is geared to women, men can shoot with us too. We’ve seen more first-time male shooters in the past few years, and we are happy to introduce them to shooting.

ASJ Any plans to increase the pace and keep the truck rolling from place to place nonstop? It seems like you do two events a month. Do you drive back to base in Alabama after each event? KB The rig stays on the road most of the year. Yes, I do have expansion plans. It obviously takes a lot of capital to do what we do, but I am close to being able to extend our reach.

ASJ I assume you don’t need to do all this work after retiring from civil service. How long are you going to keep doing it? KB As long as I can. I’m building a sustainable business, so Shoot Like A Girl will hopefully go on forever, even after I finally really retire – again.

ASJ What could the industry do to get more women in shooting sports? KB The industry has made great strides in being inclusive to everyone. They could invest in Shoot Like A Girl.

ASJ What could men do to get more women in the shooting sports? KB Bring them to a Shoot Like A Girl event, and we’ll handle the rest. You might find it interesting that, over time, I have seen a change in the attitude of men visiting the trailer with their loved ones. When I first started the company, some men would say, “Why do I want my wife to do that with me? That’s my time.” Now, most men are encouraging their loved ones to get involved in shooting sports, and asking us to help them so the family can enjoy this awesome recreational sport together. We’ve had some men also express that they are less worried when they know the women in their lives can defend themselves if needed. ASJ What’s the closing thought you want to leave our readers with? KB We haven’t talked about firearm safety, and that is a big thing we do at our events. Please, take time to talk to your family and the children in your life about firearm safety. The rules, when followed, prevent so many neglectful discharges, and you could actually save a life by having a conversation about firearm safety today. 

What does a busy gal do with her time off? Duck hunting! Karen Butler shows off a full strap. (TIM ROHRBACH)